Bear Science Notes and Resources

Chapter 2 Ecology

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:56:00 +0000

Chapter 2 Ecology Notes - Late Tuesday night sorry

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:49:00 +0000

Chapter 2 ecology (9:30 tuesday night sorry)

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:39:00 +0000

Print and READ ME

Chapter 2 - Section 2 deals with the water cycle

The Water cycle- Water cycles through the environment through a number of different processes.
Evaporation- liquid water is converted to a gaseous water and rises into the atmosphere
Condensation- Gaseous water is converted into liquid water
Transpiration- evaporation directly from plant leaves.
Precipitation- general term for water that falls from the sky as solid or liquid
Respiration- organisms breathe out gaseous water

Section 1 of Chapter 2
Chapter 2- Ecology- Many factors contribute to organism success
Vocabulary: Biotic, abiotic, atmosphere, soil, climate, evaporation, condensation, water cycle, nitrogen fixation, chemosynthesis, food web, energy pyramids

Environmental factors-
Biotic factors- “biotic” means living- features of the environment that are or where once alive.
Abiotic factors- “a” means not “biotic” means living- non-living physical features of the environment.
What’s some of the most important abiotic factors in the environment? Water and oxygen

Abiotic factors-
1) Air- the atmosphere is 78 % nitrogen, 21 % oxygen, and small amounts of Carbon dioxide, argon, neon, helium, and others.
Organisms use air for feeding body cells in a process called respiration.

2) Water- most organisms are 50-95% water. The following processes only take place with water: respiration, digestion, photosynthesis.

3) Soil- The topmost layer of the earth’s crust. Soil contains rocks, minerals, dead organisms, and air. Soil is biotic and abiotic because it contains dead and living organisms and other non-living factors. Humus- decaying matter found in the soil

4) Sunlight- All life on earth relies on producers that get their energy from the sun. Photosynthesis!!

5) Temperature- Organisms survive mostly at temperatures from 0 deg C to 50 deg C. (Water freezes at zero degrees C)

Aside- Why is it hotter at the equator? Answer: The equator gets direct sunlight strait on. The poles get sunlight at an angle. This keeps them cooler. In winter the earth tilts causing less sun to hit at higher latitudes. This causes lower temperature. The southern hemisphere is in summer when we are in winter.

Climate- Refers to an areas average weather conditions. Includes temperature, precipitation, and wind. Temperature and precipitation are the most important for living things.
Wind- How is it created? Air molecules are heated by the sun. These warmer molecules rise up (warm air rises) and a current is created. This current is wind.

Test and Review questions. What’s the difference in abiotic and biotic factors? What are the examples of each? What parts of air are required for life? Why is soil both biotic and abiotic. Be able to label and draw the water cycle.

Ecology Chapter 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 01:25:00 +0000

Ecology Notes
Chapter 1
Print Me

Background:
Native Americans lived “conservation” as a way of life. This was the idea of sustainable living.
Example: Cheyanne bison hunt
Strict rules on killing more bison then needed
Used all parts of the animal so none was wasted
Meat eaten for food
Fat used for cooking
Bones used for tools
Hides were used for clothing
Stomachs were used for water pouches.

It was a Native American belief that people must cooperate with nature so that revival and rebirth can continue.

The Mayans believed that cutting down a tree unnecessarily shortened one’s life. Although this was thousands of years ago, there is some truth in this. Trees and plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and reduce global warming.

Quotes from Chief Seattle:
Every part of all this soil is sacred to my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hollowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. The very dust you now stand on responds more willingly to their footsteps than to yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.
We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy - and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his fathers' graves, and his children’s birthright is forgotten.
The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things are the same breath - the animals, the trees, the man. .
The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you might suffocate in your own waste.
When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket? Where is the eagle? Gone.
We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us.
There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities, no place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insects’ wings. Perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand, but the clatter only seems to insult the ears.
If the Native Americans lived “conservation,” then what is conservation?
_____________________________________________________________________
Testable items:
Definition: The practice of modifying human behavior to preserve Earth.

Ecology studies how all species on Earth are connected.

Ugly fact- In 1950 30% of the earth’s land was covered by rainforest, now it is only 7%.

Section 1- The Interactions of Life

Vocab- Biosphere, ecosystem, ecology, populations, community, habitat

Biosphere- The part of the Earth that supports life. 3 parts: the top of earth’s crust, the water, and the atmosphere.
- The biosphere has many different environments such as polar, desert, ocean, etc.

Life on Earth- Very lucky, we are the 3rd planet from the sun
- Any closer too hot, any further too cold

Ecosystems- An ecosystem is all the organisms living in an area and the non-living features of that environment.
-ex: a Prairie’s living parts contain bison, grass, birds, insects, and bacteria. Its non-living parts contain water, temperature, soil, sunlight, and air.

