VDA #5 Fish Consumption & Pregnancy

VDA #5
Fish Consumption & Pregnancy

Due: Thursday, December 13th by 11:59pm, CST

Directions:  Read this article and then do the following:

1. Find a reliable website that can offer pregnant women information about mercury in seafood and will give suggestions as to serving sizes and frequencies that are safe for consumption.

2. Using what you find in the website that you research and what you've read in the article, write a paragraph of at least 6 sentences that explains what mercury is, what it can do to pregnant women and how they can prevent these problems while pregnant.

Your sentences must be complete, thorough and all science must be referenced if it's gained from any place other than the website you post, the article or your text book.  

Truth?

Einstein's Brain

I read this article today and I thought you may be interested.  Scientists Get a New Look at Einstein's Brain.
Sharing is caring. :)

VDA #4, Comments #1

VDA #4

NPR Science News (Arbor Embolism & Long Term Science)

original response due: 11:59pm; Wednesday, November 28th

An Arbor Embolism and Long-Term Science are two articles on NPR's website right now.  I'd like you to read both articles, but then only choose one series of questions to respond to for your VDA#4.

An Arbor Embolism Questions:

1. What is an embolism, as it pertains to humans?

2. What is an embolism as it pertains to plants/trees?

3. What implication does this discovery have in terms of global concern?

Long-Term Science Questions:

1. What is Richard Lenski studying and why does he think it's important?

2. What is Telewski studying and why does he think it's important?

3. What benefits do you see in performing long-term scientific studies like these? 

Comments #1

Communicating With Others

response to two classmates due: 11:59pm; Friday, November 30th

Sometime on Thursday or Friday, you must read your classmates' responses to VDA #4 and choose two in which to comment.  You MUST choose one classmate that selected the same article as you and another who did not.  Your comments must be at least four complete sentences in length and must be applicable to science and the article at hand.  You will receive no credit for comments that are shorter than four sentences or comments that are not relevant to the topic.

Extra Credit: DNA's Shape

The Shape of DNA

due: 11:59pm, Monday, November 19th.  

DNA is shaped like a double helix.  This information is widely accepted.  But, for this extra credit opportunity, you must answer the following questions about DNA.  You must also include your reference for EACH question.

1. DNA is an acronym.  What is DNA's "real" name?

2. What function does DNA serve?

3. How was DNA's shape discovered?  Give me the name of three scientists who played a role in this discovery?  (Hint: I'm looking for the names of two men and one woman).

4. DNA has nucleotide bases, what are the four bases?  (Hint: C, G, T, A... what does each letter represent?)

5. In DNA, the four base nucleotides always pair up in a certain way; which letters bond with which?

__________________________________

***As I mentioned, you must include a reference for each question.  Use the following as an example of how to format your responses:

1. What is the capital of Germany?

The capital of Germany is Berlin.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_of_Germany

OR, you can easily include the url as an active link by typing your response:

The capital of Germany is Berlin.  

And then highlighting the word "Berlin" and clicking the "link" button at the top of your post.  From there, copy/paste the url into the "web address" bar.  Once you do that, you will end up with the following:

1. What is the capital of Germany?
The capital of Germany is Berlin.

VDA #3

Biofuels 

due: 11:59pm (CST) Friday, November 16th

Read the article on the first ever algae-derived fuel and answer the following questions:

1. What is algae? (Specifically, what kingdom does it belong to and where is it found?)

2. What is another form of biofuel that the article mentions? (Hint!  "There's more than _______ in Indiana!  Indiana Beach!") 

3. When comparing algal biofuel to the biofuel mentioned in your answer to number 2, which one allegedly produces fewer polluntants?

4. How does the algae produce biofuel? 

Then, watch Solazyme's video on biofuel production and answer the following questions, according to what the video presented:

1. How long does nature take to produce fuel?

2. How long does it take Solazyme to produce fuel?

3. Where is Solazyme currently located?

Molecules of Life & Bag It

Today we began a discussion on the macromolecules that are pertinent to life, as we know it.  We're discussing carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.  I created a presentation years ago, when I was teaching 10th grade biology, that introduced this same topic, but at a much deeper level.  I'm including that presentation here, so that parents may view it to get an understanding as to what we're learning about in class.

Today we discussed carbohydrates and lipids.  Slides 3, 5, 10, 11, 27 and 35 may be useful to view.

Click here for the presentation.

In addition, students watched the documentary Bag It.  We will be discussing the science presented in this documentary in the upcoming weeks.  If you would like to borrow the DVD, please let me know and I can send it home with you!

Spot the Space Station

Our school has a special relationship with the International Space Station (ISS),  as we currently have an experiment aboard.  That said, NASA just made public a fun tracking program that will alert you via email or SMS text message when the ISS is visible in your neck of the woods.

If you're interested in signing up (I already have!!!), just click on this link and sign up: NASA's Spot the Station.  If you are interested in signing up to receive text messages, not just emails, you will use the email addresses they provided for you at the bottom of the page, in the yellow box.  Instead of using the numbers 1234567890, you will replace those numbers with the area code and phone number of your cell phone.  For example, if your cell phone number is (219)555-5555, then you would type 2195555555@[whatever carrier suffix they stipulate in the yellow box].

Once you sign up, you will receive an email or text, depending on which you prefer, with a final registration confirmation code.  Once you type that code into the space given on the website, you will be signed up for 12 months' worth of alerts when the ISS is above head.

Neat!

VDA # 2

The Science of Secrets

Due: 11/8/2012

For VDA # 2, you will read the article entitled Cool Jobs: The Science of Secrets.  Once you read the entire article, do the following:

1.  Choose which of the subsections of the article you found most interesting and answer the following questions:

     a) In what way does their research contribute to the greater good?

     b) What questions did the scientist pose that led to the research that s/he did?

     c) What field of science does this fall into?  (Biology, chemistry, physics, etc.?)

2. Select one of the scientists mentioned in the article, and write a letter to him/her.  In the letter, include what you know about his/her research, what you found most fascinating and include a minimum of two well thought-out questions.  

Virtual Desk Assignment #1

Science News Analysis & Opinion

For your first assignment, you are to go to the Science News for Kids website and on the bottom of the page, where it says "In the News", you are to choose one article.  Read the article and then answer the questions found below on your Virtual Science Notebook.  You do this by signing on to your blog and then clicking the orange pencil button OR clicking the "new post" button.  You will title your post "VDA #1".  Copy and paste the following questions into your post and then answer them.

1) What was the title and URL of the article you read?

2) Do you have any questions about anything you read in the article?  If so, what are the questions?

3) What did you find MOST fascinating about the article?

4) What did you learn?

5) Why was the science found in the article important, in your opinion?

6) Any additional comments?

Welcome

Thank you for stopping by this blog!  This site will be used as a virtual classroom for our middle school science class.  Here I will post information about class topics, post virtual desk assignments, mention homework assignments and update you about SSEP, the science fair and science in the news.  In addition, I would like to highlight various works that students produce as they develop as scientists and writers.

When we discuss topics in class that I feel need additional support outside of the classroom, I will come here.  I will post applicable videos and links that can be used to supplement the learning that went on in the classroom.  I suggest that you check regularly for information that may be helpful to you and/or your student.

I will label each post so that you can easily filter through them by clicking on the "label" links found in the right tool bar.

Welcome! :)