On Wednesday, we had a faculty meeting after school today so got home late. Took our cat Bossy to the vet this morning before school and Sue Neal picked her up on her way home. Bossy has an ear infection and at the vets, they washed out her ears after sedating her and treated her ... now she is worth so much we will have to keep her for awhile! She was glad to be home and seems no worse for the trauma.
I still have a bad cold, and limped through another day at school. Hope it is better tomorrow.
In Genetics we worked on Primate evolution and will finish this Chapter in our Genetics book tomorrow. We also finished our review tournament. I will have picts tomorrow.
In Selected topics we are working our way through the Animal kingdom and got bogged down in parasitic round worms today. We also worked on our bird identification project. Tomorrow Mollusca and Annelida.
In computer science we are checking problems before moving into multiple form programs. We had some great programmed slot machines today!
We have softball practice after school tomorrow. Congrats to both our boys and girls basketball teams for the wins at South Warren yesterday ... Congrats to Thaxton ... 26 points! Wow! An AP Bio student that can shoot!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
First Snow today!
We had our first snow today after two days of rain. Everyone at school was pretty excited but, school as usual tomorrow since temperatures are just above freezing and the ground is so warm that it all melted. I have a bad cold and had to limp through the day carrying a roll of toilet paper with me all day to control my nose.
In Genetics, we went over the rules and consequence of the rules for the Hardy-Weinberg Equalibrium as we finished Chapter 15 ... population genetics. We are wrapping up our review game tournament ... still a couple of teams without a win. Tomorrow ... on to Chapter 16 ... early primates.
In Selected Topics today we started our study of taxonomy ... starting with the Animal Kingdom. Tomorrow Platyhelminthes, Nematodes and Annelida. We also started studying for the Big Bird test ... bird identification.
In computer programming we are working on our casino problem ... VB Prob 6. Also started to think about exit projects for our final.
Went to softball lifting but left early as not to give my cold to our players ... Coach Carter took practice.
Hope to feel better tomorrow!
In Genetics, we went over the rules and consequence of the rules for the Hardy-Weinberg Equalibrium as we finished Chapter 15 ... population genetics. We are wrapping up our review game tournament ... still a couple of teams without a win. Tomorrow ... on to Chapter 16 ... early primates.
In Selected Topics today we started our study of taxonomy ... starting with the Animal Kingdom. Tomorrow Platyhelminthes, Nematodes and Annelida. We also started studying for the Big Bird test ... bird identification.
In computer programming we are working on our casino problem ... VB Prob 6. Also started to think about exit projects for our final.
Went to softball lifting but left early as not to give my cold to our players ... Coach Carter took practice.
Hope to feel better tomorrow!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Water Lab over and Dissolved Oxygen Kits checked!
At school today ...
In Genetics we finished our Properties of Water Lab. We also checked our LaMotte Kits for our first AP Lab ... Dissolved Oxygen and Primary Productivity Lab. Replaced reagents in some of the kits and ran a water sample to get use to the procedure. We are back to the book tomorrow ... Chapter 15 questions and a reading assignment.
In Selected Topics we finished our lab and will head back to our study of evolution and populations genetics tomorrow. Also starting our study of birds and taxonomy.
We checked our first four problems in Visual BASIC today. Students are doing a lot better designing and programming the graphical user interface. Tomorrow is Problem Six and we will begin to develop our Exit Projects tomorrow.
No softball practice today so got home early. We will lift tomorrow after school. This evening, sawed out enough wood for twenty or so shims for my hives. About 2.5 inches tall ... high enough to feed the bees using a zip-lock bag and/or treat for mites. I will try and get them put together this week and painted.
Rained all day and a slight chance of snow tonight so Sue Neal is starting to hope for a snow day. We got over two inches of rain.
In Genetics we finished our Properties of Water Lab. We also checked our LaMotte Kits for our first AP Lab ... Dissolved Oxygen and Primary Productivity Lab. Replaced reagents in some of the kits and ran a water sample to get use to the procedure. We are back to the book tomorrow ... Chapter 15 questions and a reading assignment.
In Selected Topics we finished our lab and will head back to our study of evolution and populations genetics tomorrow. Also starting our study of birds and taxonomy.
We checked our first four problems in Visual BASIC today. Students are doing a lot better designing and programming the graphical user interface. Tomorrow is Problem Six and we will begin to develop our Exit Projects tomorrow.
No softball practice today so got home early. We will lift tomorrow after school. This evening, sawed out enough wood for twenty or so shims for my hives. About 2.5 inches tall ... high enough to feed the bees using a zip-lock bag and/or treat for mites. I will try and get them put together this week and painted.
Rained all day and a slight chance of snow tonight so Sue Neal is starting to hope for a snow day. We got over two inches of rain.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Back to School after Thanksgiving ... and the golden mouse!
Over Thanksgiving, Rachel and Kyle were in from Champaign, Illinois. John and Claire were in for a couple of days too. After hosting Sue's family for Thanksgiving, we had a chance to visit with our children. Rachel and I went through all the hives again and fed light hives one more time. We also put in the bottom boards getting ready for the winter to come! One of Rachel's high school friends, Elizabeth brought her daughter, Evelyn over for a while and she put on a show! Evelyn is two. We got in a couple of walks in unusually nice weather.
