Monday, June 3

Hello 7th graders!

***Before I forget - Bring ALL of your science books to class on Wednesday! ***


Unfortunately, I am unable to be in class today. My youngest daughter, Sage, is currently in surgery at China Medical Hospital. She is getting tympanostomy tubes placed back in her ears. In February, she had the same surgery with great results but the tubes have come partially out. (According to one count, approximately 2 million of these tubes are put into the ears of children in the United States.Here's that link and more information in case you are interested.)

OK, so what are you going to do today? Well, you are in the Satellite Lab and are going to do a few things. Please use the computers appropriately and stay on task! Thanks.

Tasks - Please do these in order.

1. End of the Year Survey (Click the link!) - I really appreciate your input on this survey. It is anonymous so please answer as honestly and fully as you can. As I hope that I have provided you with feedback to help you improve over the year, I need your feedback to improve for next year. Thanks.

2. Did you click "Submit" on the survey. Thanks again for your responses.

3. Enjoy a few online games/simulations dealing with ecosystems:
 
   a) Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures, Fun and Games

   b) BBC Environmental Intelligence Unit

   c) Build a Fish

 4. Take a virtual tour of the Smithsonian: National Museum of Natural History

 5. Explore the Scale of the Universe 

I hope you enjoyed class today. Please leave a note in the Comments regarding any activity you really liked or did not like. Thanks.

***Please Bring ALL of your science books to class on Wednesday! ***

Rube Goldberg Machine

Problem / Solution on Case Studies

Student groups were each assigned one of the case studies below and have discussed the problem and solution. The task (due on Tuesday) is for each person to submit a problem-solution paper of their scenario.

To include:

Problem - a thorough discussion of the problem. In the discussion, you have specifically explained the biotic and abiotic factors involved. You have described the cause and effects of your problem in terms of biotic and abiotic factors.

Solution - decide on one (1) course of action that you and your group believes to be the best solution. You must agree upon a strategy. Please note that that a solution is only practical if it addresses the needs of both nature and the local people. In your solutions section you must 

• describe how your solution will happen. What needs to be done? (Go as far as you can into the planning - be thorough)
• provide justification for choosing that route (why is your solution the best) and 
• anticipate the outcomes of your solution. What can happen "down the road" to nature? What will be the effects to the people? Think about 1 year down the line. 5 years. 10 years...

Case Study Video 




Case Studies

Case Study #1: China – Sichuan Province

The Qiang people live in an area important for its mountain forests, a major source of water for the massive Yangtze River—what happens here has downstream implications for villages, cities, and agricultural areas throughout a large region of China. Deforestation and population growth over four decades has caused forests to shrink by up to 40 percent! In addition, biodiversity has been lost, as many plant and animal species could not survive these trends. As the situation worsened, the government began to recognize the importance of the region and that something had to be done. Traditionally, reforestation efforts in China involved banning all locals from entering the forest, so that regrowth could take place, but the Qiang people traditionally cultivate medicinal plants as one of their most important sources of income. This has always been done in the common woodlands around their houses—the same areas that need to be reforested. What should be done?

Case Study #2: China – Gansu

The Gansu province of China is one of the driest and poorest areas in the mountainous area of Northwest China. The rivers are too saline (salty) for either drinking or irrigating crops, the groundwater is minimal and of bad quality, and there was significant soil erosion. Agriculture is largely rain-fed. The community members, particularly women and children, spent a great deal of their time going to fetch water, and the community suffered from poverty and constant insecurity about their food supply. After a period of significant drought, the provincial government realized it must take action. What should they do?

Case Study #3: China – Southern Taklimakan Desert

Villages in Taklimakan are threatened by mobile sand dunes caused by overgrazing, salinized (salty) soil from irrigated farming (the area is flat and has poor drainage) and overexploitation of fuelwood. Natives of the targeted region – four counties in Hotan Prefecture – are chiefly farmers and herders. However, their strategies for farming, herding, and collecting fuel are destroying their homes and land which are literally swept away by dunes. What should they do?

Case Study #4: China – Fuzhou

Fuzhou is a crowded city of 2.5 million people in the southwest of China, on the Bamai Canal, that had 100 miles of open sewer running through their city, alongside temples, restaurants, and schools, and into the Ming River. The canal, which had wastewater running directly into it, was grey, laden with sewage and garbage, and emitted a powerful stench. This pollution was not only unpleasant to the eyes and nose, but was a health hazard, and prevented basic animal life—fish, birds, and butterflies—from inhabiting the area. What should they do?

