Day 1

Mon. 9/29 and Wed. 10/1

Food Webs and intro. to Energy Flow through Ecosystems

What do pyramids have to do with biology???

Bring your textbooks to class!

Read text Chp. 3, 3-2 p. 67-73; pay particular attention to Figure 3-8

Draw a food web poster that includes YOU! You will need a piece of recycled paper or small poster board, a pencil, colored pens or pencils, magazines if you'd like to cut out pictures, and a picture of yourself (optional! You could draw a self portrait) You need to identify 6 things you eat and trace each back to its source (plant, animal or fungus!) Connect yourself to your food and the food item to the organisms each comes from. Connect the organisms from which your food was made to whatever they eat and finally add in decomposers so that your web is complete. Draw in pencil first and then color in your web with pen. Make all connections clear and be prepared to display and explain your web in class!

Day 2

Thurs, 10/2 and Friday 10/3

Complete Energy Flow through Ecosystems: Compare pyramids of Fig. 3-9

Where does energy come from?

Present Food Webs

Draw an energy pyramid from your food web following the 10% rule

Study for Quiz over The Chemistry of Life, Foodwebs and Energy pyramids (the 10% rule!!)

Day 3

Mon.10/6 and Tues. 10/7

Quiz: The Chemistry of Life, Foodwebs, and Energy pyramids (the 10% rule!!)

Energy Flows through ecosystems with Matter is Recycled!

The Water and Carbon Cycles

Dinosaur Breath Activity

Greenhouse Effect & Global Climate Change (It's a Greenhouse in Here activity)

The Greenhouse Effect Animation

Day 4

Wed. 10/8 and Fri. 10/10

Nitrogen and Phosphorous Cycles

Introducing Composting!

Be prepared to work in the garden on Tues. Oct. 14 (A,B,C) and Wed. Oct. 15 (D,E,FG)

Wear comfortable work clothes and the appropriate shoes!

Read text p. 74 - 79. Do Analyzing Data p. 79 #1-4. Please make your graph using Excel (if possible) and word process your answers.

Day 5

Tues. 10/14 and Wed. 10/15

Garden with Arthur Baker:

What's in Compost? What is in 'fertilizer'? Is there a connection???

TYPE a specific, thoughtful thank you letter/summary to arthur. Include: What did you learn? How is composting connected to the macromolecules and nutrient cycles? Why are these nutrient important to plants? To the herbivores that eat the plants? To the carnivores or omnivores that eat the herbivores. Be specific! What did you enjoy most about the lesson?

Read the following article: On Thin Ice
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/138/
Write a response to this article. Your response can be an illustration, bullet points, notes, reactions, etc. Your response must show overall comprehension that you read the article.1 page!!!!

Bring your book to class

Day 6

Thurs.10/16 and Fri. 10/17

What else is very important about the carbon cycle? Carbon dioxide: a main player in Greenhouse Effect: text p. 87 - 88.

The Greenhouse Effect Animation

Review the Nutrient Cycles text pages 74 - 79 and all of your class notes. Review p. 87 -88 in text and the animation shown in class (use the link Greenhouse Effect Animation )You will have a quiz over The Nutrient Cycles plus their connection to compost and the greenhouse effect on the 21st/22nd. Here's a half sheet review

On Tuesday, you will all be attending a lunchtime presentation by Dr. Peter Joseph on global climate change and the carbon cycle. You Must Bring A Lunch + drink or have finished your lunch before the presentation. No exceptions! You have to be at this presentation ON TIME!!!

Bring in your permission slip for the stream ecology trip!!!

Lunchtime Presentation in the BBLC:

OCT. 21

12:10 SHARP!

Day 7

Tues. 10/21 and Wed. 10/22

Quiz on Nutrient Cycles (carbon, water, phosphorous and nitrogen cycles),Composting, and the Greenhouse Effect as it relates to the Carbon Cycle.

Shortened period due to Peter Joseph's presentation on 10/21!

Luck of the draw: your invertebrate!

You will be doing research on your macroinvertebrate and its role in a stream ecosystem. This research will allow you to write a strong introduction for our stream ecology field project.

1) Begin research on your macroinvertebrate! This is due 10/28 You need to use a minimum of two resources (remember: you may not use Wikipedia). Your introduction to our study should begin with an introduction to your macroinvertebrate and explanation of why macroinvertebrates make good stream bioindicators. (we'll talk more about this next class) Included in this explanation should be the definition of a macroinvertebrate and bioindicator. Your background information should include what your macroinvertebrate eats, what eats it, what kind of stream habitat you would find it in (fast moving stream, slow moving, rocky bottom, muddy bottom, etc) and its sensitivity level to pollutants. Does your organism need lots of dissolved oxygen in the water? Can it tolerate warm water? Does pH have an effect on it? See what you can learn! As with all introductions, you need to include the purpose of the lab (we'll talk more about this next class). This introduction, word processed and properly cited with bibliography) will be pasted into the front of your stream ecology field notebook (we'll talk more about this next class). It needs to be completed by the day of the fieldtrip. Word Processing required. PLAN AHEAD. Use a school computer if your computer at home is not working.

