IB Chemistry, DNA and Forensics Assignment

After reading the articles in the packet, as well as any other additional research you choose to do, write a report about the use of DNA analysis for forensic purposes. The report must be at least two pages long [double-spaced].

Be sure to address the following issues:

1. How is DNA evidence collected and used in forensic investigations? Explain the process.
2. Why can DNA evidence be used to establish (prove) the identity of people in criminal and/or civil cases?
3. How reliable is DNA evidence? What is the possibility that DNA evidence can lead to erroneous information or conclusions (i.e. O.J. Simpson case)?
4. Suppose that a person convicted of a crime has been exonerated with DNA evidence--should they be released immediately? Should DNA evidence be a requirement for conviction in a capital murder case?

I believe we have some freedom to adjust the focus of our report. The purpose of the assignment is to approach chemistry from a Theory of Knowledge perspective.

IB Chemistry, Biochemistry, Lipids PowerPoint

IB Chem, Biochemistry, Lipids (4)

IB History of the Americas, Essay Prompts

1. Define the U.S. policy of Moral Diplomacy and discuss its impact on Mexico.
2. "Lázaro Cárdenas' rule renewed the ideals of the Mexican Revolution." To what extent do you agree with this statement?
3. Analyze the influence of the Mexican Revolution on the arts.

One of these prompts will be set as the essay question on Monday. No notes are allowed during the test.

Weekly Update!

Last week of school before the winter holidays!

This week's agenda -

Monday -

• IB Math (HL)/IB Further Math (Mr. Bobbitt) - Testing continues, with Paper II.
• Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - The first rough draft of the TOK Essay is due.
• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - There will be a randomly selected essay from the three prompts assigned last week.
• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - The Oil-Eating Bacteria lab is due, if you have not already turned it in.
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Have finished reading Hamlet. Complete the worksheet for Act IV.

Tuesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - TEST POSTPONED TO WEDNESDAY.
• IB Math (HL)/IB Further Math (Mr. Bobbitt) - Testing continues, with Paper II.
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The Hamlet soliloquy organizer is due--select one of Hamlet's soliloquies to analyze. The organizer will later be used for a full passage analysis.

Wednesday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Finish the first two paragraphs of your passage analysis.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - There is a test on proteins, carbohydrates lipids; Assessment Statements B.1, B.2, B.3, and B.4 are due, along with all worksheets pertaining to the A.S. [I think there are five worksheets in total...] The most important worksheet is the take-home portion of the test, which has questions about lipids.

Thursday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Milk Lab is due.
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Have a completed rough draft, ready to be peer-edited.

Friday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The DNA Fingerprinting assignment is due. It must be at least two pages long, double-spaced. Answer the questions in the packet. The assignment is not meant so much as a summary of the process of DNA Fingerprinting, but as a way to incorporate TOK into Chemistry
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The final draft of the Hamlet soliloquy assignment is due. Remember to include the word count at the end of your essay.
• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - The sources for the individual oral presentation are due: have about 2-3 sources. The presentation is more about language/speaking--extensive research is unnecessary.
• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on topics 3, 7, and 8 test: find those A.S. from last year...Also, remember that we completed all the Section B questions, so study those.
• IB Biology III (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on topics 3, 7, and 8.

IB Chemistry, Option B, Human Biochemistry

IB Chem, Biochemistry, Carbohydrates (1)

IB Chem, Biochemistry, Digestion (2)

IB Chem, Biochemistry, Amino Acids and Proteins (3)

History of the Americas, Vietnam War, Notes

HOTA, Vietnam War, Notes

History of the Americas, Korean War, Notes

HOTA, Korean War, Notes

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda -

Monday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Review questions for Act II, scenes i and ii are due, along with the Character Target/Soliloquy 2 organizer. If you did not turn in the "Don't be Show-Off" exercise, that is also due.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Proteins pre-lab questions are due.

Tuesday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The first 7 guided questions are due.

