Today after school, the middle school environmental action club got a special treat. Mr. Rhoads and Andrew brought in a 12lb Northern Pike that Andrew caught ice fishing. We talked about it's habitat and role in nature and examined it's internal anatomy.

After school today I was invited to go to the new Cornell Biofuels Lab with Sam Y. and Kyle W. This lab focuses on cellulosic ethanol which they derive from the cell walls of Switchgrass. This research is much more promising than ethanol derived from corn. Sam and Kyle are doing their science night project on alternative fuels.

Today we kicked off the vertebrate unit with our frog anatomy lab. Here, Chris and Cody prepare their group's frog for analysis.

Today was the highlight of the invertebrate chapter - the earthworm dissection. It went well and all classes proved they can handle the additional responsibilities that go with the next dissection.

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Attention Females:


Dear Mr. DeVoe,

I am one of the Initial Contacts co-chair for Expanding Your Horizons, an annual conference that provides an opportunity for girls grades 7-9 and their parents to engage in educational activities and explore careers in math, science, and engineering. The conference will be held at Cornell University on Saturday, April 16, 2011. Girls will participate in three hands-on workshops, attend a key-note lecture by an outstanding female professor, and meet role models in the sciences. Registration for EYH begins February 22. For more information, please feel free to email me or to visit our website, www.ccmr.cornell.edu/eyh

We have mailed out brochures (see attached) to your school, but we are following up with other means of communication to maximize the number of girls who can take advantage of this amazing opportunity. I hope that you can help spread the word to your colleagues and encourage your students to attend!

Thanks,

Nancy Chen
PhD candidate
Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Cornell University
A408 Corson Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-2701
Email: nc276@cornell.edu

This week we're covering the Plant Kingdom and it's amazing diversity...everything from the very simple mosses that rely on diffusion for water and must live near these water sources to the very advanced angiosperms that we're mostly familiar with. Today we dissected a lilly to see the male and female parts of a flower. The dissecting microscopes gave us a great look at the pollen-covered anthers.

Check this site for more information on flower parts.

Today we wrapped up the Tetrahymena labs. Thanks you Fern for all of your help prepping the labs. Here we are testing the effects of different spices and herbs on their behavior. We found that cinnamon and poppy seed were huge repellants and they were attracted to chopped onion and garbanzo beans.

Today we finished the Tetrahymena mating lab where we identified one unknown mating strain among the seven found in these protists. Here, Franky and Michael introduce the potential mates.

Yesterday we did our first Tetrahymena experiment by feeding them India Ink particles to observe food vacuole formation over a period of time.  Today we analyzed the data and brainstormed other ways to test food vacuole formation.

Today we were introduced to the protist Teterahymena
, which we will be working with over the next week and a half on labs developed by Cornell University. They are approximately 100 microns long. The scanning electron micrograph above shows the ciliate in pursuit of an E. coli dinner.

Mid-Term Exam on FRI! Don't sweat though. Review your old notes and tests and flip through this groovy slideshow:

Midtermreview

View more presentations from Chad DeVoe.

Great skits today! Check out the Xtranormal movies below too

Wyatt and Tristan show off their bacteria cultures. Today's conclusion: the dirtiest places were phones, drinking fountains, and of course, Mr. DeVoe's keyboard. The cleanest: inside of the toilets!

Today we took potential bacterial samples from around the class and school.  Above, the girls try to see how dirty my keyboard is!  Lets hope the results turn out OK!

Lexi finishes up her sample with some Parafilm before putting it into the incubator.

Viva la revolucion!

 In a democracy, people should feel safe to speak out if they do not agree with something.  An informed student's voice is a powerful thing.

I ask you...

How would you change Groton so you learn better?

UPDATE:  Meeting after school on Tuesday in Rm 302 if you are interested in sharing your ideas.

We've started bacteria and viruses in class.  This unit involves an infectious disease project where you will write the dialog to a movie.  If you wish, you may act out the scene in class or use the website http://www.xtranormal.com/ to create an animated movie.  However, you must be 13 and have an email address to sign up.