Welcome to Ms. DR’s Biology Homework Page. Check this page if you are absent from school, or if you need assignments or hand-outs. Let me know ASAP if you have problems with this page or other parts of the website! NOTE: Dates posted are the dates the assignment is DUE. ANOTHER NOTE: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open pdf files posted on these pages. Download the free program here:
Your First Term assignment for your IRP can be downloaded here. You and the person or people with whom you will do your IRP will need to schedule a 10-minute meeting with Ms. DR. Check the sign up sheet outside of room 415.
Homework for “Week” of 9/6-9/16
Tuesday 9/ 6	Summer Reading assignment journal and paper due on Friday.
Wednesday 9/ 7	Look at the "first assignment" and e-mail Ms. DR to establish accurate electronic contact. I'll e-mail back to let you know I got it. mailto:ann_dannenberg@newton.k12.ma.us Get psyched. This is the last low-key bio day from now until after the AP exam on May 14. Your hard work will pay off big time! Check this out: http://community.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM This is why we study bio!
Friday 9/9	Summer Reading assignment journal and paper due TODAY without exception. First Assignment due today. Signed permission slip for random neighborhood excursions Signed slip (at end of packet) indicating you read the course outline.
Monday 9/12	Read Chapter 52 with particular attention to the main concepts outlined at the beginning of the chapter. As will be the case from here on out, be prepared for a reading quiz! Read How Microbes Defend and Define Us from a downloadable pdf (click on the article title) or read it on-line at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/science/13micro.html.
Tuesday 9/13	Read The Human Population Grows Up and a short recent update. Field trip to Cabot Woods. Come prepared to walk quickly and work efficiently outside regardless of the weather.
Wednesday 9/14	Read chapter 53 Aaargh! Ms DR is out sick today. Please take the chapter 53 quiz on your own. You may work with friends and use your notes, but write your own answers in your own words! It is important that you fully understand this material. I will answer any lingering questions in class on Friday. Please send me your data from the population sampling exercise. I will post a data table on this site. We'll have a breif discussion about the exercise in class on Friday.
Friday, 9/16	Read Chapter 50 with attention to terrestrial biomes. We will be doing a project on Biomes using GoogleDocs.
CHECK THIS OUT!	Hub on Wheels Cycling event Sunday, September 25. Bike 10, 30, or 50 miles on a car-less Storrow Drive, and cycle through beautiful (and relatively flat) neighborhoods of Boston, all while raising money for Boston Public Schools. Mr. Klem has been doing this event with students for 4 years now. Last year, there were about 12 teachers, students, and parents. Everyone was surprised how easy it was to ride 30 miles! There are also 4 rest stops along the way, with free food, drink, and bike repair kiosks for all participants. Last year, we raised over $600. We're hoping to beat that total this year! Please join the team!
Homework for Week of 9/19
NOTE: I will be showing An Inconvenient Truth during X-block on Monday and Thursday this week (location TBD). If you have not seen this video, or even if you have, I strongly encourage you to watch it this week. See me, or Ms. Purdy for exact times and locations of the screening.
Monday 9/19			Answer questions from the population sampling exercise. G-Block Data can be downloaded here. F-Block Data can be downloaded here. You will also need to have started gathering data for your biome project before you get to class today. You'll need to answer the questions (a-h) that we didn't have time to work on in class on Friday. Check this list to see for which biome you will be preparing a powerpoint project. Check the list also to figure out who your partners are.
Tuesday 9/20			Log on to Google Docs using your school account (your student ID number, just like loggin on in the library) and begin to look over the biome projects posted. The data sheets will be due on Friday. All of you rpresentations should be posted and shared with me (so I can share them with you) by the middle of class today. Read The Oil We Eat and answer reading questions except for #2. Read the three articles about biofuels. PDF's are available: Pond Scum..., Mali Farmers..., Next Big Biofuel... Answer the reading questions.
Wednesday 9/21			Read the PNAS article about soy and corn biofuels. Answer reading questions. The first installment of the movie An Inconvenient Truth about global warming will be shown on Thursday, September 22, 2011 During X-Block in room 415. All are welcome.
Friday 9/23			Heavily skim Chapters 54 and 55. Focus on concepts and figures. Don’t forget your independent project!! Log on to Google Docs and give feedback to three sets of classmates about their powerpoints using this online form.
Homework for Week of 9/26 If you're having trouble coming up with IRP topics, or are just interested in marine issues, check out SeaWeb a great resource for all current marine-related topics and links. Watch 18 very palatable minutes of AMAZING bio. This TED talk by Bonnie Bassler highlights an emerging approach to fighting multi-drug resistant bacteria.
