Enjoying Nature!

We had a gorgeous Saturday in my neck of the woods.  It was sunny and 70 degrees.  I spent the day doing a cemetery clean up project with a local ladies group.  My high school aged daughter joined us, and I enjoyed spending the lovely day out of doors with my daughter and friends.  We raked up many months worth of magnolia leaves from our local historical cemetery.

As we raked, I discovered a very pretty patch of bracket fungi....

The bracket fungi are also called shelf fungi.  They belong to the phylum Basidiomycetes, along with the mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns, jelly fungi, smuts and rusts.  Shown in the photos are the fruiting bodies.  They are generally tough and sturdy and produce their spores within pores of the fruiting body.  Most shelf fungi, like many of the fungi, are decomposers, and can easily be found growing on dead trees and other dead plant matter. Other shelf fungi are parasitic, and grow along the sides of living trees.

Also spotted were some lovely lichens growing on the sides of some very old trees.  Lichens are composite organisms.  Two species live together in a lichen in mutualistic harmony.  One of the organisms is a photosynthetic alga, and the other is a species of fungus.  The alga carries out photosynthesis and provides the fungus with food.  The fungus has the ability to absorb water, and provides the algae with an adequate water supply.

Lichens can be found in nearly every habitat on earth.  They are particularly susceptible to environmental changes and are often an indicator of air pollution in an area.  If the lichens are not thriving, there is sure to be a reason.  Lichens are also used to make dyes and perfumes.

Lichens: Informational Text, Critical Reading, and Lab Activity

Who Doesn't Like Free Teaching Materials??

Free!

Free!

Free!

As teachers, this is music to our ears! Every teacher I know, spends part of every pay check buying materials for school.  We buy school supplies such as pencils and paper for those students who never seem to have either.  We buy workbooks, textbooks, and fictional books for our classroom libraries.  We buy snacks and hand over lunch money to the student who "forgot" his.  We pay to take classes and to go to workshops to make ourselves into even better teachers.  For the lab, I am constantly purchasing soap, paper towels, graph paper, colored pencils, seeds, potting soil, plants.....well, this list is never ending.

So what can you get for free??

There are quite a few blogs that offer free teaching materials for teachers.  I would like to tell you about a few that offer free materials for all ages and all subject areas.  I know that there are sure to be many more than those listed here.  But these are the ones I have been personally involved in.

1.  <------  May I start with my own freebies?  Just take a look to the left side bar.  I have a long list of items that you can download for free from my TpT store.

2.  Take a look at the blog called "The Cornerstone".  Angela puts together a monthly link up of free materials.  They are organized by grade level so you can easily find the materials you need.

3.  "Creativity in the Common Core Classroom"  features free materials that are aligned with the common core standards.  A new list of freebies is posted each and every Friday.  These, too, are organized by grade level.

4.  I am proud to be a contributor to "Classroom Freebies."  There are 100 teacher/authors contributing to this collaborative blog.  Everyday, there are so many ideas being posted.  Many are for elementary classrooms, but keep scrolling down because there are quite a few middle and high school contributors.  This blog was so popular that Charity started a second, little sister blog, called "Classroom Freebies, Too!"  It also has a hundred contributors and a tons of freebies.

5.  Next, check out "Taking Grades for Teachers."  Margaret generously features everyone's freebies, but her own, I think.  Each week, Margaret searches and finds great free, downloadable materials and features them on her blog.

I am so grateful to all of these wonderful friends who have listed many of my free items on their blogs.

Now for the biggest source of free materials??  Well, that would be TeachersPayTeachers.com.  As of this writing, there are 85,319 products that are listed for free.  Click this link, then click the big button that says "FREE".

Enjoy!  And Have Fun Teaching!!

Leaf Pigment Chromatography Lab with Spinach for Photosynthesis

One of the most popular high school biology chromatography labs is separating plant pigments from leaves using paper chromatography. In this leaf pigment chromatography experiment, students extract pigments such as chlorophyll, carotene, and xanthophyll from leaves or spinach and observe how the pigments separate along chromatography paper.