Quote responses + food web practice + great video (Trees + Mass)

Hello! Today, the 7th graders began with the following quote:

Three hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. The trout, in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers that live off of 1,000 tons of grass.
-- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist (1971)

They were asked to respond and their responses are written below. Please read through all of the responses and then do the following:

1. Select the one that you enjoy the most.
2. Begin a gDoc by copying in the response you most enjoyed.
3. In the document, also write your thoughts on the 7th grader's response. Do you agree? Disagree? What does it make you think of? (Please take some time to thoughtfully answer.)
4. Share the document with me. Thanks!

Once you are done with the response, practice building a food web. Go to this link and select Build a Food Web. Read the directions and complete the web. Then, it will give you a scenario. Instead of filling the scenario out in the box, please add your ideas to the document you started earlier. ***Please make sure you write so that anyone would understand the scenario.

Need more food web information / practice. Check out this site.

One of our key questions...

Energy Flow

7th grade responses to quote

Three hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. The trout, in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers that live off of 1,000 tons of grass.
-- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist (1971)

• For me this means the man takes more than just the 300 trout's life. When the man eats the trout, he just ate frogs and grasshoppers because the trout ate them. For example Man --> Trout --> Frogs --> Grasshoppers --> grass. So all of the 90,00 Frigs, 1,000 tons of grass, and 300 trouts are dead just because the man has to survive that year. So the man is not just eating the trout, its eating more than that trout.
• I think a man should protect the organisms and be thankful to the environment because 270000 grasshoppers are being sacrificed just for you. Imagine that your a grasshopper and you have to be giving away your life to the frogs, are you happy about that? So if this system is real, you should be doing something that may help them.  Or else, stop eating trouts and die, cause you just act like a deadly scavenger!
• I think it's a food chain, the human ate the trout that ate the frog before being killed by the human, the the frog ate the grasshoppers before being eaten by the frog and the grasshoppers ate grass before being eaten by the grasshoppers. Which means that the human did not only ate three hundred little trout, he ate, 90,000 frogs, 27 million grasshoppers, and 1,000 tons of grass.
• I think if there were no 1,000 tons of grass in that ecosystem, the 27 million grasshoppers might not survive, which mean that there won't be 90,000 frogs, if the trout only eat frogs, and if the there were no frogs in that ecosystem those trout might be dead, maybe there will be fewer human because there are not enough food for them. 
• I think grass is important for everything because its on the bottom of the food pyramid. If there are no grass in our ecosystem, there won't be grasshoppers because grasshoppers will only eat grass, and if there are no grasshoppers, there won't be frogs, and if there are no such thing as frog in our ecosystem, that means there won't be trouts. And since there are no trouts, man can't be supported and eventually there will be no man in the ecosystem.
• The quote makes me think all the living things must need food to survive, if there is no food to eat, this ecosystem might be ruined. But, those living things might get less in the future if the ecosystem is still running.
• I think it means one man needs to eat three hundred trouts one year, and that equals 90,000 frogs, and 27 million grasshoppers , and 1,000 tons of grass. Not saying that the man eats all of this, but that 1,000 tons of grass is enough to feed 27 million grasshoppers, and 27 million grasshoppers is enough for 90,000 frogs. So this is a food chain. 
•  My first thought on this article was "Wow! I never knew trout ate frogs!" But then I thought deeper. If each person ate 300 trout, and each trout ate 300 frogs, of which each one ate 3000 grasshoppers, together the grasshoppers eat 1000 tons of grass...

And if there are 7 billion people on earth...

then each year, there will be a total of 2100000000000 trout eaten.
It will take 630000000000000 frogs to sustain the trout.
A total of 1890000000000000000 grasshoppers eaten by the frogs.
1890000000000000000000 tons of grass will be required to feed those grasshoppers.
Still sustainable, but it is straining.

Now, if human populations continue to grow globally, then in a decade, humans will no longer be sustainable. Earth will no longer be able to harbor us. So we must look for a new way of life. Either we find a way to keep our growth sustainable by mass agriculture and aquaculture, or we scan the stars for a virgin planet that will take our weight, or at least half of it.

