Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Monday - Rip-O-Meter Lab

In class on Monday we first came into the classroom and went over the agenda and homework for that night. The homework that was due for today was to read section 1.1 and came up with the 6 types of questions, and to gather leaves for the lab that day. We handed in our homework in the bin, and went to our lab stations to complete the Sample Experiment part in the packet which was pages 24, 25 & 26 based on the sample given us. Once our group finished, we pulled out the page and also turned it into the bin. After, we spent a few minutes trying to determine the names of our leaves. By then we were ready to start the lab. My group tested leaves by size, and so far we noticed that the bigger the leaf, the more pennies the cup will hold. Towards the end of class, we completed page 27 in our UP packet, asking us what the matierals, procedure and variables were for our specific experiment. Although we didn't all finish the experiment, Mrs. Stein did remind us of a few things before class ended. She told us that if we didnt understand the homework and didnt do well on it, or just never handed it in then we should ask to make an appointment with her for a homework pass before September 4th. She also reminded us that if we were having any problems with moodle, email her.


The homework for Monday night was:
-Read appendix B A-14/ A-15
-Quiz Thursday
-Rip-o-meter write up- 9/9 (UP pages 31-32)
and virtual microscope that you can find on moodle.


This was Mondays blog....I dont know why it wasnt working!

The next scribe is Evan

Monday, August 30, 2010

Microscope Tutorial

Vicky - hope this video helps... you just need to play around with it.

Do your best! The goal is to learn how to use the microscope...

HELPPP! The homework on the computer, the microscope thingy isn't cooperating with me. I don't know how to use the microscope to do what it tells me, and when I found out, it wouldn't let me move on...help!

Friday's Class

August, 27th

On class Friday we started off discussing our first scribe post and completed "a star and a wish" on it. We then went over the homework (p.9, 10, and 19-21 in our unit packet). We reviewed what variables, a control group, and a hypothesis are. Mrs. Stein later told us that we would be able to get a homework pass if we stopped by and let her get to know us and vice versa. Later we were introduced to our next lab the "rip-o-meter lab" in which we test how much weight a leaf can hold before it tears, we were told that we should bring leaves in on monday so that we could start the testing. At the end of class we were assigned the homework which was reading section 1.1 and writing six types of questions and answers on the material and to bring in leaves for our lab.

The next scribe will be Gianna.

Virtual Microscope

http://virtualurchin.stanford.edu/microtutorial.htm

Saturday, August 28, 2010

6 Types of Questions

I received an email from one of your classmates asking for clarification about the weekend's reading assignment.  Below is my response.

yes... they are questions that you should be able to answer (or atleast try to produce an educated answer...ie: if it is a question that could have more than one reasonable answer).
the concept is that if you wanted to review the section... or think in terms of writing quiz questions for your classmates... what would be some good questions that you can ask? the idea is to write questions that could be answered using the information that is in the section... BUT it is easy to write questions like "what is a hypothesis?"... and those questions are easy to answer. It is a lot harder to write/answer question like "how is a hypothesis used by scientists?"... does that make sense?


so i would like you to CHALLENGE yourself to write different kinds of questions and provide comprehensive answers to them based on what you read. Does that help? i know it isn't an easy assignment. i want you to do your best. let me know if you have further questions. i will check my email throughout the weekend. -mrs. s

Thursday, August 26, 2010

First Two Days of School

Wed. Aug. 25th


Today in biology class, we talked about what science is. some ideas were the study of nature, something you can prove, the study of everything, and questions we ask about stuff. We also talked about what a hypthesis is. some answers for that were an educated guess, if this happens then this will, and an opinion on something we observe. After that we tested hypothesises by doing what is called milk lab. We took a bowl of milk and dropped four different colors of food dye in it. we the dipped toothpick in to see what would happen. we then did it agian this time putting dish soap on the toothpick. and again with a lot more soap and held it ther for a minute. before each of these steps we made a hypothesis on what would happen. by then the class was almost over so we filled in all the analysis questions we could before it ended.


Thurs. Aug. 26th

on our second day of Bio, our teacher told us more about what we were going to be doing throught the year. after that we got everyone set up on the school computer system and got set with moodle. of couurse ther was some confution getting set up so that took a while and when we finished there were a few minutes left were we watched a few videoes on internet saftey. then almost as soon as the last video was done the bell rang ending class.

The next scribe is Zoe

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Let's get started!

Hi There! You found our blog! This is the place to talk about what's happening in class; to ask a question you didn't get a chance to ask in class; to find out what you missed if you were absent, for parents to find out "How Was School Today;" to share your knowledge with other students. Most importantly it's a place to reflect on what we're learning.

Before you can get blogging, please follow the instructions on moodle for instructions on how to become an author on our blog.  Be sure to choose an appropriate screen name for yourself that can be used to identify you WITHOUT using your last name.  Please read this post completely and refer back to it if you have any questions about blogging.

The Scribe Post
So, what's this whole blogging thing and how will we use it in class?  Well, that is a great question that we will answer together over the course of the year.  Blogging is new to me too, so we will figure it out together! Every day one student will be responsible for creating a post to document what went on that day in class.  These posts will be called scribe posts and will make up much of our blog (at least to start!).  The student who makes the scribe post for the day will assign the next day's scribe the end of their post.  Refer to the Scribe List for more information.
 
Labels
Labels, also referred to as tags are important to keep our blog organized and for me to keep track of your contributions for your grade.  If you don't label correctly, I cannot give you credit for your work!  You must include the following 3 labelsyour name (first name, last initial... for example, mine would be DeborahS), the unit we are studying (refer to moodle for the name of the unit), and the type of post that it is.  For now, the two types of posts will be "scribe" OR "on my mind".  As we continue on this journey, we may introduce more types of posts.
 
Important Words About Ethics
Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post may exist scattered all over the internet.  That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and using first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. This is important not only for our blog but for online activities in your own life.  Use good judgement. 



Below are 4 guidelines that you will be expected to abide by.
  1. Blogspaces are to be treated as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. Engaging in conversation and debate with your classmates is encouraged, however, remember to always be respectful.
  2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog.  Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know.
  3. Again, our blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover things about you from your younger years. Be sure that anything you post you are proud of.... or else it can come bag to haunt you!
  4. Never link to something you haven’t read. When you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. 
Please take a minute to view this



Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Scribe List

This is The Scribe List. Every possible scribe in our class is listed here. This list will be updated every day. If you see someone's name crossed off on this list then you CANNOT choose them as the scribe for the next class.


This post can be quickly accessed from the [Links] list over there on the right hand sidebar. Check here before you choose a scribe for tomorrow's class when it is your turn to do so.


IMPORTANT: Make sure you label all your Scribe Posts properly (Your Name, Unit Title, Scribe) or they will not be counted.


Michael B              Amanda                   Delia                    Evan                   Andrew
Jordan                   Michael D                Natalie                 Dana                   Alex
Gaby                     Joel                          Mirella                 Anastasia          
Holly                     Calie                        Gianna                  Vicky                 Izabella
Adrian                   Caroline R               Michael R              Zoe                   Matthew
Angel                    Chloe                       Sam