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.
All posts by David Swart
Environmental Science Exploration – Day 9
After a brief review of genetics yesterday, today we are studying evolution. Here are resources that will be helpful during the day:
How many human cells are in the human body? 37.2 trillion! Read more here.
There are 10 times more bacterial cells in your body than human cells! Read more here.
HHMI Biointeractive: Creating phylogenetic trees from DNA sequences
Environmental Science Exploration – Day 6
We have spent the last week learning about the processes that are driving ocean acidification, learning to use gas sensors and pH probes, and thinking hard about how we can use our local resources at Seahurst Park to advance our learning. Over the next two days, students will create a final project which will include the following:
1. A carefully designed, conducted, and analyzed experiment demonstrating the effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on the stakeholder group they selected.
2. Research and analysis of scientific data to support the group’s model of how increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is affecting subsystems relevant to the global carbon cycle.
3. A presentation summarizing their findings. Each student must create and present presentation content to share at the Global Ocean Acidification Summit to be held tomorrow afternoon.
For part 2, students are encouraged to visit Lesson 5b of the Baliga Lab Ocean Acidification unit and visit the links provided that are relevant to their area of research.
Environmental Science Exploration – Day 3
Environmental Science Exploration – Day 2
Important links for day 2:
Baliga Lab at ISB Cell Phone Simulation – run the cell phone simulation
Environmental Science Exploration – Day 1
Farewell Odyssey!
Hard to believe the school year is over! It was an honor to be part of Odyssey High School these last 5 months. With the school closing, I want to wish the students and staff all the best as they embark on new adventures. This summer I will be teaching an Environmental Science credit retrieval class through the Puget Sound Skills Center at Seahurst Park. When the new school year begins again this fall, I will be teaching biology and chemistry and Highline High School and am very excited about rejoining the fantastic science department that supported me during my student teaching last fall. I will continue to document my adventure in teaching here and will have to give some thought to how best to organize the blog. Stay tuned for updates, and constructive feedback is always welcome and appreciated!
Biology EOC Exam Prep
The season of end-of-course (EOC) exams is upon us! This week, students have EOC exams in Geometry (Wednesday) and Algebra (Thursday). The Biology EOC exam is scheduled for next Friday, June 6. Biology students taking the Biology EOC took a practice exam during class today. We will walk through the exam step-by-step during the next class to ensure students have a strong understanding both of the content and of how the exam will be scored. For additional 2013 Biology EOC exam information, visit the Washington State OSPI website.
Systems Biology – Lesson 12
In lesson 12, students learned about the systems of the human body. After taking a quick pre-assessment, we watched a video explaining biological organization. Organ systems were included in the hierarchy, and that led in to a second video about the human body. Students were given a worksheet and each student was assigned one or two questions per video to answer. At the end of the videos, everyone shared responses. The final video focused on the respiratory system, and students followed along with the breathing exercises. After the lesson, students received copies of two additional worksheets. The first worksheet directed them to the website www.innerbody.com which they were instructed to use to learn about the various body systems. The second worksheet guided students through the process of integrating their understanding of body systems relevant to the Heredity Project trait they completed as part of the Genetics Unit. Students will have at least two additional class periods to complete the assignments from this lesson.
Systems Biology – Lesson 11
In this lesson, students were challenged to think outside the box. With Odyssey sophomore and senior student defenses in full swing, students have been practicing the art of reflection. As we transition from the study of ecosystems to the study of human body systems, we briefly returned to our study of financial ecosystems (lesson 3). Students were introduced to the idea that our existing financial system is limited when it comes to integrating the value of natural resources. We watched economist Pavan Sukhdev’s TED Talk “Putting a value on nature” where he explains the economic tools he uses to integrate natural resource valuations into his economic models.
We then transitioned to a discussion of cryptocurrencies as an alternative to traditional fiat currency. I shared the final tally of the various eco-themed cryptocurrencies donated by generous members of the public in support of my biology students. Students had previous elected to consolidate our crypto holdings into dogecoins, and I shared the news that each student could elect to receive either 5,650 dogecoins (currently valued at just under $3), $3 cash, or a free yearbook valued at $7. About half of the students elected to receive their share of donated cryptocurrency, and I encouraged them to visit the Getting Started page. Some students elected to set up accounts through Cryptsy, while others chose to receive their coins via the @tipdoge feature on Twitter. Several students asked how they could spend their cryptocurrencies, so I explained that many retailers accept various currencies, including my good friend Bo Saxbe, operator of the Cheese Wizards sandwich truck. A local news station recently profiled Cheese Wizards as part of a larger story about the first Bitcoin ATM to arrive in Seattle. The cryptocurrency ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and it will be exciting to observe whether cryptocurrency will take hold and find a niche in the modern economy, or whether it will go extinct.
Science with Swart 
You must be logged in to post a comment.