• This article is basically talking about the cycle. To support one man for a year, the man has to eat as much as three hundred trouts. After been eaten by human, the trouts have to eat as much as 90,000 per year. Also the frogs have to eat has much as 27 million grasshopper. This cycle is to support one man per year, the man has to eat the trouts to get nutrient and live. Also the trouts, frogs, and grasshopper.
• Energy decreases as it moves from grass to man. For me this means organisms that gets consumed needs to reproduce more than the consumers because they lose more of theirs than the consumers. If the organism doesn't reproduce more, the organism will gone extinct. The man actually needs the trout, frog, grasshopper, and the grass, because if there is no grass, grasshoppers will lose their food and maybe gone extinct because they need it. Without grasshoppers, the frog might die out because frog needs the grasshoppers. And this is goes on and on just to feed one man. For all these reasons I think this quote means that organism that gets consumed will need to reproduce more than the consumers.
• I think we eat far too many trout a year, cause if we eat 300 trout, then there's 90,000 extra frogs, and then there's 27 million extra grasshoppers, and there's more grass left for us to destroy...So we need to eat less trout, and let those nasty frogs and grasshoppers not invade everywhere from overpopulation. Frogs are nasty looking if they jump on you, so if we eat too many trout, then there's less frog control, which means there's grasshoppers getting eaten and there's more frogs to trample us over, and that will cause a apocalypse...Grasshoppers will be dead forever....

• The quote is telling us as you move to the bottom of the food chain the amount become larger. In each stage of the food chain it relies on other for food. The quote shows human is on the top of the food chain. The main resource for the food chain to occur is the grass. If we don't have the main resource everything will die out and food chain won't occur. 
• This quote is about a food chain, it want to tell us that the food has at least three hundred times larger than the living things, so that the man can be supported. The grass are very important to the grasshoppers, because if the place didn't have any grass their will not be ant grasshoppers their. If their is not any grasshoppers their will not be any frogs... So any small things that animals ate is very important to the ecosystem!

Energy through Ecosystems

Three hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. The trout, in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers that live off of 1,000 tons of grass.
-- G. Tyler Miller, Jr., American Chemist (1971)

Send me an email that provides you thoughts to this quote.



Here are a few photographs that I took on a weekend trip in Eastern Oregon. How would you describe this ecosystem? What biotic factors are there? What abiotic factors do you think play the biggest role?

Food Web Exploration:
1. Key Vocabulary - By the end of this exploration, you should have an understanding of the following terms:

• decomposer
• producer
• herbivore
• omnivore
• carnivore
• scavenger

2. Gould League Foodweb - go to this page and work through several of the webs

Matter and Energy Flow by Bozeman Biology

Energy Pyramids

Assessment on Wednesday

Building an Energy Pyramid + Analyzing Ecosystem Problems

Thanks to each student for researching their ecosystem and finding producers, herbivores, carnivores and decomposers that represent the ecosystem. As a final draft in your magazine, each of your ecosystems should have a diagram that represents the energy flow through various organisms.

Generic Energy Pyramid...


What will yours look like? How will it fit with the overall theme of your magazine? Please include images that represent these organisms and connections between various species. Is one thing eating another?

On Monday, please bring in your 99.9% complete (ready for your magazine) diagram.


Magazine Groups are also working on real-world case studies. Problems have been identified. What are your solutions?

Case Study:Southern Taklimakan Desert

Villages in Taklimakan are threatened by mobile sand dunes caused by overgrazing, salinized (salty) soil from irrigated farming (the area is flat and has poor drainage) and over exploitation of fuel wood. Natives of the targeted region – four counties in Hotan Prefecture – are chiefly farmers and herders. However, their strategies for farming, herding, and collecting fuel are destroying their homes and land which are literally swept away by dunes. What should they do?

Case Study: Fuzhou

Fuzhou is a crowded city of 2.5 million people in the southwest of China, on the Bamai Canal, that had 100 miles of open sewer running through their city, alongside temples, restaurants, and schools, and into the Ming River. The canal, which had wastewater running directly into it, was grey, laden with sewage and garbage, and emitted a powerful stench. This pollution was not only unpleasant to the eyes and nose, but was a health hazard, and prevented basic animal life—fish, birds, and butterflies—from inhabiting the area. What should they do?

