Week 14 genetics, Dec. 17-21

Goals:
1. Know and use properly the terms trait, gene, allele, dominant, recessive, genotype, phenotype, homozygous, and heterozygous.
2. Use punnet squares to predict the results of a genetic cross.
3. Use pedigrees to determine if alleles are dominant or recessive.

Activities:
Monday: Introduce vocabulary in chapter 12. Homework: Read 267-275, Answer questions 2,3,4,6,7 on p. 275.
Tuesday: Work with Punnet Squares. Start worksheet on Punnet Squares: Genetics Worksheet. Homework: Read 276-281, Questions 1, 2, 5 on p. 281.
Wednesday: Lab: Probability and Mendelian Genetics. Continue Genetics Worksheet. Complete both as homework.
Friday: Analyzing pedigrees.

Notebook:
1. Vocab Alert
2. Questions from Book: p.275, numbers 2,3,4,6,7
3. Notes on Punnet Squares
4. Genetics Worksheet
5. Questions from Book: p. 281, numbers 1,2,5
6. Probability and Mendelian Genetics
7. Human Pedigree Genetics

Week 13: December 10 - 14

Goals:
1. Properly use the terms genes, chromosomes, homologous chromosomes, diploid, haploid, zygote and gamete in describing sexual reproduction.
2. Name the phases of meiosis and the important things that happen in them.
3. Describe three ways how sexual reproduction leads to genetic variation.

Activities:
Monday: Introduce unit and explore Mendel's pea experiment.
Tuesday: Notes on sec 11.1. Homework: read p. 247 - 249. Questions 1- 7, p. 249. Study flashcards.
Wednesday: Notes on sec 11.2, Meiosis. Start meiosis model. Homework: Read p. 250 - 258, Questions 2-6, p. 254. Study flashcards.
Friday: Finish meiosis model, review and quiz.

Notebook.
1. Mendel's Experiments: Questions
2. Notes on sec. 11.1
3. Questions p.249, 1-7
4. Notes on sec. 11.2
5. Questions p. 254, 2-6
6. Questions about meiosis model

Week 12 : Dec. 4 - 7

Goals:
1. Define homeostasis (The maintenance of a constant internal state in a changing environment).
2. Give examples of reinforcing and balancing feedback.
3. Use feedback loops to describe examples of homeostasis.

Activities:
Tuesday: Return Tests. Start Homeostasis feedback loops worksheet. Finish as Homework.
Wednesday: Critique sample writing assignment. Write short paper on homeostasis (The district's common curriculum assignment).
Friday: Finish writing assignment.

Notebook (continued from last week.)
1. Notes on section 9.1
2. Q. 1-6 from p. 201
3. Unit Two Review Packet.
4. Feedback Loops and Homeostasis.
5. Short paper on Homeostasis
6. Homeostasis paper scoring guide

Week 11: November 26 - 30

Goals:
1. Describe the basic steps of energy flow in living things, including photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
2. Name the reactants and products for photosynthesis and respiration.

Activities:
Monday: Go over returned work. Short lecture on section 9.1. Homework: read 197-200, questions 1-6 on page 201.
Tuesday: National EXPLORE test.
Wednesday: Review for unit test.
Friday: Unit Test

The unit test is over chapters 3, 8, and section 9.1, the chemistry behind cellular processes. Students should review the goals and work from weeks 6-10, including the two sets of flashcards that included atoms, molecules, elements, compounds, reactions, enzymes, carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids and lipids.

Weeks 9-10, November 5-16

Goals:
1. Describe the structure of the cell membrane.
2. Explain the terms concentration and equilibrium.
3. Describe the processes of diffusion and osmosis.
4. Describe two forms of active transport.

Activities:
Monday: In class read p175-177 Answer Questions 1-5, p 177. Finish as homework.
Tuesday: Demonstrations, start grape lab, work on interactive reader sec 8-2. Finish as homework.
Wednesday: Finish grape lab. Make flashcards. Film? Homework: read p. 178-183. Questions - p. 183, 1-3; p191, 3-8, 11-14 Due Wednesday, 11/14
Friday: no school
Monday: no school
Tuesday: Lecture Active Transport
Wednesday: Plasmolysis Lab
Friday: Review and Quiz

Notebook:
1. Questions p 177, 1-5
2. Interactive Reader sec. 8-2
3. Conclusion for grape lab
4. Questions p. 183, 1-3; p191, 3-8 and 11 - 14
5. Lecture Notes
6. Plasmolysis Lab.