Rachel and Kyle left before Sunday school. After church, Sue Neal and I went into to school and worked for a while. I wrote a recommendation ... it is that time of the year ... many students applying to GSP or colleges. Back to the house now getting some things ready for school tomorrow. Only 15 school days until Christmas vacation, we have a lot to do before then.
In Genetics tomorrow we will finish our lab on the properties of water and test water for oxygen content using our LaMotte kits / Winkler test. We will be looking at the amount of dissolved oxygen in cool water compared to warm water. Later in AP Biology we have a lab using these kits and we will make sure the kits are ready to go.
In Selected Topics, we will finish their water lab and finish our look at evolution / population genetics.
In Computer Programming, we will check our first five Visual BASIC problems before entering into some problems of intermediate difficulty. Students will start on their exit project.
We start back into softball practice on Tuesday and our basketball teams start their seasons on Tuesday also!
I have been thinking about getting some small animal traps to see if we have any golden mice on our farm. Maybe get a couple of Sherman Traps ... http://www.shermantraps.com/
The habitat on our farm with is perfect but since they are mostly nocturnal, would be hard to locate on a walk. An interesting small mammal that I did not know existed before having a conversation with Coach Hahus at the AP Session a couple of weeks ago ... prehensile tail and arboreal!
Golden Mouse - Ochrotomys nuttalli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_mouse
http://www.wildflorida.com/wildlife/mammals/GoldenMouse-FloridaEcotravelGuide.php
Rachel and Kyle left before Sunday school. After church, Sue Neal and I went into to school and worked for a while. I wrote a recommendation ... it is that time of the year ... many students applying to GSP or colleges. Back to the house now getting some things ready for school tomorrow. Only 15 school days until Christmas vacation, we have a lot to do before then.
In Genetics tomorrow we will finish our lab on the properties of water and test water for oxygen content using our LaMotte kits / Winkler test. We will be looking at the amount of dissolved oxygen in cool water compared to warm water. Later in AP Biology we have a lab using these kits and we will make sure the kits are ready to go.
In Selected Topics, we will finish their water lab and finish our look at evolution / population genetics.
In Computer Programming, we will check our first five Visual BASIC problems before entering into some problems of intermediate difficulty. Students will start on their exit project.
We start back into softball practice on Tuesday and our basketball teams start their seasons on Tuesday also!
I have been thinking about getting some small animal traps to see if we have any golden mice on our farm. Maybe get a couple of Sherman Traps ... http://www.shermantraps.com/
The habitat on our farm with is perfect but since they are mostly nocturnal, would be hard to locate on a walk. An interesting small mammal that I did not know existed before having a conversation with Coach Hahus at the AP Session a couple of weeks ago ... prehensile tail and arboreal!
Golden Mouse - Ochrotomys nuttalli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_mouse
http://www.wildflorida.com/wildlife/mammals/GoldenMouse-FloridaEcotravelGuide.php
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thanksgiving ... Dinner was great!
Sue Neal had her family over of Thanksgiving dinner today ... lots of great food and good conversation. Over thirty family members ... for food ... two turkeys, two honey-baked hams and two tables of desserts!!!
It was a beautiful day ... sunshine and low 60's. Our bees were out looking around. A few of our bees were out working some small flowers ... heart-leaved skullcap I think. I went on a walk with Rachel about sunset ... lots of birds out and a American Woodcock flew up from a fence row. They have wild and unique aerial display ... best displays in the Spring! They are an interesting and not often seen bird.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_woodcock/id
http://www.nycaudubon.org/NYCASBirdWatch/American_Woodcock.asp
It was a beautiful day ... sunshine and low 60's. Our bees were out looking around. A few of our bees were out working some small flowers ... heart-leaved skullcap I think. I went on a walk with Rachel about sunset ... lots of birds out and a American Woodcock flew up from a fence row. They have wild and unique aerial display ... best displays in the Spring! They are an interesting and not often seen bird.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_woodcock/id
http://www.nycaudubon.org/NYCASBirdWatch/American_Woodcock.asp
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thanksgiving vacation - school out until Monday.
We had softball conditioning after school ... circuit training in our new facility which in nice! The weight room is huge and Title IX certified. It is really nice and will really help our players! No more making up activities in the hallways of the school.
We have been having 15-24 players at each conditioning session and we will be inviting in the middle school players from last season after Thanksgiving. The cages should be ready to go then also so we can get back to hitting. Next workout is Tuesday, 11-29 after school.
In Genetics and Selected Topics today, we did a version of the penny lab to study the properties of water. This lab ended with a student generated lab which did not go very well ... we will fix this when we return on Monday. Genetics will continue to wrap up the last few chapters of the Ricki Lewis book and Selected Topic with return to population genetics and evolution.
Computer programming is working on VB Problem 5 which is to design a program and interface to make a tutorial for an elementary student to practice addition and substraction. Our stumbling block today was not assigning random numbers to numeric variables and instead trying to do math functions with values stored in the objects on our visual interface. That fixed ... we are ready to check our first five problems on Monday.
The rain finally ended after three days ... we ended up with nearly 2 inches of rainfall. Will check for turnips tomorrow and get ready for Thanksgiving. Lots to do before Thursday!
