Class Update

This is coming a little late. Had some trouble with my internet connections this past week. Thursday, the 24th, we went over photosynthesis in great detail, modeling it with toothpick to represent chemical bonds, and Starburst candies to represent atoms. We used carbon dioxide and water molecules to assemble glucose and oxygen molecules, maintaining the same number of atoms throughout the reaction. Friday, the 25th, we collected homework and went over the communities and ecosystems part of the reading. We looked at our quizzes and emphasized how decomposers not only eat the dead organisms but also break down their wastes. We read an article about how pigs in Cairo used to consume the organic waste until they were all slaughtered to prevent the spread of swine flu, now the garbage is piling up considerably. The power of the decomposers!
Monday, the 28th was a holiday.
Tuesday, the 29th, we looked at the water cycle as one of the important forms of matter that gets recycled through several systems.
Wednesday, the 30th, we collected the homework on the 10% rule, looked at trophic pyramids (also known as energy pyramids. See page 55 in reading), and went over the Carbon Cycle as well.
New Homework was assigned:
Read the rest of the handout. pp 56-62. and answer questions 2 & 4. Due Monday Oct 5th.
Open Notes Quiz on Friday, Oct 2nd. This will cover energy and matter. We will review this some on Thursday.

Class Update

Yesterday we created food webs that might be found in different types of ecosystems (Desert, prairie, tropical rainforest, temperate forest, saltwater, and freshwater). We labeled the diagrams to show the flow of energy and matter through the food web.
Today we had our first quiz.
After the quiz we looked at the chemical formula for Photosynthesis. Tomorrow we will dig into this in more detail.
After these notes, I handed out some new homework:

• Reading: "Communities and Ecosystems" pp. 49-53. Questions 4 and 5 on page 53. This is due on Friday, September 25.

This reading will be done in three parts.
The second part is to read "Ecosystem Structure" pp. 53-55. Answer question 4. This is due Wednesday, September 30.
The last part of the reading will be due by Friday, October 2. Questions will be assigned later.

Class Update

Today everyone got back their homework (the questions on the readings, "Web of Life" and "Matter and Energy").
We went over how to label your homework: Have a title, the date, and your name.
We looked at how to best answer the questions. After you write your answer, reread the question and make sure that you answered what was being asked. If it says explain the difference between two things, then make sure that you address how they are different.
A good rule of thumb: When in doubt, write it out. Always add more details to make sure that you are getting your point across. Don't assume that I know what you are talking about.
We went through the answers to make sure that everyone had them to help them for future reference.
We introduced the Laws of conservation of matter and energy.
There will be a quiz on Wednesday, Sept 23, based on the reading homework.

• Matter and Energy
• Food Chains and Food Webs
• Members of a Food Web
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd Consumers
• Producers
• Decomposers

• Photosynthesis
  

Thursday and Friday Update

Yesterday in class, we collected homework and went over the difference between how energy flows through a food web and matter is recycled. Refer to the diagrams on pages 11 and 13 of the reading, "Matter and Energy."
We reviewed the Food Web Connections Game that we played on Thursday, Sept 17. We examined how as a model it did a good job of illustrating how a food web can be affected by the loss of key organisms and how it didn't do as good a job of showing the direct interactions between organisms within the web. We will revisit this game later in the unit after we revise it to more accurately fit the food web we are studying.
No Homework for the weekend.

Class Update - New Homework

Today we went over the reading, "Web of Life," and added some notes and definitions.
Homework was collected.
We did a web activity with string and cards that illustrated the connections between members of a food web and how ripples are felt through the whole web when different parts are changed.

New homework (Due Friday, September 18):
Read the rest of the handout, "Matter and Energy." pp.10-14. (This is the rest of the "Web of Life" packet)
Answer questions 3 & 4 on a separate sheet of paper.
Pay special attention to fig. 1.13 on page 13 that illustrates how energy flows through a system, and matter cycles in the same system.
Question 2 is a bonus question (optional). But please try to answer it as best you can.

Class Update

Today we shared our Articles about Environmental Issues in the News and turned in our summarizing questions "At Issue".
We summarized and recorded the topics and had a few brief discussions about them.
Reminder to do your homework for Wednesday, reading and questions.
See entry from Sept 13th for more details.

Ecology and Physical Science - EPS

Homework for Monday, September 14, 2009
"At Issue" handout
Bring in an article from a newspaper, magazine, or website about an environmental issue.
Answer the 4 summarizing questions and be prepared to share your article in class on Monday morning.

Homework for Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Reading: "Web of Life" pp. 5-10
Answer Questions 3,4,5 on a separate sheet of paper.