New Web page

This page is no longer being maintained.  Our district has switched to a new website format, and you can now find my current website at: http://www.elgs.k12.wi.us/olc/73  Thanks.

Buckthorn Removal at School Forest

The ELGHS chapter of the National Honor Society organized a buckthorn removal event on Sunday.  Several members spent the morning uprooting this invasive species from a section of the school forest.  This technique of buckthorn control is both effective and chemical free, although a bit laborious.  My AP Environmental Science class has also been out there working on this project.  We're a long way from done.  In parts of the forest, I'd estimate that buckthorn makes up 90% of the understory, so we'll be continuing our efforts for the foreseeable future.

Electronics Recycling Event

The ELGHS National Honor Society will be holding an electronics recycling event on Saturday April 8^th at the High School.  Most items are free to drop off, with the exception of monitors, TVs, and refrigerators.  All items will be recycled by Cyber Green in an environmentally friendly way.  See the Flier for details.

Water Testing at The Trout Farm

The AP Environmental Science class was invited out to Henschel’s Indian Museum and Trout Farm earlier this month to test water quality in several of their ponds and wells.  This is the second year of an ongoing study of various water quality indicators including: nitrate, turbidity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, and pH.  It has been an invaluable experience for the students to do hands on water testing and compare measurements with the results that we’ve seen in the nearby Sheboygan River.  It’s shocking to kids that there can be such a significant difference between two ponds that are separated by only a few feet of walkway, but it can be explained when we test the two different sources feeding the ponds.  What we’ve learned so far is that this is a very dynamic system, and that the groundwater is moving with a great deal of freedom.  We’ve seen fluctuations in one pond associated with heavy rain events, while another one seems unfazed.  It’s a real challenge to figure out the system, making it a very exciting field study for these advanced students.  But at the end of the day it’s hard not to be exciting when there are several dozen rainbows jumping on the surface at feeding time.

Google Classroom 2016-2017

Welcome back!  Once again this year I will be using Google Classrooms for all of my classes as a primary way of communicating assignments and information with students.  You can still find my weekly lesson plans on this website by clicking on the "Lesson Plans" button to the left.

Electronics Recycling Event Success!

Last Saturday the ELGHS chapter of the National Honor Society hosted an electronics recycling drive in connection with Cybergreen, a recycling company based in Green Bay.  This event was open to everyone to get rid of old or unused electronic equipment in an environmentally safe way FREE of charge (except TVs and monitors).  All items collected are stripped of their valuable components for recycling by Cybergreen.  These items are not being shipped overseas and contributing to the growing electronic waste problem occurring in many developing countries, rather they are being domestically processed and kept out of landfills.  The NHS earns a percentage of the overall collection, so the more we collect, the better it is for everyone.  We will be hosting this event again next spring, so start saving your junk!  This year we nearly filled an entire semi, and we're optimistic that we can collect even more next year.  Thank you to everyone who came to support NHS and help the environment.

CAPP Biology Students at Lakeland

On Thursday the AP/CAPP Biology class spent the afternoon with Professor Greg Smith at Lakeland College performing a plasmid extraction and purification that we cut with restriction enzymes and ran in a gel.  Students then took the data from that gel to create a map of the plasmid sequence.  It was hours worth of micropipetting, microfuging, and electrophoresis...in other words, a pretty awesome day.

ELGHS / Lakeland College Field Trip

Yesterday my AP Environmental Science Class teamed up with Dr. Paul Pickhardt and his Environmental Science Class from Lakeland College to perform some water tests and sample zooplankton at Jetzers Lake.  We then migrated to the Lakeland science lab to identify our specimens and experience the college lab setting.

Dean conducting a Dissolved Oxygen test.

Erica and Andrew measuring water clarity with a Secchi Disk.

Dr. Pickhardt explaining different zooplankton sampling methods.

Specimen identification back at the lab.

Google Classroom

I will be using Google Classroom for the majority of the day-to-day stuff in all of my classes.  You will be shown how to enroll in your particular "class" and will be expected to log-in on a daily basis to complete assignments and read announcements.  Weekly lesson plans for all classes will still be posted here on the lesson plans page.

NHS

To all current and potential NHS members: beginning with the 2015-16 school year I will be taking on the role of advisor for our chapter of the National Honor Society.  Changes to the application process and requirements for continued membership are in the works and questions should be addressed to me next fall.

Darwin Day Roadshow - Coming to Elkhart Lake

Next Wednesday, February 4, we will be visited by three scientists from the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, NC.  They will be talking with all of my science classes on that day.  For the past four years they've spent a couple weeks each year near Darwin's birthday to travel the country and share their research and experience with high school students.  This year they'll be visiting Wisconsin for the first time where they will spend one day with us and another day in Milwaukee.  This is a unique opportunity for our students to be exposed to PhD scientists who do real research on a daily basis and to probe further into this fascinating topic that forms the cornerstone of Biology.  Check out their website and contact me with any questions.  

Science course offerings changes

Some exciting changes are coming to the ELGHS Science Department.  Next year, AP Environmental Science will be taught for the first time, and the Agriculture Department will be offering another course (wildlife and natural resources) for science credit.  This will give students the opportunity to take 3 science courses for college credit: AP Environmental, AP Biology, and Horticulture.  Below is a chart showing all the available science courses and when students can take them.  Please contact Mr. Moore with any questions.

Trees for Tomorrow

Attention Sophomores: The annual trees for tomorrow trip will be held Nov 2 - Nov 5 at the trees for tomorrow camp in Eagle River, WI.  This opportunity introduces students to natural resources and the outdoors in a hands-on way and should be considered by anyone interested in possible career in natural resources.  Students interested in attending should prepare their essay and submit to Mr. Moore by Friday 10/10/14.  Students will be notified by Wednesday Oct 15 if they have been selected to attend.  See the website for more information on the camp.
http://treesfortomorrow.com/

Electrophoresis fun

In a recent AP Biology Lab, students performed gel electrophoresis with DNA samples to identify the "perpetrator" of a most serious "crime."

Glacial Feature Project - Environmental Science

Details for your Glacial Feature Project can be found on the Environmental Science Page along with a link to a great resource for understanding the glacial past of this area.  Note, you will need exact coordinates of your feature, so if you need to borrow a GPS, see me.

Genetic Engineering

Students in the AP Biology class successfully transformed E. coli cells with the ampicillin resistance gene (pUC8) in a lab this week.  The petri dish on the top left contains colonies of bacteria living on a growth medium containing ampicillin - an antibiotic that kills E. coli.  The only reason those colonies exist is because students gave them the ampicillin-resistance gene in the form of a plasmid and the cells are now expressing that gene.

Periodic Table Challenge!

To any chemistry student looking for 15 extra credit points:
I challenge you to fill in the symbol for each element on this blank table from memory for elements 1-86 (H-Rn).  If you can get more correct than I do (or equal), you get 15 points added to your second quarter grade.  The challenge takes place on 11/21/13.  Good luck! And happy studying!

Physics at the Marsh Tower

Last Friday our physics class took a field trip to the marsh tower to take measurements and make calculations dealing with free fall acceleration.  It turns out that Galileo was right...go figure.

Next Generation Science Standards

On Thursday 10/3, I will be attending an all-day workshop on the Next Generation Science Standards.  These are a new set of curricular benchmarks that will shape how science is taught at all levels, and in all districts, in the future. 

Congratulations Class of 2013

Thank you for asking me to speak at your graduation, and thank you for all the memories over these past 4 years.  Good luck to the Class of 2013!