Advanced Biology: Basic Materials

 There are a few basic materials that are very useful for Anatomy. There are household items such as clothespins, paper clips, rulers, measuring tape, etc needed for labs.  But there are a few items which make teaching anatomy easier. One is an oversized anatomy book.

I use this book as a set of posters for class.  

Additionally, buy an anatomy coloring book.  I don’t have a preference for one publisher or another.  I want cheap copies.  I’m going to buy several, used copies of the same coloring book for next year’s class.

Buy a Halloween skeleton.  Look for a great deal.

One last basic I buy is clay.  The class is going to make and bake many, many models.

What is your policy when a kid botches a test?

 Rob and I have two different approaches to tests.  He mainly teaches Math and Physics.  Rob grades the test and then allows half-credit for corrections.  I make kids edit their Biology tests, which are largely essay tests.  However, some tests in Chemistry, like Algebra, are skill-based.  If a teen blows the test, he or she retakes the test.  In the Algebra I class, Rob is doing both this time.  If the kid misses one or two questions, he or she gets half-credit for corrections.  If the kid really bombs, Rob or I review the original test with the teen, line by line.  Then we give the child a new test to take for full credit.  What is interesting is that most of the class thinks this approach is fair.  Everyone knows he or she could bomb a test, too.  None of the kids want to retake a test.  Essentially, there is a safety net.  However, this approach emphasizes understanding over raw achievement. 

Advanced Biology: Paper Models

 Whenever I teach Anatomy and Physiology, there are basic materials I download, several paper models to assemble.  First is the Brain Hemisphere Hat.  Next is a paper skeleton.  This paper skeleton does NOT have labels.  Ellen McHenry’s Basement Workshop has several paper models: skin, eye, ear, and spine.    We’ll assemble Paper Anatomy models, which remind me of the layered anatomy models in the Young Explorers’ Human Anatomy Notebook.  Here are more instructions to make a paper anatomy model.  I like for each kid to have their own model to use at home.  As I run across more free models, I’ll post them.

Advanced Biology: Freebies!

 Did you know Flinn has Anatomy and Physiology Freebies?  Flinn is better known for its Chemistry resources.  But, take a look at Investigating Heart Rate and Mechanoreceptors.  Carolina Biological has loads of Freebies, too. Check out the Classroom Resources  from Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  I’m assembling material for next year’s Advanced Biology class.  I’ll post more as I run across resources.

Experimental Design Lab

 Update.  I skipped the Nerve experiment.  Instead we focused on pulse and muscle strength, especially pulse rate.  We discussed controlled variables at length for the pulse rate lab: left wrist,  two fingers, and  60 seconds.  The kids took the resting pulse rates before jogging and jumping jacks.  Each kid performed three trials for resting, jogging, and jumping jacks.  The kids jogged a minute, timed the pulse a minute, then repeated.  Rob showed all the teens how to set up spreadsheets.   

Tomorrow, I planned to do several simulations for the Ecology unit.  But, I haven’t introduced experimental design at all.  I’ve used all manner of labs for experimental design, including Apple Mummies and Science Fair projects.  Yesterday, I ran across Making Connections a required lab for the New York Regents program. This is cheap.  I won’t have Eco-columns or boxes of Apple Mummies all over the basement.  So I’m switching gears.  My kids are going to measure pulse, muscle fatigue and Nerves.  Surprise!  I’m adding a bit to the Ouse experiment.  I’ll have the kids compare their resting pulse rate with their aerobic heart rate.  We’ll talk in class about how long to jog in place.  We’ll use these three activities to discuss experimental design, how we need standards in order to compare class data.  How long should we run in place?  How many trials?  Should we alternate partners?  The kids will need to do the muscle fatigue and nerve experiment in the same manner.  Rob can do a quick overview of Google Sheets, too.  If time permits we’ll do Random Sampling, which goes along with Experimental Design.

How many labs should you do in Biology?

 My goal is 50 labs for every science class.  My Co-op classes do a minimum of 30 labs—even the year I taught Chemistry remotely.  Many online schools require students to do all of the labs in the Apologia textbook and four, formal lab reports, about 32 labs.  I ran across the requirements set by the New York Regents: 1200 minutes minimum of lab, or 20 hours of lab.  (Here are 25 labs for NY’s Living in the Environment or Biology.)  As you work through each lab or experiment, you’ll find some labs take much longer than others.  Try to do a minimum of 30 labs.  There is nothing wrong if you stick with the experiments in the textbook.  

