Test Today

Today students took a test on classical genetics. When we return from break we will be starting a unit on applied genetics (like genetically modified organisms, the human genome project and cloning).

Have a great break!

Notebook Check

In an attempt to get students to review their notes before the test (Wednesday for F block, Thursday for E block), they had a notebook check (see below). Homework: study for the test!

January Notebook Check (each question is 2 points)

Directions: For each of the words below, give an example or description, you may also draw a picture.

1. homozygous
2. heterozygous
3. recessive
4. dominant
5. gamete
6. pedigree
7. geneotype
8. phenotype
9. mutation
1. inversion
2. deletion
3. translocation
4. duplication
10. monohybrid cross
11. Karyotype
12. Female sex chromosome
13. Male sex chromosome
14. Allele
15. Gene

In addition there were 5 questions that related to handouts and their table of contents.

Time to Study!

On Monday (tomorrow) you will have a notebook check. I will not be checking your notebooks, you and your peers will be completing a quiz, which will count as a notebook grade. The idea behind this is that you have a TEST on Wednesday (F block) or Thursday (E block), so hopefully having a notebook check will help you to look over your notes.

Dragon Genetics

This post is for Thursday & Friday

Objective: Use popsicle sticks to represent homologous chromosomes and make dragons.

To see what we did, check out the activity here.

Homework: make flash cards for the following words. If you haven't already finished your dragon, please do that as well.

sex linked traits
autosome
sex chromosome
Mendel's law of independent assortment
Mendel's law of segregation
mutation
insertion
deletion

Genetics Quiz #1

Today students took a quiz on basic genetics.

Homework: Read sections 10.3 and 10.5 and answer the concept check questions for each section.

Quiz Tomorrow!

E block completed the coin genetics probability questions and F block made practice tests for the quiz tomorrow.

The quiz does not include questions on Meiosis. It is only on the genetics info we have learned recently.

Tour of the basics web quest

Objective: Use a webquest to review the basics of genetics.

Utah Genetics is an amazing website that has numerous activities. To see the webquest students worked on today, click on the picture below.

Homework: study for the quiz on Tuesday.

Wrapping up pedigree's

Today we reviewed pedigree charts as well as made more vocabulary posters for the rest of the concepts. For details, see the post below.

Visual Vocabulary

Objective: 1. create visuals for all of the new vocabulary 2. Learn how a pedigree can be used to track traits.

After completing a set of practice problems, students selected one of the following words/concepts to create a poster for. These posters are now displayed above the white board to help us remember (and use) the words.

Next we moved on to the basics of a pedigree (see below).

Homework: Read the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs on page 8 in the packet. CAREFULLY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS to discover the geneotypes of individuals A-G.


Circles are female, squares are male. If the shape is colored in, it means that the individual is affected.

Classical Genetics

NOTE: this post is for Tuesday & Wednesday classes.

Objective: By the end of today, students will be able to interpret Punnett Squares, complete monohybrid crosses and begin to look at probability.

Opening problem:
Hairy vampire bats are dominant to bald vampire bats. Draw a punnett square that shows a cross between a homozygous dominant male and a heterozygous dominant female. What percentage of the offspring are hairy? What percentage of the offspring are bald?


New vocabulary for today:

monohybrid cross
genotype
phenotype
probability
carrier

Homework: make vocab cards for the words above

Meiosis Quiz & Genetics

Today students took a quiz to wrap up meiosis and we are now going to move forward with classical genetics and ask some essential questions:

...where are genes found in our bodies?
...how does a baby inherit genes from his or her mother & father?
...why are some traits expressed more often than others?

and many more questions.

Homework: complete questions 1, 2 and 3 on page 2 of the genetics packet.

Meiosis out of Play-Doh

Today we used play-doh to build models of the stages of meiosis. Here are some pictures of the student's creations.

Homework: Study for a quiz on meiosis on Monday (see post below for details).

Meiosis Quiz

QUIZ MONDAY!

On Monday you will have a quiz on meiosis and how it compares to mitosis. Think about the big picture, why is meiosis important? What would we be like if crossing over didn't happen?

E block: study for the quiz
F block: finish descriptions and pictures of meiosis stages....see post below.

Meiosis Revealed

This post is for Thursday and Friday's classes.

What is meiosis important? What would happen if gametes under went mitosis and not meiosis?

Objective: By the end of today you will be able to identify all the stages of meiosis and compare mitosis and meiosis.If you're struggling with how meiosis happens, watch this animation.

Homework: Complete the meiosis cut out and written descriptions. If you prefer to draw the stages as opposed to cut them out, you may.

Section 9.5 Vocabulary

Please remember to make flash cards for the vocabulary in chapter 9, section 5 on page 192.
Here are the words:
meiosis
karyotype
homologous chromosome
sex chromosome
diploid
gamete
haploid
fertilization
zygote
tetrad




Clicking on the word will take you to an online glossary.

