Honors Biology

What was Rosalind Franklin's contribution to Watson & Crick's Theory?

2012-01-03T07:24:00.001-08:00

Use citations.
Be ready for a 4 question quiz by Wednesday.

CALENDAR & BOOK LINK

2011-09-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

OUR WEB SITE https://sites.google.com/site/honorsbiologymast/
Full calendar here.New link for book, here.
E-mail me directly for questions at cochatt@dadeschools.net
And for some late night groovy good music, visit Columbia University Radio Station, hosted by our own MAST-alumn Willie Avendano at http://soundcloud.com/nighttrainwkcr/night-train-09-09-09, or regularly at www.wkcr.org
For national competitions around the country or the world, please visit http://www.duketipeog.com/home/academic_activities, and discuss with me for LORs or writtings.

DUE SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 - Why should biologists care about Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty? A discussion about what is life

2011-09-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

During these first 3 weeks of class, you have quantitatively measured populations of insects, volumes of liquids and solids, sizes of objects (lengths and widths), masses of solids, and temperatures as well as collected qualitative data on insect behavior. At all points, you have encountered limitations that will be discussed in your lab reports and analyzed with statistical tools that will give an approximate measure to the error of your measurements (range and size of your sample).

During lecture time, we have discussed the nature of the atom and the concept of uncertainty has been introduced.

Read the three paragraphs below, and discuss within the context of your experiments' results.

In the Stanford's Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Hilgevoord and Uffink discuss Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty under item 2.2, which reads:

"He (Heisenberg) adopted an operational assumption: terms like ‘the position of a particle’ have meaning only if one specifies a suitable experiment by which ‘the position of a particle’ can be measured. We will call this assumption the ‘measurement=meaning principle’. In general ... experiments are never completely accurate. We should be prepared to accept, therefore, that in general the meaning of these quantities is also determined only up to some characteristic inaccuracy.

As an example, he considered the measurement of the position of an electron by a microscope. The accuracy of such a measurement is limited by the wave length of the light illuminating the electron. Thus, it is possible, in principle, to make such a position measurement as accurate as one wishes, by using light of a very short wave length, e.g., γ-rays. But for γ-rays, the Compton effect cannot be ignored: the interaction of the electron and the illuminating light should then be considered as a collision of at least one photon with the electron. In such a collision, the electron suffers a recoil which disturbs its momentum. Moreover, the shorter the wave length, the larger is this change in momentum. Thus, at the moment when the position of the particle is accurately known, Heisenberg argued, its momentum cannot be accurately known:

At the instant of time when the position is determined, that is, at the instant when the photon is scattered by the electron, the electron undergoes a discontinuous change in momentum. This change is the greater the smaller the wavelength of the light employed, i.e., the more exact the determination of the position. At the instant at which the position of the electron is known, its momentum therefore can be known only up to magnitudes which correspond to that discontinuous change; thus, the more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known, and conversely (Heisenberg, 1927, p. 174-5).

This is the first formulation of the uncertainty principle. In its present form it is an epistemological principle, since it limits what we can know about the electron."

Dr. Murase at the Kyoto Institute of Theoretical Physics, proposes that "there is no clear distinction between subject (endo) and object (exo). As there is no definitely isolated object, the reproducibility principle is mostly violated. We must therefore pay much attention to the transients – or processes – during the past history of life".

Finally, researcher Richard Jorgensen proposes that molecular biology is no different in its lack of determinism than the world of physics. His article states:
"Quantum mechanics, especially in Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle raised fundamental questions that challenged the possibility of precise knowledge of the future: For instance, the number of times per second that atoms in a lump of uranium will undergo radioactive decay is known with precision; however, why and when any particular atom will decay is unpredictable by modern physics.

Similarly, although geneticists can measure mutation frequency in a particular system under specific conditions, the timing of a particular nucleotide substitution (or any other mutational event) is unpredictable. Only the likelihood of the mutation can be known. Thus, from an evolutionary genetic perspective, biology is no more deterministic than is physics, as Tautz (2000) has analyzed in terms of population genetic theory ...

