2013: A Year in Review

Every year at the end of the year, I always look forward to the "Year in Review."  I love the photo montages in Sports Illustrated, TIME, Newsweek, Runner's World, In Style and pretty much any other magazine that I happen to flip through while waiting to check out at the grocery store.  I love the video montages that air on all of the major networks on New Year's eve.  The discoveries, the accomplishments, the tragedies, the travesties, the births, the deaths and more all completely have a hold on me.

Last week, I saw on another teacher's blog that she had her students make slide shows for the "2013 Year in Review."  What an awesome idea!  However, at this point in the semester we are both short on time and computer lab availability.  Therefore, I am going to have you submit a brief description of what one event would have to be included in "your" year in review.  The event that you choose could be important to you as an individual like your first day of being a high school student.  Additionally, if you would rather choose a local, state, national or international event, I am in support of whatever you choose as long as you can say why it is important.  Not only do I want a description of the event, but if possible, I would like you to include an image or video.  Ideally, over the break, I will have time (or if a student would like to volunteer...) to make the Mrs. Mazzuca's Honors Biology 2013 year in review.

Below is a cool video montage for 2012:

O Christmas Tree!

Which type of Christmas tree is better for the environment and your health, a real or a fake Christmas tree?

Bundled up and braving the cold, my family headed out to the Christmas tree farm bright and early on Saturday morning.  As we were cutting down a Christmas tree, I couldn't help but ponder the environmental and health benefits of a real Christmas tree.  Was I hurting the environment by cutting down a tree?  Was I helping the environment by supporting an organic Christmas tree farm?

The type A neat-freak that I am tends to gravitate towards the artificial Christmas tree.  It isn't messy, the branches are perfectly arranged and clean-up is a breeze.  The science teacher part of me favors the real Christmas tree.  Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, for Friday, I would like you to evaluate the age-old debate:  Which is better a real or fake Christmas tree?  You may use the following sites to support your position or give examples from real life.

Here are a couple of sites to help you with your post:

The Weather Channel:
http://www.weather.com/news/science/real-vs-fake-christmas-trees-which-better-environment-20131206

About.com:
http://environment.about.com/od/greenchristmas/a/christmas_trees.htm

American Christmas Tree Association:
http://www.christmastreeassociation.org/Article%20Pages/environmental-carbon-footprint-study-on-christmas-trees

National Christmas Tree Association:
http://www.realchristmastrees.org/dnn/Education/EnvironmentalBenefits.aspx

Time to Cull the Herd

The cover for this weeks TIME magazine is below.

In the article, David Von Drehle explains how several animals on the brink of extinction have not only been saved, but that these animals are establishing themselves in areas in the suburbs.  In one picture it shows a tranquilized bear falling from a tree close to the University of Colorado in Boulder.  Do you support the state mandated hunting of wildlife?  Why or why not?  Give a scholarly response and support for your decision.  Submit your post by Friday, December 6th to receive credit.

Below is the link to the article:

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2158676,00.html

Say "Cheese"

For week two of our unit on Microscopes, Cells and Cell Transport, we are going to have another contest.  Your challenge is to find the coolest electron microscope image and decide if it is from an scanning electron microscope or a transmission electron microscope.  Be sure to give the image URL and tell which type of microscope was used in taking the image.

Below is an image of a scanning electron microscope image of the head of a human flea taken by retired scientific photographer, Steve Gschmeisser.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/picture-galleries/7397841/Creepy-crawlies-Amazing-Scanning-Electron-Microscope-pictures-of-insects-and-spiders.html

Here is a transmission electron microscope image of a human liver cell taken by Dennis Kunkel.  He even offers electron microscope calendars...how cool is that.

http://www.denniskunkel.com/

I will keep track of the favorites.  Whoever posts the image first gets credit for finding the image.  Good luck.

As Willie Nelson said, "the early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."  

Veterans under the "Microscope"

Last week when I was watching the CMA's, I was really moved by the story behind Lee Brice's song "I Drive My Truck."  The story was based on a father who lost his son in the war in Afghanistan.  To summarize, when the dad misses his son, he drives his son's truck.  This week we will start our unit on Microscopes and to kick off the week, we will put Veterans under the microscope.