Wednesday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The writing assignment about the "Get Thee to a Nunnery" scene, as portrayed by four different producers, is due. For extra credit, take a Four Humours Personality Quiz and print the results.

Thursday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - 4th period: complete up to Question 10 on the Act 3 Guided Questions. Complete two of the three quotes for the Hamlet Character Target.
• IB Spanish III (Señor Alemañy) - Group Oral presentations begin.

Friday -

• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - There is a test covering Mexico, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
• IB Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - The TOK Journal is due.
• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - The Oil-Eating Bacteria lab is due.

Weekly Update!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! Only a few more weeks until Christmas... :)

Notes for seniors:

• Work on those French/Spanish individual oral presentations!
• Remember to come up with a TOK Essay topic and start formulating your argument--see below post for helpful resources from Mr. Butcher.
• Remember your TOK Journals...those will most likely be due before Christmas break.

This week's agenda -

Monday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Review questions for Act I, Scene iii are due.

Tuesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Carbohydrates worksheet and the "Introduction to Carbohydrates" lab is due. Remember to answer the questions on the back of the lab sheet. For the milk lab, have the pre-lab questions answered.
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Have the review questions for Act I, Scenes i-iii, along with the sheet that has both the soliloquy and Hamlet graphic organizer on it. Remember to have three quotes for the Hamlet organizer.

Friday -

• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on Option D. Assessment statements are due, as always.

Resources from Mr. Butcher

Direct from the IBO:

Prescribed Titles for the TOK Essay--The essay topic selections

A Review of Knowledge Issues--The nature of knowledge issues

TOK Assessment Criteria--See pgs. 52-56 for essay criteria

From Richard van de Lagemaat, author of Theory of Knowledge for the IB Diploma

How to Write a Good TOK Essay--A 15-page essay, filled with great advice

Weekly Update!

School is only on Monday and Tuesday this week!

This week's agenda -

Monday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The final draft of the summative assessment essay on Heart of Darkness is due.
• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - There is a test on the second packet (covers imperfect, imperfect vs. preterite, progressive, informal commands, prepositions).
• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - The pigment lab is due.

Tuesday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - Be prepared to tell Señor what your oral presentation topic is.
• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - The Mexican history terms are due. Remember to use footnotes to cite your information.

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda -

Monday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - Test corrections are due.

Tuesday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - There is a test on Heart of Darkness, mostly multiple-choice, covering topics such as those tested on the book quizzes.

Wednesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The reactions worksheet given out last Friday and on Monday are due.
• Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - There is a quiz on the 20 logical fallacies covered in class. For a list and description of the 20 fallacies, visit "Top 20 Logical Fallacies."

Thursday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The organic chemistry test is today: study alkenes, halogenoalkanes, isomers, and alcohols. Review the worksheets and PowerPoints as well as the previous test.

IB Chemistry, Organic, Reaction Mechanisms, PowerPoint

IB Chem, Organic, Reaction Mechanisms (6)

Theory of Knowledge, Top 20 Logical Fallacies

Visit http://www.theskepticsguide.org/resources/logicalfallacies.aspx for the 20 logical fallacies that may potentially be covered on Wednesday's quiz.

IB Chemistry, Organic, Halogenoalkanes PowerPoint

IB Chem, Organic, Halogenoalkanes (5)

Weekly Update!

Veteran's Day Holiday on Thursday!

This week's agenda -

Monday -

• IB English (IV) - There is a quiz on Book II. Have Book III read.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The remaining Organic Assessment Statements are due: 10.4 Alcohols, 10.5 Halogenoalkanes, 20.2 Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions, 10.6/20.5 Reaction Pathways, and 20.6 Stereoisomerism. If you have lost your assessment statements: Topic 10 and Topic 20.

Tuesday -

• IB Math (Further/HL) - The AP Statistics Test starts today.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - Chapter 7 Homework is due: #7.22-7.25, 7.27
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The Symbolic Timeline is due.

