Nobody Said It Was Easy...

To Potential AP Bio Students,

Congrats on being motivated enough to even consider this class! AP Biology is a bit of a monster. While it may make you stress out, freak out, and even want to drop out at some points, it's completely worth it. Whether you are here because you want to pursue a career in the sciences or you want to avoid science at the college level, this class will be a new experience for you. I came into this class thinking I was pretty good at science. I wanted to major in zoology and I was so excited to get started. By the time I finished the class I finally realized that science wasn't meant for me. I'm still fascinated by the subject matter but going through our labs and discussions made me realize that I couldn't do this for a living. While this may seem like a bad outcome, it's actually a great one. I'm so glad I took a chance on this class and realized what I didn't want to study before college. For my more science inclined peers, this class really helped them buck up for the next level of science classes. We are all well prepared for whatever lies in store in the future.

With all of this in mind, here are some tips for getting through this class:

1) You have a plethora of resources. That being said, you need to be able to motivate yourself to use them. Whether it be your peers, your textbook, the blog, or Mr. Landry, take advantage of any help you can get. Everything is in place for your to succeed, you just need to be ready to work for it.

2) Be engaged. Don't be afraid to ask questions. In some classes students are way too nervous and self concious to ask for help. You're going to have questions and that's completely normal. Who knows? Someone else could be just as confused as you are.

3) Get your work done. Homework. No one likes it and no one ever will. Unfortunately, it's not going away any time soon and avoiding it doesn't do you any favors. Get used to having homework every night. There may not be set due dates on everything but it will be due eventually. Make sure you finish it, do it well, and understand it. It's going to pay off in the long run.

4) Socialize. Sure, I had friends coming into this class but I had way more when I finished it. Make sure you branch out a bit. It will make class more bearable. Also, you will be doing some big group projects and labs. You'll need to be a team player. Even if you don't finish the semester as a social butterfly you'll leave with a better understanding of working in a group.

That's really all I have to say. I hope you take AP Bio. It was a great class and even though I'm not pursuing science as a career, it helped me develop some skill and habits that are applicable to other subjects. Even if you're on the fence, try it. At the end of the day it feels pretty good to be able to say "I took AP Bio."

Decisions, decisions...

Lately I've been thinking a lot and trying to figure out what I'm going to do after graduation. While it seems like the future is lightyears away, it's not. Soon we'll all have to make choices about what we want to do with our lives. That's pretty scary. However, I've come to conclusion that the University of Michigan is where I want to be.

 

 

I've visited quite a few times and it seems more like home every time I go. While I do love this class, it's made me realize that science isn't really for me. It's interesting and fun but I don't think I can make a career out of it that I'd be happy with. While I have my mind up about which college I wish to attend, I haven't made up my mind about my major. I'm going to go into my freshman year undecided and then declare when I feel comfortable with what I'm doing. It's a big decision to make but I feel good about it. I might as well get my gen eds out of the way and then settle down into a specific field. I think I'll double minor as well. Maybe do a foreign language as one of my minors? I'm not quite sure yet. What I do know is that I have some big decisions ahead of me but I'm glad I still have some time to figure it all out.

VOTE RIBOSOMES 2012!

Vote Ribosomes for president of the cell! Recently in our AP Biology class we had an "Organelle War". We were all partnered up and were assigned an organelle to campaign for. My partner and I were assigned Ribosomes! Ribosomes are incredibly important because they make all the proteins which are vital to all organisms. They work through a process called Protein Synthesis. Ribosomes are responsible for translating the DNA from the nucleus into the amino acid sequences and then pairing up the amino acids to form the proteins. There are many specialized proteins that do really important jobs. For example, enzymes help break substances down. Without these enzymes processes such as digestion wouldn't be able to happen. We used mediums such a twitter, our blogs, and word of mouth to get our message across. We had a campaigning day in class in which we were able to hop out in to the pod and set up a station. All groups were present and our only goal was to garner as many votes as possible. My wonderful partner, Emily, even ended up rapping to get people to come to our station! We had some videos playing and a poster with which we could present. We even ended up having a mini debate with the Nucleus and Mitochondria. We made a campaign video as well. Overall, this project was a fun way to learn about the relationships between different organelles and about some of the traits that make the organelles important.

To visit Emily's blog, visit http://theramblingsofanapbiostudent.blogspot.com/. It's a good read. I promise.

To see what we were up to on Twitter, check out @RaRa_Ribosomes and #shscellwar.

