FINALS are approaching...

Here is a run down of Final Exam dates... Study Up!

Seniors: 5/17 - 3rd/4th blocks
             5/18 - 8th block
             5/19 - 1st/2nd blocks
             5/20 - 5th/6th blocks

Underclassmen: 5/20 - 8th block
                        5/23 - 3rd/4th blocks
                        5/24 - 5th/6th blocks
                        5/25 - 1st/2nd blocks

Botany Unit 5 Exam RESCHEDULED!

Good Morning...

Botany students, your exam that was originally scheduled for Friday the 13th is now being moved to tomorrow the 11th. Just a friendly reminder. You should have all of your formative quizzes and worksheets to study from. Do not forget to check out the chapter PowerPoint online at this site as well... Good luck and good studying!

Happy National Teacher Day...

Just wanted to wish all of those teachers out there a wonderful National Teacher Day!

(Pictured is Zach Beck wishing his mom a Happy National Teacher Day)



A&P Unit 12 Exam...

Will be next Monday, the 9th of May! It will be our final exam and cover the Endocrine system... Just a brief reminder for you A&P students... Study UP!

Homework for the weekend (4/30 and 5/1)...

Botany - Look through the PowerPoint slides online for section 30.3. We will be working on germination and plant propagation Tuesday. Remedial work for Unit 4 IPers is now available...

A&P - Read pages 238-267 and finish the worksheet covering disorders of the endocrine system. We will finish constructing the notesheet on Tuesday and take a formative exam covering the unit.

Environmental Science - Remedial work for Unit 3 will be available Monday. No homework for you this weekedn unless you are on IP/AW. In that case, get to studying!

IP/AW Students! Time is running short. Get in and see me in seminar or before school to set up times and plans to get your tests retaken and passed!

Have a good weekend and enjoy the weather!

Article of the Week (4/18 Edition)...

With our Biology classes in the Science Wing recently wrapping up "Evolution-Change Through Time," I decided to go with the flow and find an article this week that touches on common ancestory and the science behind it. Attached is a link to a ScienceNews.org article that talks about new fossil findings discussing a possible new link to the common ancestory between all primates...

Possible pivotal human ancestor debated...

Cow Eye Dissection!

This past Wednesday, Anatomy and Physiology students of Room 103 dissected cow eyeballs. This lab was designed to give the students a better structural understanding of the eye, and to also give them a feeling for the composition of those structures. Below are some pictures from the dissection...

 Dessie trimming away some of the fat and connective tissue from his cow eye...

 Kolbie cutting through the sclerna and getting ready to check out the inside of the eye...

Colby showing the choroid/tapetum and lens from the cow eye...

Sensory System Exam - Anatomy/Physiology...

A&Pers... Your Unit 11 Exam covering our Sensory System is slotted for the second half on class on Tuesday, April 19th. All the material we covered in class is accessible through the "A&P Unit 11 Material" link, so not being able to study because you do not have your notes is not an acceptable excuse. Check out the major concepts, finish your colorings and make sure you read the chapter again. Study up and good luck...

Botany Unit 4 Exam!

Attention Botany Students... Your Unit 4 Exam covering Photosynthesis, Plant Response and Movement is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19th. Make sure you are studying chapters 6 and 31, looking at the major concepts under the "Botany" tab on this website and looking at all the material accessible through the "Botany Unit 4 Material" link. Everything is uploaded online. Study up and good luck!

Article of the week (4/11 Edition)...

It seems that every "Article of the Week" could be dedicated to current environmental issues facing the world. With that in mind, and my recent trend to publish such articles I decided to steer towards another subject taught in Room 103, Botany. This week's article discusses the extinction of native flora in metropolitan areas, the movement of foreign plants into those areas, and the retention of some native flora in the metro areas. The article also has a nice little podcast to go along with it... Enjoy...

How Doth Your Native Flora Grow... 

Homework for the Weekend...

Botany - We will be wrapping up plant movements on Monday, quizzing over plant movements on Monday, and beginning our notes over seasonal responses. For this weekend, make sure you complete worksheet 31.2 and review the reading from 31.2 (pages 636-639)...

Anatomy/Physiology - We'll tackle the special sense of vision on Monday, and have a quiz over the general senses, gustation and olfaction. Review the PowerPoint over the general senses (linked at A&P Unit 11 Material) and the notes that go along with it. Also, as always, COMPLETE YOUR COLORINGS!

Everyone have a great weekend and see you on Monday...

Happy 1st Birthday Wrigs...

It was my daughters 1st birthday this past weekend. She officially turned one on April 1st. Yes, an April Fools baby. Anyways, just wanted to share the news and this picture. She had a good time with her cake...

Article of the Week... (4/4 Edition)

Past "trash," current "trash," and the future of "trash," all included in this article and podcast. Enjoy...

Will today's trash be tomorrow's island?

Welcome Back... From Spring Break...

"Getting Back into the Flow" is the message for this week. Botany students, we're beginning a new unit. Photosynthesis, plant hormones, plant movement and plant response will be our main topics. I you are an Anatomy/Physiology student, then you will be wrapping up the nervous system and testing next Tuesday. Finally, Environmental Science students: We will be discussing the last bit of material from Unit Two this week and assessing that unit next Monday... Good luck getting back into the flow, and let's finish the year out strong!