We have been having 15-24 players at each conditioning session and we will be inviting in the middle school players from last season after Thanksgiving. The cages should be ready to go then also so we can get back to hitting. Next workout is Tuesday, 11-29 after school.
In Genetics and Selected Topics today, we did a version of the penny lab to study the properties of water. This lab ended with a student generated lab which did not go very well ... we will fix this when we return on Monday. Genetics will continue to wrap up the last few chapters of the Ricki Lewis book and Selected Topic with return to population genetics and evolution.
Computer programming is working on VB Problem 5 which is to design a program and interface to make a tutorial for an elementary student to practice addition and substraction. Our stumbling block today was not assigning random numbers to numeric variables and instead trying to do math functions with values stored in the objects on our visual interface. That fixed ... we are ready to check our first five problems on Monday.
The rain finally ended after three days ... we ended up with nearly 2 inches of rainfall. Will check for turnips tomorrow and get ready for Thanksgiving. Lots to do before Thursday!
Monday, November 21, 2011
BGTC Trip and jobs ...
After getting my Genetics class started, we loaded Bus #56 (six trips to Key West and many other trips ... my favorite bus, 218,000 miles and counting) for a trip to Bowling Green Technical College. Should have taken some pictures but in my hurry to leave school, forgot my camera.
http://www.bowlinggreen.kctcs.edu/
We took 31 students, most from our Selected Topics in Science class (mostly juniors) and a few seniors. After a short talk from the admissions representative (the ACT is important!), we split up into two groups to tour the campus ... auto mechanics and body shop repair, culinary, radiology, welding, fire and rescue, HVAC and several more, all on the main campus.
We then moved nearby to a second campus for information technology and business classes. Afterwards we ate lunch (most went to Taco Bell, where a couple of students set a record for most tacos consumed in 40 minutes).
We finished the day at the TransPark location ... machine tool technology and engineering technology ... electronics, applied fluid technology and robotics.
The instructors were great, they talked to our students at most stops ... and our students were well behaved and attentive. I hope some of students will consider BGTC as an option after high school ... very affordable (less than half of a 4-year public university per year). Most students are out in the work force in two years and the coursework is transferable to WKU or any other KY public university if he/she decides to continue their education. We saw five Patriot alums attending classes while visiting the campus.
Several of the technical options had an employers waiting list for graduates ... that is important!
Got back to school for the very end of fourth block.
Tomorrow we will wrap things up for the Thanksgiving holiday. Genetics will be finishing our study of respiration and have a small lab on properties of water. Selected Topics will continue our study of evolution and population genetics. We are checking our Visual BASIC problems 1-4 in Computer programming.
http://www.bowlinggreen.kctcs.edu/
We took 31 students, most from our Selected Topics in Science class (mostly juniors) and a few seniors. After a short talk from the admissions representative (the ACT is important!), we split up into two groups to tour the campus ... auto mechanics and body shop repair, culinary, radiology, welding, fire and rescue, HVAC and several more, all on the main campus.
We then moved nearby to a second campus for information technology and business classes. Afterwards we ate lunch (most went to Taco Bell, where a couple of students set a record for most tacos consumed in 40 minutes).
We finished the day at the TransPark location ... machine tool technology and engineering technology ... electronics, applied fluid technology and robotics.
The instructors were great, they talked to our students at most stops ... and our students were well behaved and attentive. I hope some of students will consider BGTC as an option after high school ... very affordable (less than half of a 4-year public university per year). Most students are out in the work force in two years and the coursework is transferable to WKU or any other KY public university if he/she decides to continue their education. We saw five Patriot alums attending classes while visiting the campus.
Several of the technical options had an employers waiting list for graduates ... that is important!
Got back to school for the very end of fourth block.
Tomorrow we will wrap things up for the Thanksgiving holiday. Genetics will be finishing our study of respiration and have a small lab on properties of water. Selected Topics will continue our study of evolution and population genetics. We are checking our Visual BASIC problems 1-4 in Computer programming.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
BGTC Monday and Advance KY
Sue Neal and I, as well as, several other ACS AP teachers attended the Advance KY meeting in Louisville this weekend. Sessions on Friday evening and most of Saturday. In the AP Biology sessions ... how the 2013 test will change (more inquiry), then sessions on big topics ... Crick's Central Dogma, modeling concepts, Photosynthesis/Respiration, Mitosis/Meiosis and Cell Communication. Some good ideas but, generally a lot of what we already do.
Lots of good teacher-teacher conversation about schools, schedules, labs and concepts. Coach Hahus from Apollo was there and we spend some time identifying several wildflowers from pictures I had taken last summer and during the fall. He is the man on species identification! Many other AP Bio teachers from across Kentucky and it is great to know that so many good teachers are doing great science for students. Public education may still make it!
Got back late Saturday. Today, I will have to write several GSP recommendations, so, probably go into school later when it is raining.
Monday, Ms. Pruitt and I will be taking a group of students from ACS to Bowling Green Technical College for a tour of their three Bowling Green campuses.
Next week. we only have school on Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving vacation.
Lots of good teacher-teacher conversation about schools, schedules, labs and concepts. Coach Hahus from Apollo was there and we spend some time identifying several wildflowers from pictures I had taken last summer and during the fall. He is the man on species identification! Many other AP Bio teachers from across Kentucky and it is great to know that so many good teachers are doing great science for students. Public education may still make it!
