Friday, August 28, 2009

COSMIC VOYAGE

Biology students will be viewing a 36-minute IMAX video in class and completing a worksheet based on part of the video. The film, 'Cosmic Voyage', was made in 1996 for the Smithsonian Institute and was clearly inspired by a classic science education film called 'Powers of Ten', originally produced in 1977 by the husband-and-wife team of Rae and Charles Eames.

'Cosmic Voyage' approaches the idea of using the metric system, which is based on powers of ten, to explore the question: "What is really large, and really small?" The film first zooms out from an acrobat's ring in St. Mark's Square in Venice, the place where Galileo first trained his telescope on the heavens.


Through 23 powers of ten, we leave first the Earth, then our solar system, then the Milky Way Galaxy behind, until we reach the limit of modern astronomy, where we can see images from about 13 billion years past.


Reversing course, the video then zooms in on drop of water in the Dutch town of Delft, where Antonie Van Leuuwenhoek first trained his early microscope to discover the hidden world of microbes.



As we zoom in on a paramecium, we penetrate its cell nucleus, then zoom in on a molecule of DNA.


Within that molecule is a carbon atom, and the world within that atom is mostly empty space! Within the atom, the atomic nucleus contains virtually all of an atom's mass, made of particles called protons and neutrons. These, in turn, are formed from even smaller particles called quarks.

The film continues with a discussion of the search for a fundamental theory in physics through the use of particle accelerators like Fermilab, along with an overview of the likely "recent" events that led to our sun, our solar system, the Earth and life itself.

Here, presented on YouTube, is the first segment (Chapter 1) of the film who wish to review the material or share it with others. As the narrator (Morgan Freeman) intones, 'we are all travelers on a voyage of discovery!' Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 can be assessed at YouTube directly or by clicking on the hyperlinks



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS JOURNAL


Environmental Science has a public policy dimension: the findings of science are used to inform decision-making about how to best manage and conserve resources.

Scientists who are unable to address the concerns of politicians and civic interest groups will not be able to influence the decision-making process!


To raise student awareness about this aspect of Environmental Science, students are expected to produce an 'Environmental News Journal'. This will involve creating a booklet containing 10 news articles from between August 1st and September 18th:

The articles may come from a newspaper or the Internet. Students must properly cite their sources APA Style (Mr. Hatfield will show you how!)

Each article must be followed by a summary of that article written by the student. An adequate summary would be at least one paragraph of at least 75 words, and an outstanding summary is likely to be more than one paragraph and in excess of 125 words.

Remember to check the class blog for information:

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/




Tuesday, August 25, 2009

POWER POINT NOTES: THE NATURE OF SCIENCE


Students! Here is the Power Point for the notes on 'The Nature of Science'. You will receive a Lecture Guide based on these Notes sometime this week! If you don't have Power Point on your computer, don't worry . . . you can download a free program, Power Point Viewer, to see the notes!

THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

Sunday, August 16, 2009

WELCOME TO BIOLOGY!

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/search/label/Environmental%20Science%202009-10

Welcome back, students, to Bullard High School, and this year's science course, entitled . . .!





Tomorrow (Monday, August 17th) is the first day of instruction in the 2009-2010 instructional year at Bullard High School. During the first class, you will meet your instructor,
Mr. Hatfield (Hey! That's me!) . . .:)




In addition, you will be given information about the Course Contract, which you are expected to review with your parent or guardian and return for a grade. The Contract will spell out the basic Rules and Policies for the course, and also contains a pledge from Mr. Hatfield concerning the classroom's 'learning environment.' Mr. Hatfield will be working with all students to build that environment. Tomorrow's post will spell out the expectations of the Course Contract. During the school year, students will find it very handy to check the blog for course updates or links to important information. Students should set the following page as a Bookmark or saved location in their browser:

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/search/label/Environmental%20Science%202009-10

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (2009 - 2010)

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/search/label/Environmental%20Science%202009-10

Welcome back, students, to Bullard High School, and this year's science course, entitled . . .!







Tomorrow (Monday, August 17th) is the first day of instruction in the 2009-2010 instructional year at Bullard High School. During the first class, you will meet your instructor, Mr. Hatfield (Hey! That's me!) . . .:)





In addition, you will be given information about the Course Contract, which you are expected to review with your parent or guardian and return for a grade. The Contract will spell out the basic Rules and Policies for the course, and also contains a pledge from Mr. Hatfield concerning the classroom's 'learning environment.' Mr. Hatfield will be working with all students to build that environment. Tomorrow's post will spell out the expectations of the Course Contract. During the school year, students will find it very handy to check the blog for course updates or links to important information. Students should set the following page as a Bookmark or saved location in their browser:

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/search/label/Environmental%20Science%202009-10

http://biologyknights.blogspot.com/search/label/Environmental%20Science%202009-10