Density For Kids of All Ages

 Density is another topic which has labs for kids of all ages.  Little Bins for Little Hands has Easy Sink or Float Experiments.  Let your older kids set these labs up for their younger siblings.  This Sink or Float  version uses a basin of water and household objects.  For elementary aged kids, use a guide, such as Density: Sink or Float.  Have kids make predictions before dropping the object into the basin of water.  Things That Float has pictures of common objects to test.  Pre-readers can cut the image and glue it instead of writing out a lab sheet.  ACS Middle School has Density: Sink or Float for Solids, a detailed lesson.  (Try it with a DIY Scale.). Here is  for a high school level density lab.  I have my high school kids calculate the density for metal blocks, glass marbles, steel washers, and other small objects.  We also do The Floating Bowling Ball.  See?  Density as a concept has implications for kids three or fours years old to high school teens.  

Chromatography Labs for Kids of All Ages

 Many families have kids taking similar, science classes at different levels.  There are labs which transcend  grade levels.  One lab is Chromatography.  Often Chromatography labs are part of the science curriculum.  Have the entire family do the labs.  Everyone can try  Home Science Tools’ Candy Chromatography  or Flinn’s Chromatography Challenge.  Let everyone try using markers and filter paper to do the Chromatography Color Experiment.  Older kids can do the Paper Chromatography of Pigments in a Spinach Leaf lab or this Paper Chromatography lab with pens.  (I taught this lab with a drawer of pens when I adjusted at Shepherd University.)  Once your kids have some experience with the basics, set up a lab.  Test food coloring and sharpies.  Try different percentages of isopropyl alcohol, or ethanol.  Make Sharpie Tie-dye T-shirts.  Take loads of photos, have the kids summarize their labs and experiments.  Document all of this for your portfolio.  Bring your entire family on board!  Optimize the time your family dedicates to science labs.

Biology: Simulations

 The Co-op Biology class is in the middle of Ecology.  It’s time for several simulations.  We’re doing The Lynx Eats the Hare, a predator-prey simulation.  Deer Me is a similar model between deer and gray wolves.  Make many copies of the hare or deer.  We’re doing Mark-Recapture with white beans and Measuring Biodiversity with a bean mix.  Additionally, we’re doing this Newspaper Camouflage lab.  Take a look at Population Sampling.  You only need small slips of paper to do this simulation.  I like to help kids see how biologists work in the field.  Random sampling is essential in any study.  We invest a lot of time after these simulations discussing the animals, making spreadsheets, and reviewing terms.  I find these simulation an essential component to Biology.

Food Webs

 Today we’re creating  Food Webs.  I made up the kits a few weeks ago.  I want the kids to organize and label the webs.  I need to go over Pond and Marine Food Webs before we do the activity.  We used Food Webs Here There and Everywhere as a quiz.  I instructed the kids to add six organisms to the food web.  I’m sure you wonder if we really do what I post.  Take a look.

Play Bingo!

If you teach Co-op it’s fun to have Bingo occasionally.  Make your own Bingo cards with a Template.  Type in a vocabulary list and use Bingo as a review.  You can give kids definitions and have them identify the terms on the Bingo board.  This set of Ecology Bingo Cards would work.  For example, use the definition, ‘an organism’s role in an ecosystem’ for ‘niche’.  Below are sets of Bingo Cards.

Biology: 

1.  Classification and Taxonomy Bingo

2. Cell Bingo is another ‘old school’ bingo board.  The kids use a vocabulary list and write the terms on a blank card.  Warn them not to put the words in the same order on the card or everyone will have Bingo at the same time.  Cell Bingo has both the definitions and terms available, making this set an excellent study guide.

3. Here is Biomolecules Bingo.

4.  Codon Bingo is an excellent tool!

Chemistry:

. 1. Elements Bingo is an obvious game for Chemistry.  Use all of the elements.  Run your finger across the Periodic Table and stop randomly.

2. Here is Lab Equipment Bingo if you want the kids to complete their own board.  Here is another lab equipment set.

3. Bingo Baker has this set of Gas Law Cards.  You can take any vocabulary list and have kids write them on to a blank card.

4. Acids and Bases

General Science: 

1. Rocks Bingo and Minerals Bingo

2.  Plate Tectonics

3.  Meteorology Bingo

4. Electric Bingo

5. Simple Machines