Section outline

  • Collapse Expand

    Announcements

    Collapse all Expand all
    • Contact Information & Office Hours URL

      Mrs. Swenson • tswenson@mountainheightsacademy.org  • 435.915.6917

    • Late Work Request Form URL

      All work for each week is due at 6:00 pm on Friday.  If you miss an assignment and would like to make it up, please fill out the Late Work Request Form.  You can receive 80% of the total earned points.   

    • Required Supplies for this Course Page
      All students are required to have the following:  webcam, microphone, and supplies.  Click for more details.
  • Collapse Expand

    Navigating the Course



  • Collapse Expand

    Week 1: August 29-31

    Highlighted

    Nature of Science

    CC-BY-NC https://www.flickr.com/photos/8042928@N08/13535486065/in/faves-126118168@N08/

    The very nature of science is discoveries, and the best of those discoveries are the ones you don't expect.~Neil deGrasse Tyson

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Demonstrate understanding of the "Nature of Science."
      2. Science is a way of knowing that is used by many people, not just scientists. 
      3. Understand that science investigations use a variety of methods and do not always use the same set of procedures; understand that there is not just one "scientific method."

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • READ: Honors Biology Requirements URL
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • WATCH: The Myth of a Scientist URL
      Students must
      View
    • WATCH: How Science Works URL
      Students must
      View
    • 1.1 ASSIGNMENT: How Science Works (Due August 31)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • 1.2 ASSIGNMENT: The Scientific Method in Action (Due August 31)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • REVIEW: Scientific Method URL
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 2: September 4-7

    Energy Flow in Ecosystems

    CC-BY-NC-SA www.flickr.com/photos/superdeluxesam/5142923147

    Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals. ~ Aldo Leopold

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Arrange components of a food chain according to energy flow.
      2. Compare the quantity of energy in the steps of an energy pyramid.

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • Set-up Actively Learn Account Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • READ: Energy Flow in Ecosystems Book
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 2.1 ASSIGNMENT: Energy Flow (Due September 7) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
      Receive a passing grade
      Receive a pass grade or complete all available attempts
    • 2.2 ASSIGNMENT: Amoeba Sisters Food Chains, Food Webs, Pyramids (Due September 7)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • BrainPop: Food Chains Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • BrainPop: Energy Pyramids Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 3: September 10-14

    Energy, Is it Worth it?

    CC-BY-NC-SA www.flickr.com/photos/superdeluxesam/5142923147

    I'm not lazy, I'm energy efficient

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Compare the relative energy output expended by an organism in obtaining food to the energy gained from the food.
      2. Describe strategies used by organisms to balance the energy expended to obtain food to the energy gained from the food.
      3. Research food production.

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • READ: Energy Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 3.1 ASSIGNMENT: Owl Pellet Lab (Due September 14)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • REVIEW: Test #1 Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Test #1:

    • 3.3 TEST: Test #1 (Due September 14) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 4: September 17-21

    Matter Cycles

    CC-BY-NC-SA www.flickr.com/photos/superdeluxesam/5142923147

    The first law of Ecology is that everything is related to everything else ~ Barry Commoner

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Use Diagrams to trace the movement of matter through a cycle.
      2. Define and give examples of limiting factors.

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • WATCH: Amoeba Sisters Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 4.1 ASSIGNMENT: Matter Cycles (Due September 21)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • 4.2 ASSIGNMENT: Matter Cycles Questions (Due September 21) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 5: September 24-28

    Human Impact on Matter Cycles

    CC-BY-NC-SA www.flickr.com/photos/superdeluxesam/5142923147

    Of all the creatures on Earth, in proportion to their size and weight, humans have the smallest footprint on the ground and the largest on the environment. ~ R.N. Prasher

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Distinguish between fact and opinion in a newspaper article related to the human impacts on matter cycles.
      2. Evaluate the impact of personal choices in relation to the cycling of matter within an ecosystem.

