Learning About Cells

CELL STRUCTURE

This week’s focus is on cell structure and the difference between plant and animal cells. Students will be doing a reading on cell parts and filling in a definition sheet detailing various organelles and related vocabulary words.

Students wishing to listen to the reading while they follow along can click on the following links:

Cell Parts- Page 19

Cell Parts- Page 20

CELL THEORY

Students that missed the Cell Theory class should get an info sheet from Ms. Fitz and click on the Cell Theory Presentation link to download the information. Use this to fill in the blanks on the info. sheet.

Cell Theory Presentation

Using a Dichotomous Key

Today we are exploring a tool used to identify different organisms.

dichotomous key- A classification key that usually has two choices or divisions at each step. Dichotomous keys are based on an “either-or” classification system –either something has a certain characteristic, or it doesn’t.

Here is an example of a simple key that helps to identify whether an organisms is an ant or a grasshopper. Resource- http://www.rivercenter.uga.edu/education/watersheds2006/gps.htm

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Here is another simple dichotomous key:

Check out this link to how to set up a dichotomous key: http://www.mrjwilhelm.com/images/DICH_KEY_ACT_FIN.JPG

Resources on the Three Domains of Life

Post your site here!

What’s Next?

Wow! What a great culminating activity today! Now that we’re done with, you know, we can move on to new things.

Students- please look to see if you can find some good, student friendly, websites on the following upcoming topics. Please post the title of the website and a link in a comment space below. Thanks!

TOPICS/TERMS to search for:

• Characteristics of Living Organisms
• Classification of Organisms
• Taxonomy
• Diversity of Organisms

Scavenger Hunt and What You’ve Learned

All students must post two things today. You can put both requirements in one post. Please do the following:

• Answer: What is the most important thing you learned in the Warming Water’s expedition? How is this important?
• Create and post: A scavenger hunt question with the answer. Check to make sure your question and answer are CORRECT and FACTUAL!!!

Phytoplankton, Blooms, and Satellites

There seems to be some misunderstandings about the connection between phytoplankton, pollution and satellite data. We will use a collection of online articles to find clarity of information.

Pollution and Blooms

1. Eutrophication Definition Page- http://toxics.usgs.gov/definitions/eutrophication.html
2. Pollution May Feed Phytoplankton- http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2005/02/66571
3. The Dirt on Dirt: Sediments Impact- http://www.chesapeakebay.net/newssediment060305.htm
4. Air Pollution Linked to Growth in Oceans- http://www.universetoday.com/2005/02/11/air-pollution-linked-to-growth-of-life-in-oceans/
5. Atmospheric Changes and Air Pollution- http://see-the-sea.org/topics/pollution/air/AirPol-body.htm
6. What Causes a Phytoplankton Bloom in the Gulf of Maine? http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/phytoplankton/primer.html
7. Sea Life in Peril- Plankton Vanishing- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/12/MNG8SDMMR01.DTL
8. Snow Melt Causes Large Ocean Plant Blooms- http://www.physorg.com/news3826.html

Satellites

1. SeaWiFS Project: the Wild Blue Wonder- http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/seawifs/index.htm
2. Hunting Dangerous Algae from Space- http://eobglossary.gsfc.nasa.gov//Study/Redtide/index.html
3. Gulf of Maine Observing System- http://www.gomoos.org/buoy/satellite.html
4. Plankton Blooms (NASA Images)- Example pages: http://www.lcamediabase.com/exweb/blooms/index.html
5. The Incredible Glowing Algae- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/glowingalgae/
6. Satellite Images: Using in the Classroom- http://www.gma.org/surfing/summary.html
7. Satellite Comparisons: The Gulf of Maine and The Caribbean- http://www.gma.org/surfing/ocean/sat_comp.html
8. How Satellites Work- http://www.gma.org/surfing/satellites/index.html
9. When is Dinner Served? Predicting the Spring Phytoplankton Bloom in the Gulf of Maine- http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/phytoplankton/index.html

Other

• A Graphic Look at the State of the World- http://www.theglobaleducationproject.org/earth/index.php
• Gulf of Maine Area Program- http://research.usm.maine.edu/gulfofmaine-census/biodiversity/
• Gulf of Maine Phytoplankton Biomass- http://www.gomoos.org/oceanbiology/
• Project to Capture CO2 with Plankton Puts to Sea- http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/project-to-harness-plankton-puts-to-sea/

Plankton Identification

Today we are going to spend some time trying to identify plankton found in Casco Bay. In order to do this you need to:

1. Create a Plankton ID page in your NotesShare Notebook in your SCIENCE section.
2. Go to Venus-KMS-York 7-Share-Plankton
3. Find an image of a plankter that you would like to know more about.
4. Copy and paste that image into your notebook.
5. Go to the web links below to try and identify the organism.

LOOK FOR THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: (You can copy and paste this into your Notebook so you remember what to look for.)

1. The big question: Why do you think it is a particular organism?
2. Is it zoo or phytoplankton?
3. What is its scientific name? This will be the name of the species.
4. What is its classification Kingdom? (Remember, some scientists categorize plankton diffferently)
5. What is its phylum? (This is the second biggest grouping in classification, just under the Kingdom.)
6. What are some interesting characteristics such as:

• How does it live?
• What does it use for food?
• What eats it?
• Where does it live?
• What kind of conditions are necessary for it to live?
• Any other???

