We went to the Zoo!

It is Spring Break in our neck of the woods.  I am enjoying a much needed break from teaching school!  I absolutely love teaching, but everyone needs a break from their job from time to time, and teachers are no exception.  I will be energized and ready to jump back into the school routine next Monday.

I am so thankful that my oldest daughter, who is in college now, has spring break this same week.  Yesterday was a gorgeous day, sunny and 82 degrees.  The entire family went on a zoo adventure, so I though I would share zoo photos with you this week.

Our first stop was a new "Dino Digs" exhibit.
It is really for the little kids, but us big kids love it, too!

I love that my grown daughters are still so playful
and still enjoy going to the zoo with their mom!

We caught the cheetahs sunbathing!

Our zoo has made remarkable progress in the 30 years
 we have lived in this area.  Most of the enclosures
are new and offer wonderful living spaces for these animals.

The hippo enclosure is one of the last areas to be updated.
This area was built in the 1950's.

A new hippo area is being built and will be ready within the next year.
 It will be called Zambizi River Camp and will offer these
magnificent animals a new state of the art home.

The meerkats are definitely a family favorite!

Our zoo was successful in obtaining a pair of pandas on loan from China.

One of the newest areas of our zoo is called Northwest Passage.  It houses the polar bears, grizzly bears, wolves, and sea lions.  The polar bear area is one big water playground for these guys!

Not a great picture because of the angle of the sun, but it was such a great pose!

Over the next few days, I will be posting on the grizzly bears, the reptiles and the birds.  Enjoy!

The Atoms Family: Teaching About Atoms and Energy With a Monster Theme

The Atoms Family

This site makes learning about atoms, molecules and energy fun!

I recently came across this site while surfing the net for some new and fun science activities.  It is called "The Atoms Family", which I found amusing.  It is a spoof on the old television show called "The Adam's Family."  Don't worry, there is nothing scary on this site.....just a lot a really, really fun science activities and experiments.  It is based on The Atoms Family exhibit at the Miami Science Museum.

The stie is divided into these five general areas:

1. The Mummy's Tomb:  Learn about energy conservation, kinetic, and potential energy.
2. Dracula's Library:  Learn about the properties of light, waves, and particles.
3. Frankenstein's Lightening Laboratory:  Learn about different forms of electricity and electrical safety.
4. The Phantom's Portrait Parlor:  Learn about the principles of atoms and matter.
5. The Wolfman's Ghostly Graveyard:  Learn about fuel conservation and energy transfer.

Each of the above areas offers several activities to choose from based on the age of the child.  Some activities are aimed at younger elementary children, while others are more suitable for middle school children.  These activities can be carried out in a school classroom, or easily done at home.  All of the activities can be done with simple, easy to find materials.

Some of my favorite activities included:

• Making a Christmas light shine using a lemon
• A paper cutting activity that demonstrates the size of an atom
• Building a marble racetrack to show the differences in potential and kinetic energy.

All in all, I found this site to be both fun and educational!

Happy Teaching!

Have you heard of The Lesson Cloud?

Check out The Lesson Cloud!


The Lesson Cloud is a collaborative blog that has 100 teacher/authors from every grade level and every subject area.  Each and every day there are so many new posts about great teaching ideas, crafts, tips, etc.  There are links to paid products, but there are just SO MANY free materials that are posted to The Lesson Cloud every day.  The Lesson Cloud has a "Free Product Archive".  It is arranged by subject area and you can always find the perfect teaching lesson in the archive of free materials.  Read below about the special week taking place on The Lesson Cloud.  Be sure to follow the blog, and follow us on facebook!

This week (March 10 - 17) is March celebration month on The Lesson Cloud!  We are celebrating St. Patrick's Day, Earth Day, Spring Breaks from school, March Madness.....well, we are just celebrating life in general this week!  So check back every day and check back often because there will be tons and tons of posts for every grade level and every subject area.  The 100 leprechauns (authors) of The Lesson Cloud will be showering you with gold in the form of a load of freebies each and every day this week, along with great articles and links to some paid items.


Help us spread the word!  We would be thrilled if you would mention us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or give us a shout out on your blog.  Tell everyone that The Lesson Cloud is going GREEN and it is not to be missed!

Happy March, everyone!

Lab: The Use of Glucose in Cellular Respiration

<--- This is very difficult for many students who are attempting to master the details of cellular respiration!

Make your biology class more appealing and exciting by incorporating a variety of fun and interesting labs into your weekly lesson plans! This inquiry-based lab allows students to discover how yeasts use organic molecules as a source of energy and give off carbon dioxide as a waste product.

