15 Living Books About Swimming Creatures, written by Apologia creator of award-winning homeschool curriculum.
One of my favorite parts of the cell unit is teaching about membranes. If you ask me, they are by far the most important part of the cell. Everything the cell does is because it is responding to signals received by the membrane. While many students think the nucleus is in charge, it is in ... Read more
Mitosis and Meiosis Teaching Ideas: Coloring Activities, Video Project Ideas, and Animations for teaching cell division. Blog Post by Science with Mrs. Lau
M10 Recap blog post at Sahm-I-Am Quizlet Vocabulary Game, M10 (1) p. 299-301, Introduction Ecology is the study of the interactions between living and nonliving things -- the way living things live in a specific environment and how they survive, what they eat, consumers, producers, etc. All the consumers will not eat up all the producers. If the food starts to get scarce, like a particular animal that is food for another consumer, the animals that are consumers will move to find a source of food. Then the animal that is food will gradually populate the area once again. The same thing happens with plants that animals eat. Things will stay balanced in this way. ►►Watch this video about Population Ecology. Click Animation. Certain animals only live in one specific type of environment. This could be where it is hot and dry, or cold, or wet and rainy, or warm and rainy, or other combinations. These also depend on the season. This is called a biome. ►A few general kinds of biomes are aquatic, deserts, forests, tundra, and grasslands. There are different types of each of the general biomes that I listed. For example, there are tropical rainforests, temperate deciduous forests (leaves turn each fall), or temperate coniferous forests (cone-IF-er-us: cone-bearing trees). ►See the temperate zones at this link, highlighted in pink. Temperate refers to a region not too near the north pole or south pole, but not too near the equator either. They have hot summers and cold winters. There are two temperate zones, one in the middle of the northern hemisphere (hemi = half), and one in the middle of the southern hemisphere. Think of someone who is even-tempered. In the middle. =) What is an Ecosystem? (population, community) ►See a lake ecosystem. (source) ►A sagebrush ecosystem. (source) ►Specific biomes are found in specific locations in relation to the poles and equator, such as the temperate forests mentioned above. A biome is made up of ecosystems. An ecosystem is categorized by climate, animals, and plant life. Ecosystems are made up of communities, which are groups of populations living and interacting in the same area. Read the definitions on p. 299. Biomes In your text, you will read about rabbits that were brought into Australia, and that there was no consumer, no predator for rabbits. Therefore the rabbits overpopulated Australia, and it took over 50 years for anyone to figure out how to control the rabbit population. There must be balance in ecosystems, and God created natural predators, called consumers. If left alone (no one trying to "fix" things), nature will stay balanced. In your Study Guide, question # 2 asks, "When fruits or vegetables are imported into the U.S. from a foreign country, they are always very closely inspected for insects, even though the vase majority of insects are not really harmful. Why is the inspection done?" I was watching something this morning about a plague that initially affected the Eastern Roman Empire in the years 541-544, AD. It was a bubonic plague, and, occurring during the reign of Roman Emperor Justinian I, was called the Plague of Justinian. (not "The Plague" or the Black Death of Asia and Europe during the 14th century) The origin of the Justinian Plague was thought to have been carried by fleas on rats that came into Constantinople on grain boats. The Plague was believed to have killed as many as 5,000 a day in Constantinople at the peak of the epidemic (about 40% of the inhabitants), and eventually thought to have caused the deaths of as many as 100 million people. I didn't find anything about whether this affected the ecology (I'm sure it did), but while I was watching this documentary, I thought of this question in the Study Guide. Makes one think, doesn't it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (2) p. 301-305, Energy and Ecosystems All living things need energy. They need food. Plants, animals, and other organisms need food. (Source) ►If a plant or other organism makes its own food, it is an autotroph. Autotrophs are eaten by other animals, therefore an autotroph is a producer. It does not eat other organisms. Look at the bottom of the diagram. → ►An organism that eats a producer is a primary consumer. (Primary meaning first.) These are herbivores. ►An organism that eats primary consumers is a secondary consumer. These are carnivores because they do not eat plants. ►A carnivore that eats other carnivores (secondary consumers) is a tertiary consumer. (TER-she-air- ee) *An omnivore would be both a primary consumer and a secondary and/or tertiary consumer. These relationships of producer and consumers are called trophic levels. You have probably seen this demonstrated in a food chain. (Source) But it is a little more complicated than that. A hawk can eat a snake, and the hawk would be a tertiary consumer. But if the hawk eats a mouse, the hawk will be a secondary consumer. Remember what I said earlier about an omnivore?