The Bio 11 Essay Assignment:

Your mission is to take a quote about life and then link that quote to either six activities of life or six big ideas. This is a means to bridge science with day-to-day references about life.

Sample Paths to follow: “The academic path”

• Select a quote

“ Life is not an exact science, it is an art”

• Decide if you want to support the quote or challenge it.
• Outline your essay

Challenge or support quote:

Arguments:

Support quote:

1. Quote was written in late 1800’s when biology was natural history.
2. Many biological theories and or facts are found by luck.
3. Science begins with observation, so does art
4. Both art and science are means of interpreting what is in front of your eyes.
5. “Art provides what nature cannot”

Or

Challenge Quote:

1. Biology is becoming more “scientific” with better mean of interpreting biochemistry, anatomy and remote sensing.
2. Life has a pattern and theories such as evolution.
3. Life has activities of life.

4)

Make a brief Outline Essay

• Introductory paragraph:
  1. Quote
  2. If life is an art verses an exact science then how do activities of life show this?
  3. Pair activities: Locomotion and Metabolism, Reproduction and Growth, Response and repair.
  4. Which path of argument to follow

• Paragraph 2: Metabolism and locomotion
  1. Every living thing needs energy to move either large structures like limbs or even fluids within tissues.
  2. How much movement and energy that is needed is not an exact amount.
  3. A dancer may need more energy that another form of artist. Each day offers a different challenge so sometimes energy is stored or an organism may stay in one place.
  4. Can measure both activity and caloric intake and yet it is not always exact.

• Reproduction and Repair

1. Reproduction can involve both sharing of genetic information and dividing   your own information.
2. An artist may share ideas or work on their own. Growth can happen quickly or over a long time.
3. Exact growth can be measured and yet many variables can affect it.
4. Reproduction is not always predictable and may have behaviors such as spiders that seem both odd and artistic

• Response to stimuli and repair.

1. Some time one gets lost in their thoughts and ideas chasing an artistic idea and forgets to look up.
2. Slow response to stimuli to response time and now you body needs to repair scraped skin.
3. More advanced cephalization allows for better way to adapt to stimuli which may mean less repair

• Conclusion:

1. Issue with exact is difficult because life is always changing
2. Artist may be able to adapt and perform in the moment much like simple living things.
3. In all activities of life, there is an unknown outside the realm of exact numbers and formula.
4. “Art provides what nature cannot”

Plan B: Fun path to follow “ Confusion is the sign of growth”

Premise: Biology big ideas and life as a student

Introduction:

In high school, each student attempts to adapt and learn new things each day. Like science, we observe and attempt to make sense of things that do not seem to make sense. Perhaps by looking at big ideas of biology, one can see that “wisdom of insecurity” may be a way to calm confused thoughts.

• Two ideas: Change and continuity

1. In biology change with time is evolution and continuity is about exchanging genetic material.
2. In high school, students evolve from dazed grade eights to focused grade 12’s.
3. There is always “drama”. Is the “drama” due to adaption or wrong genetic pairings? Is the confusion due to misinterpreting the data?

• Two ideas: Diversity and interactions

1. In biology diversity and unity is how living things are different and similar due to genetics, species formation and reproduction.
2. In high school there are “clichés” which some time interact in both positive and negative fashions.
3. In high school some students are attempt to adapt and yet they may not know how to interact.
4. Sometime failure to interact or accept one’s own diversity may lead to confusion and yet you can change with time and grow from the experience.

• Homeostasis and structure and function

1. In high school you attempt to seek balance and yet practical experience may not be there.
2. In biology, living things maintain “balance” by increased cephalization or new structures to adapt to situations and yet sometimes, dogs bark simply because they do not know what to do.
3. The only way to learn about balance is to experience unbalance.

Conclusion:

1. Both in biology and in high school, students are told a lot of information. Sometimes it makes sense and other times, you really have to wonder where algebra and life connect. Confusion is an attempt to make sense of the nonsensical. A student learns to adapt and overcome life situation and that is growth. Likewise, every living thing is responding to stimuli and hopefully the response works. If it does not work, then there is always another chance.
2. Use six big ideas to validate how each day in high school is an attempt to make sense of the nonsensical and so there is growth (an activity of life)

Take home message:

• Some times you have to translate information from one venue to another. It is important to be able to show literacy by being able to link your ideas with others.
• I am not an English teacher, and yet I write stuff every day. I am not concerned about you linguistic skills sets or your panache to baffle me with large volumes of bovine feces. Keep run on sentences to a minimum. Use the occasional comma and period and check your spelling.
• This challenge is to be evaluated on your ability to reflect upon either your own experience or with things that you have learned this year. Try to seek positive paths and enjoy the experience. If you show that you have taken the time to think and your writing shows that you have given 100% then your mark with reflect that.