In 2009/2010, I taught biology to my older son, then 12, and his 13-year-old buddy. We meet weekly for two to three hours, with a goal of learning the equivalent of a year of high school biology. I used the New York State Regents Exam (
http://www.nysedregents.org/Biology/
) as a marker of our progress. Both boys passed the exam with ease, noting it was easier than the exams I’d given them throughout the year. What follows is a list of our resources and a summary of these studies, week by week. If you have questions, I’m glad to answer them. Here’s a link to the website I created for the course: MacLeod Biology (Tests are available in PDF form on the bottom of the resources page. Links on MacLeod Biology are NOT updated.)
Blog Posts Specific to This Class:
Primary Texts:
Supplementary Resources:
http://waylifeworks.jbpub.com/web_exercises_visit.cfm?id=6&url=http://www.cellsalive.com/
Think through the questions at the top of the page as you explore the sections in the directions.
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/cell_bio/tutorials/cells/cells2.html
Review the way different microscopes work, noting the size of particles and organisms best viewed by each instrument.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.html
You’ve probably seen this before, but it’s a good reminder about the diversity of size in the universe.
http://biology.hippocampus.org/
Watch all three animated videos under “Cell Structure and Membranes”
http://www.swccd.edu/~mseteachingresources/msetrshare/suhsd/biology/Semester%201/4.3%20SA-V%20ratio.pdf
)
http://www.ekcsk12.org/faculty/jbuckley/lelab/protistalab.html
Euglena lab. Do in class, turn in report next week.
http://www.ekcsk12.org/faculty/jbuckley/lelab/Cell%20Observations%20Lab.pdf
Onion cell lab. Do in class, turn in report next week.
http://www.biologycorner.com/bio1/diffusion.html
Study this site — the bottom example defines and explains hypotonic, hypertonic, and isontonic solutions.
This is a 13 minute lecture on ionic and covalent bonds. Read the book before you watch. We’ll discuss this more on Wednesday.
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/diffusionlab.htm
l)
http://www.northland.cc.mn.us/biology/biology1111/animations/enzyme.swf
)
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/Bio231/glycolysis.html
Simple and straightforward glycolysis
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab5/intro.html
Go through the whole thing– key concepts, lab, quiz. Take your time and LEARN from the process!
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/extraction/
Do this virtual experiment before you write up your lab.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/tour/
— Same website. Take this stage of the tour.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/extraction/howto/
http://www.cellsalive.com/mitosis.htm
Carefully study meiosis and mitosis, step by step.
http://library.thinkquest.org/28599/index.htm
General genetic site. Good for ideas for research.
Websites:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/dna/ Do the two interactive activities in the middle, under “Translation and Transcription”
Assignments:
Way Life Works, Chapter 5 questions
Prepare a list of resources you’ll use for your genetics project and a basic plan.
Week 14
Websites:
http://library.thinkquest.org/28599/heredity.htm
— look at before the test
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab7/intro.html
— go through the entire experiment, including the introduction, key concepts (skip quiz). **This is tricky!** Don’t worry about the chi square material. The point is working backwards from children to parents to determine the genotype of the parents. This material is a warm-up for new info — it’s not on the test.
http://www.dnaftb.org/dnaftb/
Okay, there’s quite a bit of material here, but if you study this, it will help you on the test. Do watch at least the first section on Mendel, since we’ve spent the least amount of time on this information.
Assignments:
Take the test when you’re ready (study first, keep some sense of time of test-taking). I have two shorter pages to have you do in class on Wednesday (can’t link to them). Good luck! See files section for test.
* Work on your genetics projects. I’ll talk a bit about that on Jan 6. It’s due on Jan 13th.
Readings: Experiments in Plant Hybridization (Mendel) in the Nature of Life
Assignments:Content and Application Questions at end of Mendel reading. Be ready to discuss discussion questions.
Week 16
Readings:
Campbell: Review blood typing (hopefully the cards will be in!)
Exploring the Way Life Works: Chapter 6
Campbell: Chapter 20.12 and 20.13
Assignments Due:
Remember to turn in written genetics project, Mendel questions.
Complete three test pages given week 14 to do at home.
Chapter 6 questions.
Week 17:
Readings:
Review blood typing if you didn’t last time. The cards are in!! Prepare to bleed.
Campbell: Chapter 17. Read carefully. Questions will be due Feb 3.