Monday 9/26			Make sure you have looked at presentations (in Google Docs and uploaded on the website) for each of the 9 biomes. You may peruse work from either or both classes. Your completed biome presentation feedback survey must be completed on-line by Friday. Read Natalie Angier’s Parasites and Sex and answer reading questions. (There is no pdf available for this assignment.) Be prepared to wax eloquent on this and related topics in a Socratic seminar in class. Read Elizabeth Kolbert’s Global Warming article. You are assigned either I, II, or III. They can be downloaded from the Literature Links page of the website. Be prepared to discuss the articles and broader issues in class. Make sure you know what you are doing vis a vis the DO (Dissolved Oxygen) lab. Read the lab carefully and answer the pre-lab questions.
Tuesday 9/27			Read the Wikipedia entry about global warming. Keep in mind that this is a wiki, and do not take anything as gospel unless you have corroboration from other (primary) sources. Use it instead as an overview of the issues. Lab Day! We’re going outside, rain or shine. (YAY!!) Dress for the weather, and wear shoes in which you can walk quickly and comfortably. Meet at the Main entrance (Walnut Street side). We’ll take a short walk that will take us to Bullough's Pond and some woodlands where we will be collecting water samples from a river. DRESS APPROPRIATELY!
Wednesday 9/28			ECOLOGY UNIT TEST
Friday 9/30			DO Lab Day II in class. Your completed biome presentation feedback survey must be completed on-line by today.
Homework for Week of 10/3
NOTE: Make an appointment with Ms. DR to get approval for your independent project! Due date for preliminary proposal is due on Wednesay, October 26. Your final proposal (the one for which you will earn your Term I grade) is due on Monday, October 31.
Monday 10/3			Read Chapter 3. Dissolved Oxygen post-lab questions from handout due. You don't need thelab data to answer these questions. Please post your group's field data on the GoogleDoc spreadsheet. Light/Dark bottle data from Ms. Purdy's E block class: Light bottle: initial DO = 5.8 mg/ml Temp = 22°C Light bottle: 24 hour DO = 7.7 mg/ml Temp = 24°C Dark bottle: initial DO = 5.3 mg/ml Temp = 21.6°C Dark bottle: 24 hour DO = 5.2 mg/ml Temp = 24°C
Tuesday 10/4			World of Water Investigation in class.
Wednesday 10/5			Read Chapter 4.
Friday 10/6			Read the lab paper guidelines document. Dissolved Oxygen Lab solid rough draft write-up due. Please follow the Formal lab write-up format. NOTE: Check grading rubric for details of lab paper expectations. Here are some notes that may help you focus your lab report. Peer review of DO lab drafts in class.
Homework for Week of 10/10
Monday 10/10			NO SCHOOL
Tuesday 10/11			Final version of DO lab due. Read Chapter 5. Hint: Make sure you have a good grasp of the key concepts and ideas in chapters 3-5. Review in-class activities. Molecular models in class.
Wednesday 10/12			Here's a short and fascinating article about an investigation into the potential use of stem cells in the treatment of diabetes - a preview of topics covered in the near future.
Friday 10/14			Ode to ATP: Write a poem expressing how the elegant structure and versatile function of ATP keep cells and you alive. Points for scientific accuracy, creativity, and thoroughness. Read Chapter 6. Be prepared for quiz. Here are some basic macromolecules notes. They are not meant to be comprehensive! If you have notes you would like to add to this short compendium to share with the class, please submit them to Ms. DR electronically or in writing.
Homework for Week of 10/17
Just for fun, check out The Naked Scientist radio program from the BBC. This fast-paced science show is both entertaining and informative for regular folks as well as science geeks. You can stream the show or download programs as MP3’s. Enjoy! Download Criteria for Lab Abstract Grading and keep it handy for future lab reports.
HEMLOCK GORGE PARK AND RIVER CLEAN-UP SATURDAY!
Monday 10/17			Enzyme lab pre-lab questions. Be prepared to stay during X block or complete the lab at home if you were unable to get to all four sections of the toothpickase lab in class. We will only have half the block to work on it, and will devote the second half of class to preparing for the real ensyme lab on Tuesday.
Tuesday 10/18			Check your GoogleDocs to see the new IRP sign-in spreadsheet. Please make sure one member of your group enters your project. You can always edit your entry if your project morphs over time. Draw graph of all of your data (include a key) and answer all questions from the Toothpickase activity. Enzyme lab design thoroughly thought out so as to be ready to roll in class. Enzyme Lab day in class.
Wednesday 10/19			Lab graphs and data questions from end of lab handout.
Friday 10/21			Add your IRP to the spreadsheet on GoogleDocs. Test postponed because of history field trip. Retain what you have learned in chapters 3-6!! Test next Wednesday. Read Chapter 7.