With the advent of genomics, it is theoretically possible to know with absolute certainty the sequence of a region of chromosome carrying a gene and even the sequence of an entire chromosome. However, as Stadler (1954) noted, it is not trivial to precisely locate a gene, i.e., it cannot “be shown to be delimited from neighboring genes by definite boundaries.” This conclusion follows from Stadler’s definition of the gene: “operationally, the gene can be defined only as the smallest segment of the gene-string that can be shown to be consistently associated with the occurrence of a specific genetic effect.” In modern terms, knowing the complete sequence of a chromosome does not allow us to precisely determine all of the “many interdependent elements of a gene, including all those elements in cis that are necessary for the normal operation of a given gene” that is associated with a specific genetic effect (Jorgensen, 2010). In addition, the expression and selective value of a gene in nature may often be dependent on the environment encountered by the organism, perhaps making it impossible to precisely identify the boundaries of a gene.

Distinct from quantum mechanics, it is also important to recognize the relevance to biology of complexity theory, which has identified another type of uncertainty in physics, resulting from sensitive dependence on initial conditions such that relatively simple Newtonian systems may exhibit unpredictable “chaotic” behaviors due to the impracticality of knowing initial conditions precisely enough.

Similarly, it should be evident that knowing all alternative epigenetic states of a given gene in all environments may be unachievable in any practical sense."

Citations

Hilgevoord, Jan and Uffink, Jos, "The Uncertainty Principle", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = . Also available at http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/qt-uncertainty/#HeiArg.

Masatoshi Murase. "Endo-Exo Circulation as a Paradigm of Life: Towards a New Synthesis of Eastern Philosophy and Western Science". Prog. Theor. Phys. Supplement No. 173 (2008) pp. 1-10. Available at http://ptp.ipap.jp/link?PTPS/173/1/

Richard A. Jorgensen, "Epigenetics: biology’s quantum mechanics". Frontiers in Plant Science | Plant Genetics and Genomics April 2011, Volume 2, Article 10, 1-4. Available at http://www.frontiersin.org/plant_genetics_and_genomics/10.3389/fpls.2011.00010/full

First come first serve TICK

2011-09-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Does the boiled mix of cocoa and milk generate new compounds? If so, which ones? Citations!!

Attractants & repellents

2011-09-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

Do an iGoogle Scholar search for insect attractants and repellents, and comment.

Bring to Wednesday lab period for behavior experimentation. Remember you will have to run repetitions, so bring enough.

Applied ethology - DUE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2011

2011-08-31T05:45:00.000-07:00

Read the publication source and answer the following questions. In order to answer question 3, you will have to google scholar publications on play behavior of other species.

In the case of Octopus vulgaris, how and why do they use water jets?
What are the implications of play behavior when you compare Octopus vulgaris with Octopus dofleini?
Do all taxa play?
What are the evolutionary implications of your claim?

Source: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6UE3zGJKJHIMzBlMDc4NWItZGJmNC00NjgwLWJiMTEtNWM3OGFiYWU0MmMx&hl=en_US

Can a learned Behavior Turn into Innate one? - DUE FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2ND

2011-08-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

Peer-reviewed publication based ONLY.
Scholarly discuss the publication in addition to quoting it.

Biscayne Bay Plants and their chemical compounds - DUE FRIDAY FEBRUARY 25

2011-02-23T14:38:00.000-08:00

1. Find 5 examples of Biscayne Bay plants and their chemical composition. Use the following engines:

National Parks Services: http://www.nps.gov/bisc/naturescience/plants.htm

http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/, search by species

2. Recognize 5 poisonous plants in Florida and components. Use the following engines:

http://www.floridaplants.com/mpois.htm

http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/, search by species

In order to search the chemical compositions at http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/, follow these steps:

Plant Searches

Chemicals and activities in a particular plant.
Search by common or scientific name
Click on submit query
Then, check the boxes "Search based on non-ubiquitous chemicals only.", Print activities with chemicals." and "Include full references at end of document."
Finally, click on "submit query"

List of diseases

2011-01-09T15:36:00.000-08:00

Make a list of infectious diseases and the organism that causes it, completing the following table:

#    Disease          Organism                               Type
1    Malaria          Plasmodium                          Eukaryotic unicellular parasite
2    Flu                 Hemoinfluenza   Virus
3    Chicken pox
4                          Escherichia coli
5                        Salmonella typhimurium
6                          Streptecoccus aureus
7                          Streptococcus pneumoniae
8   Dysentery
9   AIDS
10                                                                     Roundworm
11                        Karenia brevis
12 Hepatitis
13 MRSA
14                       Helicobacter pilori
15                       Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
16 Rabbies
17 SARS
18 Varicella
19 Papilloma
20                       TMV

PEDIGREE OF THE ROYAL OR YOUR FAMILY

2010-12-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

EXPLAIN THE ROYAL FAMILY cases of hemophyllia in the picture below of the following individuals: Queen Victoria, King Albert, Queen elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Czar Alexei.

