Sorry for the delay. Hope that everybody had a happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed the long weekend. Your homework for the weekend is to complete the Ecology Pre-Exam. Please have both the Scantron and the FRQs completed for class tomorrow (otherwise you'll be finishing it during lunch/after school).
Completing Assignment 31 will earn you some extra credit. And... a gentle reminder to those who still owe me lab reports - please complete and submit them as soon as possible.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
11/25/14
Tonight's homework is to review for tomorrow's check-in on the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles as well as invasive species and you should read 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 13.4, and 13.5 in Botkin and Keller. If you have time (either tomorrow or over the weekend), then I recommend checking out section 8.8 (a review on invasive species) and 13.6 through 13.10 (it goes further with the ideas from today's class).
Further, your homework for the long weekend is to complete the Ecology Pre-exam and relax - just a little.
Further, your homework for the long weekend is to complete the Ecology Pre-exam and relax - just a little.
Monday, November 24, 2014
11/24/14
Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 30 (sorry that the graph on the back is not present).
Interesting article about how to deal with invasive species... by eating them!
Resources from class today
Use the following links to gain information about invasive species - especially those that impact New York State.
New York State Invasive Species information
Other invasive species of interest:
European rabbits
Kudzu
"A Delicate Pacific Seaweed Is Now A Monster Of The Deep" - New York Times, August 1997.
Interesting article about how to deal with invasive species... by eating them!
Resources from class today
Use the following links to gain information about invasive species - especially those that impact New York State.
New York State Invasive Species information
Other invasive species of interest:
European rabbits
Kudzu
"A Delicate Pacific Seaweed Is Now A Monster Of The Deep" - New York Times, August 1997.
Friday, November 21, 2014
11/21/14
This weekend's homework is as follows:
11BD - Complete Assignment 28 (which was Question 4 from the FRQ section of the 2014 APES exam)
12BD - Complete #4 of Assignment 29
Regarding the review session tomorrow...
When: 9:00 am - 3:00
Where: NYC Museum School - 333 W 17th Street (b/w 8th and 9th)
11BD - Complete Assignment 28 (which was Question 4 from the FRQ section of the 2014 APES exam)
12BD - Complete #4 of Assignment 29
Regarding the review session tomorrow...
When: 9:00 am - 3:00
Where: NYC Museum School - 333 W 17th Street (b/w 8th and 9th)
Thursday, November 20, 2014
11/20/14
Finish the lab report. That's it for tonight (ha).
Please reach out to me if you have questions at pwhelton@sof.edu. Additionally, if it seems as though you are in serious danger of not completing the lab report for tomorrow (perish the thought!), then please bring what you have with you to school (so you can access it electronically) and I will work with you at 2:15 - and if you complete it before you leave, then it is still on time.
Please reach out to me if you have questions at pwhelton@sof.edu. Additionally, if it seems as though you are in serious danger of not completing the lab report for tomorrow (perish the thought!), then please bring what you have with you to school (so you can access it electronically) and I will work with you at 2:15 - and if you complete it before you leave, then it is still on time.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
11/19/14
In addition to completing the lab report for Friday, tonight's homework is the following:
12BD - complete Assignment 28 (FRQ #4 from 2014's APES exam).
11BD - complete Assignment 27 (on the back of your notes). I suggest the reading assigned to 11BD as a reference, if necessary.
"Odyssey" by Aldo Leopold
"Dead Zone" Nationa Geographic Encyclopedia
"Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is the size of Connecticut" from cnn.com
12BD - complete Assignment 28 (FRQ #4 from 2014's APES exam).
11BD - complete Assignment 27 (on the back of your notes). I suggest the reading assigned to 11BD as a reference, if necessary.
"Odyssey" by Aldo Leopold
"Dead Zone" Nationa Geographic Encyclopedia
"Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is the size of Connecticut" from cnn.com
“The Circle of Nitrogen (Life)” Comprehension and Thinking Questions
Answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability in complete sentences.
1. Why is nitrogen important to organisms?
2. Contrast the processes of nitrification and denitrification.
3. How is the nitrogen cycle related to the Law of Conservation of Matter?
4. Explain how the nitrogen cycle and human actions have led to the creation of dead zones in bodies of water such as the Gulf of Mexico. Be specific.
Read “Odyssey” by Aldo Leopold (accessed through the class website) and then answer the following two questions.
