Thursday, December 18, 2008

T-Shirt Design Coming soon!!


Hellow Fellow Biology Clubbers!

The West High Biology Club in Iowa City, IA is about to go on Winter Break.

Happy Holidays to all.

We have had a fun fall and are looking forward to next year when we continue more

activities and projects.

Here is a photo shot of our T-Shirt design.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Whiting High School Bio Club Activities

The Whiting High School (Laramie, WY) chapter is in the process of getting themselves organized, and coming up with ideas for activities. We have elected officers. We meet every Tuesday at lunch time, and our numbers are growing from four students and two advisors, to ten students and two advisors. We are organizing a recycling program in the school. We have examined track casts that were provided by Wyoming Game and Fish, and learned to identify wildlife from their tracks. We will also learn about scat and furs, too. We are attempting to locate a sister school in another country. We will establish e-mail communications with that school, and possibly design some research projects that we can do together. Next time, we will post a picture!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Belleville BioClub Starts Speaker Series


Reception after Dr. Short's lecture

The Belleville East BioClub (Belleville IL) has started a Speaker Series to highlight outstanding orators in the St. Louis Area. On November 12, 2008 Dr. Philip Short gave a presentaiton titled "In the Shadow of the Shaman" See below for the Summary

Shadow of the Shaman The Loss of Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge in Suriname And the Implications for Education, Health, and Sustainability in the U.S. A Public Presentation by Dr. Philip C. Short An intricate knowledge of local plants is generally found in approximately 1/2 billion people living in tropical societies. Unfortunately, this traditional ethnobotanical knowledge (TEK) – so long a vital part of indigenous culture as food, shelter, and medicine – is being lost among the younger cohorts in many societies. In the culturally and biologically diverse Amazonian country of Suriname, the lure of modernization is not matched by promised benefits, and the loss of TEK creates a deficit in food and medicine. You are invited to come for a captivating experience with Dr. Short as he follows an elderly shaman, Frits, from the Saramaccan clan of Suriname’s Busi Negro rainforest culture. As an aging medicine men and native botanist, Frits is on an urgent quest to transfer his knowledge to the next generation. Explore a colorful landscape of rivers, rainforests, birds, reptiles, bats, and howler monkeys while being enlightened in the shadow of the shaman. Dr. Philip Short has a bachelors degree in biology and chemistry, a masters degree in zoology, and a Ph.D. in science and environmental education. He has taught a variety of science courses over 25 years from middle school through university graduate courses. He currently teaches wildlife biology and advanced ecology at Belleville Township High School East, conducts research and coordinates environmental education workshops at the Center for Instruction, Staff Development, and Evalutaion, and is a consulting editor for the Journal of Environmental Education. From his rural childhood exploring forested ravines and river swamps to wilderness adventures and interactions with local people in diverse settings, Dr. Short’s philosophical approach to experiential learning stimulates dialogue on the ultimate relevance of our educational systems.


Monday, December 8, 2008

EcoAction Letterboxing in PA


We're so excited! Saltsburg EcoAction finally got out to do their first letterboxing activity. It was a wonderful chance to have the group in the woods exploring the flora and fauna and we also enjoyed the whole "treasure hunt" feeling that it had. Sometimes, we forget how lucky we are to be living in such a beautiful area. Saltsburg is a canal town that straddles the Kiskimenitas River, just east of Pittsburgh. The river trails make it an ideal place for canoes, bikes and, of course, hikers like us. Enjoy the pic!


Christmas came early for us this year, as we just recieved word that we've recieved a grant from DonorsChoose for a GPS unit. This gives us the capability to geocache, in addition to letterboxing, so it really opens up our options for the next trip! If you're not familiar with letterboxing, check it out at: Letterboxing North America. For more information on geocaching, check out: The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site . Maybe we'll see you out there!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Great Plains Lutheran HS BioClub