* This can be demonstrated by a food web. What organisms are in a particular food web is determined by what kind of biome, or more specifically, what ecosystem we are talking about. --In your textbook, the arrows flow from the consumer to the animal or plant being consumed. --In these pictures, the arrows flow in the direction of energy going from the organism being eaten, to the one doing the eating. (Source) ►See this ocean food web. Some great links I found posted at Applie's Place: Interesting Facts about Food Chains Gould League - Food Web - Games Build a Food Web - interactive It is important to realize that each trophic level requires a lot of food for energy from the previous one. (Source) It is important to remember that energy is lost each time it moves up a trophic level in an ecosystem. If you need to, re-read the last few paragraphs on p. 303 to understand this, then watch this video. You also need to understand the significance of biomass. Biomass is the measure of the total dry mass of organisms within a particular region. If an animal eats something with a lot of water in it, it will probably need to eat more to sustain life. Look at the diagram on p. 304, similar to the trophic pyramid above with the ocean life. On p. 304, the producers are many times more than the primary consumers. If you look at the width of the primary consumer level, it is about 3 times as wide as the secondary consumer level. And the secondary consumer level is about 3 times as wide as the tertiary consumer level. These percentages are not the same as the diagram above in the ocean life example. Each ecosystem will not be exactly the same as another ecosystem. Last we need to mention decomposers. Decomposers tend to feed at all trophic levels, so they were not included in the trophic pyramid. Decomposers take care of the energy that is "lost" between trophic levels. God makes sure that the energy that is "lost" gets back into creation by decomposition. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (3) p. 305-309, Mutualism Those who believe in the "survival of the fittest" do not like mutualism. According to macroevolution, species should compete with one another for survival. This video is just one example of mutualism between unlikely couples. You can see more odd couples here. =) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (4) p. 311-313, The Water Cycle Watershed -- an ecosystem where all water runoff drains into a single body of water. transpiration -- evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant Transpiration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (5) p. 314-315, The Oxygen Cycle Through photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen which humans and animals breathe. Carbon dioxide is also converted to oxygen by other means, and vice versa. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (6) p. 316-322, The Carbon Cycle When animals and humans breathe, we take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. Other means of producing carbon dioxide include decomposition and burning fuel. Although carbon dioxide is constantly being produced, it is also constantly being taken away. Most carbon dioxide is used up by photosynthesis. Some carbon dioxide is dissolved into the ocean, where some organisms use it to form their shells. There are other ways too. Carbon dioxide has an important job -- it keeps the earth warm. This is called the greenhouse effect. Have you ever been in a greenhouse? It is very warm! When certain gases trap heat here on earth (that would otherwise escape the earth and go into outerspace), this is called the greenhouse effect. Some people say we are having warmer winters, but if they would think about it, not every place on earth is having warmer winters. Some are having colder winters and/or even cooler summers. Therefore it is not "global" warming. Also, you can’t just look at one year. If you look at a larger time span, like the Figure on p. 319, you will see the overall warming is very slight, and fluctuates often. Look at the numbers on the left of the graph and see how many total degrees the temperature has risen. ►Also look at the site of Dr. Roy Spencer, former NASA scientist. Scroll down to see the latest global temps. Temperatures were up in 2010, but when I first posted this, I said we were due for some cooling down. See the graph? Look at the left of the graph for the total rise in average temps since 1979. Not even ½ of a degree. =) Since carbon dioxide can be produced by burning fuel, some people think that we are getting too much carbon dioxide into the air, and that this causes excess global warming. Watch this video by Answers in Genesis, part 1. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (7) p. 322-325, The Nitrogen Cycle The Nitrogen Cycle is very fascinating to me! I love the cow! =) Not only do animals eat plants with nitrogen, secondary consumers and tertiary consumers eat other animals to get their nitrogen. Also, dead plants and animals, as well as waste, put nitrogen back into the soil for plants. Here's a video about the nitrogen cycle in water.
Apologia Science has been the best for our family. I wanted to share some of our FAVORITE projects from Apologia science.
Leah Courtney reviews the Apologia notebooks that can be used in conjunction with their creation-based textbooks.
A step by step tutorial on how to print and create your own tabletop card game decks with card stock and a few simple tools.
I’m excited to share with you an EASY PEASY way for students to see osmosis in plant cells! In the past, I always used elodea leaves for this lab. Elodea can be hard to find at pet stores and is a little temperamental to keep alive. This year I decided to use onion skin from ... Read more
Review of College-prep biology course by Apologia. This book provides a detailed introduction to the methods and concepts of general biology. Homeschool curriculum with student material, study questions, laboratory exercises, and module study guides with color photos and illustrations.
Curious about Apologia Bible Curriculum for the Old and New Testaments? Here's our review!
These easy-prep activities for teaching atoms will engage your students and make learning about atoms fun!