5. Leopold describes the odyssey through the biota (in an ecosystem) without specifying the chemical element of atom X. Assume that the element is nitrogen, then choose one of the episodes in the odyssey and identify and describe the biochemical process in which the nitrogen atom plays a part.
6. Describe the events – natural or induced by humans – that might take place in the prairie so that its losses would exceed its gains.
11/18/14
In addition to completing the lab report for Friday, tonight's homework is the following:
11BD - read p. 120 -124 about the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in Botkin and Keller.
12BD - complete Assignment 27 (on the back of your notes). I suggest the reading assigned to 11BD as a reference, if necessary.
"Odyssey" by Aldo Leopold
"Dead Zone" Nationa Geographic Encyclopedia
"Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is the size of Connecticut" from cnn.com
11BD - read p. 120 -124 about the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in Botkin and Keller.
12BD - complete Assignment 27 (on the back of your notes). I suggest the reading assigned to 11BD as a reference, if necessary.
"Odyssey" by Aldo Leopold
"Dead Zone" Nationa Geographic Encyclopedia
"Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is the size of Connecticut" from cnn.com
“The Circle of Nitrogen (Life)” Comprehension and Thinking Questions
Answer all of the following questions to the best of your ability in complete sentences.
1. Why is nitrogen important to organisms?
2. Contrast the processes of nitrification and denitrification.
3. How is the nitrogen cycle related to the Law of Conservation of Matter?
4. Explain how the nitrogen cycle and human actions have led to the creation of dead zones in bodies of water such as the Gulf of Mexico. Be specific.
Read “Odyssey” by Aldo Leopold (accessed through the class website) and then answer the following two questions.
5. Leopold describes the odyssey through the biota (in an ecosystem) without specifying the chemical element of atom X. Assume that the element is nitrogen, then choose one of the episodes in the odyssey and identify and describe the biochemical process in which the nitrogen atom plays a part.
6. Describe the events – natural or induced by humans – that might take place in the prairie so that its losses would exceed its gains.
Monday, November 17, 2014
11/17/14
Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 26 and continue working on your lab reports. See the previous postings for a boatload of resources to support your success.
Assignment
26 Primary
Productivity Investigation – Data Analysis Refresher
Introduction
The purpose of the following task
is to help ensure that you feel confident and capable of thoroughly analyzing
and writing about the data that you obtained during last week’s experiment.
Assume that this work will be collected and graded.
Scenario
Fusarium
oxysporum is a
disease-causing organism of many crops, including asparagus. The fungus
penetrates the roots and spreads up through the plant, often reducing the flow
of water to the stem and leaves. Infected plants produce fewer and smaller
spears than healthy plants. The fungus stays in the soil year after year.
Salt (sodium chloride) treatment
is a common method for suppressing disease in plants. It was hypothesized that a dusting of salt added to the soil would
suppress the fungus and allow the asparagus plants to grow more and produce
more spears.
The table shows data collected
after six 10 foot by 10 foot asparagus field plots were treated with a dusting
of salt.
|
|
Average Number of Spears
|
Average Spear mass (g)
|
|
Before
treatment with salt
|
78.2
|
1843.2
|
|
After
treatment with salt
|
89.1
|
2266.1
|
Thoroughly analyze the data and
evaluate this hypothesis.
When “thoroughly analyzing data”…
1. Graph the
data
2. Make
inferences, identify patterns and trends
a. Always support your conclusions
by referring to the data
3. Evaluate
your hypothesis
a. Always support your conclusions
by referring to the data
4. Explain
your data.
a. Use class concepts to explain the
events that produced your data.
Friday, November 14, 2014
11/14/14 - In Class
Use this link to sign up and register for the review session next Saturday (11/22) at the NYC Museum School (333 W 17th St) from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Remember, extra credit! Pizza! Raffles! And best of all... KNOWLEDGE!
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Primary Productivity Lab Report Resources
Titration is a technique common in chemistry laboratories, used to find the concentration of a substance by slowly adding a known amount of another substance.
Want some background information that will take you (sort of) through the titration and could be helpful to write a very strong methods section? Here you go!
The class data is posted here but I have not received all of it. This makes sense for 11BD, but Table 3/4 in 12BD is slacking hard and I suggest that this is rectified sooner than later.
