Dear Biology Student: My name is Claire Smerdon and a year ago, I sat where you are today. I have been in the Saratoga district since kindergarten, starting at Saratoga Elementary and then Redwood. The transition for me from Redwood to Saratoga High was relatively easy, but I remember being very scared. I had to stay late on the first day of school, and I went to Starbucks by myself even though I had no money because I was too scared to stay on campus. I took MAP freshmen year, but I will not be continuing it as a sophmore. For math, I took algebra 2 honors, and my electives were spanish 2 and intro to engineering. I played competitive soccer, volunteered every weekend, and was in robotics. When I walked into this class, I did not know what to expect; when I heard that this was a ‘flipped classroom,’ I was even more confused. In this biology class, focus on the small things. In most classes, tests are the most important. While you still want to do well on tests, make sure you do
I believe the essential question is "How is the pig's body similar to our own? Is it?" We have been learning about how the human body functions and it turns out that pigs have similar systems to ours. This was a visual of what we have been learning this unit. My favorite part of the dissection was when we looked at its heart because it is such a vital and intricate organ. I think the dissection clarified some confusing concepts for me and enriched my understanding of the human and pig body. Our YouTube Video shows our dissection and the organs and systems we found.