01/15/19 Biology PLC minutes

Members Present: McCandless, Vermillion, Baker, Wise

1. Labs this week
   a. Leaf disk lab discussion
   b. Pre-lab needs to be before
   c. Baking soda in the water
   d. Put leaves in the sun ahead of time
   e. Swirl it around
   f. Box for dark one
   g. Run for approximately 20 minutes
2. Virtual Lab
3. Elodea Lab- Vermillion today/tomorrow. McCandless Friday.
4. Technology needs and sign-ups
5. NGSS standards break down- Wise and Rahmlow discussion. Use Stella to help, ask Vermillion and Baker to help.

Next Steps:
Emergency sub plans, common formative/summative assessment creation

01/11/19 Biology PLC Minutes

Members Present: Baker, McCandless, Montgomery, Wise

1. Lab prep for next week
   a. Elodea lab- Waiting on delivery
   b. Do leaf disk first. Vermillion doing this today, others next week.
2. Biology Curriculum
3. Achieve3000- Rostering Issues
4. 1st Semester Failures
   a. Recovery Options- Put student in intervention, go through credit recovery route (Within 5% of passing) Otherwise, they need to repeat the course next year.
   b. Most failures are chronic absentee students.
   c. Teacher discretion for who can go the recovery route.
   d. Home hospital grade changes an issue. Calling during class.
      i. Work being sent to HH teacher
5. Department Meeting next Friday January 18 during 2nd period.
   a. Failure options
6. Formative assessments
   a. Small, daily checkpoints to guide instruction the next day.
   b. Adjust instruction based on results of the daily checkpoints.
   c. Vermillion a day ahead to pilot lessons.
   d. If your kids do not get it- Review and modify based on student needs.
   e. CFA. For example, having issues with building the terrarium. Next day, gave students an article about the carbon cycle to address issues.
   f. Individualized with teachers, based on their student needs. PLC staying on the same page of standards, not necessarily pace (but it is close).

Next steps: Department meeting. Continue using CFAs to adjust instruction. Create a common summative assessment (should we use last years or make a new one?).

01/07/19 Biology PLC Minutes

Members Present: Baker, Wise, Vermillion, McCandless

1. Unit 4 Discussion- Energy and Matter
   a. Labs- Leaf Disk, Elodea
   b. Plants take in CO2 and put out Oxygen- Main point of this week's lessons
   c. Carbon and water cycles
   d. Nitrogen cycle not included- may be more confusing than its worth. Can add in after feedback for this unit.
   e. Draft- Piloting these lessons and activities.
   f. Sequence is similar to last year, slight changes.
   g. Space out this week on characteristics of life and review, Vermillion starting sooner with the AP to work out kinks. GIVE FEEDBACK TO VERMILLION
2. Week 1
   a. Introduction- Articles and terrarium Videos, Characteristics of life- 1 to 2 days
   b. Review abiotic and biotic factors
   c. Slideshow for 1st lesson- Wise uploaded a more detailed slide deck for the 8 characteristics
   d. KEY to get the terrarium drawings started, because they go back to the drawings
3. Week 2
   a. Elodea and leaf disk- Order doesn't matter- Mon-Thurs
   b. Grab leaves off auditorium plants or bring them
   c. Friday- Reading/Literacy
4. Week 3
   a. Two-day online lab Mon and Tues
   b. Block Weds and Thurs- Poison system with an Inhibitor
   c. Lab needs for Wise and McCandless- 1st McCandless, 7th Wise, 7th McCandless borrow Baker/Vermillion rooms

Next Steps: Get through pre-lesson reviews, lesson 1, and lesson 2 by next Friday. Give feedback to Vermillion. Prepare for technology use and lab setups.

12/4/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: Baker, Vermillion, Wise, Montgomery, McCandless

1. Unit Planning
   a. Active and passive transport
   b. Poster projects
2. Review/Next Week
   a. Finals creation
   b. Schedule for review
   c. Vocab word list revising will happen on Friday 12-7 in PLC.

11/20/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: Baker, Wise, Vermillion, McCandless, Montgomery

1. Planning for after break
   a. Monday
      i. Plan for review of expectations
      ii. Intro to cell membrane- Notes/coloring
   b. Tuesday
      i. Diffusion and osmosis- Notes/activity
   c. Wednesday/Thursday
      i. Lab- Gummy Bears (VERMILLION)
   d. Friday
      i. Intro to House Project (WISE)
2. EOC
   a. Multiple science subjects
      i. Switching classes with chemistry teachers to provide reviews for bio students
      ii. Test will ask about cross-cutting concepts
   b. Meetings will go into more details over test topics
3. Questions/Concerns

Next Steps- Teachers plan assigned lessons, we will plan for next weeks upon our return from break. Vermillion out on the 6th. Baker- will be with Wise December 4.

11/13/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: McCandless, Vermillion, Wise, Baker, Montgomery

1. Week 1- Cells and Cancer
   a. Library reservations for HHMI interactive
   b. House clips for hook
   c. The House project- Friday introduction
2. The House project- What are the requirements for each component?
   a. PowerPoint additions so students can keep track
   b. This week- Draw slips for their topic
   c. How will students make connections from their illness to the studied system?
   d. Public audience for the PBL project
   e. Other options-
     i. Endangered Species- make into PBL by adding components
     ii. Body systems multimedia project
   f. Time spent on body systems vs. evolution?
3. What are our standards/goals for the next 5 weeks?
   a. Cell Types
   b. Organelles- Structure and function
   c. Cell Transport
   d. Mitosis
4. Using case studies to create teaching teams
   a. First one- Girl Lost
5. Action items- Friday, bring case studies and we will choose which ones we want. Create rubrics/guidelines for each teaching team.

11/5/18 PLC Minutes

Members Present: Montgomery, Vermillion, Wise, McCandless

Next 6 Weeks Planning Document
PBL Document

1. This Week
   a. Wise/Vermillion- Review Cells from middle school, test recovery
   b. Baker/McCandless- Test and test recovery
2. PBL Project
   a. Virus/Bacteria for HSA
   b. Repetitive work injury for IMA
3. Next Week- Unit 4
   a. What is a cell/types of cells/ppt- Week 1 (WISE)
   b. 5 weeks- Cover everything up photosynthesis
       i. Mitosis and Cancer vs. normal cell division- Week 1 (WISE)
       ii. Immune/Vaccinations (HSA connection) Week 2 (THANKSGIVING BREAK) (VERMILLION)
       iii. Respiratory (Diffusion and osmosis) Week 3 after break (MCCANDLESS)
            ~Gummy Bear Lab
            ~Can you stand the heat? lab
       iv. Cardiovascular Week 4 (BAKER)
            ~Blood Pressure lab
       v. Skeletal/Muscle Week 5 (WISE)
             ~Microscope lab
       vi. Christmas Break
   c. Weekly Structure
       i. Monday- Introductions
       ii. Tuesday- Worksheet/Practice/Investigations
       iii. Block day- Labs
       iv. Friday- Review/Literacy connected to body system and PBL Evidence
    d. PBL is going to occur throughout the unit. All learning is geared towards building evidence for their cases. Specifically, Friday they will synthesize information for their case. See the 6 weeks planning document for PBL info