Got back late Saturday. Today, I will have to write several GSP recommendations, so, probably go into school later when it is raining.
Monday, Ms. Pruitt and I will be taking a group of students from ACS to Bowling Green Technical College for a tour of their three Bowling Green campuses.
Next week. we only have school on Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving vacation.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Busy week ... anaerobic respiration and more bio!
At school today! ...
Genetics and Biotechnology is finishing up our review tournament ... we spent most of the time on a second look at respiration, focusing on anaerobic respiration and the intermediate products and the enzymes involved ... especially phosphofructokinase. This led to a discussion on allosteric enzymes and feedback loops. Tomorrow we will wrap up this discussion with a trip via internet to PDB and JMOL to look at some structures. We also had a morning quiz with a couple of Hardy-Weinberg problems.
Over the last two days, I had to email parents that we will not be going on our NYC IV trip in the spring. I could not get the cost of this trip on President's Weekend as low as last time, in fact, not close ... no affordable direct flight ... I tried to reduce costs by leaving early on Saturday but with a 1-stop flight would not get there until after noon. Just too expensive for 48 hours in the NYC! For the price we were at, two people could go for the weekend on SW Air on a direct flight, stay outside of midtown and pick up tickets at TKTS at TImes Square. We have taken students on over a dozen trips and this was the first time I could not make it work ... a little depressing!
In Selected Topics, we worked on evolution ... how organisms change over time ... from the flu virus to elephants, the story of Darwin, isolation and gene pools. We had a good discussion with some great questions with good discussion on several issue. Tomorrow, we will continue our study of natural selection and animal science.
Tyler and Presley below won our Best of Kentucky - Daniel Boone Gunpowder Making Championship. Their stuck to their research and it paid off!
In computer science we revisited out "Guess the Number between 1-100" problem using a GUI. We had a good start and will get in some good Visual BASIC programming before Thanksgiving break.
We had softball conditioning after school ... lifted weighs and did a little running. We had 20 players attending.
Genetics and Biotechnology is finishing up our review tournament ... we spent most of the time on a second look at respiration, focusing on anaerobic respiration and the intermediate products and the enzymes involved ... especially phosphofructokinase. This led to a discussion on allosteric enzymes and feedback loops. Tomorrow we will wrap up this discussion with a trip via internet to PDB and JMOL to look at some structures. We also had a morning quiz with a couple of Hardy-Weinberg problems.
Over the last two days, I had to email parents that we will not be going on our NYC IV trip in the spring. I could not get the cost of this trip on President's Weekend as low as last time, in fact, not close ... no affordable direct flight ... I tried to reduce costs by leaving early on Saturday but with a 1-stop flight would not get there until after noon. Just too expensive for 48 hours in the NYC! For the price we were at, two people could go for the weekend on SW Air on a direct flight, stay outside of midtown and pick up tickets at TKTS at TImes Square. We have taken students on over a dozen trips and this was the first time I could not make it work ... a little depressing!
In Selected Topics, we worked on evolution ... how organisms change over time ... from the flu virus to elephants, the story of Darwin, isolation and gene pools. We had a good discussion with some great questions with good discussion on several issue. Tomorrow, we will continue our study of natural selection and animal science.
Tyler and Presley below won our Best of Kentucky - Daniel Boone Gunpowder Making Championship. Their stuck to their research and it paid off!
In computer science we revisited out "Guess the Number between 1-100" problem using a GUI. We had a good start and will get in some good Visual BASIC programming before Thanksgiving break.
We had softball conditioning after school ... lifted weighs and did a little running. We had 20 players attending.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Club Schedule and lots of rain ...
Today was club schedule at our school. Which means students are going and coming in each block to the clubs ... DECA, BETA, FCA, Chess Club, FFA and many more. Hard to get much done on a day when half your class is gone. Tomorrow is a regular day and we will try and take up where we left off.
In Genetics first block, we assigned some discussion questions from Chapter 14 for tomorrow and we will be working on anaerobic respiration.
We finished our chemistry unit today in Selected Topics in Science by finishing the write-up of our gunpowder lab. Chemistry test tomorrow ... mostly periodic table and balancing equations.
We did small group instruction for Microsoft Visual BASIC in our computer programming class. We start our first problems using this language tomorrow. Some simple stuff to start with before we get into some great programs. Using the Graphical User Interface will be fun and we should be able to put together some great programs!
After school we had softball practice lifting weighs in our new facility. The weight room is a Title IX spec weight room and will be great for our players. Lots of equipment to work with rather than Coach Roberts getting some free weight together and doing a circuit workout in the science wing hallway. We did without for a long time, it is a wonder we have done as well as be have in the past! Our next practice will be on Thursday.
Got home and talked with Hannah for a while on the phone.
Rained off and on almost all day ... about an inch and a half which will help my plantings of clover and annual rye. Deer season is underway in Allen County so it is not a time to be walking around anywhere without orange clothing!
In Genetics first block, we assigned some discussion questions from Chapter 14 for tomorrow and we will be working on anaerobic respiration.
We finished our chemistry unit today in Selected Topics in Science by finishing the write-up of our gunpowder lab. Chemistry test tomorrow ... mostly periodic table and balancing equations.
