Looking at Histology slides

 We have some human lymph node slides. Examine these under the microscope and make a drawing under low power and high power.  Label the parts of the lymph node as described in this excellent website

https://histologyblog.com/2012/04/30/histoquarterly-lymph-node/\

These are numbers 16, 19 in the slide A box 

Examine Human blood smear and identify the RBC and WBC , try to identify WBC's using the 

American Hematology Atlas

Articles on H5N1

 Dr. Filiatrault was a co-author of this article . Read it and summarize it 

Opinion: Gambling with bird flu is asking for trouble — and another pandemic

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: SARS outbreak in Vancouver and Toronto

 Read about it here

https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/e_records/sars/report/v2-pdf/Vol2Chp3iii.pdf

Interview with the Dr. who stopped SARS

read the following newspaper article written by Pete McMartin in 2010, in the Vancouver Sun :

A VANCOUVER DR WHO STOPPED SARS COLD

By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun May 15, 2010 

On March 7, 2003, at 1:55 p.m., Dr. Lyne Filiatrault was nearing the end of her shift when a 55-year-old man was wheeled into the emergency department of Vancouver General Hospital. He was turning blue.

That day he had returned from a visit to Hong Kong, where he and his wife had stayed on the 14th floor of the Metropole Hotel. Staying on the ninth floor of the same hotel was a physician from mainland China, who, the week the man and his wife were there, developed symptoms so debilitating that he had checked himself into a Hong Kong hospital on Feb. 22. There he was put into an intensive care unit. He died on March 4.

The illness the Chinese physician died of was so new to the medical community it did not yet have a name, but within days it would come to be known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. SARS.

From that ninth floor of the Metropole, the disease spread outward, like ripples from a stone dropped in water. A second Metropole guest died on March 13 after travelling to Vietnam. Health care workers there were infected, as were medical staff in Hong Kong, probably because they had not taken the correct respiratory precautions. Cases were reported in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and China. Fears grew that a new global pandemic was gaining momentum.

But on March 7, no one in the emergency department of VGH knew what SARS was. The BC Centre for Disease Control had sent out universal e-mails warning hospital staffs to be on the lookout for a new strain of avian flu, but SARS is not avian flu, and e-mails can go unread.

Filiatrault, however, was the kind of doctor who read all her e-mails, especially those from the BCCDC. She has a reputation for a fanatical sense of duty and hard work, often working hours past her shift's end.

"She works so hard and is so dedicated to her work," said her husband, Dr. David Haughton, an emergency-department physician at Children's Hospital, "that she'll wake up in the middle of the night because she's worried she forgot some detail, and then she'll phone the ward. She's done it so many times, they'll just pick up the phone and say, 'Lyne, go back to sleep.'"

So while Filiatrault did not know exactly what the man who came through VGH's doors on March 7 ailed from, she knew enough from reading the BCCDC's e-mails that a patient recently arrived from Asia who was having such trouble breathing that he was turning blue warranted medical care of extraordinary caution.

Often, emergency-ward patients in a teaching hospital will first be examined by students or interns, but Filiatrault, who had worked in VGH's emergency department since 1997, examined the patient herself. She summoned a respirologist. The patient was immediately put on oxygen and blood work was done. She, the attending nurse and the respirologist hoisted the patient into bed.

"Initially, when he came in," Filiatrault said, "we didn't have any protective gear, so we were lucky we didn't contract the disease. I came down with a mild flu that weekend, which freaked my family out, but I was tested, and I never developed any antibodies."

Within minutes, it was decided that the man, who would soon become known as Patient Zero, should be placed in isolation. It was a group decision made by the department personnel, Filiatrault said, not her alone.

"I don't care to, or want to, take sole responsibility for the decisions that were made concerning the patient," she said. "I can't stress enough that this was a group effort."

It should be interjected here that Filiatrault is so self-effacing she originally did not want to do an interview, and had to be persuaded to do so by her husband and VGH media-relations staff. The part she played in containing the SARS outbreak in Vancouver, as far as I could discern, had never been told in the media before because she had never spoken to the media about it. Only her peers knew of it. Even in talking to us, she played it down.

