Halloween

Halloween today ... lots of students at school seemed pretty excited about getting out for some house decorating tonight.

Today at school, in Genetics, we started our electrophoresis, plasmid mapping lab.  It was a slow go since we could not share gels.  We will finish the lab tomorrow.  We will lose several juniors the last three days of this week for the APES program.

We have a Physics test in Selected Topics tomorrow, then on to our Chemistry unit.

Computer Programming is wrapping up 2-D arrays.  We will be checking two or our problems tomorrow.

Softball practice after school today ... scrimmaged with live pitching.  Tomorrow we are going to the Barren River dam with the CC team for conditioning.

Good weekend weather ... turnips and a praying mantis

It was a busy weekend.  On Saturday, we worked around the house getting things ready for winter ... mowed and trimmed the yard ... I picked some turnips for Sue Neal.  They were not real big ... the largest the size of a tennis ball.  On Sunday afternoon, I picked some for our neighbor ... if the weather holds, we should have some larger ones in a week or two.  Sue Neal cooked some today and said they were good and tender.

I checked and fed our bees today after Sunday School.  They seem to be doing well although a couple of the hives feel a little light on honey.  I finished putting in entrance reducers.  Killed a European honey that was flying around one of the hives at the goat field.  I wish I could find that nest and get rid of them ... I don't know how many honey bees the kill and eat each year but they are annoying and big!
While at one hive behind the house I noticed a praying mantis hanging out at a hive ... trying to eat bees?

Finally ... a pict of Sean in our electromagnet contest last week.  He and Cody won by picking up 61 paperclips with a D battery.  Congrats!

Friday - Lots of activities at school this weekend ...

Sue Neal did not go to school today ... so I was solo at ACS ... football team is playing Monroe for senior night and the band is in Semi-state held at ACS tomorrow.  Good luck to all!

To wrap up the week, in Genetics, we worked on our Chapter 11 discussion questions.  Prepped up our restriction lab on Monday and our Review Game tournament continued.

Selected Topics did a simulation on parallel and series circuits on our PhET software today.  We did a Christmas light simulation.

Our computer programming class is still working on 2-D problems and will continue on these problems next week.  Microsoft Visual BASIC on the horizon though.

It has turned off cold but, plan to do some jobs on the farm tomorrow so will take some pictures.

Rain, Cold and almost Friday!

Started raining last night and still raining a little.  I am afraid cool weather is on the way.

In Genetics today, after our morning quiz that only one person passed (must have a perfect score to pass), we worked on our discussion questions in Chapters 11-12 ... we will finish these tomorrow.  Also we have our review game tournament going ... Our labs from Carolina came in so several labs start up next week ... bacterial transformation, restriction enzyme analysis and our Drosophila crosses.

In Selected Topics today we prepped up our circuit simulation lab for Friday.  Spent most of the block reviewing for the Physics test which will be middle of next week.

Several students finished there tobacco cutting problem and will continue on a couple of OYO 2-D problems tomorrow ... on the horizon is our lottery analysis.

Sue Neal left school immediately after school ... stomach virus possibly ... I had softball conditioning after school, stopped by the conservation office and went the the grocery for Granny ... then, took her to revival.  A long day.

On Demand Writing this AM

Our freshmen, juniors and seniors participated in a field test for on demand writing this morning ... several prompts that required and article, letter or ...  I have a senior homeroom and all seemed to take the first block interruption in stride and worked through their writing prompt.  The rest of the day, we were on schedule.

Our Selected Topics in Science class handed in the Electromagnet Labs and worked on some physics problems ... calculating average speed, momentum, force and work.  We will be wrapping up our physics unit soon so, will have some pre-test practice questions tomorrow.

We working on our Tobacco Cutting 2-D computer problem today with good success.  Most students are getting a handle on working with 2-dimensional arrays.  Two simple 2-D OYO problems start tomorrow.

