Other processes in evolution reading

For HW tonight (Squids Tuesday night, Jellies Wed night) please read and take note on the following pages from the Berkeley Understand Evolution pages.  Most of this is similar to what we talked about in class today so you shouldn't need to be taking huge long extensive notes- just make sure you understand the processes we talked about today (sexual selection, drift, etc.).

You can use Print Friendly.com to turn these pages into a PDF, but you would have to do that for each page which could be time consuming.  You could also try copying all the text into a word doc, or take screen shots of each page.

Here is the link: Begin here.  Read up to Coevolution (also see menu on the left of the page).  Most pages are short on text and include diagrams.  Also please note that on the Genetic Drift page there is a link on the right that explains about bottleneck/founder effect.  Also here: Bottleneck and Founder effects.

Artificial selection gone too far...

Sexual Selection- video and Qs...

...now in the Unit 1 folder.  Complete and turn into your folder for credit.

Homework Credit

To clear up the confusion around turning in, homework credit etc.

1.  I decided I don't really like that turn-in form.  This is the first time I'm teaching completely electronically so some stuff isn't working out the way I anticipated.  If you put your work in the folder (the one with your name and section) that is fine.


2.  I hadn't planned on checking and giving credit to for the Beak of the Finch questions but I can do that.  If you finished Qs1 you can turn them into the folder.  Qs2, which are due on Monday, can also be turned in.  I won't be commenting/correcting them since we are discussing them in class.  But I'll give you hw credit.


3.  I haven't forgotten about your Yeast Labs.  Any day now.

Beak of the Finch Pt 2

The second selection of Beak of the Finch is in the folder, along with the questions.  You should jot down notes to answer the questions but they don't need to be paragraphs or even sentences.  Just be ready for discussion.

I'm posting this now so it is available but it isn't due until Monday.

Reading- The Beak of the Finch

The Beak of the Finch recounts the story of one of the first studies to actually show evolution happening as researchers watched.  The husband and wife team of Peter and Rosemary Grant studied the finches of the Galapagos Islands for decades, sometimes witnessing evolution (that is, change in the relative frequency of various genes) occur from one season to the next.

For homework read the posted selection from the book.  Then answer the questions and turn them into your folder.

Weekend Homework

Up next we'll be taking an in-depth look at Evolution.  For Monday please watch up to 22:30 of this video (From the 2001 PBS Series Evolution, Episode 4: The Arms Race).

You should pay attention to the two stories presented in this section: the arms race between the snakes and the newts, and the evolution of antibiotic-resistant TB bacteria.

Questions to think about:  How did the newts evolve such a potent poison?  How did the snakes evolve resistance to this poison?  Why do bacteria evolve so rapidly compared to people (as in, how come they became resistant to medicine and we didn't become resistant to them)?  Why would certain individuals in each of these populations survive or perish?

Take some notes on these two stories and jot down any ideas or answers you have regarding these questions so we can discuss next class.

Have a good weekend!

ZOMG!QUIZ TOMORROW WHAT SHOULD I STUDY I SHOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER!?!?!

No.  It's going to be fine.

If you have been paying attention in class (taking notes, asking questions if you are confused), and reading for understanding (NOT reading for memorization), you will be fine.  You should know and understand everything we talked about in class.  PDFs of the notes are all in the folder.  You should understand the readings- the big ideas of the readings, that is.  I could include a paragraph from the reading on archaea and ask you to explain why it supports classifying these organisms in their own domain.  You can all do that.

If you are still uncertain study with others in the class.  Email me if you must.  If it all truly falls apart we'll talk about a retake.  The point of this quiz (and all future tests and quizzes) is to see what you know and can do.  Just a quiz, people.

The Story of Cold Fusion

Here is the link to the full story: Cold fusion: A case study

More Classification

Read and take notes on the following pages regarding the three Domains and four Eukarya Kingdoms.

From Animal Diversity Web on the process of taxonomy

From the Encyclopedia of Life: Archea

Also from EoL: Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants and Animals.  Be aware that there are several characteristics that MOST, but not all animals have.

Reminder- Quiz on Friday covering Characteristics of Life, Classification and Scientific Method

Scandal- reproduction in the lab!!!

Here's a photo I took today from some yeast that's been sitting around in water and sugar for a few days:

Those are some lively live cells.  Have a good weekend, everyone!