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • 5.1 ASSIGNMENT: What is Good Science? (Due September 28)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • 5.2 ASSIGNMENT: Carbon Footprint (Due September 28)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • Review: Matter Cycles URL
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Test #2

    • 5.3 TEST: Test #2 (Due September 28) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
      Receive a passing grade
      Receive a pass grade or complete all available attempts
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 6: October 1-5

    Ecological Relationships

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Common_clownfish_curves_dnsmpl.jpg

    The important thing is to never stop questioning ~ Albert Einstein

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Announcement:  We will be using the Brine Shrimp that came with your science kit in Week 9.  Make sure you have picked up your kit from the MHA office.  There will not be an alternate lab, you must have the brine shrimp supplies.

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Categorize relationships among living things according to predator-prey, competition, and symbiosis.

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • READ: Symbiosis Book
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 6.1 ASSIGNMENT: Symbiotic Relationships (Due October 5) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
    • READ: Predator-Prey Book
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 6.2 ASSIGNMENT: Predator-Prey (Due October 5) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
    • 6.3 ASSIGNMENT: Hare and Lynx Graph (Due October 5)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 7: October 8-12

    Ecological Communities

    https://is.mendelu.cz/eknihovna/opory/download.pl?objekt=46773

    No one species shall make the life of the world its own. ~ Daniel Quinn

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Announcement:  We will be using the Brine Shrimp that came with your science kit in Week 9.  Make sure you have picked up your kit from the MHA office.  There will not be an alternate lab, you must have the brine shrimp supplies.

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. List factors used to determine carrying capacity for an organism.
      2. Explain how water is a limiting factor in various ecosystems. 

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • READ: Limiting Factors Book
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • WATCH: Limiting Factors Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 7.1 ASSIGNMENT: Limiting Factors (Due Oct. 12) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
      Receive a passing grade
    • 7.2 ASSIGNMENT: Carrying Capacity (Due Oct. 12)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Extra Credit Science Journal:

  • Collapse Expand

    Week 8: October 15-17

    Competition

    Heyheyuwb at English Wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

    No two species will occupy the same niche and compete for exactly the same resources for an extended period of time.

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Categorize relationships among living things according to predator-prey, competition, and symbiosis. 
      2. Formulate and test a hypothesis specific to the effect of changing one variable upon another in a small ecosystem. 

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • READ: Competition Book
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 8.1 ASSIGNMENT: Competitive Exclusion Lab (Due October 17)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Review:

    • REVIEW: Competitive Exclusion URL
      Students must
      Mark as done
  • Collapse Expand

    Week 9: October 22-26

    Brine Shrimp and the Great Salt Lake

    CC-BY-NC-SA www.flickr.com/photos/superdeluxesam/5142923147

    Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Set up your brine shrimp lab on Monday or Tuesday. You will need 3 days to complete the lab.  

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1. Identify abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem.
      2. Investigate the abiotic factors in the Great Salt Lake that affect brine shrimp.
      3. Plan and conduct an experiment on how abiotic factors affect brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake.

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • WATCH: Abiotic and Biotic Factors URL
      Students must
      View
    • 9.1 ASSIGNMENT: Abiotic and Biotic Factors of GSL (Due Oct. 26)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • WATCH: Brine Shrimp Investigation Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 9.2 ASSIGNMENT: Brine Shrimp Investigation (Due October 26)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
  • Collapse Expand

    Week 10: October 29-November 2

    Research

    http://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/biochemistry_3d.html

    Science is wonderfully equipped to answer the question 'How?'  But it gets terribly confused when you as the question 'Why?' ~Erwin Chargaff

    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Learning Objectives:

      1.  Research and evaluate local and global practices that affect ecosystems. 

    • Introduction and Weekly Schedule Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Lesson and Assignments:

    • WATCH: Citizen Science Page
      Students must
      View
    • 10.1 ASSIGNMENT: Citizen Science Project (Due Nov. 2)
      Students must
      View
      Make a submission
      Receive a grade
    • Students must
      Mark as done

      Test #3

    • WATCH: Amoeba Sisters Ecological Relationships Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
    • 10.2 TEST: Test #3 (Due November 2) Quiz
      Students must
      View
      Receive a grade
      Receive a passing grade