Wednesday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - Oral Presentations start today.

Friday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Organic Models lab is due. Include an introduction--no conclusion/evaluation is required. Answer the questions on the sheet. ALSO: Turn in the IB Questions Worksheet--the half-sheet of paper with 5 questions.
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The text cards and discussion questions for Book III are due.
• IB Biology III (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test.
• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on F4, F5, and F6.
• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - US Presidents of the 20th Century assignment: For each president from McKinley to Clinton, list the years served, their major accomplishments, any major accomplishments/setbacks/controversies/failures (POLICY-related, explain these briefly), and include any policies they had in specific regard to Latin America (not all will have this component). Remember to include a bibliography.

AP Biology, Photosynthesis Lab Info

For those that missed AP Biology in Ms. Bidwell's class this morning (10th graders taking the PLAN Test), here is the lab info that she gave out on the upcoming photosynthesis lab.
AP Biology, Photosynthesis Lab

Weekly Update!

Seniors--An EE draft must be submitted to turnitin.com by Wednesday!

This week's agenda -

Tuesday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - The 250 word essay on drugs is due.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - From Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry, complete 1.18-1.20.

Friday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The 5 text cards and discussion questions for Book II are due.

IB Chemistry, Alkenes, PowerPoint

IB Chem, Organic, Alkenes (3)

IB Chemistry, Fermentation Lab, Information from Mrs. Atkins

Remember to also draw the structure of each alcohol tested, identify what type of alcohol it is (primary, secondary, tertiary), and discuss what each test should have produced.
Yeast Fermentation Lab Information, From Mrs. Atkins

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Wednesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - From Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry, complete 3.23, 3.25, 3.26, 3.30, 3.38, 3.39, 3.45, and 3.49, which begin on page 103.
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• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - The Soil Lab is due.

Thursday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - There is a vocabulary quiz on "Los Problemas Sociales."
• IB HL/Further Math (Mr. Bobbitt) - There is a Calculus option.
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - There is a quiz on Chapter One of Heart of Darkness. Turn in 5 text cards from Chapter One (4 if you turned one in last week).

Friday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Yeast Fermentation lab is due.

IB Chemistry, Organic Test, October 20

Read and review the Chemistry Course Companion:

If you have the 1st edition, the pages are:

• Pgs. 193-195
• Pgs. 199-203
• Pgs. 204-208
• Pgs. 219-223

If you have the 2nd edition, the pages are:

• Pgs. 207-209
• Pgs. 214-217
• Pgs. 219-224
• Pgs. 234-238

There are 4 handouts corresponding to tomorrow's test:

1. Polymerization (accompanied the polymerization lab)
2. Alcohols (goes along with the detailed alcohols PowerPoint), a question may be included from the Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery video (see below posts)
3. Free Radical Substitution, connects to ozone material in Environmental
4. Alkanes

IB Chemistry, Alkanes Packet

IB Chem, Alkanes Packet

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Tuesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Environmental Chemistry Take-Home Test is due.

Wednesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - There is a test on polymers and alcohols.

Friday -

• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on F1, F2, and F3.

IB Chemistry, Organic, Detailed Alcohols PowerPoint

IB Chem, Organic, Alcohols-Detailed (4)

IB Chem, Alcohols, Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 4 Outline

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 4 Outline

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Monday -

• IB Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - Have a good idea of what topic you would like to have for your presentation (IA).

Tuesday -

• IB Biology III/IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - Complete your field guide research and bring it on the trip to Big Lagoon. Be there by 8:30 in the morning--we should be done sometime around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Wednesday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - There is a test covering the Frost/Yeats poems: Matching section on literary devices, Multiple-choice on mostly Frost poems, Short-Answer of 3-4 sentences per poem--choose 2 Frost poems out of 4, choose 4 Yeats poems out of 8.

Thursday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Polymerization lab is due. Write an introduction and answer questions 1-4 on the sheet.
• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - There is a test covering the material in the practice packet we have been working on.

