Nick C. and Carson M.'s Mitosis Mobile

The front of the mobile is shown above. The back of the mobile has typed descriptions of each of the phases of the cell cycle. Unfortuntely the quality of the picture isn't great (the dept. camera is only 2.1 megapixels).

Working on Mitosis & Cell Cycle Project

Today students were given time in class to work on their cell cycle and mitosis projects. So far things are looking very promising. Here are some samples of what students are doing:

*Mitosis Mobile

*Flash Movie

*Animation

*Flip Book

*Posters

*PowerPoints

*Movie (starring students as parts of the cells)

*3D Posters

E Block will present their projects on Friday (yes, that's tomorrow).

A & B Blocks will present their projects on Saturday.

Tune in tomorrow for samples of outstanding student work.

Cell Cycle and Mitosis Project

Students will be working on their projects in class today. Below are the project guidelines.

Project Check List & Rubric

This project is worth 50 points. You will be creating a visual that represents the cell cycle and mitosis. This visual can be anything from a flip book to a PowerPoint to a poster or collage or 3D model. Make sure that your presentation includes all the following information.

A. INTERPHASE - THE TIME OF THE CELL CYCLE BETWEEN CELL DIVISIONS. (G1, S, G2) DRAW/MAKE A MODEL AND LABEL ONLY ONE PICTURE BUT DEFINE ALL THE PHASES. (You don’t need to have separate pictures for G1, S and G2). 10 points.

B. MITOSIS (M PHASE) - A FOUR STAGE PROCESS WHICH THE NUCLEUS OF THE CELL DIVIDES INTO TWO NEW NUCLEI WITH IDENTICAL GENETIC MATERIAL. DRAW AND LABEL ALL FOUR STAGES, DEFINE MITOSIS AND DESCRIBE EACH PHASE. 25 points.

C. CYTOKINESIS - THE CYTOPLASM AND ORGANELLES OF THE PARENT CELL DIVIDES IN TWO NEW CELLS CALLED DAUGHTER CELLS. DRAW AND LABEL ONE PICTURE AND DEFINE AND DESCRIBE CYTOKINESIS. BE CAREFUL! Plant and animal cells undergo cytokinesis differently. 5 points.

Creativity = 5 points No spelling or grammar errors = 5 points

Cancer: Case Study & Myths

Admit Slip: Notebook Quiz on the cell cycle and mitosis (b block: no quiz)

Objective 1: Students discuss, in small groups & as a class, the case study featured below using guiding questions. Objective 2: Students will take a true/false quiz on cancer myths and then discuss their responses.

Homework: Bring materials to class tomorrow to work on the cell cycle & mitosis project.

case study1

Sam (73) had a growth inside of his mouth for some time that he finally had checked out by his doctor. Following some tests, Dr. MacAvee, an oncologist, told Sam he had cancer of the gum (a squamous [skin] cell cancer). Unfortunately, the cancer had spread to Sam's lymph nodes in his neck and into his tongue and jaw. Dr. MacAvee told Sam they could do radical surgery to take out part of his tongue, the right side of his jawbone, and all of the lymph nodes in his neck, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Sam has refused. Sam's wife, Lois, seems reluctantly supportive of his decision. Sam's daughter, Michelle, has been lobbying Dr. MacAvee to convince her father to accept as aggressive a treatment as possible, so that Sam might have as much time as possible with his twin grand-daughters.

Questions:

1. What are the consequences of the course of treatment the doctor has suggested?
2. What is the likely prognosis (what will happen) for a metastatic skin cancer?
3. Does Sam's decision to decline treatment make reasonable sense? Please discuss from the perspective of all people involved.
4. How should a physician respond to the wishes of a family member?

1This case study discussion was adapted from Paul Greenwood's BI493 course at Colby College.

Cell Cycle & Cancer

A & B Blocks

Admit Slip: Cell Cycle Quiz

Objective: Students will learn about the signs, symptoms, spread and history of cancer (independent reading, guiding questions and discussion)

Homework: Case Study Questions

C Block

Admit Slip: Put the following stages of Mitosis in order: metaphase, telophase, prophase, anaphase.

Objective 1: Students will learn how mitosis fits into the cell cycle (mini-lecture).
Objective 2: Students will practice identifying the stages of mitosis in plant and animal cells, using microscopes.