Alternatively, CONSTRUCT A PEDIGREE (use the instructions on the file "How to build a pedigree" under UNIT 3 to guide yourself or here) for your family on any of the following traits (remember females are circles, males are squares, dominant phenotype is shaded black, recessive trait is left white, marriage is a joint line between male and female, descendants come down from that joint line):
*Widow's peak
*Cleft chin
*Mid finger hair
*Detached earlobe
*Tongue rolling
*PTC tasting
*Face freckles
*Darwin's ears
*Any other trait that you are aware of or that you would like to track

Answer the following questions after you have found your family's pedigree:
1- Possible genotype of each family member
2- Explanatory hypothesis of you, other family members and your future descendants

P2, P4, P7-Breast Cancer in Men - DUE NOV 25-30

2010-11-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

Investigate the rate of breast cancer in men compared to that of females. Find out the latest large news on breast cancer in men.

P2,P4,P7 - Genographic Project

2010-11-16T14:05:00.003-08:00

Go to the genographic project atlas at https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/lan/en/atlas.html. Click on the 10,000 B.C. tab so that the migration routes of Y-chromosomes and mitochondrial DNA ancestors show up. Click on different routes that may reflect your ancestors migratory paths or if you found any resemblance with yourself or a family member. Record the haplogroups represented and the description of the traveling endeavors of that genetic marker. Write it in your comment to the blog by answering the following questions.
QUESTION 1: Which haplogroup(s) best describes your ascendant?
QUESTION 2: Describe the haplogroup and its distribution along time? (don’t copy-paste; give a succinct explanation of what you read)
QUESTION 3: How old is that haplogroup?
QUESTION 4: How would you make sure that you actually carry a marker for that haplogroup?
QUESTION 5: How much would it cost that test? (you will need to search this site at “your genetic journey” at https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/lan/en/journey.html, and do a Google search such as “checking ancestry DNA”, to compare costs).
QUESTION 6: What is the cost of genetic predisposition tests? (you will need to search the web for something like “checking disease DNA” and look at different companies)

What's in the atomic mass?

2010-09-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

What is Avogadro's number?
How does it relate to the atomic mass?
If Cl mass is 35.453, how many atoms are there in 15 g of Chlorine?

HBIO-P2,P4,P7: Theory vs. Law of Evolution

2010-09-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

Comment on the validity of the expression "Theory of Evolution" vs. "Law of Evolution". As a guideline try to discuss this topic too: has there ever been a documented case that contradicts the notion of evolution? Remember to substantiate your opinion with citations from reputable sources.

P7 - Tick on Multiple Intelligences

2010-08-24T12:26:00.001-07:00

Send a comment on the relationship between professions and intelligence types. Use Gardner's intelligence types as a base. Show your citations. Use iGoogle Scholar and iGoogle Books.

Some citations I found interesting:
Interdisciplinary approach to MI at work
MI in management
Personality traits, MI & happiness
What knowledge has the most worth

P4 - Tick on Multiple Intelligences

2010-08-24T12:25:00.002-07:00

P2 - Tick on Multiple Intelligences

2010-08-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

Send a comment on the relationship between professions and intelligence types. Use Gardner's intelligence types as a base. Show your citations. Use iGoogle Scholar or iGoogle books.

Some citations I found interesting:
Interdisciplinary approach to MI at work
MI in management
Personality traits, MI & happiness
What knowledge has the most worth

P4 - Tick on Jobs of the Future

2010-08-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Check out the jobs of the future and post your comments. Remember to substantiate your opinions.

SCI FAIR instructions

2010-03-05T07:02:00.001-08:00

http://mastscifair2009.blogspot.com/
Read judges sheet

Material to review for UT 12-13 retake

2010-01-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

Pages 252-253 (transposons, duplications, deletions, etc)
Pages 260-261 (cancer, oncogenes, tumor-suppressor genes, BRCA1)
Simple cloning exercise, click here
Useful products from GE-organisms (page 272-277)
DNA technologies problems (278-280, problem 19 on page 287)
Regulating genes: In prokaryotes: Lac operon (pg 283). In eukaryotes (pg 283)
Stem cells (pg 284)
Homeotic genes (pg 284)

3 new proposed rules for evolutionary theory - DUE WED FEB 3

2010-01-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

This new article in the Scientist does a great job at discussing the latest new rules proposed to append the dogma of evolution (don’t you love debunkers!).

