MBHS Earth Science

June 12:  Follow the instructions below.  Make sure to fill out the Course Reflection Sheets!!!

March 19-20:  Work on Human Interest Story

Homework:  Human Interest Story due tomorrow at the end of the period

March 18: Check out a laptop and go to the Piktochart website

1.  Open your infographic file

2.  Click the Download Icon

3.  Select Image and make sure the Size is Medium and the File Format is JPEG

4.  Click download, do not change the name of the file

5.  Send that file to dschantz@millenniumbrooklynhs.org with the Subject heading "Your Name Infograpic"

Homework:  Human Interest Story

March 17: Put finishing touches on our Inforgraphics that are due on Wednesday, March 28

Homework:  Finish your Inforgraphic. Each late day will result in a 15 percent deduction prior to grading

March 12:  Depending on the speed of the internet connection you can choose to...

1.  Work on your Inforgraphic (pay close attention to the rubric)

2.  Begin working on your Human Interest Story for The MBHS Times.  Please read this page one what constitutes a Human Interest Story.  Yes, I know this is a wikipedia link but this is a classic case of "Do as I say, not what I do."

*Please download the file below and keep the formatting as is.  If you have any issues with the file please let me know and we will troubleshoot together.  Keep in mind I am Mac proficient so be patient if I cannot immediately solve your PC problems.

Homework:  Continue working on your Inforgraphic

March 11: We continued working on our inforgraphic and discussed what we would like to learn about for our next unit of study. People brought up some very interesting topics such as:

Sustainable postmortem disposal practices, clean energy, architecture and the environment, how different cultures compare in terms of sustainable practices,  and how we get clean drinking water among others.

Homework:  Continue working on your infographic

March 6: Discuss what topics we would like to learn for our next unit in Sustainability Review the Rubric for our Infographic that is due on March 17. St. Patrick's Day

Homework:  Infographic and find topics that interest you (each person must has one topic)

March 6:  Go to the following infographic generator website here

1.  Sign up for the free version using one group members MBHS email and a password that both of you can share (so you may collaborate outside of school)

2.  Take this time to familiarize yourself with the features of this website.  You may create and delete as many practice infographics as you want. 

3.  Use this time to begin organizing your thoughts and how you want them to appear

Homework:  Enjoy the weekend.  Go outside.

March 5:  We will be narrowing our focus for what we will be doing our inforgraphics on.  By the end of class you need to have a theme proposal with a working title (it can change)

Homework:  TBA

March 4: Class started with a gallery walk of the Dung Beetle Inforgraphics assigned for HW. Big shout out to Kat for having the best infographic by class vote. Her infographic won because it had color, excellent flow, was aesthetically appealing, and the information focused on a specific subset of a larger topic in a clear and interesting manner.  Good work Kat!

Homework:  None

March 3:  We will start the week by presenting your groups favorite and least favorite infographic with an explanation using the T-chart you have constructed.  Afterwards, we will be read this article on the Dung Beetle.

Homework:  Make sure that you have read and annotated the Dung Beetle article for a surprise activity tomorrow.

February 27:  The Good, The Bad, The Infographic.  Humans seem to be drawn to information presented in the form of inforgraphics and today we are going to analyze why this trend exists. 

In groups of two, you are going to share both your good and your bad inforgraphics.  You will make a T-chart and come up with a system for identifying what makes and detracts from their appeal to the viewer.  You will then present your groups favorite and least favorite infographic with an explanation using the T-chart you have constructed.

Homework:  Enjoy the weekend, Saturday will be really nice thanks to a high pressure system. 

February 26: Take a closer look at what makes a good human interest story

The Most Horrible Seaside Vacation
        Images of North Brother Island

Homework:  Finish Radiolab broadcast "Poop Train"

February 25:  For the Do Now we will share out our answers to the podcast question and each table will select the person who they thought had the most compelling answer.

Afterwards we will have a discussion of "Wasteland:  A journey thought the American cloaca"

1.  What is the meaning of the title?

2.  How does the author make this narrative a human interest story (Human Interest Story) and what do you think the purpose behind this was?

3.  How is the human circadian rhythm tied to the amount of waste that treatement plants handle? (Circadian rhythm)

4.  What is one potential way that we can use waste other than as fertilizer?

5.  What was one thing that you found interesting about this reading?

Homework:  Last night you chose 5 infographics on 5 different topics.  Now, please find 5 inforgraphics that you do not like.

February 24:  We will discuss the reading by Frederick Kaufman and then listen to the Radiolab Podcast Sculptors of Monumental Narrative.  At the end of the podcast I would like you to answer the question, "What was the major takeaway point of this narrative and how does it apply to our current unit?"

Homework:  Please research what an infographic is and find 5 that you like.  Email those images/links to yourself.  Please make sure that they are all on different topics. 

February 11: Today's class will have us reading an investigative report by Frederick Kaufman who we heard from in yesterdays Radiolab Podcast.  The question today is, "What happens to a city when it's human waste management system is pushed beyond it's capacity?"

Homework:  Please look up one illness that is fecal related and describe it from the POV of the bacteria, virus, or parasite responsible for it.

February 10: We will review the research you did regarding what feces can inform people about their health and then we will turn our attention to NYC.

Please click this link in order to find out what happens to our waste when we flush the toilet.  Fill out the questions on the attached "Poop Train" doc.

February 6:  We will now be focusing on the "...Must Come Out" component of our "What Goes In...Must Come Out" unit.  In particular we will focus on human waste management and how we deal with the 1,200 tons of biosolids (solid human waste) that New York City produces per day!

