Category Archives: Science

Otter’s Christian Biology Update

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I’m making a quick post to keep you updated on my progress with the Otter’s Christian High School Biology  program. I pretty much finished the schedule and have researched and scheduled lots of extras like “living books”, a huge variety of labs for different budgets and interest levels, videos, activities and more. Now I’m putting most of my efforts into the textbook itself. I’ve already edited and changed some of it. I’m continuing to work through the chapters slowly but surely. One of the things I’ve added are custom graphics. One thing I really like about this textbook is how graphics intensive it is. I’m a very visual person and appreciate lots of pretty stuff in books, lol. I also think pictures and illustrations really help students connect to the material being taught.

Here are a few examples of some of the graphics I’ve made for Otter’s Biology:

I’ve added in graphics that explain vocabulary words by breaking them down into Greek and Latin roots:

homeostasis

I’ve also added in custom graphics to explain specific concepts.

By the way, Mr. Carrot is sort of a personal joke between Otter and me. I first introduced Mr. Carrot on one of the notebook pages I made for Otter on nutrition. Mr. Carrot then appeared on a math worksheet (hand-drawn), wondering how he ended up there and thinking he was in perhaps the wrong place. He’s since decorated many of Otter’s worksheets and other creations I’ve made for him. He’s like a recurring character that ends up all over the place. ;-)

I replaced the very “unfriendly” illustration about diffusion that was in the text with this (Hello Mr. Carrot!):

Diffusion

 

This graphic helps illustrate what an enzyme does and introduces a simple experiment:

 

enzyme experiment

 

This one below helps make ATP more memorable. The caption in the textbook explains how the character below is actually ADP and why. ;-)

ATP

 

Besides all of the work in the textbook, I’ve also started working on editing (actually redoing) the CK-12 biology workbook to better reflect the new textbook content (as well as to only feature creationist beliefs) and to also be more visually engaging. I will be adding some interactive notebooking activities to the workbook pages as well, but haven’t gotten around to that yet.

Here are a few screenshots of some of the workbook pages. They are pretty basic adaptations of the current CK-12 workbook although I’ll be adding my own stuff after I’ve adapted the rest of CK-12′s work (gotta love that open source creative commons license!!). When I’m done with it, it won’t be all this true/false, multiple choice, blah blah blah. LOL. That kind of thing has its place, but I don’t want it to be the only sort of activity to help retention.

There is also an answer key being developed at the same time.

6 1

You’ll notice in the screenshot below that there is a Bible verse for students to fill in some of the blanks. That verse is featured in the textbook and so I took the opportunity to reinforce it.

2

I like to add a little humor to some of the sheets. The deer in the picture below is commenting on one of the true/false questions…

3

A graphic of a hummingbird and flower help students think about question number 5…

4

Otter enjoys jokes, so I’ll be putting a few on some of the worksheets to liven them up a little.

5

 

So, that’s it for now!

Everything is coming along and I’m devoting a HUGE amount of time to this project. If you’d like to get involved and help out, I would love to hear from you. I need help “dumbing down” and/or sprucing up some portions of the text to make them more accessible/interesting, researching vocabulary roots, adding Christian material and/or Bible verses that are tied to some of the concepts, etc.

Stay tuned to my blog for more updates!

Otter’s Botany – a One Semester Option

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homeschool botany curriculum

I now have a 2nd option for those of you interested in studying botany – a ONE SEMESTER botany schedule. Click here for access.

This new option uses Ellen McHenry’s Botany in 8 Lessons as the main spine, while still incorporating the Botany for Dummies Book. Leave out the Dummies book and you have a 3rd option – either a shorter schedule that can be accomplished over the summer or a low key science program that will allow you to focus on other core subjects.

I’ve been working on the upcoming biology curriculum. It should be ready by the middle of August, although I will continue to tweak it as necessary over the course of the year as we use it.

Otter’s Christian High School Biology – FREE!

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Christian High School Biology

Coming August 2013: Otter’s Christian High School Biology!

What is being developed:

  • Free full color 700+ page textbook edited from the original CK-12 Biology book (open source creative commons license)
  • Textbook will be available in a variety of formats like online, PDF, MOBI and EPUB
  • Textbook has some interactive features embedded for students using it online or via mobile devices such as the iPad
  • Free workbook correlated to the textbook to help your students remember key terms and concepts
  • Edited textbook is from a Christian, creationist, young-earth perspective, but secular families can just use the original unedited text and still get the benefit of all the scheduled goodies, labs, etc.

