We are nearly half-way through the winter season, so this is a good time for an update on how our sports teams are doing.
Boys Basketball is 5-2 and ranked #10 in Class L - Max DeLorenzo is listed in many state categories.
Girls Basketball is 6-3 and ranked #12 in Class M - Alyssa Barret is ranked #12 in 3 Pt FG.
Hockey is ranked #3 in Div III and is 4-2-1.   Matt Coco and Brandon Richards are ranked in several state scoring categories.
Boys Swimming and Diving is 1-1 with a couple meets postponed by weather.
Indoor Track has competed three times and the Alpine Ski Race Team has one race in the books.
Come out and watch our Redcoat Teams in action.  Check the All Sport Calendar or the Individual Sport Schedules for details.

 The Central Connecticut Conference realigns football divisions

Newington, CT January 11, 2011: The Policy Board of the Central Connecticut Conference, one of the largest and oldest high school athletic conferences in Connecticut, voted to realign its football divisions at a special meeting held at the Newington Board of Education on Friday, January 7, 2011. The most recent realignment was completed in 2008 to accommodate the admission of the schools from the former North West Conference. At that time it was decided to revisit this issue after two years.  The primary consideration for football realignment was school size (CIAC Boy enrollment). Three divisions ( LL, L and M/S division)  were created. Each division was then broken into subdivisions based on geography (except Division Three which consists of all of the conferences ‘M’ and ‘S’ schools [with the smallest L school placed into this division to provide balance]).   The new alignment was the result of the work of a realignment committee consisting of administrators and athletic directors representing a cross section of the conference under the leadership of Jim Wenker, Principal, Newington High School. The new alignment will be in effect for the 2011 and 2012 football seasons.

read more

 The word for the week is SNOW.  Friday we had an emergency release, and now it looks like another storm has Southern New England in its sights.  It's winter, and we have to expect these sorts of interruptions - the kids (and teachers too) get pretty excited when there is the chance of a snow day, so it may be hard to concentrate with all the things going on this week.   Exams are scheduled to start next week after the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend, so many students will be coming home with exam review packets and the quarter officially ends this friday, so there are likely lots of tests and quizzes that are being squeezed into the second quarter grade.  An exam schedule is posted in the BHS Event Calendar, but here's the low down:  Tuesday is exam 1 and 2, Wed is exam 3 and 4, Thursday is exam 5 and 6, Friday is exam 7 and makeup.  Students don't need to attend school if they do not have an exam scheduled for their class or if they have a study or Gym.  Some seniors may be exempt from Mid-years if they are enrolled in a half-year course and have a high enough average (this is at the discretion of the teacher)   Since we are speaking of Snow, if snow cancels school on an exam day, the schedule is simply pushed back one day and the exams stay in the same order 1-7.   Turn you pajamas inside out and do the snow dance Tuesday night - there's a good chance Ullr (he's the Norse snow god) will be watching.

 The Athletic Booster Club of BHS is holding its January meeting on Tues. Jan. 4 at 7:00 PM in the Amphitheater at BHS.  All are welcome.

 This will be the final blog of 2010.  Another new year comes with fresh optimism for change and if the holiday consumer spending is any indication, perhaps the economy is turning in a positive direction.  The School Board will accept the new building plans for the High School, and hopefully the inevitable referendum will pass this time.  The future of BHS is looking brighter, and there is hope that more modern facilities and attractive, functional surroundings will inspire our students and faculty to higher levels of achievement.  We are still trying to modernize the way we do things here in Berlin: the new grading portal and lunch payment system are shining examples of our efforts to step into the new millennium.  We will roll out an new and hopefully improved website in January.  Change has come slowly, but we cannot afford to wait on improving our facility here at BHS.  We have patched and painted the old building for 60 years or so, but now it is time to make a real and lasting change.  You can't stop the world from changing - the rest of the world will just pass us by if we don't change with it.  I'm optimistic for the future of Berlin High School - bring on 2011!