Friday -

• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - There is a test on Nicaragua: the Nicaragua sections of Chapters 10 and 11 in Modern Latin America, Jaguar Smile, and Children of Cain (Ch. 5: The Triumph).
• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Have a rough draft of your comparative essay, which is due Monday (10/18).

TOK, Syllabus

This is the actual syllabus--what I had posted before as the syllabus was the Introductory Lecture.
TOK, Syllabus

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Wednesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - Assessment Statements 20.4 are due.

Friday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - There is a vocabulary quiz.
• IB Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - The TOK Journal is due: remember to have at least 10 entries. The Emotional IQ assignment counts as an entry.
• IB Biology (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a quiz on reflex arcs.

TOK, Perception, Overview

A combination of the review sheet and PowerPoint.
TOK, Perception, Overview

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 3 Outline

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 3 Outline

TOK, Optical Illusions TED Talk

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Tuesday -

• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on H1, H5, and H6.

Thursday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - Have the group oral presentations completed.
• IB Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - Perception Quiz, covering Chapter 4, the Perception PowerPoint, and the Beau Lotto TED Talk.

TOK, Syllabus

TOK, Syllabus

TOK, Perception, Presentation

TOK, Perception, Presentation

IB Chemistry, Topic 10, Organic Chemistry, IUPAC Nomenclature

IB Chem, Topic 10, IUPAC Organic Nomenclature

TOK, A Reading List by Area of Knowledge

TOK, A Reading List by Area of Knowledge

IB Chemistry, Organic, Polymers Powerpoint

IB Chem, Organic, Polymers (7)

TOK, Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Questions

1. Describe/list the levels of being depicted in the allegory. How might they correspond to stages in our life?

2. Does the use of words such as “chained prisoners,” “shadows,” “fire,” or “light” have implications or suggest ideas beyond their simple definitions?

3. How does Plato seem to define knowledge and its acquisition?

4. What levels of knowledge are described? How might these parallel stages in our life?

5. Why does the man have to be dragged out of the cave?

6. Why does the man return?

7. What is the relationship of the allegory to Plato’s Theory of Forms?

Weekly Update!

IB Seniors: Remember to record your hours on Moodle and write a reflective piece about your experiences by FRIDAY.

This week's agenda:

Monday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Bring in a college essay of your choice to class for editing.
• IB Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - The questions corresponding with "Plato's Allegory of the Cave" are due.

Wednesday -

• IB Further Math (Mr. Bobbitt) - There is a test covering up to C and D in Option 8.

Thursday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - The SAT Vocabulary List 2 Quiz is today.

IB Chemistry, Organic Quiz One Review

9:20 edit: Larger hydrocarbons have HIGHER boiling points, and smaller hydrocarbons have LOW boiling points.

Remember that ketones and aldehydes are basically the same, except aldehydes must be on the end of a molecule.

IB Chem, Topic 10, Organic Quiz 1 Review

Organic Chemistry Quiz One, Overview

Potential Topics for Quiz (Sept. 16)

• Nomenclature--be able to draw structures from a given name/be able to name given structures
• Homologous series: general formulas for alkanes/alkenes/alkynes
• Substituent groups--alkyls
• Saturated vs. Unsaturated
• Functional Groups: alcohol, halogens (fluoro, bromo, chloro, iodo), aldehyde, ester, ketone, amide, amine
• Cyclic Molecules
• Benzene
• Resonance Structure
• Physical/chemical characteristics of hydrocarbons
• Combustion (refer to info sheet)

From the video clip:

• What are hydrocarbons used for?
• Fractional distillation
• Catalytic cracking
• What role do boiling points play in separating the products?
• How are hydrocarbon chains relevant?
• What is the 'octane number' based on?
• Why does higher octane gasoline cost more?

TOK, Concepts I

The following is a review of the material for Thursday's (September 16) quiz. It will be a matching format, with ten terms and ten definitions.

