Report comments

Most importantly today, before you complete the questions below, you need to write your comments for your reports.  Use the guide here to help you.
Include your name, as you will email them to me and I need to know who to give them to! Don't use hyphens (-) as they don't get entered to serco.

• Mention a couple of thigns you're happy with so far this year (your assignment work, things you are doing which are helping you succeed etc.)
• Give yourself a target for improving (e.g. attendance, homework, independent or group work).

Once you've done this, email it to me and I'll enter it on serco for you.

Genetics

Today we're going to keep looking at genetics. Complete the following:

1. Define what a somatic cell is.
2. What are stem cells?
3. Explain how stem cells could be used in medicine in the future:
4. Watch this video. What are the issues and benefits of using stem cells in medicine?
5. Describe the steps involved in cloning:
6. Try and clone a mouse! What problems would there be in actually doing this?
7. What genotype gives a tiger resistance to the disease?
8. What kind of characteristics help a population survive longer?

Weekend Homework

This weekend, make sure you have both question sets below this post finished for Monday period 3. If you don't come with work to show me you'll have a non-optional catch up session (similar to a detention) to do so.

This video will help you explain how a virus gets into a cell - it doesn't use keywords like we have in class but the images are ueful:

Genetics

Today we're going to look at gene therapy in more detail. Answer the following in your books:

1. Briefly explain how a virus operates in a cell:
2. What are the different ways that genes can be introduced into cells in gene therapy?
3. Complete this activity, explaining which vector and genes you used to treat your patient using gene therapy:
4. Briefly explain each step involved in electrophoresis:
5. What are microarrays? What can they be used for?
6. Watch the video below, pausing it every few seconds so you can explain the steps involved in pcr. What is it used for?                                                                                                                                                    
7. If you finish early, complete all the questions from the post below.

Genetics

Today we're going to keep looking at genetics in rpeparation for the next assignment.  Answer the following in your workbooks.

1. Make sure you have made some notes about each point in the post below this one. This will be good preparation for the assignment.
2. What is continuous variation?
3. Explain what discontinuous variation is, givng an example:
4. What causes Huntington disease? Describe the symptoms.
5. Is Huntington disease a dominant or recessive condition?
6. What is co-dominance? Give an example of a characteristic that shows co-dominance:
7. What are sex-linked characteristics? Why do they affect males more often?
8. Briefly describe what Haemophilia is:
9. Using the haemophilia pedigree below, explain what a carrier is: 
10. Is haemophilia a dominant or recessive trait? How can you tell?
11. Watch this short video on Huntington disease.  What issues might people have with getting tested for the condition?

Extension - Explain what the Hardy Weinberg principle is, and explain what the criteria are a population must meet to be in Hadry Weinberg equilibrium.

Genetics assignment 3

Today we'll be finishing/improving the old assignments we were looking at lat lesson in w12, or making notes for the next section of the course:

We will be completing the next assignment on genetic crosses, similar to what we started looking at in class before the last assignment. Try and find information about the following points to help you prepare for the next unit -

• What are monohybrid and dihybrid crosses? What ratios can you expect for these?
• Explain the difference between phenotype and genotype, giving examples where relevant.
• Who was Mendel? What did he contribute to genetics?
• Explain the process of electrophoresis, what is it can be used for and why it works so well.

Genetics Assignment 2

Today we're going to either keep working on the merit booklet, OR finish off our posters on the bench on the side of the room. If we can get these handed in by the end of this week we can spend the last part of term catching up on old assignments and turning passes into merits!
Let Mr. Cole check your work before you print anything, and make sure you keep all your work in your assignment pockets.

Assignment 2 merit work

Today we're going to work on the merit task for the second genetics assignment. You need to produce a booklet explaining what the chromosomes are doing in each stage of meiosis. Make sure you include -

• The difference between the first and second divisions.
• What happens during crossing over.
• How crossing over and independent assortment relate to variation.

Assignment 2

Today we're going to start working on the next assignment for the genetics unit.  Complete the following:

1. For task 1, you need to explain how cel division occurs. Use a resource from the links below or find your own, and briefly explain in YOUR OWN WORDS what happens at each stage. You need to do this for mitosis and meiosis.

Refer to the assignment sheet if you have any questions, and feel free to ask me if you aren't sure.

Genetics

Use this link to revise what we've looked at so far. Write down three things that you learn from the site.

translation video

This video really clearly explains how codons and anti-codons work, and might be useful for people working on merit and distinction tasks for past assignments.

