Tuesday 5/29/12 & Wednesday 5/30/12

Today and tomorrow the students will be viewing "Deep Blue Planet".

Friday 5/25/12

Today the students took the "Worth The Wait" Exam.  I will try and have those graded  and entered as soon as possible.  Overall Grades for my class after this exam is entered will be current.

Thursday 5/17/12 - Thursday 5/24/12

During this time period we continued to go over the "Worth The Wait" information.  There will be an exam over all of this material Friday the 25th.

Wednesday's Class 5/16/12

Today the students and I discussed puberty, anatomy, and pregnancy.  We discussed how abstaining from risky behavior can prevent hard times and hurt feelings.

Tuesday's Class 5/15/12

Today the class and I talked about friendships.  We discussed how to judge whether a friend is good or bad.

Monday's Class 5/14/12

Today we went over the essential needs of people and how we fulfill those needs for ourselves and others.  I encourage you to discuss the topics of the day with your parents or parents I encourage you to discuss it with your child.  The students have been told that the "Let's Talk" paper can be signed and returned each day for 10 points extra credit.

Friday's class 5/14/12

We took our 4th nine weeks exam's today.  I will try and have those graded as soon as possible.

Thursday's Class 5/10/12

Today the students and I went over the review and then looked at my table of contents in my spiral.  The students have an exam over Adaptations, Genetics and Homeostasis tomorrow.  They also will be required to turn in their science spirals for a summative grade.

Wednesday's Class 5/9/12

Today the students received the review for their 4th Nine Weeks Exam.  Here are the answers to that review.

4^th NINE WEEKS FINAL EXAM REVIEW – ANSWER KEY

1.     What is an adaptation? Over several generations, an organisms ability to change and adapt to new environments in order to survive. 

2.    Why do species adapt? To survive and reproduce!

3.     What is the definition of natural selection? The gradual, non-random, process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population

4.     What is the adaptations cactus has made in order to survive its harsh conditions?  (Spikes, store water, waxy surface, adapted roots, etc)

5.     Define dominant allele. A dominant allele is an allele where its phenotype will always be represented when the allele for that gene is present.

6.     Define recessive allele. A recessive allele can be masked by a dominant allele when a dominant and recessive allele are present for the same gene.

7.     What is the difference between a dominant and recessive allele when crossed? The dominant trait will show up in the phenotype. Dominant allele in capitalized.

8.     What is heterozygous? One dominant allele and a recessive allele.

9.     What is homozygous?  Two of the same alleles.

10. What is a punnett square used for? To predict the probability of the traits of the offspring.

11. Complete an example of a punnett square when a male with brown eyes - BB is crossed with a female with blue eyes - bb. What is the ratio of the offspring?  100% Brown Eyes

12.  What is a genotype? Give an example. The combination of alleles Ex: Bb

13. What is a phenotype? Give an example.  The trait that will be expressed based on the 2 alleles – 1 from each parent. Ex: Purple Flowers

14. What would cause a species to survive changing environmental conditions and be able to pass their genes on to their offspring?  A species that could adapt to the new environment.

15. What are chromosomes? Cellular structures that are made of DNA that carry information that controls inherited characteristics.

16. Where is DNA located? Chromosomes in the nucleus

17. Who is known as the “father of genetics?” Gregor Mendel

18. How many genes do offspring receive for each trait? 2… One from each parent.

19. What happens when you get a fever? What temperatures would be considered a fever? You sweat.  Anything over the normal 98.6 would be a fever.

20. What is homeostasis? The process by which an organisms internal environment is kept stable during changes in its external environment?

21. What is a behavioral adaptation? Give an example.

Behavioral adaption is the things animals do to survive. Like bird calls or migrating are forms of adapting. When certain species are born they have to watch their parents or others surrounding them to understand what they have to do to survive. They have to learn to cope with the weather, enemies, and environment in a "suvival of the fittest" way.

22.What is a structural adaptation? Give an example.

Structural adaptations are physical features of an organism like the bill on a bird or the fur on a bear.

