Use the Microscope: Cell Slides

 The classic cell introduction is to compare Animal and Plant slides, with human cheek cells and Elodea plant cells.  Traditionally, kids make these slides.  My Co-op classes don’t.  Why not?  We’ve used the microscopes exactly one time.  Even the most attentive kid is going to struggle a bit focusing the microscope.  Now add detailed instructions to prepare the slides.  Make it optional.  Instead pull out plant and animal cell slides to observe under the microscope and sketch.  If you do make cheek and Elodea slides, look at images first to have a better idea of what it looks like.

Bonanza of Great Chemistry Kits!

 I’m not a fan of most science kits.  However, I like the MEL Chemistry, eScience Lab, and MicroChem kits—as long as they are used!  I prefer to buy kits in lots, especially MEL kits.  I’ve purchased and tested MEL, eScience, and MicroChem labs.  I use MEL kits as supplementary labs and eScience lab kits for their materials.  (Typically, it’s hard to find the labs which coincide with the materials because the kits are customized by professors and posted online to their students.)  The MicroChem kits have lab manuals.  Many, many of these labs are similar to those I love to use when I teach Chemistry.  In fact, if you use the Apologia Chemistry textbook and do those lab experiments, the MicroChem Kit is the recommended supplementary lab kit.  Right now, Good Will online has a bonanza of kits.  I’ve had excellent luck buying used kits at Good Will for years.  Take a look!

 

Cells

 If you haven’t already, break out the microscopes!  Sketch slides.  Some of my students maintain sketch notebooks.  Look at the plethora of cell activities from Biology Corner.  One cell standard is Cell City or Cell Analogy.  Here is a through description of the Cell City Analogy.  Make it a project.  My neighbor, Rahimah, used a soccer stadium for her analogy.  Scroll images on Pinterest or Google for ideas.  I like the iPhone analogy.  My kids do make Cell Models; however, not edible models.  I have had too many oozing, jello models.  Yuck. Clay models are absolutely fine.  Kids learn the organelles when they make models.  Try the Cell Membrane Bubble lab.  It’s a favorite! Get going!

Chemistry: Lewis’s Dot Diagrams or Structures

 I just saw a great idea for Lewis Structures or Lewis Dot Diagrams.  Draw on the table and use beads!  Wow!  I added a video about Lewis Structures at the bottom.

 I

Amazon Prime Day!

 Keep an eye on Amazon for a few expensive investments.  I bought an Amscope microscope a few years ago.  It’s terrific!  I paid $70; right it’s $65.48.  During Prime Days, it might be even less expensive.  Keep an eye on digital microscopes and molecule sets, too. Older iPad versions are selling for $199–new! New iPads may sell for even less during Prime Days.  FYI I just bought another renewed iPad from Amazon for $115.  I’ve had good luck with iPads in general.  Even the one I bought in 2014 is still in service.  Below are some prices for reference.

Biology on a Budget: Bean Labs

 I use split peas, white beans, and a mix of soup beans for several labs.  They are great as inexpensive tools.  Let me share a few ideas.

1.  Use split peas to Extract DNA.  

2.  Mark-Recapture uses white beans to demonstrate how to estimate populations.  (I have a box of dinosaurs I use for Mark-Recapture labs, too.)

3. How about using this Bean Lab to learn about genetics?

4. Here is a classic: Sprout Beans!

5. Here is a simple biodiversity lab with beans.  

6.  Try Bean Quadrat Sampling.

7. Measure Beans is useful to introduce measuring.

My First Lab

 Good Will has a few listings for  the My First Lab microscope. (Check the shipping before you bid!)   While they look like toys, these microscopes are great!  I wouldn’t spend more than $25 with shipping, though.  I ordered a similar microscope through Temu.  The microscope was okay for large objects, such as a feather.  It feels cheap; since I paid $12.50, it was cheap.  Give Temu microscopes a miss.

The Lynx eats the Hare

 I put together this Slideshow, which has an intro video, background on lynx and hare, data to graph, and a brief guide to organizing and evaluating data from the Lynx and Hare lab simulation.  This is a robust lab.  Teens can graph their own data and then compare it to the class data.  