My Macromolecule

If I had to be a macromolecule I would choose to be a nucleic acid. I think nucleic acids are really important because they are the basis of all genes. Nucleic acids are normally found in the nucleus but they are also present in both living and nonliving organisms. Nucleic acids are pretty big macromolecules. As far as structure goes they are usually a single helix (RNA) or a double helix (DNA). However, there have been instances of some organisms forming up to 3 or 4 stranded nucleic acids. The information stored within nucleic acids is crucial to all organisms because it contains the "instructions" for making proteins and these proteins go out to do various jobs including catalyzing enzyme reactions and transferring information for gene expression. The nucleic acids and proteins work together to set the foundation for the rest of the cell to do work.

Free Write

For my free write I've chosen to write about how this class has influenced my career plans. I honestly really enjoy this class. It's one of my favorite classes of the day. I love the rigor and the material we cover. However, I have been thinking about my major and I'm no longer sure that I want to major in biology. I do still love it and I definately have a soft spot for it but the more we get into topics and experiemnts the less I feel like I can keep doing this for the rest of my life. It's pretty unfortunate. I don't really know what to do now with my college plans. I think I'm going to go ahead and apply to the colleges I had in mind but as far as my major I think I'm going to be undecided. It's hard to have a plan all figured out and then have it fall through. Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction though. Maybe by going into school with no specific major in mind I can focus on my college experience and really nail down what I want to do. The class is still one of my favorites and I love everyone in it and what we do, but as a profession I've come to the conclusion that it isn't for me.

Current Event

There are always new discoveries in the world of Biology. This field is literally an ongoing odessy of discovery. One issue that is scrutinzed regularly is global warming. Arizona State University has recently created a model that can estimate greenhouse gas emissions on a specific level. This new model, named Hestia, is able to estimate greenhouse gas emissions coming from a street or even a single building. This is revolutionary because until now greenhouse gases emission have been reported on a broad level. This model is simple enough for authorities to use and the public to understand. It is now easier for groups to assume responsibility and take action to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

An image of Indianapolis' greenhouse gas emissions.

This model has been applied to Indianapolis, IN and will soon be implemented in Los Angeles and Pheonix. The developers of Hestia hope to have it in major cities all over the US. This model will not only help keep emissions under control but also provides evidence in favor of global warming. It's hard to argue with the data presented by this model. Not only could this change the outlook on this topic in the US but it can also influence other nations to clean up their act. Hopefully we can see a reduction in GHG emissions soon!


Source: http://www.macroevolution.net/greenhouse-gas-emissions.html

Homecoming 2012!

Homecoming. Such a simple word yet it encompasses so much. Homecoming is a great time of the year. Spartan pride is demonstrated in every facet of the community. In the high school, student council works hard to ensure every aspect of the day goes well. All four committees are in charge of a different event/activity. We begin working on everything in the spring for the fall. It's a lot of work but it's totally worth it. We have an overall theme for homecoming and then each class picks a subtheme. For example this year our theme was musicals. My class, the Senior class, chose "Rock of Ages"!

We begin the week before the Friday of Homecoming with dress up days. It's just a way to amp up the student body and get some points for your class. It's really fun when everyone participates. On the Friday of Homecoming we don't have a typical school day. We have festivities all day. In the morning we attend homerooms for attendance and then head to the gym for the formal assembly where all the candidates for homecoming king and queen give a speech. We then move on to games! It's such a fun part of the day. We literally play games for about 2 hours to earn points. We try to keep the games bigger so we can involve as many people as possible. One of my favorites is the Caterpillar. I don't really participate in the games but they're fun to watch. I get tired out just from cheering my class on! It's a great display of sportsmanship and team spirit.

After games we split off into classes to eat lunch and practice our mock rock. Mock Rock is a choreographed dance that we present. It should relate to the theme we have chosen. It takes a lot of rehearsal to get our routines done but it's one of the coolest part of our homecoming. After everyone presents their mock rock we move on to our parade! It's small and consists of the marchign band and all of the floats made by students. Each class must make a float for this parade and it too must relate to the theme. once at the field the marching band performs some of their show and we have our pep assembly in which we get pumped for our homecoming game.

 

The Class of 2013's "Rock of Ages" Mock Rock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k-La3jG9JI&feature=player_embedded

In the evening we have a community parade and finally the big game. SAturday night we have our homecoming dance and that's a whole different adventure. It's a long two days but there's so much that goes into it that makes it so great. I love the feeling of pride and energy that comes with homecoming. This year was my last homecoming and it was extremely bitterweet. I'm glad that I'll never have to deal with the stress of all these activities but I will miss it. It's one of my favorite spartan traditions and we hit it out of the park every year.

Favorite musical character day! My friends Jonathan and Nokomis were Cathy and Don from "Singin' in the Rain". I was Eponine from "Les Miserables".

 

At the homecmoing dance Saturday night!