Cellular respiration may be one of the hardest topics that a biology teacher faces in their curriculum.  For many students, the concepts are vague and abstract, making them difficult to understand.  In order to teach a successful unit on cellular respiration, many "hands-on" activities are essential.

In this lab, we will try to determine these things:
1.  Is glucose required for cell respiration?
2. Is there a correlation or relationship between the amount of sugar available and the amount of carbon dioxide produced?
3.  Can any type of sugar be used as a fuel for cellular respiration?

To answer these questions, this 2-part lab will first have the student explore how the concentration of the glucose affects the rate of respiration.  Second, the student will conduct an experiment to determine if the type of sugar is important in the respiration process.

In the first part of the lab, the students will set up a serial dilution of glucose solutions ranging in concentration from 100% glucose down to .78% glucose.

After preparing the serial dilution, students add one mL of yeast solution to each glucose solution.  Now the fun part begins! Students will pour the glucose/yeast solution into the small fermentation tube, then flip the tube upside down into the beaker containing the remainder of the glucose/yeast solution.

I use 50 mL beakers and very small test tubes.  These test tubes (10 x 75 mL) make excellent fermentation tubes.

The small fermentation tube is completely filled
with the glucose/yeast solution.
The yeasts will give off carbon dioxide as they
convert the glucose to ATP during  fermentation.

After 24 hours, the yeasts have given off enough
carbon dioxide to produce a very large air bubble
inside the fermentation tube.

In the second part of the experiment, the student will determine if the type of sugar is important in the process of cellular respiration.  The same procedure is used, but rather than change the concentration of the glucose solution, the student uses different types of sugars.

This lab is designed for a typical high school biology class for students in grades 9 - 12. It is appropriate for both standard and honors classes, as well as for first or second year biology students. I have used this lab in both my freshman biology I class as well as my AP biology class.

The lab materials needed for this experiment are simple and are commonly found in most science labs:
Yeast suspension
12  (50-mL) beakers
1  (100-mL) beaker
12 (10 x 75 mm) fermentation tubes
 Karo corn syrup (glucose)
Maltose
Sucrose
10 mL graduated cylinder

Click image to view this lab in my TpT store.

Happy Teaching!

The Amazing Story of the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

I just read this article on NPR.com.  The article is about the stick insects found on Lord Howe's Island.  The insects were thought to be extinct.  But a small colony was found elsewhere.  (I don't want to give away too much!  Please click the link below to read the full article.)  This is just an amazing story.  I love nature and biodiversity. This is one of the best articles I have read in a long, long time.  And the pictures are amazing!!

Full article here!

Amazing, right?

Catalase Enzyme Lab Using Liver and Potato: Enzyme Activity in Plant and Animal Cells

Catalase is an enzyme found in both plant and animal cells, and this catalase enzyme lab allows students to observe enzyme activity using liver and potato tissues. In this enzyme lab, students see firsthand how catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, demonstrating how enzymes protect living cells. Comparing catalase activity in plant and animal tissues helps students understand enzyme specificity, enzyme function, and the importance of enzymes in biological chemical reactions.

You can download this free catalase enzyme lab activity here to use with your biology students.

What concepts are covered and reinforced?

1.  Enzymes speed up the rate of biological chemical reactions.

2.  The same enzymes are found in both plant and animal cells.

3.  Enzymes are highly specific for the reaction they catalyze.

4.  Enzymes carry out their functions more efficiently than catalysts.

5.  Enzymes can be denatured by excessive heat.

Why Catalase is Found in Both Plant and Animal Cells

Catalase is an enzyme that is commonly found in both plant and animal tissues. Its function is to break down hydrogen peroxide, a toxic byproduct of cellular respiration and other metabolic reactions, into water and oxygen. Because hydrogen peroxide is continuously produced inside living cells, catalase plays an essential role in protecting plant and animal cells by preventing harmful buildup of this toxic substance.

Manganese dioxide is a non-biological catalyst. Like enzymes, catalysts speed up chemical reactions, but unlike enzymes, catalysts are not specific to a single reaction. This comparison helps students understand the unique properties of enzymes and how enzyme activity differs from inorganic catalysts.  

This catalase enzyme lab uses common materials to demonstrate enzyme activity in plant and animal tissues.