7th Grade: Matter Cycle Review + Energy Flow

Thanks for all of the movement cycles in class today. Please review cycles in your text.

Preview: Read about energy flow through ecosystems. Page 22-28 in Ecology text. Answer questions 1-3 and 6 on page 28.

7th Graders - Cycle of Matter

Class Start - Tour the ecosystems presented by your fellow students. Your goal is to gain an understanding of what makes this ecosystem unique. How can you describe this ecosystem so that someone knows what type it is? As you look at your classmates' work, write down information for yourself and questions for them. What is missing in their description?


Matter
Matter continually cycles through ecosystems. Three major cycles are the carbon, water and nitrogen cycles. 

Create a movement for everyone in the class to follow that demonstrates the main ideas of the cycle:

• Phases of material in the cycle
• Big Changes / Key Steps in the cycle
• Energy / movers - what makes the cycle happen

Nitrogen Cycle: Roy, Andrew, Kyoko, Irene, PoYu
Carbon Cycle: Richard, Lisa, Sienna, Brenda, Jaysen
Water Cycle: Jacob, Henry, Alex, Sky

Friday - finish ecosystem descriptions, act out cycles & work in the garden. What defines the garden ecosystem?

Note: Please complete your ecosystem descriptions by Friday. You should respond to the questions asked by your classmates.

Tuesday - open note quiz on these ecosystems + big ideas of cycles. Can you identify / define ecosystems based upon abiotic and biotic factors?

6th graders - Cycles of Matter

Matter continually cycles through ecosystems. Three major cycles are the carbon, water and nitrogen cycles. 

Create a movement for everyone in the class to follow that demonstrates main ideas of the cycle:

• Phases of material in the cycle
• Big Changes / Key Steps in the cycle
• Energy / movers - what makes the cycle happen

Magazine note - please create a page for each cycle in your magazine. Include the main ideas listed above.

7th graders - Defining Ecosystems

Thanks to those of you who came to class with an ecosystem you have visited. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's visit posted on their blog by class on Wednesday. Today, you were given a description of an ecosystem to create a graphic...

What do you wonder about this place?

For next class,

1. please read p. 16-20 in the Ecology book, 
2. answer questions 1-6 on page 20, and
3. bring in your completed ecosystem from today.

A Step into Ecosystems

How would you define this ecosystem?

Photo taken during my West Africa Trip. Dogon Country, Mali

National Geographic Voyage
 

How is this ecosystem different from the one above?

Photo take from West Africa Trip 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana

and this ecosystem...

Photo take from West Africa Trip 2007. Ganvie, Benin

Book Reference: Ecology  p. 9-13

Key Vocabulary:

• Ecosystem
• Ecology
• Biotic Factor
• Abiotic Factor

7th graders
For Monday - Ecosystem visit. Today, you "visited" ecosystems in National Geographic. On Monday, bring an ecosystem that you have visited in person to this classroom. Requirements:

• 1 page collage of images, text, etc
• Location
• Description of your visit
• Define the ecosystem - What makes it up?
• Biotic Factors
• Abiotic Factors

Past Inventions...

Invention Convention Topics

Students are beginning to get ideas for their projects. Problems that are being looked into include:

• People cut down lots of trees at the mountain area, and when it rains the rocks will start moving down very fast through the slope of the mountain. The rocks will destroy many things when erosion happens. (Kyoko & Brenda)
• Many people around the world do not have enough clean water to drink, so they drink "dirty" water. The people who drink dirty water might get sick and die. (Jaysen & Alex)
• People all over the world are wasting batteries that can be re-used and causes more trash to the world. Batteries that are thrown away are dangerous because they might destroy farmlands, destroy crops and might increase the mutation rate.(Henry & Irene)
• There is too much trash on Earth. Anywhere you put it is still taking up space. Incinerators cause pollution and often trash gets dumped in the most inconvenient locations. It is a growing problem. (Andrew, Richard & Roy)
• In Taiwan, typhoons arrive in the summer when fruits are starting to ripen. Strong winds and rain causes the fruit to fall off the tree and rot, making profits low for farmers. (Jan & Andy)
• 75% of Earth is covered by water but only 2% of fresh water can be used. So if people keep wasting soon there will be no fresh water so we have to save water. (Teresa, Grace Anne & Athena)
• Mosquito bites are a great issue for our school and the whole world. Some mosquitoes even carry lethal diseases. (Raymond, James & Brian)
• Batteries are used as power sources everywhere around the world, especially alkaline batteries. But such batteries waste energy when they lie unused. (Cliff, Shoki & Fabien)
• Humans dump trash in the ocean. This normally results in sea animals being hurt, killed or even poisoned by the plastic in the trash. (Leah & Lisa)
• In cities, private transportation is causing pollution and wasted resources. First of all, private vehicles gives us a great need for fuel and in the making of fuel we pollute the world. (Vincent, Jadon & Tim)
• Pollution is one of the world's main issue, which came from the modern society we have right now that are made by human beings. Pollution from large factories, smoke from the vehicles, chimneys and burning of woods are all examples of pollution that are made by us. Our group is focusing on the smoke that the vehicles are making. (Cassandra, Jewelry, Sarah)
• Pesticides used to kill buys and animals are mostly not environmental. Instead of preventing bugs from entering your territory pesticides kill the bugs. Our group will be focusing on how to prevent bugs from entering your territory in a more eco-friendly way and not killing the bugs. (Kelly, Rose & Vickey)

Moving Windmills: The William Kamkwamba Story

Note: William's story is being made into a full length documentary that is scheduled for release sometime this year. For more information, go to the documentary site.

My invention that made peace with lions.

Upcoming Schedule

April 10: Brainstorming, Project Details, Begin work

April 12: 1/2 day for parent conferences. Plant Growth Data Collection + Garden Time (If it is raining, we will work on your projects)

April 16: Research time in the Satellite Lab + Project Work Time

April 18: Project Work Time (TAIMUN happening on campus. Class will be in the 3rd floor lab.)

April 22: Group discussions + Project Work Time + Early Evaluations - Do we have all of the components in our project?

April 24: Final Group work time - Finish projects!

April 26: Projects due in class before school starts. During class, we will tour projects and decide on awards:

• Best Innovation
• Best Model
• Best Visuals
• Best "Repurposing" for Display
• Most Detailed
• Incredible Effort

2013 Invention Convention

Earth Day 2013 - Invention Convention

In support of this year’s Earth Day, your amazing creativity is needed for the 2013 Invention Convention.  You each have a lot of potential and ability to help design solutions for today’s world.  So, let’s get started!

The Info…

Who: AST middle school students.  You can work in pairs or in groups of three.  You may work with anyone in the middle school.

What: Define a local or global environmental problem. Come up with a solution to help solve this problem. Prepare a display that shows your project research, design process and model.

When: Friday, April 26, 2013 (All projects are due to science class in the morning)

How: There are several components to this project.  Imagine the science room being transformed into an exhibition hall of break-through ideas and models.  Throughout the room, displays are set-up that discuss a problem, provide solutions, a group’s hope for the project and a model of the design.  Keep reading for more details:

Project Planning Sheet

Project Criteria

3.0  The process of technological design begins by defining a problem, followed by research to better understand the problem and brainstorming to arrive at potential solutions.

a) I can identify a problem that exists in my neighborhood, city, world.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems in this world that need great solutions. The largest problems often need a combination of solutions. Your task is to narrow down the possibilities and focus on one problem.

b) I can fully describe the problem (where is it happening, who does it affect, what are the causes and effects, what is the main issue...)  In the gallery of projects, people need to know what problem you are working to solve. Be clear. Be specific. Be thorough.

c) I can research solutions to similar problems (what have other people/organizations done).  Coming up with new solutions can be difficult and a great way to get started on ideas is to find out what other people have or are doing. Today, people can use technology to quickly find out about solutions in different parts of the world. What is being done to help solve problems similar to yours?

• Repurposing an idea: Find an idea (web, magazine, etc.) and incorporate it into your design. Make sure you cite your source and let people know who thought of the idea.  
• Biomimicry - Animal/Plant Adaptations:  Find an animal/plant adaptation and apply it to your problem… make sure you let folks know that YOU thought of this by learning from nature.

d) I can collaborate with others to generate several creative solutions.  People are powerful when working together. How will your team work together to come up with creative solutions. Are you taking risks with your solution?

