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Sep042009
POSTED AT 03:30 PM
Yesterday in Anatomy we finished up the Using the ATC 2000 microscope lab and discussed the answers we got and corrected our labels for the microscope. We taped our lab sheets into our journals and finished any questions. Then we lectured on cilia, flagella, and began talking about the cell nucleus. Today, we had a major test on the parts of the microscope, its use, and the calculations involved in measuring organisms under the microscope. Then we lectured on the cell cycle. Tonight (or rather this weekend's homework includes writing the answers to page 62, 61, and the Chapter 3 Laboratory page from our Anatomy folders into our journals. I will probably take up the journals next week.
Yesterday in Chemistry we took the Chapter 2 test. Today we watched a demonstration of the Law of Conservation of mass, and then watched a video about the history of our knowledge of atomic structure. Our homework is to read Section 1 of Chapter 3 and complete questions 1-3 on page 71 of the section review. Have a great, safe holiday, and hope to see you back next week!
Sep012009
POSTED AT 04:42 PM
Yesterday in Anatomy, we took a quiz on cell membrane transport - the ways things get into and out of a cell, and also tonicity of extracellular fluids and how they affect the cell. We lectured on mitochondria, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, and the elements of the cytoskeleton. We also prepared our journals for today's and tomorrow's labs, which are in your folders. We did Introduction to the ATC 2000 today and we will do Using the ATC 2000 tomorrow. You will have to make these labs up after school when you get back. We are testing on these labs on Friday, and it is a major test grade. Thursday we will be looking at and drawing animal cell slides that show various stages of mitosis. Be sure to review that section in your book in Chapter 3 if you will be here then.
Yesterday in Chemistry, we went over the homework from Friday and took questions. We then talked about the characteristics of direct and inverse proportional relationships (what graphs and math formulas look like). Then we prepped our lab journals for a lab called Density of a Liquid. You will not have to make up this lab, but you will have to get data from me, and write it up in your journal as if you had done it. Tomorrow we will go over the graphs we made from the lab today, and use the slope to determine the density of our liquids. We will also do some additional practice problems from Chapter 2 to be sure we are confident in all the things we have learned to do. Our test on Chapter 2 will be on Thursday, and I will also be taking up completed lab books then. Unless you have missed a lab that has to be made up, you must turn in your journal at that time.
Aug282009
POSTED AT 05:25 PM
In Anatomy today we finished talking about the way materials get into and out of the cell. We can therefore finish pages 54-56 in the folders (putting the answers in the Anatomy journal) and will have a quiz on the specializations of the cell membrane and how things get into and out of cells on Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will be spent in the lab doing work with the microscopes. Be sure you bring your red /purple folders and your journals on those days!!
In Chemistry in Chapter 2, we did some more work with calculations using our calculators and scientific notation, and in setting up different kinds of problems with factor label (dimensional analysis). Our homework for the weekend is page 42, 3-6 and page 57. 1-8. You must do any unit conversions with factor label. No problems that involve unit conversions may have answers only. We gave out answers to members of the class for selected problems so they could check their work. If you have a friend in the class, call him or her to get that information.
Aug272009
POSTED AT 03:20 PM
In Anatomy today, we went over the structure of the cell membrane and specializations of the cell membrane. We are able to complete the worksheets numbered 54 and 55 in our folders, the answers to which we will put in our Journals. In the Academic Vocabulary we put in a few words from the Life of the Cell Video. These were leukocyte (white blood cell),extravasation (going out of a blood vessel), chemokines (chemicals which cause changes in the cell), phospholipid bilayer (double layer plasma membrane) , raft, cascade, scaffolding, (look these up), and endothelial cells or endothelium (the cells that line blood vessels). We will quiz on the various aspects of the structure of the cell membrane tomorrow, and continue with how things get into and go out of the cell.
