On my homepage (www.docfleetwood.net), read the paragraph titled “The World Needs Thinkers.”  Be sure to click the ‘read more’ link underneath the paragraph to read the rest of the article.  While you are reading it, jot down items that surprise you or that you find interesting.  We will discuss these in class.  After you finish reading, create a “Twitterized” summary of the entire article in 160 characters or fewer.  Be prepared to share this in class.

Welcome back everyone.  There are a lot of exciting changes this year and we look forward to having the best school year yet!  Let’s work together, have some fun, and learn lots of stuff

You will have a genetics test on Friday, 6/4/10.  The test will consist of the material covered in class as well as the assigned definitions and online material.  There is a practice test located at http://www.docfleetwood.net/biology/studyguides/geneticspracticetest.htm

Go to the following website and complete the activity. Answer the following questions on a sheet of paper to be handed in.

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/gendertest/gendertest.html

1. What are four ways that gender may be categorized in humans? Give a brief description of each.

2. What are the results of Jane Doe’s physical? Is Jane male or female?

3. What is a karyotype?

4. What are the results of Jane Doe’s karyotype? Is Jane male or female?

5. What region/gene of the ‘Y’ chromosome signals the testes to produce male hormones?

6. What two hormones do the testes produce and what is the function of each?

7. What is a “polymerase chain reaction” used for?

8. Does Jane have a functional SRY gene? Is Jane male or female?

9. Does Jane ‘qualify’ or ‘disqualify’ for the United Earth Games?

10. What does CAIS stand for? Describe the condition.

11. Does Jane produce testosterone? What do her cells do with it?

12. Does Jane have testes? Does she have a uterus?

13. What gene may CAIS be linked to? As a result, what gender would you expect it to affect more?

14. What gender does it affect (phenotypically) and why?

15. Should Jane be allowed to compete? Why or why not?

Go to the following website…

http://www.nsa.gov/kids/home_html.shtml

Click on ‘Codes & Ciphers‘ at the top and read through the material. Be sure to look at the various types of ciphers under the ‘Make a Cipher‘ section, and the ‘Language Rules‘ under the ‘Breaking Ciphers‘ section. Write these tips in your notebook. You will be asked to apply your skills at breaking ciphers so be sure you understand the techniques used.

After you read through the Codes and Ciphers section, click on Games & Activities at the bottom. Then complete the ‘Cryptograms‘ link (beginner, intermediate, and advanced).  Pay particular attention to the ‘advanced’ problem.  Once you have completed those, complete the 5 problems in the ‘Yardleygrams‘ section.

When you are finished with that site, use the link below to study and understand XOR Encryption. XOR encryption is very useful to encrypt binary data stored in a computer.

XOR Encryption

Complete the following online assignments related to DNA structure and protein synthesis.

1. Go to my wiki page located here.  You will see three links (Exploring DNA, DNA Structure and DNA Strands).  You should visit the first two pages in the order presented and view the JMOL interactive models at those sites.  These are very cool 3-D models that you can manipulate to understand the structure of DNA.  After you view the first site (Exploring DNA) and while you are viewing the second site (DNA Structure), you should answer the questions from this Question Set. (I forgot to give it out in class) The third link will also help you answer one of the questions.  Please don’t just rush to answer the questions.  Take your time to investigate and appreciate the beauty of DNA and of these modeling programs.
2. Molecular Workbench – DNA to Proteins Part 1
3. Molecular Workbench – DNA to Proteins Part 2

The homepage of the molecular workbench software is: http://mw.concord.org/modeler/

You can run/install the software from that page.  After you install and run the software, sign in and you should see a list of activities for my class.  The DNA to Protein activities are the top two items.  You should answer the questions throughout the activity and submit a report online to me at the end of each activity.

If you have problems with your computer at home, plan on staying after school to complete these!  They should be completed by Thursday, 5/20/10.

Your task is to create a DNA model. You may use any materials you wish when constructing your model, except food items. The model should be at least one foot long and be as realistic as possible. It should show the sugar, phosphates, and bases, the anti-parallel nature of the two strands, the 3′ and 5′ ends (structurally correct), the number of bases per turn, the correct base pairings, the hydrogen bonding between bases (2 or 3 as appropriate), etc… At least part of the model must be twisted in the helix shape.

Due: 5/26/10

The Earth Policy Institute lays out the case for building more offshore wind farms and getting ourselves away from the reliance on oil.  Did you know that…

“While oil resources are limited, wind resources are abundant and inexhaustible. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that the world’s top carbon emitters have enough wind energy potential to meet their current electricity needs many times over. The United States’ total wind potential is estimated at 22 times current electricity use. For China the wind resource potential is 15 times greater than the country’s current electricity consumption, and for Russia, it is a staggering 170 times higher.

Looking at offshore wind resources alone, the U.S. potential is 4 times current electricity use. For Canada, offshore wind is a whopping 39 times greater.”

Read the full article here and then add your thoughts in the comments section below.  Do you think we should increase or decrease offshore oil drilling?  Should we force car makers to increase the average miles per gallon for new cars?  What mpg should cars be getting?  Should we go to all electric vehicles?  What types of changes do you think the United States should make as one of the leaders of the world?  Also be sure to comment on other people’s comments.

You will have a test on chapter 6, the readings from the Inside the Cell book, and the notes from class.  It will also include the table of organ systems and cellular organelles.  A practice test can be found on my website here – practice test

The test is only for practice, although you must put in your name. Please use your real name when you take it so I can see how you are doing. You may take it multiple times.

As a practice test, it does not include all information that may be asked on the actual test. It should, however, be a good indicator the types of questions you will see and the bulk of the content.

Have fun and study, study, study

Don’t forget there are more practice questions available at the BSCS textbook site.

The test will be on Friday, 5/14/10

If you missed class, you can watch the videos online at the following site:

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/neuroscience/lectures.html

You can then choose the ‘Flash’ version or the ‘RealPlayer’ version.  I recommend the flash version.