commencement

For me, the school year is never “over”. Summer marks the beginning of new challenges and new learning opportunities. This summer is no exception. I leave for the AP Environmental Science reading in about 72 hours, and upon my return, I pack for a 7-day trip to Colorado. Four of my best students will be participating in a national Youth Policy Summit on Energy Efficiency at the Keystone Science School. This will be my third trip to Keystone in three years, and I’m really looking forward to it. When I return from Colorado, I’ve got 24 hours to re-pack my bag for a trip to Auburn to observe their AP Summer Institute in Biology, Chemisty and Physics. Like I told my students, June isn’t really a good time for me to wind down, it’s a good time to gear up. I’ll rest in July. My wife rented a cabin right on the Tuckaseegee River for our family.

Speaking of rivers…please read the next post.

commencement, part II. A shout-out to John Graves

I began this summer with a book I received for Christmas. It’s called Goodbye to a River, written by John Graves and published in 1960. 1960. It may be the most contemporary account of aquatic resources I’ve ever read.

Read what Graves said about the Brazos River 50 years ago. As you read, keep in mind what my friend Kurt says about environmental issues. He says environmental issues are basically the same, but the scale and intensity differ from place to place.

From Goodbye to a River:

“And furthermore that while all the rivers may continue to flow to the sea, those who represent us in such matters will at least slow down the process by transforming them from rivers into bead strings of placid reservoirs behind concrete dams…

Bitterness? No ma’am…In a region like (insert your region here), scorched to begin with, alternating between floods and droughts, its absorbent cities quadrupling their census every few years, electrical power and flood control and moisture conservation and water skiing are praiseworthy projects. More than that, they are essential . We river-minded ones can’t say much against them — nor, probably should we want to. Nor, mostly, do we…”

1960.

Can we say much? Do we? Do I? I am trying to find my voice. Check out the following link on Alabama Aquatic Resources I spear-headed this endeavor. I’m interested to see how it will play out.

much ado about nothing

It’s been a pretty mellow week following National Boards. My biotechnology class will be pitching PCR thermocyclers at a mock-business lunch. My CES students are investigating the BP oil spill. In their words, it just keeps getting worse.

A couple of them have written poems. When I’m back at work on Wednesday, I’ll post some exerpts. In the mean time, I’m off to help with a canoe instructor’s course. It should be a nice change of pace.

Truly, The Skin Of My Teeth

It is done. It is done. My answers to the National Board assessment questions are somewhere else, waiting to be graded. I think everyone should take a test in their area of expertise, under time pressure. It will show them what they know and what they don’t know. National standards matter. The ability to analyze, predict, explain and articulate your ideas clearly in writing is a neccesary skill in the 21st century. Speaking of the skin of my teeth, I went the distance on every question (30 minutes each) and I finished the last question with 13 seconds to spare. I think time ran out as I was adding one last peice of punctuation. Excellent.

Listos? Let’s begin…

The line above is one my most salient memories from high school spanish. We heard it everytime we took an oral quiz. Tomorrow, I head  to the Assessment Center  finish my National Board work for the year. In true “skin of my teeth” fashion, I am starting to study the day before. Not a month before, as I had initially intended. No worries, I am indeed, listo. Yo soy listo.

What’s in store tomorrow morning? A computer based test that tests my skilz in the following…

Data Analysis

Interrelationships

Fundamental Concepts

Change over Time

Connections in Science

Breadth of Knowledge.

I will take a moment to link these test subjects to phrases I use in my AP Biology or AP Environmental Science, or Biotechnology classes…

Data Analysis…go forth and quantify/data analysis is the fun part

Interrelationships…four connected learning cycles that include cell biology, molecular genetics, plant and animal structure and function, ecology

Fundamental Concepts…the basic information is usually the most importnat…surface area to volume relationships matter,

Change over Time…uhh…this is really a class in evolution disguised as a biology class

Connections in Science…everything’s connected

Breadth of Knowledge…well, to be honest, I don’t have a quote here, but given the span of my course load (molecules to ecosystems, to earth systems) I think I’ll be alright. To be honest, I have uncovered a gap in my knowlege here, I will work on this area first today.

When it all comes down, though, Yo soy listo.

The road goes on forever…

…and the party never ends. Tomorrow is supposed to be a day of reflection and celebration. My students will be taking the AP Biology exam in about 8 hours. I will celebrate with them…for a moment, then it’s back in the truck for a trip to Montgomery. I will host a 3 hour APES review at the Lee Academic Magnet Program. Finished my 6 review session for A+ College Ready yesterday. I’m really getting my 70-minute presentation together. I mix the kinesthetic stuff with the straight talk about the Fundamental AP Bio Concepts. I felt real good about my test-prep strategies session. I think the AP Biology exam is a good instrument to measure academic success, critical thinking abilty and application of knowledge. It’s a tough exam, but well prepared students should do extrememly well. In a word, it is fair. Wait, that’s three words. Anyway, I look forward to getting my “green book” on Wednesday, sitting down with strong coffee and taking the Free Response portion of the exam. It’s a post-exam tradition.

It’s May, It’s May, oh yes, it’s May

“As around the sun the earth knows she’s revolving. And the rose bud knows to bloom in early May.”

– “As” by Stevie Wonde

I love May. I love May for many reasons. I’ve been quoting the line above to my students for days now. We’ve wrapped up our botany unit and finished with one of the more esoteric, yet beautiful, concepts in biology: photoperiodism. Photoperiodism is a plant’s ability “tell time” and know the seasons based on day length and the quality of light. Yes, “Far Red” is a color of light. Don’t get me started on “Far Red Reardon”.