"Like I said, the stars were aligned and it just worked well. We were lucky. It could have gone the other way. We could have been infected but weren't. And in 2003, we had the luxury of no crowding and an isolation room that was immediately available."

Her peers have a different view. Dr. Roy Purssell, who was head of the emergency department at the time, wasn't surprised at her version. "She played it down, didn't she?" he asked, as if he expected her to. "But what was done ... she handled it with just an incredible attention to detail. It all got handled just as it should be, with meticulous care and great communication between staff. Lives were saved, and the economic impact that this could have had in B.C. was avoided. In Toronto, it cost the city ... what? ... over a billion dollars? I'm very proud of her, and proud to be working with her."

In Toronto, where another infected patron of the Metropole Hotel returned on Feb. 23, infecting her son before dying at home on March 5, the SARS epidemic breached the hospitals' first line of defence, to disastrous results.

Ontario did not have an equivalent to the BCCDC, and so did not have a centralized warning system for communicable diseases. When Ontario's Patient Zero presented himself to an emergency ward on March 7, the same day our Patient Zero arrived at VGH, he was thus not recognized as a special threat and was placed in general observation in an emergency room for 18 hours. He was not placed in isolation until 21 hours after arriving at the hospital.

By then it was too late. Fortyfour people would die in Ontario from SARS, thousands would be placed in quarantine and the cost just to the Ontario business economy was estimated in the billions.

Here in B.C., there were five reported cases of SARS. All of them recovered, including Patient Zero.

Filiatrault, however, counselled caution. (And it was the following that she insisted the story concentrate on.)

"In 2003, as I said, we had the luxury of an isolation room that was immediately available to us.

"Nowadays? The number-one complaint in patient surveys? Wait times. And the wait times are too long. Nowadays, what happens with the overcrowding in emergency departments is, people wait for hours in triage. If somebody has a sprained ankle, fine, they can sit there for five hours. But if somebody has a serious communicable disease, they can sit next to people for hours without us knowing it, and expose them."

This is a complaint emergency-room doctors have been taking public. There has been a recent campaign to get the provincial government to pony up another $10 million, to hire another 35 emergency physicians to cope with the 25-per-cent increase in emergency-room traffic at our larger hospitals.

"We're the safety net," Filiatrault said, "and really, if there are not enough strands, it affects your care. In the future, I think we're at the risk of potentially having people infected."

A postscript to this story:

For its work in containing the SARS outbreak in those first days of March 2003, the VGH emergency department received a special award from the province. Filiatrault was asked to speak at the award ceremony to describe the events that day when Patient Zero came through the doors.

She declined, and asked Purssell to speak in her place.

She worked her shift, instead.

pmcmartin@vancouversun.com 604-605-2905

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/...#ixzz0o0sVGGUt

Bacteria lab

   

 HYPOTHESIS:

Create a hypothesis about what area of the school will yield the fastest growing bacteria and the most number of colonies. What factors do you think led to growing more bacteria or more different types?

PROCEDURE:

Use agar plates and q-tips to sample different surfaces around our school.  Store the plates UPSIDEDOWN in a secure location in the classroom.  Note where you found the sample

OBSERVATION
 Next, create a data table showing in the following columns

1.  names
2.  a. location of sample
2.b. is this a high traffic location for human contact?
2c.  is this a dry, sticky, wet, warm, cold location, or don't know?

GROW THE BACTERIA

3.a count the number of colonies
3b.  and their relative size of colonies (estimate size of each dot or circle diameter based on petri dish size
4.  colour of colonies
5.  Any mold sample?

Note that a nil result tells you something too!


ANALYSIS
1. Tell me some patterns that you are noticing in the collection of these samples.
2. Which locations are yielding the most samples.
3.Why might some samples yield more bacteria or faster growing bacteria?
4. What are some limitations of this study and some sources of experimental error?

CONCLUSION
Write a well reasoned conclusion based on your observations.

EVALUATION   IS OUT OF 25 IN TOTAL ...create a ppt for this assignment!