Homework: Interactive Cell Cycle (see website below).

E Block

Admit Slip: Put the following stages of Mitosis in order: metaphase, telophase, prophase, anaphase.

Objective 1: Students will learn how mitosis fits into the cell cycle (mini-lecture).
Objective 2: Students will learn about the signs, symptoms, spread and history of cancer (independent reading, guiding questions and discussion)

Homework: Interactive Cell Cycle (see website below).

Important Dates

Ok, now that I have your attention, here are some important dates to keep in mind.












Honors Biology:
Cell Cycle & Mitosis Project Due Dates:
E Block Friday January 12th, in class
A & B Blocks Saturday January 13th, in class


Cell Cycle & Mitosis Test
All honors classes will have a test on Monday January 15th.

Navigating the Scientific Literature #2 (which counts as a quiz is now due THURSDAY JAN. 18TH. This is a change!!!

General Bio: Your project is due Monday Jan. 15th and your test is during long block on Tuesday Jan. 16th.

Mitosis, Microscopes & The Cell Cycle

Admit Slip: What are the differences between plant and animal cells? How might these differences affect cytokinesis?

Objective 1: Students will examine slides of an onion root tip to find and identify various stages of mitosis.

Objective 2: Put mitosis in the context of the cell cycle and what are the various stages that occur during interphase.

Homework: Click here for the interactive game on the cell cycle. Use the game to answer the questions handed out in class.

3-2-1 this week

Since we only had a half of a week of class, you have a modified 54321 due this week.

3 things you learned this week.

2 things you have questions about or would like to learn more about.

1 great thing that happened or something you can improve on.

This is due Sunday by 5pm via email.

More Mitosis

Honors E Block

Admit Slip: What are the differences between plant and animal cells? How might these differences affect cytokinesis?

Objective: Students will examine slides of an onion root tip to find and identify various stages of mitosis.

HW: read section 8.4

General C Block

Admit Slip: What are the stages of mitosis?

Objective: students will take notes of the stages of mitosis to supplement the drawings they made last class looking at animal cells under the microscope. After taking notes, students will look at the animal cells again.

Homework: Mitosis Homework #1

Mito-what? Looking at cells reproduce using mitosis

E Long and B Blocks
Admit Slip: How do cells reproduce?

Objective: Students will use actual animal cells undergoing mitosis to see how a eukaryotic cell reproduces.

Students will examine animal cells undergoing mitosis. These will strictly be primary observations. They will not be given any information on the stages or the order that they occur in, except the names of the stages which will be on the microscopes. Students will need to draw what they see and write the name of the stage on the handout.

Click here for images of the slides you looked at today. This should help you with the homework.

A Block:
Lecture on Mitosis and how cells reproduce.

HW E Long: Read sections 8.1 and 8.3. Read and complete the mitosis coloring sheet.

HW A Block: Read and complete the mitosis coloring sheet.

HW B Block: Read sections 8.1 and 8.3 in the text book. Cut up drawings of stages and put them in the correct order on a sheet of paper. Label the nuclear envelope, chromatin, chromosomes, centromeres and centrioles (where appropriate the in the diagrams).

Welcome Back! ( and yes, we are actually doing work today)

I hope everyone had a great break and managed to get some rest. We are starting a new, two week, unit on The Cell Cycle, Mitosis and Cancer.

Admit Slip: How do cells reproduce?

Objective: Students will use actual animal cells undergoing mitosis to see how a eukaryotic cell reproduces.

Students will examine animal cells undergoing mitosis. These will strictly be primary observations. They will not be given any information on the stages or the order that they occur in, except the names of the stages which will be on the microscopes. Students will need to draw what they see and write the name of the stage on the handout.

Click here for images of the slides you looked at today. This should help you with the homework.

HW: Honors Read sections 8.1 and 8.3 in the text book. Cut up drawings of stages and put them in the correct order on a sheet of paper. Label the nuclear envelope, chromatin, chromosomes, centromeres and centrioles (where appropriate the in the diagrams).

HW: General read section 20.1 (pages 397-the top of 401) in the text book. Cut up drawings of stages and put them in the correct order on a sheet of paper. Label the nuclear envelope, chromatin, chromosomes, centromeres and centrioles (where appropriate the in the diagrams).

