The First Semester Winds Down. Units Completed and Finals are Here!

     Biotechnology students in biology and genetics have recently completed some extensive unit work.  In biology, students completed the conservation/consumption unit where they learned about their own impact on the planet.  They collected their garbage and weighed and sorted it daily by material type.  They then kept a daily log which they will analyze in their math classes next semester.  They also read and responded to the book, Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things, by Alan Durning.
     In genetics, students completed their two month experiment on Mendelian genetics using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster to conduct crosses to determine the mode of inheritance of certain traits.  Thousands of flies participated in the crosses and students used statistical analysis to learn about "goodness of fit" of their observed outcomes compared to expected outcomes.

Example of fly cross.

Delicately removing flies for examination.

Counting and sexing flies for data collection.

The fly whisperer and champion breeder.

Happy to weigh their garbage.

Waiting for weighing.

Sorting and weighing.

Lunging for compost bin-sorting waste.

Keeping that aluminum out of the landfill.

So much garbage!

Typical happy consumers.

Recyclables after four days of collection!

Happy recyclers!