We did small group instruction for Microsoft Visual BASIC in our computer programming class. We start our first problems using this language tomorrow. Some simple stuff to start with before we get into some great programs. Using the Graphical User Interface will be fun and we should be able to put together some great programs!
After school we had softball practice lifting weighs in our new facility. The weight room is a Title IX spec weight room and will be great for our players. Lots of equipment to work with rather than Coach Roberts getting some free weight together and doing a circuit workout in the science wing hallway. We did without for a long time, it is a wonder we have done as well as be have in the past! Our next practice will be on Thursday.
Got home and talked with Hannah for a while on the phone.
Rained off and on almost all day ... about an inch and a half which will help my plantings of clover and annual rye. Deer season is underway in Allen County so it is not a time to be walking around anywhere without orange clothing!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Gunpowder Lab - Daniel would be proud!
As part of our study of chemical equations, today was the Daniel Boone - Best of Kentucky - Gunpowder Championship. Students researched recipes to make gunpowder days before the lab. Today, student groups were given 8 grams of potassium nitrate (saltpetre) with many other ingredients they could use ... sulfur, charcoal, sugar, baking soda, salt, dishwasher detergent and more.
Students worked to prepare their samples (samples were small ... 10-30 grams) and toward the end of the class we went outside for me to light them. Students were judged on flash (more is better) and duration of burn (less is better). Several students had great samples and others had great fire retardant. Congrats to Tyler and Presley ... Best of Kentucky for fall semester ... their recipe used 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur. Will put on their pict tomorrow. Students working on this lab today below ...
We took our unit test in Genetics today ... ouch! I didn't really think it was that difficult! ... tomorrow is club period but, we will start Chapter 14 and maybe some work on anaerobic respiration if we have enough students remaining in class.
Computer Programming had their PB Lottery scored today ... on to Visual BASIC tomorrow.
Softball practice today was on the field ... some running and bunt practice against live pitching. Tomorrow we are going to start our lifting circuit training.
Stayed in town for the Allen County BeeKeepers Meeting at 7:00. Phil Kraft from UK was there and talked about swarming. Got home late ... a long day! 40 people attended from 10 counties, representing over 400 hives. I look forward to the day when I can dedicate more time to my beekeeping duties.
Students worked to prepare their samples (samples were small ... 10-30 grams) and toward the end of the class we went outside for me to light them. Students were judged on flash (more is better) and duration of burn (less is better). Several students had great samples and others had great fire retardant. Congrats to Tyler and Presley ... Best of Kentucky for fall semester ... their recipe used 75% potassium nitrate, 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur. Will put on their pict tomorrow. Students working on this lab today below ...
We took our unit test in Genetics today ... ouch! I didn't really think it was that difficult! ... tomorrow is club period but, we will start Chapter 14 and maybe some work on anaerobic respiration if we have enough students remaining in class.
Computer Programming had their PB Lottery scored today ... on to Visual BASIC tomorrow.
Softball practice today was on the field ... some running and bunt practice against live pitching. Tomorrow we are going to start our lifting circuit training.
Stayed in town for the Allen County BeeKeepers Meeting at 7:00. Phil Kraft from UK was there and talked about swarming. Got home late ... a long day! 40 people attended from 10 counties, representing over 400 hives. I look forward to the day when I can dedicate more time to my beekeeping duties.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Transformation royalty and Congrats to KP!
Today, we analyzed our plates from our pBLU transformation lab. Congrats to Taylor, Sandy and Aaron for some big transformation numbers .... over 4000 on both plates. Most groups got great results and will be ready to go in the spring when we repeat this lab in a slightly different version. This is one of the required AP Bio labs that has students transform bacteria with a plasmid.
We will have our test on Chapters 7-13, plasmid mapping and Crick's Central Dogma on Monday. All students have a review sheet for the weekend.
In Selected Topics we did a couple of readings in our newest Current Science magazine. One on volcanos and the other on rehab surgery of professional baseball players using stem cells and human growth hormone. We also practiced a ACT Science reading passage and questions, afterwards, we graphed a table of data found in the reading. Our gunpowder lab will be on Monday ... Students have researched the chemical reaction for gunpowder exploding and will make/light a small amount of gunpowder they have made from scratch ... most balanced formula will be selected by a panel of judges.
Computer programming finished up their last 2-D problem - Powerball Lottery Analysis. Visual BASIC starts next week.
At 2:00, we had Kelsi's signing to play softball next school year at Western Kentucky University. Lots of people from the community and a good time. We are very proud of our softball team and of KP. She works hard to be a great pitcher and deserves all the awards she have won ... and, helped our team to a state championship. Congrats Kelsi!
It was good to see Billy Ray, her grandfather, a custodian for many years at our school and a great supporter of fastpitch softball.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Transformations, more than meets the eye!
Our genetics class worked through the pBLU transformation lab (Carolina Biological). There is something to be said about actually doing a lab rather than a computer simulation. Will take some pictures of the results tomorrow. Our test is moved back to Monday.
In chemistry, we worked a little on balancing equations before doing some work on the famous chemists / scientists ... one was Faraday ... Ms Foster replied in our meeting after school that he was one of the most famous. After reading about him this evening, I would have to agree. A common man make good story about a great experimenter! We are beginning our review for our chemistry unit test but will conduct our gunpowder lab on Monday as part of our study of chemical reactions.