Ecology: The scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organism.

Ecologists study populations. A population is made up of all the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species.

Ecologists study how populations interact.
-ex: Bison grazing affect prairie grass, birds and insects are in the grass, birds eat the insects.

A community refers to all populations in an ecosystem.
A habitat is the place an organism lives.

Review questions: What’s the biosphere? What’s ecology? What is a community vs. a population, how do they relate?

Section 2- Populations

Competition- Organisms in the same population compete for a variety of things
Food and space
Growth Limits
mates

Population Size- Counting populations can help identify those organisms in danger of disappearing.

The size of a population that occurs within a specific area is the population density.

Measuring- Different models exist for estimating populations. Some include mark-recapture techniques which involves live trapping. The organisms are re-captured and then mathematical equations are used to estimate the population.
Sample counts can be taken if you want to know the number of animals in a particular area. Ex. How many mice are in a 100 acre forest? Count the number of mice in 1 acre and multiply by 100.

Limiting factors- Organism’s need resources. They can’t grow or will stop growing or reproducing if a resource runs out.
-A limiting factor is anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population.

Carrying capacity (K)- The largest number of individuals of 1 species that an ecosystem can support over time. The Earth’s carrying capacity is estimated to be about 10 billion.

Changes in Populations- Birthrates and Death rates
Death>Birth- population gets smaller
Birth>Death- Population gets larger see pg 18 pop. Growth chart

Exponential Growth: The larger a population becomes, the faster it grows.
- Exponential growth occurs till it reaches carrying capacity or K. When this happens it is limited by a resource. For humans it is believed to be fresh water.
See human growth graph pg 19. 6.5 billion now, 10 billion by 2050.

Section 3- Interactions within communities.

Most energy on Earth comes from the sun. Directly or indirectly

Producers- Make their own energy. Plants and photosynthesis

Consumers- Cannot make their own energy. They eat other organisms for their energy.
- Herbivores- Eat plants
- Omnivores- Eat plants and animals
- Carnivores- Eat animals
- Decomposers- Break down dean organisms and waste

Food chains- Model of the feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
Question- What happens when you break a chain?

Symbiotic relationships- close relationships between species
Types: Mutualism (+,+) Both organisms benefit from the relationship
Commensalism (+,o) 1 organism benefits, the other is not helped or affected
Parasitism (+,-) 1 organism benefits, the other is harmed

Niches: An organism’s specific role in its community; its specialized job. Each organism can live in the same area of a community because they use different resources, they have their own role. If two different species need the same niche and have the same job, they will compete till one wins.

Predator/ Prey: The presence of predators increases the number of different species that can live in an ecosystem. They limit populations, therefore, food isn’t as limited.

Cooperation- Some populations work together such as bees, deer, and ants. They have different jobs and tasks. They have a common goal of reproductive success and survival.

Thank-you

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 11:16:00 +0000

To the class of 2010.
Thank-you for a great year. I have been told that you are the best class teachers have ever seen. With only two years experience; I can still believe that. It has been a pleasure teaching you this year. I wish you good luck in all your future indeavors. Remember all the good things I taught you. Be good people. Figure a way how to "get it" so that you can be successful.
Keep in touch.
Mr. Talon

MAP topics from practice MAP science test

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:16:00 +0000

The Science MAP test covers what you've been doing since elementary school. I try my best to teach you a variety of things but I can't cover it all.
These are some other possible topics, I may have covered them at times. You will not find all MAP topics on this list.

1. Different body systems: Digestive, Nervous, endocrine (Hormones), etc.

2. If you drop a penny and an elephant off of a building, which will hit first???? In a vaccume (without air) everything falls at the same rate. They will hit together.

3. Force = Mass x Acceleration or F=MA

4. Remember that in Ecological Succession if land is wiped out with no soil the first community in will be a pioneer species and the final community will be a climax community.

5. The types of symbiosis are mutualism (they both help each other), commensalism (one benefits, one doesn't care), and Parasitism (One benefits, and one is harmed)

6. Erosion is when any form of water or air or both wash away a landscape. Erosion helped to form the grand canyon and helps form those nice round rocks we find in streams. In farming communities "Cover crops" are planted to prevent erosion.

7. The two types of energy are Kinetic and potential energy. Kinetic is the energy of motion and potential is stored energy.

8. Electrons are negative, protons are positive, and neutrons are neutral

9. Germination is the sprouting of a seed

10. If you are watching the weather and there is "high pressure" it's going to be a nice day!

11. Plant cell walls keep the plant ridgid and contain chitin or cellulose.

12. A calorie is an energy unit of heat that we measure the nutritional value of a food with. The more calories a food has the more heat units it contains.

