December Homework

Homework Due Dates

Thursday, Dec. 2nd:

Complete labs- Due FRIDAY

Hint: Review Cell Organelles

Friday, Dec. 3rd:

Chapter 49 Guided Reading

All Diffusion & Osmosis Labs

Cell Size Lab

Cell Studies Lab

Monday, Dec. 6th:

Cell Membrane Diagram.  All must be created on standard 8.5 x 11 blank paper with all labeled parts/concepts

Extra Credit-Nobel Prize and Osmosis Challenge

Chapter 45 Guided Reading

Friday, Dec 10th

Study for Test

Answers for Packet with “Sample Questions and Answers” on TOP

pg 25-28 1. d,   2.c,   3.e,   4.b,  5.c,   6.a,  7.c,  8.e,  9.b,  10.d,  11.d,  12.a

pg. 40-41 1.d,  2.a,  3.c,  4.a,  5.d,  6.e,  7.c,  8.d,  9.c,  10.e,  11.b,  12.a,  13.d,  14.d,  15.a,  16.a,  17.b,  18.b

pg 203-205 1.b,  2.e,  3.b,  4.a,  5.d,  6.c,  7.c,  8.b,  9.e,  10.c,  11.c,  12.a,  13.d,  14.d,  15.b,  16.a

Answers for Packet with “Molecular Beats”  on Top

Pg 24-25 1.c,  2.c,  3.d,  4.d,  5.b,  6.c,  7.a,  8.b,  9.c,  10.d

Pg 37-38 1.e, 2.c, 3.d, 4.b, 5.b, 6.c, 7.d, 8.a

Pg 46-48 1.b 2.a 3.c 4.b 5.c 6.c 7.e 8.b 9.a  10.c

Monday, Dec 13th

Due- Chapter 8 Reading Guide

 

Thursday, Dec 16th

Due- Chapter 9 Reading Guide

Tuesday, Dec 21st

Metabolism Diagram Packet Pages 1-3 Front and Back

STUDY FOR TEST

Wednesday, Dec 22nd

Sounding Smart & Diagram Packet Pages 4-7 Front and Back

STUDY FOR TEST

Thursday, Dec 23rd

TEST!! 

Cell Bio Project

Let’s see those Cell Organelle Projects!   Post links to your video/music/ or anything else you created for your cell biology project.

The Old Ladies Who Liked Cats

Read “The Old Ladies Who Liked Cats” by Carol Greene — Darwin’s favorite fable. Once you have completed the reading assignment, respond to the following questions as comments on this page — due Thursday midnight.

1. Considering ecological roles, list the producers in this story.
2. Considering ecological roles, list the primary consumers in this story.
3. Considering ecological roles, list the secondary consumers in this story.
4. Considering ecological roles, list the tertiary consumers in this story.
5. Which trophic level is not represented in this food web?
6. Where did the energy originally come from to power this food web?
7. What ecological and evolutionary principles is this story illustrating?
8. In the movie, who should play the mayor… the pirate captain… the lead old lady who liked cats?
9. In honor of the release of CoD Black Ops, on what trophic level are zombies?

Animal Behavior: Cool Dolphin Tricks

Here are a couple of amazing accounts of dolphin behavior and learning. Check them out! What does it make you think about dolphins and their behavior?

After viewing/reading these accounts, comment on them and then your assignment for this weekend is to find an interesting animal behavior story or video and post it here as a comment.

1. Dolphin’s blowing bubbles.

Try this link, if the video doesn’t show above.

2. “Thanks for all the fish.”

This is an amazing story of how once-captive dolphins teach wild dolphins marine-world tricks. Click to read the article here.

(EXTRA CREDIT: Identify the origin of my title for this article.)

The Squirrel Wars

Read “The Squirrel Wars” at The New York Times. Once you have completed the reading assignment, respond to the following questions as comments on this page — due Tuesday midnight.

1. Are red squirrels and grey squirrels the same species? How do you know?
2. Describe the adaptive advantages that grey squirrels have over the red squirrels.
3. Why are the red squirrels surviving better in the northern forests of England?
4. What ecological principles does this story illustrate?
5. What do you think of the Red Squirrel Protection Partnership’s strategy for saving the red squirrel? Do you think it will work?

The Man Who Planted Trees

Read “The Man Who Planted Trees” by Jean Giono. Once you have completed the reading assignment, respond to the following questions as comments on this page — due Sunday midnight.

Although this story is not a true tale, it is an ecological fable. It is built on sound ecological principles.

1. Tell us what you thought about the book.
2. What moral do you think the author is trying to convey?
3. List and explain the ecological principles illustrated in the story. How can cutting down trees change the climate and soil fertility of a whole region? And how can planting trees restore barren land into fertile ground?
4. Answer this question via e-mail only…send your response directly to your teacher, so that your answer is not visible on the blog. Although this story is fiction. There are present-day, real life Elzeard Bouffiers (the man who planted trees) who have actually saved there local ecosystem. One woman in particular is famous for her efforts. Research and find the “woman who planted trees”. Tell us about her and her organization and their efforts to correct an ecological disaster by planting trees.

The Tree-Thinking Challenge

 

Tree Thinking since Darwin.

 

Read “Tree Thinking Challenge” article and post responses to the following eleven questions as comments on this page — due Sunday midnight.

1. In a cladogram, what two “things” do the nodes (branching points) represent? (Sorry, I really couldn’t find a better all-encompassing word other than “things” in this question, but don’t you EVER use it in a lab report!)

