Science week of 10/12/09

This week in science was very interesting because we were studying for the test on Monday. We had to complete a study guide. We went over wave models and dense and less dence objects.When the wave front has more spread out lines which means that is less dense. If the wave front lines are closer together, then and object is more dense. We also went over Refraction Reflection,and of course, overall light. Since our test was on Monday, we were going over literally everything we have learned ever since the light unit started. Mr. Finley also had to study sessions on Thursday and Friday.

Science week of 10/5

MONDAY:

This week in science we talked more about light and rays and stuff like that. On monday, we learned that water magnifies light so things that bounce off something in water appear bigger. We learned this by observing the way a ruler "changes" when it is placed in water.

TUESDAY:
On Tuesday we observed how a laser reacted when shined through water. The way we did this was we shined a laser on a piece of card board and marked were the dot was. Then we did the same thing except with glass of water between the cardboard and the laser and the dot was lower.

Wedsday:

Today, we read about the particle theaory and a wave model theory. We did a couple demonstrations in clasee. For the particle theory, we saw that a b-ball bounced off the wall and that particles work that way.

Thursday:

On thursday we watched a video that had to do with light refraction or "bending".

Friday:

NO SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!yippe

science week of 5/11

Monday:

On monday this week, we talked about the simulations we did on Friday. The simulations were,

Starbursts, Fish simulation, and peppered moths. We went over the definetions of natural selection, adaptation, and a little of Mutation.

Tuesday:

On tuesday this week, we talked about population and how it effects the environment and its adaptations When the prey reaches a high.. the predator is a low. And vise-versa. Here is a graph...(this is camilles graph)

Wednesday:

On wednesday, our class wrote down observations of 2 iguanas. We were just trying to find adaptations that occurred overtime with them.

Thursday:

On thursday, we went over the homework and talked about Charles Darwin. In 1845, he did a lot of research there.

FRIDAY!!!!:

QUIZ DAY.

CAMP SPEARS!!!!

This week we had a fun field trip to camp spears. I learned a lot for my 2 days there. Here are some of the things I learned.

1) You can eat teaberry leaves and Birch twigs.

2) Birch beer is made from the roots of the birch tree.

3) Bogs are very still waters with mud water and leaves.

4) Bogs can be as deep as 20 feet!

5) When building a shelter,  make sure it is small so heat can be contained.

6) Over 2000 years ago, a monk was sacrificed in a bog and experts found him completely preserved.

Science week 4/1

MONDAY:

In science on monday, we took out Mr. Finleys cockroaches and observed them. Before we did this, he talked to us about maturity with handling the bugs. We also made a long chart of what observations really are.

Genetics variety blog

We have been doing a project recently with Reebops. Reebops are a species of bugs that we made in our class. Anyway it has to do a lot with Genetic Variety. If you don't know what genetic variety is, then it is what makes being different. If there wasn't such thing as Genetic Variety, then everybody would look exactly the same!!! If there wasn't genetic variety in our project, then everybodys bug (or reebop) would look the same. We had to label our bugs to see what generation they were. The first is P1 then F1 then F2 then F3.

Here is a picture of my F3 reebop.(sorry its not colored in perfectly)

When we mated the two bugs with each other, we were practically giving each other our chromosomes, or genes. Most of the time the genes would be mixed so your bug would have very colorful genes colored in. Once we were done mating and had all the genes written down, then we colored them on the back. We colored them according to the other persons colors.

The best way to see genetic variety in our Reebops is to look at their genotypes on the back of their card, especially the F3 generation (since so many different traits have been passed on, there is more genetic variety) All the different colors in the genotypes represent your family.

In the beginning of this project, we were given a paper which had all of our P1's genotypes on it. Mine was just pure yellow. Like I said before, when the two bugs mated then the colors would be passed down to the child. 

Heres an example...

Say I mated with someone's bug who was pink with a gray outline. I would mate with them and have their genes, and they would have mine. Then since mine was all yellow, he would have a mix between pink,gray, and yellow. And so would I. The child will have that and go with mate with someone else. The before you know it... you will have your F3 gen.. with maybe 7 colors!!!!!

A good way to overview how your mating is going on could be, look at the P1 bug. The look at your F3 bug. If there are a lot of colors and it looks funky, then your on the right path.

In conclusion, this shows how important genetic variety can be. It can change your look, the way you think, how your body works,etc. Like I said, If there were no genetic variety. then everybody would be exactly the same. This is how genetic variety is important to life and this project.

Science Week of 3/1/09

MONDAY:

On Monday, Mr. Finley said that our previous quiz had some errors on it. So we got toy cubes for our table. We started out with 6 cubes and did meisos with them. This is how we did it...

1) Double the amount of cubes

2) Pair all the cubes

3) Split the pairs

4) Split them again (you should have 4 groups of 3 cubes)


Tuesday:

On Tuesday, we did a simulation that was based on Mendals pea genetics experiment. It showed us how when you combine 2 genes, almost all the time, the outcome will be different. We also learned about recesive and dominate genes. A dominant gene is stronger than a recesive gene.

Wednesday:

We learned that each letter in a gene is an allele. If you have two alleles that are the same in your genotype or genetic code, it is a homozygous. It you have 2 different alleles than it is considered a heterozygous. We practiced a little of this through that night homework.

Thursday:

Fin was gone for Wed. and Thurs. so we had a sub. basically, we reiveived the homework and started a lab.

Friday:

Mr. Finley was back!!! We picked up the lab that we had started. We also tasted something called the PTC taster. If your taste buds were like this, you could taste a nasty bittery taste. I did taste it. If you didnt taste anything. It tasted like plain old paper.