What are/have we been doing?

• Tues 9/25:  Kahoot review for ecology test.  Mesocosm Observations.  Turn in Whitaker Ponds assignment through turnitin.com by 9:00 pm tonight.
• Thurs 9/27:  Questions?  Take Ecology Test.  Mesocosm observations.  Read 5.3 for next week.
• Mon 10/1:  Notes on Classification, including reasons for classifying, classification categories, the 3 domains, and binomial nomenclature.  Work time:  1) Find 10 unusual species names and write them in your notebook 2)  Make up 10 species names using an analogy and at least 4 different genera  3)  DBQ on p. 262   4)  Mesocosm observations
• Wed 10/3:  Animal Phyla ID Lab!  4 Phyla of plants.  Complete hand-out and turn it in or turn in on Friday.  Mesocosm Observations.
• Fri 10/5:  Fish Dichotomous Key Activity.  Make your own dichotomous key for 10 items based on visible characteristics.  Make sure that you include pictures so that a student could do your key without knowing about the items.  Dichotomous Key is due Monday 10/16.  Read 5.4 in the text.

Mesocosm Assignment

One of the 7 required practicals for IB Biology is to study a mesocosm in the classroom.  

The write-up will be due in 2-3 weeks (will be finalized after I see how the mesocosms are doing) through turnitin.com and should include:

1. Detailed observations from at least 6 separate days.  Include water clarity, condition and growth of plants, types of animals, behavior of animals, condition of muck and other debris, etc. Make it clear which mesocosm goes with each observation and which day.  You can include details about the classroom conditions (temperature, light, etc) if you think they are relevant.
2. Use vocabulary from the ecology unit to try to explain what you think is happening in the mesocosms.  For example, information about cycles, energy, and types of nutrition would be appropriate.  You don't have to know exactly what is going on or know the names of the organisms, but do your best to give reasonable explanations.  If you use outside information in your explanations, state where or how you got the information.
3. Predict what you think will happen in the mesocosms, giving a reason for your predictions.

I expect that a good job on this assignment will take about 2 pages of writing, although it is the quality and ideas that count, not the quantity.

What is on the Ecology Test (next Thursday 9/27)

1. 10-15 Multiple Choice Questions
2. 4 short-answer questions:  topics could include drawing and labeling an energy pyramid, drawing and labeling a food web, calculating and interpreting a chi-squared test, drawing and labeling a carbon cycle that includes relevant pools and fluxes, explaining how Greenhouse gases cause warming of the Earth, describing the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and rising temperatures, etc.!
3. A data-based question related to this topic
4. A longer question on describing the problem of climate change:  what is it, the science, controversy, precautionary principle and what it means, and possible mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Some important vocabulary:  species, population, community, ecosystem, abiotic environment, producer, consumer, decomposer, detritivore, saprotroph, autotroph, heterotroph, sustainability, mesocosm, trophic level, energy pyramid, carbon fixation, methanogenesis, peat, combustion, carbon flux, carbon pool, greenhouse gas,

Weeks 3 and 4

• Tues 9/11:  Present carbon cycles to the class.  Start notes on climate change.  Do critter sorting and Simpson Diversity Index part of Biotic Factors worksheet (to prepare for Field Trip next Wed 9/19).  Hand out 2 Field Trip forms to get signed.  Check off 4.3 DBQ's and carbon cycle drawn in notebook.
• Thurs 9/13:  Go outside and practice using quadrats and measuring the height of trees using a measuring tape and a Clinometer.  Come back inside and complete the biotic factors worksheet and get it checked off.  Do DBQ's on pp. 233 and 234.
• Mon 9/17:  Do chemical water testing using the aquarium water in the classroom.  Go over what we will do on the Field Trip and pack and label our equipment.   With the muck that I am bringing in from Whitaker Ponds, each class will make a sealed mesocosm and each individual should make their first observation.  Finish checking off all DBQ's and go over the answers.  There will be an Ecology Test next Thursday 9/27.
• Wed 9/19:  Whitaker Ponds Field Trip!  Students going on the AM Field Trip should come to Room 214 by 8:10 am and we will get our equipment assembled and go out to the bus when we are all ready.  The bus should return to Lincoln by 11:30 am and we will return to the classroom, organize the equipment, empty the dump jars, and leave everything ready for the PM field trip.  PM field trippers should meet in Room 214 by 11:45, get your equipment set, and we will head out to the bus to leave by 12:00 pm.  The PM bus should return by 3:10 or so, and we will have time to get the equipment back to the classroom, dump out the dump jars, and clean up.
• Fri 9/21:  Reflection on the field trip.  Make sure that you have put your data into the class database.  Finish talking about climate change and review what will be on the Ecology Test next Thurs 9/27.

