First days of school 2015-2016 and butterflies ...

Has the Monarch migration started?  While bush-hogging today, I saw eight.  This one was in a zinna flower bed at our house.

After two days of PD last week, students arrived on Wednesday.  Lots of housekeeping work with tons of forms the first day but, we got a start in all classes.  By Friday, we were able to get some projects rolling.

Computer Programming I started with a graphical logic trainer ... Karel the Robot.  We have worked  through some problems (five) without decision statements.
    Around the Block
    Pick Up the Package
    Take Out the Trash
    Pick the Corn
    Grand Prix with Karel
All these problems can use the define-new-instruction and iterate commands.  We are hoping to have Grand  Prix finished toward the end of next week and we will do a solution check at that point.  Students working on their Karel problems below in the Media lab (new Dells this year!)

https://www.cs.mtsu.edu/~untch/karel/

In Computer Programming II we finally got started after some login problems to the Cloud via the Snap website.  We are starting the year with Snap (UC Berkeley).  It is similar to Scratch (MIT) but, is one of the perferred languages for the AP Computer Science Principles class (scheduled to be offered for the first time in 2016-2017).  We have started our first problem set.

http://snap.berkeley.edu/

Selected Topics in Science started the Regeneration Lab using Planaria on Thursday.  Planaria are freshwater flatworms found locally.  After a light/dark test, student cut their planaria into two parts.  In about 10-14 days, the posterior ends will grow and head.  Next week we will start the Great Plant Growing Contest and study biochemistry.

On the farm this weekend ...

Most of the Tiger Swallowtails have started to show some wear and tear.  Below, a Question Mark (an Anglewing eating deer scat) ... with a fly in the background. Below the Question Mark is a Black Swallowtail. 

A few of the Tiger Swallowtails look like they recently emerged ... on coneflowers and cupflower.

First Week of School 2015-2016

Last week, I attended a bus drivers PD on Wednesday.  I drove with Chris Prock, a shorter in town route.  We caught up on old softball trips. We had parent-teacher conferences on Thursday evening.  I had over 70 students/guardians stop by for classroom information.  Also, several former student came by to visit.  It is always good to hear their stories.

We have teacher PD on Monday and Tuesday.  First day for students will be on Wednesday.  Lots to do before then.

Below is a picture of our honeybees cleaning up the honey from wax cappings after we extracted honey last week.  Below that for my hunter boys I have and have had in class, a group of bucks behind our house eating clover.  Took this picture tonight about dark ... poor quality.

 

Computer Science Principles and last days of summer!

School begins on August 5 for students.  Get off social media and get outside and see some beautiful swallowtails.

Last week, I attended a two-day Advance Kentucky workshop sponsored by KSTC (Kentucky Science and Technology Coorporation).  Ten educators from across state worked on the upcoming AP Computer Science Principles course, scheduled to start 2016-2017.  It is rare that AP offers a new course and this course would have less coding.  The scope of this course would emphasize computational thinking practices ... global impact of computer science, abstracting, computational artifacts, forms of communication and project collaboration.  Students will take an multiple choice exam that counts for 50% of their AP score and they will generated two performance events for the remaining 50%.  The link for this course is below.  We have been preparing to launch this course next year.  Computer Programming II is this effort.  Last year, we got a good start ... Scratch, Python, Arduino, Finch Robots, Raspberry Pi computers and more.

https://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/stem/computer-science-principles
https://scratch.mit.edu/
https://www.python.org/
http://www.kstc.com/

I have been taking a MOOC for this new course through the University of Alabama.  The link is below.  Most of you know how I feel about online courses ... especially if they are all like this one!

https://csp-cs4hs.appspot.com/preview

Finished a book on Ada Lovelace this week.  Lord Byron's daughter that became a very good mathematician (when nearly all women were not allowed to participate in science and math) and a friend of Charles Babbage.  A good historical read from an interesting time during the early 1800s in England.



First semester in our return to the 4 X 4 block, where we should have stayed ten years ago, I will be teaching Computer Programming I (Karel, Visual BASIC and Scratch), Computer Programming II (Scratch, SNAP, Python and a project rotation) and Selected Topics in Science for juniors (Biology, Astronomy, Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Programming).  This is a maker class with an abundance of labs.
Second semester I will be teaching AP Computer Science A (Karel J Robot, Greenfoot, BlueJ ... all JAVA) and two Selected Topics in Science classes.

