English-Science Interdisciplinary Unit in Genetics

For several weeks students have been learning about genetics in biology.  One of the main topics included predictions of offspring in both their genotype (genetic coding) and physical appearance. Students used Punnett squares and pedigrees as a method to predict the probability of having offspring with a certain trait. This week we are studying the DNA molecule and the process of replicating it into all of the cells that make up our bodies!

strawberry DNA

One of the highlights was extracting DNA from a strawberry, as shown by a lab group (left).  The DNA is the white stringy stuff suspended in the rubbing alcohol. The red layer at the bottom was the strawberry slurry.

Students began by brainstorming questions

Another interesting aspect of the genetics unit was that a portion of it was integrated into the English classes.  The focus of the content was on how foods are genetically modified, but also covered examples of genetically modified animals (such as mosquitoes) and a bit of the ethics behind genetic modification in humans.

In biology students learned about the scientific process of genetically modifying an organism, evaluated the benefits and consequences to society and the environment, and inquired about the bioethics of the products of this process. Several articles about genetically modified organisms were read during English class to practice annotating nonfiction texts, identifying persuasive language and finding evidence to support an argument.

Students match scientific evidence to various viewpoints

Students were engaged in thinking about the different viewpoints of people who are impacted through genetic modification, such as farmers, consumers and environmentalists.

The assessment for this portion of the genetics unit was an essay that was graded by both English and biology teachers. We are excited to see how the students view genetically modified organisms and the evidence that supports their ideas!

  

Investigating the Key Components of Revolutions

World History students have recently wrapped  up their unit on Revolutions.  This unit contained a variety of revolutions including the French Revolution, Haitian Revolution. and Industrial Revolution.  One of the important learning goals that we focused on was how an historian is able to take complex events and break them down into their basic components.  Through breaking down complex events into basic components, these events become much more easily understood.  More importantly, patterns can be recognized between these events when they are broken down into less complex formats.  The hope is that as students are presented with other various revolutions / rebellions in future history classes, they will be able to utilize the skills they learn during this unit to make sense of the new material.

Our summative project challenged the students to pick any revolution from history that they would like to learn more about, research it, break it down into its component parts, connect these parts together in a logical fashion, and then present it to the class.  In order to help the class get started, we brainstormed what components we thought all revolutions might share.  Since the class had already learned about a few revolutions they came up with the following list:

Leader

New Idea

Existing Problem

Action

Symbolism

Dissenters

Results

Followers

Students had the option to choose to complete the project on either a poster board or Prezi.  Below are a few examples of Prezi's that were created for this project.

Hamza's Revolution Project

Benny's Revolution Project
Ari's Revolution Project
Nikki's Revolution Project
Madison's Revolution Project

TUESDAY TUNE-UPS

Looking for help with a new concept?

Want to review an old concept?

Need to catch up on some missing work?

Bring your lunch and join us...

Tuesdays during A lunch in A101

See you there!

Your LC 9A Teachers

Team 9A Math explores end behavior with their arms!

3-14-16  Pi Day

Team 9A at BHHS explored polynomials this month.  All of the operations with the polynomials were mastered.  Students had to classify polynomials as well by number of terms and degree while naming the leading coefficient.  Then students explored end behavior by standing and using their arms to show end behavior going to infinity and negative infinity.  It was a blast!!  Then graphed the polynomials.  These 2 students made a video describing the process.

Geometry students are immersed in trigonometry.   SOH CAH TOA, law of sines, law of cosines, new area formulas, applications, are all being explored!! It's uses seem endless!!

What Makes a Classic?

This quarter, students in Writ Lit I are investigating what makes a classic. Is it timelessness? Influence? Universal appeal? We spent the month of February studying Sophocles' Ancient Greek tragedy Antigone, puzzling about why this 2,500 year old play still resonates with audiences today. As part of their study, students learned and wrote about classic archetypes and had some fun trying to figure out which archetypes best describe them and which archetypes best describe their LC 9A teachers; we'll let you imagine what they thought!