Homework for Week of 10/24
If you haven’t already done so, schedule a meeting with Ms. DR to go over your plans for your IRP. Your rough draft is due on Wednesday this week, and the final paper is due on Monday, October 31.
Monday 10/24			Prepare your organelle for the Cells Inc. firing squad. You were assigned an organelle in class on Friday. You do not have to write your letter yet. Wit until after the Boad Meeting on Monday when you have heard from the rest of the departments and know what you're up against. The letter will be due on 10/31, after the biochem test and enzyme lab write-up.
Tuesday 10/25			Read Chapter 8 for overview. Bubblicious Membranes Lab in class.
Wednesday 10/26			BIOCHEMISTRY UNIT TEST - Chapters 3 through 6 A review site (new hippocampus) forwarded to me by Jackie Ly. Awesome! • click on BIOLOGY on the homepage • then click on TEXTBOOK Correlations at the top • find and click on Biology (7e) Campbell, Reece Pearson •then click on the topic you want to review and a video should appear on the right Preliminary IRP proposal due if you want feedback before your final (graded) draft which is due next Monday (October 31).
Friday 10/28			Enzyme lab formal write-up due for F block. Report the data only for the variable you were assigned, though you should mention the theoretical results of the other variables. You may use your data and that of any other students in all four AP classes. Ms. Purdy's classes' data is availabel here. They did the lab over two days, so they obtained more extensive results. We will be doing a peer-edit of your abstracts and anything else we have time for, so consider this a very advanced rough draft. You are required to have it ready today unless you have received a written extension. Log on to the Exemplars page of my website to read introduction, methodology, and results sections that met the assessment criteria for the DO lab.
Homework for Week of 10/31
Monday 10/31		Cells Inc. justification paper. (synthesize everything on the two worksheets, incorporate what you learned from the class discussion last week, and write (and type up) a 2-page description of your “department” in the context of the entire cell. Check out an example from three years ago that met the criteria for the assignment. Final IRP proposal due today! TERM I COMPREHENSIVE TEST X-Block in the cafeteria. BE ON TIME! NOTE: I will keep your highest two multiple choice scores, and your highest two open-response scores for the term.
Tuesday 11/1		Cell Survey in class. Read two articles (Uprooting the Tree of Life and The Birth of Complex Cells) and answer endosymbiosis reading questions. Don’t forget to return both articles to Ms. DR!
Wednesday 11/2		Enzyme lab formal write-up due for G block. Report the data only for the variable you were assigned, though you should mention the theoretical results of the other variables. You may use your data and that of any other students in all four AP classes. Ms. Purdy's classes' data is availabel here. They did the lab over two days, so they obtained more extensive results. This site might be helpful for drawing graphs. We will be doing a peer-edit of your abstracts and anything else we have time for, so consider this a very advanced rough draft. You are required to have it ready today unless you have received a written extension. Log on to the Exemplars page of my website to read introduction, methodology, and results sections that met the assessment criteria for the DO lab. Read pages 548-550 in chapter 5 for a review of endosymbiosis. Cell cycle discussion and intro to cancer in class.
Friday 11/5		Read Chapter 12, with particular attention to the stages of mitosis (Fig. 12.5) in preparation for the Mitosis Lab in class. Log on to the Paradigm website and download David Cameron’s Spring 2004 article about tumorogenesis. Read How Cancer Arises and How Cancer Spreads and answer cancer reading questions. Don’t forget to return all printed articles to Ms. DR! LAST DAY OF TERM I: no late Term I work accepted after today
Homework for Week of 11/7
Your Second Term assignment for your IRP can be downloaded here.
Monday 11/7		Read Chapter 12 to solidify your knowledge of cell cycle regulation. Read for the gist of Chapter 11. Focus on key concepts and figures. Look at review questions, and if you have time, use the CD-ROM activity animations to help you visualize cell-signaling and signa transduction. (Click on the "CampbellBiology. html icon on the disc, then choose Chapter 11. Click on "Activites" on the menu bar on the right.) Osmosis Pre-Lab questions due.
Tuesday 11/8		Osmosis Lab in class.
Wednesday 11/9		Day II of osmosis lab. Make sure you record your data on the class data table. In preparation for Wednesday's test, make sure that at a minimum, you can speak and write intelligently about the answers to all of the essential questions for the Cell Unit (chapters 7,8,11,12). Review Cell organelle powerpoints I and II, and the Membrane powerpoint.
Friday 11/11		NO SCHOOL
Homework for Week of 11/14
Monday 11/14
Tuesday 11/15
Wednesday 11/16		CELLS UNIT TEST
Friday 11/18