Free biology labs

  • Free rigorous biology lab book - from a neutral perspective (only one evolution related lab that I do not schedule, no Christian material)
  • Optional labs from a variety of sources – many of them free or low cost
  • Links to great supplementary materials and resources such as videos, printables, activities and more
  • A daily schedule with 3 different options (with or without human anatomy component, etc.)
  • Schedule can be edited in Microsoft Word to accommodate your family’s needs, schedule and access to resources
  • Free Bible study component that matches the year’s topics, specifically covering evolution vs. creationism, etc. with optional free study guide workbooks
  • Additional recommended books scheduled in (but optional)
  • Optional writing assignments to help you integrate language arts across the curriculum
  • Free lab packet of printables for microscope labs, etc.

I’m so excited about there being an alternative to the “regular” biology options out there with something for a variety of situations and budgets. Stay tuned to my blog for the release date of Otter’s Christian High School Biology!

 

Extracting DNA from Strawberries Experiment

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Today in botany we extracted DNA from strawberries! This is a super-easy experiment with dramatic results.

You need the following supplies:

  • 100 ml dishwashing liquid (or shampoo without conditioner) – shampoo frees the DNA by disrupting the cell membranes.
  • 900 ml water
  • 15 grams of salt (Salt allows the DNA to precipitate because the positive Na+ ions shield the negative charges on the DNA.)
  • 1-2 fresh or frozen strawberries (We used strawberries because they are octoploid – which means they 8 copies of each type of chromosome. That means they have 8x time the DNA of normal cells. Strawberries also have enzymes like pectinase that assists in cell wall breakdown.)
  • Ziploc bag
  • Coffee filter
  • Clear glass or test tube
  • Cup or beaker or similar container
  • Isopropanol alcohol

Instructions:

  1. Put your strawberries in the Ziploc bag, close the bag and then mash them up for a couple of minutes.
  2. In a large container, mix the dishwashing liquid, water and salt.
  3. Pour 10 ml of the dishwashing liquid, water and salt mixture into the Ziploc and mix it with your mashed up strawberries for about a minute. *Note: We actually had to pour in more liquid to get our strawberry mash to liquify. Add as much as you need to make a juice like consistency.
  4. Pour the solution through a coffee filter into a clear glass or test tube. You’ll have more visible results if you can pour it into a skinny test tube, like we did.
  5. Now gently pour in Isopropanol alcohol on top of the filtered strawberry liquid. Pour in 2x the amount of the strawberry liquid. So, if you poured in 4 ml of strawberry “juice”, you should pour in 8 ml of alcohol on top. DO NOT MIX. Just pour it gently right on top of the strawberry “juice”.
  6. As you view the tube (or glass), you’ll see a fuzzy, stringy white precipitate start to bubble up and then gather in a mass as it floats to the top of the alcohol layer. If for any reason you don’t see this, just add a little more salt. This is the strawberry’s DNA! You can poke in a toothpick or other item and spool some of the DNA onto it.

Here’s a picture of our test tube with DNA floating up to the top of the alcohol layer. You can see it clumping up at the top of the liquid with some bubbles.

Here’s a close-up. I’ve circled areas with blue. Look at the lower circle. You can actually see thread-like strands of DNA floating up.

So how in the world can you see DNA when it’s so tiny inside a cell and we wouldn’t even be able to see it with our microscopes? Think of cotton threads. You wouldn’t be able to see a single thread from 100 feet away, but you would be able to see it if it was wound together into hundreds of feet of rope. That’s what happens when you extract the DNA from strawberries. You can’t normally see an individual strand of DNA. However, when it becomes spooled together with all of the other strands via the extraction process, it becomes visible – just like our thread analogy.

I scheduled this experiment in my free botany science program: Otter’s Botany. It’s a great experiment not just for botany but also for biology or a human body study. I think Otter was impressed that he was looking at real DNA!

Botany printable

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I made another botany printable for my free botany curriculum.  I’ll continue to post printables for it as I create them!

Stems printable worksheet (sheet 1) – Learn stem related vocabulary words with definitions under each vocabulary word flap. Cut out the transport trucks that show the items a stem transports to different parts of the plant.

Stems printable worksheet

Stems printable (sheet 2 with cut outs)

Stems printable worksheet

After completing this activity, identify the same items on a real branch or plant!

“Once in a blue moon” is tonight!

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Picture taken by Otter through his telescope last year

Ever been told something will only happen “Once in a Blue Moon”?
Well tonight is your lucky night!

Otter has been waiting for this all month. He just got a new 3.0mm Orion Edge-On Planetary Eyepiece for his telescope and will be busy tonight exploring the moon. His new eyepiece makes it look like you could reach out and touch each crater. We were even able to see Neptune with it the other day (and yes, it was BLUE, unlike tonight’s moon which is called blue but not actually colored blue)!

