1st Post: September 11, 2014

AP Biology students 2014-15,

Here is our first opportunity to Blog about the wonderful world of biology!  Every  other Wednesday I will post a blog promt to get us talking about biology.  Your contribution to the blog is due one week after the initial posting.  Essentially it is a participation grade, so if you respond to my posts and / or respond to other peoples posts you will have met the requirements for this assignment.

So do not stress over this .... let's have fun blogging about biology.

Task find an interesting biology news article on line and provide the link.  Next, write a brief statement about why this article is interesting.  (No repeating other students articles.)

Science News, November 5, 2013 "Clay may have been birthplace of Life on Earth"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131105132027.htm


This article suggests a mechanism for how complex organic molecules like DNA or RNA could have been organized with the use of clay particles.  This suggests how these molecules necessary for life could have been synthasized before the evolution of the first cell membranes.

Ok, now read and comment on this article (or one your peers posted) or post your own article and comment on it.

3rd Quarter Thursday 4/3/14 "Final Post"

As the 3rd quarter comes to an end and with the AP Biology exam around the corner, (5/12/14) we will suspend our Thursday Blog posts.  In this way, you can spend more time leading up to the exam in your review.

Seniors have just a couple weeks after the exam until they begin their graduation preparations, so after the exam we will devote our remaining time toward the final project and your room paintings.

Thank you for your contributions to the blog, I have enjoyed reading your thoughtful posts this year.  I intend to continue the blog next year with my students, and I you would  welcome you to follow the blog and contribute if you are interested.

Best,

Mr. Clark

3rd Quarter Thursday 3/27/14 "Cool Stuff in Biology"

Thank your for your attention to last week's post and your ideas for "animal for a day" activity.  This week I would like you to explore the wonderful world in biology by reading a recent news article concerning biology, make a one or two sentence summary, and then posting a link to a different article you have found.

So the to start us off, here is a link to a recent article in the news.  The first person, to respond to this post should read, offer a 1-2 sentence summary, and then post the link to a different article.  The next, person should respond to that link and so forth. 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/gallery/slowly-evolving-elephant-shark-offers-clues-about-why-some-fishes-have-no-bones/

Be good and do good,

Mr. Clark

3rd quarter post Thursday 3/20/14 "Oxygen Dissociation Curve"

Nice job on your comments on last weeks blog on diabetes.  This week in AP Biology we have been talking about homeostasis in the respiratory / circulatory system.  As I said in class the CollegeBoard likes this topic on the Bohr affect and oxygen dissociation curves.  Below is a link to a short summary of the concept.  Please read the summary.  As this is a "read only" assignment, to get credit for  this weeks blog post answer this unrelated question. What animal would you like to be for a day and why?

Here is mine:  I would like to be a humming bird, because I am sick of winter and would like to flick from flower to flower and drink up the spring.


http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/anphys/1999/Dickens/Oxygendissociation.htm

3rd Quarter Post Thursday 3/13/14 "Diabetes"

This week we have been studying negative feedback and ways in which homeostasis is achieved in human systems.  One example, we have looked at in class is glucose regulation and problems with its regulation. Read the article in the link below and make a brief comment.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/06/scientists-closer-stem-cell-cure-type-1-diabetes

3rd Quarter Post Thursday 3/6/14 "FDA & 3 parent embryos"

Welcome back from vacation!  The post for this Thursday looks at a bioethical issue in the news this week concerning whether the FDA should approve a technique to enable researchers to produce human embryos from the cellular components of three parents.  Read the article and let us know what you think about what the FDA should do and why?


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/24/fda-three-person-embryo-fertilization/5777869/

Best,

Mr. Clark

3rd qtr. 3rd Post - "Stem Cells"

Read the recent article about a new technique for obtaining stem cells.  Very exciting stuff.  Maybe a litte stress can be usefull from time to time.  Read and comment on the article. 

http://www.nature.com/news/acid-bath-offers-easy-path-to-stem-cells-1.14600

This is the last blog post before February Break!

Mr. C.