The school year has a rhythm, and May is one of my favorite beats.first, my improvisations are the best of the year. For instance, in AP Biology I turned old Nestle water bottles into Animal Behavior Experimental Chambers that students used to test the effects of various stimuli on cricket behavior. At this point in the year I am just winding them up and letting them go. Second, in Biotechnology the groundwork I’ve laid down all semester is paying bug dividends. We’re looking at Genetically Modified (GM) Foods, and the kids are into it. My introductory “lecture” turned into the most interactive and focused discussions we’ve had all year. Third, I’ve turned a disaster into a potential learning opportunity. My Core environmental science students’ Final Exam starts two weeks early. They will be dissecting the reasons, responses and impacts of the Deep Horizon/BP oil spill and speculating on the potential pathways forward. You can see how poorly I articulated that last part. Is this my generation’s Three Mile Island? It remains to be seen. Finally, AP Exams have begun.

Yes, students stress about AP Exams, but mine should be confident. They are ready. They have put the work in, and they will do great. It’s harvest time in May.

Habits of mind

The only reason I’m postingis to stay in the habit of posting. My mind is so muddled, I can’t sort out my ideas. It’s not to say I’m burned out, I’m not. I’m in a similar position to where I was last year. The semester is winding down, but I’m still pushing my kids and the improvisations I’m making in class are working. For instance, during the past  week in CES I had the kids simulate salt water intrusion into ground water and investigate how salt water intrusion affects the germination rates of seeds likely to be grown in Baldwin County, Alabama. Basically, I dreamed up an idea, figured out how to execute the idea and recruited the kids to make it happen. The good news is…it worked. My students successfully generated a dose response curve salt water on seed germination and calculate an LD-50 for salt water. I know I’m not breaking new ground here, but I’m exposing “arts kids” to inquiry-based science and real-world applications of scientific principles.

In AP Biology, I took my students back to Oak Hill Cemetery to investigate plant clades and plant lifeforms. My students are performing an investigation I published for PASCO last summer, and it’s working well. The bonus was networking with the cemetery director and exchanging ideas with him about how to use the cemetery as a teaching tool. He calls it the best outdoor classroom in Birmingham. That might be overstating things, but it’s definitely top 5, and it’s the best place to teach ecology within walking distance of school. I’m looking forward to using the space and determining tree community diversity next year in APES.

Today I lectured for the first time in about 2 weeks. It was on plant response to the environment. I use the theme that “plants can’t run” and basically have to “suck it up and deal.” I love plants! I feel like I cheated my kids a little. I’ve always struggled with learnign about phytochromes and the whole red/far red shift. Although, I must admit, I think it would be cool to name a kid Far Red Reardon. That just sounds cool. So, while running this morning, I get the idea to “borrow” my son’s marble game from Quadrilla and build a isomer-shift model where one wavelength of light is absorbed, causes the shift in the isomer and sets of a signal transduction pathway. They loved it. By the time I got into work, I had the idea to label all the parts correctly, set up collection dishes (for the marbles) and label them with a cellular response. During the set up, I got the idea to add more marbles to indicate how a wavelength of light causes a shift in proteins that sets up a transduction pathway that leads to a cellular response. It was a rough idea, but it was brilliant. I covered the whole thing in an old cardboard box, and then I did the reveal, the colors popped off the black bench top. I was excellent. I’ll have to set the thing up and YouTube it this summer. Again, my improvisations are working. On On to the AP Exams.

ap bio…the last three weeks

I was chatting with my ap biology students at lunch yesterday, and I realized that there are only 10 school days before the start of AP exams. I’ve got 15 days of instruction left, but all my students will be taking AP Calculus and most will take AP US History. That leaves me with 13 good instructional days.

We’re headed into the field to look at plants this week. I keep the class moving. Review is not really an option with me. Heck, I don’t like reteaching…

Speaking of, I’ve been leading AP Biology review sessions for local students through the  National  Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) group called A+ College Ready. We talked about the genetics of complex traits, I trotted some of my mitochondrial genetics stuff out (that really can’t be done piece meal), and did an activity where kids “built” plasmids out of tape and sticky (post-it) notes. I worked with kids from Birmingham city and West Jefferson County. It is always interesting to see how motivated some of these underserved students are. It’s also interesting to see how well my stuff goes over on other students and their teachers. So far, what I’m doing is working.

“I think”…just keep reading

If anyone out there is reading…check out the latest RSS from the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). Their post about beliefs regarding evolution and the big bang are neccessary reading. I agree with the NCSE, we need to talk about evolution and origins. The other side of the story has pollsters saying the questions are poor.

The bottom line is people may have knowledge of evolution, but they don’t beleive it. Therefore the National Science Board (NSB) has deleted the questions about belief. I think that is short sighted, and the apparent disconnect between knowledge of evolution and belief in (about?) evolution indicates that the way we (2ndary and post secondary educators) teach evolution is flawed.

I have maintained for years that the evolution/teach the controversy/creationism stuff is a major distraction. A distraction that needs to be addressed and worked around. If educators have to spend time teaching students that evolution is a fundamental natural law, and depend that position, then we have lost class time to teach students the mechanisms, intricacies and beuaty beauty of evolution.

I’ll be wearing one of my Teach Evolution t-shirts tomorrow. Thanks NCSE for allowing me another day without an iron. (BTW…my NCSE bumper sticker gets me recognized around town (and on the running and mt. biking trails), but my admiration for this group of scientists, writers and thinkers goes way deeper than cool t-shirts and stickers.