Camouflage Simulation

 After we did a quick review of Ecology and started a giant food web based on 100 Virginia species.  I invested 30 minutes just to be sure the kids could all lay out their species correctly.  Then we did the Newspaper Camouflage Lab and mostly graphed it.  The kids timed picking out chads for 10 seconds and three trials each student.  The issue is the number and variety of devices we’re using to graph data in a spreadsheet.  I want them to see how the percentage of Chad recovered differs from the number present on the newspaper.  We’ll start The Lynx Eats the Hare simulation Tuesday.

Ecology Overview

 We reviewed Ecology Terms and made concept maps for Ecology, Taxonomy, and Levels of Organization.  I made a deck of cards from this list.  Concept maps are new to my Co-op class.  I use card sets I make from vocabulary and ask the kids to sort them.  Which words are part of a food web?  How is energy in an ecosystem defined?  What are types of symbiosis?  How can I separate producers and consumers?  The kids were instructed to read Module 10 in Apologia’s Biology class as homework.  The slide deck was the review.  The Ecology concept map is a form of informal assessment.  Did you read?  I walk around and help kids sort their cards—mainly by asking questions or moving a card or two for clarification.  Take a look!

Science Fair Project Ideas

It is tough to locate a good science fair project.  The best are usually original ideas or problems.  For example, I have students who raise chickens. I’m encouraging these kids to study chickens.  Take a look at these GLOBE Cloud Projects , Surface Temperature Observations, or Urban Heat Island Effects Student Projects.  In the past some of my students adopted specific GLOBE protocols for their science fair projects.  It’s fine to replicate a project with the idea of verifying the data derived.  Do you arrive at similar results?  I like projects which they don’t require expensive equipment.  Take a look at NASA’s Earthdata and Tools.  Are you a bird watcher?  Look at Urban Birds, a data sheet, and the protocol from Cornell.  Set up a bird feeder and monitor it daily, at the same time, ideally for a few weeks.   Compare two settings: one urban and one rural.   Here  and here are several ‘citizen science’ projects.  I’ll stay on the hunt for more ideas.

A Little Tech….

 I teach Co-op classes in my basement.  I’ve always had to rig tech.  Instead of using a Smartboard or LCD projector on a whiteboard, I connect my laptop to an older TV with an HDMI cable.  You can use an adapter to connect an iPad to the TV, too.  Generally, once you connect the HDMI to the TV and device, the image broadcasts immediately to the TV.   If you have an iPad or touch screen tablet, you can write on an online whiteboard and display on the TV.  Below are the laptop and iPad connected to the TV and the iPad adapter.  (The calculator is GraphNCalc83.)

Science Fair Display Boards

 I used to save display boards to reuse because I insisted every one of my chemistry students did a science fair project.  The Conceptual Chemistry classes did their science fair projects in class.  I provided all of the materials because the WV kids in these classes were poor.  Happily a trifold display board isn’t expensive. Here is an introduction to trifold, display boards suitable for science fairs.

There are smaller, display boards for around $2.  The one above meets the national standards.

Science Buddies has a sample display board.  I used this guide to help kids mount their information.

Science Fair and Symposium Resources

 Most science fair competitions use the guidelines for the International Science and Engineering Fair.  Below are links.  Yes, the process and competition are daunting.  I’ve had loads of experience with this format.  If your home-school Co-op decides to host a science fair or symposium, I recommend using the guidelines.  Trust me, these guides will elevate the projects.

1. Find a Fair.  Look at the 2024 Project Showcase. Click on the image for the project’s title and description.  Many of the teens who win at the school, state, and national levels are part of Governor’s schools with access to college mentors and labs.  Some kids have summer internships with the DOD.  

2. Here are the rules, common questions,  and Rules Wizard.  Look here for the overview of forms and dates.  Some experiments require approval before experimentation.  The person in charge may be an administrator at the school board.

3. Here are the forms.

4. Here is the form for the abstract and category.  

5. Here are the Display Guidelines, which includes the dimensions for the backboard or display board.

I’m looking at the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (JVAS), a symposium.  The kids submit their research papers in advance for judges to read.  I participated one year with a symposium in West Virginia.  Find your region by visiting the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium.  Here are the core rules.