Websites:
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/biosnippets/
Homeostasis and the human body and in animals. We’ve done the lab in the past.
Assignments Due:
Complete questions for dragon genetics lab (
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/pdf/DragonGenetics1Protocol.pdf
and
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/waldron/pdf/DragonGenetics2Protocol.pdf
)
Project alert: Working together, you two will develop a project on bacteria. We’ll talk more about this in class.
Week 18
Readings:
None assigned, but reviewing ch. 17 in Campbell encouraged
Websites:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/alllife/threedomains.html
– Read and DIGEST the first page of this website. Exploring encouraged.
Assignments Due: Campbell: Chapter 17 questions (multiple choice, true/false)
Class: Using prepared agar plates, culture various places around the house (pet water bowl, kitchen floor, faucet handle, etc). Label the plates and place them in the incubator to be checked in a few days. Then, examine the plates WITHOUT OPENING THEM. Draw and describe what you see — number of colonies, number of different colonies, amount of growth overall. Write a lab report about your lab, your findings, and what might be a way to study the bacteria in your home further.
Week 19:
Readings: Read the articles from Scientific American (genetics related, picked by students)
Websites:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0303/04.html
Watch the 8 minute clip and read through the links. And then wash your hands.
http://www.livescience.com/health/090731-bacteria-infection-movie.html
Spoiler alert: The bacterium doesn’t make it.
Assignments Due:
Lab report for the lab on the survey of bacteria in the house.
Class: Examine petri dishes with cleaner, made growth medium using beef broth, sugar, and plain gelatin (nothing plated on these yet), and set up trisected petri dishes with four different antibiotics. Dry antibiotics were crushed and rehydrated with sterile water. Paper towel squares soaked in the antibiotic solutions were placed on the trisected plates. (Alternative lab here with kit.)
Week 20:
Readings: Campbell Ch. 20 and 21, first two sections of questions for both. Check your own work.
Assignments:
Lab report for cleaning supplies. Include the definitions of an antiseptic, antibacterial, and antiseptic.
S: Lab from first petri dishes and paragraph on antibiotic resistance (what it is, why is occurs, what we can do about it)
Be ready to discuss the digestive system.
**Research questions of the week: A: digestive enzymes and what they need to work (and where they work)
S: absorption of nutrients and water — what gets taken up where.
Class:
Labs on amylase and pepsin. Inquiry style. Each student does some research, makes a hypothesis, plans and experiment, and executes it. (No written source for this. They had to design their owl lab to examine the effects of pepsin and amylase on different food substances, determining the action of those chemicals by observation and then further inquiry. This required quite a bit of support initially, but they found there way. The process of designing an experiment was the key.)
Week 21
Reading: Campbell Ch. 22 and 23
Websites:
http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/search/label/Biology
: Okay, not part of the lessons, but I really liked the albino mice cookies and the petri dish cookies. See? Biology IS fun.
Assignments:
First two sections of questions for Ch 22 and 23. Be ready to discuss the circulatory system and respiratory system.
Lab report on antibiotics
Lab report on your digestive enzyme
Class: Discussion of cardiovascular and respiratory system. Examine the effect of exercise on resting pulse rate. How fast does your pulse return to normal?
Reading: None
Websites:
http://bio.rutgers.edu/~gb102/lab_10/skip.html
There’s quite a bit here, but it’s worth reading carefully.
Assignments:
Biology Coloring Book pages on respiratory, circulatory, and digestive system. Also complete the page on the heart.
Start discussing what system you want to creat a video on. Remember, clearly explain and illustrate the workings of the system then discuss a few potential problems. Email, call each other, meet, whatever, but by Wed, have a game plan: system and problems. Document all resources!!!
Class: Sheep heart dissection. Fish dissection.
Readings: Campbell Ch 24 (focus especially on excretion and the mammalian kidney) and Ch 25
Websites:
Assignments:
Complete the first three groups of questions for Chapter 24 and 25
Start studying for your test (due March 17th)
Continue planning your project on the cardiovascular system
Class: Dissect kidney and discuss.
Assignments:
Study for your test on the anatomy and physiology so far.
Take the test without notes or book when you are ready and send it to me by March 24
Class: Work on your project. It’s due on March 31!
