Lab#1 - How is a controlled experiment formed?

Have you ever wondered whether light or dark clothing would be more comfortable on a hot, sunny day?  Scientists conduct scientific experiments to solve problems like this.  They use a process called the scientific method.

Problem

How does color affect heat absorption?

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that…  I believe that….  I think that…  I predict that…

  

Materials

Virtual Lab

Procedure

Follow the procedure found on the Virtual Lab CD-Rom.

Results

Jacket Color	Denim 'C
Black
Blue
Green
Yellow
White

  

Jacket Color	Wool 'C
Black
Blue
Green
Yellow
White

Jacket Color	Nylon 'C
Black
Blue
Green
Yellow
White

  

Analysis

1. What was the problem you were trying to solve?

2.  What was the independent variable? 

3. What was the dependent variable?

4. What were your constants?

5. What else could you have tested in this experiment?  Explain.

6. How does the color of the jacket affect heat absorption?

7. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the computer model you used in the experiment.  How could you go about conducting this experiment with your jackets?

Conclusion

What was your problem?

Restate your hypothesis.  Was it right? wrong?  why or why not?

What did you learn in this lab?

What did you like about this lab?

What were some challenges you had to deal with?

What could you do next with this problem?  What other tests could you perform?

Write down any other additional thoughts, observations, inferences, etc.

Notebook Check #1

1. HW – What are five things that you know about Science now that you didn’t before?

2. HW – Add 10 more words to each list: physical science, earth science, life science.

3. Chapter 1 Section 1: Vocabulary, Reading Check, Blue Questions, 
Self Check #1-5 (61A,61C,620)  Self Check #2,4,5 (61B,621)

Textbook Scavenger Hunt

 Textbook Scavenger Hunt

1. What is the title of your text?
2. Find the Table of Contents: What is the title of the first chapter?  “What is science” is the title of which Section?
3. On what page does the “Student Resources” begin?
4. What kind of information can be found in the “Science Skills Handbook”?
5. Find the page titled, “HOW TO… Use Your Science Book” and answer the following questions (hint: It’s located just before page 1.)

  

1. Read “Before You Read,” what is the difference between Review Vocabulary and New Vocabulary?
2. What is a foldable?
3. Read “As You Read.”  Where are the Student Resources found?
4. Read “In Lab” and “Before a Test.”  What are 4 key resources that can help you be a successful test taker?

6. Go to the “Student Resources” section: What are the steps of the Scientific Method? 
7. What is found on page 388?
8. Where is the Index?  What kind of information does the Index provide?
9. If you wanted to look up information on Force, where would you go to find the pages that have information on this subject?

10) If you wanted to find the definition ecology, where would you find this information?

    11) Look on pp. 4, 134, and 282 and find the “Science Journal”; what kind of information does the Science Journal provide? What is a journal?

   12)  Find the New Vocabulary on p. 6, where can you find the definitions to these words?  (hint: There are two places in your text where definitions are located.)

  13)  Find Chapter 1 Section 1

a) What is the title of the Section?

b) Find the Reading Check on p. 7; what is the purpose of it?

c) Find the Blue Question on p. 8; Infer what its purpose is.

d) Find the Section Review on p. 11; what is the purpose of the Summary?  In what way would the Self Check questions be helpful to you?

Welcome to Mr. Considine's Science Scholars Class of 2015!

Here are some requirements and tips for this school year:
1) Bring a blue/black pen, a pencil, a ruler, AND a colored marking pen (red, yellow, orange, etc) to class every day.
2) You need two marble notebooks: one for Science notes and one for Science Lab.
3) Your HW will be completed in your Science notebook; the only HW that is to be done on loose leaf paper are Science Articles, which will be turned in each Friday, unless notified about a change.
4) You must bring in a Science folder which will be kept in class as your Portfolio.

