Projects and returning the quizzes.

First things first. On Friday October 26th you took a quiz on Osmosis, Diffusions and Membranes. On Thursday October 25th your homework was to study for this quiz. You were even given a link directly to the vocabulary for this quiz on the post from Thursday October 25th. So, as a result of this your quiz grades stand.

So the next logical question is: How can I raise my grade?

Answer: Do a really great job on your project. You will be working on it again in class today and on Thursday. I will also be available for extra help if you would like to practice your presentation on Thursday night in Moore House.

Homework: Work on your presentations.

Macromolecules Posters Links

Click on any of the links below for help with your projects. Remember to cite where you got your information from. Click here for information on how to cite internet sources and images.

Macromolecule Glossary

Macromolecules Overview

Lipids

Protein

Carbohydrates

Enzymes

Macromolecule Projects

Objective: Go over project requirements and start working on the macromolecules project.

What is a macromolecule? Well, break it up: Macro = big. Molecule = made up of atoms held together by chemical bonds.

What are the project requirements?

Student Responsibilities

1. Read your assigned section of Chapter 5 in your textbook

2. With your partner, prepare a 15 minute presentation of your section

3. With your partner, prepare a poster that highlights the important concepts and vocabulary in your section. This should include text and pictures/diagrams. Make these artistic, neat, and informative; they will be on display in the classroom.

4. Make vocabulary cards of your section for the rest of the members of the class.

5. Create a handout for your classmates. You have been emailed a handout template.

6. Present your section on the Molecules of Life to the class.

You will be assessed by your teacher and your peers (in your group) on:
-your presentation
-your poster
-your vocabulary cards
-your ability to work in a group
-your contributions to the group effort

Homework: Read your assigned section and BRING NOTES TO CLASS on your section.

Quiz and Review of the Lab Reports

"I should have gone to the blog."

"What? This lab report is sooo long! Last year it took me like three minutes to write a lab report."

Objective: 1. Go over the correct way to write a lab report and compare that to way you turned in. 2. Take a quiz on osmosis and diffusion.

Handouts: sample lab report on brightly colored paper and the updated lab rubric on yellow paper.

Today we compared student's lab reports to the sample and we learned that writing lab reports will take more than 15 minutes. Never fear, next week you will have a project on macromolecules to work on and the following week you will have another chance to write a lab report.

Homework: none. Enjoy homecoming weekend. Please bring your books to class on Monday.

Blue Planet

Well, the NOLS bus broke down so unfortunately we didn't get to learn about alternative energy today. However, in an effort to work ecology in throughout the year, we started to watch Blue Planet and had a discussion about the behavior of marine life.

Homework: study for your quiz on osmosis, diffusion, cell membranes, membrane functions, concentration gradients and the scientific method. To link to a list of the vocabulary that you need to know for the quiz, click here.

Parents Weekend!

Today parents played board games with their students to review for an upcoming test. Pictures coming soon :)

Homework: Study all of your vocab cards for a test on Friday when you return.

Biology Board Games

"Wow, I need to study, I can't look stupid in front of his mom..."

Objective: Make biology board games to review and to play with your parents & grandparent tomorrow.

Homework: finish your board game and bring in dice.

Eggsperiment Lab Write Up

Objective: Review how to write a lab report/start eggsperiment lab write up.

Today we reviewed each section of a scientific paper and the do's and don'ts for each section. Here's a quick summary:

DO:
* Write your section headings in bold and center them on the page (ex):

Introduction

* Have a description of tables and graphs, in addition to labels.
* List at least three sources of errors in the discussion section.
* Type the lab report
* Use the rubric (check your email)

DO NOT:
* Have a numerical list of the steps in the procedure or list of materials
* Use the first person "I, My" etc..

Have you "misplaced" the guide to writing scientific papers? Click here for the more elaborate version online.

Each person must turn in his/her own lab report, IN CLASS ON THURSDAY.

Eggsperiment Data

E block, please only complete your data. I will give you F block's data in class tomorrow.

All classes should complete analysis questions 1-5.

Eggsperiment Results

Objective:
Complete eggsperiment observations, data collection and analysis questions.

Today students looked at their eggs after they had been sitting in "secret" solutions over the weekend. Students will complete a data table using data from both E and F blocks.

Homework: Complete analysis questions 1-5 on the back of the lab sheet.

Eggsperiment!

Objective: 1. Conduct the first half of the eggsperiment. 2. Complete the notebook quiz.

What's the eggsperiment? Students used large chicken eggs which had the shell removed using vinegar, revealing a cell membrane. The eggs are then placed in various "secret" solutions of water, sucrose, table sugar and/or corn syrup. The eggs sit over the weekend and on Monday students will be able to see if osmosis and/or diffusion has occurred.

Homework: none.

Pictures from the eggsperimentLong and Madison collect their egg.

Leo and Flash make primary observations of their egg.

Kirsten and Emily find the initial mass of their egg.

Lindsey and Morgan work on their "secret" solution.

Max and Patt work on their "secret" solutions.

E Blocks eggs. The control is the egg on the far left.

F Blocks eggs. The control is the egg on the far left.