4.0  In addition to 3.0, “criteria” is constructed that determines the design's success and a model of the design is constructed. The best solution is communicated persuasively.

e) I can evaluate and choose the best solution to my problem.  In “3-d,” your group generated multiple solutions. Why did you decide to green light this one, or move it the design phase? Describe why this is the best choice of your multiple solutions.

f) I can describe criteria for the success of my design.  What does your design need to be able to do for your group to consider it a success? Criteria (the plural of criterion - meaning you need more than 1) can be defined as “a standard by which something can be judged or decided”.

g) I can construct a model. 3D construction! You may come up with an amazing solution that is currently not technologically possible or that you simply do not have the equipment to prepare a working model. That is OK.  Your model does not have to be operational.  It does have to be a replica of your idea and be designed so that your audience can see exactly what the final product would look like.

h) I can present the recommended design. I’m sure the world is full of great ideas that never get acted upon because people do not present their designs. Your presentation needs to include all the parts of this project. Please pay attention to the layout of your display as it should be neat and easy for people to understand your work. Headings of topic areas are a must! More than one color is highly suggested.

5.0 In addition to 4.0, the design requirements (materials, resources, size...) are fully described and an analysis of the hopes and limitations of the design is provided.

Your group gets into the fine details about the project. You describe all of your project’s requirements. The analysis looks into the future. Your design has been constructed and has gone to the area it is most needed. What do you hope will happen? How will the design be installed? What will be limitations of the project?

Invention Convention Kick-Off

Welcome back from Spring Break!

Marshmallow Challenge Revisited...

Rules

1. ✦The Entire Marshmallow Must be on Top: The entire marshmallow needs to be on the top of the structure.

Cutting or eating part of the marshmallow disqualifies the team.  

2. ✦Use as Much or as Little of the Kit: The team can use as many or as few of the 20 spaghetti sticks, as much or as
   little of the string or tape. The team cannot use the paper bag as part of their structure.

3. ✦Break up the Spaghetti, String or Tape: Teams are free to break the spaghetti, cut up the tape and string to create new structures.
   
   
4. ✦The Challenge Lasts 18 minutes: Teams cannot hold on to the structure when the time runs out. Those touching or supporting the structure at the end of the exercise will be disqualified.

Inspirations


More details next class. Until then, please start thinking about ideas.

BBC Video: The Great Salmon Run

Link

Natural Selection Simulation

Since the last class, you thought about what would happen to a species that changed over time and was then faced with a large scale change in its environment. Today, we will begin by discussing your thoughts.

1. Same habitats (for example, everyone with the "Polar Seas" habitat will gather to discuss). Your task is to evaluate each person's ideas and provide supporting or contradicting information.
2. Present to the group
1. Did any of your species survive?
2. What would it take to survive? (What adaptations are needed for a species to survive?)
3. For the organisms that did survive, what do you think would happen?

We will then go to the Satellite Lab to work on a Natural Selection Simulation.

Guiding handout + Review sheet
Main ideas

On Friday, we will have an assessment regarding natural selection. Here are a few additional simulations that may help you out:

• Peppered Moth 
• NOVA: Evolution in Action

More info:

• Recipe for Evolution: Variation, Selection & Time
• Variation, Selection & Time
• PBS Evolution Site

Natural Selection

Today, we will continue working on the objectives from last class. To get started, please select the best possible choice to describe why dark colored mice appeared on the dark rock.

I believe that the mice became dark furred over time because:
a) the light colored mice changed to match the rock
b) ash from exploding volcanoes turned the mice dark
c) dark mice selected to migrate from sandy areas to the dark rock
d) on the rock the dark mice were favorably selected to continue their life cycle

Defend your choice!

We will get together to discuss the choices. Try to convince everyone that your choice is the best.

Voyage to Aquaterra - create the habitats

Exit notes
1. One thing that all of a sudden became clear to you.
2. One thing you want to make sure not to forget that you learned today.
3. One question you have about what was discussed today.

For next class, please read pages 17-25 in the Life Over Time book. Answer questions 3-5 on page 25.

What does it mean to be fit?

Objectives:
a) discuss what is meant by being evolutionary "fit".

b) explain how natural selection preserves favorable traits.

c) explain how variation, selection, and time fuel the process of evolution.

Language Objectives:
a) Watch a video and take notes based upon your key questions. Present this information to the class.


