RegentsBiology

Off Site Learning Packet

Assignment #1: _____

Assignment #2: _____

Assignment #3: _____

Assignment #4: _____

Assignment #5: _____

North Salem High SchoolMISSION: Engage students to continuously learn, question, define and solve problems through critical and creative thinking.

Biology as a

Science(pp. 13-17)

If you have any problems – please sign up for extra help after school.Mr. ColleaRoom W-19

Assignment #1Directions: Base your answers to each of the following questions on your Course

Information Sheet.

1. What is the name of Mr. Collea’s website for this class? ________________________

2. In your opinion, which 2 Helpful Suggestions are the most important and why?

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3. Which 2 days does Mr. Collea have extra help? ______________ ______________

4. List the supplies you will need for this class.

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5. What will be the 4 sections of your Biology Binder.

(1) ____________ (2) ____________ (3) ____________ (4) ____________

6. Late homework is never accepted. True or False

7. Exams will make up approximately what percentage of your quarter grade? _________

8. Homework, quizzes and labs will make up the remaining ________% of your grade.

9. According to the New York State Regents, ________ minutes of successful lab work is required for you to take the Living Environment Regents Exam in June?

10. What is Mr. Collea’s definition of being tardy?

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11. Cell phones are never to be used during class. True or False

12. Mr. Collea can’t stand ______________________________.

13. Make an inference as to who is one of Mr. Collea’s favorite authors. ______________

14. Make one observation of your science classroom or science teacher and then make an inference based upon that observation.

Observation Inference

   

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Assignment #2Directions: Go to Collea’s Corner to watch the below mentioned Ted-Ed video and

then answers the questions below.

Questions No One Knows the Answers To- Chris Anderson

Background Information:This TED-Ed video is designed to catalyze curiosity. TED Curator Chris Anderson shares his boyhood obsession with quirky questions that seem to have no answers.

1. List three questions Chris Anderson asked himself as a child.

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(2) ___________________________________________________________________

(3) ___________________________________________________________________

2. List 3 questions you often ask yourself and would like to find the answers to.(Be prepared to share at least one of these with the class.)

(1) ___________________________________________________________________

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(2) ___________________________________________________________________

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(3) ___________________________________________________________________

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Assignment #3 Directions: Go to Collea’s Corner to watch the below mentioned Ted-Ed video starring

Myth Buster Adam Savage and then answers the questions below.

How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries- Adam Savage

Background Information:Adam Savage walks through two spectacular examples of profound scientific discoveries that came from simple, creative methods anyone could have followed -- Eratosthenes' calculation of the Earth's circumference around 200 BC and Hippolyte Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in 1849.

1. What everyday observation prompted a young Richard Feynman to discuss inertia with his father?(A) His dad falling asleep during synagogue services.(B) A ball rolling to the back of a wagon.(C) The motion of his body while riding on a bus that was making a sharp turn.(D) Getting knocked out by a baseball.

2. What things connect the three stories that Savage shares?(1)

(2)

(3)

3. What prompted Eratosthenes to contemplate the circumference of a spherical Earth in the third century BC?(A) A letter he received from a resident of the city of Swenet(B) A dream his wife had(C) A lunar eclipse(D) His correspondence with Archimedes

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4. Savage mentions the Large Hadron Collider as an example of modern scientific discovery that’s made possible by multi-billion dollar pieces of machinery. How does this dovetail with Savage’s hope that people will think of science as an open field

versus a black box?

5. What’s remarkable about Eratosthenes’s measurements of the Earth?(A) Egypt’s leader, Ptolemy III, forced him to renounce his claim that the Earth wasn’t

flat.(B) His work went unacknowledged during his own lifetime and was only rediscovered

in the 1800s.(C) His calculations came within 1% of the actual diameter of the Earth.(D) He had to invent a whole new unit of distance because the distance was so long.

6. Savage says, “We’re all bags of meat and water” and that “we all start with the same tools.” Scientists like Feynman, Eratosthenes and Fizeau, he argues, just think a little harder about a question and are a little more curious. Do you agree with Savage that scientists are basically the same as anybody else? What other personality traits or

habits of mind would be helpful to a scientist, in your opinion?

7. Armand Fizeau improved upon Galileo’s -(A) telescope design. (C) documentation of the

moon’s craters.(B) argument for a sun-centered universe. (D) calculation of the speed of light.

8. Fizeau did this with simple equipment that included -(A) three convex lenses, a candle and a tub of water.(B) a light source, a notched wheel and a mirror.(C) a sundial, a string and a pocket watch.(D) duct tape, some rope and a crazy dream.

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Assignment #4 Directions: Go to Collea’s Corner to watch the below mentioned Ted-Ed video,

What’s the Difference Between a Scientific Law and Theory and thenanswers the questions below.

