So here we are!!!!

Hopefully this is NOT the math you have done in determining if you are going to study or not for this exam :)

Last full week of school for you guys!!!  This week we will be spending preparing for our final.  Today I had you take last years final for a couple different reasons.  First off, I wanted to refresh your memory as to how far back this information goes.  Next, to see what areas that you seem to be solid on and what areas I know we need more review on.  I will be putting together a  couple review games and will make them available to you as soon as I get them typed up!!    Hang in there guys!!!

Natural Selection Wrap Up

Most of you finished the notes on this section yesterday.  Today we went back through and I highlighted a few key areas.  Most specifically we talked about how there is a delicate balance between the ability to not only survive but also reproduce.  Embedded in the notes was the following video clip that summarizes this balance.

You then received questions on this chapter that will act as your test.  I mentioned before that there would not be a stand alone test for this chapter but it WILL be a part of your final.  Tomorrow we will have an open notes quiz, Friday we will have a daily question quiz and what i handed out today will be due on Monday.
Here were today's daily questions.

Tuesday May 15^th

*What did Darwin believe fueled evolution (1^st step of evolution by natural selection) Overproduction (The fact that organisms have the capability of producing more offspring than the environment they live in can hold)

*This was based off of Malthus’ findings that human population grows Exponentially while the food supply grows Linearly.

*The second step in Darwin’s theory is that individuals in a population exhibit variation.  This “variation” is due to different Alleles.

*Which statement best describes a current understanding of natural selection?

A.  Natural selection influences the frequency of an adaptation in a population

B.  Natural selection has been discarded as an important concept in evolution

C. Changes in gene frequencies due to natural selection have little effect on the evolution of species.

D.  New mutations of genetic material are due to natural selection.

Natural Selection Details

Today we dove a little deeper into Darwin's idea of natural selection.  He had 4 steps he believed had to occur for evolution to occur.  What fueled evolution by natural selection was overproduction. (this idea was in part due to Malthus's ideas about human population growth vs food supply).   We also looked at what nature actually "selects" for.  We discussed some different adaptations that may have an advantage such as camouflage and mimicry.

Today's Daily Questions:

Darwin applied his findings to how humans breed animals for certain traits.  This is known as……..

 Artificial Selection

One of Darwin’s Influencers, Lamark believed that what was passed on to future generation was dependent on what?  - The Use or disuse of a trait

More About Darwin

     We continued today with looking at not only Darwin, but those who influenced Darwin's ideas.

Lamark felt that traits that are USED are passed on.  So he thought that giraffe necks had grown longer from stretching them so much.

If Lamarks idea held true that would mean the the son of this baseball pitcher would automatically have a strong arm.

  I want to stress again that we will be applying our understanding of genetics and heredity to what Darwin was seeing.  I mentioned before that during the time Darwin was coming up with his ideas there was no scientific knowledge about heredity or DNA so he referred to all of this as "variations" and "Copying mechanisms"  Please continue to check edline for the notes.  Today's Daily questions were as follow

*What did Darwin notice about the finches and what did that lead him to believe about the “evolution” of them? He noticed that their beak shapes directly corresponded to the type of food they ate.  What he theorized was that the finches has migrated from the main land of South America and overtime adapted to different food sources.  He called this "Descent with modification"

*With our understanding of genetics, these different “variations” are known as what? Alleles

*What do you think caused these different variations? Mutations

*What two types of variations do you believe would provide an “advantage” to a species?  Any allele that would allow them to survive (eat and not be eaten) and reproduce.

Introduction to Evolution

After the test on Tuesday I let Wednesday be a make up day.  Today though we started in to our LAST chapter of the year!!!!   Evolution and natural selection.  You did learn a little about this in 8th grade environmental science but we are going to move a step farther and look at the GENETICS behind it.  You saw today that this chapter is going to be a good way to put together ALL we have learned this semester.  The daily questions today acted as a "pre-test."  These were sample keystone exam questions.  After the daily questions we started into the beginning of the notes giving a background on who Charles Darwin was and what his discoveries were.  There was a little clip that i had you watch below

When the crazy bird was talking - THAT was when it started to bring the last chapter into play.  He mentioned that there must be some "copying" mechanism that can have "errors" in it for new traits to arise.  We discussed that the "copying' mechanisms would be mitosis and meiosis followed by fertilization and the "errors"would be mutations then. 

  So.........how are we going to put this into action?!?!?  We will be looking at why using SOOOOOO much hand sanitizer  and the over use of antibiotics are creating "super bugs" that are resistant to EVERYthing!!!!  So lay off the hand sanitizer guys :)

Here were your daily questions - please check Edline for the notes!!
1. Which population of organisms would be in greatest danger of becoming extinct?
***A population of organisms having few variations living in an unstable environment.
*Having little variation is not a good thing when a major environmental change occurs.