These are the diagnostic questions from today's lesson:

1.  When a New Yorker defecates, what happens to the feces?

2.  Why should we care what happens to our biosolids?

Homework:  What can the frequency, texture, color, and odor of our feces tell us about our general health?

January 15:  What is a RAFT?

Role:  What is the role you are taking on as the writer?

Audience:  Who will be reading or viewing your work?

Format:  What is the best way for you to present this material?

Topic:  Is the statement "A calorie is a calorie.." valid?

Your RAFT proposal is due Friday, January 15 at the beginning of class.  You must have two proposals.

January 14:  I asked my friend who is a prominent cancer researcher at UC Berkeley to describe how she would explain a calorie to a high-schooler...

"If I was presenting metabolism to young minds, I would emphasize the law of conservation of energy. We consume plants and animals that have the essential components of life - including carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids (fats). In order to use these in our system, they have to be broken down. This requires breaking bonds, which in many cases, results in the generation of energy. This energy can be subsequently used to create new bonds and some energy can be released as heat. Unlike plants, who use light energy from the sun to create "food" energy for their system through photosynthesis, animals must intake "food" energy and process it through cellular respiration. Law of conservation of energy comes in - light energy from the sun gets converted to usable energy in a plant which can be converted to usable energy in our body. Essentially, a calorie is a simple unit of measurement of this intake of food energy." -Dr. Leslie Bateman

Homework:  Answer the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th guided questions in the Sugar Raft document below.

January 8:  We tackle the phrase, "A calorie is a calorie..."

January 7:  Today we will be looking at ways to determine if a website is an objective source of information or if it is biased in any way. Click this link and wait for instruction:  http://sugarcane.org/sugarcane-products/sugar

January 6:  Today we are looking at the unsuspecting and bloody journey sugar has taken throughout the course of history...

December 10-12:  Continuation of Culminating Unit Project

Homework: Each day students should come in with a complete draft of one page from the documents. 

December 9: This unit takes its title "What Goes In...Must Come Out"from the investigative research we will be conducting on where New Yorkers source their food and where it goes once it leaves us.  As a prologue to this unit, we have taken an in depth look at a more fundamental question that few people rarely ask…"What happens to food once it enters you?"

Join us on a journey where we follow a piece of meat as it navigates your digestive system and how something as seemingly simple as a piece of steak has shaped not only the way modern human's look, but also the way we think!

Due Date:  Tuesday December 16 at beginning of class.

December 5:  Now that we have looked at herbivores and carnivores, we are going to finish our investigation of the digestive system by looking at how transitioning to an omnivore lifestyle shaped the evolution of the human body and the mind.

Homework:  Complete the task described on the document below

December 4:  In contrast to the previous days, we looked at the anatomy of the Great White Shark and gained insight as to how evolution has designed a digestive system meant to handle large quantities of protein.  The question still begs, what is responsible for the evolution of our guts?

Homework:  Click the following link and complete the following

Start at 16:20 | Stop at 32:30 | Total Listening Time = 16 min 10 sec

1. What is living in your intestines? How are your intestines like a rainforest?

2. How much of your total body weight is made out of foreign microbes?

3. Explain how microorganisms living in a mouse gut can influence the way they think?

4. What is the mechanism by which this communication between bacteria in the gut and the host organism’s brain works?

5. How could you set up your own home experiment to determine if yogurt with probiotics can change a person’s mood?

December 3:  Continued our investigation on the comparative anatomy of an elephant. 

December 2: Reviewed the homework from last week.  We then looked at the internal anatomy of an elephant to see what similarities and differences arise in the digestive system based on diet. 

November 25:  We will finish our presentation on diseases and then begin our Radiolab Podcast activity detailed below:  Due December 2nd

1. What sensation would you feel if you stuck you hand in a cow's stomach?

2. What did people used to think about why the guts were significant in the early 1800s?  What process did William Beaumont use to unlock the secrets of the human stomach?  What were some things that he discovered during his studies?

3.  Do you think that the family of Alexis St. Martin were justified in letting his body rot or should they have given his body to science? Explain please.

November 24:  Students will present the disease they chose for their designated part of the gastrointestinal system.  Audience will take notes using the following protocol:

1.  Write down student name, G.I. body part, and disease name

2.  Record interesting facts regarding the presentation

3.  Save clarifying questions for the end of the presentation

November 21:  Now that we have done a basic review of the digestive system, we are going to look at what happens when parts of the system are compromised.  Each student will be assigned a part of the digestive system and have to complete the following:

1.  What disease did you choose?

2.  What are the causes?

3.  What are the symptoms?

4.  Is there a cure and if so, what is it?

5.  What would happen if this went unchecked?

*Consult at least two sources for questions #2-4 and cite them

November 20: Review of the major components of the Digestive System

Had a discussion about the video and the questions from the homework.  Afterwards students lined up representing the different parts of the digestive system and described what they do to food before passing it on to the next part.

November 19:  Introduction to Food: What Goes In, Must Come Out"

Before we can learn about what happens to food before it enters and after it exits us, we need to learn why we need it and how our body processes it

The image below represents the human digestive system.  Click on this link learn about each about each part of the digestive system.  Your assignment is to describe what you would witness happening to the apple pie at each stage in the process as if you were an observer shrunk down to a microscopic level.

Homework:  Please watch this video on the digestive system by National Geographic and answer the following:

1.  What was your initial reaction to the video?

2.  Describe what surprised you the most about your internal anatomy.

3.  Based on the facts presented, explain why it is important to eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly?

4.  Do you eat in a way that you think hinders, or promotes healthy digestion?