Materials for the Catalase Enzyme Lab Using Liver and Potato

• Fresh plant and animal tissue (Potato and Liver)
• Boiled animal tissue (Liver)
• 3% hydrogen peroxide
• Manganese dioxide
• Test tubes and test tube rack
• Sand
• Mortar and pestle

Catalase is found in all eukaryotic cells, which is why this enzyme lab works using many types of fresh, living tissues. Liver is an excellent source of catalase from animal cells, and potato tissue provides a reliable source of catalase from plant cells. Comparing catalase activity in liver and potato tissues allows students to observe enzyme activity in both plant and animal cells. This comparison helps students understand that catalase is present in many different living tissues and plays an essential role in protecting cells.

What Happens When Catalase Breaks Down Hydrogen Peroxide?

Students will observe bubbles forming as catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas. These bubbles are oxygen released during the catalase enzyme reaction. Fresh liver and potato tissues produce a strong bubbling reaction because they contain active catalase, while boiled tissues produce little or no reaction because heat has denatured the enzyme.

Students absolutely love this catalase enzyme lab because they can immediately observe enzyme activity as bubbles of oxygen form during the reaction. 

This free catalase enzyme lab activity includes complete student instructions and a teacher guide to help you easily implement this engaging enzyme experiment in your classroom.

Download the FREE Catalase Enzyme Lab Activity

Frequently Asked Questions About the Catalase Enzyme Lab

Why do both plant and animal cells contain catalase?

Catalase is found in both plant and animal cells because all living cells produce hydrogen peroxide during normal metabolic processes. Catalase protects cells by breaking hydrogen peroxide down into water and oxygen.

Why is liver often used in catalase labs?

Liver cells contain large amounts of catalase because the liver plays a major role in detoxification. This makes liver an excellent tissue for demonstrating catalase enzyme activity in lab experiments.

Why do boiled tissues show little or no catalase activity?
Boiling denatures the catalase enzyme, changing its structure so it can no longer function properly. This prevents catalase from breaking down hydrogen peroxide.

What causes the bubbles in a catalase enzyme lab?
The bubbles are oxygen gas released when catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. This visible reaction demonstrates enzyme activity.

Related Blog Posts About Enzymes and Enzyme Labs:

Everything About Enzymes!

The Affect of the Enzyme Amylase on Starch

Why Do Living Cells Need Buffers? A Homeostasis Lab for Biology

Related Enzyme Labs and Biology Activities

These enzyme labs and biology activities help students further explore enzyme function, enzyme activity, and biochemical reactions in living cells.

Enzyme Lab: The Effect of pH on Living Cells

Enzymes: Complete Unit Bundle

Enzyme Graphing Activity

Lab: The Effect of the Enzyme Amylase on Starch

Enzymes Task Cards

Another FREEBIE! Cellular Respiration Word Game Review

Great review with a secret message!

This is a FREE download!  Click red text below to receive your free copy of this worksheet:

Cellular Respiration Word Game Review

Currently, our Biology I classes are covering cellular respiration. This may seem odd to many of you.  Who waits until the end of February to teach cellular respiration?  The answer to this question:  Those of us who teach on a trimester system! Teaching on a trimester system is the topic of a whole different blog article!! We are currently teaching cell respiration to students who began their biology course at the beginning of the second trimester.

Cellular respiration is one of the hardest topics a biology teacher has to teach during their course.  Its very abstract nature makes it particularly hard for many students to comprehend.  In my experience, the best approach is to provide as many opportunities as possible for the students to review and work with the information.  To give my students some extra review on the vocabulary words used in this unit,  I wrote this short review worksheet.

The printable lesson is perfect for traditional classroom settings, and the paperless, digital Google Apps version is perfect for distance learning and 1:1 classrooms. 

On the left side of the worksheet, a definition is given.  The student must write the correct term in the spaces to the right.  There are 28 vocabulary words used on this review worksheet.  The vocab words are:  pyruvic acid, protons, glucose, aerobic, matrix, adenosine triphosphate, ATP synthase, water, adenine, respiration, oxygen, lactic acid, Kreb's cycle, alcoholic, phosphate, glycolysis, citric acid, NADH, electron transport chain, cristae, mitochondria, carbon dioxide, fermentation, cytoplasm, thirty eight, anaerobic, ribose, and acetate.

The boxed in letters will spell out a secret message.  The students record these letters in the blanks at the end of the worksheet to reveal the hidden message.   WARNING:  Make sure you read the hidden message before you pass out this worksheet.  It involves the giving of extra credit points on the test!  This is such a hard concept for so many students that I am happy to offer them some extra credit points if they complete this review worksheet.

This is just one of several types of review I do for this topic.  I am happy to share this vocabulary worksheet with you.  I hope you find it useful.

Happy Teaching!!