Accelerated Chemistry-Periodic Trends
Accelerated Biology-Biogeochemical Cycles Quiz
Fundamental Chemistry-Periodic Table Introduction

 The members of the Broadcast Journalism Class have produced a series of short Video Blogs on happenings at BHS.  Here is the first in a series of Vblogs to be broadcast on our website.   Click Here to View the Oz Vblog

In the words of Sean Connery - James Bond, Never say Never Again.  We are once again printing a paper progress report for parents.  This will be the "last" time we will print paper copies for all students.  Trust me . . . we will "Never Again" print them.  Well, only time will tell, but for the moment, we will print the "Last" progress reports later this week and send them home with the students - just in time for the holidays.  The printed progress reports should include updated grades, and be different than the reports that were printed or checked online two weeks ago.
In other news, the Broadcast Journalism Class has produced some new pieces on student life at BHS.  The first one, featuring the drama club's performance of the Wizard of Oz, will be posted later today.  The boys sports officially kick off their season this week, following the girls basketball teams opening last week.   I've got lots of shopping and correcting to do, so this will have to be it for this week.

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 The disappointment of the Football Team's early Playoff Defeat has finally ebbed and a renewed enthusiasm for the Winter Sports Season is swelling.  Today the athletes attended a program on Steroid Abuse by the State Dept. of Education, and the Winter Season officially kicks off for all of our Winter sports next Wed.    It's beginning to look a lot like winter around the school - the indoor track team is running in the hallways, and soon any suntans on the faces of our students-athletes will fade as our practices move indoors almost exclusively.  The only exception is the Alpine Ski Team which races outdoors - I'm their coach, so if you see me with a red face, I haven't been to Florida - the snow reflects a lot of light - just like at the beach and combine that with wind burn and you get instant color.  This year we have a few girls competing in gymnastics at Glastonbury HS - they will be competing for BHS, but practicing with Glastonbury.  Many schools across the state have joined forces to field cooperative teams.  Berlin and Newington run a co-op Hockey team and our Alpine Ski Team includes a few skiers from other schools which allows our BHS racers a chance to compete as a team, while also providing opportunities to students whose schools do not field teams of their own.  Berlin Hockey players pay their own their way on the Newington team (it's a very costly sport), while the out of town skiers pay their own way too - so there is no cost to Berlin Athletics for these programs.   Here in Berlin wouldn't have enough hockey players, gymnasts or skiers to field a full BHS team, so cooperating with other schools, allows BHS students the chance to compete in sports that they, otherwise, would not. 

Here are the quantum reflections so far (write down three other ones to inform our class discussion on Thursday):

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QUANTUM:

-Light can be a wave, particle, both or neither.

-Electrons can be a wave, particle, both or neither.  Specifically, they act as waves as shown through the two slit experiment (interference).

-During the two slit experiment, under close inspection, electrons behaved like particles.  When not closely inspected, electrons acted like waves.

-Two types of interference: constructive (work together; add up), destructive (cancels out; subtracts_______).

-Schrödinger’s cat: by looking at something the observer forces an outcome (for example light becomes a particle or wave depending on how it is perceived)

-Transverse waves: particle movement is perpendicular to the direction of energy transport (it goes up and down or side to side with the direction of energy transport)

-Longitudinal waves: particle movement is parallel to the direction of energy transport (sonar of whales)

-Electromagnetic waves: waves that can travel in vacuum (empty space) without a medium (always transverse)

-Mechanical waves: waves that travel through matter (like sound)

-Higher frequency means higher energy but shorter wavelength, and vice versa.  However frequency is NOT speed, so all types of light will travel at the same speed (3.00 x 108 m/s in a vacuum).

-Electrons go from their ground state to an excited state when light is shot at them.  They return upon emission of photons.

-Photons are chunks of light with specific colors (wavelengths and frequency).  The larger the ‘jump’ the more energetic the light.

-Equantum=hν where E is energy, h is Planck’s constant (6.626 x 10 -34 JxS) and ν is frequency

-Photoelectric effect: light can’t stack, so shining wimpy low energy, low frequency light will not cause electrons to jump from a metals surface, supporting that light is a particle

-Quantum numbers help to describe electron location. n=1…7 Principal Quantum number (level, town), l= 0…n-1 Orbital Quantum number (sublevel, street), ml= -l…+l Magnetic Quantum Number (orbital, house), ms= +1/2 or -1/2 Spin Quantum Number (spin, room)

