Last day!

Students took the final evolution quiz and completed a lab about hominid skeletons to examine how humans have evolved over time.

We have had such a great year teaching you! We hope that you have the safest and most wonderful of summers :-)

Thanks!
Ms. Yee & Ms. Polzin

6/9 & 6/12: Comparative Anatomy

On Friday, 6/9 & Monday, 6/12, students finished learning about the lines of evidence for Evolution. Students watched a review video, finished the lecture notes and looked at real animal skeletons to compare anatomy.

Here are all of the notes and lectures that students may want to review for the final quiz on Finals day! The Final class will consist of a short quiz and a lab comparing Hominid Skulls.

Video:
Stated Clearly Evidence for Evolution

Evidence Lecture Notes:
Evidence for Evolution Lecture notes

Evidence Powerpoint:
Evidence Lecture Notes

Mechanisms Lecture Notes
Mechanisms Lecture notes

Mechanisms Powerpoint:
Mechanisms Powerpoint

Study Guide:
Study Guide for Evolution Quiz

6/7 & 6/8: Career Fair & Radiometric Dating

Wednesday & Thursday were all about radiometric dating. In class, students practiced aging fossils using radiocarbon dating and half lives. Then, students modeled radioactive decay using M&Ms and created a graph with their data. Radiometric dating contributes to our understanding of Evolution and the fossil  record.

Wednesday was the A-Community Career Fair in the morning, so Per 1 & 2 did not have Biology class. They were excused from the activity.

6/5 & 6/6: Natural Selection

The focus of this class was to explore the mechanisms of evolution with a focus on natural selection. Students took lecture notes for 20 minutes about the 4 mechanisms of evolution including: Mutation, Genetic Drift, Migration and Natural Selection. Then, students explored natural selection with an online simulation where they got to design bird species on an island.

The link to the simulation:
Natural Selection Bird Simulation

6/1 & 6/2 - Start Evolution unit

Thursday & Friday (6/1 & 6/2) is the first day of our short evolution unit. The evolution unit is only 5 classes and will consist of evolutions "greatest hits" since we wish there was more time! Students took some short lecture notes about the fossil record and relative dating. Then, students simulated being a paleontologist and discovered & made sense out of some fossils. See pictures below for some great paleontology work!

After the "Fossil Find" activity, students did the "Who's on First" activity to look at layers of rock and understand how relative dating helps us understand the general age of a fossil.

There is no large test or project for the evolution unit, so as long as students are in class and participate in the activity each day, they will get credit for their classwork.

Daphnia Lab: Last day

Tuesday & Wednesday (5/30 & 5/31) are the last days to work on the Daphnia lab in class. Students were given sentence frames for the analysis portion and made a chart & graph in google sheets. This should give students all of the tools that they need to be able to complete the lab report outside of class.

Lab reports should be submitted by Friday at 11:59pm on google classroom.

Example graph and data table in sheets

Sentence frames for analysis paragraph 1
The science question being investigated was _________________________.
The data showed _________________________.
Based on research about ____________________, heart rate should increase/decrease because _____________.
* Students should include a section about how Daphnia perform homeostasis. What is homeostasis? How was homeostasis being performed by the Daphnia?


Sentence frames for analysis paragraph 2
Possible sources of error are_______________.
To improve this experiment, the following changes are suggested _______________.


Sentence frames for analysis paragraph 3
The hypothesis was: If ________________ then ___________________ because __________.
The data collected supports / does not support the hypothesis. 
When _____________________was added to the Daphnia's environment, then the heart rate increased / decreased to ________________ beats per minute (bpm).

