Blog Archives - Button's Place

Day 71

11/30/2016

Yay yay Collaboration Day! And Pay Day!! Double Yay!!
As this is Collaboration Day, we talked about college in both AP Biology and Chemistry. We talked about Cal Poly, a popular college of choice for some of West Valley's finest. And as a bonus college, we talked baout Harvard, the oldest college in the United States. I think it was founded in 1623 which, obviously, is friggin' crazy!

Day 70

11/29/2016

70 days already? Wow, that means that there is only 11/18ths of the year left!
The AP Biology students made practice injections into a gel along with real fragments of DNA. We even ran the gels using the electrical stuff. We'll see how they turned out tomorrow. Thursday will be a hugely important day in the education of these students 'cuz we're doing more injections in the second part of the lab.
The Chemistry students watched rocket launches today and tried to figure out:
A. What reactions were occurring that created the rocket fuel?
B. What was the rocket fuel?
C. Did the fuel have to be mixed a certain way?
D. Can I hit Alyssa or Myles in the eye with a flying rocket?
All important questions!

Day 69

11/28/2016

And.....we're back. I had a good time on the break. Hiking, turkey and family. Ah....November.
The AP Biology students previewed the Gel Electrophoresis Lab today in preparation for the execution of said lab tomorrow. We will do some practice injections and check out the DNA fingerprint of lambda DNA after Hind III and Eco RI digestion. Yup, that's what we're doin.
The Chemistry students weighed their respective insoluble ionic compounds to see if they're anywhere near 2.00 grams of insoluble ionic compound. So, we finished the Stoichiometry Lab! Yay! Next stop, making fuel for rockets!

Day 68

11/18/2016

Friday and we have a week off ahead. I love pilgrims! I wonder if the native people of the New World did? I doubt it with small pox and all.
The AP Biology students did a couple of things today. One, we put the wraps on The Fly Lab after subjecting our data to the good ol' chi-square test that can allows us to reject the null hypothesis which, really, isn't that what's it all about? And we finished and turned in the Chapter 17 Reading Guide too.
The Chemistry students finished the double replacement reactions, made an insoluble ionic compound and began the filtering process. Wow, that's a lot. Over the next 10 days, the compound will dry and we'll be able to weigh it when we get back on Monday.

Day 67

11/17/2016

Back at it today. Boy, it's almost Thanksgiving!
The AP Biology students counted a bunch of flies today. Sepia eyes, vestigial wings, white eyes.....Man, Mother Nature is a crazy scientist! We will apply the chi-square test to our results tomorrow to see if we can accept the null hypothesis. Duh!
The Chemistry students, working in their Stoichiometry Lab groups, worked through easy algebra and difficult concepts in order to receive chemicals necessary to make, through the magic of chemical reactions, 2.00 grams of a insoluble ionic compound.

Day 66

11/16/2016

Today I was at the final meeting of a 3 day conference on the new Next Generation Science Standards. By the time we really have to worry about them, I'll be long gone. Not dead, just retired. At least, I hope so.
The AP Biology students either counted flies or finished the work on the Chapter 17 Reading Guide.
The Chemistry students continued their calculations on the Stoichiometry Lab.

Day 65

11/15/2016

Today was better. It seemed like everyone, including myself, was out of it yesterday. Maybe it was election day hangover? Who knows?
The AP Biology students (well, at least groups 1 and 2) counted some F2 flies. You know what's cool? Only a handful of people in the world knows what that means. I mean, it's a pretty big hand, but still. I think the rest of the week will involve counting flies and summarily dispatching them.
The Chemistry students, waking up from a brief but significant malaise, worked through the initial calculations of the Stoichiometry Lab. Some groups of students even got to mix their chemicals together to make an insoluble ionic compound. Exactly 2.00 grams of an insoluble ionic compound.

Day 64

11/14/2016

If you have not been to Yosemite, what are you waiting for? It is really incredible.......

The AP Biology students discussed the relatively easy concept of protein synthesis. You know, DNA to RNA to proteins...the central dogma of biological science. Hugely important and yet so elegant, so fluid. The process is the same in elephants, palm trees, fruit flies, rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, algae and humans.
The Chemistry began the Stoichiometry Lab today by going over a practice problem. The students were also given their own chemical equation to work on. They will have to figure out how to make 2.00 grams of a product pretty quick. By the end of the week.

Day 63

11/10/2016

Kinda like Friday today, isn't it? Yay, Veterans! Thanks to them, we can enjoy things like our National Park system, which is what I'm doing right now.....

The AP Biology students finished up the Chapter 16 Reading Guide and turned it in today.
The Chemistry students did a bunch of Stoichiometry problems today. We will continue this work on Monday.

Day 62

11/9/2016

Wednesday already? That's great because tomorrow is the beginning of my annual late fall camping trip. Next stop, Yosemite!
The AP Biology students wrapped up the discussion of DNA by learning about telomeres and their possible connection to the aging process. We watched a cool science video about how man might live longer through the use of cloning technology, computers and other stuff. Real boss stuff was learned and discussed.
The Chemistry students now know why the Apollo 13 astronauts survived in that little capsule all that time while continually blowing out carbon dioxide. How did we find that out? Why with Stoichiometry, of course. They must have had 50 pounds of lithium hydroxide aboard that spaceship!