Cell advertisement online

Just a reminder that your cell advertisements are due on Thursday if completed by hand (no computer generated pieces allowed other than text) or on Friday if completed digitally using a program similar to http://www.glogster.com/ or http://www.wix.com/

Unfortunately, Glogster is being updated at the current time and is pretty unpredictable right now so you may have difficulty accessing your glog at certain times. I have not personally used Wix but have spoken with others who have said it is user friendly.

Brief tutorial for using Glogster (you can find more detailed videos on YouTube):


Brief tutorial for using www.wix.com (you can find more detailed videos on YouTube):

Time to Think Independent Research Projects & Schedule for Unit 3 - Cells

Hey everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend (Go Lions & Tigers!). Our quiz over macromolecules and enzymes will be on Wednesday, Oct. 5. As always, all notes and assignments from class are available on the wiki so feel free to print off any of the PowerPoints we either have used or will be using in class. Just remember to put @sparta.lan after your username when you sign in to the wiki.

Here's the schedule for the remainder of Unit 2 & Unit 3 - Cells (quiz will be Wednesday Oct. 18):

Monday 3rd:

• Review and reinforce enzymes
• Enzyme online module w/ simulations
• Enzymes in the digestive system video
• Enzyme stuff from online textbook - Chapter 5 Section 5 (sign in to the text is required - logins were handed out on Friday last week)
• Macromolecule review sheet assigned (due Tuesday at beginning of block - see wiki)
• Enzyme overview worksheet handed out (due Wednesday at beginning of block - see wiki)

Tuesday 4th:

• Discuss independent research project (lab notebook required starting Wed.)
• discuss requirements (click here for copy)
• all materials due Thursday

Wednesday 5th:

• Create brace map of macromolecules
• Discuss macromolecule review sheet
• Worktime for enzyme overview worksheet (due Thu.)
• More IRP work

Thursday 6th:

• Macromolecule unit QUIZ
• Begin cell notes/tree map & coloring (see wiki for PowerPoint & coloring pages)
• bring coloring utensils - return to kindergarten :)
• Setup independent research projects (Day 0)

Friday 7th (begin homecoming activities - class color day - sophomores wear purple):

• Setup independent research projects (IRP)
• Start cell notes 

Monday 10th (world wide sports day - need one item):

• IRP data collection (Day 1)
• Finish cell notes

Tuesday 11th (U.S.A. day - 2 items required):

• Assign cell advertisement (due Thu.)
• • either done on paper or through Glogster (more info to come)
• Cell Lab (see wiki) (turn in Wed.)

Wednesday 12th (favorite culture day - 2 items required):

• IRP data collection Day 2
• Finish Cell Lab (turn in)
• Cell advertisement worktime (due Thursday)
• cell review sheet (due Tuesday the 18th - see wiki)

Thursday 13th (tourist day - 3 items required):

• Prokaryotes v. eukaryotes (see wiki)
• Virus v. cells (see wiki)
• Double Bubble creation (click here or see wiki for video)
• Intro osmosis/diffusion lab (see wiki)
• lab through procedure due Wednesday

Friday 14th: HOMECOMING - No normal class --> wear your class shirt/colors

Monday 17th:

• IRP data collection Day 3
• Osmosis/diffusion lab
• Osmosis/diffusion notes & review
• Diffusion w/ agar or eggs prelab (due Thu)

Tuesday 18th:

• Diffusion w/ agar  or eggs lab (due at end of block)
• Review Cell Unit (review sheet due)
• Wrap up cell activities
• cell study guide & review (due Wed)
• membrane transport (due Wed)

Wednesday 19th:

• QUIZ cells

End of Unit One - On to the Nuts and Bolts of Biology

Unit one is officially over! Quizzes are graded and scores are posted in PowerSchool. Frog and microscope labs are graded as well and will be in PowerSchool by the end of the school day Friday. Next we will begin the macromolecule unit (biochemistry)

Here is the schedule for the unit:

Friday Sept. 23: Introduce macromolecules & start notes (see wiki for PowerPoint) & worktime for Frankenstein letter (due Tuesday)

Tuesday Sept. 27: Identifying macromolecules lab (see wiki for lab sheet) & Frankenstein letter due

Wednesday Sept. 28: Finish macromolecules notes (see video on wiki on Friday) & construct tree map of notes (due Thursday)

Thursday Sept. 29: Make enzyme puzzles (you may print a picture if you wish before class) / review macromolecules / complete enzyme graphing activity

Friday Sept. 30: Enzyme notes (see wiki for PowerPoint) & online activities & macromolecule unit review sheet assigned (see wiki)

Monday Oct. 3: TBD

Tuesday Oct. 4: Macromolecule unit QUIZ / Begin cells unit

Enjoy your day off on Monday :)

RIP Stewart & Schedule for Week of September 19, 2011

Let's begin this entry by paying our respects to Stewart the Frog, who tragically passed away today during 3rd block during our frog respiration experiments. Stewart will dearly be missed. In a final act of generosity, Stewart has donated his body to the forensic science class to be used as part of their decomposition studies, which will begin next week on the school grounds. As for all of his counterparts, they will be moving to their new home at the end of the day - the drainage pond on the north side of the school


Highlights of next week:

1. Quiz on Wednesday (scientific inquiry and experimental design)
2. Microscope exploration
3. Characteristics of Living Things (What makes biology?)
4. Start of the macromolecule unit

More detailed schedule will be out later. Enjoy your weekend

Great First Week!

Thank you everyone for a great start to the year. You guys all did a great job with the styrofoam peanut lab and we will continue to focus on lab based studies next week.

Here's the schedule for the week of Sept. 12-16 (First quiz is Tuesday Sept. 20):

Mon. Midterm pretest
Tue. More practice with IV/DV/control groups & glowstick lab prep (lab procedure due Wed.)
Wed. Glowstick Lab (full lab report due Thu.)
Thu. Glowstick lab results/review unit one/frog lab prep (Frog lab procedure due Fri. & unit review sheet due Mon)
Fri. Frog lab (completed lab due Monday)

Also, there are two extra credit opportunities out there:
1. Bring in two boxes of Kleenex OR one container of Clorox wipes (free homework pass)
2. Bring in a frog for Friday's lab, along with a sample of the water it came from - they must be frogs, not toads. (10 extra credit points)

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me through email at matt.landry@staff.spartaschools.org

Welcome to a new school year

Hello everyone and welcome to the blog that I maintain for my biology classes at Sparta High School. I will update this blog frequently with schedules, due dates, science news, miscellaneous study tools, etc. to help everyone achieve at a higher level.

Toward the top of the page you will find a "follow by email" feature that I highly recommend. Just type your email address into the provided box and then hit submit. This will then send you an email everytime I update this blog (two to three times a week). On this site you will also find a link to my wiki, which is where I store all of the files that I use for this class, including note sets and powerpoints, review sheets, lab activities, etc. Some of the files will require a username and password (Username: first.last@sparta.lan and the password is your normal password at school) while others will take you to a google document (which you can turn into either a word or pdf document).

I will post the remainder of the weeks schedule soon.

Final Exam Prep

Exam is Wednesday, June 8 during 1st block. Here are several helpful resources:

1. Quizlet flashcards: Biology Final Exam Flashcards

• Complete the learn mode and earn 10 extra points on your exam review. Please write your username on your exam review sheet near your name.

• Earn a top three score in any of the game modes to earn the ability for additional extra credit

• Print the flashcards as a helpful study tool.

2. Check the wiki for helpful documents:

• Exam review sheet
• Vocab terms sheet
• Exam review key? Check on Tues. evening

GOOD LUCK! STUDY!