Introduction

Welcome to the website for Mr. Bursch's science classes at Willow Glen High School. If you are a student or parent, check this site daily for information and updates on homework, testing, projects, events, and other happenings in the classroom. Want more from this site? Help me make it better by suggesting additional features!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Daily Summary 12-15

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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NO CLASS TODAY (SEE YESTERDAY'S POST)



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Prepare for final exam

- Warm-up: Make a bullet point list of all work/responsibilities you have yet to complete for this class. Prioritize the list by assigning a number to each item, 1 being the highest priority

- Have you completed all assignments from the last two instructional units in this class?

- Show any still missing (check grade book) assignments to Mr. Bursch for partial credit (practice questions, labs, projects, etc.)

- ANY WORK FOR WHICH YOU WISH TO RECEIVE CREDIT MUST BE SUBMITTED BY END OF SCHOOL DAY, 12/15


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Prepare for final exam by answering all questions on the final review study guide



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Monday, December 14, 2015

Daily Summary 12-14

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Be able to describe in detail the methods of food production used by humanity and the impacts these practices have on all parts of the biosphere, especially the soils of the planet

- Warm-up: Last minute Q and A on agriculture topics [10]

- Unit 6 Exam (Free Response Questions only) DUE AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD ON DAY OF YOUR FINAL

- Finish watching Dirt! The Movie (questions are due on day of your final)


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Prepare for comprehensive multiple choice final exam



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Prepare for final exam

- Warm-up: Make a bullet point list of all work/responsibilities you have yet to complete for this class. Prioritize the list by assigning a number to each item, 1 being the highest priority

- Have you completed all assignments from the last two instructional units in this class?

- Show any still missing (check grade book) assignments to Mr. Bursch for partial credit (practice questions, labs, projects, etc.)

- ANY WORK FOR WHICH YOU WISH TO RECEIVE CREDIT MUST BE SUBMITTED BY END OF SCHOOL DAY, 12/15


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Prepare for final exam by answering all questions on the final review study guide



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Friday, December 11, 2015

Daily Summary 12-11

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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NO CLASS TODAY (SEE YESTERDAY'S POST)



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

- Warm-up: Make a bullet point list of all work/responsibilities you have yet to complete for this class. Prioritize the list by assigning a number to each item, 1 being the highest priority

- Finish the following:
-- Cellular Respiration Questions
-- DNA Structure/Wrapping/Replication Questions
-- Transcription/Translation Practice Show the 3 assignments above to Mr. Bursch for credit


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment/Report, ESLP, and any of the practice question sets listed above



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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Daily Summary 12-10

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Describe in detail the methods of food production used by humanity and the impacts these practices have on all parts of the biosphere, especially the soils of the planet

- Warm-up: What are some farming techniques/methods/approaches that can reduce soil degradation/loss? Choose one technique/method/approach from your list and explain how it can be effective in limiting soil degradation/loss. [10]

- Lectures 4-6: Pesticides, Gene Diversity, and Sustainable Ag [30]

- Soil Analysis Lab work time [30]

- Finish watching Dirt! The Movie


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Read “Doomsday” seed vault article

- Soil Analysis Lab


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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

- Warm-up: Make a bullet point list of all work/responsibilities you have yet to complete for this class. Prioritize the list by assigning a number to each item, 1 being the highest priority

- Finish the following:
-- Cellular Respiration Questions
-- DNA Structure/Wrapping/Replication Questions
-- Transcription/Translation Practice Show the 3 assignments above to Mr. Bursch for credit


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment/Report, ESLP, and any of the practice question sets listed above



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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Daily Summary 12-09

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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NO CLASS TODAY (SEE YESTERDAY'S POST)



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

- Warm-up: If a cell suddenly was in need of a particular protein, like amylase (an enzyme used to break down starch into simpler sugars) for example, how would the molecular machinery of the cell know what the correct sequence was for the string of amino acids that forms amylase so that it could build this polypeptide?

- A more detailed look at protein synthesis (so-called Central Dogma of biology) [20]

- Transcription/Translation practice [30]

- Finish cellular respiration questions (now late), DNA structure/wrapping/replication questions, and transcription/translation practice and show them to Mr. Bursch for credit


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment/Report, ESLP, and any of the practice question sets listed above



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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Daily Summary 12-08

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Describe in detail the methods of food production used by humanity and the impacts these practices have on all parts of the biosphere, especially the soils of the planet Warm-up: Explain how industrial-scale monocultures can lead to nutrient depletion and other forms of soil degradation. [7]

- Finish Lecture 3: Soil Degradation, start Lecture 4: Pesticides [30]

- Soil Analysis Lab work time [30]

- Finish watching Dirt! The Movie


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Miller’s LITE reading: p. 304-314

- Soil Analysis Lab


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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

- Warm-up: If a cell suddenly was in need of a particular protein, like amylase (an enzyme used to break down starch into simpler sugars) for example, how would the molecular machinery of the cell know what the correct sequence was for the string of amino acids that forms amylase so that it could build this polypeptide?

