This assignment is due by midnight on Saturday, June6.

It has been a pleasure having each and every one of you in my first honors biology class.  I hope you’re able to take something away from my class – an interesting fact, a fun activity, or just a fond memory.  Good luck next year, and have a wonderful summer – you all earned it!

I leave you with one last thought – the lyrics to a song my biology teacher shared with us when I was in high school.  I hope you read them and appreciate the fact that I stand behind every word…

Forever Young

May the good lord be with you
Down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you’re far from home.

And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you’d have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you’ll always stay
Forever young.

May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to heaven
With a prince or a vagabond
And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young.

And when you finally fly away
I’ll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell.

But whatever road you choose
I’m right behind you, win or lose
Forever young.

~ Miss Cierech

It’s a 10 page article (the pages aren’t long, I promise), and I really want you to read all of them.  I would also like you to look at the photos that go with the article – these can be accessed by clicking on the “Archive Photo Gallery” link beneath the gorilla picture on the upper left portion of each page of the article (except for page 1).  Notice that some of the pictures were taken by Dian herself, while others were taken by Bob Campbell.

I would like you to write a paragraph (this time, it must be AT LEAST 7 sentences) describing what you’ve learned from the article.  Things to consider:

• Does Dian discuss things that weren’t mentioned in the movie?
• Does she expand upon topics that were only briefly mentioned in the movie?
• What do you think of her methods?
• Was her interacting with the gorillas good or bad?

If there are other topics you’d like to discuss, you may…the above questions are to help you just in case you don’t know what to write about.

I would also like you to pick out your favorite picture and write a couple sentences (separate from the above paragraph) telling me which picture you chose, and why.

This assignment is due by midnight on Saturday, May 23.

~ Miss Cierech

Write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences – some of you are starting to get lazy…I want complete, meaningful sentences) discussing why this information is important.  Why should people care about basking sharks?  Is this study a waste of time/effort/money?  Are there other organisms we should be looking at instead?  Is it possible that this is an example of “pure science” (you’ll have to go all the way back to chapter 1 in your textbook to find out what that means)…if so, do you think it has merit?  Why/why not?

This assignment is due by midnight on Friday, May 15.

~ Miss Cierech

This week I’ve picked an article that I think is interesting and fun…I hope you enjoy it.  For this assignment, please read the following article: 8 Brilliant Scientific Screw Ups.  (URL: http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23600.html )

I would like you to write 2 paragraphs (at least 5 sentences each) about 2 different inventions/discoveries.   The first paragraph should discuss the invention you think is the MOST important to you/society, and the second should discuss the invention you think is the LEAST important to you/society.

This is due by midnight on Friday, May 1.

~ Miss Cierech

There are many interesting facts mentioned in the article…which one struck you the most?  The importance of the cubs?  The difficulties inherent in breeding them in captivity?  Choose one fact and tell me why it caught your eye.  After that, please take a look at the pictures in the photo gallery.  Which picture is your favorite?  Why?

Your answers should be one paragraph long (at least 6 sentences – 3 discussing the fact, 3 discussing the picture).

This is due by midnight on Friday, April 3.

~ Miss Cierech

Enjoy the week off!

~ Miss Cierech

Although this particular example of planning ahead  is unfortunately violent in nature, I’d like to point out that there is brief mention of a 2006 study that involved using tools.

Write one paragraph (at least 5 sentences long) discussing the article.  Things you may want to consider:

• Why do you think the alpha male is throwing rocks at zoo visitors?  Is he trying to protect family?  Is he simply angry that unwanted visitors are invading his territory?
• What do you think about the fact that he chips larger boulders into smaller pieces?  Do you think  this shows greater intelligence than simply looking for small, throwable rocks?
  
• Do you think zookeepers had a right to castrate him?  Could there have been another solution?  Do you think this case should have been studied in more detail before taking such drastic action?  If so, what should scientists have looked at?

This assignment is due by midnight on Friday, March 20.

~ Miss Cierech

Write a one paragraph response (at least 5 sentences).   I leave it to you to decide what to write about…extinction in general, extinction caused by man, extinction of this particular species, whether or not you think the punishment for hunting endangered species is harsh enough/what you think a suitable punishment would be, etc.  If you have another idea, please feel free to write about it, as long as it involves this article in some way.

This assignment is due by midnight on Friday, March 13.  (Duh, duh, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun…)

~ Miss Cierech

The second article’s title says it all:  How Extinction Works. (URL – http://science.howstuffworks.com/evolution/extinction.htm )

Please write two paragraphs (at least 5 sentences long) taking the following items under consideration:

Paragraph 1:

• If researches have known about the “supervolcano” for years, why are they only making their discovery public now?
• They mention the appearance of mutations in fossils found from this time period…what reason do they give for this?  Under similar circumstances, do you think the same thing (an increase in mutations) could happen today?
• Some scientists suspect that the ozone layer was more-or-less destroyed during this time…what does that tell you about the ozone layer in general?  With human activities contributing to the degradation of the ozone layer today, does it give you hope for the future?

Paragraph 2:

• Did you learn anything new about extinctions that you didn’t know before (for example, that it doesn’t have to involve a catastrophic event)?  What did you learn?
• The article mentions that the extinction of one species can lead to the extinction of others…why is this important?
• What do you think about humanity’s role in the extinction of species?  What can we do to keep species alive and well?
  

This assignment is due by midnight on Friday, March 6.

Although I’m no longer requiring you to watch it,  I know many of you enjoyed “Lie to Me.”  I just wanted to remind you that there will be a new episdoe on this week on Wednesday, March 4, at 9pm on Channel 5.  If enough of you decide to watch it, perhaps we’ll take the first few minutes of Thursday’s class to discuss it.  Enjoy!

~ Miss Cierech

P.S.  New quote of the month…

Please write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) expressing your opinion on the article.  Do you think there is more gestural/microexpression “evidence” in the interview that was not discussed in the article?  Do you agree that TV shows tend to make difficult, time consuming tasks appear to be quick and easy?  In this case, do you think television has exaggerated the usefulness of gestural/microexprssion evidence?  Should discount this method of lie detection, or do you think it might be a viable technique given time and practice?

This blog is due by midnight on Friday, February 27.

~ Miss Cierech