10/28 & 10/31

Today, students used microscopes to look at plant cells. Inside the rectangular plant cells, we were able to observe round chloroplasts.

Elodea plant cells (400x)

 After the microscope lab, students practiced for the test next class. They visited 15 study stations to practice everything we have learned over the last 6 weeks. We ended class with time to work on the study guide. Students could finish missing assignments, make flashcards or work on the study guide.

Homework = Use your lab notebooks, classwork, and this blog to practice the answers on your study guide. I encourage you to make flashcards for the vocabulary. Ecology Study Guide

Announcements = Test Next Class!!! End of the quarter is also next week. Please turn in any missing assignments. I will be available Tuesday - Thursday at lunch and after-school.

Ecology Test on November 1st/2nd!

We will have our first big test next week on Tuesday/Wednesday, 11/1 & 11/2. The test will cover the 6-week Ecology unit. Over this unit we studied the following topics:

1. Ecology interactions, such as predator/prey and mutualism
2. Energy in the ecosystem, as shown in food chains, food webs & energy pyramids
3. Chemical cycles, including the Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorous cycles
4. Cell Energy: Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration processes

Students will get the study guide in class on Thursday or Friday. I highly encourage you to make flashcards for the vocabulary. You should use your lab notebooks, lecture notes and classwork to help you answer the questions on the study guide. Previous blog entries might also be helpful if you are missing something! Need extra help? Come see Mrs. Polzin after school Tuesdays - Fridays. 

Ecology Test Study Guide

Missing your lecture notes? We used these four sets of notes:
Intro to Ecology power point
Energy in Ecosystems power point
Nutrient Cycles power point
Photosynthesis & Cell Respiration power point

10/26 & 10/27

Students recorded the results of their Snail Lab and wrote a paragraph to discuss the results. After the lab, we took lecture notes on Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration, then practiced the information from the notes in the "Comparison of Photosynthesis & CR" worksheet.

Absent Students: Come observe your snails this week to complete your lab. They will be available until Friday. Copy the lecture notes from the power point.

Cell Energy LN Power Point
Cell Energy lecture notes outline

10/24 & 10/25

Today we began our study of Photosynthesis & Cellular Respiration. This will be the last piece of content in our Ecology unit. Students completed the "Interpreting a Graphic" activity in their lab notebook, examining two diagrams, then reading page 198 in the textbooks to get information about the two processes. Students then worked in their table groups to set up an experiment with aquatic snails and plants in test tubes, to study which gases are exchanged in these processes.

Interpreting a Graphic organizer
CR Diagram
Photosynthesis Diagram
Snail Lab

10/21 B-day

After completing & submitting our CCE budget assignments in Google Classroom, students completed on their Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorus cycle posters. We then completed the "Ins & Outs" worksheet to learn how the element moves & changes in the ecosystem.

Absent Students: Fill out the worksheet using the posters in Mrs. Polzin's classroom. Flex is on Wednesday next week.

Ins & Outs Worksheet

10/20

A-day students completed their CCE budgeting assignments and turned them in via Google Classroom. As there is an "extra" A-day Biology class this week, students also worked on Carbon Cycle activities on Google Classroom. B-day students are welcome to complete the Carbon Cycle activities for extra practice, however, they will not be turned in for a grade. 

Absent students: Use Google Classroom to complete the three carbon cycle activities. Write your answers in the packet as you go, then turn it into Mrs. Polzin. I will have the laptops during Flex and after school this week to work on these assignments as needed.

Online Carbon Cycle activities

10/19

College & Career Day! Students rotated through four sessions with their counselor and community teachers. The focus in Biology was on financing your future education. The two lessons are on Google Classroom. At the end of the session, students had written & turned in one paragraph on funding their education, completed the "Reality Check" budgeting simulation, and filled in a budget spreadsheet that estimates the cost of living once you are out of college (based on your career & lifestyle choices). These are graduation requirements that will be uploaded to student Naviance portfolio accounts, so if you were absent, check out Google Classroom to make these assignments up!

10/18

A-day classes only! We completed work on our Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorus cycle posters. We then completed the "Ins & Outs" worksheet to learn how the element moves & changes in the ecosystem. Absent Students: Fill out the worksheet using the posters in Mrs. Polzin's classroom. Flex is this week and next week!

Ins & Outs Worksheet

10/13 & 10/17

Today, students took their Ecology Quiz. Students can make flashcards and complete the "Energy Practice" study guide worksheet to prepare for the quiz.

Following the quiz, we began the next component of Ecology, studying Chemical Cycles. We will focus on Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorous. Our goal is to find out how this chemical cycles through the ecosystem, the different chemical forms it takes, the name of the process of what changes it from one form to another, as well as why this chemical is important for living things. Students took lecture notes, read in the textbook and then created a poster about one of the nutrients.

Absent students: Come in during flex next week to take the quiz. Copy the lecture notes from the power point. Read pages 90-91 in the Biology textbook. During Flex, make a poster about one of the nutrient cycles.

Resources:
Ecology vocab to study for quiz
Nutrient Cycles lecture outline
Nutrient Cycles power point
Nutrient Cycles Poster Assignment

10/11 & 10/12

Today in class we used laptops to complete a lab simulation, examining competition between two paramecium species. Students can log into Google Classroom to see the website simulation, as well as the worksheet we used to track our experiment & data collection. Each student completed their own paper worksheet that was turned in (the online version does not save data!).

Virtual Lab: Population Biology
Virtual Lab worksheet

Following the lab simulation, students completed the "6-week survey" in Google Classroom.

Announcement/Homework: We will have a quiz next class. Students have a homework worksheet called "Pass the Energy" and should make a Quizlet or flashcards for the vocabulary words.

Ecology Vocabulary List

Homework: Ecology Unit Vocabulary

There will be a quiz next class. To study, please complete the "Pass the Energy" homework worksheet, and study the vocabulary words below. Please make flashcards or a Quizlet to help you practice.

Ecology Vocabulary

10/7 & 10/8

Today in Biology we completed the "It's all about the Energy" lecture notes. We then practiced constructing and analyzing food webs and the ensuing populations changes. Please see the previous post for the lecture notes and student worksheet. B-day students will be completing these assignments on Monday.

Homework for periods 1-3: Complete the "Food Webs, Populations & Invasive Species" worksheet, due on Tuesday (B-day students will get this Monday and complete it for homework, due on Wednesday). 

Food Webs, Populations & Invasive Species 

10/5 & 10/6

Today, students taped their Unit 2: Ecology Stamp Sheet into their lab notebooks to track classwork assignments. We did an activity to model the connections between biotic and abiotic factors in the ecosystem, creating an amazing string web in our classroom. We also began lecture notes on how energy flows through ecosystems, represented in food chains and food webs.

Unit 2: Ecology Stamp Sheet
Energy in the Ecosystem lecture worksheet
Energy in the Ecosystem Power Point

Announcement: I entered grades in StudentVue today. If you have a zero for an Ecology assignment, you were absent, did not finish, or forgot to turn it in! Come by during Flex to make-up assignments or finish/turn in missing work.

10/3 & 10/4

Today, students did a lab to examine the effect of temperature on goldfish respiration rate. Students worked gently with their goldfish to change the environment and see how it's gill plate would respond. In this lab, students practiced many scientific inquiry skills, including, making a predictive hypothesis, collecting & presenting data and analyzing their results. Absent students: Please come in during Flex on Wednesday or Thursday to make up this lab. 

Homework: Students should complete the lab analysis questions for homework. Be prepared to discuss your results next class.