Getting out the microscopes is one of the best parts of teaching biology. I love hearing the ooh’s and aah’s when they finally get the specimen into focus. But if you’ve taught biology before you know it can also be one of the most exhausting units- constantly running around the room because “Mrs, I just ... Read more
Apologia worldview curriculum is a great choice to teach your children the foundations of the faith and why we believe what we believe as Christians. Apologia Educational Ministries has been a well-loved name in our personal homeschool journey since 2008. We have used their elementary science books as well as their What We Believe Biblical...
One comment I frequently hear from biology teachers is “My students keep mixing up mitosis and meiosis.” I had this problem for many years (the first 5 years of teaching to be exact). During my cells unit I would teach both mitosis and meiosis. I would begin by teaching them both separately, and then had ... Read more
Protein Synthesis is actually a fun concept for me to teach. For me, there are 2 barriers you need to cross in order for students to learn protein synthesis:1. Learning about the steps of transcription and translation (the easier part)2. Understanding how DNA translates into gene expression (the harder part) Most of my students do ... Read more
15 Living Books About Flying Creatures, written by Apologia creator of award-winning homeschool curriculum.
In this post I'm sharing how I use different types of manipulatives to teach chemistry concepts in middle school science!
Let Me Count The Ways (of Measuring Your Heart Rate!) Valentine's Day does not have to go unnoticed in our high school biology classes! We might not discuss the emotional affairs of the heart, but we can definitely discuss the physiology of the heart! Each year, during the week of Valentine's Day, I take my biology students to the lab to measure the heart rate in the crustacean, Daphnia. Since Daphnia is an ectotherm, its heart rate will vary with changes in its body temperature. (I also pass out a few Dove chocolate hearts along with the lab supplies!) First we place the Daphnia into a small, water-filled chamber like the one seen in this photo. A few strands of cotton fibers placed in the chamber helps to restrain the Daphnia while viewing! A Petri dish is filled with ice water, and the Daphnia viewing chamber is placed on top of this ice water to cool the internal body temperature of the Daphnia. After a minute or two, the Daphnia is placed under a dissecting microscope, and the fun begins! Some students have difficulty at first, finding the heart. Since the exoskeleton of Daphnia is clear, the heart is easily seen. Once the students find the heart, they are ready to start counting the number of heart beats per minute. After repeating three trials at the ice water temperature, students fill the Petri dish with water that is at room temperature and repeat. Finally the students fill the Petri dish with warm water to finish the experiment. The data from the experiment is fairly consistent from year to year, and students can quickly conclude that the heart rate of Daphnia speeds up as the temperature increases. My favorite part of the experiment comes on the next day! On day 2 of this lab, I have my students design their own experiment. They are asked to design an experiment to test the effect of caffeine and alcohol on the heart rate of Daphnia. The students must state a hypothesis, describe their experimental and control groups, carry out the experiment, collect their data, graph their data, and come to a conclusion based on their data. For my honors level and AP Biology students, I have them complete this worksheet to determine the Q10 Temperature Coefficient. This lab, along with all of the worksheets and a teacher guide, has recently been added to my TpT store. You can view it here: Measuring the Heart Rate in Daphnia
...that Sahm-I-Am, that Sahm-I-Am; a Stay-at-home-Mom is what I am. =)
Learn all about inventors, inventions & discoveries with our monthly installments of Thinkers and Tinkerers! December Issue from Getting Nerdy Science.
Why Choose a Homeschool Bible Curriculum?, written by Apologia creator of award-winning homeschool curriculum.
Need a health and nutrion curriculum for your high school teens that's comprehensive and teaches a Christian worldview? Try this curriculum from Apologia.
Are you being wise and preparing for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? What does this look like practically? Here’s a list from the apostle Peter
Apologia Swimming Creatures Final Post: pictures, experiments, ocean boxes, Pinterest board
You may not think the order you teach topics in chemistry matters, but it does. Teaching them in the wrong order can lead to less interest, less understanding and lower grades.
