Christmas Concert

Students used today’s class time to conference with me about their grades, receive feedback on their mind maps, and improve the mind maps.

Homework & Reminders

•       Tonight: Christmas concert, Bake sale

•       Tomorrow: Spirit Day, bake sale, wear green and red, last day of school

Almost Done!

In today’s class we completed the respiratory system.

Homework & Reminders

•       Read p. 452 - 462

•       Work on your respiratory system mind map – due Wednesday, December 16

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 1:30 – 3:00, and 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Bake Sale, Casual Day

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day, bake sale, wear green and red, last day of school

Yesterday's post was accidentally posted onto my Grade 6 blog causing lots of confusion. Sorry about that everyone. The post is below:

In today’s class we covered the structure and function of the respiratory system.

Homework & Reminders

•       Read p. 438 - 451

•       Work on your respiratory system mind map – due Wednesday, December 16

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 1:30 – 3:00, and 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Bake Sale, Casual Day

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day, bake sale, wear green and red, last day of school

Intestines

In today’s class we covered digestion in the small intestine and large intestine.

Homework & Reminders

•       Read p. 412 - 423

•       Study For Friday’s test

•       Test: Friday, Dec. 11 – Chapter 9

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

Digestion

In today’s class we covered digestion in the mouth and stomach. We had a special guest, who spoke to students about teens and drugs.

Homework & Reminders

•       Read p. 408 - 4011

•       Study For Friday’s test

•       Test: Friday, Dec. 11 – Chapter 9

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

Animals: Structure & Function

In today’s class students had a work period to cover why we eat, what and how much we should eat, an introduction to digestion.

Homework & Reminders

•       Read p. 396 – 399, Do Q. 1, 2, 4, 5

•       Read p. 400 – 405, Do Q. 1, 3, 5

•       Read p. 406 – 407, Do Q. 1

•       Test: Friday, Dec. 11 – Chapter 9

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

A message from the MYP students:

Hello Parents,

We are very excited to let you know that the MYP students will be taking an action to raise funds to send a boy named Brian to school. Our goal is $750 which includes Brian's board, books, food, and tuition. There are three ways you can help support Brian:

1) Donate $2 and participate in our casual day this Wednesday, December 9th. Forms have been sent home.

2) Participate in our gingerbread decorating activity. Forms and fees have been sent home.

3) Bring in loonies and toonies to fill up your child's house jar! The house that fills their jar first will receive a 20 000 house points!

Thank you for your donations in advance!

MYP Students

End of Evolution

The class wrote unit test on evolution in today's class.

Homework & Reminders

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

Human Evolution

In today’s class we covered human evolution. We also took up yesterday’s homework.

Homework & Reminders

•       Read p. 358 – 365, Do Q. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11

•       Do Self-Quiz p. 371

•       Evolution unit test on Friday, December 5

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

Macroevolution

In today’s class we covered speciation, patterns of evolution, and macroevolution. We also took up yesterday’s homework, including the self-quiz.

Homework & Reminders

 

•       Read p. 336 – 340, Do. 2, 4, 5, 6

•       Read p. 341 – 345, Do Q. 1 -5

•       Read p. 348 – 355, Do Q. 3 – 7, 9

•       Read Biology Journal p. 356 – 357

•       Evolution unit test on Friday, December 5

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

 

Types of Natural Selection

In today’s class we covered the different types of natural selection. We also took up yesterday’s homework. We will take up the self-quiz tomorrow.

Homework & Reminders

 

•       Read p. 326 – 335, Do Q. 2 – 4, 6 – 10

•       Do Self-Quiz on p. 317

•       Evolution unit test on Friday, December 5

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

Evidence for Evolution

We covered a lot of work in the evolution unit. Topics included homologous, analogous, and vestigial features. We also covered Darwin’s On The Origin of Species, evolution by natural selection, and the modern theory of evolution.

