Chapter 11

Here's the link to get the PDF of chapter 11.

2nd 9-weeks grade recovery

This post explains the requirements for the grade recovery process. If you would like to improve your 3rd 9-weeks grade to the next letter grade, here's your opportunity. There are three parts to the process: 1) the textbook, 2) the videos, and 3) the test.

Part 1: The textbook

Read chapters 4-6 and answer the questions listed below. You must bring this work to turn in when you're ready for part 3.

Chapter 4: Ecosystems and Communities
Page 127 #1-10


Chapter 5: Populations
Page 151 #1-10


Chapter 6: Humans in the Biosphere
Page 185 #1-10

Part 2: The videos

Watch each of the 8 videos embedded below, and take notes on the videos. You will need to turn in the notes, along with the work for part 1, when you come in to take the test.


Ecology: Rules for Living on Earth

Population Ecology: The Texas Mosquito Mystery

Human Population Growth

Ecological Succession: Change is Good

Human Impacts on the Environment

Food Webs and Energy Pyramids

Ecological Succession: Nature's Great Grit

Biomagnification and the Infamous DDT



Part 3: The test

Once you have completed parts 1 and 2, you can take the final test. The test will be 45 multiple-choice questions, and you must score a 70% or better on the test to earn the higher grade. The test will NOT be open-book, so you need to know the material pretty well. If you do not score a 70% the first time you take the test, you may try it one more time. You must schedule a time with me to take the test.

All three parts of the grade recovery process must be completed by April 6, which is the last day of the 3rd 9-weeks. 

Chapter 10

Here's the link for the PDF of chapter 10.

Here are some of the videos we watched in class.

Crash Course



Why haven't we cured cancer?


Amoeba Sisters - Mitosis


Amoeba Sisters - Cancer

Vocabulary for Test 6

Here's the vocabulary that could be on Vocabulary Test 6, which will be next week.

Vocabulary

• biomass - the total amount of living tissue within a given trophic level
• carnivore - organism that obtains energy by killing and eating animals
• chemosynthesis - process in which chemical energy is used to produce carbohydrates
• consumer - organism that relies on consuming other organisms for its energy and food supply
• decomposer - organism that chemically breaks down and obtains energy from dead organic matter
• detritivore - organism that feeds on plant and animal remains and other dead matter
• herbivore - organism that obtains energy by eating only plants
• heterotroph - organism that obtains energy by consuming other organisms
• omnivore - organism that obtains energy by eating plants and animals
• primary producer - first producer of energy-rich compounds that are later used by other organisms
• scavenger - animal that consumes the caucuses of other animals
• transpiration - loss of water from a plant through its leaves
• trophic level - each step in a food chain or food web
• aphotic zone - dark layer of oceans where sunlight does not penetrate
• benthos - organisms that live attached to or near the bottom of lakes, streams, or oceans
• ecological succession - series of gradual changes that occur in a community following a disturbance
• limiting factor - factors that cause population growth to decrease
• photic zone - sunlight region near the surface of water
• pioneer species - first species to populate an area during success
• plankton - microscopic organisms that live in aquatic environments
• primary succession - succession that occurs in an area in which no trace of a previous community is present
• salinity - the amount of dissolved salt in water
• secondary succession - type of succession that occurs in an area that was only partially destroyed by disturbance
• logistic growth - growth pattern in which a population's growth and then stops following a period of exponential growth
• exponential growth - growth pattern in which the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate
• carrying capacity - largest number of individuals of a particular species that a particular environment can support
• limiting factor - factor the causes population growth to decrease
• demographic transition - change in a population from high birth rate to low birth and death rates
• monoculture - farming strategy of planting a single, highly productive crop year after year
• biological magnification - increasing concentration of a harmful substance in organisms at higher trophic levels in a food chain or food web
• biodiversity - total of the variety of organisms in the biosphere; also called biological diversity
• ecological hot spot -  small geographic area where significant numbers of habitats and species are in immediate danger of extinction

Chapter 6

Here's the PDF of Chapter 6 in the textbook.

Chapter 6 extra credit

Here's the extra credit opportunity for the 2nd 9-weeks. This may be the only extra credit offered this quarter.

The requirements are:

• Write a letter to a Fortune 500 company* requesting they send you information about their environmental stewardship programs. Here's a list of Fortune 500 companies.
• Bring me a signed copy of the letter to be graded.
• Be sure to mail the original letter to the company, so they can send you a response.
• You may get up to 50 points for a well-written letter. Here is the letter rubric. There are some links at the bottom with advice for writing business letters.
• Letters should be typed, well-written and persuasive.

If the company responds (in any way), you get another 50 points. Bring in the company’s response (e.g., letter) to class.
If they send materials, that’s another 50 points.
If they send enough copies of the materials for your entire class, and me, you earn an extra 150 points.
So, it's possible to earn 300 points with this extra credit.

Rules:
The company must be a for-profit, Fortune 500 company.
The company must not have its headquarters in Florida. So, even though Publix is #101, you can't use Publix for this assignment.
Your letter must be sent to the corporate headquarters and materials must be sent from the corporate headquarters; so be sure to show me the envelope you receive from the company. You will not receive the points if you neglect this requirement.
You cannot send your letter to any company discussed in class as an example of corporate environmental practices, including those companies who are used as examples in this assignment, unless you send the letter before the example is used in class.
Letters must be turned in by Friday, Dec 18. Any response or materials received from the company must be shown to me by Jan 22.

Here's an example of a letter from a past student. And another example.
And here's an example of a letter one student received in response.

Here are a couple old videos about the ecological efforts of two companies: Timberland and Martin Guitars.


Timberland



Martin Guitars



Purdue University offers some advice on how to write a business letter. The University of North Carolina also has some advice on the topic. You can also check on this YouTube tutorial.


My own experience with this

Last year, I decided to take part in this assignment, too. So, I wrote to Apple and DuPont. But, to keep it realistic, I wrote as a high school student, and I used my 2-year old son's name, Hudson.
Apple and DuPont wrote me back. Apple just sent a letter with information. DuPont sent materials, too. Here are a couple pictures.

Finally, plan ahead. Don't wait till the end of the 9-weeks to suddenly start caring about your grade.

*If there's a company not on the Fortune 500 list that you want to write to, talk to me about it. I might approve a non-Fortune 500 company if you can give me a compelling reason why you really want to write to that particular company.

Grade recovery

The grade recovery process for Biology consists of:

1. signing and having a parent/guardian sign the grade recovery agreement,
2. watching 6 videos and taking notes on the videos,
3. reading Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 in the textbook, and answering questions #1-9 on page 31 and questions #1-10 on page 59, and
4. earning an 80% or higher on a multiple-choice test. The test will not be open-book.

You must meet all those requirements by Dec 11th in order to have your first 9-weeks grade raised to the next highest grade. If you currently have a 64% for the first 9-weeks, your grade will be raised to a 70%. If you currently have a 68%, then your grade will be raised to a 70%. If you have a 75%, your grade will be raised to an 80%.

If you do not achieve a score of 80% on the test, you may attempt it one additional time, although the second test will be different than the first test. The questions on the test will come from the textbook and the videos. The test can be taken after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays. And the other requirements must be met before a student can take the test.

Here are the 6 videos:

Chapter 1






Chapter 2

Watch these videos: