Mr. Nichols Biology

Your favorite biology teacher. Microflora Enthusiast. Bunny Picture Connoisseur.

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(2/2)

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(1/2) these past two days students have been learning about how some organisms, called “keystone species,” control the balance in ecosystems. They worked hard to make informational posters about these organisms, here are some highlights!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(2/2) this culminated in us making a CLASS SIZED food web!!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(1/2) last week we learned about trophies levels and energy flow by creating our own ecosystems from random selections of organisms

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Last week we looked at the geological time scale by drawing out the history of the earth on FIVE METERS of paper!!

For reference, the scale that we used was:
1 billion years = 1 meter
10 million years = 1 centimeters
1 million years = millimeter

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

This week we looked at the structure of DNA and extracted the DNA from our cheek cells. This was a really fun (and kind of gross!) lab for the kids to do and a great way to end the week.

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(2/2) we used milk with food dye as the blood and either vinegar or water for our antibodies. Each station either had water or vinegar for the A&B antibodies and students had to determine the combination that made each blood type

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(1/2) A few weeks back, Mr. Nichols’ general biology class examined the inheritance of co-dominant traits by simulating blood typing in our lab!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

(2/2) not pictured is the second part of the lab where students placed the leaves in the dark and compared photosynthesis in light conditions and in dark conditions

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

A big thank you to Dr. Talbert for coming in to speak about his experiences as a family medicine doctor and as a doctor in Nepal! The students were fascinating by many of his stories and learned a lot about doing medicine in 3rd world countries

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Huge thank you to Dr. Kenzie Dwyer for speaking about being a physical therapist today for our EMC class!!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

This past week we had a great time experimenting with using microscopes!!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Thank you to Dr. Brown for visiting our Exploring Medical Careers class today!! it was great learning from you about the process of going through medical school, and what it is like becoming a doctor!!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Properties we looked at included cohesion, solubility, pH, and density! (2/2)

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Last week we had a great time learning about the properties of water by examining a number of different “mystery” chemicals to figure out which one was water! (1/2)

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Excited for another year of learning!!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Big thank you to Emma Harding and Morgan Greenstreet for coming in this week to talk about medical careers!! Emma spoke to us about being an ER nurse at Advent Health and Morgan spoke to us about opportunities and internships that are available through University Health!!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Love my goofy students!! One of my students saw my phone sitting on the desk and decided to take a few selfies and pictures of his friends so I told him he could get a shout out on my Twitter 😂

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

Last week we modeled natural selection and genetic drift through the use of cheddar & pretzel goldfish. These “hungry sharks” REALLY loved eating cheddar goldfish and avoided the pretzel ones at all cost, which means that over a few generations we saw a major shift in population!

[Mr. Nichols Biology @MrNicholsBio]

And then today we were fortunate enough in Exploring Medical Careers to have the amazing Dr. Brown come in to talk about medical school and what it is like becoming a doctor!!