Monday, February 23, 2015

GENIUS HOUR!

First we watched two videos to introduce the idea of a Rube Goldberg Machine.

Next we discussed “What is a Rube Goldberg?” (Answer: A machine that does a simple task in a complicated way. Students are challenged with a task and given a set of materials, they work in groups for approximately 30 minutes.

Many groups succeeded!

Finally, we watched Jimmy Kimmel spot of Purdue 2014 Rube Goldberg Winners as we cleaned up.

Thursday/Friday, February 19/20, 2015

Guest Blogger: William Period 3

Today in class we looked at our seeds that we planted a couple of weeks ago and recorded their data. Then we discussed the national data taken from different schools and recorded that data. Index cards were also passed back. Finally we finished GATTACA and had to write down 6 things that were fact, fiction, or things that you didn't were fact or fiction.

Tuesday/Thursday, February 17/18, 2015

Today in class we finished talking about Gregor Mendel by completing this sheet together in class. We used this time to solidify terms like "genotype", "phenotype", "heterozygous", and "homozygous".

Next we had planned to look at our seeds from Activity 55 when we planted Nicotiana from two green parent plants. Unfortunately, the long four day weekend dried them out so we used Mr. Faist's data instead. (Fingers crossed that our seeds will sprout by the end of the week!). We collected the class data and realized that we got the same 3:1 ratio of dominant to recessive that Mendel got when he did similar experiments.

Finally, we started watching GATTACA. We set up our listening guide to record factual and fictional ways science is portrayed in the film, and we will discuss these in class next session after we watch the entire movie.

Wednesday/Thursday, February 11/12, 2015

Guest Blogger: William, Period 3

Today in class we discussed our data and results from the activity Gene Combo. We discussed how for every 3 blue tailed offspring from Ocean and Lucy there was one orange tailed offspring. In this activity we used T and t to figure out which offspring got which colored tail and this is not allowed. In order to talk scientifically in this subject we have to use the word homozygous dominant/recessive and heterozygous dominant/recessive. Mrs. McCabe will no longer except the letters T and t to speak about this activity. 

We also talked about how genes replicate themselves when a new cell is being formed. 

Finally we learned about Gregor Mendel and how he used pea plants to learn about how genes are passed down from parent to child.

Here is a link of an amoeba in motion captured by myself.

http://youtu.be/JksVI8PREtg

Monday/Tuesday, February 9/10, 2015

Today we finished up the story of Skye and Poppy, the critters from Activity 58 that sets out the foundation for genetics this unit. By the end of the lesson, we had a picture drawn in our science notebooks that looked like this:

After a break, we continued by doing Activity 59, Coin Toss, which had us flipping pennies as Lucy and Ocean, two of Skye and Poppy's 1st generation critters.  Since both Lucy and Ocean are heterozygous, meaning they have one dominant blue tail allele and one recessive orange tail allele, pennies worked well to give us our 50/50 chance of inheritance.

Pairs flipped coins 20 times, then we amassed our class data for a larger sample to answer the analysis questions.

Thursday/Friday, February 5/6, 2015

GUEST BLOGGER: WILLIAM, Period 3

Today in class we talked a lot about fraternal twins, identical twins, clones, sexual reproduction, and asexual reproduction. We also reviewed the article about the Jim twins where two identical twins were separated at birth but grew up identically. They had the same name, their wives had the same name, both divorced, and basically long story short everything in their lives were identical. 

Finally we reviewed activity 57 and started activity 58. For homework we had to play a game about cloning where we went through a simulation on how to clone a mouse named Mimi. Second, we have watched at least two videos on cloning and filled out a google form on what the video was about, what you have learned, and question we have for the next class. Finally we have to summarize a list of procedures for activity 59.

Finally a little article on how researchers helped the cellular DNA of mice communicate more efficiently and in the process made a two year old mice become 6 months old. In humans years that's like a 60 year old becoming a 20 year old. So scientists think they found the fountain of youth.

Tuesday/Wednesday, February 3/4, 2015

Today we finished up Act 56 Joe's Dilemma by hearing from our own school counselor, Ms. Infantino, who has a genetic disorder called Turner's Syndrome.

Next we set up a two week long experiment growing Nicotiana seeds.  We predicted what we thought the seeds would grow up looking like.

Finally, we spent a good chunk of time learning about DNA by coloring in this ladder according to these instructions. We then reviewed how DNA and genes and chromosome were related by taking these notes.

Monday, February 2, 2015

GENIUS HOUR!

Today we brainstormed project ideas by watching this Google Presentation and completing this worksheet.

Thursday/Friday, January 29/30, 2015

GUEST BLOGGER: WILLIAM PERIOD 3

Today in class we started to talk about all the things we would be learning in Unit D. We talked about how cloning works and how there are different DNA strands in our body that make us unique. 

Next we watched a couple of videos about genetics and Marfan syndrome which is a disease that is passed down from parent to child. 

After that we discussed the questions we came up with for Joe to ask his doctor before he gets genetic testing In Act. 56. The questions were answered in a video talking about how genes are passed on to child and how different genes can cause disease. Finally we finished up our analysis questions for Act. 56.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

WELCOME TO GENIUS HOUR!!!

After changing to our new seats for the new semester, the class was introduced to Genius Hour.  The goal of Genius Hour is to engage students through inquiry problem solving and critical thinking.  Many students are interested in science but may want to pursue a branch of science that is not covered during the typical class curriculum. Genius Hour allows students the flexibility to choose a topic, research the content that is necessary to learn about their topic, and then solve a problem or present about a topic they are passionate about without the constraints of the typical teacher driven instructional time.

To introduce the idea, students watched this Prezi. Genius Hour will be held on single period days Second Semester.

Thursday/Friday, January 22/23, 2015

First we collected the extra credit DOGs and Bathroom Passes that were passed out at the beginning of the school year. Next we did a review for the First Semester Final by doing the Unit A and Unit B Kahoots again.

We took a quick 5 minute break and then took the all multiple choice final. Students were told that if they scored 70% or better on the final, it would only be added to their grade if it improved their overall grade (if a student scored less than 70%, it was added no matter what). We also took the Microscope Lab Practical at the same time; students were asked to focus an amoeba or a paramecium at high power. Lastly, we watched Bill Nye Germs to finish the semester.

Tuesday/Wednesday, January 20-21, 2015

Today was a test day! We wandered over to the computer lab and did our notebook checks, then we took the Unit C Test and worked on our ePortfolio.