Homework & Reminders

 

•       Read p. 296 - 303, Do Q. 1, 2, 4 - 6

•       Read p. 304 - 307. Do Q. 1, 3, 4, 7, 8

•       Read p. 308 – 313, Do Q. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8

•       Do Self-Quiz on p. 317

•       Evolution unit test on Friday, December 5

•       Wednesday, December 16 – Christmas Concert, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

•       Thursday, December 17 – Spirit Day. Wear green and red, last day of school

Charles Darwin

We watched a documentary on the work of Charles Darwin and the contributions of genetic variation caused by DNA mutation to evolutionary theory. Students who would like to finish the documentary should click on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3QdmgEv7KE


Homework & Reminders
 

•      Genetic disorder brochures or variations on a face lab report are past due

Evolution

We began the Evolution unit today.
Homework & Reminders
 

•       Friday, November 27 – Genetic disorder brochures or variations on a face lab report due

•       Read p. 282 – 287, Do Q. 1 – 3, 5, 9

•       Read p. 288 – 293. Do Q. 5,7 – 9

•       Read p. 294 – 295 – Biology Journal

A Visit From Corinne Piech - The Day We Got to Hold DNA!

Grade 11s wrote their Genetic Processes unit test yesterday. Today we had a special guest, Corinne Piech, from McMaster University. She is a genetics technologist. She spoke to students about genetics in general and engaged them in DNA extraction and karyotyping activities. This was a wonderful experience for us all!  

 

Homework & Reminders 

•       Friday, November 27 – Genetic disorder brochures or variations on a face lab report due.

DNA

We began chapter 6 – Genetics Beyond Mendel today. We covered the structure of DNA. Students built an origami DNA model. Students received the genetics assignment for this unit. Most have chosen a genetic disorder that they will research and create a brochure about.

Homework & Reminders

•       Karyotype investigations are past due

•       Read p. 228 – 233, Do Q. 1 - 6

•       STEM conference tomorrow

•       Test Tuesday, November 24 on chapters 5 & 6

 

•       Friday, November 27 – Genetic disorder brochures or Variations on a face lab report due.

We took up the self- quiz on chapter 5. Grade 11s participated in a Gummi Bear genetics lab in today’s class. They also chose a genetic disorder that they will research and create a brochure about.

Homework & Reminders

•       Karyotype investigations are past due

•       Tomorrow - Picture retakes

•       Test Monday, November 23 or Tuesday, November 24

Homework & Review

We took up yesterday’s practice work and homework on genetic disorders and dihybrid crosses, and began work on reviewing chapter 5.

Homework & Reminders

•       Karyotype investigations are past due

•       Read p. 204, Do Q. 3if you did not do this yesterday

•       Do Self-Quiz on p. 219

•       Tonight – Parent Guild forum, 5:30 – 6:30

•       Thursday, November 19 - Picture retakes

•       Test Monday, November 23 or Tuesday, November 24

Genetic Disorders & Dihybrid Crosses

We covered genetic disorders and dihybrid crosses in today’s class.

Homework & Reminders

•       Karyotype investigations are past due

•       Read p. 204 – 207, Do Q. 1, 3, 5

•       Read p. 210 – 204, Do Q. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8

•       Tuesday, November 17 – Parent Guild forum, 5:30 – 6:30

•       Thursday, November 19 - Picture retakes

•       Test Monday, November 23 or Tuesday, November 24

More on Pedigrees

We lost 1/3 of our class time due to a long morning assembly. We used the remaining class time to take up homework on blood types and pedigrees. We began a new lesson on genetic disorders but did not get done.

Homework & Reminders

•       Karyotype investigations are due Monday

•       Tuesday, November 17 – Parent Guild forum, 5:30 – 6:30

•       Thursday, November 19 - Picture retakes

Pedigrees

We took up Monday’s homework and finished up the lesson codominance and dominance in blood types. We did a new lesson on pedigrees today.

Homework & Reminders

•       Do ABO blood related questions on p. 196

•       Read p. 197 – 201, Do Q. 1 – 5 and practice questions For tomorrow

•       Read Biology Journal, p. 202 - 203

•       Tuesday, November 17 – Parent Guild forum, 5:30 – 6:30

•       Thursday, November 19 - Picture retakes

Test

I was away on a field trip today with my Grade 6 class. The 11s wrote a genetics test and worked on a karyotype lab in my absence.
Homework & Reminders

·         Do Q 1 – 10 on pg. 193 (5.1 Mendelian Genetics) – for Thursday

·         Read Nelson 11 p. 194 - 196, Do 1 – 10 - for Thursday
· Tomorrow - Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Variations in Heredity

We took up Thursday’s homework on Mendelian Inheritance and finished up the lesson by discussing test crosses.  Students conducted a mini-investigation in class, where they used red and white beads to determine the ratios of genotypes and phenotypes. They compared their individual and combined results to those of Mendel. We began a new lesson on Variations in Heredity such as complete dominance, incomplete dominance, and codominance. We almost made it to the end of the lesson. Students are asked to NOT complete homework questions relating to blood types as we did not cover this work in class.

