Monthly Archives: September 2014

Nature of Science

Nature of Science: Meters, Liters, and Grams!

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Our entry task for the day was to watch The Inner Life of a Cell (below), a video created by the Harvard University group BioVisions.  The video perfectly complemented the reading students did yesterday, bringing to life the processes that occur inside and outside the cells in our bodies.  After the video, we discussed the scale of cells, with students learning that white blood cells are only 6-8 μm in diameter (one micrometer (μm) is equal to one-millionth of a meter).  We then created class lists of tools scientists use.  Each class added to a growing list, and tomorrow we will categorize our large list.  We concluded with a worksheet where students practiced making calculations using metric units.  The base units were introduced through the artistic talents of teacher Pete Hendley (actually, his alter ego KILA META) in his amazing rap video, “Meters, Liters, and Grams.”  Be warned – it will stay with you 😉

UPDATE: Students may skip worksheet questions 10-13.  My attempts to show the math steps actually made the work more confusing for most students.  Please work through problems 1-20 as homework, skipping 10-13.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zD3NxSsD8

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Nature of Science: An Owner’s Guide to the Cell

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As previously mentioned in class, all of the science teachers at school will be off-site at a meeting on Monday, so we will have a substitute.  Students should turn in all work assigned from the previous week at the beginning of class.  Late work may be turned in by the start of class Tuesday for 50% credit.  For Monday, students will be reading a chapter from the purple book titled, “Inside the Cell” which is located in the upper middle cabinet.  We have a limited number of copies, so please treat the book with care and do not take the book out of the classroom.   Students should read the Preface and Chapter 1 (pages 4-19).  After each section, students should briefly share their understanding of the section with their table partner, then write a brief summary of the discussion in their lab notebooks before moving on to the next section.  Students should also complete the Got It? questions on page 19 in their lab notebooks and they may discuss their responses with their table partner.

Students who finish early should log in to one of the class computers and explore the website  A Tour of the Cell, taking notes in their lab notebook.  Alternatively, students may also browse the Scientific American journals (in the cabinet to the left of the Inside the Cell books) and write a brief summary of something they learned – preferably related to ecosystems and ecology.  Have a wonderful day!

Nature of Science

Nature of Science: Baloney Detection Kit

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With only 35 minutes of class time today, we had just enough time to take our first clicker quiz and then watch Michael Shermer’s video Baloney Detection Kit (below).  Students are asked to complete a worksheet briefly describing each of the 10 points Dr. Shermer discusses and to apply their understanding to the Golden Ratio.  The worksheet is due at the beginning of class on Monday.  Because of all of the schedule changes this week, students will have until next Monday (9/15) to turn in the following work for full credit:

1. Signed syllabus and safety contract

2. Golden Ratio worksheet (p. 62)

3. Eyes of Nye Pseudoscience video worksheet

4. Baloney Detection Kit video worksheet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUB4j0n2UDU

Nature of Science

Nature of Science: Pseudoscience

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Today’s entry task asked students to draw their daily class schedule as a network diagram in their lab notebook.  Next, we practiced how to use the clickers for tomorrow’s clicker quiz.  We finished the day learning to differentiate between science and pseudoscience with the help of Bill Nye’s Eyes of Nye Pseudoscience video (watch below).  Students completed a worksheet with questions from the video and were asked to apply their understanding of pseudoscience to what they understand about the Golden Ratio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP7MpY-WnSE

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Nature of Science: Measuring in Metric

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The lesson today focused on using a ruler to measure lines using centimeters and millimeters.  During the first half of the lesson, students used index cards and a leveling device to level their desks.  Many of our classroom desks have uneven legs, so students placed stacks of index cards under the desk legs to make them level.  Students then had the option of using a level, a level app on their phone, or a marble to determine when their desk was level.  Once the desk was level, students made a table in their lab notebooks and reported the number of index cards under each table leg, as well as the thickness of each index card stack in millimeters.  During the second part of class, students watched a brief video on the Golden Ratio.  Students then practiced measuring the distance between facial features (first on a worksheet and then on their partner) and calculated the ratios of the distances to determine how their data compared with the Golden Ratio.  Tomorrow we debate whether the Golden Ratio should be considered science or pseudoscience.

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Nature of Science: Networking

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Another busy day! Today students turned in signed copies of the syllabus and lab safety contract along with their milk lab work from last week.  Students received credit for their work in Illuminate and then filed everything away in their folder in the class file cabinet.  The remainder of the class period was spent constructing a social network.  Students used their critter diagrams to introduce each other and used that content to create a network diagram.  Nodes consisted of student names (names inside circles) and edges (lines connecting the nodes) represented shared points of interest.  The ability to construct a network diagram will be a valuable skill as we continue on with our study of biology.  Class concluded with students analyzing their networks by counting the number of nodes and edges and sharing out with the class.

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Nature of Science: Critter Diagram

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Today was a busy day!  We started off with a thorough review of the class Syllabus.  Students also received a copy of the class Safety Contract.  Both documents must be signed by the student and their legal guardian and returned tomorrow for credit.  Next, we checked out textbooks in the library.  Textbooks should be left at home or in a safe place where they can be easily accessed if needed.  If textbooks are needed in class, students will receive advanced notice.  We ended the day back in class completing the Entry Task for today.  Students must complete the writing portion and attempt to complete the critter diagram as homework.  Tomorrow we will use the critter diagrams as a tool both to meet each other and to begin the process of learning how to construct networks to model information flow.

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Nature of Science: Milk Lab

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Welcome to the 2014-15 school year!  What an exciting time to be a Highline Pirate! It was a pleasure meeting over 170 new students on Wednesday, and I appreciated the enthusiasm everyone showed playing the “This-or-That” game.  On Thursday and Friday, we reviewed the Pirate Way and then launched in to the Milk Lab.  On Thursday, students combined 2% milk, food coloring, and liquid soap.  After carefully documenting “before soap” and “after soap” observations, students worked with their lab partner to come up with a testable hypothesis about what caused the “after soap” reaction. Students were asked to write a new procedure, changing either the type of milk or soap used.  On Friday, students conducted the experiment again, following their new procedure.  Most groups had time to extend their learning by integrating the results from their new experiment, formulating a new hypothesis, and running a third experiment.  After carefully recording all observations, students assembled into larger lab groups, sharing results with other students who had tested similar experimental conditions (i.e. used the same procedure including the same type of milk).  Groups then reported their findings out to the class.  We created a class summary table each period which included the variable changed (type of milk or soap) and the outcome (compared with 2% milk).  We will revisit the summary tables and analyze the results across my five biology classes in the near future.