Quote of the Day:

"I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them thin."
                                          ~ Socrates

Your final exam will be either Wednesday, 05.27.08 or Thursday, 05.28.08. The exam will consist of questions relating to scientific investigations and experiments in the fields of ecology and evolution.

Here is are some sample questions:

1) After observing the distribution of dandelions near the administration building of HCHS, a student noticed dandelions were typically located where rainwater landed after falling from the roof. So, the student hypothesized dandelions preferred the more moist areas of the soil. Design an investigation in which the student could test the hypothesis. Be sure to clearly identify your scientific question, your independent and dependent variables, your control, what data you will collect. Also, briefly describe how the results of your data will be used to support or refute the hypothesis.

2) If a researcher wanted to survey high school students about their recycling habits, which of the following would not be included in the Research Plan submitted for approval prior to beginning the research?
          a) description of procedures for recruiting human subjects
          b) an exact copy of the survey to be administered to the students
          c) informed consent letters signed by the parents and the students
          d) description of the strategies that will be used to protect privacy and
               confidentiality

If you want to review the process of designing experiments and investigations, click this link and you can see the PowerPoints from the beginning of the year.

You may also want to review the parts of a Research Plan, which you can find on page 2 of this science fair document.

You will be allowed to use your book on the test. But, you might not have time to look up information for every question, so don't rely on the book too much.

Go to explorelearning.com and login to your account using the button at the top left of the page. There is a link at that login page to click if you forgot your username or password.

If you need to create a new account, use the code for your class that you can find at this link.

Once you are in the ExploreLearning website, you will see two Gizmos: "Rainfall and Bird Beaks," and "Human Kayrotyping." Your homework is to complete the Human Karyotyping Gizmo. The Rainfall and Bird Beaks Gizmo is extra credit, if you choose to complete that assignment. You can earn up to 100 points (one homework assignment) for the extra credit.

Click "Launch Gizmo" to open to Gizmo. Once the page is open, be sure to click the "Exploration Guide" button. The Guide will give you step-by-step directions. The Guide will give you questions you will need to answer on a separate wordprocessing document (e.g., Word or WordPerfect). Be sure to also include the "copy screen" images that the Guide tells you to add to your document. Once you are done with the Guide, save the document and email it to me; my email address is bruce.sabin@polk-fl.net.

Once you complete the Guide, make sure you also answer the "Assessment Questions" below the Gizmo on the screen. After you complete the questions, click "Check Your Answers." Your grade on the Assessment will automatically be sent to me.

You have quite a bit of time to complete this assignment, but do not procrastinate. If you have any problems with the website or questions, send me an email.

Continue working on your ecology investigation. Ensure that you have a workable plan for how to complete your investigation by the end of next week (May 30) so that you can complete your report by June 2.

If you need feedback on your plan, discuss it with me. If you didn't get your paper back in class and you would like it, come by the classroom and I can give it to you.

If your plan requires you to change or affect some aspect of the HCHS campus, talk to me about what changes you want to make and where you want to conduct these changes before you begin; this is true even if you think you are only going to make "small changes." If you are planting, digging, marking, or otherwise changing anything, get it approved.

Be sure your report follows the proper format and includes all necessary information to communicate effectively with your readers. There are several good links on my earth science website, but I want to highlight a few right now:

Read the entire page of UNC Writing Advice. There are some good details for each part of the report.

The Rice University page describes some of the most common mistakes students make in writing their reports.

The MIT page also gives excellent information for writing reports. For example, the writer stated a good Introduction "provides sufficient context and background for the reader to understand and evaluate your research...." In addition, a good Method section "explains analytical techniques used" in the investigation; yet very few students have explained in their Method section how they plan to analyze their data.

The OWL at Purdue website has important information on using MLA format. Be sure to use the links at the bottom of that page to read more detailed descriptions on in-text citations and Works Cited pages. Of all the Introductions and Methods pages I have read from students' reports so far, only a few had Works Cited pages formatted correctly and none had in-text citations formatted correctly.

Complete the Materials and Methods section of your HCHS campus ecology investigation. Adapt your method so that it can be completed in about one week; you may have originally planned it to take as long as two weeks, but adapt it for one week so you can actually complete it before the end of school. You will conduct your investigation and will need to complete data collection by May 30. All final lab reports will be due June 2.

You can write your Materials as a list.