BE SURE TO RECORD ALL RESOURCES FROM WHERE YOU FIND YOUR INFOMATION WITH ON YOUR PAGE! Just copy and paste the website.RESOURCES:

• Zooplankton of Northern New England- http://cfb.unh.edu/CFBkey/html/index.html Go to the Key for info. Image based.
• Diatoms of New England- http://thalassa.gso.uri.edu/flora/
  
• Harmful Marine Dinoflagellates- http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/dinoflag/index.htm
• Phytoplankton- Basic Descriptions- http://www.bigelow.org/foodweb/microbe0.html
• Phytoplankton- Chesapeake and Coastal- http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/cblife/algae/index.html
• Zooplankton- Chesapeake and Coastal- http://www.dnr.state.md.us/bay/cblife/zoop/index.html
• SERC-Phytoplankton Guide- http://www.serc.si.edu/labs/phytoplankton/guide/index.jsp
• Marine Zooplankton Groups- http://www.cmarz.org/species_pages/phyla/phyla.htm
• World of Copepods- http://invertebrates.si.edu/copepod/

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Island

Greetings to all! After a long day of traveling, we made it to St. Croix yesterday around 3:30 p.m. our time. You may not realize it, but their time is one hour later than ours. St. Croix uses Atlantic Standard Time and do not change the clocks for daylight savings in the summer.

Here’s a little info on time zones: http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/articles/timezones.htm 

Here is a little St. Croix info for you: http://www.stcroixtourism.com/aboutstcroix.htm 

We flew from Boston to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there we caught a connecting flight into St. Croix.  I haven’t had a chance to get a lot of pictures yet, but here are a couple:

The first is flying in to St. Croix and the second is the view from our hotel room. (We have a “Mountain View” room as the “ocean view” rooms are MUCH more expensive.) You can see that the geology is slightly varied. There are some very flat areas with a lot of rolling hills.

It really is beautiful and very warm (in the 80’s)!  I’ll post more pictures later in the day if I get a chance.

This last picture is one of the resort we are staying at for my brother’s wedding from the resort’s website. Notice the color of the water. Who can tell me why it is so clear??? Anyone???

Well, I must be off to get more pictures. Have a wonderful Friday, work hard, and I’ll see you on Monday!  By the way, Sam, I’ve already captured the bottle of warm air for you. Does anyone else want any? Just let me know.

Ms. Fitz

This Week: Nov.27th-Nov.30th

Greetings O’ Wonderful Students!!

This week is a Warming Waters Wrap Up week. Not that we are going to be done with our expedition, but we need a chance to connect and review all of the information that we have been studying since early October. So, our week will look like this:

Tuesday and Wednesday, November 27 + 28

How Is Everything Connected? We will using the webbed bulletin board in the back of the science classroom, our own matching handouts, topic related posters taped around the room, and post-its to look at all of the topics we’ve been covering in this expedition and to see how they are all related.

Assessment: Warming Waters: How Does Everything Connect? This is a “big” worksheet that has room for you to write one complete sentence for each topic and how it connects to the other topics.

Thursday and Friday, November 29 + 30

The purpose of these two days is to review important information covered so far in this expedition. This will be done through the three worksheets introduced in class on Wednesday.

IMPORTANT:

• Work hard and stay focused. Anything not finished by the end of the day on Friday is homework over the weekend!
• Use handouts in your science notebook and expedition folder to do the following work.
• When you complete an assignment, PASS IT INTO THE SLOT!

Do these things in this order:

1. Finish writing sentences on the Warming Waters: How Does Everything Connect? worksheet if you haven’t completed this yet.
2. Plankton Overview- this is a mapping activity that sorts out how phytoplankton and zooplankton are alike and different. Use the word bank at the top of the page to fill in the empty spaces in the map.
3. Warming Waters Review Crossword Puzzle- This crossword puzzle uses vocabulary from science and RA. If you get stuck for answers, ask the teacher for a word bank. Some answers will be two words. DO NOT put a space between the words!
4. WARMING WATERS REVIEW-The purpose of this worksheet is to get you ready for a test. To do this review you should use the following:
   1. A friend to work with (not just copy from).
   2. Your handouts in your INFO section of your science notebook.
   3. Your iBook to type your answers to questions needing explanation. (Download the WARMING REVIEWS Question sheet from my folder on the server or create one yourself.)
   4. The BIODIVERSITY WEBSITE linked to from http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/it_takes_all_kinds/ for the last question .
   5. IMPORTANT- Any time you see QUESTION you will go to your WARMING WATERS REVIEW document and answer these questions with detail, description, and in complete answers.

If, by chance, you finish all of this work you may do the following, in this order:

• Correct your teacher edits on your plankton essay.
• Go to my Portaportal and check out sites under the Warming Waters heading. You can get extra credit for doing web page reviews. See the substitute for one.
• Work on adding information on plankton in your NoteShare notebook.

Phytoplankton and Photosynthesis

We’ve been learning about how phytoplankton photosynthesize. Students are invited to find some great sites on photosynthesis and post them here for others to use.