IMPORTANT USEFUL PIECE OF INFORMATION - I measured the Initial DO for 3 tables and each time I found it to be between 1.22 mg/L and 1.24 mg/L. Some students were concerned about their Initial DO values being lower than their Dark DO values, so this could help.
Sample Data
For your methods section, I would like to see:
1. a brief summary of what you did, so...
- what was the general setup of the lab?
- how did you go about determining the effect of the intensity of light on primary productivity?
- what was this titration you carried out? Why did you do it? What were you looking for?
2. your independent and dependent variables, the control and experimental groups, as well as any constants
3. a diagram of the setup of your experiment
Want some background information that will take you (sort of) through the titration and could be helpful to write a very strong methods section? Here you go!
The class data is posted here but I have not received all of it. This makes sense for 11BD, but Table 3/4 in 12BD is slacking hard and I suggest that this is rectified sooner than later.
IMPORTANT USEFUL PIECE OF INFORMATION - I measured the Initial DO for 3 tables and each time I found it to be between 1.22 mg/L and 1.24 mg/L. Some students were concerned about their Initial DO values being lower than their Dark DO values, so this could help.
Sample Data
| Initial DO (mg/L) | 100% DO (mg/L) | 65% DO (mg/L) | 25% DO (mg/L) | 10% DO (mg/L) | 2% DO (mg/L) | Dark DO (mg/L) | |
| Class Data | 6.3 | 7.95 | 7.85 | 7.3 | 6.55 | 5.6 | 4.1 |
Want some background information that could be useful in the introduction? Here you go!
A model data analysis section is posted here. It delineates what could (should?) be present in a thorough analysis of data and how it corresponds to the rubric. NOTE: This analysis is good, but not perfect. It does not explicitly/thoroughly address the productivity of the algae, instead it only discusses how photosynthesis occurred. Also, the graph shows the amount of oxygen produced by the algae, but the lab report overview asks for the gross and net productivity under each light. This can all fit on one graph. To repeat, you only need one graph that shows the gross and net productivity for the algae under each lamp.
Want to see the rubric that will be used to assess your lab report? Here you go!
A model data analysis section is posted here. It delineates what could (should?) be present in a thorough analysis of data and how it corresponds to the rubric. NOTE: This analysis is good, but not perfect. It does not explicitly/thoroughly address the productivity of the algae, instead it only discusses how photosynthesis occurred. Also, the graph shows the amount of oxygen produced by the algae, but the lab report overview asks for the gross and net productivity under each light. This can all fit on one graph. To repeat, you only need one graph that shows the gross and net productivity for the algae under each lamp.
Want to see the rubric that will be used to assess your lab report? Here you go!
11/13/14
Your homework tonight is continue working on your lab report. I strongly recommend that students in 11BD try to find a few minutes tomorrow to come and see me with questions, pick up their hypotheses, and/or finish gathering or entering data.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
11/12/14
Tonight's homework is to continue working on the introduction and now the methods section for the Primary Productivity Investigation (due Friday, 11/21).
Respiration = Initial Bottle DO – Dark Bottle DO
Respiration = Initial Bottle DO – Dark Bottle DO
Net primary production (NPP) = Light Bottle DO – Initial Bottle DO
Gross primary production (GPP) = (Light Bottle DO – Initial Bottle DO) + (Initial Bottle DO – Dark Bottle DO) OR Light Bottle DO – Dark Bottle DO
Monday, November 10, 2014
11/10/14
Tonight's homework is to complete Assignment 25 as well as Assignment 24 from Friday. If possible, it would be to your advantage to generate a hypothesis about how light intensity will affect primary productivity in algae.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Thursday, November 6, 2014
11/6/14
Tonight's homework is to complete at least the first set of questions in Assignment 23 (specifically #2 and all parts of 3 in between Tables 1 and 2). Feel free to continue and keep working... in fact it is strongly suggested. Exhibition drafts and the rest of Assignment 23 are due on Monday and there very well may be additional homework. Prepare accordingly.
Also, you should review and bring in the Unit 2 exam. We will spend some time discussing it tomorrow.
Data from today's activity can be accessed here.
Also, you should review and bring in the Unit 2 exam. We will spend some time discussing it tomorrow.
Data from today's activity can be accessed here.
Monday, November 3, 2014
11/3/14
Tonight's homework is to read Chapter 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6 in Botkin and Keller. Taking notes is suggested but not required (as we will be discussing these topics in more detail, however you will be writing about them in your upcoming lab report.
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