8th October 10 -- October 14

Monday: Today, we will start by talking about Friday's quiz.

Then, we will introduce the students to our new lesson question - How do different traits occur in a species?  We will first look (pun intended) at eye color as an example.  Then, we will introduce the lab activity that we will be doing using office supplies to make proteins.  Today, we will be focusing on the process involved in making proteins as background knowledge.

Tuesday: Today we will be doing the Office Supply Proteins Lab Activity.  Students will be making proteins using office supplies like paper clips and binder clips.  They will then test their proteins for strength and length.

Wednesday: We will be looking at connecting the idea of protein structure, function, and production to mutations.  We will discuss what mutations are, how they occur, the fact that they are most of the time not beneficial, and that they can lead to new traits within a species.  Students will look at and answer some questions about some case studies.  If not done, these are due on Monday.

Thursday: We will be summarizing last week's lab activity - the office supply protein activity.  We will do this by doing two things:

     1. Filling out the Unit Summary Table

     2. We will do a whiteboard meeting.  Today's whiteboard meeting will look a little different than last week.  In this whiteboard meeting, we will be addressing the following questions:

           -How can new traits appear in a species?

           -What was the strongest protein you had in your group?  your weakest?  How were their structures different?

           -Create a flow chart that describes how a change in the genetic code can change a trait.

We will have a lab quiz tomorrow.

Friday: Lab quiz