On the the 21st of this month, the Selected Topics class will be going over to Bowling Green Technical College for a tour of three campuses. It is an opportunity to make contact with BGTC and to see first hand the courses of study they offer.
http://www.bowlinggreen.kctcs.edu/
Checked 2-D problems in computer programming today ... Tomorrow is our last day in qBASIC, Monday we begin our study of Microsoft Visual BASIC with the use of graphical user interfaces.
We had a science department meeting after school today. We are going to adjust our Selected Topics class to contain more physics. This will be a challenge for me since I am really a biologist. I am interested to add a unit on electricity and circuitry to this course.
Coach Mark Carter took softball practice this afternoon while I was at the science meeting. Tomorrow KP signs her letter of intent to play softball at WKU.
In chemistry, we worked a little on balancing equations before doing some work on the famous chemists / scientists ... one was Faraday ... Ms Foster replied in our meeting after school that he was one of the most famous. After reading about him this evening, I would have to agree. A common man make good story about a great experimenter! We are beginning our review for our chemistry unit test but will conduct our gunpowder lab on Monday as part of our study of chemical reactions.
On the the 21st of this month, the Selected Topics class will be going over to Bowling Green Technical College for a tour of three campuses. It is an opportunity to make contact with BGTC and to see first hand the courses of study they offer.
http://www.bowlinggreen.kctcs.edu/
Checked 2-D problems in computer programming today ... Tomorrow is our last day in qBASIC, Monday we begin our study of Microsoft Visual BASIC with the use of graphical user interfaces.
We had a science department meeting after school today. We are going to adjust our Selected Topics class to contain more physics. This will be a challenge for me since I am really a biologist. I am interested to add a unit on electricity and circuitry to this course.
Coach Mark Carter took softball practice this afternoon while I was at the science meeting. Tomorrow KP signs her letter of intent to play softball at WKU.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Bacterial Transformation Lab tomorrow ...
Big weather change here. Windy, rainy and colder, a reminder that winter will show up eventually. I am glad I made a last feeding of the bees yesterday.
I have bought enough wood to make some shims for my hives to winter feed our bees ... these shims are about 2.5 inches wide and will look like a very narrow super. Might be able to saw them out and put them together this weekend. There are lots of opinions about using shims ... the most notable is the imirie shim. I need something with more room for feedings.
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/10-Frame-Imirie-Shim/productinfo/211/
Today as school ...
I found my Carolina shipment of live material today at school. So, I poured the agar plates and started our bacteria (E. coli) cultures this afternoon. Put the bacteria in our incubator for the night at 37 degrees C. Tomorrow we will run our student groups through a transformation procedure to induce a few of the bacteria to take in our plasmid (pBLU). This plasmid (small circular piece of DNA) has an antibiotic resistant gene (ampicillin) and a beta-galactosidase gene.
www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/SEP/pBLUteac.pdf
We will use ampicillin agar to sort out the bacteria that have taken up our plasmid. This is a two day lab. Will take some picts tomorrow.
In Selected Topics, we spent most of the class period balancing equations, part of our Chemistry unit. Tomorrow we will wrap up balancing equations and work on a Chemistry discovery timeline.
In Computer Programming, we are transitioning to Microsoft Visual BASIC, we will start checking our final 2-D array problems tomorrow.
Coach Carter and Coach Bunton will take softball practice tomorrow, I have a Science meeting from 3:00 - 5:00.
KP will be signing a letter of intent to play softball for WKU Friday at 2:00 PM. Will take some pictures and post them. Her grandfather was a custodian at our school for years ... I know he will be proud on Friday!
I have bought enough wood to make some shims for my hives to winter feed our bees ... these shims are about 2.5 inches wide and will look like a very narrow super. Might be able to saw them out and put them together this weekend. There are lots of opinions about using shims ... the most notable is the imirie shim. I need something with more room for feedings.
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/10-Frame-Imirie-Shim/productinfo/211/
Today as school ...
I found my Carolina shipment of live material today at school. So, I poured the agar plates and started our bacteria (E. coli) cultures this afternoon. Put the bacteria in our incubator for the night at 37 degrees C. Tomorrow we will run our student groups through a transformation procedure to induce a few of the bacteria to take in our plasmid (pBLU). This plasmid (small circular piece of DNA) has an antibiotic resistant gene (ampicillin) and a beta-galactosidase gene.
www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEPC/SEP/pBLUteac.pdf
We will use ampicillin agar to sort out the bacteria that have taken up our plasmid. This is a two day lab. Will take some picts tomorrow.
In Selected Topics, we spent most of the class period balancing equations, part of our Chemistry unit. Tomorrow we will wrap up balancing equations and work on a Chemistry discovery timeline.
In Computer Programming, we are transitioning to Microsoft Visual BASIC, we will start checking our final 2-D array problems tomorrow.
Coach Carter and Coach Bunton will take softball practice tomorrow, I have a Science meeting from 3:00 - 5:00.
KP will be signing a letter of intent to play softball for WKU Friday at 2:00 PM. Will take some pictures and post them. Her grandfather was a custodian at our school for years ... I know he will be proud on Friday!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Election Day and no school ...
Yesterday at school ...
