All posts by David Swart

High school science teacher
Systems Biology

Nature of Science: Self-reflection

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What a busy last few weeks!  Instead of a clicker quiz today, students are filling out note cards listing the contents of their lab notebooks.  I will update Illuminate with that information, and students should check their grades this weekend to ensure accuracy.  After filling out the note card, students will have the remainder of the class period to write a self-reflection about how their experience in biology class has been so far this school year.  The reflection should consist of:

  • What you have learned in biology so far
  • How you can use this learning outside of biology
  • What is going well for you in this class
  • What you need to feel safe and successful in class

Students who finish early, or opt to write the reflection over the weekend, may complete any unfinished biology assignments.  Students who are all caught up will have opportunities to earn extra credit.  That includes:

  • Emailing me pictures or video from the milk lab
  • Summarizing the class data set from the milk lab and sharing with the class on Monday
  • Reading and summarizing a Scientific American article from our class library
  • Hanging up Tools Scientists Use posters on the classroom walls
Systems Biology

Nature of Science: Tools Scientists Use

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In class today, students worked in groups of four to create posters of Tools Scientists Use.  Yesterday, each class came up with a list of tools and wrote the list on their period’s white board.  Today, students in each class made a master list of the tools and then worked with their groups to come up with categories for organizing the tools.  Some of the categories included lab safety equipment, tools used for measurement, and tools that are used for containing liquids.  Other groups organized the tools by area of science, including tools that are used in Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.  Students then made big, bright posters to present their work.  A selection of the posters will be displayed around the classroom and will help reinforce vocabulary when we prepare for labs.  Also today, students received verbal grade checks and/or reminders that all work must be turned in by Friday for full credit.  Starting next week, the homework policy written in the class syllabus will take effect.

Important Notes: the math worksheet from yesterday will be reviewed next week.  Please check Illuminate to verify credit received for all work turned in.  If you think you have turned something in but have not received credit:

  1. Double-check your backpack, lab notebook, class folder, locker, and anywhere else you keep work.
  2. Check your returned work – it is possible I simply missed entering the grade into Illuminate.
  3. Ask to see the papers without names – I have several papers that were turned in without names.
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.

Nature of Science

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

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.

Nature of Science

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.

Nature of Science

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.

Nature of Science

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.