Thanks Watabe for the idea--Brilliant!

Here is a picture of an idea I stole from Watabe. He has in is classroom small white boards. He will give the students math problems and then they will work them out and hold up their answer. This helps him see who understands something and who doesn't easier. Today I borrowed his white boards to help the students review for a test. I loved it. I am so going to make my own! Thanks Watabe for the use of the boards for a day and for the great idea.

AP biology and Cellular Respiration

Cellular respiration is a fairly complex chain of events. It is the process of converting glucose into the usable form of energy called ATP. Over the years I have tried to find ways to help the students gain an understanding of what is happening and how changes affect the whole process (for example..what happens if there is no oxygen...etc...)

Well a few years ago I had a brilliant creative moment and developed a "skit" where the students acted out the whole process. They have a lot of fun and it really seems to help (or so they say). so here is a short clip of the whole thing.

8th grade cell reports

Here they are...the cutest class ever. They were assigned to find out about one type of cell and build a model of it to share with the class and then to write a report discussing the job of the cell.

We had quite a variety.
Mesophyll cells of plants
amoebas
nerve cells
eye cell (rod or cone)
The protist, Trypanosoma Brucei, that causes African sleeping sickness
A my personal favorite...the dinoflagellate! otherwise known as algae...

8th Grade cell models