Get outdoors and check it out!

 

Computer Science and Programming - Dragonflies are predators!

Took three students to Berea College (http://www.berea.edu/)  and EKU  (http://www.eku.edu/)  this past week.  Lots of incoming freshmen and their parents to orientation at EKU.  We were able to meet with the biology department head and took a guided tour of the facility.  At Berea we saw one of freshly minted grads doing an orientation class.  I still like the mission of Berea ... if you can get in.

I am continuing to work on the MOOC (University of Alabama) I am taking with Advanced Kentucky for a Science Principles class.  My AP workshop of AP Computer Science A (JAVA) is next week.

Still working on the farm, trying to catch up from Spring Break.

Yesterday, I saw a dragonfly carrying something large when it landed on a nearby milkweed plant.  I could see then that it was eating a swallowtail butterfly.  Food chain in action ...

School's Out but Programming begins ...

Hoping you (our students) are having a great summer.  Get outside and become one with nature ... less Facebook/social media and more wildflowers, butterflies and wildlife ... get out there!

Some picts from our farm so far this summer ...

Great Spangled Fritillaries below on common milkweed ... and the Monarchs are back on common milkweed ...

First generation bumblebee workers are everywhere ... below on butterfly weed (orange) and common milkweed ...  These are Common Eastern Bumblebees ... they nest underground.

 

Below, the geometric designs of flowers/seeds ... rattlesnake master (a prairie plant, green), the yellow center of an ox-eye daisy with its fibonacci number design, and a yellow coneflower (also with a fibonacci pattern).

 

This summer is also dedicated to computer science/programming.  The MOOC / U-Alabama in computer science I'm taking this summer is coming along okay ... I am not too happy about sharing so, I don't.  I am participating in preparation to launch our AP Computer Science Principles class in 2016.  Also, I am joining 10 other Kentucky teachers with the Advance Kentucky program later in the summer to brainstorm how this new AP course will be rolled out in the classroom (all these KY teachers are taking the same MOOC).  

Also, this summer I am particpating in a AP Computer Science A (Java) workshop at WKU later in June.  We are using Eclipse for our IDE.  It has been over 10 years since I have taught JAVA using BlueJ ... I have written/compiled some simple programs and so far so good.  We will have a textbook for this class ... Java Methods - Object-Oriented Programming and Data Structures, Litvin and Litvin.

I am looking at putting these courses together as an Ultimus Opus...

School's Out!

Student's last day of school was Tuesday and our last teacher's day was Friday.  190 students graduated Friday night ... so it is a wrap for 2014-2015.  AP Biology scores will be out the first week in July.

This summer I have an AP Workshop for Computer Science A (JAVA) at WKU.  I am also taking a MOOC on Science Principles this summer to get ready for the upcoming AP Computer Science Principles class 2016.

Wishing all students a wonderful and safe summer.

I have alot to do on the farm now that school is over.  Below are a few pictures from last week and this weekend from our farm.  It has been a big two weeks for Great Spangled Fritillaries (pictured at the bottom).

Tulip poplars, AP Exam 2015 and Last Week for Seniors!

Our AP Biology Exam was on Monday morning with mix reviews from students.  I didn't get to go over the exam with them until today ... FRQs were released on Wednesday afternoon.

https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap15_frq_biology.pdf

Tested on the FRQs were the Behavior Lab, Mitosis & Meiosis Lab and Respiration Lab.  Other questions had parts of a labs.  Some more difficult topics ... exon shuffling, motor neurons, pineal gland / melatonin and more.  I think we will have many students score a three but only a few fours and fives.

Students during our last lab before the exam ... the behavior lab using fruit flies.

Computer Programming I and Computer Programming II are presenting their final projects next week.  Lots of good Scratch projects.  Our mini-bot (Zumo) line reading robot challenge will be on Thrusday.

The Selected Topics in Science class has been working on human organ systems and diseases.  Their final will be a week from Tuesday.

On our farm blackberries are blooming ...

Also, tulip poplar trees (the Kentucky State Tree!)  are blooming.  The blooms are 2-3 inches across.  Pictures below are from this afternoon.  Tulip poplar trees are a big honey maker in our region.

Last week, we had Star of Bethlehem flowers blooming in our yard  ... planted long ago.

One more week seniors!  Graduation next weekend.