Wednesday, December 9, 2015

SURVEY FOR BULLARD TEACHERS

Take the survey, HERE:
UPDATE: This teacher survey was closed on Dec. 17th.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

POWER POINTS: CELLULAR ENERGETICS

In November, our Biology classes began covering material on how cells obtain, store and release energy. 

Since that time, there have been several groups of notes of various sizes for students to access.

First, this Power Point (previously given) contains an outline of photosynthesis, relating it to the 'Great Circle' of chemical reactions that all living things participate it (autotrophs and heterotrophs!), reactions which recycle the raw materials that life requires. Much of this material is covered in the first two sections of Chapter 8 in the Dragonfly Book.




The Power Point for Photosynthesis, Part I, is available HERE.


This Power Point does not, however, contain any details for the  'light-independent reactions' of the Calvin cycle and other material which is not explicitly part of the state standards. This is covered in Section 8.3 of the Dragonfly Book and is also available on a separate Power Point, HERE.


The third and final Power Point in this unit contains information about cellular respiration, including glycolysis (which takes place in the cytoplasm) and the Krebs Cycle (which takes place in the matrix of the mitochondria). The electrons produced in the Krebs Cycle move through the inner membrane, or cristae, of the mitochondria. The motion of these negatively-charged particles attracts protons (H+), and eventually a high concentration of protons within the membrane is available to drive 'proton pumps' that power an enzyme, ATP synthase, leading to the production of more ATP:





You can download the Power Point for Cellular Respiration HERE.


HOUSEKEEPING:

IMPORTANT CHANGES:  Finals have been moved to Dec. 16th-18th.   That's 'good news and bad news'.   The good news is that gives one extra day for students and teachers to prepare.  Because of this, we will be able to have the Final Study Session on Tuesday, Dec. 15th, after-school.   The 'bad news' is that if a student misses their scheduled final due to an unscheduled absence, they may not be able to make it up prior to the end of the semester.   So . . . . DON'T GET SICK, DON'T MISS YOUR FINAL!