Readings:
Campbell Ch. 28
Websites:This is an 18 minute video of Oliver Sacks, a renowned neurologist and writer, talking about visual hallucinations in the blind. The mind is an amazing entity, and this talk gives a glimpse of that.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/oliver_sacks_what_hallucination_reveals_about_our_minds.html
Assignments: Turn in test. Study diagrams of the eye and the brain
Class: Mammalian brain dissection.
Discuss nervous system
Readings: Campbell Ch 26. There’s quite a bit there. See the files for a study guide to do along with the chapters to focus your reading.
Websites:
Assignments: Study sheets for the nervous system and endocrine system. I’d STRONGLY advise doing these as you read and allowing them to focus your reading. No need to turn them in as long as I can tell in class that you’re reading well. Write down your answers, however. For the class on March 31, focus on the neurological system (ch 28) and endocrine system (ch 26).
Class: Discuss endocrine system.
Eye research lab.
Your circulatory system project is due today.
Readings: Read Chapter 27 in Campbell and read Ch. 7 in The Way Life Works.
Websites:
Assignments: Finish study questions for the reproductive system. We’ll discuss the questions at the end of Chapter 7 in The Way Life Works on April 7th, so have read these through and given them thought.
Class: Discuss development and reproduction.
Eye dissection.
Eye Research lab due. Write as lab report. Document ALL sources you use.
Readings: Chapter 8 — The Way Life Works
Website:
http://www.visembryo.com/baby/1.html
This takes you through the development of a human in the uterus.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3209/04.html
A short video on stem cells.
Assignments: Evolution essay: Write one to two pages (double spaced, please) on this topic: Are humans still evolving? Use what you already know about evolution to defend your position.
Readings: Re-read Chapter 8 in The Way Life Works if needed
Websites: Watch the three sections on evolutionary biology
http://biology.hippocampus.org/
Assignments: Questions at the end of Chapter 8 (The Way Life Works)
Class: We’ll discuss the essays about humans evolving and go over the questions at the end of chapter 8.
Finch lab.
Readings: Campbell Ch 36 and 38 – read carefully and be ready to discuss. No questions due at this point. Websites:
http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/visual/animation.php?shortname=anm_carbon_cycle
Assignments: Write up a lab report on the beak lab we did. Propose an extension of this lab or modification to explore another parameter of feeding. For more on the lab itself, see
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/AEF/1996/sprague_beaks.php
Websites:
http://www.newyorkscienceteacher.com/sci/files/user-submitted/LE_Must_Know_Facts.pdf
Look this over, print it out, be ready to ask questions about what you don’t understand or recall.
Assignments: Rewrite lab report following my notes.
Class: Review for final
FINAL EXAM REVIEW ANSWER LINK:
http://www.nysedregents.org/LivingEnvironment/20090127scoringkey.pdf
This is amazing! I’d love to bookmark this to see how it goes for your son and his friend. Thanks so much!
This is awesome!!! Thank you so much for posting it!! My oldest is barely 7, but still, this is great to have!
Thank you so much for sharing all of your work!! You are generous and thorough!
Can you tell me which edition of “Biology:Concepts and Connections” you used?
I’m glad you find it helpful. We used the 1st edition (published in1994). ISBN 0-8053-30920-9
I love your schedule! I’m looking at using Hoagland with my son for bio, too. You don’t happen to have the tests you made up for this class available to share by any chance, do you, pretty please?
Thanks,
Regena McConnell
I’ll take a look and get back to you.
Thank you so much, Sarah! I have been through a couple of computer crashes since I used Hoagland with my older son. It would be so helpful not to have to reinvent the wheel with regard to doing this study again with my younger son. I appreciate it,
Regena
Do you have a links for the various reading selections? I
I’ve added a secondary resource link, The Nature of Life, which has the three reading selections that didn’t have links before. The boys weren’t terribly interested in the readings at that age, but they’d be delightful for students a bit more older or just more interested.
We decided we are going to use your schedule and your resources~ are the tests on the website all the tests you used for the course? Really find this to excellent and very helpful! thanks for any help or input.
I wrote my own tests, Tracey. They consisted of a few short answer questions and plenty of questions requiring longer answers (they were tough tests). They were not easy exams. I have the first three available, if you’d like them. I never wrote out the answers, however, so borrower beware.
Addendum: Tests are on the resource page of the MacLeod Biology website linked at the top of this page.
thank you~ I will go ahead and write out my own as well I appreciate you getting back to me~ my son is enjoying the resources so far !