In Genetics, we went over the material that was covered in the AP Session at Warren East on Saturday. We reviewed for our test on Friday and prepped up our bacterial transformation lab. We are using the pBLU lab from Carolina this fall. pBLU is a plasmid that contains an ampicillin resistance gene and the beta-galactosidase gene. This lab is one of the required labs for AP Biology.
In Selected Topics, we did our reading for the week from Current Science and finished up our study of the periodic table with a little vocabulary. Balancing equations starts on Wednesday.
Our Computer programming class started their last qBASIC problem with the Poweball Lottery problem ... storing the last 100 picks and calculating the frequency that number occur and which numbers occur most often after each number is picked. Visual BASIC demos start on Wednesday.
We had softball practice on the field ... not much daylight after school since the time change. We did some time trials running, worked on fielding fly balls and had a homerun derby off the tee ... surprisingly, we had a few strikeouts! Congrats to Ali and Kinsey for the best times during the time trial. We are running at the lake on Thursday and hopefully will start our weight training next Monday if they release the new workout facility.
Today is election day so ... will vote this morning and then lots of errands and a bee check.
In Genetics, we went over the material that was covered in the AP Session at Warren East on Saturday. We reviewed for our test on Friday and prepped up our bacterial transformation lab. We are using the pBLU lab from Carolina this fall. pBLU is a plasmid that contains an ampicillin resistance gene and the beta-galactosidase gene. This lab is one of the required labs for AP Biology.
In Selected Topics, we did our reading for the week from Current Science and finished up our study of the periodic table with a little vocabulary. Balancing equations starts on Wednesday.
Our Computer programming class started their last qBASIC problem with the Poweball Lottery problem ... storing the last 100 picks and calculating the frequency that number occur and which numbers occur most often after each number is picked. Visual BASIC demos start on Wednesday.
We had softball practice on the field ... not much daylight after school since the time change. We did some time trials running, worked on fielding fly balls and had a homerun derby off the tee ... surprisingly, we had a few strikeouts! Congrats to Ali and Kinsey for the best times during the time trial. We are running at the lake on Thursday and hopefully will start our weight training next Monday if they release the new workout facility.
Today is election day so ... will vote this morning and then lots of errands and a bee check.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
AP Science Session and an extra hour of sleep!
This weekend, we took 37 of our AP Science students (Biology Environment and Chemistry) to Warren East HS for a AP Science review session hosted by Advance Kentucky. We do not offer AP Biology and AP Chemistry until second semester so that is a problem. Several students that attend the Bio sessions are in Genetics and we have covered several of the content area reviewed. There were students from several high schools there ... two of the four sessions were pretty good ... Got home in time to take a walk.
Last night, was the time change ... fall back an hour. It is Sue Neal's favorite night of the year. I took another walk before church. After church, spread grass seed and afterwards, got our tractor going ... it had a water hose leaking so could not do any of the jobs I had planned. Spend most of the time until dark working on plants around the house.
Next week is a four day week. We are off Tuesday for election day. I am hoping to get a lot of papers graded before Wednesday.
Softball practice this week is on Monday and Thursday. We are suppose to access to the weight room starting on Thursdays.
Last night, was the time change ... fall back an hour. It is Sue Neal's favorite night of the year. I took another walk before church. After church, spread grass seed and afterwards, got our tractor going ... it had a water hose leaking so could not do any of the jobs I had planned. Spend most of the time until dark working on plants around the house.
Next week is a four day week. We are off Tuesday for election day. I am hoping to get a lot of papers graded before Wednesday.
Softball practice this week is on Monday and Thursday. We are suppose to access to the weight room starting on Thursdays.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday - Go Patriots! AP Science tomorrow at Warren East
Tonight starts the first round of playoffs in football. Our team plays Madisonville - North Hopkins at Madisonville. Also, our CC teams runs in the AA regional at Warren East tomorrow ... Good luck to all our Patriots.
Our AP Science students are headed over to Warren East for one of three AP focus sessions in the Advance Kentucky program. Even though we do not have AP Biology until after Christmas, several students are in my Genetics class and should have good understanding of the material which includes biochemistry, cells, and genetics. Bus leaves at 7:30 from the high school. Should be fun!
Today over half our Genetics class was missing to the APES program. We reviewed replication, transcription and translation. We went over about half our discussion questions in Chapter 13, mostly nondisjunction problems during meiosis leading to conditions / syndromes like Down's syndrome, Turner's syndrome and more.
In Selected Topics in Science we continued our study of the periodic table and elements with Chemistry Bingo ... will have a picture of the winners Monday. Students designed their own bingo cards ... below are the bingo card superlatives ... which included Most colorful, Most Scientific and more. Left to right ... Paul, Kris, Gerika, Aaron and Miranda ... David was missing in action.
In Computer programming we worked on a difficult part of the Jackie Lottery problem which included reading a 2-D array and storing the results of calculations in a second single dimension array. We are getting to wrap up qBASIC and head to Microsoft Visual BASIC.
It was a cloudy day and cool in Allen County today. Got home in time for a walk to Long Creek.
Our AP Science students are headed over to Warren East for one of three AP focus sessions in the Advance Kentucky program. Even though we do not have AP Biology until after Christmas, several students are in my Genetics class and should have good understanding of the material which includes biochemistry, cells, and genetics. Bus leaves at 7:30 from the high school. Should be fun!
