First Couple Weeks of School!

• Fri 8/28:  Hand out Topic Sequence for this year and a book assignment for 4.1 (the first section of ecology).  Do the work on your own sheet of paper to be turned in next Tuesday.  Hand out Safety and Academic Honesty contracts to be signed and turned in by next Thursday 9/4.
• Tues 9/1:  Go over what we will be covering this year and review class expectations.  Go over ecology definitions and how to calculate the chi-squared.  Finish 4.1 worksheet and turn in.  Watch Jane Poynter video on Biosphere 2.  If time, do trials on the Sustainability Game.
• Thurs 9/3:  Turn in signed contracts if not already.  In your notes, record results for 4-5 trials of the Sustainability Game.  Do data-based questions on pages 214, 216, and 219 of IB text in your notes.  To be checked off on Tuesday 9/8.
• Tues 9/8:  Finish data-based questions in notes and get both the Sustainability game results and the data-based questions checked off.  Review energy transformations and trophic levels.  At your tables, make an illustrated food web poster that includes at least 10 organisms, one chain of at least 4 links, and using species names.  Start Carbon Cycle.  
• Thurs 9/10:  Exchange Food Web Posters to determine trophic levels and offer feedback.  Make illustrated posters of the Carbon Cycle including important pools of carbon and fluxes (transformations).  Use the Carbon Cycle links on this website and the IB syllabus in the class books to guide what you include.  Start Carbon Cycling and Climate Change Worksheet using IB books.  Due Wednesday, 9/16.

Welcome Back to the 2015-2016 School Year!!

Hello students!  I am so excited to see you back in the classroom this week and next!  As I checked back into this blog, I realized that the last thing I wrote about was the surgical viewing.  Those of you who were signed up know that it was cancelled.  Hopefully it will be rescheduled for this fall.  This year we will be studying the following topics, in pretty close to this order:

First Semester

Ecology

Biodiversity

Evolution

Digestion and Absorption

Circulation

Gas Exchange

Immunology

Second Semester

Muscles and Movement

The Kidney

Nerves, Hormones, and Homeostasis

Sexual Reproduction

Neurobiology and Behavior

In addition, we will be doing several inquiry labs this fall that will prepare you for the larger Internal Assessment that you will perform in the winter.   The IB Biology Exam is scheduled for May 4th and 5th, 2016.  During and after testing, we will have time to do fun, biology-related projects.

Surgical Viewing Information

If you are interested in signing up to see a surgical viewing this summer, July 17th, at Providence Portland, use this link!

Click Here!

End of the Year Schedule!!

• Mon 5/25:  Memorial Day.  No School!
• Tues 5/26:  Plant Growth!  Hand-out Plant Review for test next Tues 6/2.
• Thurs 5/28:  Turn in Seed Germination Lab if not already!  Phototropism and Photoperiodism.  Review Plants.  Hand-out review for Semester Final!
• Mon 6/1:  Full 8 Schedule.  Questions on Plant Test?  Review for Final Exam.  Get any late work or extra credit turned in this week.  Final SPARK lecture of the school year is today at 3:30!
• Tues 6/2:  Plant Test. Review for Final Exam.
• Thurs 6/4:  Review for Final Exam.
• Mon 6/8:  Review for Final Exam.
• Tues 6/9:  Part I of Final Exam.
• Thurs 6/11:  Part II of Final Exam.

Enjoy your summer!  You have earned it!

Seed Germination Lab: What Do You Need?

The official due date is Thursday, May 28th, although you can turn in early for some extra credit points.
1)  Focused Question
2)  Background information
3)  Variables, explained!
4)  Materials
5)  Procedure, be specific!!
6)  Data Table w/ uncertainty and observations
7)  Calculations, including t-tests. If you have 4 complete sets of data, how many t-tests is that?  6!
8)  Conclusion
9)  Evaluation, can do as chart

The Weeks of 5/11-5/21

• Mon 5/11:  Hand out Field Trip Form for Hoyt Arboretum trip next Tuesday, May 19th (you won't miss any other classes).  Please get it signed by a parent/guardian ASAP.  Brief notes on Plant Origins.  Finish Transpiration Lab and turn in.
• Tues 5/12:  Finish notes on plant origins and notes on flowers.  Do Plant and Flower Worksheet.  Make solutions for your seed germination lab if you want.
• Thurs 5/14:  Amazing Video on Plants.  Fill out Video Notes Hand-Out as you go.  Do Computer Research on the Hoyt Arboretum.  Finish Plant and Flower Worksheet and turn in.
• Mon 5/18:  SPARK Lecture today on Soil Conservation!  Prep for Hoyt Arboretum Field Trip.
• Tues 5/19:  Hoyt Arboretum Field Trip!  Arrive to class on time with your Tri-Met pass, sturdy shoes, and appropriate clothing.  You will have a hand-out to fill out on the trip.
• Thurs 5/21:  Debrief Hoyt Field Trip.  Transport through phloem and plant growth.

Your Seed Germination Lab is due Thursday, May 28th, although you can get some bonus points for turning it in early, especially if it is turned in by Friday May 22nd!!

5/4/15-5/7/15

SPARK Lecture on Monday 5/4!!  Tim Mattson amazing images of the universe!

• Mon 5/4:  Germinate some seeds!  Work on Leaf Worksheet, due tomorrow.  
• Tues 5/5:  Check your seeds!  Talk about Seed Germination Inquiry  Finish Leaf Worksheet and get checked off.  Read about transpiration in Chapter 9 of the new books.  Set up leaves for transpiration inquiry.
• Thurs 5/7:  Check your seeds again.  Finish transpiration lab activities.  Seed germination and plant transportation notes.

We will be going on a Field Trip to the Hoyt Arboretum on Tuesday, May 19th!