Genetic engineering

Today we're going to be looking at genetic engineering - what it is and what issues there are associated with it. We spent a lesson on it last term, but are going to be looking at it in more detail today.

1. First of all, use this animation and the info on the next pages to explain what genetic engineering is. Using dot points for the steps involved might be useful.
2. What are some products that can be produced by genetically modified (GM) organisms?
3. There are lots of different websites with information about GM, like the BBC or Nature journal.  Read some articles here and on other sites you can find that are reliable, eg official news sites.  Give one reason for using genetic engineering, and one reason against doing so. Reference your argument by saying who else has made it and where.
4. What is embryo screening? Why is it controversial?
5. What are the pros and cons of 'designer' babies?
6. Read the article here (the 'pets in all colours' section). Where have these mice been given DNA from?  Do you agree with this? Why or why not?                            

Cells

Today we're going to watch a video that fits in well with the cells assignments you've done so far (with Mr. Baggaley, Miss Chandarana and me) and the DNA stuff we're doing at the moment.

Watch this video, writing down three things that you didn't know about the cell before as you do.
If you finish that, try this activity. I know you've been looking at microbiology with Miss Chandarana and this game is related to that.

Genetics and chromosomes

Today we're going to keep looking at genetics.  Answer the following in your books:

1. Complete the activity here. What is the 'stop-codon'?
2. Watch this animation. What enzyme produces mRNA from the DNA which makes up the Luc gene?
3. Replicate some DNA. What do the holes in the bases represent?
4. For number 3, how long would it take you to build an entire DNA strand at your current pace?
5. What are histones? Why are they important?
6. What length of DNA is there in your body?
7. Explain how Down's syndrome is caused.  List both causes and effects of the condition.
8. Briefly explain what non-disjunction is, and state what consequences it can have.
9. Describe the problem with this human karyotype. What gender is the person with this DNA?
10. Watch this video, explaining how the goats are different from 'normal' goats.  What would scientists use to break the DNA and insert new genes?                                                        

Try the activity here if you've finished your assignment, or feel free to work on assignments for any other subjects.

Assignment

Today we're going to keep working on our assignment that we started yesterday. Make sure you've included information about DNA, mRNA and tRNA each on a separate slide.
You need to remember that the politicians you're making this for won't know anything about genetics to start with to explain what the terms that use you mean. Include diagrams and pictures from teh internet to help you exlpain, and we'll add pictures from models in class later on.

Genetics and cell division

Today we'r going to keep looking at DNA and cell division as we have been in class. Complete the following in your book:

1. Complete this activity,  explaining what the two types of reproduction are. Which increases variation in a population?
2. From the activity above, what process creates gametes?
3. Watch this animation about mitosis and meiosis, then give one similarity and one difference between the two.
4. How many gametes are produced from one parent cell in meiosis?
5. What is crossing over? When and why does it occur?
6. Use this interactive site to help you define the following: chromatids, homologs. Once you've done that, complete the quiz to test your knowledge.
7. Use the picture to explain how many pairs of chromosomes humans have. Why is one pair different lengths sometimes?                                               
8. Watch the video below, and use it to help you write a definition for 'haploid' cells:

Finally, try this activity. What are the round things that sort out randomly representing? HOW are they randomly assigned to a gamete? (This happens in two different ways).

Today we're going to continue working on the write up for the second maths assignment (the exo/endo one).  For the pass criteria, you will need to discuss whether there are any outliers in your data. This can be done in one of two ways:

• Looking at your graph and checking for any point clearly outside the line of best fit
• Calculating the standard deviation and then using that number to give you a 95% confidence interval.  You won't need to calculate these numbers for yourself, but mentioning how they are used will help you gain the pass criteria. Any data point outside these maximum and minimum values is an outlier.

Make sure you have discussed the benefits of using a data logger as opposed to collecting data manually, and read through the assignment sheet before you hand in your assignment.

Discussion points

For your discussion, make sure you mention what sort of graph we produced and WHY we did this.  You should also talk about how the data was collected, possible errors with this and how these could be improved.

Write-up

Today we will be writing up the exo/endothermic practical from last week.  This wirte up should be finished by the end of the lesson and should include information under the following headings -
Aim, Materials, Method, Results, Discussion, Conclusion.
Information about the chemicals and equipment we used can be found here if you can't remember names etc. Copper sulphate and Magnesium, Sodium thiosulphate and water.
If you have time, try and include a graph from excel.  Don't worry if you don't manage this in the hour, but you should all have a table of data collected during the experiment.
Ask Mr. Cole if you have any questions and make sure you have this completed by the end of the lesson!