Hello,

Glad to be involved. Our school is located in Watertown, SD, in the NE part of the state. Our school is small (120) but I have quite a few bio-interested students.
Echoing the thoughts of others, this is the only club in existence to my knowledge with a national presence, making my students interested. I will use this as the overarching group for all our science activities. We have a quiz bowl day, two science fairs, and a Roots and Shoots group, but this one can be for all members with the other groups being served from it. It makes it easier for me and better for them.
My question regards t-shirts - is there a logo for NABT BioClub or is the phrase what there is for now? Do others just put BioClub on as their identifier?
Thanks for any/all input.
Greg Diersen
GPLHS

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Greetings from Kansas

Recently I learned of a web site where students and teachers could post science videos. I had a couple of lab groups make a video and get it posted. These were students who normally barely get by in class. Finally, I found something to motivate them and make them think about science and why they were doing a lab activity. The site is www.testtoob.com. You need to sign up for a membership but it is free and easy.

They don't have very many life science videos yet. This could be a project that you could do with your BioClub members. Have fun and I'll be watching the site for new videos.

Best Regards,
Kim
Marysville High School
Marysville KS

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

York High School Bio Club

Our Bio Club at York HS is new this year. We have about 10 regular members. So far, we have done some Phagehunting and mitchondrial DNA extraction. We have some Painted Lady Butterflies that needed adopting. We also plan to do stream monitoring in the spring and have plans to celebrate Darwin's birthday.

Ware Shoals High School BioClub

The WSHS BioClub is busy planning an outreach adventure to the local primary school. The students are planning on taking a variety of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates to share with the students. One of the activities that we are planning for Darwin Day is to work with the Spanish classes to produce posters, both in English and Spanish, to display around the school. We just acquired three new red-legged tortoises for our turtle habitat and a Sulcata has also been promised. More news will come later.

Monday, November 3, 2008

ADA HIGH SCIENCE CLUB--OKLAHOMA

At present we have over 35 members. The club is called the Ada High Science Club and will retain that name but the members have enthusiastically embraced the Biology Club as a new integral part. Our theme this year is the planets. Often our themes are derived from T-shirt ideas, and this year we mourn the lose of Pluto from planetary status. I have always held that the science club is open to all science interests, and over the 14 years I have been sponsor, we have dipped into all aspects of the sciences.

Our latest project is to renovate the garden by the school's front door. We have a mentor from the local university who is helping the students in teaching them how to do a professional garden and supplying the plants, tools and other resources for them to get the job done.

We are taking a field trip on November 15th (which happens to be National Recycling Day) to the Wakefield Inn - a local B&B and vineyard owned by our Family and Consumer Science teacher that is about 30 miles out in the country. The students will help in the vineyard, consume a 5 course buffet style dinner, play some games, and star watch with a local astronomy buff who will guide them through the constellations and Milky Way. We usually wait until after stargazing to have desert.

We are presently running a fund raiser with Little Caesar's Pizza.

Hmmm. I guess we are pretty busy! Later! Kay

Sunday, November 2, 2008

BioClub Advisers Meet at Charlotte NSTA

On Thursday, October 30, 2008, Judy Jones, Leann Iacuone, Amanda Lloyd (Leann's helper and Chemistry teacher), and George Sellers had dinner together at the NSTA conference. What a feast we had!! We also had a wonderful time getting to know each other, discussing our different BioClubs, and talking "shop".

Leann and George made plans for their groups to get together during the year (a field trip to study native plants and an end-of-the-year trip to the zoo in Columbia, SC). Judy and George discovered that they both have an interest in herpetology, and they made plans to attend the NABT Conference in Boulder Colorado next year to present a joint presentation on the use of herps in the classroom.

This is just one of the many benefits of being a BioClub Adviser--meeting and getting together with other advisers at national, regional, and state meetings!!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Hello from Laramie, WY

Hi everyone! We had our first Bioclub meeting last week at Whiting High School. Although only a handful of students attended, I believe Bioclub is going to be a hit. The students elected officers and tossed about a number of ideas for field trips and programs.

I have sponsored an on again/off again science club for the past five years. The students are excited about Bioclub because it is a national organization. I would love to have interactive conversations between my students and other students, as was suggested. Our math teacher is also acting as a sponsor.

Jennie Lawrence
Science Teacher, Whiting High School
Laramie, WY

Monday, October 27, 2008

EcoAction at Saltsburg

Hi, All!