Nothing after school tomorrow.  I walked on some annual rye in low areas of our corn fields where erosion might occur in the spring ... about 80 lbs.  ... ran out of seed and will finish this weekend.

Softball conditioning tomorrow.

Parent - Teacher Conferences ... Field Test tomorrow!

We had Parent - Teacher Conferences this evening ... I had seven parents to come in.   Most of the students we have that do not do well miss school regularly. 

In Genetics today, we took a morning quiz and worked on some discussion questions before starting a review game tournament.

Selected topics worked on student generated labs ... Faraday's Law and a battery comparison.  We will finish up some vocabulary tomorrow.

In computer science, we worked on our 2-D problems ... everyone appears to have gotten a good start.

Tomorrow, during first block, we will take a field test in writing. 

Wish I could have been outside today ... it was beautiful and probably one of the few warm days we have remaining this year.

Parent - Teacher Conferences tomorrow

Another Monday ... In Genetics today, we only had about half the class hand in their quiz they were to prepare over the weekend ... casual and a red flag.  We worked on a little review of replication- transcription and translation.  Also, started our year-long project on alternative fuels ... biofuels / ethanol.  Tomorrow Chapter 11 questions and more.

Selected Topics worked on their electromagnets and we had our competition ... We had two teams make electromagnets with a D battery that could pick up 61 paperclips.  Congrats to Devin, Sean and Cody !!!   Tomorrow students will design their own experiment to test Faraday's Law and and different brands of batteries.

In Computer programming we started work on 2-D array problems ... back to work on something difficult and amazing ... sorting, the power of a computer!  We are going to end up with lottery number analysis in about a week and half ...

We had softball practice after school ... throwing, fly ball drill and some hitting.  There will be no practice tomorrow because of parent - teacher conferences.  Next practice will be on Thursday after school.

Got home in time to take a walk down to Long Creek ... lots of leaves have fallen already ... especially on the north facing hillsides.

Tomorrow is Parent - Teacher Conferences from 3:30 - 6:00.

Championship Rings

Saturday, I did a second feeding of our bees.  A couple of the hives are a little light and I will continue to feed them for a while.  I have started feeding bees in double zipper Ziploc gallon bags instead of Boardman feeders.  I put about a half a gallon of sugar water (4 lbs sugar per gallon) in each bag then cut a couple of 4 inch slits in the top with a razor blade.  So far, it has worked well.  Two possible problems may be the amount of propolis they build under the bag and sometime you lose a few bees that get in the bag when it is empty and cannot get out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis

Today we had our ring ceremony for our 2011 State Championship Softball Team.  We had a slide show with music and a few speakers ... our players and coaches were thrilled to get their rings.  Several old supporters of softball were on hand and it was good to visit with everyone and eat a little dessert.  We have already started practicing with the 2012 team.  Six players with significant experience return for the 2012 campaign ... we should be good again.
Pictures below ...  Macey, Amanda and Catie look over their rings, Coaches, Mark and Robert check out their rings (Mark has a size 16.5) ... Chuck looks happy in the back ground ... and the sign that will put in front of the school ... maybe a little bigger than it should be ... hopefully, one of our teams can add another championship in the next few years.

Friday ... first freeze tonight?

We wrapped up a long week today.  Lots of after school activities and obligations ... but, the weekend finally.

Today in Genetics, we went over our retake Test II, Chapter 10 discussions questions and assigned some AP level multiple choice questions which are due Monday.  Many students in this class are taking the ACT test tomorrow ... Good Luck!

Selected Topics students finished their physics vocabulary for the simulation we finished yesterday with their drawing of their deep space Space Trucks.  We prepped our Electromagnet lab for Monday.  Remember those D batteries on Monday!

We finished up checking our graphic problems today in Computer Programming ... 2-D array problems start on Monday ... Microsoft Visual BASIC is on the horizon.

Got home at about 5:00 and went up to check on Granny.  She had been to PT this morning and later to eat lunch at Dumplin's.  No big news from downtown Holland!