- A more detailed look at protein synthesis (so-called Central Dogma of biology) [20]

- Transcription/Translation practice [30]

- Finish cellular respiration questions (now late), DNA structure/wrapping/replication questions, and transcription/translation practice and show them to Mr. Bursch for credit


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment/Report, ESLP, and any of the practice question sets listed above



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Biology 1-2: Transcription and Translation Practice Problems

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BIOLOGY
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Transcription and Translation Practice Problems



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Monday, December 7, 2015

Daily Summary 12-07

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Describe in detail the methods of food production used by humanity and the impacts these practices have on all parts of the biosphere, especially the soils of the planet

- Warm-up: Describe the five soil characteristics we discussed in class last week. [7]

- Finish Lecture 3: Soil Degradation [30]

- Soil Analysis Lab work time [10]

- We will finish watching Dirt! The Movie tomorrow

- Make sure Hungry Planet project is submitted by 11:59 pm today


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Miller’s LITE reading: p. 297-303

- Soil Analysis Lab



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

- Warm-up: If a cell suddenly was in need of a particular protein, like amylase (an enzyme used to break down starch into simpler sugars) for example, how would the molecular machinery of the cell know what the correct sequence was for the string of amino acids that forms amylase so that it could build this polypeptide?

- Brief introduction to protein synthesis (so-called Central Dogma of biology) [20]

- Finish cellular respiration questions (now late) and DNA structure/wrapping/replication questions and show them to Mr. Bursch

OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment Report (you can start the report even if you have only just begun your experiment)



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Friday, December 4, 2015

Daily Summary 12-04

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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NO CLASS TODAY (SEE YESTERDAY'S POST)



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

-Warm-up: Where is DNA usually found in most eukaryotic cells? What is the major function of DNA in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells? What must usually happen to the entire set of DNA molecules contained in any cell before that cell can successfully divide into two daughter cells?

- Overview of DNA structure and replication [20]

- Finish cellular respiration questions and show them to Mr. Bursch

- Use the 3-D Animation Library at the DNA Learning Center to better understand DNA structure and replication and to find accurate answers for the DNA wrapping/replication questions


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment Report (you can start the report even if you have only just begun your experiment)




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Thursday, December 3, 2015

Daily Summary 12-03

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Describe in detail the methods of food production used by humanity and the impacts these practices have on all parts of the biosphere, especially the soils of the planet

- Warm-up: What are the major factors affecting soil formation? Considering these factors, where do you suppose the richest agricultural soils are? And the poorest? [7]

- Finish Lecture 2: Soil, start Lecture 3: Soil Degradation [30]

- Soil Analysis Lab work time [30]

- Continue watching Dirt! The Movie


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Soil Analysis Lab

- Brazil case study reading



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your Brassica plants

-Warm-up: Where is DNA usually found in most eukaryotic cells? What is the major function of DNA in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells? What must usually happen to the entire set of DNA molecules contained in any cell before that cell can successfully divide into two daughter cells?

- Overview of DNA structure and replication [20]

- Finish cellular respiration questions and show them to Mr. Bursch

- Use the 3-D Animation Library at the DNA Learning Center to better understand DNA structure and replication and to find accurate answers for the DNA wrapping/replication questions


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment Report (you can start the report even if you have only just begun your experiment)



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Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Daily Summary 12-02

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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NO CLASS TODAY (SEE YESTERDAY'S POST)



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your

- Brassica plants

- Warm-up: Which ATP-producing organelle is found in most eukaryotic cells but absent in prokaryotes? What biochemical process happens in this organelle?

- Overview of cellular respiration? [20]

- Cellular respiration demonstration and questions

- Begin/continue Crop Failure Analysis Experiment with your TSOTS team


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment Report (you can start the report even if you have only just begun your experiment)



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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Daily Summary 12-01

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AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Describe in detail the methods of food production used by humanity and the impacts these practices have on all parts of the biosphere, especially the soils of the planet

- Warm-up: What is soil? Describe the connections between soil and human survival? [7]

- Finish Lecture 1: Food Production, start Lecture 2: Soil [30]

- Soil Analysis Lab work time [25]

- Start watching Dirt! The Movie

- Allelopathy Lab formal report due tonight in Google Drive folders by midnight


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Complete and submit Allelopathy Lab by 11:59 pm

- Work on Soil Analysis Lab

- Assigned reading from Miller (LITE)



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BIOLOGY
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AGENDA:

- Objectives: Use the scientific method to work toward an explanation for the disappearance of your

- Brassica plants

- Warm-up: Which ATP-producing organelle is found in most eukaryotic cells but absent in prokaryotes? What biochemical process happens in this organelle?

- Overview of cellular respiration? [20]

- Cellular respiration demonstration and questions

- Begin/continue Crop Failure Analysis Experiment with your TSOTS team


OUTSIDE OF CLASS:

- Work on Crop Failure Analysis Experiment Report (you can start the report even if you have only just begun your experiment)



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Biology 1-2: Cellular Respiration Questions

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BIOLOGY
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Cellular Respiration Questions



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