Valentine's Day Serenades at SBA

SBA Student Council officers delivered customized Valentine's Day serenades to raise funds for this year's senior trip to Disneyland. The performers made quite a splash on campus, and not only for their singing, as can be seen here...

Building a Better Dragon, One Gene at a Time

Pretty "Petunia" may not have gotten the fire-breathing gene, but she does have a menacing spiked tail, arched feet built for speed, pointed thighs, large pink wings, elbow spikes, and four intimidating head flaps. Male dragon Barney, on the other hand, was fortunate to get the fire-breathing gene, since he sports a large yellow comb on his head that might make him the object of some school-yard derision. Barney is noticeably flat footed, and has a much less-intimidating tail than does Petunia. 

They are two of a small clan of dragons born on the SBA campus this week, the spawn of the annual biology class "Dragon Genetics" project designed to help students understand how genes determine our physical traits. Welcome to SBA, Petunia, Barney, Betsy, Hansal, and Elliot, and thank you to biology teacher Andy Giordano for the following overview of this always popular project!

"Last week the biology class engaged in the annual favorite 'Dragon Genetics' activity. Once students get a firm grasp on patterns and mechanisms of inheritance, it is time to apply all of the principles in one activity. Students select sets of chromosomes, in essence generating parental genomes. Paired off, they create a baby dragon genotype by simulating meiosis among the parental genotypes. Students then are asked to interpret the genotypes by drawing a large dragon that displays the physical characteristics (phenotypes) dictated by their baby dragon's genes. The activity is extremely valuable, as students reinforce their understanding of topics across the unit (dominance, segregation, independent assortment, chromosomal mutations, meiosis, incomplete and co dominance, and sex-linked traits). It is also super popular because, well, Dragons!" - Andy Giordano, Biology Teacher

A Two-Podium Day for SBA

Fighting marmot alpine racers ably defended home snow with some strong skiing in this morning's giant slalom race, taking first place in the ladies' and third in the men's races here at Sugar Bowl.

On the ladies' side, it was Julia Bjorkman with another first place finish for the season. Michael Cooper was third on the men's side.

Also in the top ten for the ladies were Lauren Dunn (fourth) and Lily Longton (ninth). For the men, Owen Wattenmaker finished fourth and Pieter Weemaes seventh. Full results are available HERE for the ladies and HERE for the men. 

Scott Schadlich named me volunteer "cat herder" at the starting gate, giving me a chance to see some of the pre-race and gate action close up. Enjoy the film footage (also available HERE), and congratulations to each and every fighting marmot for today's strong showing!