Homework & Reminders

·         Do Q 1 – 10 on pg. 193 (5.1 Mendelian Genetics) – for Thursday

·         Read Nelson 11 p. 194 - 196, Do 1 – 10 - for Thursday

·         Study chapter 4 for tomorrow’s test

·         Bring your textbooks and devices tomorrow for an additional task

·         Tomorrow, November 10 – Test on chapter 4

·         Wednesday, November 11 – Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Mendelian Inheritance

We took up yesterday’s homework on cytoplasmic inheritance and almost made it all the way through today’s lesson on Mendelian Inheritance.

Homework & Reminders

·         Read Nelson 11 p. 184 - 192, work through the tutorials on p. 189 – 191.

·         Tomorrow is a PD Day – No school for students

·         Tuesday, November 10 – Test on chapter 4

·         Wednesday, November 11 – Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Cytoplasmic Inheritance

We took up yesterday’s homework on abnormal meiosis and fertilization and then covered cytoplasmic inheritance in today’s class. Grade 11s unusually had enough class time to complete today’s homework.

Homework & Reminders

·         Read Nelson 11 p. 167 – 170, Do Q. 1 – 6, Read about the sea slug in your own

·         Complete self-quiz on p. 175

·         Parent-teacher conferences take place on Thursday

·         Friday, November 6 is a PD Day – No school for students

·         Tuesday, November 10 – Test on chapter 4

·         Wednesday, November 11 – Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Genetic Disorders

We covered abnormal meiosis and fertilization in today’s class.

Homework & Reminders

·         Read Nelson 11 p. 161 – 166, Do Q. 1 – 7, & 9

·         Parent-teacher conferences take place on Thursday

·         Friday, November 6 is a PD Day – No school for students

·         Wednesday, November 11 – Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Sexual Reproduction

We had an intense class today where we covered all the stages of meiosis and ways that genetic variety is introduced through genetic recombination and random assortment. We discussed meiosis as it relates to spermatogenesis and oogenesis.

Homework & Reminders

·         Read Nelson 11 p. 152 – 155, Do Q. 1 - 11

·         Friday, November 6 is a PD Day – No school for students

·         Wednesday, November 11 – Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Spirit Day

Halloween/Spirit Day celebrations bit into a third of our biology class time today. We spent time taking up yesterday’s homework. This involved debating the cloning of pets and humans. The last portion of class time was used for students to test each other on their knowledge, understanding, and communication of the process of mitosis. They were assessed by a peer.

Homework & Reminders

·         Optional aon Disappearing Pollinators (p. 600) due by midnight, Saturday, October 31

·         Friday, November 6 is a PD Day – No school for students

·         Wednesday, November 11 – Remembrance Day – No School. Students are encouraged to visit a cenotaph

Clones

We continued the new genetic processes unit. We covered asexual reproduction and its applications in cloning and GMOs.

Homework & Reminders

·         Nelson 11: Read p. 142 - 151, Do Q 1 – 13

·         Optional Assignment on Disappearing Pollinators (p. 600) due by midnight, Saturday, October 31

·         Friday is Halloween/Harvest Spirit Day

Genetic Processes

We began a new unit on genetic processes this morning. We covered heredity, genetic material, asexual and sexual reproduction. Students had class time to reinforce concepts by reading on their own, and working on homework questions. Students received their biological drawings, freakiest organisms, and plant unit test grades during individual conference time. Students also heard their grade for the course so far.

Homework & Reminders

·         Nelson 11: Read p. 138 – 141, Do Q 1 - 6

·         Bake sale continues tomorrow

·         Friday is Halloween/Harvest Spirit Day

Plants: Unit Test

Students used today’s class time to write a unit test on plants. We begin a new unit tomorrow.

Homework & Reminders

·         Tomorrow is Casual Day

·         Friday is Halloween/Harvest Spirit Day