Unit 6

Today we will be finishing off a couple of tasks.  First of all, make sure that you've finished off 10 questions using algebra for the last assignment.  If you've completed that, try the questions on the previous post or the ones below:

1. How is this datalogger more accurate than a human? - http://www.picotech.com/precision-data-acquisition.html
2. What other advantages does this equipment have?
3. What applications could you use this datalogger for?
4. Explain the uses of each of the graphs here - http://science-fair-coach.com/graphing-101-examples-of-graph-types/

These questions will help us prepare for the next unit 6 assignment, where we will be collecting and presenting data.

1. Why are dataloggers useful?  - http://stmarys.rvlc-vle.org/file.php/1/ICT_Docs/ICT_Companion/ICT%20Companion/online/artdlpc.htm
2. Outline the main disadvantage of dataloggers - http://stmarys.rvlc-vle.org/file.php/1/ICT_Docs/ICT_Companion/ICT%20Companion/online/artdlpc.htm
3. What are the advantages of a line graph? - http://math.youngzones.org/stat_graph.html
4. Explain two different types of variables, giving an example of each - http://www.gcsescience.com/hsw7.htm
5. What is anomalous data? - http://paer.rutgers.edu/scientificAbilities/Downloads/FormAssessTasks/SurpData.pdf
6.  Which points would you say were anomalies here? Why? What would you do in an experiment like this?
   
7. Why might anomalies be important in Science? - http://paer.rutgers.edu/scientificAbilities/Downloads/FormAssessTasks/SurpData.pdf
8. Read number 39 on this webiste - http://www.morticom.com/categoryweirdearthanomalies.htm What are the two explanations for this observation? What could it mean?

Today we will be spending our last hour on the pass criteria for the first unit 6 assignment. Use the links below to help you complete the second pass criteria (task 3) from the sheet on the shared area (under Mr. Taylor's name).

• http://www.middleschoolscience.com/formulas.pdf
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/bitesize/higher/chemistry/calculations_1/mole_rev1.shtml
• http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c120/gasquiz.html

Make sure you show the working out for each question!!!

assignment catch-up/maths in Science

Today we will be doing two different things:

1. Finshing of writing up our scientific reports 
2. starting on the new unit work, 'using maths in science'.

If you've handed in your assignment already, answer these questions in your book.

1. What does SI stand for? Who uses SI units? - http://go.hrw.com/resources/go_sc/hst/HP1PE729.PDF
2. What do th abbreviations 'hecto' and 'deka' stnad for? - Use the same link as above.
3. What different SI units can area be measured in? - same link again!
4. How many kilometres are there in 5 miles? - http://abacus.bates.edu/acad/acad_support/msw/unit_conversions.pdf
5. How many wasy are there to mesure pressure with the english imperial system? How many with te metric (SI) system? - http://www.metric4us.com/why.html
6. Give one reason why the metric system is easier to use - http://www.metric4us.com/why.html
7. How many metres are there in 37 feet? Use this table to help you - http://www.imrtest.com/get_technical_info/Useful_Tables/english_si_conversions.html

Experiment write up

Welcome back! Today we will be finishing off our last assignments, which are all very close to being completed.  Read the comments on your assignment if you handed it in before Easter, but there are some general things that everyone needs to do:

• Double check that you have all the information required under the right headings (use the older posts here to do this).
• For your references, make sure you include the date you accessed the website and when it was last updated (right click anywhere on the page and select properties, if the date isn't shown, write 'unknown' instead of just leaving it blank).
• Make sure that you refer to your results (numbers if possible, or the presence or absence of something) wherever possible in your discussion and conclusion.

If you think you're finished, check all your work against the criteria on your assignment sheet and THEN ask Mr. Cole to check it as well! If you have spare time, try the acitivities on this website - http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/

Pictures

For today's lesson, amke sure that you have written all sections of your report so that you meet all the pass criteria on the assignment sheet. 
Secondly, make sure you use some photos from the L3 btec folder under my name on the science shared area. Check everything carefully before you print it out to save paper.

Writing up experiments

For today, we will be writing up your results tables and filling out discussions and conclusions.  Include the following points and make sure that your other sections are completed.