COMMENT ABOUT THE FOLLOWING 3 TOPICS (in parentheses, my comments):

evolvability – (careful where your beef came from ...)
facilitated variation – (call your GNC immediately and prepare for a new and improved version of “what to expect when you are expecting – a grandparents guide”)
multilevel inheritance – (playing with scarier-than-ever eugenics, and freaking out on those ubiquitous plasmids ... I am getting my own carry-on mercury lamp and not taking antibiotics again in my entire life)

http://www.the-scientist.com/2010/1/1/24/1/

What about those plasmids? DUE WED, JAN 27

2010-01-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

Antibiotic resistance seems to be on an all-time high.
So, I thought, "I will bring my carry-on Hg-lamp with me!".
Just to be sure, "I will buy a life-time supply of Canada Dry". One would not want to die as many a Darwinian-like African explorer.
Those two should cover my bases, though maybe get my children a third arm.

Why o why? Blog about my two comments.

http://musserlab.medicine.tamhsc.edu/PDFs%20of%20papers/Kwong%20et%20al(InorgChem1997).pdf

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119065440/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

http://www.pnas.org/content/101/39/14040.full

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ic048320x?prevSearch=acridine&searchHistoryKey=

http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Tonic:water.htm

How to help yourselves for genetics and mol bio

2010-01-14T15:16:00.000-08:00

Make sure you know mendelian crosses (mono and dihybrid), ABO (blood types), names of genetic diseases (X-linked, Y-linked, Huntigton's, etc), DNA and RNA structure, DNA to RNA to proteins, what the processes do (replication, transcription, translation).

How to help yourselves with Photosynthesis and Respiration

2010-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Make yourself a drawing based on the online activity "8.2 closer look" and online activity 8.3 for photosynthesis
For cell respiration do online activity "7.5 closer look" parts 1,2 and 3, and "7.6 + closer look".

Speciation - first come, first serve

2010-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

Out of these 10 questions, answer ONLY one as first come first serve. This means that 10 people per period should get their reward :-)
1. Of what did Darwin die?
2. Where did he contract it?
3. Name of the disease, scientific and common name.
4. Organism that causes it and vector that carries it.
5. Is there a treatment for it? If so, which one?
6. Who paid for Darwin's trip?
7. How many kids did he leave at home?
8. Scientific name of mosquitos in our area.
9. Of what are these species of mosquitos carriers?
10. What are the statistics for these diseases here in South Florida?

REVIEW QUESTIONS, PROBLEMS AND ESSAYS for MIDTERM

2010-01-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

I am giving you a small proportion of my questions at different levels of complexity for you to practice. But, please, don't try the 630 of them! There is no need to do that. These are just for you to see that after doing maybe 20-30 of all of them you should be able to answer any of the others, given that the concepts are not so many. My idea is to showcase for you an assortment of types of questions that you can find. The differences lie not in the concepts but rather in the formats, phrasing and styles, some are theoretical other practical. So, have fun, practice a few and you will be ready. I will take time during class to go over some of the questions.

Click here for the document. Otherwise, copy paste the following link https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6UE3zGJKJHIZjNkZTJiYjctYzc1MS00ZWUwLWI0OTctZTQ2NjRkM2U5OTBi&hl=en.

SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT

2010-01-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Use i-Google Docs

INVITE ME!: ochattc@hotmail.com (DO NOT E-MAIL ME!).

One full grade attached to step-wise completion.

Several grades (TBD) attached to SF score.

Mentee-Mentor spreadsheet, click here.

10/9	TOPIC SELECTION & PROBLEM STATEMENT
10/23	BACKGROUND INFO & INTRODUCTION
11/06	CHOOSE YOUR MENTOR!
11/20	EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, VARIABLES, PROCEDURE
11/27	GET TOGETHER WITH MENTOR & START COLLECTING DATA
02/12	RESULTS, DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION, CONCLUSION, APPLICATION
03/03	BOARD & WRITTEN REPORT COMPLETE

The genographic project

2009-12-04T10:30:00.001-08:00

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic

Look for faces. Find your ancestry!