This paper chromatography lab provides a visual and hands-on way for students to connect molecular properties to key biological concepts including photosynthesis, plant structure, polarity, and solubility. Because the pigments separate into distinct colored bands, students can easily observe how chromatography separates mixtures based on differences in molecular behavior.

Spinach leaves are commonly used in chromatography labs because their pigments separate clearly during paper chromatography. Depending on the time of year, students can also compare pigments from leaves collected from trees, shrubs, and other green plants.

Why Plant Pigments Are Perfect for Teaching Chromatography

Plant pigments provide an excellent example of how chromatography separates mixtures. When a leaf extract is placed on chromatography paper and exposed to a solvent, the pigments move at different rates depending on their polarity and solubility. This makes plant pigment chromatography one of the clearest classroom demonstrations of chromatography principles.

This paper chromatography lab is especially effective in high school biology classes because it reinforces both content knowledge and essential lab skills. As students analyze the separation of leaf pigments, they practice careful observation, data analysis, and experimental design while gaining a deeper understanding of how plants capture and use light energy. Leaf pigment chromatography is a low-prep, high-impact lab that fits naturally into units on photosynthesis, plant biology, and scientific investigation. 

Check out this blog post on Paper Chromatography for additional photos and information. If you are teaching plant biology or photosynthesis, you may also be interested in this classroom activity that helps students investigate how water moves through leaves. In this plant transpiration lab, students measure how environmental factors affect the rate of transpiration and connect those results to plant structure and function.

Why Are Spinach Leaves Used in Chromatography Labs?

Spinach leaves are commonly used in chromatography labs because they contain several easily visible pigments, including chlorophyll and carotenoids. These pigments separate clearly during paper chromatography, making spinach an excellent choice for classroom experiments involving photosynthesis and plant pigments.

Although spinach works especially well, students can also use leaves collected from trees, shrubs, and other green plants. Depending on the time of year, different groups of students can test different types of leaves and compare the chromatography results. This extension helps students observe how pigment composition varies among plants while reinforcing experimental design and data analysis skills.

Connecting Leaf Pigment Chromatography to Photosynthesis

Leaf pigment chromatography works especially well during a photosynthesis unit because students can see that leaves contain more than one photosynthetic pigment. Separating chlorophylls and carotenoids gives students a visual way to explore how different pigments absorb light and contribute to the process of photosynthesis. I like using the lab to move the discussion beyond simply thinking of leaves as “green” and toward understanding the different pigments involved in capturing light energy.

Leaf Pigment Chromatography Experiment

Here are photos that I took as my students were working on their lab. In this chromatography experiment, students prepare pigment extracts, apply the pigments to chromatography paper, and observe how the pigments separate into distinct colored bands.

Spinach leaves are placed in a mortar and pestle along with a little acetone.  Students grind the leaves until the acetone turns a dark green.  A small piece of capillary tubing is used to transfer drops of the pigment extract to a piece of chromatography paper.

When enough drops have been placed on the chromatography paper to make a dark green circle on the paper, it is ready to be placed into a large 25x200 test tube.

Leaf Pigment Chromatography Diagram

The large test tube has about 1/2 inch of petroleum ether in the bottom of the tube.  The pigments will immediately begin to separate.

Here is the finished chromatogram:

Pigment Chromatography FAQs:

What pigments can be seen in leaf chromatography?
Plants contain multiple pigments such as chlorophyll, carotenoids, and sometimes anthocyanins. These pigments separate based on their chemical properties when the solvent moves up the paper. 

Why do pigments appear in different bands?
Pigments travel different distances during chromatography due to differences in solubility and how strongly they bind to the chromatography paper. 

Can this experiment predict fall leaf colors?
Leaf chromatography can reveal hidden pigments, which often correspond to colors visible during autumn. 

Here is the lab that I use with my students:

Click image to view in my TpT store.

AP Biology Exam: Teacher In Panic, Students Oblivious

<-------- The teacher feels 

      like this.....

.....and the students feel 

like this!  ----->

Sound familiar?