After checking homework today in Chemistry, we learned how to use our calculator to do computations with scientific notation and then did some practice problems from our worksheet. We also learned the steps of Factor Label or Dimensional Analysis. These are:
1. Write the given as a fraction
2. Find an equality that relates the units of the given to the units of the unknown.
3. Write this equality as a fraction, so that the units of that fraction will cancel the units of the given.
4. Multiply the given by that fraction, and cancel the units first. Check to see if the units that are not cancelled are those of the unknown. If they are not, repeat steps 2-4. If they are proceed to step 5.
5. Multiply all the numerators together. Press the = button. Then divide by all the denominators.
6. Express your answer in the correct number of significant figures.
We then were given 4 examples to do as homework.
1. ___________ m = 6.42 x 105 pm?
2. ___________ng = 1.1 g?
3. ___________cm3 = 2.4 L?
4. ___________MHz = 6.4 x 1010 Hz?
Aug262009
POSTED AT 04:17 PM
In Anatomy Class today we took the Chapter 2 test. If you are home sick, in the Anatomy Journal, you should complete the Chapter 2 Study Helps work from your take home folders. Then come to me when you get back to school and let me answer any questions you have before you attempt to take the test. I can also drill you on some of the things that were on the test to help you get ready. Please try to get makeup tests out of the way ASAP because the next chapter, The Cell has lots and lots of memorization.
Tomorrow we will take a new kind of root word test. We put our Chapter 3 root words, definitions, example words and their definitions into the Academic Vocabulary part of our journal. Tomorrow's quiz will have the usual, I give the root definition, you write the root and the example term, and in addition, you must give the definition for the example terms. Download the Chapter 3 notes tonight from the Teacherweb site, and read the part of Chapter 3 that deals with the cell membrane and also the section that deals with how things get into and out of the cell. (We are skipping the cell organelles just now).
In Chemistry class, we took a test on the chart on page 34 (everything except the section labeled Defined Standard), and also what I call the "how many's". If you can't get those from someone in the class, please e-mail me and I will send you a copy. That is a MAJOR test grade, so you really need to get caught up on that. So far in Chapter 2, we have covered all of Section 1 and completed the Section 1 Review. Yesterday we did a measurement activity, and learned about significant figures in measurement and also about percent error, and accuracy and precision. That is covered on pages 44 - 46 in the book. We also did some density calculations, and for homework last night completed p. 59, 16 - 19.
Today we reviewed accuracy and precision and percent accuracy, and learned how to count the number of significant figures in measurements. That is covered on pages 46 -48. Look at Sample Problem Don p. 47. Then we did Practice problems a and b on p. 48. We will not use the complicated rounding rules on the bottom of that page, but rather standard ones that you have always used in math class. After we learned to count significant figures, we then learned how to round off the results of calculations with measurements to a correct number of significant figures. That was covered on pages49 and 50. Try working the sample problems 1 -4 on page 50. We had an assignment from a worksheet, but if you can do these they will substitute.Tomorrow we plan to work with using our calculators to do operations with scientific notation and developing conversion factors to change from one unit of measure to another. That is covered on pages 51, 52, and on pages 41 and 41. At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do all of the Secton Review on p. 42, as well as the practice problems on p. 42. DO NOT use "King Henry" to convert measurements. We must use conversion factors and dimensional analysis to solve chemistry problems.
Let me know if you are having problems.
Nov082008
POSTED AT 09:36 AM
November 4, 2008
marked the tenth Presidential Election in which I have participated. Ever since I became twenty-one, the minimum
legal voting age when I was young, I have participated in national, state, and
local elections, trying to be as well educated and thoughtful voter as I could
be. Thanks mostly to my dad, I had a
good example of someone who took his responsibility as a citizen very
seriously. I remember asking him from
time to time, “Dad, who are you
voting for?” or “Why did you pick this particular candidate?” and he always had
a reason drawn from facts he had actually picked out that seemed to him to be a
valid basis for his choice. He and my
mom went proudly to the polls together until they were no longer able, and then
they voted with absentee ballots, long before they became a vehicle for voter
recruitment.