Framing the Question	1 point possible for each component
1 paragraph about Daphnia	1
1 paragraph about experimental variable	1
1 paragraph about experiment	1
Science Question	1
Hypothesis	1
In-text citations?	1
Designing an Investigation
Materials listed	1
Experimental set-up explained	1
Data Collection: Control explained	1
Data Collection: Independent variables explained	1
Collecting and Presenting Data
Data Table	1
Graph	1
Results summary paragraph	1
Multiple trials	1
Analyzing & Interpreting Results
Homeostasis	1
Paragraph explaining results	1
Paragraph explaining limitations	1
Paragraph restating hypothesis, supported?	1
Bibliography
Resources properly listed	1
TOTAL SCORE	19	57	/55

Daphnia Day 3

Thursday & Friday (5/25 & 5/26), students have been finishing up any daphnia data collection that was not completed the prior class. For those who have completed their data, the class is dedicated to research and writing the lab report.

Most students have their data collected at this point, which is good news, since our daphnia cultures seem to have been depleted, and there are very few left. More daphnia are on the way but they will not be here until Wednesday. If students need those daphnia to finish data collection, they will need to come by at lunch or after school to gather their data. While they are waiting, students should still be writing their lab report by doing background research, writing their introduction, procedure, materials, hypothesis and any portion but the conclusion.

Students will have one more class (Tue & Wed, 5/30 & 5/31) to write their lab reports during class time. If students need additional time and help, we will be available at lunch and many days after school.

We would like the lab reports submitted on google classroom by Friday (6/2) at 11:59pm!

The documents from google classroom are added below:

Daphnia online resources
Daphnia Lab Report Details
How to write a bibliography
Lab Report Template

Daphnia Lab: Day 2

On Tuesday & Wednesday (5/23 & 5/24), students began the process of designing their experiments and collecting data.

At this point, students should have:

• developed an experiment question
• hypothesis
• materials list
• procedure
• data table

After that, students began gathering data about daphnia heart rate for their control. In general, students counted daphnia heart rate for 10 second intervals and multiplied by 6 to get the beats per minute. Students are expected to gather their own data for multiple trials, count their own heart rates, and write their own lab report.

If students were ready, they began collected experiment data, exposing the daphnia to environmental changes. Students added chemicals to their daphnia on the slides or exposed them to other changes such as light or sound. Students need to expose their daphnia to different levels, so if they chose a chemical they exposed their daphnia to a 1% solution, 5% solutions and 10% solution and collected trials from each.

Students should be working on question 2 in their lab packet, which is background knowledge about their variable, and bring that information to the next class. We will be spending the next 2 class periods finishing data collection and writing the lab report.

Daphnia!

Friday (5/19) and Monday (5/22) we are beginning a new unit where we are developing and designing an experiment to carry out on daphnia, see below:

Today, we read background information about the daphnia, viewed the daphnia through the microscope to practice making slides and recognizing daphnia organs, and made list of variables we might want to test in our experiments during the next week.

Daphnia Background Reading

Daphnia Lab Packet

We will be writing our one full lab report in the next week and a half. It is much easier if it is done a little bit at a time. To help this process along, before next class, students should answer the background questions 1 & 2 in their lab packet.

Picture from Sicily Larkin (per3)

Video from Sorenn Francis (per3)

Video Watch Party and Portfolio Updates!

Video Watch Party
On Wednesday & Thursday (5/17 & 5/18) we popped some popcorn and enjoyed the videos that everyone worked so hard on! Everyone received positive feedback about their videos, and grades are in progress.

If you did not get your video finished in time to watch it in class, you can still get a good grade on it. Please finish and submit your video full of good, scientific research ASAP! Also, if you submitted your video but have not yet submitted your sources, please get those turned in so you don't lose points on that.

Portfolios
Portfolios are due next week, as soon as you can get them in. Your portfolio will be complete when it has:

1. Cover Page: Title & Name
2. Genetics Unit Road Map
3. Red Genetics Vocabulary foldable
4. I am....Poem
5. Make your own Punnett Square: Simple/Complete Dominance
6. Make your own Punnett Square: Incomplete Dominance
7. Make your own Punnett Square: Co-Dominance or Sex-Linked Traits or other
8. Polygenic Inheritance Worksheet
9. Video Essay Reflection Worksheet

The final two components of the portfolio project are the analysis of polygenic traits (Polygenic Traits worksheet) and a video reflection students (Video Essay Reflection worksheet).