Lab #4

2009-12-01T11:15:00.001-08:00

DNA extraction, click here

Try these engines

2009-11-17T10:16:00.001-08:00

Computational Knowledge Engine WolframAlpha
Peer-reviewed publications in life sciences pubmed.gov
Searchable database of genes at NCBI: Entrez Gene
Finding similarities between biological sequences: BLAST
Searchable database of genome projects at NCBI: Genome Project
USDA Ethnobotanical database: Dr. Duke's Phytochemical Database
U Michigan Native American Ethnobotanical database: Dearborn AED

Please visit

2009-11-16T20:05:00.003-08:00

http://www.wfp.org/1billion

Please visit

2009-11-16T20:05:00.001-08:00

http://www.wfp.org/1billion

Balancing equations

2009-11-02T15:11:00.000-08:00

First, let's try to balance the combustion equations for these simple hydrocarbons:

Example: CH₄ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

CH₄ + 2 O₂ --> CO₂ + 2 H₂O

C₅H₁₂ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

C₂H₆ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

Now, try with sugars:

Example: C₃H₆O₃ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O
C₃H₆O₃ + 3 O₂ --> 3 CO₂ + 3 H₂O

C₅H₁₀O₅ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

C₈H₁₆O₈ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

How about equilibrating the combustion reactions of lipids?

The molecular formula in the first reaction is stearic acid. Stearic acid is used in candles. When you burn a candle, stearic acid undergoes combustion and turns into CO₂ and H₂O.

The molecular formula in the second reaction is oleic acid. Oleic acid is the main component of olive oil. When you add olive oil to your salad, and eat it, your cells catabolize the oleic acid into CO₂ and H₂O.

You probably noticed that the only difference between stearic acid and oleic acid is that the first one has more hydrogens. This indicates that stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid (solid at room temperature), whereas oleic acid is an unsaturated fatty acid (liquid at room temperature).

Arachidonic acid is the fatty acid in peanut oil, the source of all phospholipids in our membranes, as well as the basic unit that our body uses to synthesize the intermediaries of inflamation (prostaglandins and thromboxanes). The equilibrated equation for the combustion of arachidonic acid looks like this:
Example: C₂₀H₃₂O_{2 + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O}
C₂₀H₃₂O_{2 + 27 O₂ --> 20 CO₂ + 16 H₂O}

Try to equilibrate the following combustion reactions for stearic acid and oleic acid.

C₁₈H₃₆O₂ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O

A note about equilibrating equations for long unsaturated fatty acid chains ...

When you keep trying small coefficients and nothing seems to work, try using the rule of the least common multiple (back to 3rd grade algebra), and if that takes too long, just multiply the highest numbers of your main reactant to get the coefficient needed for your CO₂. Then finding the other coefficients will be just a matter of adding and subtracting.

For example, if you try to equilibrate the combustion of palmitoleic acid, an unsaturated fatty acid common in macadamia nuts (yeah, Haagen Datz's macadamia brittle!), it will end up looking like this:

C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + O₂ --> CO₂ + H₂O (before equilibrating)

34 C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + 867 O₂ --> 612 CO₂ + 578 H₂O

This was my reasoning:

I need a minimum of 18 carbons, 34 hydrogens and 2 oxygens.
But when I try using 18 as the coefficient for the CO₂that gives me 36 hydrogens, which is 2 more than what I have in one molecule of palmitoleic acid (34 hydrogens).
I quickly realize that it will take some number juggling to get the right coefficient.
So, instead of losing my time trying one coefficient after the next, I find the l.c.m. or basically on the case of 18 and 34, its multiplication (search in wikipedia if you don't remember how to calculate l.c.m.).
How to find the l.c.m:

18 can be decomposed as 2 * 3 * 3 = 2 * 3^2
34 can be decomposed as 2 * 17
Choose the decomposition of the factor with the highest exponent
Multiply all the chosen factors: 2 * 3^2 * 17 = 612
In our case the number obtained is the maximum possible of 18 x 34 = 612.
612 is the coefficient you will need for your CO₂.

34 C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + X O₂ --> 612 CO₂ + X H₂O
- Now, we have the same number of carbons on each side of the equation
Next, is equating the number of hydrogens on both sides of the equation. To do that, I multiply 34 (the coefficient of palmitoleic acids) x 34 (the number of hydrogens in one molecule of palmitoleic acid).

