Maternity Leave

I haven't used this much, but for those of you that check. I will be on maternity leave for the next 5-6 weeks. I hope you have a wonderful few weeks and I will probably see you before school lets out.

Display Boards

Display boards are one of the last things we put together for Science Fair. This is where students get to display all of their hard work in one place for everyone to see! Generally, all boards should have a color scheme that consists of no more than 3 colors, any more than that tends to distract people!

The board needs labels. These are the section headings that go above each piece that will be on the board. These are going to be rather large, usually around 72 pt font is good. Students are allowed to use different fonts, but all labels should be the same font and it should be a font that is easy to read. Otherwise, people aren't paying attention to your work, they are trying to figure out what something says. Labels may also have different colors (that stick to the chosen color scheme), but beware of light colors that are hard to read.

Next, they will need to slightly reformat all of the parts that we did to go on the board. As long as they have everything saved in one place, this should be pretty easy. Unfortunately, I'm hearing from several students that they don't know where things are saved, flash drives have been lost, etc. If this is the case, the parts will have to be retyped using the final drafts they turned in. The pieces on the board should NOT have a heading or a title (the label above is the title). The font should be large enough to be read by a person standing back a bit, generally 18-22 pt is a good size. They may change the font from Times New Roman, but it should still be pretty simple and easy to read. Too many students get excited and change it to something that looks cool, but is hard to read. Again, this takes away from their project. 

They must have their purpose, variables/operational definition, hypothesis, materials, procedures, data tables, graphs (should be 2), data analysis, and conclusion on the board. The background information is not required, but may be included. Pictures, diagrams, and parts of their experiment they wish to display also make nice additions. However, displays may not include any food, liquids, or anything hazardous.

The title for their project will be centered on the board and should be large, catchy, and look nice. This is what gets everyone's attention, so we want it to look great!

Science Fair Notebooks

Science Fair notebooks are due this Friday. Notebooks are expected to be neat (papers in brads, nothing in pockets, etc), be in the correct order, have all final drafts signed, and have everything listed below. The notebook should have three sections separated by dividers. The sections should be Rough Drafts, Final Drafts, and Research. It should also contain the instruction packet that was handed out at the very beginning. The packet should either be in the very front or very back, but should be in order.

The order for all assignments are as follows:
Rough Drafts

1. Question
2. Informational Paragraphs, including the background research worksheet
3. Variables/Operational Definition
4. Hypothesis
5. Materials/Procedures
6. Data & notes collected during the experiment
7. Graphs
8. Data analysis
9. Conclusion

Final Drafts:

1. CSCA Information Form
2. Purpose
3. Informational Paragraphs
4. Works Cited (bibliography worksheet)
5. Variables/Op Definition
6. Hypothesis
7. Materials
8. Procedures
9. Data table
10. Graphs
11. Data analysis
12. Conclusion

Research:
Any and all research printed or copied or notes that pertains to the research paper they wrote.

Transcription, Translation, and Mutations

We have been learning how the information in DNA is used to produce proteins. We spent lots of time learning about traits and phenotypes and all sorts of other fun stuff about DNA and genetics. Now, we are tying the ideas together.

Here is a big problem the cell faces. DNA is contained in the nucleus of the cell. Protein production occurs on the ribosome in the cytoplasm of the cell. Hmmm...

Enter RNA.

The first step is called TRANSCRIPTION. During transcription, DNA is copied into mRNA. This process is similar to DNA replication, when all the bases pair up, but RNA contains uracil, not thymine. So, if we had a strand of DNA that read:

• TAC GGG CAT AAA, the complimentary DNA strand would be:
• ATG CCC GTA TTT, BUT RNA does not contain T, it has been replaced by U, so the RNA strand would be:
• AUG CCC GUA UUU

The next step is called TRANSLATION. During translation, the coded message from the mRNA is translated into a chain of amino acids. The mRNA strand travels from the nucleus to the cytoplasm where it attaches to a ribosome. The mRNA strand is read 3 bases at a time, called a codon. Another type of RNA, tRNA carries amino acids to the ribosome and matches up with certain codons. The tRNA drops off the amino acid, which is added to the chain, and then leaves to go find more amino acids. This process continues until a complete protein is made. You can use a codon chart to figure out what amino acids certain codons code for. In the example mRNA strand above, the amino acid sequence would be:

• Met-Pro-Val-Phe

Sometimes mistakes occur and these mistakes can result in a change in the DNA or RNA sequence. These changes are called mutations. Mutations may or may not result in any change in the protein, it depends on the change. If a mutation does cause a change in a protein, that can lead to a different phenotype, which may be helpful or harmful to the organism. It often depends on the mutation and the environment.

There are 3 types of mutations that we discussed in class: substitution, deletion, and addition. The names pretty much explain what happens, but in a substitution, one base takes the place of another. In deletion, a base is removed and in addition an extra base is added to the chain.

These can result in a point mutation, in which only one amino acid is incorrect. For example (using the example above), if the first A were to be a U, then the amino acid chain would start with Leu, not Met, but that would be the only change. Changes can also result in a frameshift mutation, this is where the reading frame is shifted and generally leads to a nonsense amino acid chain. Imagine reading the sentence THE FAT CAT ATE THE PIE. If the F from FAT was removed, but the sentence was still read 3 letters at a time, it would read THE ATC ATA TET HEP IE. Nowhere near what we were going for. Framshift mutations can lead to a nonsense protein, protein production ending too soon, or many other problems. Again, it may or may not be harmful depending on several factors.

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.