5

presentation is out of 5.  for 5/5 it is typed  with illustrations or photos and emailed to for 4/5 it is pretty good but there are a few spelling mistakes.  for 0-3 out of 5 it is in pencil or messy.  

10

Clear writing is out of 10.  for 9/10 or 10/10, it is written with no English mistakes and it clearly communicates each part of the lab report.    7-8/10  it is very well written     for 5-6/10 some parts are not so clear and the reader must guess what you are trying to say.  0-4/10, it is minimally communicating what happened

10

Paragraphs are insightful and your observations are well done. this is out of 10.

             9-10/10,   your observations and conclusions are well written and logical.  It is brilliant

              7-8/10   your observations and conclusions are very well done

               5-6   your conclusions don't really logically follow from your results

                0-4   your conclusions are not relating to your results at all

DISEASE VECTOR Assignments

 SLIDESHOW ON DISEASE

Read and analyze the following scenarios :  

CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL  CASE STUDIES                             

  

CREATE DISEASE SUMMARY SHEETS WHICH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION in pen. Each worth 15 marks total of 45 marks.  You may work in a group. 

1. case study: covid 19 on a cruise ship in Japan
article on cruise ship in Japan

https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2020/02/07/coronavirus-outbreak-on-quarantined-japan-cruise-ship-spreads-61-passengers-now-affected/#21bb8de328c4

2. case study: Ebola outbreak in North America
watch the video first

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XCrOde-JYs0

here is the case study: https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/ebola-america-timeline/story%3fid=26159719

3.  Case study: Measles in BC, a resurgence of an old disease

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/measles-in-b-c-how-we-got-here-and-what-you-need-to-know

and a summary of BC CDC response:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/library/publications/year/2019/measles-update-may2019.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi1yvrT9r7uAhVLHzQIHbIQCLoQFjACegQICRAC&usg=AOvVaw3B1SCyd7RHx_OoGIMdFUln

The case of Avian Influenza infecting Dairy Cows

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bird-flu-in-u-s-cows-caught-scientists-by-surprise-canadian-research-has-seen-it-coming-since-1953-1.7212587

CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL             

NAMES of group_________________

Name of disease:

Symptoms of the disease: ( 2 marks )

Age, sex and other details of the certain victims who are mentioned in the articles above 

 ( 3 marks )

Possible disease vectors, consider multiple vectors:  (2 marks)             

         Food

         Water

         Aerosol

         Soil

         Animal

         Human contact

                  Blood, mucous, saliva,

                  Feces, sexual contact 

Give  Evidence of this disease vectors                                                                     
(3 marks)

List the major events of the outbreak and the response of CDC in the order that it took place:  

Using drawings in ink and colour:  Number the events and highlight the events.  List measures taken  to contain the outbreak successfully. 

(5 marks)

Introduction to Microbiology: Viruses

 This is an Introduction to Microbiology Notes, which cover Virus, and Monerans, with a mention of unicellular fungi.  Read this document as an overview. 

Read this Introduction to Viruses and also find out how Viruses can infect their hosts

Viruses can infect cells using the LYTIC CYCLE.  

Review the 

STEPS TO THE LYTIC CYLE: memorize AESAR

• Attachment
• Entry & degradation of host's DNA
• Synthesis of new viruses 
• duplication of virus' genetic material
• creation of new virus parts
• Assembly of parts into new viruses
• Release of new viruses

 video shows lytic cycle

COVID-19 is a virus that undergoes a lytic cycle, but it does not explode cells, instead, it simply gets released from a cell

FOSSIL LAB

  We will go over these slides on GEOLOGICAL TIME

And this is some background info on how fossils are formed. please do this worksheet    using the link here for finding the answers. 