Membranes regulate the traffic of molecules

Objective: 1. Students will be able to distinguish between osmosis and diffusion, as well as give examples of each process. 2. Students will be able to identify the three methods for things to enter/exit the cell (active transport, passive transport, exo/endocytosis).

The plan:
complete reading quiz
finish membrane protein function notes
fill in guided notes on osmosis and diffusion
review

Homework:
Make Flash Cards for the 17 following words/concepts:

1. Phospholipid Bilayer
2. hydrophobic
3. hydrophilic
4. Components of a cell membrane (phospholipid bilayer, proteins, carbohydrates)
5. Four functions of membrane proteins (enzyme activity, cell-cell recognition, cell signaling, transport of materials)
6. Diffusion
7. Osmosis
8. Equilibrium
9. Passive Transport
10. Facilitated Diffusion
11. Hypertonic Solution
12. Isotonic Solution
13. Hypotonic Solution
14. Active Transport
15. Vesicle
16. Exocytosis
17. Endocytosis

Cell Membrane Structure

Objective: 1. Learn the composition of the cell membrane. 2. Be able to explain how substances enter and leave the cell (the role that proteins play in the cell membrane).

Click here for an animation of the cell membrane

Today we had our first reading quiz of the year! Something that is likely to happen more often. Students needed to answer five questions about the reading and could use any notes they had taken. What did we learn from this experience?

"Ugh, I should have done the reading."
"I guess I should have taken notes."
"I should have written down the homework."

Student were given their midterm progress reports with a total of 23 assignments so far!

Tonight's homework: If you haven't read section 6.3 read it and be ready for a reading quiz.

Extra Credit: Find the answers to "What happens if you get the wrong type of blood? How long can you live with the wrong type of blood?"

Lab Report Rubric

Component	Criteria	Max. Points	Points Earned
Title	Includes the environmental factors that were manipulated, the parameter that was measured and the specific organism that was studied.	5
Introduction	Includes the observation and question that led to the hypothesis, any relevant background information and the hypothesis.	5
Materials and Methods	Describes (not lists) how the experiment was conducted. The equipment used in the experiment is NOT listed, instead is part of the narrative. If well-known methods were used without changes, simply name the methods (e.g., standard microscopic techniques).	5
Results	Here the researcher presents summarized data for inspection using narrative text and, where appropriate, tables and figures to display summarized data. Only the results are presented. No interpretation of the data or conclusions about what the data might mean are given in this section.	5
Formatting of tables or graphs	All tables or graphs have titles and a description explaining what is presented.	5
Discussion	Here, the researcher interprets the data in terms of any patterns that were observed. The author should include any explanations of how the results differed from those hypothesized. Include at least 3 sources of error.	5
Conclusion	This section simply states what the researcher thinks the data mean, and, as such, should relate directly back to the problem/question stated in the introduction.	5
Acknowledgements	In this section you should give credit to people who have helped you with the research or with writing the paper. If your work has been supported by a grant, you would also give credit for that in this section.	5
Literature Cited	This section lists, in alphabetical order by author, all published information that was referred to anywhere in the text of the paper. It provides the readers with the information needed should they want to refer to the original literature on the general problem.	5
Spelling & Grammar	Report is free from spelling and grammatical errors.	5
Total Points		50

Quiz on Cell Parts

At the beginning of class I handed back the rip-o-meter labs along with lab rubric. From now on please use this rubric to make sure that your labs have all the right information.

You also had a quiz on the parts of the cell, scientific method and microscope skills.

Homework: re-read section 6.2 and read section 6.3

Plant Cell Wet Lab

Objective: 1. Learn how a plant cell is different from an animal cell. 2. Make a wet mount of a plant cell.
Homework: Make flash cards for the cell wall, chloroplast and central vacuole.
Study for the quiz on cell parts, comparing plant and animal cells, scientific method and using microscopes.

Chapter 6 vocabulary part 1

Make flash cards using the following words/concepts.
19 words

Section 6.1
Cell Theory
Organelle
Prokaryotic Cell
Eukaryotic Cell

For the following cell parts, make sure your definition includes the structure and function of the cell part.

Section 6.1 & Class notes
Plasma Membrane
Nucleus
Cytoplasm
Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
Mitochondria
Ribosome
Golgi body

Class Notes / Mini-lab Vocabulary

Flagellum
Pilus
Lipid
Protein
Amino Acid
Organelle
Cytoskeleton

Cell Parts Continued

Objective: Finish identifying the parts of the cell using the "more than a membrane" worksheet.

Homework: Click here to use the interactive cells alive animation to answer the questions on the worksheet.
E block also did a mini lab to look at their own cheek cells using microscopes and methlyene blue.

Cells!

Objective:
1. Explain the three parts of cell theory
2. Differentiate between prokaryotes and eukaryotes
3. Begin to identify organelles (cell parts) and their functions

Using a hand out on cell parts, students worked to create analogies between cell parts and their functions.

Homework: Read section 6.1 and answer the concept check questions on page 114. Read section 6.2 and answer the questions on page 117.

If you did not make the flash cards for last week, you still need to do that!