Anatomy/Physiology and Botany...

CONGRATULATIONS!

If you are in one of the aforementioned classes, you are officially on Spring Break! Botany students, we will be picking up with Plant Processes (i.e. photosynthesis) and Responses when we get back from break. That will be chapters 6 and 31 for those of you that just can't possibly wait...

Anatomy and Physiology students, please complete the PNS colorings and read pages 187-201. That's it, your only homework for the next 10 days. Also, we will be having our Unit 10 test over the Nervous System on Friday, April 8th...

Have a safe and fun Spring Break, and come back ready to roll...

Botany exam on the horizon, again...

Amateur Botanists... Your Unit 3 Exam - Plant Strucutres and Functions - is this Wednesday, March 16th. Be sure to use the "Botany Unit 3 Material" link to the side to access additional study, note, powerpoint and quiz material. Study up, and good luck on your exam...

Article of the Week... (3/14 Edition)


Interesting graphic and text regarding the world's ever shrinking water supply. Definitely makes one stop and think for a minute...

Worldly Water Crisis...

Article of the Week... (2/22 Edition)

Found this interesting piece of reading on Scientific American. I do not think I will ever purposefully try it out to see if it will work, but who knows...

When photos are painkillers...

A&P Students: Regarding That Answer Key...

For some reason, I have not be allowed to upload the document that has the answer key for your formative assessment. I do not know if the file is corrupt, or if I accidently saved it as a temporary file and currently do not have access to it over the web. Anyways, we will grade the formative assessment and the diagram at the beginning of class tomorro, then take the summative exam in the second half. Do not fret, do not worry, all will be well...

Dr. Frankenstein...

Today, Block 2 Anatomy and Physiology students were furthering their knowledge and understanding of the muscular system by applying clay "muscles" to our "Frankenstein Monster" models. Our Anatomy and Physiology class is currently deep into the muscular system and will be testing next Tuesday...

   Students working on their Frankenstein Models

Constructing Dichotomous Keys...

Dichotomous keys are very useful in the identification of organisms in Biology, most notably plants in the field of Botany/Field Biology. For our Unit 2 - Plant Classification and Evolution lab, 3R and 4R Botany students fought through the struggles of constructing precise and efficient dichotomous keys...

 3R Botany Shoe Selection

3R Botany Students working diligently at constructing their keys...

Botany exam on the horizon...

Botany Students... Your Unit 2 - Plant Evolution and Classification exam will be next Wednesday, February 16th. 3R and 4R Botany classes will complete the dichotomous key lab on Monday the 14th, followed by a short review and testing on the 16th. Start studying now!

Environmental Science Unit One Exam...

Enviro Sci Students... Your Unit One Exam (Introduction fo Environmental Science) is officially scheduled for the following dates:

• 6W - Tuesday, February 15th
• 8W - Thursday, February 17th

The exam will be covering all of the major concepts that are listed on the classroom white board and also on this website. The flipcharts that we have been using to construct notes are linked on this blog site as well... Study up!

Article of the Week... (1/27 Edition)

Do you like dinosaurs? Whether you do or not, check out this article, it's bound to entertain... Enjoy...

Newly described dinosaur with only digits for arms...

Back to Normal...

As we embark on our first full week of instruction for the Spring 2011 semester, I just want to take time in this post to catch everyone up on a couple of things. One: all documents, notes, quizzes, etc. that we have been using in class are now officially uploaded to this website. So, access to everything that we've been doing in class should be attainable from anywhere.

Second, I want to apologize for not keeping the site up to date over the past couple of weeks. With the shortened weeks due to holidays and/or snow days, everything has been very discombobulated. I think that goes for both the students and myself. I'm taking this week to get back up onto the wagon and we'll ride this thing out for the rest of the semester. Lesson plans for the previous weeks have not been uploaded due to inaccuracy, but will be on the site from here on out.

As always, if you have any questions (students and/or parents) please feel free to contact me. I never thought I'd say this, but I am sick of snow days!

Anatomy & Physiology Exam Thursday!

A&P Students... An exam covering the major concepts from Unit 8 (The Skeletal System) will take place this Thursday. Make sure you have read the chapter, reviewed the major concepts found on the A&P webpage at this site, and have completed your colorings and worksheet diagrams! Study, and you'll knock this thing out of the park...

Article of the Week... (1/12 Edition)

With educational technology constantly evolving and advancing, can there be a point where we "over do it?" Data representation and depiction can be an area of technology that may over-stimulate and/or overload  the common student. In the article below the author explains the benefits of technological advancements in data visualization, but also the pros of "keeping it simple." Enjoy...

Keeping the visualizing of data simple...

(the Wound Man, an example from Tufte’s book Visual Explanations)

WELCOME BACK!

It's finally here, the 2011 spring semester at Wamego High School! I'm looking forward to another great semester, and I hope you are too. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me or try to find an answer here on the blog. I'll be constantly updating this site with course information and "general happenings," here at WHS. Good luck this semester and have a good one...

--Mr. Williams