Friday, July 28, 2023

Reading in the Content Area - Science

Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just

Science is a human endeavor. The facts written in a biology textbook came from people who collaborated and worked together to answer questions about the nature of living organisms and what makes the living different from nonliving materials. The facts are the result of the human endeavor in science. Ernest Everett Just (1883-1941) was one of those extraordinary scientists whose discoveries are written into textbooks as facts without the human background being mentioned as part of the established body of factual knowledge. Dr. Just studied sea urchin egg cells, cytoplasm of cells, and fertilization. He coined the word "ectoplasm" to denote the part of the cell's cytoplasm near the cell's surface. The previously mentioned areas of study are just part of his contributions to science. Mr. Manning, the author of Black Apollo of Science, has written a detailed and comprehensive biography of Dr. Just. The biography was thorough in its research and includes the story of Just's life, the time in history during which Just lived, and the people involved in Just's career. Everything, both good and bad is included. It is no wonder that the book won a Pulitzer Prize. At the back of the book, there is a complete bibliography of Just's published works. The bibliography is followed by 53 pages of research citations and acknowledgements; an index is included. I purchased and read the paperback version and am disappointed in Oxford University Press. The print is way too small to be comfortably read; smaller than newsprint or the phone book, and the pull quotes are even smaller; the paper is low quality. Therefore, I recommend getting a version that can be read electronically, so that the type can be adjusted to a larger size. I recommend this book to students (and their teachers) who are seriously thinking about a career in science. They will certainly have something to think about, after they have read about Just's career and life. There are shorter and more easily read biographies about Just for younger or curious learners on the internet. Some Locations: [South Carolina: Charleston, James Island, Colored Normal Industrial Agricultural and Mechanical College (now South Carolina State University) at Orangeburg; New Hampshire: Kimble Union Academy at Meriden, Dartmouth at Hanover; Chicago: University of Chicago; Washington D.C.: Howard University; Massachusetts: Woods Hole in Falmouth; Germany: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute in Berlin, Dahlem; Austria: Graz; Italy: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn of Naples; Switzerland; France: The Station Biologique at Roscoff]



Friday, November 26, 2021

Climate Change and The Great Salt Lake

 https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/11/22/great-salt-lake-is-dying/

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148700/record-low-for-great-salt-lake


CATTAIL DECLINE AT FARMINGTON BAY WATERFOWL MANAGEMENT AREA

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol37/iss1/2/ or https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243963123_CATTAIL_DECLINE_AT_FARMINGTON_BAY_WATERFOWL_MANAGEMENT_AREA'


Utah's Great Salt Lake shrinks to unsustainable levels amid a decades-long megadrought
The PBS News Hour    October 18, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsBXpt5RIsQ

In June of 1975, when I was doing my research near the Great Salt Lake on the decline of cattails, the Great Salt Lake water level was 4201.3 feet (U.S. Geological Survey).  As of today (October 24, 2022), the water level is 4,185.6.    https://www.usgs.gov/centers/utah-water-science-center/science/great-salt-lake-elevations


The link below will take you to a summary article on inland water changes that have occurred because of climate change.  Included with the summary article, is a link to a PDF of the cover article that can be downloaded.  Along with world-wide inland water problems caused by drought, the water levels of the Great Salt Lake are described.  Also included, in the PDF, are stunning photographs of the Great Salt Lake's environmental and ecosystem changes.  One photograph of a thunderstorm  shows how harmful dust can be spread into the air.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Water worries

As the climate changes, scientists study how droughts affect our inland waters

Howes, Laura. 2022. Chemical and Engineering News, 100(38), pp 26-33, October 31, 2022

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cen-10038-cover


Great Salt Lake Levels are Rising - January 2023

     Great Salt Lake may disappear in 5 years 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/us/great-salt-lake-disappearing-drought-climate/index.html

     Water Levels have risen 1 foot because of winter storms

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/great-salt-lake-water-levels-135103623.html

https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/rainy-days-in-utah-are-raising-water-levels-at-great-salt-lake/

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/01/18/celebrating-small-wins-great/#:~:text=%7C%20Jan.,%2C%202023%2C%201%3A18%20p.m.&text=From%20the%20depths%20of%20Utah's,reached%20in%20early%20November%202022.