HERE IS A SECOND LINK

This is 10 marks

Geological Time Lab

USE THE DRAWING PAPER AND MAKE COLOUR AND INK DRAWINGS OF SPECIMENS

Station 1 . ROW 1 THREE drawings  

Draw TWO samples of SANDSTONE 

DRAW ONE SAMPLE OF SHALE

  Answer the following questions
1.  How is sandstone formed?  Explain how a fossil might be formed in Sandstone
2.  How is shale  formed?  Explain how a fossil can form in shale

Station 2.  Known Fossils  THREE DRAWINGS 
A.  COMPARATIVE TEACHING COLLECTION ROW 2
Photograph all  fossils summarize their descriptions 

MAKE ONE DRAWING which includes  one fossil and one modern day equivalent.   Label the drawings with the descriptions shown

B.  FOSSIL BOX and fossil bucket.  ROW 3   Identify 7 and MAKE TWO DRAWINGS

1. photograph  7 fossils from this box and identify them.

2. Make two drawings consisting of: 

a.  a careful drawing of ONE FOSSIL from the box.

b. a drawing of the actual organism that  it came from using an internet search.  

c.   Tell me what era it came from as well as its environmental conditions.  for example, if your fossil is a SHARK TOOTH, then the organism it comes from is a SHARK and it's environment is marine. So your drawing in section 2B b is a drawing of a shark in its marine environment.

Station 3. ROW 4  UNKNOWN FOSSILS. 3 DRAWINGS 

 Choose 3 to draw
CHOOSE 3 fossils to identify.  photograph them and give evidence that you can identify the fossil using the known fossils. 

EVALUATION.   60 marks total

lab portion total 60 marks 

50-60 marks - you photograph all the fossils and you make drawings 

 3 drawings for station 1

3 drawings for station 2 and 

3 drawings for station 3. 

 You complete all your observations.    

30-45 - you completed all the drawings and it is not in colour .  Your drawings look great.  Or, you have beautiful drawings but did not complete all the drawings for each station.  

10-30 - This looks great and you need to complete the work

0-9 - this work is incomplete. 

KERATIN ADAPTATIONS

 

 Open the windows for ventilation during this lab. 

Note: these feathers were collected prior to 2018

DNA forms the recipes for many adaptations in kingdom Animalia.  One example of a common recipe used for different purposes is keratin.  Keratin is a protein formed by a sequence of amino acids dictated by DNA.  

Keratin forms the hair of primates, canines, felines, all mammals.  Keratin also forms the scales of a fish, the feathers on a bird.  The soft keratin in birds and mammals is called alpha keratin. The harder keratin on a fish or a reptile is called beta keratin. 

This website explains the difference

The Science of Birds

Examine the variety of forms in the feather samples in the lab.  Look at these under the dissecting microscope.  Wash your hands after handling these feathers and note that all feathers are part of a collection that was assembled prior to 2018 and thus unexposed to current avian flu outbreaks in the lower mainland

Draw 3 samples of feather and answer the following questions: Each drawing ought to be half a page.

1.  Which  feathers look like they are good for insulation? These areas would be soft and fine, with the ability to trap air pockets

2.  Which feathers look like they might be good for catching wind for gliding or flying?  These feathers can zip together and come apart alike a zipper.  

3.  What are the differences that you can observe on these feathers? How are the feathers different in shape, texture, colour?  What is the purpose of colour for a bird? How can colour on a bird feather help a bird survive in the wild?

Examine the Fish Scale under the microscope:  Draw two views. Each drawing ought to be half a page.

1.  What is the purpose of the fish scale? How can this scale protect the fish? 

2.  Some scales are iridescent or they catch light in different ways.  Adjust the light levels under the microscope  and see what  you can find for interesting perspectives on this piece of fish anatomy. 

How Evolutionary Change occurs

 review these intro notes on evolution,   If time, look at the notes on

How evolutionary change occurs

Watch the videos below on speciation

BE PREPARED FOR A QUIZ ON THIS COMING UP

ASSIGNMENT

DO TWO TASKS
1. WRITE A SUMMARY OF HOW SPECIATION OCCURS, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
Review THE BIRD video on the steps of speciation and take notes on this, outlining the steps. Also read "How evolutionary change occurs" as a reference
2.  NEXT, write a summary of the human evolution video
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/video/human-origin-101/

Evolution introduction

 Take a look at the Evolution power point and do the lab exercise at the end:

Evolution powerpoint

xʷməm̓qʷe:m Camosun bog

  Take a look at  my  BOG PRESENTATION 

Camosun Bog Restoration Group method for bog restoration:  Watch this video. The teens in this video are my students when I taught at PW.  They learned their plantae unit by joining a work party!  You can also read about the history of camosun bog restoration here.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSrEhGSnhiY

Why  xʷməm̓qʷe:m, Camosun bog , is important: Listen to  Elder Larry Grant talk about  xʷməm̓qʷe:m.  By the way, Elder, Larry Grant's parents are Musqeuam and  Chinese.  In addition to being a speaker of the Musqueam language, he understands and speaks Cantonese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6K7jASVzl8

Watch Elder Larry Grant's personal story:  He is a language keeper of the Musqueam People.

Watch the creation story of the Musqueam people . Their story begins  in Camosun bog.

The double headed serpent story 

 The Double-Headed Serpent from Deadpixel on Vimeo.

This is a pole carved by a Musqueam artist and related to the fourth video above.  It is  located in UBC and this is what it means 

Transcript of Elder Larry Grant video:

The bog is an integral part of Musqueam. In Musqueam history and the story of Musqueam. So that real connection. When that bog, it’s quite a few things actually when the bog shrinks, that means that people have drained the bog. For urbanization and use of land, removing what western culture called unusable land or unusable space, for I would say non cultural well, to us, non-cultural activity to the Musqueam people. Why would you drain a bog, it carries so much life, if it’s drained it’s allowed to shrink even more. That actually erases all the corroborating evidence of the story of Musqueam and it’s eradicating cultural identity, Aboriginal identity, it’s eradicating Aboriginal identity, in that sense where it removes all traces of any of the stories that we will be able to tell or we can still tell the story, but we won’t be able to say that this is where it originates. And if it’s completely drained, that’s just another step in removing all traces of First Nations People. I would like to see it grow actually but that takes a lot of effort, I would like to see it open up a little more and all those Indigenous plants that are there, allowed to expand a bit because then it becomes a teaching tool for all people. About the value of the bog, the biodiversity that’s in there is amazing, yeah, and it’s set up where people can walk though there and have a look and get very close to all the plants and the mallard ducks are still there. They sit in that center pond and just live be around up there and actually be part of the story of Musqueam. There is a mallard duck in there, there’s actually a little family of mallard ducks in there so. 

BIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 
DRAW a hand drawn cartoon summary of the  videos which you see above as well as the meaning of the pole above.  You should  make at least three pages, one for each video.  In your assignment, try to write in musqueam!  Tell the story of Elder Larry Grant too, who is a Musqueam Elder (and a Musqueam-Chinese Canadian)

OR 

WRITE an illustrated essay using photos like screen captures of the videos and illustrate your essay with photos.  Remember that if you use a phrase from a source, to use quotations and cite the source. 


EVALUATION 
60 -  your work is outstanding and excellent. It looks amazing and stands out. 
50-55 - your work is excellent showing attention to detail.  You summarize the key points and you don't miss anything.  Your drawings tell the story of the videos and links.  Your writing summarizes the key points in an engaging writing style. You cite your sources and also you have posted your work on your blog, which you send to me. You show creativity.
40. your work shows a high standard of quality. your drawings are beautiful or your writing is excellent and engaging to the reader.  You show creativity. you could have included a few more details or you did not cite your sources. You uploaded and handed this in on your blog.

30 - You have a good start

xʷməm̓qʷe:m plants

 Examine the bog plants that are provided 

1. Draw a clear map of the minibog indicating the location of species

2. Draw the individeual plants on half a page in colour

3.  Make a prepared slide of moss using a glass slide and cover slip.  Draw this sample 

Bog plants on display: sphagnum moss, bog cranberry, labrador tea, bog laurel, round leaf sundew

Nonbog plants on display:

polytrichum moss, huckleberry, blueberry, juncus, salal 

A full list of bog plants are located here 

CAMOSUN BOG WEBSITE 

Plant Evolution Notes

 

Please look at this Plantae evolution power point

fill in this worksheet with the main ideas from the powerpoint and hand it in through TEAMS.  15 marks.