How we classify today

For Homework read the following pages from the Understanding Evolution site by UC Berkeley. You should already know why it is essential for a classification system to take evolutionary history into account.  These pages will teach you more about the methods used to elucidate the evolutionary relationships between various living things.

Begin here, read this page and the next two (to the bottom of the page with the orchids and the cats). You might want to turns these pages into a PDF (using Printfriendly.com) and bring into Notability to mark up your reading and save your notes.

As you read, focus on the ways that phylogenetic trees recount the history of evolution, as well as the reasons that the Linnean system is not as useful now.

Characteristics of Life

Two days worth of HW here:

For HW the night after you do the lab, you should write-up a brief summary of the procedure (what did you do and why), the results, and a discussion of your results.  The discussion should include any mentions of errors or issues with the lab/procedures.This does NOT need to be a formal write-up; it's more like notes you would keep in a lab notebook, a narrative (ie, ok to use first person).

For HW the night after the lecture, you should write an introduction of background knowledge about the characteristics of life.

Each person needs to complete this in their own words (not one per group).  Save to your shared folder and turn in using the form.  This doesn't need to be turned in until you've done both days (the lab day and the lecture day), so Squids due Friday, Jellies due Monday.

Let's do some science!!

Time to start putting some skills into practice.  We will be examining the characteristics of life in the lab using yeast.  Everyone knows that yeast is alive, even though it looks completely inert when you take it out of the package.

Your assignment is to come up with an experiment to demonstrate that yeast possesses the characteristics of life.  Choose just one characteristic to focus on.  This experiment needs to be set up, performed and completed (with clean up) in one class period.  Think about:

• variables and constants
• control and experimental groups
• quantitative vs qualitative evidence
• equipment and materials needed (limited to whatever is available in the lab)
• what information needs to be recorded for your (brief) write-up

Before leaving class choose 2-3 other people to work with.  For HW, write up a brief procedure addressing the points above (this can be done collaboratively).

Science Literacy

There are lots of pieces to Literacy in Science.  Some of it is just regular reading and writing (do you understand what the text is about?) but the more sophisticated part is evaluation.  How valid is the claim or results that the author is describing?  What personal or cultural biases might be influencing results or interpretation?  Remember, "science is meant to be objective, but it is practiced by humans, who are not objective."

Choose a recent (within last year) article describing a study within Biology (health and medicine, climate, environment, biodiversity, cells, etc.).  You can choose an article directly from a journal, such as Science or Nature (if you can access the whole thing), or an article from the science section of a popular publication, such as the New York Times.


Your assignment:

1. Read the article.  (Click here for instructions on turning any article into a PDF using Printfriendly.com, in case you want to mark it up in Notability).  Read it for comprehension and to evaluate the validity of the results.

2.  Write a 2-3 paragraph summary of the article.  Briefly describe the methodology and results.  Discuss any factors that might affect the validity of the results.

3.  Drag your document into the Drive folder you shared with me (a few of you haven't made your folder yet!).  Then, copy the link and go here to turn it in.  Save this link for future use.

**Almost forgot- please return your signed safety contract as well**

Due by the start of the next class meeting (Monday the 8th for both sections).

Here, this should help you get started (from compoundchem.com)

Shared folders on Drive

Day One Tasks (2 parts)

1. Look in your Drive for a shared folder from me (Jellies or Squids).  Find the Unit 0 folder, open and read the Policies and Procedures.  Please contact me with any questions.

2. Create a folder with the following title: <Lastname> <firstname> <section>.  Share this folder with me.  This is where you will turn in completed work.  Your classmates will not have access to your assignment folder.

HW: Download and complete the Safety PDQ from the Unit 0 folder.  You do NOT need to share your completed HW back to me.  I will check it in class.

Jellies- this HW is due Thursday; Squids on Friday.

For today only (and for parents and guardians to see) here is the Policies and Procedures Info

and Syllabus

Getting Started

Welcome everyone!  Hope you had a great summer.  The first few days are just going to be about getting organized, especially with all things technology.

1. Please open this form and save it to your iPad's home screen:
Darlington Sign In Sign Out Form
You will use this form to sign in/out for bathroom breaks, visit another teacher, arriving late, etc.

2.  Complete the student information survey for homework.  Please answer questions thoroughly.  Your responses will help me to get an idea of how you learn, and what I can do to help you.