I noticed someone picking turnip and mustard green at Burl's Big Turnip Patch this evening ... we have had a lot of people stop by. Uncle Burl would be pleased about that!  I plan to feed our bees again tomorrow and plant some bulbs.

Picture below are the winners of the structure contest last week ... Aaron and Rex ... this is their 2nd contest win!  Congrats!

Force, vectors and a tug-of-war

Today in Selected Topics, we finished our computer PhET Energy Park physics simulation ... we will work on the vocabulary and write up tomorrow.  We also tested each individual student for the amount of force they could generate pulling elastic workout tubing attached to a door.  We put these values on the board and chose up teams so each team had a equal collective force.  Each team then applied this force in a tug-of-war.  The action and winners below...

In Genetics, after our daily quiz, we reviewed Crick's central dogma and went over our discussion questions in Chapter 9.  Tomorrow we will discuss our Chapter 10 questions and have some sample AP questions for replication, transcription and translation.

We are still checking problems in computer science, but tomorrow, will start problems using 2-D arrays.

We had softball practice on the field today ... lots of throwing, fielding and some hitting.

Our softball team's ring ceremony will be Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm.

I have not been home before dark this week so no walks or pictures from the farm ...

PD, chromatography and roller coasters

Sue Neal and I had a 3 hour PD after school today so it was a long day.  Today started off with Genetics...  We had a morning quiz then moved into a paper chromatography lab using acetone/ether for a solvent.  We separated the photosynthetic pigments in geranium leaves then calculated the Rf value for each pigment.  Lots of talk about biochemistry.  Tomorrow will wrap this lab up with a discussion of separation science and go over our discussion questions in Chapter 9.

Selected topics conducted a simulation using University of Colorado's PhET online software ... we simulated a skateboarder on earth, moon, jupiter and in space ... studying the effects of gravity.  Students had to generate a roller coaster on earth called the Patriator ... three loops, two jumps and two changes in direction.  We will finish this tomorrow.

Several students in computer science were wrapping up the farm scene, adding music.  I will continue grading these projects tomorrow.

A reminder that our ring ceremony will be Sunday afternoon at 2:00 for our softball team.

End of the 9 weeks will be Friday.

PD, chromatography and roller coasters

Sue Neal and I had a 3 hour PD after school today so it was a long day.  Today started off with Genetics...  We had a morning quiz then moved into a paper chromatography lab using acetone/ether for a solvent.  We separated the photosynthetic pigments in geranium leaves then calculated the Rf value for each pigment.  Lots of talk about biochemistry.  Tomorrow will wrap this lab up with a discussion of separation science and go over our discussion questions in Chapter 9.

Selected topics conducted a simulation using University of Colorado's PhET online software ... we simulated a skateboarder on earth, moon, jupiter and in space ... studying the effects of gravity.  Students had to generate a roller coaster on earth called the Patriator ... three loops, two jumps and two changes in direction.  We will finish this tomorrow.

Several students in computer science were wrapping up the farm scene, adding music.  I will continue grading these projects tomorrow.

A reminder that our ring ceremony will be Sunday afternoon at 2:00 for our softball team.

End of the 9 weeks will be Friday.

Superlative alleles

Superlative winners from the population genetics class for ... allele a farmer would like, most likely to succeed, allele from the 60's and more.  Katelyn, Sarah, Sandy, Taylor, Aaron, Samantha and David ... congrats to all for great creativity and humor!
Today in genetics, we started with Chapter 9 but, spent most of our time on review of the Hardy-Weinberg formula with additional problems ... a review for the confused and those that had missed some school.  Tomorrow Chapter 9 and Chapter 10.

Selected Topics finish the write up on their Structure Lab and handed in this lab.  We spent some time on a PhET simulation we will do this week on energy.  We finished up today working on our Space Truck drawing of a vehicle that might be able to explore deep space ... topics in this discussion included carbon  oxygen cycle (needs a greenhouse), radiation in space (mutations), asteroids, how to power such a craft and more.
Tomorrow we will working on this simulation.