Monday, March 16, 2020

Textbook Scavenger Hunt - Electricity

I am posting a textbook scavenger hunt that I designed on the topic of electricity.  I designed this to assist students in learning skills for nonfiction reading.  I try to train my students to understand that their learning is greatly enhanced by reading and looking through the material before the lessons.  It helps one pay attention and process information about a given topic.  It also assists students in learning how the textbook is organized.  The worksheet can be viewed, downloaded, and printed here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13hYGa3bkwXfTg8Ur4yTICBXTCN1OgFZl


There are some similar activities on this blog that can be found here:






If you find any links on my blog that do not work, please let me know by leaving a comment. I would like to keep my blog up-to-date and relevant.

Wednesday, March 04, 2020

The Effects of Asbestos on Health

I am posting a paper that I wrote on the topic of Asbestos back in 1974.  Perhaps some might find the information and bibliography of interest.  There may be a historical aspect to the information that the paper summarizes  Keep in mind that the information provided and conclusions reached may be unreliable and out-of-date for the present time  You can view, download, and print the paper here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-1DoBrTUTDEpXAftKzJPLpPi6faJwUTG

Do not plagiarize the paper.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 

Creative Commons License
The Effects of Asbestos on Health by Anderson, Christine Minton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


I like to keep the information on my blog up-to-date, so if there are any links that you discover are not working, please let be know by making a comment and I will try to find a way to update the information.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Evolution Workout Activity - Worksheet and Answer Key

This activity can be used to introduce and review Evolution concepts.  If you like this activity, there are some other "workout" activities on different topics that can be found in this blog at these links:


The Evolution Workout Worksheet and Answer Key can be printed out from here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=16ol4f4llxwN8Wb2Is13HTDNYYpUFc--j




I am posting the directions here so that you can read through them and get an idea about how the activity works.  I got some great comments from administrators who observed my classroom because the activity engages every student.  Even the students who didn't want to participate were engaged because classmates were seeking them out to get the answers on the worksheet.


SUGGESTED RULES ~ OR HOW THE GAME WORKS


Explain to students that this is a cooperative learning activity, which requires all to participate.  By participating in this process, students will have some feeling for how a scientific community of experts works together to produce solutions to problems, and a body of scientific knowledge.  Each student will become an expert in an area of biology, and will be given an opportunity to share their knowledge with every other member of the class.  When students participate in this activity at the beginning of a course, the activity also serves as an “ice-breaker” and allows students to get to know each other and learn names.  As a role model, the teacher should also participate in this activity.
Each student needs: Evolution Workout sheet, his or her textbook, classroom references, notebook paper, and pencil.  Instruct students to number their paper 1. through 25., leaving enough room to write the answers to each question.
Behavior Expectations ~ for some groups of students, the teacher should explain that this activity requires some movement around the room and sharing of answers.  That this is an activity for serious learning and cooperation, and that students are to behave as professionals.  Disruptive students should not be allowed to ruin this activity and will be responsible for answering all the questions by themselves, if they choose to be removed from participation because of their disruptive behavior.   

1.      The teacher writes a number on each of twenty-five pieces of paper or index cards.  The numbers are mixed up and distributed to the students so that each student gets a number.
2.      The number, that each student receives, tells which question on the Evolution Workout sheet that he/she is responsible for answering.  The answers are expected to be clear and understandable enough to be shared with other students.  Students are to be instructed that they should take care to make sure the answer is correct because their answer is going to be used by every other student in the class.  Check their work.
3.      After students are given some time to research their answer, the teacher will instruct the students to move around the room collecting answers from other students.  They are to write the answers on their notebook paper; they may gather the answers in any order (but on the paper they hand in, the answers must be in order!).  After each answer is collected, the student who provided the answer to the question must write his/her name in the question square.  The goal is to have a classmate’s name in every square and the answer to every question.
4.      The time given to complete this activity can be flexible.  This can be completed during one class period or in short segments over several days.  The teacher can determine a due date that corresponds to the time it takes the class produce a completed worksheet.  Answers and worksheets can be turned in for a grade.  A shorter version of this activity is to have each student stand, in order, to share their answer with the class (some of the learning experience will be lost).  This activity can be used as an introduction, or a review of material.