If you are missing any of these things, please get them from the blog or come see us during lunch or flex so that your portfolio can be completed and submitted.

Video Essay Update!

Monday & Tuesday (5/15 & 5/16) are the last class sessions to work on the Video Essay project. Ideally, students should come to this class with the research completed, ready to finish writing the script and film in class. If students use the class period to research and write, they will need to complete the filming outside of class time.

To film, students can use their phones or the mac computers we have  in class. If the computers are needed, students can film during Monday/Tuesday class, lunch any day, or after school on Tuesday.

On Wednesday & Thursday (5/17 & 5/18) we are going to watch our videos. Presenting the video to the class is part of the grade for the project, and if students do not submit their videos on time they will not be able to achieve an A for the assignment. 

To submit the video either: 

1. Upload video to google classroom OR
2. Email a link to the video on youtube.com to apolzin@pps.net

Technical difficulties are always a possibility. Disaster can be avoided if you start early so that you can troubleshoot these issues with help at lunch or during class!

Video Essay Project

For this project, students will select one topic: Race, Gender, Sexuality, Autism or present an alternative topic for consideration.

Students will have 2 classes to complete research, in addition to flex on 5/11 & 5/12. Additional research, video filming and editing is expected to occur outside of class time. Students were expected to perform research during class on 5/11 & 5/12. Your goal should be to come into class Monday/Tuesday with all of your research completed, and perhaps having your script ready. On Monday/Tuesday, students will have time to put the finishing touches on their script, film & edit videos.

Your video should be approximately 5 minutes in length. We would like to have a "watch party" (popcorn included!) on Wednesday and Thursday 5/17 & 5/18, so students who do not finish filming and editing in class on Monday/Tuesday will be expected to finish outside of class and upload the video to google classroom or share a youtube.com link by class on Wednesday/Thursday.

Here is the assignment description sheet:
Video Project

Grading Rubric:
Video Project Grading Rubric

Additional resources:
Links to articles and resources by topic

Examples of 5 minute videos

5/11 & 5/12 Portfolios and Research

The first 10 minutes of class was used to troubleshoot the portfolio punnett square entries, particularly for incomplete dominance and codominance. As a reminder, the list of possible traits is available as a link on Tuesday's blog entry.

The only codominant trait in humans is blood type. Since not all families and students have access to blood types, there are a few ways that this last entry can be completed:

1. Use student and parent(s) blood type and make the punnett square
2. Use parent(s) blood types to make punnett square and extrapolate the blood type of student
3. Choose to focus on a sex-linked trait instead and make that punnett square                         (color blind, male pattern baldness)
4. Create entry for trait not listed, and do outside research to investigate the inheritance of that trait.

The final two components of the portfolio project are an analysis of polygenic traits (Polygenic Traits worksheet) and a video reflection students will do on our video watch party day (Video Essay Reflection worksheet).

To transition to the research project, there was a short presentation about finding credible, scientific research online. The powerpoint includes links to websites and databases that might be useful for research. 

Evaluating Online Resources

The remainder of the time was spent researching and gathering scientific evidence for the video essay. 

We are planning to present the videos and research on Wednesday 5/17 and Thursday 5/18, there is a hard deadline with this research project so that students can present those days. Because of that, students should come prepared on Monday and Tuesday with all of their scientific research completed, ready to begin creating their videos.