Started checking graphics problems today and will continue tomorrow ... two dimensional arrays are on the horizon.

We had softball conditioning after school ... running in the gym and tug of war since it was raining.

Took a flu shot after practice since we may be going on the NYC trip.

Raining this evening and turning cooler ... I hope the frost holds off ...

Club day and softball after school ...

Next Sunday afternoon at 2:00 is our ring ceremony when our varsity softball players get their state championship rings.  Everyone is invited and refreshments will be served. 

Today at school, I had several people out of class in Genetics for club schedule.  We wrapped up our Population Genetics Lab and handed it in.

In Selected Topics, it was structure testing day!  Out the fieldhouse we went with our structures.  Congrats to Aaron and Rex for holding 80 lbs with their 34 gram, 8" tall structure.  Ms Puritt and I had a structure that held 118 lbs.  We will finish this lab tomorrow and continue on in physics with important formulas.

We had several students out of Computer Programming for club schedule ... we are going to start checking our graphics problems tomorrow and Wednesday.  While in 4th block, Allison P stopped by.  Home for break, she is doing well at the College of Charleston.  Congrats AP ... it takes some courage to go away to school.

We had softball practice after school which ended up to be more conditioning that softball practice ... Fox and Geese maze ... did a little drill work at the end, especially with new players.

We had a booster club meeting at 6:00 ... got home late.

Will have some picts tomorrow from our structure competition and our population genetics lab.

Friday - Beat Raiders and picts

A busy Friday ... In Genetics we conducted our Population Genetics lab with Case Studies to simulate genetic drift, selection and heterozygous advantage (remember sickle cell anemia!).  We will finish this up with a discussion and some calculations on Monday (remember that Monday is club schedule!)

Selected Topics in Science finished their Super Structures today after looking over some the the biggest and historic structures of the world.  Pictures of the structure building work below!

Computer programming was busy trying to finish up their graphics problems today and we will start checking their solutions on Monday.

First 9-weeks period was over today with grades due by Friday and Parent-Teacher conferences the following week.

Our son John came over for a little visit this evening.  It was great to see him!

Winners of the catapult below, Team Big Red ... David and cousins, Sean and Austin ... Great job!

We will have the last session of our Patriot softball camp starting at 1:30 tomorrow ... Patriot softball state champion ring ceremony will be on October 23rd ... a Sunday afternoon.

Test Retake, Structure almost finished

In Genetics, most of the class took the Test II retake ... hopefully the results are better but, I'm not sure some students are serious enough to study for a test.  Tomorrow is our Population Genetics Lab (Part of an AP Lab - 8).  Students will conduct a simulation over several generations to see how gene frequencies change over time and how this occurs.

In Selected Topics, we had in class reading from our Current Science Magazine.  We then spent the rest of the block working on our Super Structures ... we are not making much progress but, hopefully things will pick up tomorrow.

Several students in Computer Programming were adding program generated music to their farm scene and animation today.  We will wrap up our graphics problems early next week.

Tomorrow our science students wanting to go on the ACS NYC - IV trip in February will meet before school.  32 signed up and there are a few underclassmen as alternates ... This is our fourth President's Day weekend trip to NYC ... includes the American Museum of Science, Metropolitan Museum of Art, a musical on Broadway and more.  Leaving on Saturday morning 2/18 and returning 2/20 Monday evening.

Graded papers this evening ...
rr

Genetics retake tomorrow and picts

I had several students out of my Genetics class taking the PSAT this morning.  Those that remained worked through some Hardy Weinberg problems and reviewed for our Test II retake tomorrow.  Students put solutions on the board below ... David looks like he knows what he is doing! Yeah!