1. Here are the JVAS instructions and deadlines.  

2. Here is the handbook.  

3. Here is the Style Manual and sample paper.

4. Look at the 2024 Symposium and browse the titles.

Science Fair

 Science Fair is a hotly debated topic.  I think teens should participate in a science fair or symposium once in high school.  In another life, I taught in both private and public schools which endorsed Science Fair.  The public school had kids who participated in both science fair and symposium.  At three schools, I’ve led the entire project: acquiring judges, explaining the rules,  and reviewing projects.  Yes, I’ve judged projects many times.  (I’ve only worked with a symposium one year.)  Yes, I’ve helped home-school students participate, too.  This has proved very challenging.  The local schools don’t bother to respond to inquiries.  One time, I just contacted the regional coordinator and brought the kids to that competition where they competed against the winners from local schools.  Not ideal.  This year, I’m looking at the Virginia State Symposium, which can accommodate home-schoolers.  From my limited experience, the emphasis is more on the paper than the project.  Science fair competitions put equal weight on the research and presentation.  I plan to contact the coordinator at Ferrum for more advice.  I have some gifted kids this year who would benefit from a challenge.  Other teens in Co-op need more work learning how to write a research paper.  These kids can participate next year at the symposium.  We can have everyone present projects to our families.  

Where can I find audiobooks for Exploring Creation with Biology or Apologia’s Biology?

 I just ordered an audio CD of the Apologia Biology textbook from eBay.  However, I spoke to one mom this morning; she said they don’t have a device to play a CD.  Everything the mom uses at home is streamed.  I went hunting for free materials which could be viewed or listened to online.  Resources are scant.  An audiobook of the third edition is available on Audible.  

1. Vimeo has Apologia Recorded Classes.  However, Mrs. Fowler’s class uses the third edition.

2. Rilda Reads has YouTube videos where Rilda reads Modules 1–8 in the 2nd edition of Apologia’s Bio textbook.  I’m tempted to read and record the remaining modules.

3.  Bookshare offers the second edition of Apologia’s  Biology.  Membership in Bookshare is free.  Your child must have a disability.  Frankly, the reason I’m searching for audiobooks is because several of the teens in Co-op have learning differences.

4.  Here is an archived video instruction series.  Many of my kids need to watch and listen I order to learn.  This series might help. 

How do you manage lab data?

 Last class, on Tuesday, the Co-op Biology class collected Pulse Rate data.  Data does into spreadsheets.  We use Google Sheets because it’s free.  My husband, Rob, took class time to show kids how to manage data in a spreadsheet.  He reviewed spreadsheets cells, formulas, and how to merge data.  The kids also finished Random Sampling.  We spent the class helping the kids do percent change calculations, putting their data into spreadsheets, modifying cells, and inserting formulas.  I have five iPads, a kindle, a desktop, and a laptop.  The kids also brought laptops or worked on their cell phones to create spreadsheets.  Locating absolute value, decimals, and the format icon on iPad is a pain.  You can imagine the chaos.  The kids want to ‘hard code’ numbers.  This means they want to just calculate an average and type in the answer.  Instead, we want them to insert a formula.  We’ll review everything next Tuesday.

Terrific Goods at Good Will!

Good Will has some excellent listings right now.  The best are three MicroChem kits.  Below is a new set sold by HST.  These kits are supplied by Home School Connections.  Some companies customize their kits.  I do know the MicroChem lab manual alone is about $36 before tax and shipping.  I have a MicroChem set.  It’s outstanding.  There is a year’s work of experiments in the kit.

But, Good Will has MEL kits, DVD set, and a microscope kit.  Use ‘science lab’ or ‘science kit’ in your search.  Don’t forget to check the shipping before you bid!

 

Advanced Biology: Microscope slides

Some programs specify a set of slides for Anatomy.  You can use Virtual Microscopes. I like to use prepared slides.  Guess what?  Amscope’s set of 25 slides has several animal tissues.  The bigger sets of slides have even more tissue slides.  I think dog blood is fine when you examine blood.  The same is true for mouse’s liver or a dog’s duodenum.  My recommendation is to use a less expensive set with the microscope and slides with those online.  Do comparisons, too!  I’d a dog’s duodenum different from a human?  Spend your money on supplies instead.