23. What kind of adaptations might an animal have in response to living in a dry, hot climate like the desert? It would avoid being active at night and conserve it’s energy for being active at night.

24. What kind of adaptations might an animal have to survive cold climates? Two layers of fur, inner layer insulates, outer layer sheds moisture and protects from wind

25. Why would an animal mimic the defense mechanism of a similar species? The other organism may be poisonous so by mimicking the defense mechanism of the other similar species it can evade predators.

26. How does homeostasis work with your circulatory system? It helps by increasing the blood flow in your body

27. Describe 4 different beak shapes birds have adapted to get nutrients from its environment.

a.     Crushing beak for hard seeds

b.      Crushing beak for plants, fruit buds, or leaves

c.      Probing beaks for insects in holes

d.     Stabbing beak for cactus parts and insects

28. What combination of genotypes would express a dominant trait? A recessive trait?

a.     Genotype express dominant trait – (any letter will work as long as both are capital or one letter is capital and the other is lowercase) BB or Bb

b.     Genotype express recessive trait – (any letter will work as long as both are lowercase) bb

29. Define asexual reproduction.

a.     Asexual reproduction – an exact copy of a single parent.

30. Define sexual reproduction.

a.     Sexual reproduction – causes genetic variation from the two parents.

31. What is the difference in the offspring of asexual and sexual reproduction?

a.     Asexual – offspring are an exact copy of parents.

b.     Sexual – a mixture of both parents.

32. What is the definition of selective breeding? What is an example?

a.     Selective breeding – the process of breeding plants and animals for particular traits; synonymous with artificial selection.

b.     Examples: different colored carrots, variegated ears of maize, charolais cattle produce more red meat and less fat, Chihuahuas and Great Danes are bred for size.

Table of Contents and Rubric for Spiral Summative Grade

Rubric for Spiral Summative Grade 

1) Table of Contents completed 

2) Completed 4th Nine Weeks Review

3) Disney Animal Adaptations/Communication Video Notes Completed 

4) IN: 3/20/12

5) Nervous Division of Labor Concept Map

6) IN: 4/4/12

7) IN: 4/17/12

8) Genetics Vocabulary on pg. 35

9) IN: 4/23/12

10) IN: 4/30/12

These will all be worth 10 points apiece.  They need to be completed all the way and in your spiral turned in Friday to receive credit.

Tuesday's Class 5/8/12

Today the students viewed a video over animal adaptations.  They took notes over the video and we discussed it afterward.

Monday's Class 5/7/12

Today the class took notes over plant adaptations and animal adaptations.  I will get those uploaded to my school website as soon as possible.

Friday's Class 5/4/12

The class did test corrections over the exams they took yesterday.  I will try and get those re-graded and entered into the grade book soon as possible.

Thursday's Class 5/3/12

The class took their exams today over punnett squares and dichotomous keys.  I will have them graded and entered into the grade book soon.

Wednesday's Class 5/2/12

Today we finished our dichotomous key assignment and reviewed for the exam tomorrow.  Check the blog post that has the review for help, along with the blog post that has the review games for punnett squares.

Review for Exam Tomorrow

Some things to help you review for the exam tomorrow.  Make sure you know the difference between a genotype and a phenotype.

Genotype- BB, Bb, bb it will only be the letters and consists of the gene letters.
Phenotype- It is the observable info.

Make sure you understand what a Heterozygous gene, Homozygous Dominant, and a Homozygous Recessive gene is.

Heterozygous- Bb
Homozygous Dominant- BB
Homozygous Recessive- bb

Make sure you can fill in a punnett square correctly.
If you understand this then you will do well on the exam tomorrow.
GOOD LUCK!!!

Tuesday's Class 5/1/12

Today I introduced Dichotomous Keys to the students.  They then had to create their own Dichotomous key for some imaginative creature they made up.  We worked on it during class today and will finish it during class today and present them tomorrow.

Monday's Class 4/30/12

Today the students worked though Ch. 19 and had them work on the Chapter assessment when done reading that answering questions 1-15.