TOK, Concepts

IB Chemistry, Organic Reactions

I found this great flowchart from the University of York that is basically the flowchart Mrs. Atkins showed in class, except in much more detail. All we need to know for now is simply the type of reaction--just the colors of the arrows.

For additional resources about organic reactions, check out the following documents:

http://www.chalkbored.com/lessons/chemistry-12/organic-synthesis-worksheet.pdf

http://faculty.smu.edu/pwisian/Chem1304/Chapter24review.pdf

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Monday -

• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - The Blood Pressure Lab is due.
• Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - The writing prompt on the difference between knowledge, truth, and belief is due.

Tuesday-

• IB English (Mrs. Peteranecz) - There is a quiz on SAT Vocabulary List 1.

Wednesday -

• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - There is a quiz on The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis.
• IB English (Mrs. Peteranecz) - Write 10 sentences with ten of the vocabulary words from SAT Vocabulary List 2--remember to use context clues in the sentence.

Thursday -

• Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - There is a quiz on basic terms and vocabulary, as reviewed on Monday. It is matching format, with ten terms to be matched with ten definitions.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - There is a quiz on organic nomenclature and combustion reactions. The Organic Nomenclature Worksheet 2 is also due.

Friday -

• IB Spanish IV (Señor Alemañy) - There is a vocabulary quiz on "La Naturaleza y Los Desastres, " the list given out last Friday.
• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Organic Models Lab is due: include a purpose, theory section (discuss bond angles, hydrocarbons, functional groups), include the chart as the procedure, and answer the questions on the handout. Include at least three of the simpler molecules (A-H) and three of the more complex molecules that she added to the lab.

IB Chemistry, Organic PowerPoints

The following are the exact PowerPoint presentations that Mrs. Atkins uses in class. The handout versions are based on the PowerPoints and include information given in lecture as well as supplementary information from textbooks--they are essentially a condensed, reorganized version of the main points from the presentations.

Currently available are the handout versions of the first two presentations.

IB Chem, Organic, Introduction (1)

IB Chem, Organic, Hydrocarbons (2)

IB Chem, Organic, Nomenclature (3)

IB Chem, Organic, Alcohols (4)

IB English, Literary Style Terms

English, Literary Terms

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Tuesday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The "Finding the Volume of a Drop" design lab is due. Don't forget to refer to the IB design lab criteria.

Wednesday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - There is a test on literary devices.
• IB Further Math (Mr. Bobbitt) - There is a test on Sections A and B of Topic 8.

Friday -

• IB History of the Americas (Mr. Jones) - There is a quiz on Don't Be Afraid Gringo.
• IB Biology IV (Mrs. Bidwell) - There is a test on H2, H3, H4. Assessment statements are also due.

IB Chem, Topic 10, Hydrocarbons and an Introduction to Halogenoalkanes

IB Chem, Topic 10, Hydrocarbons and an Introduction to Halogenoalkanes

IB Chem, Topic 10, Organic Chemistry (Intro/Basics)

IB Chem, Topic 10, An Introduction to Organic Chemistry

Weekly Update!

This week's agenda:

Monday -

• IB English IV (Mrs. Peteranecz) - There is a quiz on How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
• Theory of Knowledge (Mr. Butcher) - Have at least one journal entry completed.

Thursday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The IB Challenge is due (for first period, this is due on Friday).

Friday -

• IB Chemistry (Mrs. Atkins) - The Assessment Statements for Topic 11 are due.

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 2 Outline

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 1 Outline

Pre-IB Chem, Chapter 1 Outline

IB Chem, Topic 11, Errors and Uncertainties in Measurement

I organized the Topic 11 notes from this week into a handout format:

IB Chem, Errors and Uncertainties in Measurements, Notes

Class of 2011 MOODLE INSTRUCTIONS

After you register and have an account, just use this link to immediately log in, rather than navigating through multiple sites.
Moodle Instructions