Week 8, Oct. 29 - Nov. 2

Goals: (Continued from week 7)
1. Be able to describe the basic structure, properties and common names and uses of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and nucleic acids.
2. Describe what a chemical reaction is.
3. Describe the law of conservation of mass.
4. Describe the law of conservation of energy.
5. Know that enzymes are proteins (or RNA) that speed up a chemical reaction by lowering the activiation energy.

Activities:
Monday: Finish Chemistry of Foods lab. Get Flashcards. Homework - Study flashcards 10 minutes.
Tuesday: Notes on Chemical Reactions. Work with reading assignment in class. Homework - Read p 64-67 Answer questions 1-5 on p. 67. Flashcard work.
Thursday: Lab - Measurement of Food Energy. Homework - Study Flashcards.
Friday: Wrap up and review. Quiz an d Notebooks.

Notebook:
1. Carbon Compounds (notes)
2. Review Questions
3. Chemistry of Foods lab.
4. Notes on Chemical Reactions
5. Interactive Reader (handout with questions)
6. Questions from book p.67 1-5
7. Measurement of Food Energy Lab

Two Notes Oct. 22

I am encouraging students with reliable internet access at home to use the online version of the book.
They log in at http://my.hrw.com/and use a user name and password that I gave them last week. I can easily provide these by email if one has been lost. The online book still has all of the text and questions, but it also has interactive features such as animations of difficult concepts and processes.

I am also encouraging those students that expect to use the online version at home exclusively to return their textbooks to me. I will check them out in my name and keep a class set in my room so that no one will have to carry their textbooks back and forth to school.

Part two
I wasn't at school on Friday so I didn't get their notebooks. This means that grades won't be updated until Tuesday. Students who did poorly on the first unit test have until Tuesday to retake the test.

Week 7 - Oct. 22-25

Goals:
1. Be able to describe the basic structure, properties and common names and uses of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and nucleic acids.

Activities:
Monday: Guest Presentation from the Teen Health Clinic. Start Carbon Compounds Groupwork. Homework: Read section 3.1 pp 59-63 and finish the one assigned part of the group project.
Tuesday: Finish group project. (All columns filled.) Answer review questions on handout.
Wednesday: Food Chemistry Lab

Notebook:
1. Carbon Compounds
2. Review Questions handout.
3. Lab data Table
4. Lab questions.

Week 6, Oct 15 - 19

Goals:
1. Correctly use the vocabulary: atom, element, molecule, compound, electron, proton, chemical bond and polar.
2. Draw particle pictures for chemical formulas.
3. Interpret and write chemical formulas.
4. Be able to describe several ways in which water is an unusual and important molecule.

Activities:
Monday: Go over Test. Peer edit lab conclusions.
Tuesday: Notes on Vocabulary and section 3.1. Homework: Read section 3.1, Finish questions on Notesheet. Drill with Flashcards
Wednesday: Review and Practice Game. Homework: Read section 3.2 Answer questions 1-3, p. 57
Friday: Film: Elements, Compounds and Mixtures.

Notebook Contents
1. Cell Biology review sheet.
2. Mitosis Lab Data Table.
3. Major Themes of Biology Practice.
4. Mitosis Lab Conclusion.
5. Notes on Section 3.1
6. Sec 3.2 questions p.57
7. Film Notes - Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Unit 2 The Chemistry of Life

Students will start the second unit of the year this week: The chemistry of life. It roughly follows chapters 3, 8 and 9 from the text and will probably end around Nov 30 with their next big test.

Some of the big questions on which we'll be focusing this unit are
1. What are ATP, sugar, protein and DNA molecules?
2. How are they made and used in a cell?
3. What are molecules and chemical reactions in general?
4. How can chemistry explain how the celll membrane lets some chemicals in and out of the cell?
5. Atoms are cells are both "building blocks." What's the difference? Which is smaller?
6. What chemicals are essential for life?
7. Homeostasis is the maintanance of controlled conditions in living things. What roles do chemistry play in this?

Week 5 Oct. 8 - 11

Goals:
1. Organize a lab procedure and data table.
2. Support a conclusion with data.
3. Organize cell biology topics around major themes in biology (structure/function, homeostasis, evolution, levels of organization, energy flow)

Note : These goals are not tested on htis weeks unit test.

Activites:
Monday: Start Mitosis Lab. Homework: Review for test.
Tuesday: Finish Mitosis Lab and review for test.
Wednesday: Review. Discuss writing a conclusion for the lab. Unit Test. Homework: Finish writing conclusion for lab.

Notebook:
This week's notebook will be combined with next week's, so it will not be collected Wednesday.
1. Review sheets.
2. Mitosis Lab Data Table.
3. Major Themes of Biology and Cell Review.
4. Mitosis Lab Conclusion.

