SF Conclusion

The rough draft of the conclusion is due on Friday. Please remember to double space!

For your rough draft ONLY, you will use the 6/7 steps given in your handout and you will number each step!

Step 1 is to restate the purpose and explain why it is important. So, your rough draft will look like this:

1. The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the amount of sugar a student consumes affect their focus in class. This experiment is important for students to understand how consuming too much sugar can affect their grade in class because they cannot focus.

You will do this for all sections, exactly like it shows in the handout.

You will need some of your previous assignments to complete the conclusion. You will need to look up what your purpose is, just to make sure they match. You will also need to reread your hypothesis, just to make sure you know what it is, so you can be sure the data did or did not support your hypothesis. Your data analysis will be used to restate whether the independent variable affected the dependent variable or not and to use your averages to support that.

Remember, you are to avoid using pronouns. Refer to it as "the experiment," not "my experiment." If that is a challenge, you can ask for help on wording your statements without pronouns.

Design a Species Project

For your project, you have 4 main parts that you are putting together.

First, you are creating a key for your traits. Your key will include sketches of the traits, the phenotype, and the genotype(s) for that trait. You will do this for all 5 of your traits. You do not have to sketch the entire organism, just the traits. For example, if you were doing purple fur or orange fur, you would sketch the body twice and color one purple and the other orange. Above or below the sketch you would write the phenotype (purple) and the genotype(s) for that traits (PP, Pp) do this for all of your traits.

Second, you will draw two versions of your organism, with all different traits. So, if one is purple, the other should be orange. You do not have to make one all dominant and one all recessive, mix it up. Once you have drawn your organism, write the phenotype and genotype for it. My one-eye, one-horned, flying, purple, people eater (all 5 traits!) would be OB (multiple alleles), HH, Ww, PP, XX (yep, its a girl, but that's the only way you can tell). Then, I would draw my three-eyed (TB), two-horned (hh), non-flying (ww), spotted orange (PO), vegetarian (XvY). He'll be male because you have to draw one of each, but you don't have to draw any characteristic that makes you realize it is male or female. Give your poor creatures names!

Third, you will create a dihybrid cross using the single allele (simplest ones) traits from the organisms you drew. My female had wings (Ww) and one horn (HH), so her genotype is EeHH. My male had no wings (ww) and two horns (hh), so his genotype is wwhh. Use those two genotypes to create your 4x4 Punnett Square. Remember FOIL-first, outside, inside, last!

Fourth, you will make up 5 questions about possible organisms and crosses you could make. These can be simple or complex, it is up to you! For example, Herbert is an orange people eater that has always dreamed of having purple or spotted children. He falls in love with Herberta, who is a spotted people eater. What are the possible genotypes and phenotypes of their children? Will Herbert's dream come true? Then, you draw the Punnett square and answer your own question.

Then, put it all together with a dazzling cover page that includes your name, date, title, and a cool picture or design to show what your project is about. Put your rubric on the very last page.

Last, staple it all together and hand it in and celebrate a job well done.

Zork Project-7.1

We've been working on a project in class for a while. Now, they need to finish up any parts they haven't finished and put it together in a final project.

The following are all of the parts that must be included:

• Cover page (not done in class)-needs title, name, date, and creative cover picture
• Tables with the genotypes and phenotypes for the parents
• Zork worksheet with the alleles from the parents and the genotypes and phenotypes for the offspring
• Drawings (effort counts) of the parents and offspring based on information from two previous parts
• Punnett squares-two Punnett squares for any two traits based on the parents' information; should include a few sentences for each about the expected outcome based on the Punnett square and the actual class data collected
• Zork worksheet-answer all question in complete sentences
• Questions-4 questions that the student made up based on the traits that the Zorks have. Answers must be included in complete sentences. These should be well thought out and well written.

The project is due next Wednesday, January 30th. Students will be graded on the correctness of the final project, neatness (handwriting and the presented project itself), effort, and completeness. The projects may be handwritten, as we've done in class, or they may be typed to make them neater.

Design a Species Project-7.2

I've had several of my 7th graders (7.2) asking about the project you are putting together. The part that you seem to be stuck on is the designing part. Instead of starting with an elaborate idea about what your creature could look like and all the cool things it can do, start with deciding on some traits it could have.

For example:

• Hair/ Body color-red or blue; green or orange; 
• Make it a codominant trait and do green, orange, or green with orange stripe

• Height: tall or short
• Eyes: 1 or 3
• Wings or no wings
• Horns/no horns
• Hair: straight, curly, bald, spiky
• Teeth: sharp teeth, flat teeth, both, no teeth
• Body shape: round, oval, square, heart shaped
• Dragons: fire breathing/ice breathing

After you have decided on 5 traits, start deciding which ones you want to use for the different requirements. For the single-allele traits, pick something easy. These are the traits that are dominant or recessive-no in between; tall/ short, wings/no wings, horns/ no horns. Next, you need a codominant or incompletely dominant trait. Choose one that you can easily make an in-between or mixed trait; red/blue/purple, green/orange/striped, sharp teeth/flat teeth/both.

Your sex-linked that can be easy too. You can make this a dominant/recessive trait. For example; maybe 1 eye is dominant and 3 eyes is recessive, but this time it is linked to the X chromosome, so you have to include the genotype for females (XX) and males (XY). Remember, this does not mean all females have a trait and all males don't (or have a different one).

The multiple allele trait will probably be the hardest for you. But again, just look at what you want to do with your creature and make it happen. Maybe you want to do hair. The alleles are S (straight), C (curly) or B (bald); S and C are codominant and B is recessive. So, if they are SS or SB you get straight hair; CC or CB is curly hair; SC is straight AND curly; CC is bald.

NOW, you can draw out the traits and the genotypes that would give you that phenotype. Then, draw two examples of your organisms (name them!) and give them different traits. Yes, one should be a female (XX) and one a male (XY), but you don't have to give them some trait that shows that; I can figure it out from the genotype.

From there, the other parts will be easy. Just break it down to a step-by-step process, but start at the beginning.

Science Fair-Data Analysis

This Friday, January 18th, the rough drafts of their data analysis, graphs, and data tables are due. The data tables were due last Friday, so those should already be in their folders. Graphs should be drawn on graph paper, I will not accept graphs drawn on regular paper.

The data analysis is a 3 paragraph summary of their data. The first paragraph will discuss patterns in their data, if the independent variable affects the dependent variable (and how), and the averages for their data. It is okay for a student to find that changing the independent variable did not affect the dependent variable! The second paragraph discusses accuracy of the data. They will use the ranges for their data to discuss trends or any lack of a trend. The 3rd paragraph will discuss their limitations. These are usually related to the materials they had available and the number of trials completed.

There is an example of a sample data analysis in the packet of handouts they received, there is also a rubric which they should look over.