home

=Welcome to the Gravelly Hill Middle Schools 8th Grade Biotechnology WikiSpace 2007!=

This wikispace has been designed to showcase the collaborate efforts of Gravelly Hill Middle Schools' students. All of the information (other than this homepage) has been submitted by Gravelly Hill's Exploring Biotechnology students.

=II. Objectives=

Students will conduct background research on the science and social impacts of biofuel production.

In the laboratory students will understand the nature of science by conducting scientific research on factors that affect bioreactor yields. After perfecting and standardizing their techniques and procedures, students will conduct research to optimize fermentation conditions. They will then conduct background research on various biofuels and discuss the pros and cons of each.

At the same time, students will gain a better understanding of Web 2.0 technology by using various forms of media and technology to develop an online learning environment.

Students will work in as individuals to conduct their inititial research on the web. Notes and hyperlinks will be stored in their own online notebook (Google Notebooks) and shared with their colleagues. Google Presentations will serve as a online collaboration tool to help teams design a presentation for the class.

Students will develop their interpersonal relationship and communication skills working together in team projects. Students will work together to build upon prior knowledge and participate in online discussions to foster their higher order thinking skills.

=III. Tasks=

Prior to this phase of your project, you should have a Google Notebook with at least three references and associated notes collected from the web.
 * 1) Search for and pull out the main idea from each of your references.
 * 2) Select a biofuel that has properties that make it attractive as an alternative to non-renewable fossil fuels.
 * 3) Create a new page in this WikiSpace for background information about the biofuel you selected.
 * 4) **In your own words**, describe the following:


 * What properties make this biofuel an attractive replacement for fossil fuels.
 * Any scientific information you can find out about the biofuel, for example:


 * the scientific name of the biofuel.
 * a scientific description of the molecules present in the biofuel.
 * a scientific illustration of the molecules.
 * a scientific description of the desirable properties of these molecules.
 * specific information on how this biofuel compares to the other biofuels and to fossil fuels.


 * Laboratory data you have collected about optimizing biofuel production.
 * A comparison of your results to another team's result.
 * A conclusion concerning the relative merits of your optimization methods.
 * Thoughts on what experiments you would like to try next if you had the time and the money to do so.