Today over half our Genetics class was missing to the APES program. We reviewed replication, transcription and translation. We went over about half our discussion questions in Chapter 13, mostly nondisjunction problems during meiosis leading to conditions / syndromes like Down's syndrome, Turner's syndrome and more.
In Selected Topics in Science we continued our study of the periodic table and elements with Chemistry Bingo ... will have a picture of the winners Monday. Students designed their own bingo cards ... below are the bingo card superlatives ... which included Most colorful, Most Scientific and more. Left to right ... Paul, Kris, Gerika, Aaron and Miranda ... David was missing in action.
In Computer programming we worked on a difficult part of the Jackie Lottery problem which included reading a 2-D array and storing the results of calculations in a second single dimension array. We are getting to wrap up qBASIC and head to Microsoft Visual BASIC.
It was a cloudy day and cool in Allen County today. Got home in time for a walk to Long Creek.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
APES Program continues and Chemistry Bingo
Most or our Genetics class was gone today with the APES program. Those students that remained reviewed for our test next week. Tomorrow we will work on our Alternative Fuels project and go over our Chapter 13 discussion questions.
In Selected Topics in Science, we continued work on our chemistry unit ... periodic table. We started preparing our Chemistry Bingo cards today also.
Computer programming is working on their 2-D sorting problems .... most are working on the Jackie Lottery problem.
We had softball conditioning after school today ... 17 players attending. We did the Run - Pull - Stadium Step workout ... 5 - 300 meter repeats with a tug of war between runs ... if you lose the tug of war, then you added a stadium step run ... a tough workout! We are suppose to be able to get in our training facility after election day ... we need to get in our hitting routine soon!
Taped up some ventilation holes on hives with masking tape this afternoon late. I need to go through our hives one more time before it gets cold. It rained all day today ... good for late grass growth and our turnip patch.
In Selected Topics in Science, we continued work on our chemistry unit ... periodic table. We started preparing our Chemistry Bingo cards today also.
Computer programming is working on their 2-D sorting problems .... most are working on the Jackie Lottery problem.
We had softball conditioning after school today ... 17 players attending. We did the Run - Pull - Stadium Step workout ... 5 - 300 meter repeats with a tug of war between runs ... if you lose the tug of war, then you added a stadium step run ... a tough workout! We are suppose to be able to get in our training facility after election day ... we need to get in our hitting routine soon!
Taped up some ventilation holes on hives with masking tape this afternoon late. I need to go through our hives one more time before it gets cold. It rained all day today ... good for late grass growth and our turnip patch.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
APES Program on and Chemistry begins ...
Today for the rest of the week, our APES program (a program to introduce students to American Private Enterprise) is going on for many juniors in our genetics class. We were able to finish our electrophoresis and plasmid mapping lab today. Discussion questions and review for our test next week tomorrow in class.
I worked on our NYC trip today but, I'm finding affordable flights difficult to find.
Our Selected Topics class started our Chemistry Unit today with a study of the periodic chart. Tomorrow we will finish this and begin our study of balancing equations.
Computer programming started the Jackie Lottery problem today ... Jackie is running a lottery for the Commonwealth of Kentucky but, her friends and family keep winning. Students are writing a program to analyze the picks to date to discover her secret.
No softball practice today but, conditioning tomorrow ... we anticipate starting batting practice in our new facility after election day.
This afternoon, I walked on about 100 lbs of annual rye on area of our farm that might erode in the Spring.
The sunset was beautiful!
I worked on our NYC trip today but, I'm finding affordable flights difficult to find.
Our Selected Topics class started our Chemistry Unit today with a study of the periodic chart. Tomorrow we will finish this and begin our study of balancing equations.
Computer programming started the Jackie Lottery problem today ... Jackie is running a lottery for the Commonwealth of Kentucky but, her friends and family keep winning. Students are writing a program to analyze the picks to date to discover her secret.
No softball practice today but, conditioning tomorrow ... we anticipate starting batting practice in our new facility after election day.
This afternoon, I walked on about 100 lbs of annual rye on area of our farm that might erode in the Spring.
The sunset was beautiful!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Softball - The dam hill!
Our softball team went out to the Barren River Dam for conditioning today. We divided up into two teams and together, we ran 27 miles and 31 dam hills in 35 minutes. As you can see above ... they were exhausted ... not really! We stopped by Ranger Bob's for refreshments on the way back to school on my favorite bus ... #56! The CC team went out with us ... they have their regional this weekend ... good luck!
We had a busy day at school. In Genetics, we finished up running our gels which we will analyze tomorrow. We went over our plasmid mapping problem from the day before and spent some time getting ready for our APES students to be gone the rest of the week.
We had our Physics test today in Selected Topics. Tomorrow the Chemistry unit begins.
In computer programming we when over possible college choices / the US News and World Report rankings, before checking our first two problems using two dimensional arrays. Most students are wrapping up their OYO 2-D problems before starting the Jackie Lotto problem tomorrow.
Got home late but squeezed in a walk to the bottom and back. One the way up the hill, two Barred Owls were dueling and a group of coyotes fired up with howling and yelping in the valley behind our house. It was a beautiful evening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)