Saturday, November 28, 2009
A Gentle Reminder
If you were one of the students who did not take the quiz on Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you'll need to take it as soon as we get back to school. Please be prepared to take the quiz during lunch on Monday or Wednesday. Thank you!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Jokes About Viruses and Bacteria
Friday, November 20, 2009
It's Time for a Quiz!
The 7th and 8th graders are having a quiz on viruses and bacteria on Monday 11/23/09 and Tuesday 11/24/09. Anyone who's absent can take it when we return from Thanksgiving break. Here's a copy of the Review Sheet:
VIRUSES
What is it? (definition)
Is a virus living? Why not?
Origins of viruses (their evolution)
How a virus invades a cell
How a virus reproduces
How a vaccine works
The two ways in which antibodies can help fight against a viral infection
How a white blood cell helps in the fight against a viral infection
BACTERIA
What is it? (definition)
How bacteria reproduce (duplicates all of its parts and splits into two. This is called FISSION)
Ecological roles of bacteria:
• nitrogen fixers
• other bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle
• decomposers (produce ammonia!)
• photosynthesizers
• Inside the bodies of animals, where they help digest food, make vitamins,
and perform other vital functions.
• Some bacteria infect other living things and cause disease.
NITROGEN
Why is it important to living things?
Why are most of the world’s living things dependent on bacteria for nitrogen?
What happens to nitrogen when we say it is “fixed”?
What is a “nitrogen-fixing plant”?
Which nitrogen compounds are easily taken up by plants?
Why are we once again in awe of enzymes?
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The World of Microbes
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Classification of Living Things
For the activity, students were asked to use to website to list the taxonomic ranks, first for four assigned and closely related animals (Indian Mongoose, striped-necked mongoose, meerkat and pygmy spotted skunk), then for four closely related animals of their own choosing. The requirements for the second four were that two be of the same genus, three be of the same family, and all four be in the same order. The students tackled this task with enthusiasm, and this was reflected in the high quality of their work! The assignment not only exposed them to the construction of classification systems, but also provided an understanding of how the shared evolutionary history of different species can be examined through their classification.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Open for Science is Open Again!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Happy Earth Day!
We are currently in the middle of our electricity and sustainable energy unit. Electricity is a stream of electrons, and this has been exciting for the students to contemplate, given that we have spent much of this past year learning about the structure and behavior of atoms. It's fascinating to consider how humans have been able to develop technologies to channel electrons through wires and to access the moving electrons' energy. Since the production of electrical energy requires an input of some other energy form, such as thermal, mechanical, chemical, light or nuclear, humanity's next step is to refine our capacity to use and produce energy sustainably.
More to come soon, but in the meantime, here's a wonderful short video on wind energy which students saw in science class recently. (The video was submitted to me as part of a student's science project - thanks, N.!)
And Happy Earth Day!