Bring these flashcards to class on Thursday.

Meiosis 1

Welcome back! We are starting the new year with a review of mitosis and moving forward into meiosis.

Objective: Review mitosis and introduce meiosis.Homework: Read section 9.5 in your books and make flashcards for the key concepts on page 192. If you haven't finished the review word search from class, do that as well.

Homework Help: The first link under "Super Helpful Science Links" takes you to a page on meiosis.

Class Survey Results

Summary for the general biology classes with a total of 17 students (13 sophomore and 4 juniors)

In my opinion class got off to a slow start, however once we learned more about each other the class really started to move. I was surprised (and pleased) to see how many of you wrote that “writing a lab report” was the most valuable skill you learned. Your lab reports certainly have come a long way. I will try to have earlier extra help for the day students to come to; if you are a day student, please arrange a time with me that is convenient. Boarding students, extra help is available on Thursday nights in Moore House.

These words or phrases came up repeatedly. The number is parenthesis is the number of times the word was mentioned. The text in bold is the question that was asked on the survey.

What is my class like? Fun (8), Learning a lot (5), I like it (3)

What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned? Cancer (10), Mitosis (4)

What has been your favorite assignment? Cell cycle project (3), Egg lab (3)

How often do you visit the blog? Everyday (1) A few times a week (4) a couple of times (5 ) every week (3) rarely/never (4)

What is the most valuable skill you learned? How to write a lab report (8), Use a microscope (3), Take notes (3) Do a project by myself (2) Make a blog entry (1)

What are three things you like about my teaching style? Never boring (4), Hands On (4),

visual (3), not all board work (3), funny (3)

What are three things you think I need to work on? Nothing (8), Stay more on topic (3), less homework (3) More outside activities (2)

If Mr. Menke asked you what this class was like, what would you tell him?

Enjoy class, so interesting, good, interactive, hands on, hard in a good way, active, it’s all right it’s a little boring, ms. Saxe knows what she’s talking about, good sense of humor, mixture of projects, homework and interactive labs, visual, a good learning environment.

What is the most interesting thing you have learned so far? Why was it interesting?

Everything, biology is my favorite class * when we watched the movie on the ocean and learned how big the whale and the sting ray are[1] * the cell cycle and cancer, it was interesting to see how cancer can spread, mitosis because you get to see what is happening inside your cells * cancer * how many types of cancer there are * mitosis because it goes on inside me * too much info to decide * cancer and its causes * the cell cycle, mitosis and cancer * speech for project because I never saw that in China * mitosis because it is happening to us all the time * cancer because you learned about a major cause of death and disease * different types of cancer, what types vary between males and females * how cancer spreads and forms * learning about cancer has made me more aware * the labs because I am learning how to write a lab report properly.

What has been your favorite assignment?

I don’t have a favorite, I like them all * the eggsperiment * the egg lab * discussion on Sam and his cancer * making the board game * cell cycle and mitosis project * labs & projects * egg lab * the game with the little white boards * making posters * mitosis flash cards * whenever we work with partners * cell cycle project * cell cycle project * cell cycle powerpoint * pond walk * food lab.

Least favorite assignment?

I haven’t disliked anything * homework assignments you need the blog to get to * our first lab report * trying to figure out the stages of mitosis under the microscope * the carbohydrate project * eggsperiment because we broke the egg * the enzyme project * metric system * lab reports because they are so long and draining * lab reports are too hard and complicated * assignments because I need a lot of time * lab write ups * the enzyme project because it was hard to find info and it was long * the 54321 because I didn’t want to write a lot[2] * rip-o-meter lab because I didn’t do very well * the enzyme project was boring * I don’t have a least favorite.

What are three things you like about my teaching style?

Happy * active * fun* understanding* laid back (but we still learn)* helpful* descriptive* goes slow with the material * gets students involved * we review a lot * you have everything on the blog * you’re nice* you’re expressions* not slow * keep us working hard * explain everything carefully* not uptight * relaxed * not obnoxious* not monotone * try to make things fun* interact with us as a person* rather than a teacher* you know what you are talking about* hard* always prepared* very reasonable* no matter what* I always learn something* verbal* worksheets/fun case studies* objective of the day* I like your teaching style.

What are three things you think I need to work on as a teacher?

More case studies * go further in depth * have early extra help[3] * give us one class off a week * N/A (8) *excepting late work * shorter lab reports * more hands on activities * less notes

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[1] The students were having a hard time understanding how big 20 meters is, so I laid out 10 meter sticks and told them to imagine a whale twice as big.

[2] I find this funny, because I only had students write one 54321 the entire year, where last year they had to write one every week.

[3] I would like to do this, although it’s tough finding a time. Maybe on Monday’s in the winter after snowsports jobs?