2. When considering phylogenetic trees, what does “more closely related to” mean?

3a. In reference to the tree below, which of the following is an accurate statement of relationships? (HINT: the answer to #3 is below to get you started on how to think about this.)

a) A green alga is more closely related to a red alga than to a moss
b) A green alga is more closely related to a moss than to a red alga
c) A green alga is equally related to a red alga and a moss
d) A green alga is related to a red alga, but is not related to a moss

3b. Explain your choice.

ANSWER: “b” is correct. The most recent common ancestor of a green alga and a moss is at node x whereas the most recent common ancestor of a red alga and a moss is at the “deeper” node, y. If you picked “c” you might be reading along the tips of the branches rather than at their origin.

4a. In reference to the tree below, which of the following is an accurate statement of relationships?

a) A crocodile is more closely related to a lizard than to a bird
b) A crocodile is more closely related to a bird than to a lizard
c) A crocodile is equally related to a lizard and a bird
d) A crocodile is related to a lizard, but is not related to a bird

4b. Explain your choice.

5a. In reference to the tree below, which of the following is an accurate statement of relationships?

a) A seal is more closely related to a horse than to a whale
b) A seal is more closely related to a whale than to a horse
c) A seal is equally related to a horse and a whale
d) A seal is related to a whale, but is not related to a horse

5b. Explain your choice.

6a. Which of the five marks in the tree below corresponds to the most recent common ancestor of a mushroom and a sponge?

6b. Explain your choice.

7a. If you were to add a trout to the phylogeny shown below, where would its lineage attach to the rest of the tree?

7b. Explain your choice.

8a. Which of trees given to choose from (a–d)  is false given the larger phylogeny below?

8b. Explain your choice.

9a. Which of the four trees below depicts a different pattern of relationships than the others?

9b. Explain your choice.

10a. In the tree below, assume that the ancestor had a long tail, ear flaps, external testes, and fixed claws. Based on the tree and assuming that all evolutionary changes in these traits are shown, what traits does a sea lion have?

a) long tail, ear flaps, external testes, and fixed claws
b) short tail, no ear flaps, external testes, and fixed claws
c) short tail, no ear flaps, abdominal testes, and fixed claws
d) short tail, ear flaps, abdominal testes, and fixed claws
e) long tail, ear flaps, abdominal testes, and retractable claws

10b. Explain your choice.

11a. In the above tree, assume that the ancestor was a herb (not a tree) without leaves or seeds. Based on the tree and assuming that all evolutionary changes in these traits are shown, which of the tips has a tree habit and lacks true leaves?

a) Lepidodendron
b) Clubmoss
c) Oak
d) Psilotum
e) Fern

11b. Explain your choice.

How We Are Evolving

Read the Scientific American article, “How We Are Evolving” and then respond to these question as comments on this page. (Due by Monday night before midnight for all you late-night teenagers!)

1. Be sure to spend some time on understanding the “Reading the Genome/Selection Signal” figure on page 43.

a. What is meant by a SNP?

b. What is a selective sweep and how is it different from the effect of a gradual selection pressure.

2. The author suggests that natural selection in the modern world seems to be difficult to detect, but he concludes with ways we are likely still evolving. List two examples that he discusses.

BONUS: In the second to last paragraph, the author seems to be making a social commentary rather than a biological point. Can you find it?

Comment: I really like the paragraph on page 43, that explains a mechanism of how an allele can benefit an organism. Students tend to think in black and white extremes: you get an allele and you are selected for and survive or you don’t get the allele and you are selected against and you die. The reality includes many more shades of gray. In all likelihood, it is that an allele allows you to be a bit better at reproducing, so you have the resources or the efficiency in using those resources to allow you to have 1 or 2 more babies over your lifetime than the individuals without that allele. And slowly generation after generation of having 1 or 2 more babies allows your descendants to make up more and more of the population.

Sexual Selection in Lions

Read lion research paper “Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion’s Mane” and respond to questions below:

1. What questions or hypotheses were the scientists researching?
2. Study the graphs in Figure 1. What conclusions can you make from them?
3. Is there evidence that the characteristics of male lions’ manes are determined by other factors than genetics/inheritance? Explain.
4. Do female lions accrue survival and reproductive advantages through their instinctive attraction to males with longer and darker manes? Explain.
5. How could such an instinctive behavior become more common in the population of lions?
6. Do male lions experience disadvantages by having longer and darker manes? Explain.
7. What conclusions did the scientists reach from this research?
8. What do you think is meant by the term “sexual selection”?

Some definitions that may help you understand the article better:

1. anthropogenic = human caused
2. dimorphic = found in one sex and not in/on the other
3. philopatric = stay in their birth place
4. felids = cat family (Felidae)
5. melanin = the protein responsible for the brown coloration in animals

If you are really stumped at understanding this scientific article, then after you really try to read it, look at this interpretation of it in the popular science literature.

New Drugs Stir Debate on Rules of Clinical Trials

Read the article “New Drugs Stir Debate on Rules of Clinical Trials” and respond to the following questions on the blog:

1. Why did some of the doctors remain committed to the clinical trial protocol of keeping a control group and not giving the “wonder drug” to them?
2. Why did some of the doctors balk at the clinical trial protocol and want to break this tradition?
3. If you were the doctor what would you have done and why — work within the clinical trials as designed or give everyone the experimental drug?