In your Methods, be sure to describe the method in enough detail that someone could use your report to repeat your investigation on their own. Also, in your Methods, you need to describe how you plan to collect that data and how you will analyze the data to answer your question.

Remember, you can find information on writing lab reports under the science fair links here.

Complete your group lab report for investigation of the effect of pollution on a pond ecosystem.

Also, study for Ecology Test B, which will cover chapters 20-22, as well as the Ecogeeks videos on rain forests and grasslands

http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/index.html

You will use the Ecogeeks website (shown above) to find information on world biomes. There are four basic terrestrial biomes: tundra, forest, grassland and dry. In addition to the terrestrial biomes, there are two basic aquatic biomes: freshwater and marine.

Assignment: For each terrestrial biome, create a Venn diagram for two of the major ecosystems within that biome. Then, complete a Venn diagram for two of the ecosystems of the freshwater biome. You will create a total of five Venn diagrams (four terrestrial and one freshwater).

For example, within the tundra biome, there are three major ecosystems: ice caps, arctic tundra and alpine tundra. You will choose two of the tundra ecosystems (e.g., arctic tundra and alpine tundra) and create a Venn diagram with two partially overlapping circles. One circle would include the identifying features of alpine tundra; the second circle would have the features of arctic tundra. The parts of the circles that overlap would show those features common to both ecosystems. The part of a circle that does not overlap the other circle would show those features unique to the ecosystem represented by that circle.

Complete a Venn diagram for each of the terrestrial biomes and for the freshwater biome.

As a brief review for the ecology unit, complete the following:

1) Explain why neritic zones are more productive than other areas of the ocean.

2) Explain how changes in the seasons affect the biotic and abiotic factors in arctic ocean ecosystems. Then, explain how those factors lead to changes in productivity of the ecosystems.

3) Imagine Haines City High School's campus was abandoned and scientists used the site to study succession. Explain the biotic and abiotic changes you think scientists would observe on the campus after 6 months. What about after 2 years? What about after 10 years? And what about after 100 years?

4) Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both advocate changing US laws to require, by the year 2020, that the average gas mileage for a new car sold in the US be at least 40 miles per gallon. Each auto maker would be responsible for ensuring that the average for their new cars was at least 40 mpg.
a) Would you support such a law?
b) How would you convince someone who disagreed with you? Consider what objections would be most likely to cause someone to disagree with you and address those objections.
c) Ask at least one member of your family what gas mileage they get in their car and what would convince them to buy a car that gets better than 40 miles per gallon; if they already get better than 40mpg, ask them what made them choose that vehicle over other options.

Read this FERN article on carbon "sinks."

According to the article read in the last homework assignment (April 14/15), an important aspect of the Kyoto Protocol is the "flexibility" afforded by carbon "sinks." After reading the FERN article about sinks, describe whether you think the inclusion of sinks is appropriate and beneficial to combat global warming. If you believe sinks are appropriate and beneficial, how could you defend their inclusion to FERN? If you believe they are not appropriate and beneficial, describe possible reasons the Kyoto Protocol would have included them and why those reasons are not satisfactory to warrant the inclusion of sinks?

Read this pdf about World Water Day, which is Saturday, Mach 22, 2008
Write a summary (2-3 pages) of the Water for Life Decade program. Be sure to include information about the program's relationship with sanitation, food production, disaster risk reduction, evironmental care, and energy use.

Also, if you did not finish your National Geographic assignment in class, here are the parts of your assignment:
1) Write a summary of the ecological issues you found in the article.
2) Based on your reading, what environmental issues might have been considered important at the time the article was written?
3) Discuss how the article might be different if it was written today.

Study for first ecology test on Chapters 18-20

Things to know for the test:
1.   Know the concept of interdependence and why it is essential to the study of ecology.
2.   Know the five levels of organization in ecology (biosphere to organism).
3.   Know the difference between biotic and abiotic factors and be able to give
examples.
4.   Know the difference between conformers and regulators.
5.   Know the two major methods organisms use to survive unsuitable conditions, such as cold weather (dormancy and migration).
6.   Understand how niches are important in ecology, the advantages and disadvantages of being generalists or specialists, and why two species are unlikely to share the same niche.
7.   Know the difference between gross productivity and net productivity.
8.   Know how energy flows through an ecosystem and why energy does not cycle.
9.   Understand the differences in population size, density and dispersion.
10. Understand how birth rate, death rate and life expectancy are important factors in survivorship.
11. Understand the differences between the exponential and logistical models of population growth.
12. Understand the factors that led to dramatic increases in human population growth over the course of human history.
13. Understand the demographic transition model and how economic and social changes can impact human population growth.