What’s the Difference Between a Scientific Law and Theory?- Matt Anticole

Background Information:Chat with a friend about an established scientific theory, and she might reply, “Well, that’s just a theory.” But a conversation about an established scientific law rarely ends with “Well, that’s just a law.” Why is that? What is the difference between a theory and a law... and is one “better”? Matt Anticole shows why science needs both laws and theories to understand the whole picture.

Which of the following best describes how theories relate to laws?ATheories are laws that have not been proven true yetBTheories attempt to explain why things happen and laws predict what will happenCLaws attempt to explain why things happen and theories predict what will happenDLaws are theories that have not been proven true yet

New data is found which goes against what scientists predicted should happen. Which of the following is NOT a potential result of the new research?AA current theory is discarded because it cannot explain the new dataBA current theory is modified to better explain the new dataCA current law is charged to account for the new dataDAny of these are possible responses to new and unexpected data

What made Mendeleev's theory about the organization of matter in the periodic table so powerful?AHis theory predicted unknown elements that were lataer foundBHe was the first scientist to attempt to organize elements in a patternCHis theory later 'grew up' into a law about elemental propertiesDWhen he paired oxygen with potassium, it went 'OK'

Which of the following might be an example of a theory?AYou develop an equation that successfully predicts the size of a crater given the size of the meteor

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BYou publish a paper analyzing the elements that make up a sample of a meteoriteCYou develop an idea about why the frequency of meteor impacts varies in a consistent pattern over several decades of observationDYou design a spacecraft that can land on a meteor and drill into it to sample its make-up

One can best compare the acceptance of a theory to:AA foot race, where the first theory that comes up with an explanation winsBA boxing match, where the winner has to be ready to fight the next opponentCA lottery, where if you happen to be really lucky, you can win a prizeDA cafeteria line, where scientists can just pick and chose parts they like best from each theory

What is the difference between a law about gravity and a theory about gravity?

Before Louis Pasteur, people did not seriously think that tiny microbes could have much of an effect on the 'big-sized' world of people. Louis Pasteur challenged the theories of his time when he used microbes to explain how food was spoiling in factories. Research at least one new advance that was possible once people accepted that his theory was correct.

The following were once accepted theories but scientists eventually replaced them with better theories. Learn a bit more about one of them and find out why they didn’t make the cut! Write a five sentence paragraph about the one you chose. a. Alchemy b. The heliocentric model c. Spontaneous generation d. The interstellar aether

How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries- Adam Savage

Background Information:Adam Savage walks through two spectacular examples of profound scientific discoveries that came from simple, creative methods anyone could have followed -- Eratosthenes' calculation of the Earth's circumference around 200 BC and Hippolyte Fizeau's measurement of the speed of light in 1849.

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Assignment #4Bikini Bottom Experiments

The Bikini Bottom gang loves their Honors Biology class and wanted to do a little research. Read the description for each experiment and use your knowledge of the scientific method to answer the questions.

1. Flower PowerSpongeBob loves to garden and wants to grow lots of pink flowers for his pal

Sandy. He bought aspecial Flower Power fertilizer to see if will help plants produce more flowers. He

plants two plants ofthe same size in separate containers with the same amount of potting soil. He

places one plant in a sunny window and waters it every day with fertilized water. He places the other plant on a shelf in a closet and waters it with plain water every other day.

(a) What did SpongeBob do wrong in this experiment? Explain.

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(b) What should SpongeBob do to test the effectiveness of Flower Power fertilizer?

Design an experiment by writing your Procedure/Methodology and data table in the space below.

Procedure/MethodologyData Table

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2. Super SnailsGary is not the smartest snail in Bikini Bottom and believes he can improve his

brain power byeating Super Snail Snacks. In order to test this hypothesis, he recruits

SpongeBob and several snailfriends to help him with the experiment. The snails ate one snack with each

meal every day for threeweeks. SpongeBob created a test and gave it to the snails before they started

eating the snacks as well as three weeks after eating the snacks.

(a) State Gary’s hypothesis as an If…then…statement.

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(b) Create a Data Table based upon Gary’s Methodology in the space to the right and fill in the data table with data that supports Gary’s hypothesis.

(3) Bubble TimePatrick loves bubble gum and would like to be able to blow bigger bubbles than

anyone else inBikini Bottom. To prepare for the Bikini Bottom Big Bubble Contest, he bought

five different brands of bubble gum and needs your help to find the brand that creates the biggest bubbles. Write a Procedure/Methodology to test the bubble power of the bubble gum brands along with the data table Patrick would use for this experiment.

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Procedure/MethodologyData Table

4. Patty PowerMr. Krabs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a

new sauce that hethinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby

patties from the KrustyKrab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of

them (Group A) eatcrabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties

with sauce that looks justlike new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring

(placebo). Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

(a) Which people are in the control group and why?

