Niche Review and Concept Map

Today we took time to review your homework on niche and zones of tolerance.  We then spent some time in class making a concept map of what we know about what affects 'what lives where and why.'

Photosynthesis Gizmo!

Today we worked as a class to investigate how manipulating the various variable would affect the rate of photosynthesis in a plant.  Here are just a few of the things we learned:

* When we conduct an experiment, we can only change one variable at a time, otherwise we can't be sure what caused the change.
* Plants have an optimal range of wavelengths of light for conducting photosynthesis
* Temperature can affect how much dissolved oxygen is in water

Homework:  Answer the questions in the Niche packet.   Below is the color version of the figure on page 4 of the packet.  Remember: You are to work for 30 minutes, then make a note of how far you got.  Then work for 15 more minutes (generally you would only have 30 minutes of homework, but you only have two classes tomorrow).

Cellular Respiration and Energy Transformations

Today we went over the basics of cellular respiration, reviewed the homework and discussed why energy transformations are never 100% efficient.

Homework for Wednesday: Answer questions: 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20 and 21 in the Ecology homework packet.  The directions at the top of the first page will tell you what you need to read.

Below is a diagram that sums up the relationship between cellular respiration and photosynthesis:

http://elinow-bioreview2.wikispaces.com/file/view/cycle.gif/191496710/cycle.gif

Energy Pyramid:  http://im.glogster.com/media/5/20/38/74/20387412.gif 

Photosynthesis

As we discovered on Thursday the pond is filled with phytoplanton that perform a process called photosynthesis.  Today we learned more about this processes as well as practiced identifying the independent and dependent variables in an experiment.

Homework due Tuesday:
Read pages 136-139 and answer questions 1,2,3, 4 and 7,8,9 from the 2FS Ecology Homework packet.

Reminder: Your 3-2-1 is due by Sunday at 8PM.

Here's the song we watched in class to give us an overview of Photosynthesis.

Evaluating data and van Helmholt

Today we looked for patterns in our data from the Sampling the Environment lab yesterday.  For homework  finish the post lab questions.  You have been emailed a link with the class data in a google doc.

In discussing our sampling yesterday we discovered that not everyone used the exact same method.  This led us to a discussion of controls and variables.  After warming up with some Simpson's variable problems, we got down to business used the Van Helmholt worksheet to look controls and variables in relation to photosynthesis.  If you did not finish the van Helmholt worksheet in class you need to finish that as well.


Reminder: On Sunday, your 3-2-1 reflections are due.

Sampling the Environment

Phytoplankton
from: http://tinyurl.com/btt2jjc 

Today we went out to the pond to collect quantitative data about the disolved oxygen (D.O.) levels and temperature of the pond.  We also made qualitative observations about the types of plankton that were collected using the plankton tows.

For homework: Complete the questions on pages 1 and 2 of the lab handout.  You do not need to complete the last question on page 2.   In case your paper got too wet during the lab, the questions are posted below.

Tomorrow we will look at our data and begin to discuss how what we saw can relate to the use of energy in the pond.

Questions due tomorrow:
1. Why should the estimated linear distance of your tows be equal?
2. Why do we care about long-term data on pond plankton?
3. Why do we care about the pond's DO levels?
4. Why do we care about the pond's temperature?
5. Each sampling point was sampled more than once (by different people in the canoes, and some groups).  Why did we sample multiple times?

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data

Today we spent time discussing your first homework.  The big thing we learned is how important it is to really READ the directions for an assignment.  On Thursday we have our first lab.  We went over how to use the equipment and dress properly for lab.

Homework:  Complete the lab safety contract.  You must bring this completed to class.