2)Take Your Ecological Footprint using the detailed responses on the bottom half. Then, write down how many planets you need to support your lifestyle, what your footprint breakdown is, and what is your acreage breakdown. Write a response. What could you change? What surprised you? How do you compare to others? What are your thoughts, feelings and questions now that you've taken this quiz? Write these down and bring them to turn in to me at the Conference on Democracy.

Take the quiz:

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=calculator

3) Pillbug lab corrections to receive up to an 80% are due on 10/30! They will not be accepted after next Thursday.

Day 8

Thurs. 10/23 and Fri. 10/24

Conf. on Democracy

Complete the rough draft of your Introduction to your Stream Ecology Lab. Remember:

You need to use a minimum of two resources (remember: you may not use Wikipedia). Your introduction to our study should begin with an introduction to your macroinvertebrate and explanation of why macroinvertebrates make good stream bioindicators. (we'll talk more about this next class) Included in this explanation should be the definition of a macroinvertebrate and bioindicator. Your background information should include what your macroinvertebrate eats, what eats it, what kind of stream habitat you would find it in (fast moving stream, slow moving, rocky bottom, muddy bottom, etc) and its sensitivity level to pollutants. Does your organism need lots of dissolved oxygen in the water? Can it tolerate warm water? Does pH have an effect on it? See what you can learn! As with all introductions, you need to include the purpose of the lab (we'll talk more about this next class). This introduction, word processed and properly cited with bibliography) will be pasted into the front of your stream ecology field notebook (we'll talk more about this next class). It needs to be completed by the day of the fieldtrip.

Word Processing required. PLAN AHEAD. Use a school computer if your computer at home is not working.

Get Permission Slips for Stream Ecology Field Trip Signed!!

Pillbug lab corrections to receive up to an 80% are due on 10/30! They will not be accepted after next Thursday.

Day 9

Mon.10/27 and Tues. 10/28

Introduction to Stream Ecology: What are Macroinvertetbrates and what do they have to do with streams and ecology?

Stream Ecology ppt.

Using the dichotomous key!

Developing a hypothesis and questions you may have about your introduction.

Making your Field Notebook:

Complete final copy of your Introduction and Hypothesis. It is required that it be word processed. Be sure you glue your Introduction and Hypothesis to the inside of the front cover of your field notebook and have this ready for your fieldtrip next class!

Yipeee! Stream Ecology Fieldtrip! Wear clothes and shoes suitable for stream study! There could be mud! There will be water!!! You will be working in a stream, removing invasive species and testing all kinds of physical parameters of the stream water in order to see if your hypothesis about the stream was supported by the data or not! Bring snacks and something to drink. We will return to school in time for lunch.

Bring your stream ecology fieldbook and a 2 pencils with eraser! (ink sometimes runs when it gets wet!)

Pillbug lab corrections to receive up to an 80% are due on 10/30! They will not be accepted after next Thursday.

Day 10

Wed. 10/29 and Thurs. 10/30

Fieldtrip! 8 - 12 Thursday fieldtrip to study stream ecology. We will return by 12:30 for lunch!

Make a graphs using the data from Table 2 - macroinvertebrates. You should use Excel and proper labeling!

Start thinking about your discussion. We will work on this together next class, but write down a few ideas to get the ball rolling.

Happy Halloween! Don't ghoul crazy and eat too much candy!

Day 11

Mon. 11/3

Debrief Stream Ecology

Writing Your Discussion: Use the lab report format, things you learned from your Pillbug lab, notes from class, and the following suggestions:
•Write a discussion about the overall quality of Miller Creek using class data from the field study, your notes on the amount of dissolved oxygen different organisms need to thrive, and the 'geography' of the stream: areas of still water, of riffles, of some movement. Think about how the structure of the creek (riffles, waves, still areas), the tree cover (if present), plant life in the stream and the depth of the creek all could affect dissolved oxygen content. Explain how each of these would affect the amount of dissolved oxygen in the stream. Really think about what you've learned!
•Include in your discussion possible sources of pollution around Miller Creek and whether or not you think there is a problem from these potential sources. Support your position with data, observations you made, and facts.

•Are there any invasive species near the stream? If so, what species did you identify? Why are invasive species a problem?

•What changes would you make to this study in order to improve your knowledge of the environmental health of Miller Creek?
•What new questions did this study bring up for you?

Completed Field notebook/lab report due next class period. Be sure you have done a thorough job! Include the introduction, a graph, the discussion section, MLA format biblio, and your notebook.

Organize all of your Unit 3 materials, and Begin Studying for Unit 2 Test

Day 12

Tues. 11/4 and Wed. 11/5

Turn in Field Notebooks

Finish up loose ends

Review for Unit 3 Test

Democracy in action: it's the Presidental Election! Remind your parents and older friends to VOTE!!!

Study, Study, Study for Test!!! This will not be a group test...

Review Sheet & Jeopardy Game

Day 13

Thurs.11/6 and Fri. 11/7