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(b) What is the independent variable in Mr. Krabs’ experiment?

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(c) What is the dependent variable in Mr. Krabs’ experiment?

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(d) What should Mr. Krabs’ conclusion be?

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(e) Why do you think 8 people in group B reported feeling better?

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5. SlimotosisSponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs

when the shelldevelops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him

that rubbing seaweedon the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a

better cure. SpongeBob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and

having him drink Dr. Kelp.After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

(a) What is the independent variable of this experiment?

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(b) What is the dependent variable?

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(c) What should Sponge Bob’s conclusion be?

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(d) Is this a VALID or INVALID experiment? Explain.

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(e) How would you modify this experiment to get more reliable results?

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6. Marshmallow MusclesLarry was told that a certain muscle cream was the newest best thing on the

market and claims todouble a person’s muscle power when used as part of a muscle-building

workout. Interested in thisproduct, he buys the special muscle cream and recruits Patrick and SpongeBob

to help him with anexperiment. Larry develops a special marshmallow weight-lifting program for

Patrick and SpongeBob.He meets with them once every day for a period of 2 weeks and keeps track of

their results. Beforeeach session Patrick’s arms and back are lathered in the muscle cream, while

Sponge Bob’s arms andback are lathered with the regular lotion.

(a) Which person is in the control group? _______________________________________________

(b) What is the independent variable? __________________________________________________

(c) What is the dependent variable? ___________________________________________________

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(d) What should Larry’s hypothesis be?

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(e) Create a Data Table based upon Larry’s methodology in the space below and fill in the data table with data that DOES NOT support his hypothesis.

7. Microwave MiraclePatrick believes that fish that eat food exposed to microwaves will become

smarter and would be able to swim through a maze faster. He decides to perform an experiment by placing fish food in a microwave for 20 seconds. He has the fish swim through a maze and records the time it takes for each one to make it to the end. He feeds the special food to 3 goldfish and gives regular food to 3 guppies. After 1 week, he has the fish swim through the maze again and records the times for each.

(a) What was Patrick’s hypothesis?

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(b) Which fish are in the control group? _______________________________________________

(c) What is the independent variable of Patrick’s experiment?

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(d) What is the dependent variable of Patrick’s experiment?

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(e) Look at the results in the data table to the right. Patrick concluded that all fish that eat microwaved food will become smarter.

Is he right or wrong? Explain

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(f) How would you modify this experiment to get more reliable results?

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Assignment #5Directions: Read Chapter 10 – Getting the Lead Out from Bill Bryson’s national bestseller

A Short History of Nearly Everything then answer the question that follow.

Questions: Chapter 10 – Getting the Lead Out

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1. What question was Claire Patterson trying to find the answer to?

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2. Who was Thomas Midgley Jr. and why is it a good thing that your car uses unleaded gasoline?

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3. Why did the Ethyl Corporation call their gasoline additive “ethyl” and not lead?

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4. Why does Bryson say Thomas Midgley had “an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny?” What else did Midgley invent?

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5. What is ozone and why is it a bit of an oddity?

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6. If spread evenly throughout the stratosphere, how thick would the ozone layer be?

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7. What made Thomas Midgley’s death unusual?

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8. What does the term ORGANIC COMPOUND mean? (Look it up!)

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9. Briefly describe Willard Libby’s idea of radioactive carbon dating.

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10. According to Patterson, how old is the Earth? _______________________________

11. Is lead excreted from the body? Explain

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12. What did Patterson discover about atmospheric lead levels prior to 1923?

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13. Why should you be aware of who funded this or any scientific study for that matter?

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14. Research and discuss any other examples like the story of Tetraethyl lead, in which a large corporation (or maybe government?) influences science reporting.

Assignment #5Directions: Go to Collea’s Corner to watch the below mentioned Ted-Ed video and then answers the questions below.

Not All Scientific Studies Are Created Equal- David H. Schwartz

Background Information:Every day, we are bombarded by attention grabbing headlines that promise miracle cures to all of our ailments -- often backed up by a “scientific study.” But what are these studies,

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and how do we know if they are reliable? David H. Schwartz dissects two types of studies that scientists use, illuminating why you should always approach the claims with a critical eye.

1. Randomized Clinical Trials (RTC) are considered the gold standard in determining cause and effect relationships related to human health outcomes. TrueFalse

2. A single epidemiological or observational study can demonstrate cause and effect.

True False

3. Studies conducted in animals can provide us with definitive information about human health risks.

True False

4. Data from multiple, well-conducted epidemiological studies pointing in the same direction can be quite informative about causes of human health risks. True

False

5. RCTs cannot always be conducted in humans due to -(A) limited resources. (C) requires too many subjects.(B) not being practical or feasible. (D) ethical issues.