Protein Synthesis

 

Details of DNA transcription and translation

Amino acids are made of a carboxyl group and amine group and an R group.  
they are the subunits for polypeptide chains which ultimately make a protein.

There are twenty one amino acids which correspond to a CODON. This forms the GENETIC CODE

Transcription: mRNA is made from the DNA strand
1.   DNA unwinds and a promoter region is exposed.  There is a SENSE STRAND (TEMPLATE STRAND) of DNA to make RNA.
2.  RNA polymerase synthesizes the mRNA from a 5' to 3' direction.  RNA nucleotides are attached only on the 3' end.
3.  When the mRNA is complete it undergoes processing
 a.EDITING THE mRNA STRAND:  INTRONS are removed and EXONS remain.
b.  A polyA tail and 5' cap are placed on the mRNA in order to protect the strand from exonuclease.  Exonucleases digest and recycle mRNA.  We want them to avoid digesting the mRNA while it is being read by the ribosome
4.  mRNA is now ready for the ribosome.  IN EUKARYOTES, it leaves the nucleus.  IN PROKARYOTES, protein synthesis starts right away

Translation:  mRNA gets read by the ribosome and a polypeptide chain is formed
 Initiation: 
1. METHIONINE is the first amino acid brought by a tRNA.  tRNA has an ANTICODON which is complementary to the mRNA CODON.  The START CODON IS ALWAYS AUG. Meanwhile, the small ribosomal subunit attaches to the strand.
2.  Next the large ribosomal subunit arrives with its P site and A site.

AMINO ACYL T-RNA is the name of the tRNA attached to the amino acid.

the following is excerpted from  mrsdaintreysonlineclassroom. retrieved
january 20, 2016:  

"Elongation
more amino acids are added and connected together to form a polypeptide, as specified by the mRNA sequence.
i. an incoming amino-acyl-tRNA (lets call this AA2-tRNA2) recognizes the codon in the A site and binds there.
ii. a peptide bond is formed through dehydration synthesis between the new amino acid and the growing polypeptide chain.
iii. the amino acid is removed from tRNA1 (bond breaks between aa1 and tRNA1)
iv. the tRNA1 that was in the P site is released, and the tRNA in the A site is translocated to the P site.
v. the ribosome moves over one codon along the mRNA (to the right in our diagram, or more specifically in the 5' ----> 3' direction.)
vi. This movement shifts the tRNA2 (which is attached to the growing amino acid chain) to the P site.
vii. tRNA3 with aa3 can now move into A site and bind with the next codon on mRNA.
viii. THIS PROCESS REPEATS, and the CHAIN ELONGATES as long as there are new codons to read on the mRNA. 

Termination
The process above repeats until a special codon, called a STOP CODON, is reached. There are 3 Stop codons: UAA, UAG, UGA.
i. the stop codons do not code for amino acids but instead act as signals to stop translation.
ii. a protein called release factor binds directly to the stop codon in the A site. The release factor causes a water molecule to be added to the end of the polypeptide chain, and the chain then separates from the last tRNA.

3. the protein is now complete. The mRNA is now usually broken down by exonuclease  and the ribosome splits into its large and small subunits.
   
4. the new protein is sent for final processing into the endoplasmic reticulum and golgi apparatus " 
   

Examine and Identify Vertebrate Skulls

 

   

  

Next we will. introduce the idea of  Using Dichotomous Keys to help identify things. 

We will use this key to do a lab on identifying mammalian skulls.  Be careful with these skulls!  They are very fragile.  We will take two periods to complete this lab.

CLASS NOTES: 
STUDY QUESTIONS TODAY:


1.  What is meant by the word "Adaptation"?
2.  Skull adaptations for predators/prey include the placement of the eyes.  Explain why eye socket anatomy is different in predator vs prey.  Give examples
3.  What teeth do predators have compared to prey?
4.  How are the skulls HOMOLOGOUS TRAITS?  What is a homologous trait?


