Today we had a full day in the lab. This was just day one of the lab and we got through a lot - I was very proud of how well the students were working. The purpose of today was to see what positive and negative test results looked like and to determine what macromolecules were present in some every day solutions. We tested ten different solutions with Benedict's and Iodine to see if they contained monosaccharides or polysaccharides. Then we tested five more solutions with Biuret's to see if they contained protein. Below are some examples of the test results - have your student help you determine which one is a positive result! The homework for the night was to complete questions 1-15 in the lab packet.
According to Bruce L. from 5th hour...
Today, we did several labs in class. First, we did a Brown Paper test on salad oil, honey, distilled water, and corn oil. While we were waiting them to dry, we recieved an unknown liquid and ran Benetict Test, Iodine Test, and Biuret Test on it to find out which biomolecules were present in the unknown. We recorded all the datas and checked our answer with Mrs. Giegler. After that, we went back to the Brown Paper test and recorded all the datas down on our lab sheet. We found out that salad oil and corn oil contain large amounts of lipid, but honey and distilled water do not. Finally, we worked on our lab questions from #15 to #26; omit #18 and #20. The homework for today was the "Protein Practice Sheet", "Lipid Practice Sheet," and lab questions from #15 to #26; omit #18 and #
20.
Thanks Bruce - this is an excellent summary of our class. Overall students did a great job at identifying their unknowns which could have had one, two or all three of the major macromolecules.
Wednesday 9/26/12:
This just in from Isabel M. from 6th hour....
First we turned in our lipid and protein practice sheet at the beginning of class. After that we went over any questions people had on the biochemistry packet and looked over the questions from the labs. Finally, we finished making our paper proteins, and hung them up over the classroom. The most important thing that I learned was how to connect proteins to each other. The coolest part of class was hanging our protein on the snake cage. For homework we had to complete questions 90-92 in the biochemistry packet.
Thanks Isabel! After the students had hung up the macromolecules we went over the ways to identify each molecule structurally and went over some important information about each one which was the start to our review for the test.
Thursday 9/27/12:
Nathan N. from 6th hour says...
Today in class we got homework back, got many review papers, and reviewed for the test.
Thanks Nathan. The homework that they got back were the carb, lipid and protein practice sheets. I wanted to make sure that they had these to study for their test the following day. In terms of review sheets, all students recieved the objectives of the unit to make sure that they had mastered all of the topics from the unit, a quick review of the information from the first half of the unit and a graphic organizer to help them make sure that they had all of the information that they needed for the macromolecules. They also got a page of structurally drawn macromolecule and I had them start idenitifying these structures. The students had about a half hour to work together to review for the test and check in with me to make sure that they were able to properly identify each macromolecule.
Friday 9/28/12:
Today we took our Biochemistry test. This was one of the hardest test that we take and I was very happy with some of the scores that students had recieved. Overall each class had an average of 80% which is a solid B. Students earning A's and B's on this test should be quite happy. Congratulations to both Haley B and Bruce L from 5th hour who tied for the overall top scores of both classes and Congrats to Bridget H, Ryan R and Daniel T who tied for the top score in 6th hour.
A peek at next week
First on the agenda will be the district assessment for biochemistry. Students should find this to be much easier than the test from Friday since this is a test that is used on all levels of biology across the district. Then today we are going to spend some time going over the test and reflecting about which portions of the test were easier vs which portions were difficult. We are also going to spend some time talking about how to organize ourselves for finals so that when January comes we are not missing all of this information! Depending on time we may get started into our next unit which will cover graphing, metrics, microscope use and scientific notation.
Tuesday 10/2:
Don't forget that today is a late start day. Today we are going to check in on our skils for graphing. We are going to do a lab where the students will be graphining on excel and talking about the importance of slope and the equation of the line. Using our graphs we will work to extrapolate data and make conclusions about the trends. The homework will be to finish anything not completed in class.
Wednesday 10/3:
The focus of today will be metric prefixes and working on how to convert between the different units. We will take notes about the way to convert and then the students will have some time to practice these conversions. Then we will begin a metric measuring lab. Students should expect to have either practice conversions for homework or to be working the prelab of the metrics lab.
Thursday 10/4:
Today we will wrap up our metric conversions by finishing up the lab and going over questions about conversions. The homework will be to finish up any last questions from the lab and study for the prefix suffix quiz #4 tomorrow.
Friday 10/5:
Today we are going to start class with the 4th prefix suffix quiz. Then we are going to discuss scientific notation and begin some practice working with the notation. The homework for the weekend will be to finish practicing this.