You will have several days to complete these assignments, but avoid procrastinating.

Part 1:
Read Chapter 20: Community Ecology
Answer questions 4-13, 17-18 on page 412

Part 2:
Read the introduction ( click here ) to the nature on Isle Royale National Park.
Answer these questions:
1) Where is Isle Royale?
2) How big is Isle Royale in square miles (1 acre is 0.0015625 square miles)?
3) What have researchers learned about the history of wolf and moose populations on the island?
4) What is significant about the Ecological Study of Wolves research on Isle Royale?

Read about the wolves of Isle Royale by going to this link. Then, answer these questions:
1) What types of social behavior are observed in wolves?
2) What adaptations make wolves successful hunters?
3) What tactics are used by wolves in hunting and killing prey?
4) What was the point of the writers mentioning how much food Americans throw away?

Read about the moose at this link and answer these questions:
1) Are moose an example of r-selection or K-selection? Describe at least three characteristics of moose to justify your choice of r-selection or K-selection.
2) What costs does a bull moose pay for developing antlers?
3) What adaptations make moose well suited for spending time in water?
4) What benefits do moose gain from being adapted to water?

Compare and contrast the niches of the two animal species assigned to you (see list below). The niche for each species should include a brief summary description of the species’ ‘job’ or role in the ecosystem. You should also include information on diet, method of obtaining food, type of shelter, range of habitats, reproductive cycles, and any other important factors in its interaction with its environment. You may be called on to record your homework as a podcast.

The species have been assigned based on the students' last names. Find which species are alligned with the first letter of your last name. All these species can be found in Florida, but they may not inhabit all of Florida and they may also inhabit other areas of the world.

Read Chapter 17 and answer the following questions:

1) How are modern classification systems similar to and different from the Linnaean system?
2) What information is displayed in a phylogenetic diagram?
3) How do scientists create cladograms?
4) What characteristics distinguish the domains of Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya?
5) Why are some taxa difficult to classify?
6) Why do scientists continue to change taxonomic systems?

Download as an .rtf file.

"When it comes to evolution, headlines often get it wrong"

Directions: Go to the website linked above and answer the questions below; the questions are also listed at the bottom of the webpage.
1. In your own words, describe what is misleading about the headline "Fossils Challenge Old Evolution Theory" with respect to the Leakey team's research.
2. Review our list of common misconceptions about evolution. Which misconception seems to be inherent in the headline "Fossils Challenge Old Evolution Theory?" Explain your reasoning.
3. Explore WGBH's resource on human evolution, paying special attention to the hominid family tree. What hypothesis regarding the relationships among H. habilis, H. erectus, and modern humans is depicted there? How does this compare to hypotheses A and B above?
4. Explore WGBH's resource on human evolution, paying special attention to the timeline. Where on the timeline would the newly discovered H. habilis fossil fit? According to this timeline and the newly discovered fossil, what other close human relatives would have lived at the same time as H. habilis?
5. Read our research profile on Leslea Hlusko. How does the scientific controversy over the relationship between Australopithecus anamensis and Ardipithicus ramidus described in that profile compare to the different hypotheses regarding the relationship of H. habilis and H. erectus described here?

Download as a PDF.

Read Chapter 16 (pp. 317-330) and answer these questions:

1. How do stabilizing selection, directional selection and disruptive selection each relate to the bell curve?
2. How is the concept of isolation important to speciation?
3. How is punctuated equilibrium both similar to and different from gradualism?

"Relevance of evolution: conservation"

Directions: Go to the website linked above and answer the following questions.
1. Why is it difficult for a population with few individuals to survive?
2. How does understanding evolution help us revitalize endangered populations?
3. How does knowledge of evolutionary history help us make conservation decisions?

You may download the assignment as a PDF.

Read excerpts from Lamarck, Wallace and Darwin
and answer the questions on each page. Be sure to open all three documents.

Read Chapter 15 Sections 1 and 2 (pages 297-307) and answer the following questions:

Section 1: How do the concepts of adaptation and fitness relate to the theory of natural selection?
Section 2: How do a) the fossil record, b) biogeography, c) anatomy and embryology, and d) biological molecules each provide a unique line of evidence for evolution?

You may download and print this PDF with the questions.