Apologia Human Anatomy Young Explorers Muscles

Yes, we are still proceeding at a  glacial pace.  Today, we completed three labs: Muscle Fatigue, Reaction Times, and Hot Hand.  The kids had finished the muscle lab two weeks ago when we last met.  I summarized their data on the board.  Creating bar graphs and averaging the data took an hour. I had the older kids copy the summarized data and take averages while the younger kids did some copy work.  Everyone created bar graphs.  I helped the kids set up axes, count by fives, and plot the data.  The kids plotted everyone's data and then we dicsussed briefly what the graph represents.  I wanted the class to get an idea that the graph summarizes the data they collected. This process took an hour.  Next the kids each did ten trials with rulers to collect reaction times.  Once again, I had the class average and graph the class data.  For the third lab, the kids took temperature measures for their fingers, palms, wrists, elbows, and under arms with the digital thermometers using Sparkvue and Vernier equipment.  The kids summarized an average for each body part in one bar graph from their data.  By the third time, the kids were setting up axes and graphing with aplomb.  They also have a good grasp of experimental design.  Everyone can create a bar graph!

Apologia Biology: Module 4 Fungi

Yes, we are stilling moving at a glacial pace.  Today, we did complete Module 4!  The girls completed most of the lab exercises in Module 4.  First, I had them dissect a mushroom before teasing out the hyphae for a look under the microscope.  The girls studied yeast, blue cheese mold, mushroom gulls, and hyphae.  I pulled slides from my collection: penicillin, budding yeast, a mushroom, etc for comparison.  The girls spent quite a bit of time sketching the slides.  After a brief fungi overview, the girls worked on a report about penicillin.  I asked them to post to their blogs and send me the link.  The report should include a description of penicillin, its function, and a brief history.  I asked them to explain why it was lucky scientists had used mice rather than Guinea pigs for early test studies on     penicillin.  Here is an article.                 Fungi Photos

Apologia Human Anatomy Muscles and Malaria

First, malaria?  My biology class is finishing protists and had an assignment about protists to teach the elementary aged Anatomy class.  Today worked for the biology class to teach and share a hands-on activity complete with glitter.  Obviously, is lesson was well received.

So what did we do pertaining to Lesson 3, Muscles?  First, we studied different muscle tissue under the microscope and made sketches for our notes, making an effort to label the sketches.  The kids looked at cardiac, smooth and skeletal muscle slides.  (I've accumulated a nice collection from eBay and Amazon.  In fact, I just broke down and  bought 100 Basic Biology prepared microscope slides because the set of 25 slides had only a few anatomy slides.  I had bid on mitosis slides and protozoan slides successfully from eBay.  The set of 100 does have a corn tip slide with good shots of the mitosis.). No, this activity isn't in the text.  I think the kids benefit from experience with microscopes. We took a quiz on the parts of the microscope after a quick review.  (I take the younger kids to the hall outside the classroom to have them identify the parts orally and then help them spell the words and write the terms correctly.  We make a point to note the dates on their work for their portfolios.)

The kids played with my motion detector from Pasco using the Exploring Motion Graphs Sparkvue lab.  I showed them how to collect data, clear the runs, and angle the motion detector.  They rains, hopped, skipped, and did cartwheels to compare the graphs.  Why?  I want them to have exposure to the technology.  We can do more with the Sparkvue lab next time.  We collected the data for the Muscle fatigue lab.  We ran out of time and will review and graph the data next time.  I love this lab!  You need clothes pins and a timer.  Be sure to do at least three trials.  The kids worked in pairs, taking turns to collect data or act as timer to give their fingers a rest between trials.  Fun, right?  I had the kids paste the muscle transparencies into their notebooks for their personal persons and instructed them to color the muscles as home-work.  Next time, we'll do some comparisons, graph our lab data, and work on muscle identification.

Apologia: Biology Module 3 Really!

We finally completed Module 3 today in class.  We started by looking at the pond samples the kids have cultured.  Whoa! We did not look very long.  What an odor!  Basically, I out a drop of stain on a sample.  For the most part, the slide had bacteria, loads of bacteria.  I reviewed the kids' corrections to their reports and made a few more notes.  Today, we discussed this WSJ article on nosocomial infections of Clostridium difficile.  

I shared a presentation about protists, checked their biological keys in their notes, and asked about their reading.  We spent a good bit of time doing a little comparative morphology.  Basically, we looked at different phyla and created  charts comparing different aspects: nutrition, reproduction, cell wall composition, unique features, representative species, etc.  The girls polished their Malaria presentation and delivered it to the Anatomy class this afternoon.  I like this type of alternative assessment.  The kids presented the lesson and were able to field all of the questions I hit them with, such as 'Where is malaria most prevalent?' or 'How is it transmitted?'  The Malaria project was the result of an assignment, called Mrs. Jones, from the CDC I assigned as home-work last week.  They concluded with a hands-on activity about malaria.  Perfect!  The next time we meet, which won't be for two weeks, we'll tackle Fungi.

Want to see another form of alternative assessment?  Take a look at Meg's blog.