Need some Community Service Hours?

The Biology teachers would LOVE some student assistance during the school's Open House on Thursday, April 30th! The department's presentations will occur in Room 287 (my room), and will include microscope demos, a dissection of an eyeball (to be demonstrated by a responsible student), among others. Are you interested? The night begins at 6pm and finishes at 8pm, so you'll earn 2 community service hours for participation! Let me know ASAP if you'll be there! The more the merrier!

This week!

This week (and the next few) we'll be focusing on Genetics. There is a lot of information online that can be used to help you with your understanding of Genetics. By clicking HERE you can find an online tutorial about Mendelian genetics.

This week's in-class calendar can be found here, as usual.

Extra Extra...Read All About It!

Extra credit that is! I have 2 opportunities for Extra Credit that I wanted to extend to students...


1) We are in desparate need of KLEEENEX Tissues (aka "napkins" as the students call them). 5 points per box, please! Limit 2.

2) Disney is coming out with a new movie called, "Earth." If you click on the word "Earth" you will be taken to the website to watch the Trailer and buy tickets! It premieres on Wednesday...EARTH DAY! Every ticket purchased in the first week is rewarded by Disney planting a tree! I will reward 10 extra credit points to anyway who can show a movie stub from the viewing, and an additional 10 points to anyone who goes during the 1st week (up to Wednesday, April 29th, I believe) and has the tree planted! What an awesome opportunity!

Biotechnology Research Project

While I'm away for the first few days this week, you will be working with Ms. Bianchi to create a class PowerPoint presentation about various biotechnology issues prevalent in the news today. We will be researching: recombinant DNA technology, stem cells, cloning, gene therapy, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The project description can be found here.

Each group has been given a topic to research. You are to gather up as much information as you can, being certain to cover the "Focus Questions" assigned to your group. You may use the website suggestions below for further research.

At the end of the day on Wednesday, April 15th you should email me your groups' slides by sending the PowerPoint as an attachment. My email is Courtney.Craig@lausd.net

Group 1: Recombinant DNA Technology
Focus Questions

1. What is recombinant DNA? What is recombinant protein?
2. What is a plasmid? A vector?
3. What is the difference between Recombinant DNA and Genetic recombination?
4. How is recombinant DNA technology related to cloning?
5. What are some uses for recombinant DNA technology?
6. What is a “sticky end”?
7. What are the enzymes involved in recombining DNA?

Suggested websites for information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recombinant_DNA
http://www.follistim.com/Consumer/FollistimAQCartridge/RecombinantDNAtechnology/index.asp?guid={021E579E-4A79-4A8B-A666-2009227E1379}&sid=812967281
http://www.bioteach.ubc.ca/TeachingResources/Applications/GMOpkgJKloseGLampard2.swf (watch the Flash animation...it’s awesome!)

Groups 2 & 3: Stem Cells
Focus Questions

1. What are stem cells?
2. What are the differences between: embryonic vs. adult stem cells?
3. Define a pluripotent cell.
4. How can stem cells be used as treatments for medical conditions?
5. What are some of the controversies surrounding the use of stem cells?
6. What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?
7. How does President Obama’s opinion in regard to stem cell research differ from Former President Bush?

Suggested websites for information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/stemcells/
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3209/04.html
http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/view/326?gclid=CO6bscKTyZkCFR0SagodYV2eug (watch the video)

Groups 4 & 5: Cloning

Focus Questions

1. What is cloning EXACTLY?
2. What are the differences between: Reproductive vs. therapeutic cloning?
3. Describe Nuclear transfer & the rest of the process of creating a clone.
4. What animals have been cloned?
5. Should humans be cloned?
6. What are the ethical concerns (prior problems) with cloned living organisms)?
7. What are some of the moral and ethical concerns about cloning?

Suggested websites for information
http://science.howstuffworks.com/genetic-science/human-cloning.htm (watch video clip)
http://science.howstuffworks.com/genetic-science/cloning.htm (watch video clip)
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml#whatis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,534450,00.html
http://www.demcak.com/cloning.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/28599/application.shtml
http://estercabral.googlepages.com/CLONINGWebQuestfinalversion.doc
http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webquests/genes/
http://science-education.nih.gov/home2.nsf/Educational+ResourcesTopicsGenetics/BC5086E34E4DBA0085256CCD006F01CB?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,cloned

Group 6: Gene Therapy
Focus Questions

1. What is gene therapy?
2. How does gene therapy work?
3. What are the vectors used in gene therapy? Provide details of 2 of them.
4. What is the current status of gene therapy research?
5. What factors have kept gene therapy from becoming an effective treatment for genetic disease?
6. What are some recent developments in gene therapy research?
7. What are some of the ethical considerations for using gene therapy?

Suggested websites for information
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_therapy#Vectors_in_gene_therapy
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/therapy/genetherapy
http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BA/Gene_Therapy_Overview.php
http://library.thinkquest.org/28599/application.shtml

Groups 7 & 8: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Focus Questions

1. What are they?
2. How are they created?
3. What are the impacts on Human Health?
4. How are they used? (Provide at least 5 specific examples of GMO’s that have been created in the past…be careful! Some of the Internet examples are FAKE!)
5. Are GMOs harmful or helpful?
   

Suggested websites for information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-Fact/5000/5058.html
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/gm-index.html
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
http://www.newscientist.com/topic/gm-food
http://library.thinkquest.org/28599/application.shtml

The last week of the term...

This week we'll be focusing on Biotechnology. You will learn a bit about how a "DNA fingerprint" can be used to solve crimes, and how we can do cool things with DNA technology like create a mutant fish that glows.

(GLOfish...zebra fish whose genes have been altered by

adding the "fluorescent" gene from a jellyfish)

We will also spend a bit of time review this term's material in preparation for your Final Exam. Period 3 students will take the exam on Thursday, and Period 4 on Friday. The exam is 100 multiple choice questions, and is worth 100 points (the same amount as the Cell Project). You may use a 4x6" notecard of notes during the exam.

A review sheet can be found here.

The week's calendar can be found here.

Extra Credit!

It's that time of the term when students have just received their 5-week progress report, and are celebrating or are being punished at home :-(

Nonetheless, many are asking about Extra Credit opportunities. A list of options can be found here (click "here").

For the extra credit article, you will need to search online or in a newspaper for articles related to Science. You can then attach the article to a 5-6 sentence summary, plus this cover page (the summary can be written right on this page). Each article + summary is worth 5 points; you can do 25 points of articles each term (5 articles total).

The Uni High School library has access to multiple subscriptions through LAUSD. You can find the links to the subscription services here. If all else fails, you can always see Ms. Whitham in the school library, and she'll point you in the right direction.

This week's calendar...

There is a lot of book work this week. Please keep your calendar handy. You can find this week's calendar here.