Mr. C's Classroom Dos and Don'ts
1) DO come to class on time; if you are late and without a pass, you will make the time up on YOUR time.
2) DO bring bottled water, but leave all other liquids at home.
3) DO keep your area clean and dispose of all trash into the garbage bin, but DON'T do this while Mr. C is teaching.
4) DO enjoy your breakfast and lunch, but DON'T bring food into Mr.C's class.  Food attracts mice and insects which spread disease.
5) DO keep your phones and all electronic devices on mute (no vibrate) and in your bags or you will pick it up after school on YOUR time.  If this becomes a recurring problem, then your parents will have to pick it up themselves.
6) DO raise your hand if you want to ask a question or contribute to the discussion, for it is important to keep ORDER in the classroom. 

*ATTENTION CLASS OF 2015: THIS IS THE FIRST POST FOR THE 2012/2013 SCHOOL YEAR*
*ALL POSTS BELOW THIS ARE FOR LAST YEAR'S STUDENTS*

Chapter 9 Website Fun!

TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2011

Chapter 9 Website Fun!

1.  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/producersconsumers.htm

 a. What is the difference between a producer and a consumer?

 b. Give three examples of each: herbivore, carnivore, and omnivore.

 c. What are decomposers?  What would the environment look like if we had no decomposers?

2. http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/foodchain.htm
 a. Draw a picture of "photosynthesis."


3. play this game!  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/animaldietgame.htm

4. play this game!  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm

5. play this game!  http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm

6. play this game!  http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm

7.complete each of the foodwebs below:  http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm

Australian Grasslands Foodweb

African Grasslands Foodweb

Antarctic Foodweb

NEW - Marine Foodweb

8. complete the meadow, arctic and pond foodwebs:  http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/food/food_menu.html

9. http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/foodweb.htm
a. Answer the following questions in your notebooks

Identify the: 1. Producers 2. Primary Consumers 3. Secondary Consumers 4. Herbivores 5. Carnivores 6. Omnivores 7. What elements are missing from this food web? b . In your notebooks, Construct a Food web using the following animals.  This ecosystem represents a farm area.  The corn is the main source of food for many of the herbivores in the area.  You do not have to draw pictures, you can just use the animal names and draw arrows between them.   SNAKE,  CORN , CATERPILLAR, DEER, CROW, MOUSE, COUGAR, SQUIRREL, MICROORGANISMS (decomposers)

http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011

Start your 4th quarter off on the right foot

1 - Science Notebook
a) Mini-Lab p. 227
b) Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species memorization key
c) Bonus Point online-game (see below)

2 - Lab Notebook/Manual
a) Lab #20 - The Microscope parts 1 and 2

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2011

**BONUS POINTS**

Go check out this website and play 1 game for 1 point, 2 games for 2 points or 3 games for 3 points that will be added to your next Test score.  Write a brief summary of each game played in your notebook.

http://myhomelearning.com/directory/science/biology

Lab #18 – The Celery Experiment

Problem

How does a plant get water from its roots to its leaves?

  

Hypothesis 

Materials

Celery

Celery seeds

Food coloring

Water

Plastic cup

Scissors

Ruler

Hand lens

Procedure

1.          Make observations of your celery seeds in the Results.

2.          Make observations of your celery stalk in the Results.

3.          Cut about 2.5 cm off the bottom of the celery stalk and make observations on the celery stalk’s cross section.

4.          Fill up a plastic cup with 250 ml of water and add two drops of food coloring.  Put your celery stalk, cross section down and leaves up, into the cup of colored water. 

5.          Make observations on your celery stalk experiment.  Make sure to include color and other details such as height, number of leaves, width of cross section, etc.

 Results

Observations on the celery seed	10X
(half page)	(half page)

  

Observations on the celery stalk	10X

Observations on the celery stalk’s cross section	10X

Observations on the celery stalk in colored water	10X

 Analysis

1) What happened to your celery stalk overnight?

2) How do you know that the water reached the top of the plant (celery stalk)?

3) Look for small circles at the bottom of the stalk that are the color of the food coloring you used. (These circles are xylem, the tubes that carry water up the plant.) Draw pictures and make observations about the xylem in your celery.

