Calendar Items:
November 9 – Esther L will give the Grand Finale Biome Presentation! (No pressure!)
November 16 – In-Class field trip. Dress REALLY warm! Hats and gloves recommended.
ALL REACTION PAPERS ARE DUE + BRING YOUR NATURE JOURNAL TO SHOW ME YOUR 8 JOURNAL PAGES. (If you would like an extension on those reaction papers, please email me at aemock@gmail.com and CC your mom/dad onto the email so they are aware of your homework plans as well. It’s totally fine to work on these over the winter break, but I’d like a record showing that that is your plan.)
Winterim – Nov 17 through January 17th (TWO MONTHS, PEOPLE!) Get a jump start on your THREE book reaction papers and THREE documentary reaction papers and TEN nature journal pages due at the END of NEXT semester. Spend time on your Personal Enrichment Projects (if you choose to do a few), and take EXTRA NOTE of the information below.
NOTA BENE
Beginning the second week of next semester (January 25th) we will be doing our second round of presentations. THESE PRESENTATIONS WILL BE VERY DIFFERENT THAN THOSE FROM THIS SEMESTER. You will have 20-25 minutes to TEACH the class about a specific botanical/ecological topic of your choice. This means you need to share the information, have a game or activity, include hands-on aspects to your lesson, maybe a quiz or a competition, make your lesson very interactive, but stick to your topic and focus on what you want the class to learn. NO POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS. In fact, don’t even think of this as a presentation. Think of it as leading a class activity to which you must give adequate background information. If you have a short YouTube video or article you’d like the class to watch/read before your lesson as “homework,” let me know and I’ll put it on the blog for you the appropriate week. You do not have to have your topic chosen by next week, however, I will have you sign up for a date/time slot to teach your lesson next week.
Possible topics could include deep dives into a specific plant or genus, the work of a famous botanist/ecologist, pretty much ANY science fair type project regarding botany/ecology, specific aspects of environmental science concepts (how humans affect nature either for better or for worse), etc. You can expand on concepts like soil health, symbiotic relationships, and every other topic we’ve discussed in class so far. Use the concepts you’ve learned from BOTH your books (Botany in a Day and How Plants Work) to come up with ideas to expand on.
Think about the OTHER books you’ve been reading and the documentaries you’ve been watching – or even things you enjoyed about botany/ecology before you ever came to class. Share with us what is fascinating to YOU about these subjects and help us understand and be excited about them the way YOU are excited about them. (If you’re not excited about your topic, then maybe keep looking until you find a topic that REALLY interests you.)
Once you’ve chosen your topic, email me (aemock@gmail.com and don’t forget to CC your mom/dad) so I can make sure we don’t have people doubling up on the same topic. So far, bees, native plants, and the Great Salt Lake are off limits as we’ll have guest speakers come and talk about those things next semester already.
Homework Items:
READ How Plants Work chapters 7 and 8, pages 151- 195.
WATCH the following videos. I was going to assign them as a lead up to Tyler Hacking’s presentation on fungi, but since we had to switch dates last minute, I’m assigning these as a follow up to fungus and how fascinating they are. Additionally, check out https://www.utahmushrooms.org/ to learn more about the Utah Mushroom Society and the fun citizen scientist work that they do.
Additionally, if you are interested in the topic of fungus in general, check out THIS book – it’s even on the book list so you can get credit for writing a reaction paper about it.
If you are interested in the relationship between fungus and trees (but also just interested in trees and how they communicate with each other in other ways) check out THIS book, also on the approved book list.