2. In order for a new species to develop, there must be a change in the
**Genetic makeup of a population. (This can be DUE to a change in the temperature or migration patterns, but ultimately it comes down to a change in the allele frequencies of a population)


3. Which statement is NOT part of the concept of natural selection?
A. Individuals that possess the most favorable variations will have the best chance of reproducing.
B. Variation occurs among individuals in a population
C. More individuals are produced than will survive
D. Genes of an individual adapt to a changing environment***GENES do not adapt - individuals adapt and populations adapt - but genes do not. They may "change" due to random mutations though.

** 2 - a decrease in the advantage of having white fur. Since over a 10 year period the presence of ANY white rabbits was eliminated, that most likely means that having white fur was no longer a good thing.

Preparation for DNA-RNA-Gene Expression Exam

Today was a day to prepare for the DNA-RNA-Gene Expression Exam. You will use Honors Bio link for the review game.  PLEASE refer to this as well as the study guide in preparation for this exam.  This is NOT the time to "check out" from school.  We still have 3 weeks of content before we begin preparing for the final.  Many of you cannot afford to let this 9 weeks go down the drain.  As always.... talk to me / email me if you are confused on something or if you have realized the hole you have dug yourself is one that you wish to pull yourself out of!!!

Here is the review game link  http://jeopardylabs.com/play/miss-evrards-honors-biology-review-games

DNA RNA and Gene Expression Wrap up

        We have slowly but surely been wrapping up this chapter. Today I gave you a study guide full of questions that sum up this chapter. Tomorrow we will have our usual Daily Question Quiz and then you will have time to continue with that. Monday I am planning for our formal review with the test being on Tuesday.I will have you turn in this packet on Tuesday so you have it to study for the test.        We are almost there guys!!Hold strong and "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming" - I know its hot in here - complaining about it doesn't make it any better!! 

Mutations continued

Today we finished up the notes on mutations and watched a clip about a specific mutation that causes Polydactylism (having extra fingers/toes)  we started the class off with the following daily questions

Wednesday May 2nd

**True or False: Mutations = ALWAYS BAD…… FALSE!!! A mutation does not ALWAYS mean something bad will occur.  Mutations can be adventagous at times, they can be harmful or they may simple have no affect at all on a characteristic.  The term mutation simple means there is a change in genetic material.... The end!!!!**Which statement is true regarding an alteration or change in DNA?
    A.  It is always known as a mutation
    B.  It is always advantageous to an individual
    C.  It is always passed on to offspring

**A mutation occurs in a cell.  Which sequence best represents the correct order of events involved for this mutation to affect the traits expressed by this cell?
A.  Change in DNA bases → Change in amino acid sequence → change in appearance of characteristic
B.  Change in amino acids → change in DNA bases → Change in characteristic
C.  Change in characteristic → change in amino acids → change in DNA bases
D.  Change in DNA bases → change in characteristic → Change in amino acids

**True of False:  DNA that is mutated in our lifetime in somatic cells will be passed on to our offspring. FALSE!!!  Only DNA inn our germ line cells (those that will go through meiosis and become our gametes) will be passed on to our offspring.  Mutations that occur in our somatic cells DURING our life will not be passed on.

**Which of the following types of mutations would have the greatest affect on the protein that the gene codes for?   Missense, Silent or nonsense?
Nonsense:  A nonsense mutation causes a premature stop codon - so the rest of the amino acid chain will not even be made.  Missense can still have a large affect on the protein, but in general we would probably see the biggest affect with a nonsense mutation.
After the daily questions and finishing the notes on mutations I had you watch the following clip.  We talked about the trait for 6 fingers when we learned about heredity.  If you recall I mentioned that having 6 fingers was actually a dominant trait.  What that means is in order to have a child with 6 fingers, one of the parents HAD to have had Six fingers.  In this case the father did, but as with most people who are born with an extra didget - it was removed as a child.  The odd thing about this case is that the baby has a fully functional 6th finger AND 6th toe.  This now brings into our discussion on gene expression.  Rememer, when and how genes are expressed is VERY complex.  Obviously this little boy is fully expressing the gene in both his hands and feet.  His father, on the other hand, may have only been expressing the gene "slightly" in his hands and not at all in his feet.

Introduction to mutations

Today started our notes on mutations.  A key misunderstanding with the term "mutation" is that it means "Bad" or "Freakish".  Not all mutations turn you in to 
Frankenstein..... I PROMISE you that!!! 
 The daily questions gave you a look into the different 
effects mutations can have.

Using your codon chart – translate the following mRNA sequence

AUG CCA UAC CGC CGG UUU

   Met – Pro – Tyr – Arg – Arg - Phe

What would happen if the following letter changed?

AUG CCG UAC CGC CGG UUU

Met – Pro – Tyr- Arg – Arg – Phe

 The amino acid sequence remained the same – “Silent” mutation.

AUG CCA UAC CGC CAG UUU

Met – Pro – Tyr – Arg – Gin – Phe

“Missense” mutation

AUG CCA UAG CGC CGG UUU

Met – Pro - STOP

“NonSense” mutation

We then started into the notes about mutations.  We will continue with these tomorrow!!  Check Edline for the notes.