All of the boys in my family have no school on Monday, because it is Veteran's Day.  At Central, we still have school.  As a tribute to the Veterans that have served this country, I would like you to find a veteran story and tell your classmates.  Ask your parents and grandparents if any of your relatives have served in the armed forces.  Talk to your neighbors or former Crystal Lake Central graduates and ask them if they know any Veterans.  If you are not related to a Veteran or don't know a Veteran, I will attach a link that has video stories of Illinois veterans.

Take a moment to visit the United Service Organizations website:

www.USOmoments.org

Below is the Link to the Illinois Veterans History Project:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ilveteransproject

Perhaps, you can find a valuable link about Veterans that you can share with the rest of the class.

The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County

While doing research on frogs for this weeks frog dissection, I was slightly side-tracked by interesting frog facts.  Did you know that the world record for the longest jumping frog is Rosie the Ribeter?  Rosie reportedly jumped more than 2.1 meters in a single hop at the Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee in 1986.  Holy cow!

When scientists tried to get their frogs to jump in the lab, the scientists could only get the frogs to jump about 1 meter.  Were the scientists doing something wrong?  Were the frogs nervous in the lab?  You are more than welcome to read the article below to find these answers.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131016213042.htm

Your discussion assignment this week is to find an interesting fact about frogs and briefly describe it like I did above.  In order to receive full credit, I need you to provide the website or source where you found your interesting fact.

A Place at the Table

Can you imagine having to drive an hour just to buy a piece of fresh fruit?  Can you imagine living in a town that doesn't sell lettuce?  Julia Savacool wrote an article for the October issue of Women's Health that investigates how "both the obesity and hunger problems in the U.S. are connected to the dearth of healthy foods."

Watch the video clip below:

In class the past week, we have been discussing carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and a lot about food in general.  This weekend as I was grocery shopping, I started thinking about the above mentioned Women's Health article and how fortunate I am.  Have you seen this movie?  What do you think?  What is a food desert?  Why are over-processed foods so much cheaper and easier to access?  What is the link between processed foods and obesity?  How can you help people that can't afford healthy food?  What can be done to revive nutritional wastelands?

Because there is no school on Friday and you have a test on Thursday, this assignment will be due on Monday, October 28th.  For Monday, you will write a response to the video trailer and the questions posted above.  I am expecting a scholarly, well-written response.  In order to receive the full 10 points for this assignment, I would like you to find one written source to cite in your response.  You may use EBSCO or any of the school databases.  Ask me if you have any questions.  Wikipedia is not considered a written source, but it might be a good place to start.

Savacool, Julia.  "What It's Like to Be Stranded in a Food Desert."  Women's Health.  October 2013, 154-159.

"Mountain Dews and Don'ts"

Read the Newsweek article below:

http://mag.newsweek.com/2013/10/04/mountain-dews-and-don-ts.html

For our second week in the chemistry unit, we are going to analyze what happens to the chemistry of your brain on caffeine.  After reading the article, respond to the questions below in a well-constructed academic paragraph.  This discussion response is due Friday and worth 10 points.

Why do you think more teens are drinking energy drinks, coffee, and caffeinated beverages?  Do you think the demands on teens is greater now than in the 1990's?  Why?  What will happen to society if teens continue to drink high levels of caffeinated beverages?  What will this look like in the future?  What evidence can you provide that proves that energy drink companies target teenagers?  Can something be done to prevent teens from drinking caffeine?  Is there evidence of a direct link between academic performance and sleep?  Can you provide proof?

Akpan, Nsikan.  "Mountain Dews and Don'ts."  Newsweek.  10.04.13.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

And the winner is .....

Video killed the radio star.