If you find any links on my blog that do not work, please let me know by leaving a comment.  I would like to keep my blog up-to-date and relevant.

Earth Science Workout Activity - Astronomy - Worksheet, Answer Sheet, Instructions, and Answer Key

This activity can be used to introduce and review astronomy topics.  If you like this activity there are some others on some different topics that can be found on this blog this links are here:



The Earth Science Workout Activity Worksheet, Answer Sheet, Directions, and Answer Key can be printed out from here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=16ak3Kg4sWNLKa6xQSHpLMD8G13nblGBR






I am posting the directions here so that you can read through them and get an idea about how the activity works.  I got some great comments from administrators who observed my classroom because the activity engages every student.  Even the students who didn't want to participate were engaged because classmates were seeking them out to get the answers on the worksheet.


SUGGESTED RULES ~ OR HOW THE GAME WORKS


Explain to students that this is a cooperative learning activity, which requires all to participate.  By participating in this process, students will have some feeling for how a scientific community of experts works together to produce solutions to problems, and a body of scientific knowledge.  Each student will become an expert in an area of biology, and will be given an opportunity to share their knowledge with every other member of the class.  When students participate in this activity at the beginning of a course, the activity also serves as an “ice-breaker” and allows students to get to know each other and learn names.  As a role model, the teacher should also participate in this activity.

Each student needs: Earth Science Workout sheet, Earth Science Workout Answer Sheet, his or her textbook, classroom references, notebook paper, and pencil. 

Behavior Expectations ~ for some groups of students, the teacher should explain that this activity requires some movement around the room and sharing of answers.  That this is an activity for serious learning and cooperation, and that students are to behave as professionals.  Disruptive students should not be allowed to ruin this activity and will be responsible for answering all the questions by themselves, if they chose to be removed from participation because of their disruptive behavior.

1.      The teacher writes a number on each of twenty-five pieces of paper or index cards.  The numbers are mixed up and distributed to the students so that each student gets a number.
2.      The number, that each student receives, tells which question on the Earth Science Workout sheet that he/she is responsible for answering.  The answers are expected to be clear and understandable enough to be shared with other students.  Students are to be instructed that they should take care to make sure the answer is correct because their answer is going to be used by every other student in the class.  Check their work.
3.      After students are given some time to research their answer, the teacher will instruct the students to move around the room collecting answers from other students.  They are to write the answers on their notebook paper, they may gather the answers in any order (but on the paper they hand in, the answers must be in order!).  After each answer is collected, the student who provided the answer to the question must write his/her name in the question square.  The goal is to have a classmate’s name in every square and the answer to every question.
4.      The time given to complete this activity can be flexible.  This can be completed during one class period or in short segments over several days.  The teacher can determine a due date that corresponds to the time it takes the class produce a completed worksheet.  Answers and worksheets can be turned in for a grade.  A shorter version of this activity is to have each student stand, in order, to share their answer with the class (some of the learning experience will be lost).  This activity can be used as an introduction, or a review of material.
5.      There are some answers that are easier to explain with the use of diagrams and props.  The teacher can assist by supplying pictures, props, or suggesting that students make use of the diagrams in their textbooks to explain their answers.  


If you find any links on my blog that do not work, please let me know by leaving a comment.  I would like to keep my blog up-to-date and relevant.


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Lesson Plan and Activity - Use of Books and the Library - Non-fiction Scavenger Hunt - Biology

One of the most useful courses that I took in college was titled The Use of Books and the Library.  I learned a great deal about the resources available in a major research library by preparing an extensive bibliography on a topic of my choice.  This gave me the idea for a lesson plan and activity that would assist high school students in using the library and acquiring reading skills in the use of non-fiction books and internet resources.  The lesson plan and activity worksheets can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kfpFrvt6D9iv08J3v9SANL4Aktx21-lG

There are more versions on the link, I'm posting preview photos here:





Similar activities can be found here on this blog:


If you find any links on my blog that do not work, please let me know by leaving a comment.  I would like to keep my blog up-to-date and relevant.