34 x 34 = 1,156
This is the number of hydrogens I need on the side of the products, basically coming only from the molecules of water.
1,156 / 2 = 578
578 is the coefficient you will need for your H₂O

34 C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + X O₂ --> 612 CO₂ + 578 H₂O
Finally, we need to equate the number of oxygens on each side of the equation. To do that, I need to know how many oxygens I have on each side by now:

On the reactants side, we have 34 * 2 + X * 2 = 68 + X * 2
On the products side, we have 612 *2 + 578 * 1 = 1,224 + 578 = 1,802
Ergo:

68 + X * 2 = 1,802
X = (1,802 - 68) / 2
X = 1,734 / 2 = 867

867 is the coefficient you will need for your O₂.

Voila!
34 C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + 867 O₂ --> 612 CO₂ + 578 H₂O
Simplify by dividing by 17

2 C₁₈H₃₄O₂ + 51 O₂ --> 36 CO₂ + 34 H₂O

Lab #3

2009-10-08T10:36:00.001-07:00

Click here.

Ardi and Lucy's daughter link

2009-10-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

Ardi, click here
Lucy's daughter, click here

Lab 2 - living vs. nonliving

2009-09-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

L3.5 - Organic vs. inorganic molecules
L3.6 - Cork cells vs. onion cells

Request to support our classroom

2009-09-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Adopt-a-classroom has created this video for my classes to forward to people who may want to consider adopting our classroom as their act of service to commemorate the nation's first 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance.

Last year, thanks to Adopt-a-classroom, my class was able to purchase equipment to measure pH, light and humidity of soils, which is a great asset for our new greenhouse, also product of a grant received last year. Please, help us make our class and our school a better place for our students to learn. One small donation at a time can make a big difference.

Message from Jamie Rosenberg, Adopt-A-Classroom Founder & Executive Director

Watch Video

As little as $5 can make a big difference for your children's classroom!

Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, establishing September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. The call to service challenges Americans to make an ongoing commitment to civic engagement. One of the core elements highlighted in this historic initiative is supporting education and helping to close the achievement gap. You can learn more about the National Day of Service and Remembrance at www.serve.gov.

How you can commemorate 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance

Support Claudia Ochatt's Classroom.

Already adopted a classroom this year? We thank you and ask that you forward this message to friends, family, or colleagues who may want to help teachers and students.

You can choose to adopt a classroom on September 11 or any other day this month that you want to make your commitment to service. For assistance, feel free to email us at help@adoptaclassroom.org or call us at 877-444-7666.

Sincerely,

James Rosenberg

Founder, Executive Director

Adopt-A-Classroom

Signing of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act

________________________________

Adopt-A-Classroom

Helping Communities Help Schools

Visit our website at www.adoptaclassroom.org

Nationally recognized by Follow Us

Adopt-A-Classroom mission

Adopt-A-Classroom invites the community into the classroom in support of teachers and their students. By adopting a classroom, donors form partnerships with specific classrooms providing financial and moral support. The result is a meaningful contribution to education in which donors experience the impact of their efforts and celebrate in a classroom's success.

Honors Biology Syllabus, Code of Conduct and Lab Safety Agreement

2009-09-04T06:28:00.001-07:00

Click here.

Letter to parents for back to school night, click here.

Math & Science - Practice your algebra

2009-08-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

The contemporary view of the sciences - physics, chemistry and biology, is that they are heavily dependent on mathematics. Visit The Mathematical Biology Pages at Brandeis University to understand some examples in biology and its reliance on advanced math. To quote the site: "Four full years of high school math are a requirement for any student who may want to pursue a career involving biology." MDCPS Competency Based Curriculum for Honors Biology indicates in all its components at least one math-based issue in the biological sciences.

Our Honors Biology Course at MAST Academy will rely on your knowledge of many algebraic concepts, so, you need to review them to be able to complete your textbook and laboratory component activities. Some of them include Punnett square analysis,

Practice your algebra here. Make sure to review the four main topics in this page, since they are an integral part of our course: 1- the language of algebra, 2- equations and inequalities, 3- the basis of algebra, and 4- graphing equations and inequalities. If you haven't seen any of these algebra aspects before, please come see me.

Practice your conversions to scientific notation & algebra

2009-08-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

Contemporary biology relies heavily in advanced math. The examples at the Brandeis University Math in Biology website illustrate just a few examples of this. Practice scientific notation and conversion here and your basic algebra here.

Space elevator

2009-08-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

Read material or watch videos from reputable sources about the space elevator. Explore how nanotubes can be used to construct it. Share your comment in a ONE paragraph max about either: 1- cost, 2- feasibility of nanotube polymerization for the length required, 3-timeline, 4- alternatives. Comments are to be substantiated by sources.