Opening skit: Survival of the Sneakiest


Investigating change of rock pocket mice in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States.

Exit Stickies (4)
1. One thing that all of a sudden became clear to you.
2. One thing you want to make sure not to forget that you learned today.
3. One thing that could be made better.
4. One thing you still have a question about.

For next class, please finish the graph and questions associated with today's activities.

Weather Patterns

Today is a gardening day! What are some current weather observations?

1. Is the moon currently waxing or waning? Please explain on what you are basing your answer.

2. How is Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival related to the moon?

3. Is the overall length of the day currently getting longer, shorter or staying the same?

4. Go outside and verify your answers. Below, please explain any differences.

5. Please calculate the number of daylight hours for your date.

6. Temperature: What overall trends in the temperature are you noticing? (Please be specific)

7. Precipitation: How much has it rained in the last two months? How does this compare with a typhoon event? When did we last get a significant amount of rain?

Plant Project

To complete by next week:

1. Google document that contains your updated procedure.
2. Google spreadsheet that contains your data.

Dragon Page due date

Time was spent in class yesterday working on the final dragon page. The final page (your best quality work, thoughtful, checked for grammar, in color, etc.) is due on Monday.

Genetic Variation

I hope everyone had an enjoyable break to begin the Year of the Snake. Though we are leaving the Year of the Dragon behind, our class has a few details to wrap up with dragons.

Today in class, you will have a portion of time to work on your final dragon page assignment.

We will also spend some time reading the following article. This is a current article from the NY Times.

Link to article & notes page

Your tasks:

1. Highlight any words that are unfamiliar. Find out the meaning of these words.

2. Key Questions:

a) How are people the same/different?

b) Is it important to have competing ideas? (why/why not)

Next class, you will carry on a discussion about the article and the two key questions. In order to have a successful discussion, each student in the class must come with an understanding of the article and be prepared to contribute ideas, questions and details.
Criteria for class discussion:

Link to Discussion Criteria

Dragon Page - Life Cycle & Future

Wow! What an eventful series you have had over the past few weeks. Dragons entered your lives. Baby dragons are being born! What does the future have in store for your little guy or girl?

This page in your dragon book has several important goals:

1. Let future dragon breeders know the cell processes that create new dragons and what happens as the baby dragon grows, develops or heals after being wounded.
2. Explain why it is important to maintain genetic variation in your dragon species.
3. Provide a warning to future dragon breeders about possible mutations.

In order to do this, create a page that will be a great resource for the dragon breeders after you!

1. Life Cycle - Create a diagram that shows the life cycle of your dragon. From egg to death, what are the major stages of life your dragon will pass through.
2. Egg - use diagrams and sentences to explain what happened at the cellular level to result in the egg. You should explain the process that creates the 1n cells. How are these “daughter” cells related to the parent cell? Important: use your dragon’s genetic code as an example.
3. Growth, Development and Repair - use diagrams and sentences to explain the cellular process that takes place to create new cells. How are these “daughter” cells related to the parent cell?
4. Explain what is meant by genetic variation and why it is important for the survival of your species.
5. Mutations - What are they? How could they take place in a dragon? What could be a possible mutation that is positive for your dragon? What could be a possible mutation that is negative for your dragon? For both, explain how this mutation could occur. Are the mutations inherited or acquired? What is the difference?

Today's Readings:

Friday - Gardening Day

Tuesday (after Chinese New Year Break - have a great break!) - Class work time on this assignment

Thursday 2/21 - Page due

How are the terms related?

Your dragon pages are looking awesome! Today, you did self-evaluations on the baby dragon pages. These should be turned in (final beautiful draft quality) by class on Thursday.

How are all the genetic vocabulary words related? This blog post is due in a completed rough draft on Thursday.

Blog Post: Tying together key vocabulary Name: _____________
You are doing a great job in the genetic labs! The following terms have been our key vocabulary while in the labs:

DNA Chromosome Gene Allele Phenotype Genotype Dominant Recessive homozygous heterozygous

Make a sketch that includes as many words as you can...

Task: Blog post that includes:

1. Your diagram
2. A paragraph or three that describes describes the relationship of the key vocabulary words listed on this page and in your diagram. Use your baby dragon as a focus point in your writing. You know its genotype and phenotype and how the dragon received these traits. As you write, be specific. Focus on a few genes and explain these terms.