Today, we focused on identifying the experimental data to include in the Results section of the Baggie Garden Experiment lab report. We compared the pros and cons of collecting lots of data with collecting a focused amount of data. Students identified, discussed, and justified which experimental endpoints they wanted to collect for their experiment, and then created data tables in their lab notebooks to collect the data. Finally, students made their first careful observations of their baggie gardens and recorded their observations. The slide deck includes lesson content, including a link to the Chia Pet video which is also available below.
Category Archives: Organization
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Baggie Garden Experiment – Day 2
Students conducted their Baggie Garden experiments today, setting up their experiment bags and one or more experimental control bags. We began class with a brief overview of the day, and then students worked alone or in pairs to write a high-level experimental procedure. Once their procedure was reviewed and teacher-approved, the students assembled their baggie gardens, using the resources available to test their hypotheses. After setting up the gardens, students were prompted to respond in their lab notebooks to the following questions:
- Measured Experimental Outcome:
- How will you collect your results?
- Where will your result be documented?
- How will you analyze your results?
- How will you interpret your results?
Tomorrow we will make our first experimental observations and then discuss how to organize how to collect and organize data relevant to each group’s research question.
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Baggie Garden Experiment – Day 1
Happy New Year! Hard to believe we are only three weeks away from the end of first semester! Before Winter Break, we began our study of cellular respiration and briefly touched on photosynthesis. Today we began studying plant biology by identifying testable experimental variables associated with plant seed germination. Tomorrow, students will establish baggie gardens in order to test whether their selected variable impacts seed germination and/or seedling growth. Our collective data will enable us to make detailed scientific observations and conclusions about factors affecting seed germination, seedling growth, and photosynthesis. Along the way, students will practice the art of inquiry by:
- identifying variables (manipulated, responding, and controlled)
- writing hypothesis statements (using the if…then…because… format)
- writing a detailed experimental procedure (incorporating the concepts of validity, reliability, repeated trials, and experimental control conditions)
- recording, organizing, and analyzing detailed observations
- writing a conclusion statement
Students will be expected to produce a typed lab report which includes a data table and a graph of the data.
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Quiz Review
On Friday, students received their scored quizzes back. We reviewed how the quiz was scored, and students had the opportunity to ask questions about the quiz content. Students then had the remainder of the class period to check grades in Illuminate, identify missing assignments, and then to locate and print missing assignments to complete over the Winter Break. School will resume on Monday, January 5.
Over the break, I strongly encourage my students to spend 20 minutes each day reading about biology topics related to energy, matter, and organization. Students should write a one-paragraph summary of each page of reading they complete (cite the source!) and return the summary paragraphs for 5 points of extra credit per paragraph. The reading should be related to our current unit of study, so look for credible scientific articles about:
- how cells obtain and use energy (photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and metabolism)
- how the chemical elements are organized into biomolecular structures (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids)
- how cell organelles are involved in the metabolism (anabolism and catabolism) of biomolecular structures to maintain homeostasis inside and outside the cell
- how diet impacts the function of an organism at the level(s) of cells, tissues, organs, or the whole organism
Need help locating credible scientific sources? Visit the Keep Learning! page for a list of websites (scroll down).
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Quiz
On Thursday, students were quizzed on their content knowledge around the actions of cell membranes in various environments, body systems, cell organelles, and how cells obtain energy. The quiz spanned much of unit 3 and the first few days of unit 4.
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Cellular Respiration – Day 2
We continued our work modeling cellular respiration, picking up where we left off yesterday. Although 2nd and 3rd periods were shortened because of a fire drill, students in periods 1, 4, and 5 were also able to watch the short video below describing the action of the enzyme ATP synthase. We will have a comprehensive quiz tomorrow covering the topics of body systems, organelles (with heavy emphasis on the cell membrane), and energy.
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Cellular Respiration – Day 1
Today we began learning about how one of the major cellular organelles, the mitochondria, are able to convert glucose into ATP through the process of cellular respiration. We began with a partner share activity, where students discussed their response to the second video segment from Friday with their table partner. One partner wrote a summary of their partner’s response, and then the partners switched. We shared out as a class, discussing the effect of lowering body temperature on catastrophic health events (like heart attacks). We then transitioned to a study of mitochondria, with students sharing what they know about the organelle. We learned the chemical formula for cellular respiration (which occurs in the mitochondria found in both plant and animal cells) by reviewing the process of photosynthesis (which occurs in plant cell chloroplasts). Most students are able to reconstruct the formula for photosynthesis by remembering the key ingredients for plant life:
CO2 + H2O + energy (sunlight) → C6H12O6 (glucose) + O2
Cellular respiration is essentially the reverse of photosynthesis:
C6H12O6 (glucose) + O2 → CO2 + H2O + energy (ATP)
The attached slide deck provides a few additional slides (not presented in class). We connected the idea of cellular respiration back to the second video segment from last Friday to explain why lowering body temperature results in improved health outcomes. Finally, students modeled the process of converting one molecule of glucose to 36 molecules of ATP. The used the molecular structures worksheet along with the instructions to work through part of the activity. We will complete the modeling activity tomorrow and students will write a summary of the process of cellular respiration.
Energy, Matter, and Organization: Organelles
As we begin our new unit about how cells are organized, what they are made of, and how they obtain energy, we will begin with a review of organelles. Students will complete an organelle chart worksheet where they will research the function and location of the 12 major organelles, and determine whether those organelles are present in animal cells, plant cells, or both types of cells. Students may use any available credible scientific resource, including textbooks and the website A Tour of the Cell.
Science with Swart 