The Week of 10/1-10/5

Mon 10/1:  Finish notes on Lipids and Take Notes on Nucleic Acids.  Finish highlighting your Dictionary of Organic Molecules.  Short quiz on Chemistry Review and types of organic molecules tomorrow.  Read 5.5.
Tues 10/2:  Quiz on Chemistry Review and types of Organic Molecules.  Making clay models of monomers.  Linking monomers to form complex molecules (2nd half of class).
Thur 10/4:  Finish linking clay models if necessary.  Perform 4 tests for detecting different types of organic molecules.  Prepare for food tests next week.   I will provide some basic foods to test, but you may bring in your own to make it more interesting.

Next week there is no school on Friday (October 12), so we will have Full Blocks all week.  See you Monday and Wednesday!

SPARK Lecture on Monday! (extra credit available)

Dr. Linda Lester

Endocrinologist and Nutritionist.

Iodine deficiency, a world-wide health problem.

Monday, October 1st in 169 from 3:30-4:15. To get extra credit, fill out the speaker evaluation and submit to Meg Kilmer and write a summary of the presentation and your response to it. Please do not just hand in your notes.

The Week of 9/24-9/28

• Mon 9/24:  Water Olympics Lab.  Turn in when complete.  Chemistry Review Worksheet to be checked off tomorrow.
• Tues 9/25:  Check off Chemistry Review worksheet and go over.  Carbon, organic chemistry, and functional groups.  Start coloring functional groups in "Dictionary".  Read Chapter 4.
• Thurs 9/27:   Identifying sugars, amino acids, fats, and nucleic acids.  Finish coloring "Dictionary".  Dehydration synthesis.  Start reading Chapter 5.

What Do I Need to Able to Do on the Test on Thursday?

1)  Be able to use a TI-84 calculator to find the mean, median, and standard deviation of a data set.
2)  Be able to use the TI-84 to run a t-test between 2 sets of data.
3)  Be able to use a table of Critical Values to be able to interpret the result of a t-test.
4)  Be able to calculate the average and uncertainty for several trials of data.
5)  Be able to estimate the number of organisms in a grid given the numbers of organisms in several of the quadrats.
6)  Explain what a frequency distribution is showing, including the number of organisms within 1 and 2 standard deviations.

Brine Shrimp Write-Up

Although the type of labs we do will vary quite a bit, these are the general requirements for a "full" lab write-up and should be followed as well as possible for your Brine Shrimp Lab due on Thursday 9/20.  See Survival Manual pages 5-6 for more details.

Background:  Background info. should be relevant to the lab you are doing.  Include preliminary observations where appropriate and reasoning for why you chose to examine the variables that you did.  Do not just copy and paste from the internet.  If you do include research information, cite it!

Question:  Simple.  Question should include what you are changing and what you are measuring.  For example, "how does light intensity affect the movement of the brine shrimp?"

Variables:  List independent (manipulated), dependent (responding), and 3 or more controlled (constants).

Materials:  (sorry 1st period, I decided to include this after all)

Labeled Diagram:  helps to show the procedure visually

Step-by Step Procedure:  Should be detailed enough that it can be followed accurately by someone who did not perform your lab.  Include amounts, tools used, number of trials, etc.

Reasoning for the choices you made in the procedure/control of variables:  Explain why you chose the amounts that you did and explain how you kept controlled variables constant.  This can be worked into the step-by-step, but it needs to be somewhere.

Data Table:  Neat, organized, title, labels, units, uncertainty.  "Raw" data should be presented.   Observations (qualitative data) can be listed underneath the data table.

Data Processing:  Include any calculations (show a sample for each type), statistics done (show sample calc.) and generally a graph or graphs.

Conclusion:  Interpret your data.  What does it mean and how does it relate to your question?  Use numbers to back yourself up.  Discuss the size of the uncertainty.

Evaluation:  Discuss sources of uncertainty.  Be specific, not general.  Do not use the term "human error" as a blanket cause for all uncertainty.  Discuss realistic ways that you could reduce the uncertainty for the sources that you listed.

First 2.5 Weeks of School

I'm sorry it took me awhile to get this updated.  In the future you should expect to see this site updated (hopefully) before we do the activities!  I'm thrilled to have all of you in class and am looking forward to a great year in IB Biology.

• Wed 9/5:  Meet and Greet.  Demonstrate Early Work.
• Thurs 9/6:  Hand out Classroom Expectations.  Hand out Safety and Academic Honesty Contracts to be signed by next week (9/13).  Use dissecting microscopes to count brine shrimp cysts and estimate the number in the whole grid (show your work on the hand-out).  Hydrate brine shrimp, label, and leave out.  Bring TI-84 calculators on Monday.
• Mon 9/10:  Take a look at your brine shrimp.  Complete TI-84 Activity up to the t-test.
• Tues 9/11:  Go over statistics that will be used in IB Biology and the meaning of the t-test.  Count hatched brine shrimp by putting 1 mL of your sample on the petri dish lid.  Do at least 4 different samples and have each person in your group count.  Estimate the number of hatched brine shrimp in your sample and the percentage hatched.  Complete Brine Shrimp Count/TI-84 Worksheet and turn in today or Thursday.  Hand out Brine Shrimp Inquiry Planning and discuss what will you will do with your group.  Fill out Planning Sheet as well as you can before the next class.
• Thurs 9/13:  Carry-out Brine Shrimp Inquiry.  Take careful data, do multiples samples, and then clean-up.  Read pages 5-6 of IB Survival Guide and then discuss lab write-ups.  Brine Shrimp Inquiry write-up due next Thursday, 9/20.
• Mon 9/17:  Finish discussing inquiry write-up.  Start statistics packet (pages 1-3).  We will finish the packet and grade in-class on Tuesday (tomorrow).
• Tues 9/18:  Finish statistics packet and exchange for grading.  Go over what you need to know in statistics for IB Biology.  Short Test on IB Biology statistics on Thursday 9/20 (topics will be posted on this blog by Tuesday).  Work time.
• Thurs 9/20:  Turn in Brine Shrimp Inquiry.  Short statistics test.  Finish Statistics Packet and turn in.  Work on "Chemistry Review" worksheet using chapters 2-3 of the text and your knowledge from chemistry class.  Worksheet is due Tues 9/25.

I recommend reading Chapter 1 in your text as an introduction to IB Biology.

Welcome to the 2012-2013 School Year!

This is where you will come to get important information about the class.  I regularly update this blog, so you can rely on it to be accurate MOST of the time.  You can get class worksheets, find useful links, determine due dates, and accomplish many of your classroom needs.  Feel free to e-mail me (mkenny@pps.net) if you have any questions.  I usually respond the same day, although for you night owls who have questions at 11:30 pm...maybe not.  I'm looking forward to having you in my class this year and to getting the year and this website into full swing!