This week, students began exploring a classic of their own choosing. By the end of March, each student will defend (in letter form) why their classic merits acceptance into the BHHS Museum of Classics (completely fictional, by the way). Students will have to determine the criteria for what makes a classic as well as why their classic fits the bill. Students began their exploration in the BHHS Media Center, where Mrs. Bevier had pulled dozens of books about a wide variety of classics--poems, cars, desserts, songs, mythology, photographs, musicals, architecture, cartoons, and more.


Now, students have selected their "classics," and, as usual, I am SO IMPRESSED by their creativity and individuality. Here are a few examples to showcase the students' thinking:

• Jade is interested in the bell-bottom jean as a classic shift in fashion.
• Nick P thinks the BMW e46 m3 should qualify as a classic car. 
• Annaliese is investigating DC Comics as a classic comic book creator.
• Seth wants to prove that "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" by James Brown is a classic song.
• Tia is looking into Starbucks as a classic coffee shop chain.
• Abby S is defending a specific classic heart surgery technique.

I can't wait to see what they discover! In the meantime, we'll be digging into two of Shakespeare's classic texts next: Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. 

What will the students think--should they be considered classics or not? Is the impact of Shakespearean language still felt today? Check out one hip hop artist who says yes!

Photosynthesis and Respiration

This semester biology students started with a challenging unit on cellular energy. Photosynthesis and respiration were the main topics of this unit. For several class periods, students learned about the detailed process of how solar energy can be converted into chemical energy stored in glucose. Students then designed their own experiment to test how a particular factor would affect the rate of photosynthesis.


The most common factors chosen by students included intensity of light, amount of carbon dioxide present, temperature of water and the color of the light.  Each lab group decided how they would collect data, planned out their procedure, wrote a hypothesis, and began conducting their tests.  Just this week, students turned in a formal lab report that included an analysis of errors in their data, a conclusion explaining the scientific reasoning behind their results and improvements for next time.

Now we are finishing up the unit by asking the question, "How does the food we eat supply us with energy?"  The respiration process is a lengthy explanation to answer the question, but the students are doing a great job using abstract thinking, finding patterns, and making analogies to learn about how our cells transform energy.

Taking a Virtual Tour of the Palace of Versailles

The LC9A World History classes had the opportunity to take a self-guided virtual tour of the Palace of Versailles last week!  The class has been studying the Age of Absolutism and has used King Louis XIV's reign in France as our example to be explored in depth.  We looked at the process of expanding royal power, along with effects of this increased power on the various classes of people found in France at the time.  The Palace of Versailles stands as perhaps the most concrete manifestation of the overwhelming power that most European monarchs exerted during this time period.

While on the tour, students were expected to visit four or five of the more famous rooms including the Hall of Mirrors, Hercules Room, and War Room.  Additionally, they were required to virtually take a walk through the gardens surrounding the palace. While touring the rooms and gardens, they were given the task of looking for evidence that would support the following argument:

How does the Palace of Versailles reflect the absolute power that Louis XIV held in France?

In the pieces of writing that the students created to argue the above assertion they pointed out a wide array of items that they saw including the expansiveness of the gardens, the prevalence of battle scenes in the paintings, and the many examples of Roman gods found throughout the palace.  This activity was one of many that World History students have / will participate in this year that are designed to get them accustomed to using evidence to back up arguments.

This is a perfect example of an activity that was made possible by the new technology and learning spaces found in our new high school.  Taking advantage of our ability to hand out Chromebooks to those students without their own device, every student was able to take the tour themselves while still in the classroom and adjoining commons area. A few groups of students were able to plug into the large monitors throughout the learning community to get a better look at some of the items they discovered while on their tour.

If you would like to take a look at the websites used for our virtual tour, just follow the links below.

Palace of Versailles: Virtual Tour Interiors

Palace of Versailles: Virtual Tour: Exterior