Dichotomous Classification Keys: KIDS LOVE 'EM! There is just something about working through a classification key that is fun. I love them, the students love them .... and the result is a classroom activity that is stimulating, educational, and ... well, it is just FUN! In my 30+ years of teaching biology, I always look forward to my unit on classification and taxonomy. As a result, I have developed quite a few teaching materials and lessons on this topic. After posting these materials in my TpT store, I began to get more and more requests for additional activities that use a dichotomous classification key. Well, here is the newest addition to this type of activity. Click image to view product in my TpT store. There are actually two activities in this product. Students begin by using the included dichotomous key to the insects to identify 9 different insects. Second, students are given pictures of a representative organism from each of the five classes of the Phylum Arthropoda. Students are asked to make good observations and develop their own dichotomous key for these arthropods. The dichotomous key and the two pages of pictures can be laminated and used year after year. Student handouts include 2 pages for their written work. Analysis and follow up questions are also included to extend the activity. I wrote this activity in response to requests from many upper elementary and middle school teachers. Therefore, I feel this activity is most appropriate for grades 4-7. However, my experience teaching high school tells me that my first year biology students will love this as an introduction to classification. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed developing it. Links to this and related products: Insects: A Dichotomous Classification Activity Dichotomous Key to a "Crazy" Animal Kingdom Dichotomous Key to the Genus "Smiley" FREE Dichotomous Key to Holiday Giving and Community Service Classification and Taxonomy Task Cards
Apologia Swimming Creatures Final Post: pictures, experiments, ocean boxes, Pinterest board
The Lord's Prayer, topic of many sermons. Make it your goal to recognize God's holiness and glorify Him by hallowing His name. Be changed by His Holiness.
15 Living Books About Flying Creatures, written by Apologia creator of award-winning homeschool curriculum.
Great for review, reinforcement, or a lab practice style quiz! I have been reading about task cards for quite some time. I thought the idea was educationally sound, but I felt that the use of task cards would be a bit too elementary for my students. I know I am really late to the game, but I finally decided to give them a try! And boy, am I glad I decided to give them a try! I have just completed my second set of task cards. The first set was on the scientific method and this set is on the microscope and it's use. I used both sets for reviewing for our state-mandated End of Course (EOC) test in Biology. I came away thrilled with the outcome, and excited at the way my students responded to the use of these task cards. I have just recently posted about task cards and the many different ways they can be used. For fear of making this blog post sound like a broken record (I think I just showed my age with that reference!), you might want to click on this link and read my earlier blog post on task cards. These microscope task cards are my newest addition to my teaching arsenal. I set them up in lab practical style, and had the students rotate around the room until all stations had been completed. This was a great idea since we are at the end of our school year. The students were tired and antsy, and the movement around the room was good for them. The set has 41 different task cards. The following topics are covered: Here is a view of 2 of the 41 task cards: It comes with an answer sheet for the students..... .....and a complete answer key for the teacher. This is definitely a teaching tool that I will continue to use and develop. For those of you who are out of school now, have a great summer!! Scientific Method Task Cards Microscope Task Cards
Minds in Bloom is pleased to present Bethany Lau with her post on teaching heredity. We think you'll enjoy it! Science in elementary school should be all about fun. In fact, science at all levels
This Vitamin C and apple experiment includes free worksheets. Use this chemistry experiment for elementary and middle school grades. Students will see how Vitamin C helps preserve food. Includes a second experiment. Also includes a free printable.
These 3D Science Dissection Paper models provide an authentic alternative to the real thing! Getting Nerdy Science
This was a collaborative project I did with one of the Science teachers at my school. He was teaching his kids about food chains and wanted an art project to go along with it. He found THIS image via Pinterest as initial inspiration for the project. UPDATE: The poster was designed by art director and illustrator Dhanashri Ubhayakar for the magazine Sanctuary Asia, an Indian nature and wildlife conservation magazine. I turned the digital image into a collage project using construction paper. I used 12 x 18" construction paper. Have a background colour (in my case, turquoise). Then start with your largest animal (the top predator, I guess... the Science teacher explained this part to the kids, heh, heh) I folded my paper vertically so I only had to draw half the polar bear and it also made it symmetrical. I collaged on the eyes, nose and teeth from scraps of paper. Then make all the other animals slightly smaller... My messy workspace below.... Ok- once you have all the animals (our students were required to have 3 animals plus a plant) it's time to layer them and glue it all together. This took some fiddling and such, but I found it easiest to lay it all out and then start from gluing the smallest middle part first (the plant- I lost my mini tree) and work your way up. I used dots of white glue. It went faster than using a glue stick. Grade 7 student results!
Apologia Swimming Creatures Final Post: pictures, experiments, ocean boxes, Pinterest board
12 Living Books About Botany, written by Apologia creator of award-winning homeschool curriculum.
Are you looking for a great homeschool science program? One that engages your child, offers them plenty of hands-on experiences, and is easy to teach? Look no further than Apologia's Exploring
OM 5 Science has us learning about astronomy. In our study of early, practical applications of astronomy by the Egyptians, we learned about sundials. One assignment required Thing 3 to make a sundial and try to tell time with it, checking himself against a clock. It was difficult at first, but he got pretty good at it fairly quickly. We made this very simple yet effective sundial by placing a pencil in a ball of clay. Every hour, Thing 3 went out and marked the hour with a stone. This sundial goes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Easy cheesy! And fun!
Apologia science courses are detailed and thorough, but are they right for your student? Let's walk through some of the common issues.