IDENTIFICATION LAB:

Purpose:
1.  To identify a set of mammalian skulls and determine whether the animal is a predator or prey
2.  Demonstrate an ability to use a dichotomous key
3.  Draw each specimen and demonstrate your ability to observe using the skill of drawing.
4. Make conclusions about what animal this might be.  note that one of the specimens does not clearly fit the key exactly. Just try your best to identify it. 

For each specimen: 10 marks per specimen:
1.  Make a half page drawing where you measure and label parts     
5 marks - your color drawing is in ink, and  half a page and every part is labeled, and you have measured it in cm
3-4 marks, drawing is not in colour, it is in pencil, or less than half a page or some parts not labeled.  or you did not measure, or it is a rushed drawing
1-2 marks - it is incomplete

2.  observe the eye sockets and the teeth and conclude whether the skull belongs to a predator or prey
3 marks - you explain yourself very clearly and give your reasons and they seem logical
2 marks - your reasons are logical
1 - you are correct and need to provide more evidence for your point of view

3.  Take your best shot at identifying this specimen, give reasons for your conclusion.
2 marks - you are spot on!  or, if it is inconclusive, you give your best evidence for what it might be
1 mark- you are making a pretty good guess and you provide some evidence



Some useful information:

Dichotomous key for rodents
 Dichotomous Key for Mammals in the USA
Mammals of Alaska
The following quote is from
https://www.earthlife.net/mammals/teeth.html

"Teeth in mammals come in four different sorts: Incisors, Canines, Premolars and Molars. Not all mammals have all, or even any of them and the roles any particular sort of teeth play in an animal's life can be quite diverse. The arrangement of teeth in any given mammals mouth can be expressed as a 'dental formula'. This formula gives the arrangement of one side of an animal's jaw such that incisors are always written first then canines then premolars and then molars.

For humans 2123-2123 is upper and lower jaws respectively signifying 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars and 3 molars on each side in both the upper and lower jaw.

In total this adds up to 8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars and 12 molars = 32 teeth in humans. Other mammals have different numbers of each sort of teeth in their upper and lower jaws. Hence Smoky Bats (family Furipteridae) have the dental formula 2123-3133 whilst Hyenas have 3141-3131 normally.

Incisors = Cutting teeth - these are the front most teeth in the jaw primarily used for the initial biting of food. They have a straight, sharp cutting edge and one root. In many Rodents they grow continually throughout the animals life, this is because they get warn down gnawing through things.

Canines = Stabbing teeth - normally only 2 pairs (one each side) per jaw. They have a sharp, pointed edge and are used with the incisors to bite into food and or to kill prey. Like incisors they have one root. The tusks of many animals such as elephants are modified canines. They are missing in rodents and most large herbivores (Perissodactyls and Artiodactyls). The gap where the canines would have been is often enlarged and is called a 'diastema'.

Premolars = Next back from the canines. They are generally similar to molars in form and function in both herbivores and omnivores, but in carnivores some of them at least are slimmer and are used to cut flesh. When they (the first lower premolar and last upper premolar) are modified like this they are called the carnassials. Otherwise premolars are teeth we use to crush and grind our food. Their upper surfaces have a broad, lumpy top instead of a sharp biting edge. These small irregular lumps are called cusps. Premolars are called bicuspids in some books, this is because, in most cases, they have two cusps. The prefix bi meaning two. The first upper premolars normally have two roots. The other premolars have one root.

Molars = These are larger than premolars and extremely variable depending on the animal's diet. Like premolars they are used for crushing and grinding food, and like premolars their upper surfaces have ridges called cusps on them. Molars normally have three to five cusps and two or three roots. In humans we call the third molars, those closest to the back of the mouth 'Wisdom Teeth'. If the jaw bone is not large enough to accommodate all the teeth in it, as sometimes happens with humans, these wisdom teeth can become painfully wedged between the back of the jaw bone and the 2nd molars. This condition is known as 'impacted wisdom teeth'."

Example:  Domestic Cat

a rabbit skull has a rostrom a rostral fenestra is a window or hole(s) in that area of the skull

this picture is from the following website 

https://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/rabbit.htm