Our country
has grown tremendously in the years since I was first able to vote in a
national election. Barriers of all kinds
have fallen, and I must confess that even though I did not vote for Senator
Obama, I am pleased and excited for our country. Just as a citizen of the USA,
I took my responsibility to try and choose the best leaders I could, as a
Christian, I will recognize that it is God who puts leaders in place to do His
sovereign will, and I will respect, honor, and pray for them that they are
protected and enabled to lead as He directs.
The
Presidency, like other positions of authority, always becomes a target for the
bitter, the ambitious, and the enemies of democracy, and they assail the
President with every force at their command. There is nothing wrong with loyal opposition, the honest disagreement
over issues that we feel are crucial to the wellbeing of our society and I am
not advocating that we fail to speak the truth when necessary. Because we are a
Democracy we have every right to participate. That is an authority given to us
by our Constitution and by our God.
But truth must be presented with love, not derision and lies.
If our
country is to prosper, if our country is to be what our God intends, then we
must listen to His words. In the book of
Romans, Chapter 13, the Apostle Paul writes God’s view of governments. He says that it is God who puts governments
in power, and that He gives them the authority for the good of those they
govern. We are to respect and honor
them. No bitter derision, no
half-truths, no jockeying for position for “next time”. We have nothing to gain and everything to
lose if we do otherwise.
So let this time be one of celebration in the
freedom we as Christians have to have a voice in those who govern us. Let it be a time when we cherish our safety,
because Christians the world over are dying in record numbers just because of
their faith. And let us pray for our new
government, that President Elect Obama will govern with wisdom and honor, that
we may remain safe to worship and live as Christ directs and that we may be a
city on a hill to the nations of the world, that they will see Christ in us.
Aug022008
POSTED AT 02:14 PM
Disclaimer: This blog space is my own personal and
heartfelt page. It is not intended to
represent the views of Prattville High School, the Autauga County Board of
Education, the State of Alabama, or the Government of the United States of
America, although I am loyal to all the above institutions. I pay for this page with personal funds, and
I alone am responsible for its content. It is open to anyone who accesses my web page, and is never intended to
be offensive, but rather uplifting and thought provoking to its readers. If you do take offense, however, please
refrain from reading the page.
Quo Vadis
As a former
Latin student, I find that I am attracted to Latin phrases. They are succinct, and are almost poetic in
the amount of thought that is contained in a few words. Quo
vadis. Where are you going? A particularly appropriate phrase to ponder
at the beginning of the new term. You
are in a potent and vulnerable time of
life. Decisions you make, ideals you
adopt, acts you commit determine the
course of the rest of your lives. It is
well that you consider where you are going before you proceed further to make
sure that your final destination is one that you will be satisfied with.
This day in
time I do not go anywhere unfamiliar without first consulting some kind of map.
Road maps were once a staple in the family car. Today, we have Google maps on the Internet, and even satellite navigation
systems in cars. Yet all of these are
worthless if we have no idea of our destination. If we look at any of the
above tools we may soon find that there are many ways to get to the same
place. Some will take longer, some have
more challenging traffic with which to deal, and some have detours that may
surprise us on our way. Still, If we
have our eyes fixed upon our destination, with knowledge of our skills, we are
usually able to reach our journey’s desired end.
Life is a
journey each of us takes in his or her own way. It is full of challenges and surprises. It is also full of distractions and deadly perils. We never imagine when we set out all the
things that lie ahead. The one thing
that was settled long ago for me was the destination. When I understood that I was a creation of a
loving God who had a purpose for me as a part of His everlasting Church, I have
been forevermore set on a course whose end was determined 2000 years ago at Calvary. I know where I am going. How about you?
Although in
the classroom setting I cannot share my faith with you, I do promise to put its
tenets to practice every day. To be truthful and fair, to be respectful to my
superiors and also to my students, to be a hardworking and scholarly teacher
and scientist, to truly act each day to ensure that you have the best education
that Prattville High can offer, and to be a wise guide towards your achievement
of your academic and vocational goals. This is my joy and my calling.
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