(E) All of the above

6. Give some examples where epidemiological studies have helped scientists understand the risks of particular agents or exposures.

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7. What can I look for the next time I read about a health study in the news?

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Assignment #6Directions: Go to Collea’s Corner to watch the below mentioned Ted-Ed video and then answers the

questions below.

How many Universes Are There?- Chris Anderson

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Background Information:It’s hard for some people to engage with physics because they can’t wrap their heads around the vastness and scale of one universe - not to mention multiple ones. Chris Anderson uses grains of sand on a beach as a way to help people get a sense of the number of stars in a galaxy.

1. Approximately how many planet earths could you fit inside the sun?(A) Nine (B) Nine hundred (C) A million(D) Nine million

2. Anderson says we may be experiencing a giant paradigm shift in knowledge. What other paradigm shifts in our knowledge can you think of? If you’re not sure what paradigm shift means, ask your parents or GOOGLE IT.

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3. If a star was the size of a single grain of sand, the number of stars in the Milky Way would -(A) fill an entire glass (like a glass of milk) (C) would look like the Crab Nebulae

Ccreate a beach about 30 ft by 30 ft in sizeDbe more than all the sand on all the beaches on earth

Approximately how many galaxies are there in our own universe

Athere's only one, the Milky Way.B30 billion, give or take 20%C100 billionDPerhaps vastly more than 100 billion, but light from many of them may never reach us.

Why should we care how many universes are out there?

If every atom in our observable universe (which is estimated to have 10 to the 80 atoms) had its own universe (like ours), and all the atoms in all those universes each had ITS own universe, and all the atoms in all THOSE universes had its own universe, how many universes would that be altogether?

Aan infinite numberBfar more than is predicted by any theoryCa tiny fraction of what some versions of string theory predictDit's a meaningless questionEmy brain just melted

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When scientists refer to a reality made up of many universes, what do they call it?

AHoly Stephen HawkingBthe super-brainCthe multiverseDthe algorithmEthe quantum field

How many Earths can fit inside the sun?How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?How many Galaxys may be detectable by out telescopes?

Prior Knowledge:How can scientists determine whether a star is contracting or expanding by observing the color of light it emits?If you want to learn more about this phenomenon along with the Doppler Effect, check out Carl Sagan’s explanation on Collea’s Corner.

Define edifice –

How many mutiverse universes does the leading version of string theory predict there are?

According to Chris Anderson, this is a pretty cool time to be studying _______________.

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Assignment #3Directions: Go to Collea’s Corner to watch the below mentioned Ted-Ed video and then answers the questions below.

Why Can’t We See Evidence of Alien Life??- Chris Anderson

Background Information:Stand by for an animated exploration of the famous Fermi Paradox. Given the vast number of planets in the universe, many much older than Earth, why haven't we yet seen obvious signs of alien life? The potential answers to this question are numerous and intriguing, alarming and hopeful.

According to Chris Anderson, how many life-harboring planets may there be in our own Milky way Galaxy? (1:06)

How many years after the Big Bang did out Earth Form?

North Salem graduate (4:47)

What does SETI stand for?

What has NASA's Kepler Mission discovered?

AOther carbon-based life forms in our galaxyBUnusual radio signals from other galaxiesCUnusual clumps of dark matter that may be signs of alien life formsDPlanets around nearby stars within our galaxy

Our planet formed relatively recently, compared with the age of the universe. Why does this raise a riddle, when it comes to the search for alien life?

According to Anderson, if we extrapolate the Kepler data, how many life-supporting planets could there be in our galaxy?

ATwo dozenBFifty millionCHundredsDThe aliens controlling our galaxy have censored this information. Don’t ask again.

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At the end of his talk, Anderson describes three innovations that will fuel the search for other life in the universe. What are these three things, and how will each contribute to the effort?

In 1950, Enrico Fermi asked

AWhy is the government hiding evidence of extraterrestrials?BHow can we be certain that extraterrestrials haven’t already colonized Earth at some point in its history?CWhat do we mean by “intelligent life”?DWhere is everybody?

We’re either alone in the universe, or we’re not. Anderson observes, “Either answer is awe-inspiring.” Which answer would you prefer, and why?

Anderson says that possible answers to Fermi’s question include

AAliens have existed, but they destroyed themselves before we came on the sceneBWe’re not looking hard enoughCThey’re communicating in ways we can’t currently detectDThey’re waiting ‘til there’s a really good deal on travel to get hereEA and CFA, B and C

SETI recently made its data public in order to:

AIncrease tourism revenue in various UFO hotspotsBEngage citizen scientists to help with its workCDemonstrate its credibility to detractorsDEnrage the aliens controlling our galaxy who want to bury this information

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