Category Archives: AHL
Rotavirus Vaccine: A Great Graph
Another great find from Twitter (follow everyone in this tweet):
Rotavirus Vaccine impact, from Forbes.com
Matthew Herper’s short article in Forbes includes this graph, which is a clear link to the efficacy of the rotavirus vaccine. You can access the full pdf from the New England Journal of Medicine here (also brief, with a better graph).
Some questions to think about, connecting this case to the curriculum (11.1 AHL: Defense Against Infectious Disease):
- How does the rotavirus infect its host?
- Why does diarrhea lead to death?
- What type of vaccine is this and how is it produced?
- What challenges are still to be overcome?
The rotavirus vaccine has been a big part of the Bill Gates Foundation’s work, and they have a short video on it here:
How do trees move all that water all that way up? [Veritasium]
This is a great video from Derek at Veritasium on why and how trees are able to move water up 100m. It might not be the answer you think…
Links to AHL 9.2 Transport
Hank blossoms with Plant Science
Crash Course & SciShow Hanks’s last couple of videos have been on Plant Science: transport and reproduction. Head on over to the main Plant Science AHL page for the topic for the presentations and resources.
King Corn – we are what we eat, drink and cook with
King Corn
This film came out about a year ago, but I saw it for the first time on the History Channel a couple of days ago. A very enlightening view of the omnipresence of corn and corn-products in our food. From corn-fed beef to corn-starch and high-fructose corn syrup (boo!), industrial production of corn is in all facets of our diet.
In the film, two friends set out to produce an acre of corn and track how it grows and where is goes. Inspired by the Omnivore’s Dilemma and in tune with other recent super-docs (Super Size Me, Food Inc., The End of the Line), King Corn is a sensitive and educational film that manages not to stray into anti-industry polemic.
This extended clip from PBS shows the first 20-minutes of the movie:
It’s amazing to see that the corn farmers can’t even feed themselves with the corn they grow – it is not fit to be eaten! Instead it is bred and grown for maximum starch output. If you get a chance, watch it.
One impactful scene explains how high fructose corn syrup came to be and how it is made. Something to surely make you think twice about the contents of the processed foods we eat. Here’s a challenge – check the labels in the supermarket and see how may products contain it.
How We’ll Stop Polio for Good
This TED Talk by Bruce Aylward is amazing – watch it! Particularly important for HL Biology students.
Find out more about the work of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. You can donate through Rotary International or click on the map below to track their progress.
2006 Map of Global Polio, from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Dihybrid Crosses and Genes Relinked
Updated presentation for 2011.
Link to more class resources here: 10.2 Dihybrid Crosses and Gene Linkage
If you want to download an editable version of the file, please make a donation to one of my charities at Biology4Good. Click here for more information.
Polygenic Inheritance Refertilised
Updated presentation for 2011.
Link to more class resources here: 10.3 Polygenic Inheritance
If you want to download an editable version of the file, please make a donation to one of my charities at Biology4Good. Click here for more information.
Meiosis Updates
An updated version of the presentation for the HL students, with more focus on random orientation vs independent assortment. for more resources and links, zip over to the 10.1 Meiosis page.
Random orientation refers to the behaviour of chromosomes in metaphase:
Independent Assortment refers to the alleles of unlinked genes:
You’ve got to love Tom McFadden’s Meiosis rap:
Classification
Grade 11 are starting out the course with a short “Nature of Biology” unit, made up of Statistical Analysis (and some practice with data), Classification, Evolution and a little introduction to ToK in Biology. Grade 12 are also looking at Classification at the moment, as part of the Ecology, Evolution and Conservation unit.
Here is the class presentation:
Download as pdf here: 5.5 Classification
–
Work through this Essential Biology 5.5 Classification as you go through the presentation.
There are some activities you can download here:
- Shark ID Guide at Queensland
Invertebrate phyla cards and dichotomous key
Paired groups key-making activity: Spiders vs Beetles
–
And here are the Click4Biology notes
There is also a great Environmental Science course online here: The Habitable Planet
–
Have fun!
i-Biology 