Here at Saltsburg High School (PA), we have less than 400 students (7-12) and 20+ of them belong to EcoAction. If you're keeping score at home, that's 5% of our student body that participates actively in our club! We are the ONLY club in existence at our school. When I started here, three years ago, students approached me to start a biology/ecology based club and EcoAction was born. Our club is completely student managed. The president starts the meetings and committees take over from there. I'm proud to be their sponsor.

In the past years, we have started a very successful recycling program at our school, brought in speakers and activities for Earth Week, participated in the Environthon, and more. During our meetings, we do activities and experiments of the students's choosing. We also produce the school's talent show as a fundraiser on the side.

We are currently trying to put together the funding to build a greenhouse facility as part of our school's upcoming building project, so keep your fingers crossed. Also, this year, we hope to get out to do some letter boxing/geocaching in our area and have the chace to place a letterbox of our own. At the end of the year, we're taking a canoe trip down the river (Saltsburg is on the Kiskiminetas) to a place where we're going to camp overnight; it should be great fun!

We're happy to be a BioClub and look forward to working with all of you to develop our club further. Check out our website at: http://www.geocities.com/xedra77/EcoAction.html.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Live Club Interactions

Hello everyone! I ran this idea via email yesterday. With the wonders of the web these days, how many of you would be interested in doing some live club interactions? I think this could really have some potential. I realize that time may be an issue due to time differences but it can be managed. We would need to have webcams (very cheap these days) and I suggest using scype which is a free program and allows for this type of interaction.

Let me know what all of you think and lets run with it! One way to make our club experience even better! :-)

West High Biology Club

Hello everyone. We are the Biology Club from West High School in Iowa City, IA. Our club has been in existence for 9 years. We participate in the Biology Olympics, Envirothon, and support our Ecology Club and Geocaching Club. Many of our students participate in local science fairs and also volunteer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Some students also spend time working and volunteering in research labs at the university. We have ongoing projects in our school like local water monitoring of streams and we raise Xenopus frogs and study their development. We will send pictures of our group soon. We are all excited to be a part of NABT BioClubs and look forward to exchanging ideas with everyone.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

UoC Lab Aquarium Project.


This is the star of our aquarium project. We have several Polypterus senegalus individuals that voraciously hunt and eat anything they can fit into their mouths, including small Jack Dempsey cichlids. This one is a large female at about 11" long.

These fish have been an enormous aid in class. I've used them primarily to help with the teaching of cladograms but, they've proven indispensable when teaching behavior too. It is the excited caused by these fish that my student started an aquarium club, this absorbed as the BioClub.

Daniel

University of Chicago Lab Schools Aquarium Project


This is our 350 gallon, only filled to 180, in class swamp. We grow mangroves, not always successfully though, tropic latitude fish, crustaceans, etc. My students built the stand and refinished the aquarium. The person from whom we purchased the tank (thank you ebay), used it for tortoises and had drilled several holes in the bottom. Over a year later and so far no flooding on the first floor beneath me!

An in-class environment goes a long long way to attract would-be members of a club and win some hard fought battles with students who might not otherwise be motivated in biology class.

Daniel

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

Hello from Chicago!

Anyone else planning a celebration of Darwin's 200th birthday? Our club at LAB is planning for speakers and activities for Feb 12 and we are interested in suggestions, ideas, etc.

Daniel
UoC LAB

Sunday, October 12, 2008

East Chapel Hill High School Science Club

At East Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, NC, we have an extremely active Science Club of about 80 members. We particpate in the National Science Bowl, Science Olympiad and other fun competitions. We also do service work. The students will do science shows at various elementary schools and help with snake shows - also at elementary schools.

Because this club was already extremely active and included some passionate "biologists" we are incorportating our NABT Biology Club under the umbrella of our existing club. This section of the club is working hard with younger members of the club to help them with the biology events in Science Olympiad since that is our first big activity.

We also have Dr. Oliver Smithies (Nobel Prize Winner) coming to speak to some classes in February. Biology Club students will be invited to join in this exciting event.

