Welcome to Biology 11

What defines the parameters of life and death?  Why is a rock nonliving and a barnacle alive?  How does a jellyfish function with no brain, no heart? Probe, observe, examine, dissect the three hearts of a squid, the taste buds of a fly, “fangs” on a spider, “breathing” apparatus on leaves, carnivorous plants.  Record your observations in a journal, a sketchbook or blog.  Indulge in a microbial wine and cheese.  Get dirty as stewards of an urban bog, dig in our school community garden. 

This course explores the universal processes of life from the tiniest microbe to a blue whale.  All living things have common traits and interconnections.  These traits can evolve and change in response to a changing environment. Our modern, urban life is accelerating environmental change at a rate that may exceed the ability for organisms to adapt.  There are now 6 billion people on earth.  3 billion are in cities.  By 2050, there will be 9 billion people on earth and 6 billion will be in cities.  If all the cities are exactly like ours, we would need four earths.  Biology 11 provides a biological, ecological context to inform our ability to design a sustainable future -  which you must do within your lifetime. 

Sustainability and third term

In April and May our focus will be sustainability.  We will embark on a
SUSTAINABILITY UNIT  learning outcome:  create working models and learning materials relating to sustainability in our region. Due end of April

BOG BUDDY PROJECT Program.  Due mid may

Finally, we will conduct a long term observation of the biodiversity in an area by
creating a transect and observing an area such as the Kerrisdale Ravine, or observing wildlife, or creating a species inventory of a trail in Pacific Spirit Park.   Due in mid June.

In June we will have  a final exam.

Animalia Assignment

create a table describing the life processes (like feeding, respiration, circulation, response to env, getting rid of waste, interacting with other organisms, habitat, etc)

platyhelminthese:  tapeworm planaria
cnidaria:  obelia, hydra, scyphozoa, sea anemone
nematoda:  hookworm, ascaris
molluska:  squid, clam/oyster/scallop, snail

arthropoda:  horseshoe crab, spider, crab, grasshopper
echinodermata:  sea urchin, sea star

This is due second last day of class before spring break

select animalia notes

molluska notes
flatworms and roundworms
kingdom animalia
cnidaria and porifera
Some notes on arthropoda

And Dr. Wayne Maddison's jumping spider video:  click on the picture below

You Animal!

intro to kingdom animalia.  there will be a 10 mark quiz next period on the contents of these notes up to the section on endoderm, ectoderm and mesoderm

intro to cnidaria and porifera
Today we will review key concepts in kingdom Animalia and look at sections of earthworm and ascaris to compare the body plans of these animals.  You will discover whether you are a protostome or deuterstome.

Welcome back. Beaty museum and Protozoa notes

For those who didn't make it for the Beaty trip the first time, here is your second chance to go on the trip: BEATY MUSEUM FIELD TRIP JAN 15 CONSENT FORM.

Today we went over Kingdom protista.  Notes are here.

Consent Form For the Beaty Museum and Sustainable Building Tour

Reminders for next weeks events:

Monday: microbiology quiz.  this includes notes as well as information in the disease slide presentation
Wednesday:  field trip to UBC.  Download the consent form
Friday:  Microbial wine and cheese AND virus/bacteria model due.

Our field trip:

We will meet at the CK Choi building and do a walkabout in and around the building.  Microbes are used to take care of the waste in this building.Next, we will proceed to the CIRS building and then make our way to the Beaty museum so we may enter at 10am when it opens.  The Beaty Museum is a research collection of biodiversity. It is like a library.  It's primary purpose is archival. The public is invited to come and take a peek at the specimens.  The flagship specimen is a huge blue whale skeleton collected from the shores of Prince Edward Island.