It is the time of the year when the AP Biology teacher (me) begins to panic.  There are only "x" number of teaching days left, and there is still "y" amount of material that must be covered!  PANIC!

Actually, my students are great.  But it is getting on toward spring time in my part of the country.  The students are tired....very tired!  They have worked hard all year, participated in a ton of extracurricular activities, and they are just worn out!!

It is a difficult time of the year to be sure.  I must continue to teach hard everyday to get all of the material covered.  At the same time, I need to get my students motivated for reviewing for the exam.  It is a fine line to balance.  Push them hard, but don't overload them.

I am fortunate to have a 70 minute class period. (Don't kill me....I realize how lucky I am!!)  Starting this week, we are going to spend the first 15 to 20 minutes of each class period reviewing.  I have written a set of review PowerPoints to use just for this purpose.  These are not teaching PowerPoints.  They are simply slide after slide of questions and answers.  I generally let the students get into groups and make a game out of it.  The group getting the most questions correct wins a prize.  Little Debbie Snake Cakes are a particular favorite award for my students.

Freebie:  Here is the link to one of my review PowerPoints that I have in my TpT store.  It is on organic compounds.  You can easily delete some of my slides and add more slides of your own.

Click picture to download.

If you like the free PowerPoint, you might be interested in my entire set of 25 different review PowerPoints.

Best of luck to you and your students on the AP exam!!  :)

Daphnia, Daphnia, How do I Love Thee?

This post has been updated.

Click here to view the updated Daphnia heart rate lab.

Biology Careers Mini Posters - A Freebie!

What can you do as a career if you love Biology?

The answer is "Lots and lots of things!!"  Career week is a really big event at my high school.  I was asked to put together a display illustrating some of the many careers that are possible in the field of biology, so I  made a set of 26 mini-posters.  Each poster highlights one career.  There is a picture of a person "doing the career" as well as a very brief description of the career.

I am sharing these as a free download in my TpT store.  

Click on this link ---> Biology Career Posters <--- to download these for free.

These will make a great display in your classroom!

Give the Kids a Brain-Break!

<-----  What I DON"T want to see in my class!

Over the years of teaching I have come to realize that some topics are very difficult for my students.  I find that the students learn and perform much better if I teach in spurts.  I teach a new concept for 15-20 minutes, and then I give my students a "brain-break".  What is a "brain- break"?  I am glad you asked!!

A "brain-break" is a 2 or 3 minute break away from the topic currently being taught.  It is a couple of minutes where the student can relax, and it relieves the tension of a very complex lesson.  I am still a teacher who wants every minute to count.  So during a "brain-break" I usually throw out a bit of science trivia.  These are just fun and interesting facts that teach the student about the amazing natural world we live in.  Over the last few months my "brain-breaks" have consisted of the Mother Nature Awards for Planet Earth.

Here is an example:

These are PowerPoint slides.  I insert one of these slides into a PowerPoint on cellular respiration or photosynthesis or enzyme-catalyzed reactions.  My students have come to expect these little surprises and they get so excited when one of these pops up into my otherwise overly technical lecture.  This is fun, it teaches a bit about the wonders of nature, and best of all, it gives the student just a minute to relax and get focused again before I launch back into the real topic of the day.

After a slide has been viewed, I print it, laminate it, and place it on the wall in my classroom.  I have been very pleasantly surprised at how often students stop by the wall to look at the Mother Nature Awards.

I have put together a group of 20 of these awards and placed them in my store on TeachersPayTeachers.com.  There are two product listings, one for Grades 2-5 and a separate listing for grades 6-12.

The listing for grades 2-5 comes with a set of activity worksheets (42 pages) for the students to complete as the PowerPoint slide is being viewed.  The finished worksheets can be put together to make a great Mother Nature Award book.

The listing for grades 6-12 comes with a worksheet for students to conduct their own research to develop a PowerPoint slide for a Mother Nature Award of their own choosing.  This makes a nice homework assignment for a grade, or for a great extra credit opportunity.

Don't forget that Earth Day is coming up soon.  The Mother Nature Awards are a perfect Earth Day activity.

Have fun teaching!