Week 4: Oct. 1 - 5

Goals:
1. Explain what happens during the life cycle of a cell, including the phases of mitosis.
2. Explain why cells divide.
3. Explain how cell growth and division is controlled. (Why cancer is rare.)

Activities:
Monday: Return work. Introduce chromosomes and mitosis. Watch film. Homework: Read pp 223-232. Define key vocabulary on handout.
Tuesday: Powerpoint on mitosis. Take notes. Homework: Two questions on handout.
Wednesday: Discuss cancer. Mitosis reinforcement activities, including http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/activities/cell_cycle/cell_cycle.html in the computer lab. Homework: Read 233-235. Answer questions 7-18 on page 239 and 1-6 on page 241.
Friday: Review and quiz.

Notebook contents:
1. Notes on film
2. Notes on cell cycle (handout)
3. Data Table from computer simulation
4. Questions from book

Week 3 Sept 24 - 28

Goals:
Continued from last week.

Activities:
Monday: Work on Cell Metaphor project. Homework: Continue poster project. See last week for handout. Due Wednesday.
Tuesday: Start microscope lab.
Wednesday: Cell Metaphor poster project due. Finish microscope lab. Notes on section 7.3. Homework: Read p162-166. Answer questions 16, 17, 18 on page 169 and 1-11 on page 171.
Friday: Analyze posters. Review. Quiz. Notebooks

Notebook Contents:
1. How do Cells Work and Live (4 pages) Notes can be finished on other pages.
2. Questions from book (from last week)
3. Cell Worksheet
4. Answer sheet from lab.
5. Questions from book p 169: 16, 17, 18 and p171: 1- 11
6. Questions about Cell Metaphor Posters.

Update to week 2

Unfortunately I was sick much of this week. Because of that there will not be a quiz tomorrow (Friday). Also because they are likely to need their notes for the weekend assignment, I will not be collecting their notebooks. We'll get back on schedule next week. Here is a link to Cell Metaphor Poster Project that they're starting on Friday. It will be due next Tuesday. (If someone needs an extension, I'm always happy to grant them, but they do need to ask in advance.)
I'll have butcher paper in class on Friday for anyone that doesn't want to provide their own paper

Checking Grades

Grades are now available online.
To view them click the link to the right.
First enter my name in the teacher line. (Entering Grant H.S. won't work; I subscribed to the service when I was at Franklin.)
Then choose the class that your child is in.
You will then need to enter two passwords. The first is his or her student id number from the student id. The second is his or her birthday in the form mmddyyyy. Some students do have the same birthday and I have had to leave off the first two numbers in the year several times.

Feel free to email me if you need me to tell you the numbers that I used.

Week 2 Sept 10-14

Goals:
1. Differentiate prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
2. Be able to describe the location and function of major organelles and other cell features.
3. Describe some ways cells specialize

Activities:
Monday: Go over returned work. Start Organelle Jigsaw.
Tuesday: Finish Jigsaw. Start class notes. Homework: Read pages 156-161. Answer questions 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 26.. Also finish the statement: A cell is like a _____________, because _______.
Wednesday: Finish Notes. Start Cell Metaphor Project. (Due next Tuesday.) Video? Start Cell Worksheet. Finish worksheet as homework.
Friday: Go over cell worksheet. Discuss how cells differ. Quiz.

Notebook Contents (This may vary slightly)
1. How does a Cell Work and Live Notes Packet.
2. Questions from Book.
3. Cell Worksheet.
4. Video Worksheet?

Week 1: Sept. 10 - 14

Goals:
1. State the cell the three parts of the cell theory.
2. Differentiate between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and give examples of each.
3. Explain why cells are small.
4. Focus and name the major parts of a microscope.

Activities:
Monday: Introduction to textbook and cells. Start chapter 7 notes. Homework - Finish texbook inventory worksheet, read pages 151-155, answer questions 2 & 3, p 155.
Tuesday: Demonstrations and lecture about section 7.1. Homework 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14 on p 169.
Block day: Introduction to Microscope lab.
Friday: Review, quiz, turn in notebook.

Notebook contents
1. Cell Notes
2. Textbook Inventory
3. Chapter 7 questions
4. Lab individual answer sheet

Week 0 Sept. 5-7

Welcome. This blog should allow you to keep up to date with what is happening in biology in community T at Grant High School. A link to the right should soon allow you to check your child's grade. I will post directions on what passwords you will need to check that link soon.

There is also a link that I encourage you to check that outlines class routines.

You can look forward to week by week updates listing the goals for the week, major activities for each day and what should be in your child's weekly notebook.