Beginning of the Year!

Here is what we have already done and will be doing at the beginning of this year:

• Mon 8/27:  Full 8 Day!  30 minutes of brief introduction to the year.  Read 4.1.
• Wed 8/29:  Classroom procedures.  Hand out Safety Contract and Academic Contract to be signed by next Friday 9/7.  Group work on Ecology.  Individual bookwork done in your notebook.  Read 4.2.
• Fri 8/31:  Go over 4.1 bookwork.  Discuss how to do Chi-Squared and do it.  Get 4.1 work checked off today or next Wednesday.  Notes on nutrient cycling, sustainability, and mesocosms.  Jane Poynter video on Biosphere 2.
• Wed 9/5:  Finish checking off 4.1 work and go over it.  Energy transformation notes.  At your table group, make an illustrated food web that includes at least 10 organisms and draw an energy pyramid that represents one of the food chains.  Read 4.3.
• Fri 9/7:  Carbon cycling.  Distinguish between carbon pools and carbon fluxes.  Pick 2 out of the 4 DBQ's in 4.3 and do them in your notebook.  Draw a labeled carbon cycle in your notebook.  Read 4.4 for next Tuesday.

In-class Work for 8/29/2018

Group Brainstorm.  Have somebody in your group record to share out.

1. What do you think “ecology” means?

2.  What topics do you think fit under the ecology umbrella?

3.  When people say that a person is “ecologically-minded”, what do they mean?

4.   Who are some famous ecologists?

To be done in your notebook (each of you).  You can use 4.1 in the text for the rest

5.  What are     a)  producers?     b)  primary consumers?    c)  secondary consumers?     

d)  detritivores?    e)  saprotrophs?       If possible, include an example of each of the above.

6.  What are   a)  autotrophs?    b)  heterotrophs?   Examples?

7.  Define:  a)  species    b)  population    c)  community

8. What is an ecosystem?  Give 3 examples.

9.  How does an ecosystem remain sustainable?

10. DBQ on p. 204

11. DBQ on p. 209 (start if you have time, but we will discuss this and have more time on Fri 9/31)

Welcome Back to IB Biology HL!!

Welcome back for your senior year (except for a couple of you) of IB Biology!  I think you will enjoy the material for this year as we have saved the best for last!  At the same time, it will also take a lot of effort and perseverance.  It can be very challenging to juggle college aps, extended essays, portfolios, athletics, activities, and just having a social life!  You will probably find that you can't do it all and you will have to make some choices so that you can navigate the year.  Here is the proposed outline of topics for this year: 

Ecology (Chapter 4)

Biodiversity (5.3 and 5.4)

Evolution (5.1, 5.2, 1.5 and 10.3)

Digestion (6.1)

Circulation (6.2)

Respiration (6.4)

Carry out Individual Investigation (IA)

Semester 1 Final Exam

Immunology (6.3 and 11.1)

Muscles and Movement (11.2)

The Kidney (11.3)

Sexual Reproduction (6.6 and 11.4)

Neurons and Synapses (6.5)

Option A,B,C, or D (we will vote shortly)

Review for the IB Exam!

Late April:  Practice IB Exam on Papers 1, 2, and 3

May:  take IB exams and work on end of year projects