In Selected Topics we went over Newtons three laws with examples and worked through some physics problems calculating acceleration.  We spent about half the block working on our applied physics problem called Super Structure.  Students are building an 8" tower using Woodsies from Hobby Lobby ... not to exceed 34 grams ... we will test them to see how much weight they will hold on either Friday or Monday ... the class all time record is 270 lbs.

In computer science we are working all week on graphics and animation ...  Top picture ... this side of the room has really worked on their farm scene with 3 animated objects ... Bottom picture ... Nathan recovering from his ACL injury with his friend Monsieur Funnell ... they always complain that Kendra bothers them but look who is actually working!

After school, I came home and walked on 50 lbs of yellow sweet clover seed over about 8 acres ... probably put on too much!

Super Structure Contest begins!

In Genetics today, we continued on our Hardy-Weinberg problems ... discussion questions for Chapters 7-8 and worked on gamete cards for our lab on Friday.

Selected Topics conducted Galileo lab at the football stadium before starting to work on our Super Structure problem.  Tomorrow physics continues with Newton's Laws.

Computer programming is still working on graphics and the farm scene with animation.

Day two of our Patriot softball camp was tonight with about 30 future Patriot players.

Tomorrow is the PSAT - National Qualifying Exam for National Merit.  As I passed by the office this morning I saw that only 45 students were signed up to take the Exam ($14).  All juniors with 6-7 freshmen and no sophomores ... SHAME ON US!  There is little chance to do well on the this important test if you don't take it before junior year!

Back to work after Fall Break.

In Genetics today, we went over the test we took before leaving for break ... the results were not good and when polled, over half the class said they did not study at all for the test the night before ... a red flag and a problem if and when you go to college.  Therefore, we will be taking this test again on Thursday ... Chapters 4-8 and labs/problems.  The students with the top four grades are exempt from this second version of the test. There will be no curve.
We also worked on population genetics today and did several Hardy-Weinberg problems in class ... assigned four for tomorrow morning.  We will have our Hardy-Weinberg Lab on Friday.

In Selected Topics today, we finished the catapult lab, prepped up our Super Structure lab which begins tomorrow.  We also did a short lab activity on hang time and gravity.  Tomorrow will be more physics problems and our Structure Lab.

Students in our computer programming class are working on their Ol' McDonald Farm Scene problem and will continue this problem which contains three animated objects tomorrow.

After school we had the first day of our Patriot Softball Camp ... grades K-6 ... it was fun and our players did a good job working with these future Patriot players ... will take some picts tomorrow and attach.

PSAT on Wednesday ... it is the National Merit Qualifying Exam for juniors.  We have some freshmen taking it.  !!! Good for you!  You should take every big test you can while in HS ... practice taking big tests can only make you better at taking big tests!  Nothing could be more important than putting National Merit Semi-Finalist or Finalist on your resume ... however, not many students at our school have ever won this award.  Good luck to our students on the PSAT this Wednesday !!!

Other:
Sue Neal and I spent last weekend in Illinois visiting our oldest daughter and her husband.  We went up on Thursday afternoon.  Friday we toured some of Champaign County ... lots of combines working on the corn and soybean crops. Saturday we went to a farmers market and a movie later.  Left on Sunday morning and ate an early lunch in Indianapolis with our nephew Jess who is attending Marian University.  Got home late Sunday afternoon to the sounds of guns firing at deer!  It was a good weekend!

Burl's Big Turnip Patch ready!

Our Turnip Green patch is just right for picking ... Sue Neal and I have picked several grocery bags full for neighbors.

Cordell and Burl were best friends in Holland years ago.  When Burl turned 18 he was going to join the Navy and his best friend Cordell said he was going too.  Even though Cordell's father had died and his mother was nearly blind ... he was her only child, he went with Burl to sign up for the Navy also.  While going through enlistment process, they were separated.  When they met up afterwards, Burl was in the Navy and Cordell was in the Army (because he was color-blind).  Burl went to the war in the Pacific and Cordell went to Europe where he was killed in Luxembourg. (Luxembourg according to Burl ... but, Cordell's tombstone says Germany).
Cordell is buried beside his mother in Oak Forest Cemetery.  Burl passed away last summer at 85 and is buried in Mt Zion Cemetery.