Judy Jones
Biology Teacher and Science Club Advisor
ECHHS

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

WARE SHOALS BIOCLUB


The Ware Shoals BioClub is located at Ware Shoals High School in Ware Shoals, SC. Our school was one of the places where the movie Leatherheads was filmed a couple of years ago, but that is another story! Our chapter is off to a great and enthusiastic start. The officers were elected at the first meeting, and the students were ready to get to work. In fact, I had to convince them that scheduling a meeting every day was a little bit excessive, so we finally agreed to meet on the first and third Mondays of every month.

There are several projects that the group is working on during the year. One is working with the Art Club to construct tortoise and aquatic turtle habitats on campus that will be used by local schools and the community. The group is also attempting to breed poison dart frogs to help promote the Year of the Frog. Additionally, they will visit a couple of local elementary/primary schools later in the year to show/explain several snakes, lizards, spiders, etc. that they are maintaining in the classroom.

These students are very excited about the entire BioClub concept, and they think that it is very neat to be part of a national organization. Check back later to see how things are going with our outdoor habitats construction project.

Skyline High School Biology Club

Hello to all!

Here in the pacific northwest in Sammamish, Washington (a suburb of Seattle) we have a strong biology club foundation. Our club was founded 4 years ago and has grown each year. This year we are proud to be an official NABT bio club!

We hold meetings monthly. Our first meeting was primarily logistics at which students sign up for the club, order t-shirts, and plan the years activities. Our second meeting, held yesterday, was a sheep brain dissection. Based on the enthusiasm in the room, we may have a solid new crop of neurosurgeons in the future!

In November we will be preforming an ELISA test. For December, we will be taking a trip to the local science center to view the Lucy fossil. In January we participate in the Biology Olympiad and have a guest speaker from a local bio-research firm. Beyond that, our activities not planned.

best to you, and remember... Biology for Life!

Cheers,
Gretel von Bargen
www.biologyforlife.com

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Lake Highland BioClub

Hello from Orlando, Florida!
The BioClub at LHP has made some big plans for the inaugural year! We have elected officers and will complete our first community service project on October 18th by participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. Members have formed committees to work on a school-wide (Pre-K through 12) DNA Day, possible field trips and guest speakers, and participation in USA Bio Olympiad. We are also considering ways to renaturalize different areas of our campus. We have ambitous plans and hope to accomplish them all :-)
We hope to hear about the activities of more clubs and look forward to sharing our experiences throughout the year.

NABT BioClub

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to send a quick note to introduce myself. My name is Jacki and I'm the Director of Development for NABT. I've been working with George to promote the BioClub within the association, and I encourage all of you send me your comments and suggestions.

Thanks for all your hard work getting the NABT BioClub off the ground.

-J

Friday, September 26, 2008

The charter members of my NABT BioClub

I am going to put photos of my charter members here

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Northridge High School S.C.O.P.E.

The NHS club has over 50 members. At our first meeting we elected Denise Garcia as our president, Leah Riffell as Vice president, and Lara Golebiewski as Secretary. We started our shirt sale with Uncle Jerry's T's. It is a great company that helps make great profits by selling good quality shirts and gift items for $12 or less. The money will be used for educational programming including field trips, and the kids want to adopt animals or rainforest with what is left. We did an Adopt-a Highway trash pick up on Sunday and had 13 kids pick up 8 bags of trash along US 20 in Middlebury. Our next project will be October 4th-we are helping Enviro-corps with a river clean up. Our club has chosen mostly environmental issues to focus on and at a monthly meeting we will have Mike Keen from IUSB as a guest speaker on sustainable living. We are receiving some free water testing kits so that they can start doing water testing twice a year. The kids really want to start recycling plastic in this new school. We are trying to get the shop teacher to help build the bins and the students would be assigned a time to collect and haul the recycling to the dumpsters. I am not sure how it will work. The students have great ideas, and I am willing to listen and support them as long as it is possible. (They think really BIG) Has anyone else set up a recycling program school or corporation wide? What about paper? Have a great week and I will try to check this 3 times a week.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

BioClub

Welcome to the BioClub blog! The purpose of this blog is to provide a place for BioClub chapters to post comments about what they have been doing or will be doing in the future. Please remember that the views and opinions expressed on the blog do not necessarily reflect those of NABT.