Watch the video clip below about chemical bonding:

Every week I spend countless hours searching for cool video clips that relate (and sometimes don't relate) to what we are talking about in class.  I included the Tom Lehrer chemistry song and this video clip that a teacher made about ionic and covalent bonding on my blog this week.  Instead of a discussion response, this week I would like you to find a relevant video clip.  Below is a list of upcoming topics and you will either create your own video or find me a link to a cool video.  (All I need in your comment is the url address to the video clip.  Obviously, make sure that they are school appropriate.)  Rather than commenting on someone else's post, you will just give your vote.  For example, I would write "Mrs. Mazzuca votes for this clip."  The winners will be used in class.

Upcoming Topics:

pH

Properties of Water

Organic Molecules

Carbohydrates

Proteins

Lipids

Nucleic Acids

Dehydration Synthesis and Hydrolysis

Good luck and may the best video clip win!

Tom Lehrer Chemistry Song

Do you remember when I told you in class about the periodic table of elements song?  Here it is:

What do you think?  Can you remember them all?  David Radcliffe can.

How did we get so big so fast?

Watch the NPR video below about population growth.

I think it is appropriate that the theme for Homecoming this week is decades.  So much progress has been made in science in the past 200 years.  In that same 200 years, the population of Earth has gone from 1 million people to over 7 million people.  Essentially, science is to blame for the exploding human population:  better medicine, better agriculture, better communication and increased technology.  Hopefully, the people at NPR are correct and the human population will plateau at about 10 million people.

For this week you have 2 choices.  Whatever option that you pick is due by Friday for 10 points.

1.  Population:  Discuss the video clip and exploding human population.  Do you think the Earth can really support 10 million people?  Are there areas of Earth already that are having difficulties in supporting their existing populations?  Give examples and support for your discussion.

2.  Decades theme:  Pick a significant scientific discovery since the 1800's.  Who made the discovery?  When?  What was the discovery and why was it significant?

Can YOU save the world?

Watch the video clip below:

For Friday, you need to write a discussion response to the video and the following questions.  Again this post will be worth 10 points.  Be sure to write a scholarly response.  Think about what you are writing and proofread it before you submit it to be published.

How are we going to tell the public about endangered species?  Pick a specific species that you are interested in or passionate about.  How can you help to save that species?  Describe the species, the habitat and the threat for survival.  What can you do to get people involved?

Forest Fires: Friend or Foe?

Just recently, I read the article below about forest fires in Yosemite.  It seems to me that there have been more and more forest fires of late.  Perhaps I am just getting old and because I am a science teacher, I pay attention to that type of thing.  This week I would like you to comment on Forest Fires.

• Do you think global warming has anything to do with increased number of forest fires?
• What are both the pros and cons of forest fires?
• How do forest forest fires relate to ecology?

This is a 10 point discussion assignment.  In order to get the 10 points, I would like you to comment to this post below.  Write a scholarly response using ecology vocabulary from this unit.  For an extra 2 points, you may comment on another student's discussion response.  Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  Why?  Can you provide scientific proof?

The Rim Fire burning in Yosemite National Park on August 22, 2013.  Image: NASA Earth Observatory. 

Keim, Brandon.  (8.30.2013).  After the Fire:  The Uncertain Future of Yosemite's Forests.  Wired. Retrieved from:  http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/yosemite-after-the-fire/

Purpose of Honors Biology Blog

This year in Honors Biology I am going to try something new.  Rather than being attached to my chalk and chalkboard, I have decided to transition into the 21st century.  Part of this transition has included increasing the amount of technology that I use in my classroom.  Another key component to this change is increasing the amount of technology that my students use when creating and turning work in to me.  As a part of this goal, I have decided to create this blog to use with my students.  The blog will give my students a broad, public audience and extend classroom discussions beyond the walls of Crystal Lake Central High School.

Mrs. Mazzuca's Honors Biology Blog will

• create an interactive learning environment where students can learn, reflect and grow.
• extend scientific understanding and allow students to create connections between topics we have covered in class and the real world.
• develop a community of learners connecting with other classes and the scientific community.
• allow students to read and critique each others' posts.
• establish a unique space to grow as biology students through questioning, analyzing and reflecting.

Already this year we have created a group Google Doc for a scientific method inquiry lab using beetles.  In the second unit of the year,Ecology, I am going to have my students begin to use this blog as a discussion board.  I can't wait!