Hello. I love your plans for Biology- this is just what we were looking for and the books we will be using. I will be using it with a very bright sciency 15 years old sophmore ( I think it still looks like a good fit). One question: what did you use for your labs- I see there are many write-ups scheduled but I wondered if you have a schedule for the labs?
Thank you so much for your great resource!
Kristie
Answered my own question! (I just went through the syllabus much more thoroughly!) I am quite excited for next year (just have to get through the rest of this year’s labs!).
Krisite
I do realize there are some gaps in those labs, now that I’ve looked at it. I put those lessons up as I went along, and I did wing it a bit, forgetting to add the information to the syllabus. I’ll try to fill it in a bit more over the next week.
One more question: do you think, in your opinion, that this makes a solid highschool bio course (I think it is good myself)?
Kristie
I think it does. It’s not an AP class (and wasn’t designed to be), but we counted it as high school biology. My father was a Biology professor in the Pennsylvania state system, and it withstood his standards for a good HS class. He noted that some the test questions were harder than what he’d be able to ask (and receive quality answers from) his freshman college biology classes. I took that as a ringing endorsement. That said, I value (as does he) deeper understanding of connections and concepts over vast memorization of facts. Like I said, it’s not AP Bio.
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Where exactly did u acquire the ideas to write ““HS Biology
| Quarks and Quirks”? Regards -Zella
I started with the text and lab book noted above and searched the web for the rest. I enjoy biology and have a fair amount of education and experience in the life sciences, which helped.
Hi! I’m a PA too, teaching my 9th grade son and two friends Q&Q biology- we love it!
I have a few questions about projects and labs. (suddenly I’m not following things clearly)
In week 18 you mention that the kids develop a project on bacteria, week 19 there is a lab report for the survey of bacteria in the house, and to write up information on assigned topics. Be prepared to present your information. Also there’s a lab on cleaning supplies.
Do you have links to the project and the labs? What “assigned topics” are you talking about?
Is there a general website you use for the remainder of the course for labs, or did you create your own?
Thanks so much for this great curriculum!
Jennifer
Good question. I wrote this curriculum with no plan of anyone needing to follow it but my two students and myself, so there are many holes. I continue to be surprised at how it took off.
They had to plan their lab on surveying bacteria around the house, which was mostly choosing sites to survey. One took the edge of the guinea pig cage, the computer keyboard, and the bathroom sink, for example. Then, on agar, they had to plate samples from these sites, label the samples, and put them in the incubator. (Never open these samples except to pour bleach in them at the end of the lab, and then you should just a crack with gloved hands and good ventilation. You will grow out pathogens.)
Looking at week 19, I’m realizing I need to look back at my son’s lab reports. and see what we did. I remember some, but it was four years back. I’ll get back to you soon.
I can’t find the lab reports or the files. Here’s a link to the lab on Home Science Supplies. There is a link on that page to a PDF with instructions.
I do hope that helps. Let me know if you have additional question. I’m fuzzy on the assigned topics I gave them, so I’ve removed that. For awhile, I was regularly giving them specific questions to explore so they could share their findings during class.
Thank you for the Link! I was wondering why you chose the NSY Regents exam. Is this a test that anyone from any state can take, or would you take your state’s exam (ie, from the DOE)? What do you think about AP exams?
Appreciate your ideas !
Jen
p.s. Do you still work as a PA?
You’re welcome. I use the NYS Regents exam for benchmarking. They didn’t take the test for credit, but rather took a previous year’s exam while sitting around the kitchen table. My father, a college Biology professor with plenty of experience with the NYS Regents, seconded that it was a fine benchmark, which reassured me that is was a decent standard to follow. I wasn’t concerned about that with either Chemistry or Physics as there is a more common set of skills and knowledge in a standard course. I didn’t want to teach biology as a memory task, although there were things to memorize, and I preferred to focus on connections and higher order thinking skills with plenty of inquiry. This is quite different than the focus of the AP Biology exam (and I wrote about my feelings on that here.) Overall, I’m not a big fan of the AP. My older will likely not take any, although he will sit for some SAT Subject Tests. My younger may be interested — I’ll leave that up to him.
I do still work as a PA, albeit very parttime, in a private family practice. I’m due to recertify this year, and I need to start paying attention to that!
Sarah
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writing a comment on! Really wished to mention you truly did
a remarkable work. Thanks for the post -Sherman