Besides tonight’s special moon, you can find Neptune this month (and into October). Click here for instructions. Here’s another site that says you can even see it in binoculars.

If you have a kid interested in astronomy, I can’t recommend enough that you save up for a real telescope (not a toy, which is likely to be frustrating). Otter has spent so many nights out in our backyard studying the sky and learning how to navigate to different stars and planets. He’s even taken some beautiful pictures of  the moon.

He often uses the free program Stellarium to help him locate planets or nebulae.

Anyway, today is the day to tell your kids you expect them to find lots of extra chores to do without being asked because it’s a blue moon after all! Wink

More Botany Printables and Botany Tests / Quizzes are posted!

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I’m working on creating interactive, online quizzes to go with each chapter of the Botany For Dummies book and have just received permission from the publisher to post them on my site. Thank you John Wiley & Sons, Inc.!

These tests are designed to be used “open book” as I sometimes refer to figures or illustrations in the text. The quizzes are designed to not only help assess understanding, but to also help a student learn how to find the answers to questions he doesn’t know by learning how to skim chapter headings and so on. This is an important skill for high school and beyond! Each test has a little humor sprinkled here and there to make it a teeny bit more fun.

Each quiz is self-grading and has feedback and hints for some of the answers.

Click here to look at the botany quizzes and tests!

I’ve also completed a few more notebooking pages for my botany curriculum:

This blank sheet (a filled in example is shown above) is for recording the various plants and flowers we’ll be learning about this year. You can choose from an editable page that can be filled out on your computer or one to print out and fill in by hand.

These pages will make a nice scrapbook of plants and flowers and help you learn to easily identify them out in the world!

I’ve also created a 10 page printable to practice taxonomy as well as a little box to construct and store all the taxonomy printable project pieces in.

Click here to go to my botany notebooking page to download any of the above.

Quite a few of you are joining me this year in studying Otter’s Botany. I hope you all have a wonderful year!

Otter’s Botany Curriculum Notebooking Pages

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I’m currently working on creating notebooking pages to help my son retain what he will be learning in botany this year. All answers to these notebooking pages can be found in the Botany For Dummies text. All the pages are in PDF format. I’ll post more sets of notebooking pages as they become available. I’m also creating some interactive tests and quizzes, but am waiting to see whether they can be posted online or not.

Chapter 1 Botany Notebooking Page
This printable page highlights the many ways plants are useful.Botany notebooking page chapter 1		 Chapter 2 Plant Cell
Draw and label the plant cell parts based on figure
2-10 from the text.botany notebooking page
Chapter 2 Lift the Flap 3 Domains Base Sheet
Learn about the 3 domains. Copy the book’s text explanations underneath each flap.botany notebooking pages		 Chapter 2 Lift the Flap Cut & Paste Page
Cut out the tree parts for the 3 domains printable.botany notebooking page
Chapter 2 Plasma Membrane
Make the parts and jobs of the plasma membrane memorable with this printable!botany printable		 Chapter 2 Lift the Flap Cell Parts & Jobs
Create a lift-the-flap on colored paper to help retain the parts of a cell and the various organelle jobs.botany lapbook page
More to come!

Otter’s Botany is Ready! (BETA version)

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Botany Curriculum

I’ve finally finished a BETA version of Otter’s Botany and posted the download.

Why study botany? I think botany is an overlooked topic that gets shoved into a chapter of biology and then forgotten. Plants affect and enrich so many parts of our lives! Our houses and clothes are made of plant materials. We eat plants. We enjoy their beauty. They provide us with medicines, fuel, perfume, dyes, paper and a variety of other products. They are tied to history and even our future. They are an integral part of our lives!

I decided to study botany with my son as a sort of pre-biology course. I want Otter to understand the science behind plants as well as to take the time to appreciate the myriad contributions they make to our lives!

My main goals for this course are:

  • To understand many scientific concepts concerning plants
  • To understand and appreciate many practical applications of plants
  • To learn how to identify many different plants, flowers and trees
  • To learn some history and geography as it pertains to specific plants or plant discoveries
  • To be involved in the natural world on a more frequent basis
  • To hone Otter’s observation skills, nurture an interest in the natural world and have time to reflect on beautiful and interesting things – to see the hand of our creator in nature (although almost all of this year’s resources are secular)
  • To keep a nature journal and learn some artistic skills that will help him reproduce on paper what he observes
  • To learn how to grow, cook and use plants in a variety of ways
  • To learn about bees and worms as “side topics” (creatures that are beneficial to plants)

I’ve scheduled many different materials for this year. Otter’s Botany is full of hands-on labs, experiments, notebooking, drawing and art exercises, interactive websites, videos and more.

Check it out!