1. Results - Include a table of results, and describe what your results showed.
2. Discussion - Answer the following questiosn in your discussion:

• Are you confident in your results or not? Why?
• What could you have done to improve your tests?
• Do your results agree or disagree with other similar experiments?

3. Conclusion - Referring to your hypothesis, say whether your results support or disagree with your hypothesis. Explain the general trends in your results.

Experiment research

For today, the first job is to make sure that you have your experiment written up as explained below.
Make sure you write out the

• Null hypothesis
• Materials
• Method
• Expected results (use the internet to research this, it will help you spot any anomalies in your own results)
• Results table

Type your work up so you can print it and leave it in your assignment pocket.
For the results table, you obviously can't fill it in yet but you can plan what it will look like.
Use this link (copy ' results table independent dependent variable ' into google search. Click on the link near the top titled - How science works: variables.  Don't worry about the physics stuff, but go to slide 16 and it shows you how to set out a table.)

Experiment research

Today we will be using the internet to decide what we ant to run our experiments on.  For the next assignment, you are going to plan and carry out an experiment similar to the ones we've done together in class, but you get to decide what you want to look at. Anything that we can realistically carry out in school is fine. For today:

1. Decide what area you are most interested in (food tests, chemistry, physics etc.)
2. what you would like to look at in that area (e.g. for food it could e the presence of protein or carbs in certain foods, levels of fat or energy in different things or something else like how long they last for in different conditions).
3. Decide what your independent and dependent variables are (make sure you only have one independent).
4. If you have time, start listing materials you might need and what your method might look like.

 This may help you think about what your variables need to be - http://www.uncp.edu/home/collierw/ivdv.htm

This may be useful to help you work out what you want to measure and how - http://stattrek.com/ap-statistics-1/variables.aspx

Scientific method

Today we will be looking at running experiments so that you can make solid conclusions.  ANswer the following in your books:

1. What was this study investigating?  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020118075002.htm
2. Use the link from above to explain what the independent variable in this test was.
3. Why do you think the sample size is so large for this experiment? - http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/12/4/291.abstract
4. Explain the difference between type I and type II errors, and how you can minimise the chance of them occuring. - http://www.experiment-resources.com/type-I-error.html
5. What information should you include in the discussion? - http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/research/paper.html
6. Explain one common mistake often made in experiments - http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/phy_labs/appendixe/appendixe.html

Try this once you're finished - http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new

Assignment 3

For our next assignment we will be designing and carrying out an experiment, then interpreting and discussing our results.  To prepare for this, try ad define the following key terms using the internet:
Independent variable
Dependant variable
Control variable
Precision (in relation to experiments)
Accuracy
Reliable
Sample size
Average
Statistics
Hypothesis
Conclusion

Fill these in using your books, and wwe will be spending more time in class on these.

Assignment work

Today we will be finishing our assignment on the heart.

1. There is one criteria for the pass - the work on the post below.  Make sure you have written in YOUR OWN WORDS (your own words) and taken your averages correctly.
2. For the merit, you need to complete the poster that we started in class last week. Remember, you need to explain what the cardiovascular is, what it does and why it does it.  If you have time, feel free to find some diagrams from online to help you explain the information on your poster.

This link has some good information on the cardiovascular system - http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/c/the-cardiovascular-system

There is no distinction criteria for this assignment, but everyone in class should be aiming for a merit.

Assignment

Today we will be completing work for the pass section of the cardiovascular assignment.  The pass criteria is to 'take measurements of the cardiovascular system, relating the resultsto the function of the cardiovascular system.'
To do this we will complete the following activities and write up your results in a word document:

1. Take your resting heart rate.  Use the link below if you are unsure about finding your pulse, and record the amount of beats per minute in a table.  Do this three times and take an average, all while sitting still and not moving too much. - http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2024.aspx?CategoryID=52&SubCategoryID=145
2. Do 30 seconds of exercise, and then take your heart rate again.  You could do star jumps in class, or quickly walk up and down the stairs twice outside the room.  As soon as you finish, take your heart rate in beats per minute.  Repeat the exercise once more and measure your pulse again.  Record both numbers and then take an average.
3. Compare the two averages from your table.  How are they different? Why might this be? Explain why your pulse is generally lower when resting, and higher when exercising. - http://www.livestrong.com/article/345679-why-does-my-heart-rate-get-really-high-when-exercising/
4. List and describe some other factors that can affect heart rate - http://www.heartmonitors.com/exercisetips/changing_heartrate.htm Explain WHY these factors cuase changes in heart rates.