5/9 & 5/10 Portfolio problems

The first half of class was spent working on adding three traits to our blue "Genetics & Identity" portfolios.  Portfolios will ultimately contain the following items:

1.    Cover Page: Title & Name

2.    Genetics Unit Road Map

3.  Genetics vocabulary foldable

4.    I am…  poem

5.    Make your own Punnett square: Complete dominance  

6.  Make your own Punnett square: Co-dominance

7.  Make your own Punnett square: Incomplete dominance

8.  Make your own Punnett square: Polygenetic inheritance

9.  Continuum: a personal narrative

10. Final reflection on video project

Here is a list of possible traits to choose from for your Punnett Square problems: List of genetic traits by inheritance pattern

In class, we worked on #'s 5, 6, & 7.  Students got a checklist for what to include for each trait problem with grading rubric:
Simple/Complete dominance portfolio entry
Codominance portfolio entry
Incomplete dominance portfolio entry

Students were able to start these in class, but are expected to finish the entries for homework. We will do a lot of trouble shooting in class this week. The extent to what students can find out may vary depending on what family members we have access to. There are lots of options for this project, so just let us know if you hit any roadblocks!

Still have questions? Here is an example of how this might look:

5/5 & 5/8: Simple dominance portfolio entry

Today, students took lecture notes on Genetic Variation. Following this, we did one more round of practice of more complex Punnett Squares.

Genetic variation lecture worksheet
Genetic variation power point
Exceptions review practice problems worksheet

For the last part of class we introduced the "Simple Dominance" or "Complete Dominance" Punnett squares that students will be adding to their personal portfolios. Students will choose one simple dominance trait and identify what is true for them. For homework, we would like students to determine information for this trait and how they personally express it. In addition, if possible, students should identify how their family members express this trait. From this information we will start to record phenotypes, and possible genotypes for ourselves and our family members.

Please Remember…

Our families take a lot of different forms. If you have any questions or concerns about completing any portion of this assignment, please check in with us! We are more than happy to trouble-shoot or propose alternative options for this portion of the portfolio.  Mrs. Yee & Mrs. Polzin

Step one: Choose a trait you want to examine!

Possible “Complete Dominance” (aka Simple Dominance) traits:

Trait	Dominant	Recessive
Cleft chin	cleft	smooth
Freckles	Freckles	no freckles
Ear lobes	Detached	Attached
Tongue rolling	Rolling	Can't roll
Cheek dimples	Dimples	no dimples
Widow’s peak	Peak	Straight hairline
Bent little finger	Last knuckle, pinkies bend away from each other	straight pinkies
Hitchhiker’s Thumb	thumb knuckle relatively straight	bending thumb to a 90degree angle
Long Palmar Muscle	long palmar absent	Has long palmar
Mid-digit finger hair	hair	no hair on middle section of fingers
Achoo syndrome	sneezing in bright light	not sneezing
Red hair	not red	red
Rh factor (blood)	+	-
Ear wax	wet	dry
Albinism	not albino	albino
Lactose intolerance	lactose persistant	lactose intolerant in adulthood

Step 2: In your blue "Genetics & Identity" portfolio, include the following items:

❏     Trait ❏     My phenotype ❏     My genotype ❏     Dominant allele (phenotype) ❏     Recessive allele (phenotype) ❏     My Punnett square

❏     My biological parents’ phenotypes (optional) ❏     My biological parents’ genotypes (optional) ❏     Reflection: Why did you choose this trait? How does this Punnett square show you? Would you want your offspring to have this trait?

  Step 3: Here is the grading rubric we will use. Double check that you were thorough and are doing high quality work!

Criteria	1 Needs improvement	2 Emerging	3  Proficient	4  Advanced
Complete dominance Punnett square and reflection	Punnett square is incorrect or missing. Reflection is not related to the trait chosen or not completed.	Punnett square may have a mistake. Reflection is connected to the traits chosen but not thoughtfully written.	All components are present. Punnett square is complete and accurate. Reflection is thoughtful with superficial evidence to support reasoning.	All components are present. Punnett square is complete and accurate. Specific evidence is used in reflection to support reasoning behind choosing the trait.