 The week started with the excitement of online progress reports becoming available to parents.  The office has been busy fulfilling requests for accounts (you must provide your email address to create an account) and the Honor Roll is now posted on the school website.  I've posted about 5 different versions of the honor roll, so check back every day or so to see if your child has been added to the list . . .   The athletic department had its Winter Sports Night Monday and its Fall Sports Awards night Tuesday.  The Winter sports are beginning their competitive season, kicking off with the Girls Basketball game this Wednesday v. Manchester.  Boys have scrimmages in preparation for a season opener next Wednesday v. Rockville, while Wrestling opens at Fermi next Wed.  Ice Hockey also opens its schedule next Wed.  Get ready for another sports season!!!
At the Faculty Meeting Monday, Principal Harnett unveiled the architects drawings for the Newly proposed High School renovations.  The drawings are very nice and the plans, if approved should make everyone proud to be from Berlin.  The design keeps costs low, while giving the school a needed facelift - some of the plan is very visually appealing.  I'm particularly excited about the new science labs that are a major part of plan - of course it will be several years before any renovations would be completed, but our science facilities were cited by NEASC as deficient and this should bring us up to snuff.  

 The Athletic Booster Club of Berlin High School has announced its Bill's PIzza Fundraiser, that will begin in January.  Thanks to the generosity of Bill's Pizza, 20% of every food bill on Monday nights starting in January will be donated to the BHS Boosters.  This is a great fundraiser that doesn't cost the patron anything.  Please come out and support the Boosters by eating at Bill's on Monday nights.  Just remember to drop your food check into the bowl by the register to support the BHS Athletic Boosters.  This fundraiser will continue through the to June.  Click Here to See the Flier

Spectral Calculations concerning Hydrogen.

The Berlin Athletic Booster Club will hold its December meeting on Monday Dec. 13, at 7:00 PM in the Amphitheater of BHS. All are welcome.

http://www.johnkyrk.com/mitochondrion.html

link to the mitochondria simulation

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1. What is the main function of mitochondria?
   

2. If sugar breakdown in the cytoplasm was the only means for an organism to acquire ATP, how advanced could that organism become?  Why?
   

3. What is the inner area of a mitochondrion called?  What sugar breakdown cycle occurs in this area?
   

4. If one glucose molecule is digested in the cytoplasm, what products are produced?  In terms of ATP equivalence, how much energy is released from this digestion?

5. When pyruvic acid is drawn into mitochondria what process can then occur?  What equivalency of ATP molecules can be generated from this process?

 

After answering question five, click the yellow advance arrow once more and answer questions 6-9 before clicking the arrow again.

6. How much ATP does the Krebs cycle actually produce?  What does the Krebs cycle produce?

7. What does ETC stand for?  What function does the ETC serve?

 

8. Roll-over the membrane embedded proteins in the ETC to find out their names.  What is another name for complex 1, complex 3 and complex 4?

9. These proteins help to transfer the electrons from NADH+H+ and FADH2.  How does the simulation represent the high energy electrons present in these electron carriers?

 

10. Now click the yellow arrow once to advance.  What two types of peptide chains are incorporated to the complexes?  If these substances are called peptide chains what types of monomers make up their polymer?

 

11. After the ETC begins, NADH+H+ feeds electrons that then pass to ____________.  Electron pairs pass from_____________ to ________________ to complex 4.

 

12. Oxygen waits at the end of the ETC to accept electrons. How many electrons have to be accumulated before oxygen is fed these electrons?

 

13. The green area at the bottom of the screen in this simulation is called a crista of this mitochondrion.  What substance has built up inside of the crista as a result of the action of the ETC?

14. What do these oxygen molecules go on to form?  Which side does the formed substance go to: matrix or crista?

 

15. What does ATP synthase go on to do?  What molecules must be captured by the ATP sythase to accomplish this task?
    

16. Considering ATP synthase is a protein and the substance that is built up in the crista is following along its concentration gradient, what type of transport is occurring with the aide of ATP synthase?

