Science

As we rounded out September we finished our unit on macromolecules.  We covered the basics of monomers and polymers and discussed carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids in detail.  Woven in to these topics were the general ideas of isomers, and the relationship between a molecule’s structure and function.  The students had their first test which covered some basic chemistry and organic compounds (Campbell 7th Ed. Chapters 1-5 with a focus on chapter 5).

We have since started our unit on the cell and the cell membrane.  We have read chapter 6 from Campbell and discussed major types of cells, details of organelles, and cellular evolution (endosymbiotic theory). 

The students submitted their first formal lab on fermentation and we are now starting work from the lab manual and will do the osmosis/diffusion lab this week.

After our first week in Advanced Biology we have covered our introductory material and are moving forward with our study of Biological Molecules.

Content: Campbell text - chapters 1-3 have were assigned covering a general introduction to the themes of Biology, the properties and importance of water in Biology, and a general review of Chemistry leading up to large organic molecules.  We just touched on monomers and polymers and are moving forward with each of the four major types of organic compounds (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids).  We also reviewed the basics of the Scientific Method and Experimental Design.

Skills:  The students have planned and proposed a lab to test a factor that affects the rate of yeast fermentation of common sugars.  Each lab group will perform their proposed lab next week during the double lab period.

We studied the spectrum of life… cladistics, phylogenetic relationships between related species, etc.  The class also had a test on Evolution and wrote essays on gene expression and DNA technology.  In preparation for plant week (April 16-20) we did the photosynthesis pigment lab during our double period.  If anyone knows a better site with information about the pigments in spinach, please drop me a line.

http://www.uwlax.edu/faculty/koster/Spinach.htm