Today students wrote the cell respiration and photosynthesis test. Absent students will write it tomorrow.

On Friday, we performed the Pigment Chromatography lab...we had so-so results.

On Thursday, we went through the Calvin Cycle of photosynthesis.

On Wednesday, we went through the light reactions of photosynthesis. There was no homework.

Today students completed a worksheet on anaerobic respiration. We then began looking at photosynthesis. First we viewed a "gizmo" on cell respiration and photosynthesis. We then went through Photosynthesis Note 1. There is one textbook question and a table to do for homework.

On Monday, we reviewed anaerobic respiration. Students then used the rest of the class to work in their learning teams to discuss textbook questions and worksheets related to anaerobic and aerobic cellular respiration.

Today students met in their learning teams and discussed the textbook questions related to aerobic cellular respiration. They then used the rest of class to work on a series of worksheets on cell respiration or on their "maps". The worksheets are due to be finished for the Monday back after the break, as well as the textbook questions related to anaerobic respiration (fermentation). Your cell respiration map will be due on the Friday at the end of the week back from the break.
Have a wonderful, safe and restful holiday!

Today students worked on their cell respiration maps and then we went over anaerobic respiration. Please have all the textbook questions related to aerobic cellular respiration done for homework for Friday. The question numbers are listed under current "homework" at the right.

Today we went through the electron transport chain and viewed several on-line animations of this process. This is a difficult part of cellular respiration to understand, so if you were absent today, you must be sure to read this section in the textbook and get extra help. Viewing the animations is also helpful. I can be available for a mini-lesson on this on Friday at lunch if there is enough interest. PS: there is a large group of textbook questions to do (they can be found at the end of the electron transport chain note). These will be discussed on Thursday.

Today we went over pyruvate oxidation and the Kreb's cycle. Here are some animations that will help you to understand the first 3 stages of cellular respiration.
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072507470/student_view0/chapter25/animation__how_glycolysis_works.html
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/Bio231/glycolysis.html
http://www.wiley.com/legacy/college/boyer/0470003790/animations/tca/tca.htm
http://www.wiley.com/college/pratt/0471393878/student/animations/citric_acid_cycle/index.html
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/Bio231/krebs.html

If you have Powerpoint on your home computer, here is a slideshow on cellular respiration that you may find useful. It contains a little more detail than you need to know for this course, but there are some good graphics to show the various pathways of cell resp.
Powerpoint slideshow

Please remember to print the cellular respiration notes for Monday.

Today the class wrote the biochemistry test. Absent students will write it on Monday. The four students who've been away all week will write it on Tuesday. The enzyme lab report is due on Monday. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to post me a comment through the blog. If you'd like to provide your e-mail address I can write you directly, otherwise I will post an answer through the blog as a comment. Have a great weekend!

Today we decided to have the test in tomorrow's class....half the class was absent today. So, be ready to write the test in class Friday. Instead of the test, we went through the first note related to cellular respiration (Cellular Respiration Overview). We also went through the first stage of cellular respiration, glycolysis. Please note that all the notes related to cellular respiration are posted now. You should print these before Monday's class. Happy studying!

Here are the answers to the two sample tests that you may be doing as a review for Thursday's test.
Biochem test answers
Energy and enzymes test answers

Today we discussed the answers to the 3-D molecules lab. Students were then given time to either study for tomorrow's test or to work on the enzyme lab report. The data tables for that lab are now posted here on the blog.

Here's a link to a "kid's" graphing site. You can create line graphs using this site.
Graphing site

Here are the data tables for the enzyme activity lab.
Data Tables
The completed lab report is due on Monday. Remember, when graphing this data under the "Analysis" section, the independent variable goes on the x-axis and reaction time, or reaction rate, goes on the y-axis.

Today students performed the enzyme lab. Tomorrow, students can choose to either work on writing up the lab report, or study for Thursday's test.

On Monday, students wrote their design and procedure for their assigned part of the Enzyme Lab. The lab will be performed on Tuesday. The lab report for this is now due next Monday, March 9th.

On Friday, students presented their "expert" groups summaries of their assigned enzyme topic. All students copied these summaries. We began planning the enzyme lab. Groups were assigned.