  

Observations on the celery stalk in colored water

  

Conclusion

Taxonomy - the science of classifying organisms

Common Names

spider monkey	sea monkey	sea horse
gray wolf	Firefly	Crayfish
mud puppy	horned toad	Ringworm
black bear	Jellyfish

*Common names can be confusing and names can vary by region.

Why Classify?

About 1.5 million species named
2-100 million species yet to be discovered

Taxonomy =science of classifying organisms
--groups similar organisms together
--assigns each a name

Naming Organisms:
Organisms have common & scientific name -all organisms have only 1 scientific name
-usually Latin or Greek
-developed by Carolus Linnaeus

The scientific name is always italicized or underlined. Genus is capitalized. Species is not. Scientific names can be abbreviated by using the capital letter of the genus and a period: Example.P. leo (lion) Members of the same genus are closely related.  Only members of the same species can interbreed (under natural conditions) Some hybrids do occur under unnatural conditions: Ligers are crosses between tigers and lions.

This two-word naming system is called 

Binomial Nomenclature

-written in italics (or underlined)
-1st word is Capitalized --Genus
-2nd word is lowercase ---species

Examples: Felis concolor, Ursus arctos, Homo sapiens,Panthera leo , Panthera tigris 

Linneaus - devised the current system of classification, which uses the following schema

Kingdom
	Phylum/Division
		Class
			Order
				Family
					Genus
						Species

	Human	Cougar	Tiger	Pintail Duck
Kingdom	Animalia	Animalia	Animalia	Animalia
Phylum/Division	Chordata	Chordata	Chordata	Chordata
Class	Mammalia	Mammalia	Mammalia	Aves
Order	Primate	Carnivora	Carnivora	Anseriformes
Family	Homindae	Felidae	Felidae	Anatidae
Genus	Homo	Felis	Panthera	Anas
Species	sapiens	concolor	tigris	Acuta

18-2 Modern Evolutionary Classification

• Linnaeus grouped species mainly on visible similarities & differences
• Today, taxonomists group organisms into categories that represent lines of evolutionary descent (phylogeny)
• Evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms can be shown on a cladogram 

Similarities in DNA and RNA

• DNA & RNA is similar across all life forms
• Genes of many organisms show important similarities at the molecular level
• DNA shows evolutionary relationships & helps classify organisms

The Six Kingdoms and Domains

	number of Cells	Energy	cell type	Examples
archaebacteria	Unicellular	some autotrophic, most chemotrophic	Prokaryote	"extremophiles"
Eubacteria	Unicellular	autotrophic and heterotrophic	Prokaryote	bacteria, E. coli
Fungae	most multicellular	Heterotrophic	Eukaryote	mushrooms, yeast
Plantae	Multicellular	Autotrophic	Eukaryote	trees, grass
Animalia	Multicellular	Heterotrophic	Eukaryote	humans, insects, worms
Protista	most unicellular	heterotrophic or autotrophic	Eukaryote	ameba, paramecium, algae

Chart Used in Class

Using Dichotomous Keys

A dichotomous key is a written set of choices that leads to the name of an organism. Scientists use these to identify unknown organisms.

Consider the following animals. They are all related, but each is a separate species. Use the dichotomous key below to determine the species of each.

1.	Has green colored body ......go to 2
	Has purple colored body ..... go to 4
2.	Has 4 legs .....go to 3
	Has 8 legs .......... Deerus octagis
3.	Has a tail ........ Deerus pestis
	Does not have a tail ..... Deerus magnus
4.	Has a pointy hump ...... Deerus humpis
	Does not have a pointy hump.....go to 5
5.	Has ears .........Deerus purplinis
	Does not have ears ......Deerus deafus

Answers:

A. Deerus magnus
B. Deerus pestis
C. Deerus octagis
D. Deerus purplinis
E. Deerus deafus
F. Deerus humpis

*note that all of these organisms are in the same genus.