Every year, Burl about had a panic attack to get his turnip patch planted during Labor Day weekend.  He often enlisted several helpers for this project.  He would later recommend eating turnip greens to "clean you out".  Burl always ate more than his share but, gave bushels of the greens away to neighbors and friends.

Our Apple IIe and second round of Apiguard for our bees!

Yesterday I picked several bags of turnip and mustard greens for our neighbor Lou and took her some honey.  She was happy to get them and said she was getting really tired of eating broccoli ... she is diabetic and says a teaspoon of honey on her cereal is all she can eat each day.  I should have stayed longer to talk.

After that I bush-hogged a little before changing the oil in the tractor, added hydraulic oil and greased it.  I think it ran better afterwards, probably my imagination.  Got the mower running for Sue Neal and she mowed the yard.

After lunch, put the loader on the tractor to move piles of brush from the fence rows where I had been working. 

Mid afternoon took some time to add a second round of Apiguard for mites and fed light hives.  Got to about half of the hives before running out of Apiguard.  Our bees are still busy with fall flowers and the number still look good.  Finished the day moving more brush.

Yesterday, Steve Jobs died of cancer.  You know how I like Macs!  Our first computer was an Apple IIe ... about 29 years ago when we lived in Ohio.  Rachel was little.  It had 64K and I expanded it by putting in an expansion card for 256K ... whoa!  It had a green screen, a printer and a joystick!  Rachel use to love to play Sticky Bears Alphabet and Numbers (from Weekly Reader) ... I loved the new concept of wordprocessing! 
I should have bought Apple stock then ... you knew Apple was going to be something special.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_IIe

Fence Row Cleaning ... White Snakeroot?

Sue Neal and I are busy using fall break to catch up on things here at home.

Yesterday,  Sue Neal took Granny for PT in Scottsville and got home by noon after eating a late breakfast in town.  I got my tractor going again after a flat tire ... too many locust thorns on this farm.  Worked on things around the house.  Bottled honey late.

This morning I cut back the fence row in front of our house.  It is difficult to see up and down the road when pulling out of our lane.  Mostly cedar trees but lots of limbs.  Finished up after lunch and will pick it all up tomorrow morning after I get the loader back on the tractor.  Went to town for fuel and bush-hogged late afternoon until dark.

Yesterday evening, I took a walk and even after the sun was down, bees were returning to the hives at a rate of about 100 a minute.  There are still several fall flowers blooming ... goldenrod, asters, ageratums and white snakeroot in the woods.  I have been worried about the White Snakeroot ... poisonous to cows and people ... there is a lot of it and I have seen bees working it.  I have not been able to find much on the internet about it.

Harvesting some turnip/mustard greens in the AM for one of our neighbors.

Shorty is 80, Brown County fair and picts ...

I went up this weekend to Ohio for my father's 80th birthday.  He was a farmer before retiring ... we use to spend a lot of time farming with my Grandfather Roberts.  We went to Maysville for lunch on Saturday to celebrate his birthday and Sue Neal and I went to church with him this morning before driving home.  Pictured below ...
Sue Neal and I went to the Brown County Fair Saturday evening where we saw two of our former students now at Berea College.  They had came home with one of their Berean classmates from Georgetown OH.  It was good to see them and they are doing well at Berea.  Got to see my sister and her family ... it was fun!

School Friday ...
On Friday, Genetics took their second test of the year ... lots of genetic problems ... after fall break we will pick up our studies with Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 discussion questions.

We had our Catapult contest in Selected Topics ... applying some of physics concepts.  Congrats to Big Red Machine ... will take their picture when we return.  Pictures of the action are below.

Computer Programming is working on graphics but, on Friday we had a Pep Rally fourth block so missed over half of the class.

Hope everyone has a great fall break!