Winter Break!

Have a wonderful winter break everyone! Good luck to everyone who has tournaments and races. When we get back from break we'll start with the cell cycle and mitosis/meiosis. How do cells reproduce? What happens if cells reproduce uncontrollably? Why are there two different types of reproduction?

Navigating the Scientific Literature

reminder! the ebsco host and popular news article write ups are due tomorrow in class if you haven't already emailed them to me. Thanks to those of you who have turned yours in early.

It's JUA time!

JUA starts this Sunday at Noon in the Master Classroom. We're leaving at 4:45am on Monday so make sure you set an alarm. We'll return on Tuesday evening (you might be a bit late for study hall). Most classes only meet once next week, so you'll be finishing presenting the Anatomy Jig Saw.

Anatomy Jig-Saw (Friday and Saturday)

Admit Slip: Name as many body systems as you can

Objective: students will complete a jig-saw activity to learn the body systems and present what they learn to the class. Each person/group must state:

*Name of the System
*Major Organs/Components
*How it functions

Students will review systems by playing 2 truths and a lie.

Navigating the Scientific Literature

All honors classes met today in the ARC computer classroom. We learned how to use EBSCO host to find peer reviewed, full text journal articles. The assignment is posted below and the first one is due DECEMBER 14th.

1. Browse recent articles by looking at the magazine section of the ARC. You can also search for articles on line. Possible magazine of interest include: Time, Newsweek, Wired, Men's/Women's Health, National Geographic.

2. Find the original research article in the EBSCO health resources database.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER ABOUT THE ARTICLES

1. For the Magazine article: (15 points)
Give the title, author, and date of publication. (1pt. each)
Give a sentence or two that summarizes the scientific findings reported. (3 pts.)
Describe any figures or tables that accompany the article. (1 pt. if applicable)
Does the article include responses from the scientific community? Explain. (3 pts. if applicable).
Does this article give you enough information to evaluate whether or not the results are likely to be replicable? Explain. (5 pts.)

2. For the peer-reviewed article: (20 points)
Give the citation in the sample scientific format provided in the handout: authors’ surnames and initials, date, title, journal, volume, pages. (4 pts.)
Devote a sentence to each figure and table, explaining the results that are presented. (8 pts.)
How many references are cited by the article? (2 pts.)
Would you recommend this article to a friend who is a non-biologist? Explain. (6pts.)

December 14th only: How will you judge the scientific validity of information you encounter on the web or in secondary sources? (5 points)

January 15th only: In choosing between pdf and full text for viewing scientific articles, which format is better for printing? Which is easier to read on the screen? ( 5 points)

February 12th only: Choose what you think is the most significant figure in the peer reviewed article. Write at least 4 sentences explaining the figure and why you think it is the most significant in the article.


Due dates: December 14th, January 15th and February 12th. Your assignments must be typed and include a copy of the NYT article and the actual article.

Value of the assignments:
December: Since this is your first one, it will count as a homework
January: This will count as a quiz
February: This will count as a test.

You can work alone or in groups of up to three. Only one assignment per group.

What do you want to learn?

Admit Slip: Based on what you saw at Body Worlds 2, what new questions do you have about how your body works?

Objective: Students will create and answer their own questions about the human body.

Homework: Honors classes: bring an recent science article that relates to some aspect of biology to class.

Reminder:
All honors classes meet in the computer lab on the lower level of the ARC on Thursday.

Body Worlds2

Field Trip!

Special thanks to a very generous parent for providing over 100 students the opportunity to go to the Museam of Science in Boston to see Body Worlds 2 and "The Human Body" at the Omni.

For more information on the exhibit please visit:
Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds website.

54321's for the winter term

There are two changes in the 54321.

a) New Dute Date & Time: Noon on Sunday

b) New Grading Scale: To make life easier in the grade book, the 54321 is now graded on a 1-5 scale (5 is the best, this 5 = 100%, 4 = 80% etc..) Also, 54321's will now be factored into homework and not class participation.

The Immune Response (for Friday 12/1 and Saturday 12/2)

Admit Slip: How does your immune system work?

Objective: To examine the defenders involved in the nonspecific and specific body defenses.

Homework: Immune System Questions