 

17. Click on the further reading link and summarize the article in 3 sentences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nature cleans water through the hydrological cycle (water cycle)

-but it does not do it indefinitely, if human or animal waste accumulates bacterial levels in the water can also increase

 

-therefore, chlorination and water filtration began to stem the tide of dirty water

 

-the hydrological cycle recall is water evaporation and then condensing and rejoining bodies of water, this does clean the water however, atmospheric impurities like smog tend to make the air less clean

 

-then the rain or snow falls and some of the impurities can dissolve in the liquid water or stick to the snow

 

-additional impurities can accumulate in the water when it hits the soil-1) organic impurities from living things, or 2) dissolved minerals from rocks

 

-the dissolved organic compounds can possibly be broken down by bacteria into simpler carbon containing compounds

 

-filtration of the water through the sand and gravel of the ground could remove much of the suspended matter in the water

 

-overloading the system stops it from working properly, but given the right conditions we could depend on nature to clean our water

 

 

Sewage treatment is what cleans poop-water (waste-water)

 

-sewage or human waste containing water has to be released somewhere, and oftentimes the place where water is gotten for use is the same place that waste water is released

 

-therefore it is important that the waste water that is released is treated and cleaned and safe for release

 

We clean our drinking and bathing water through municipal treatment

-PRE-USE cleaning of water is called WATER TREATMENT and consists of the following steps

 

1) Screening: water flows through a metal screen so beavers and logs don’t get into the cleaning system

 

  2) Pre-chlorination: chlorine is added which kills disease causing organisms

 

3) Flocculation: alum (aluminum potassium sulfate AlK(SO4)2 ) and slaked lime (calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2 )are added to the water to remove suspended murky particles

 

-what happens here is aluminum hydroxide Al(OH)3 is formed which is a thick goopy substance that traps the murky particles

 

4) Settling occurs: the aluminum hydroxide and other solid particles are allowed to settle

 

5) Sand filtration: all other suspended particles are removed through sand filtration where the liquid passes through sand

 

6) Post-Chlorination: chlorine levels in the water are adjusted and lowered to safe levels

 

7) Aeration: water is sprayed into the air and recollected to remove odors and improve taste

 

8) pH adjustment: CaO lime may be added to raise acidic pHs

 
9) Fluoridation: 1 ppm F added to help prevent tooth decay

 Well, the Thanksgiving holiday is past and now everyone is in shopping mode.  I actually got up at 6:00 AM on Black Friday to do some shopping.  I got some new Neon Colored Dry Erase markers at Staples at 40% off!  I'm looking forward to using them in the weeks leading up to our Winter Break.  Of course, everyone is excited over the Redcoats' complete victory over New Britain, in football.  This evens the series record at 1-1.  The boys are in action Tuesday night at 6:30 in the Quarterfinal round of the State Class M Football Tournament.  This is the first year, that the state tournament will include Quarterfinal games, and the higher ranked team (that's us) get a home game, so the contest will be played at Sage Park.  
Winter sports officially kicked off Monday, and so it starts all over, after a nice two week break from after school sporting activities for most of our students.  The fall season was so successful, that the winter sports will have a tough act to follow.  The faculty are beginning their first series of Instructional Rounds, with administrators visiting classrooms all over the school.  Data will be shared afterwards, to get a snapshot of instructional practices at the High School.  I'm sure that I've missed something, but it's going to be a busy few weeks at the High School leading up to the Holiday Break in December.   Don't forget that we will not be issuing progress reports to students.   Student progress can be monitored through the Parent Portal of the Student Information and Grading System.  Get your account today by following the links in the Left Sidebar of this website.

The Redcoat Football team earned a berth in the state Class M QuarterFinals.   The Redcoats are currently the #1 ranked Class M team in the state and are #4 in the Courant Coaches State poll.  The Redcoats will face #8 Hillhouse of New Haven on Tuesday Nov. 30, 6:30 PM at Sage Park.  The CIAC will be setting the prices for the game, and no BHS passes or discounts will apply.  

The Winter Sports Season begins for all sports (besides Girls Basketball) on Monday November 29. Tryouts for boys freshman basketball will begin at 2:30, followed by varsity. Indoor track starts at 3:15, and Boys Swimming and Diving will load busses at 2:30. Wrestling will begin at 3:00PM. Remember, that you must have an up-to-date physical on file at the Nurses' Office and that you must present your athletic department forms to the coach before being allowed to practice. All winter Sports Athletes and Parents will need to attend the Winter Sports Night on Dec. 1 in the Robert Long Auditorium (unless you attended in the fall). Varsity Football players will continue to practice in preparation for the State Playoffs. Supplemental tryouts will be held for those athletes.