Do you waste water?

Just a reminder Grade 10's that you need to collect data on your family's water usage any two days over the Christmas holidays. We will use this data to complete the "Do you waste water?" LAB when we return to school in the new year. Enjoy this next week of holidays. See you back on Monday January 6th,2014!

A Perfect Flower

Today in Biology 20 we dissected a perfect flower....not perfect in that it looked beautiful and smelled delicious, but perfect in that it was a flower that contained both male and female reproductive organs. We spent time identifying, drawing and labeling all four whorls of flower parts and tomorrow will look at the pollen grains using a light compound microscope. You can see our work below.

Deadly Links!

Today in Science 10 we began investigating how other "things" besides energy flow through an ecosystem. To learn about biomagnification, we became a new organism---a grasshopper, a shrew, or a hawk, and simulated a food chain. The grasshoppers fed on the corn fields (pipe cleaner pieces), the shrews fed on the grasshoppers, and the hawks fed on the shrews. Unknowingly the white pipe cleaner pieces were sprayed with a pesticide. The pesticide moved through the food chain becoming concentrated in the top consumer. Here are some pictures of our Deadly Links Game.

Another Dissection

Today in Biology 20 we dissected the sea star. Check out our pictures below.

Bio 20 dissects the Crayfish

Today in Biology 20, we dissected the crayfish. The crayfish was our representative member of Phylum Arthropoda. Characterized by its hard exoskeleton, jointed appendages, and segmented abdomen, we got to examine both internal and external anatomy for this amazing animal which so many of us (well, not Ms Roach) enjoy eating.

Race Day in Science 10!

Thursday November 7th was race day in Science 10. We raced our homemade balloon cars to see which of them would travel a minimum of 3 meters and in the fastest time. We had a great deal of success with the top car in Period 1 (created by Chase and Jace) travelling 7.75 m in the fastest time. In Period 5, the top car (created by CJ, Jenner, and Wade) traveled 8m to cross the finish line in first place. Excellent creativity and effort grade 10's! Be sure to check our the pictures and video from period 1.

First Dissection....DONE!!!

Way to go Biology 20 students! Today we dissected our first organism---the EARTHWORM! Equipped with safety goggles and gloves (well at least one each), we examined both internal and external anatomy.

Relating Speed to Distance and Time

Today in Science 10, we calculated our speed, or our change in distance per change in time. We calculated our speed when hopping, walking backwards, walking regularly, and speed walking for both 5 m and 10 m distances.

Edible Cells!

Last week in Biology 30, to conclude our unit on cell structure and function, we created models of plant and animals cells. The cells showcased not only our knowledge of the cell and its parts, but also of our creativity and attention to detail. Check out our work!

Amazing Technology!

Last week the biology 20 students were looking at different protists and thanks to some amazing technology (digital microscopes & laptops) we were able to take some great photos of what we were looking at. Can you identify the protists shown in these images?

Why we do not store liquids in plastic baggies.

And the results are in.....It was the iodine that diffused in our Diffusion in a Baggie Lab and not the cornstarch! We know this because the color of the solution in the baggie turned black! Had the cornstarch diffused through the baggie, the solution in the beaker would have turned black and it didn't! The bag then is semi-permeable, allowing the iodine to pass through but not the cornstarch. I guess this is why we do not store liquids in plastic baggies.

Mass of Reactants = Mass of Products

Using citric acid and baking soda, an erlenmyer flask and a balloon we showed that the mass of reactants does indeed equal the mass of products in today's Science 10 class. Atoms can not be created or destroyed. We are now ready to balance chemical equations.

Observing Chemical Change Demos

What an exciting Science 10 class! Today we saw eight different chemical reactions. It was hoped that we would discover the indicators of a chemical reaction. Check out the pictures below that show some signs that a chemical reaction has taken place. Remember the formation of a gas, formation of a precipitate, change in temperature, and a change of color,.

Blood Compatibility

Today in Biology 30 we discussed Blood Compatibility. Here are some pictures before and after the demonstration. Blood Type A was yellow. Blood Type B was blue. Blood Type AB was green (yellow + blue). Blood Type O was clear. If no color change occurred when the two bloods were mixed, then the blood was compatible. For example, in the picture when Blood Type A (yellow) was added to Blood Type A (yellow) the color remained yellow. However, when Blood Type A (yellow) was added to Blood Type B (blue) the color changed to green.

Have a heart?!

Today in Biology 30 we all gathered around one lab table to see a pig's heart being dissected. Despite using a very old and preserved vacuum packed pig's heart, we were able to still see the pericardium, four heart chambers, septum, AV valves, and blood vessels connecting to the heart. Click on the video below to watch the dissection.

Hungry for Science

Today in Science 10 we played with Froot Loops Cereal. The Froot Loops represented valence electrons and we literally took the time to see why elements tend to link up with other elements and create compounds.

DNA Extraction

Yesterday in Biology 30 we extracted DNA from our very own cheek cells using Gatorade, rubbing alcohol, and dish soap.

Can Bio 30 really be this funny?

Check out the expression on all of these Bio 30 students as they participate in an enzyme lab. Can Bio 30 really be this funny? On a more serious note, these students are testing the effect of temperature on enzyme activity.

Doing Real Science

Today you got to do REAL Science, grade 10's. From stating a purpose to formulating a hypothesis to designing an experiment to test your hypothesis, you were doing the scientific method. Here are just a few pictures from today's data collection.