13. Plate techtonics is the theory that earth's crust floats around on liquid lava. Geologic processes (ones that shape the earth) have been happening all throughout history. (4.5 billion years)

14. The faster something vibrates the higher pitched sound will be heard or measured.

15. On the bottom of leaves there are structures called stomates, these let gasses including water vapor leave or enter the plant.

16. Rocks that have been formed by ancient shells such as the white cliffs of dover are called sedimentary rocks.

17. A physical change doesn't change the atomic structure of the molecule such as boiling or freezing water, the molecule is still H2O. A chemical change actually changes the molecule.

18. The round structure of the earth indicates that it was once a liquid (Magma or liquid rock)

19. The Big Bang theory says that the universe was created through a huge explosion and continues to expand today. When we observe the sky with telescopes we can witness new stars forming because their light is just now reaching us due to the fact the light travels only so fast.

20. If you filled a sealed container with soil, water, and seeds and created a closed system (nothing in or out). A plant would grow. What would the mass be after the plant grew compaired to before it grew? It would be the same.

21. The law of the conservation of Mass says that mass is never created or destroyed in a closed system.

22. The law of the conservation of Energy says that energy is never created or destroyed but only changes into different forms.

23. Faults are weak parts of the Earth's crust where two techtonic plates slide past each other. Earthquakes are more likely to occur on faults. Seismographs measure earth quakes.

24. If you start swing a pendulum and shorten the string it will swing faster.

25. Amphibians are "cold blooded or exothermic" they regulate their temperature with the environment. Mammals are "warm blooded" or endothermic, they regulate their own themperature.

26. Meiosis is sometimes called "reduction division" because it is reducing the number of chromosomes to 1/2 when they make the sex cells.

27. Sex cells arer haploid and are sometimes called gametes.

28. Body cells are diploid because their chromosomes occur in pairs.

29. RNA is read off in frames of 3 letters such as AUG GGC AUU and each of these is the code for a protien to be made. The 3 letter sequence is called a codon.

30. Inertia- A body at rest will remain at rest. A body in motion will remain in motion. The more mass the more inertia. This is why your body remains moving forward if you get into a car accident. Your body has inertia. Wear your seatbelt!

31. Parts of a cell. (know em')

32. Insulin is a hormone made from your pancreas decreases your blood sugar. If your body has trouble making insulin you may have diabetes.

33. When making crystals the final shape is determined by the atomic structure.

DNA

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:09:00 +0000

Chapter 4 section 3 DNA
Challenge problems. (extra credit if you figure them out! Type it up and pass it in)
Why can wolves and coyotes still mate even though they are different species?

Where is the difference between chimps and humans on their chromosomes?

Objectives: Identify parts of DNA.

Explain how DNA copies itself.

Describe RNA and each type of RNA.

Vocab: DNA

RNA (mRNA, tRNA, rRNA)

Gene

Mutations

Nitrogen base

When a cell divides the chromosomes are duplicated so each cell has a full copy.
DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is located on the chromosomes. See picture on page 112. DNA is super-coiled to fit into very compact chromosomes.

Discovery of DNA, History:

Rosalin Franklin took a picture of DNA through X-ray.
DNA is like a twisted ladder called a Double helix.
1953- Watson and Crick made a model of DNA after discovering the structure.

What is DNA made up of?

1) Nitrogen bases

Guanine G can only pair with C.
Cytosine
Adenine A can only pair with T.
Thymine

o 2) Phosphate- The sides of the ladder or the backbone of DNA

o 3) Sugar- The sides of the ladder or the backbone of DNA

What would pair with the sequence AATGCCGTC?

How many nitrogen bases?

Because G always pairs with C and A always pairs with T we can find out how much of each nitrogen base is in a given segment of DNA.

What are the percentages of A, T, and C if the percentage of G is 20%?

Copying DNA

The DNA unzipps- the two strands separate
Each side becomes a pattern for the new strand
The new DNA is identical to the parent strand

Genes- Brainstorm- What is a gene? What do we know about genes?

Definition-

A gene is a section of DNA code that instructs your proteins to assemble in a certain way. (genes build proteins)
Proteins do everything in your body and give you your traits. Genes are responsible for what kind of protein is built.
What might happen if the protein was made wrong?

Making Proteins-

Genes are found on chromosomes (in the nucleus.)
Proteins are made on ribosomes (outside of the nucleus)
The code needs to be transferred from the nucleus to the cytoplasm (to the ribosome)
RNA carries the code

RNA-

Like DNA but only one strand, one side of the ladder.
In DNA the sugar is deoxyribose
In RNA the sugar is just ribose
In RNA Thymine is replaced with Uracil
If one side of a DNA strand was ATCTACTTC, what would that be in RNA?

3 kinds of RNA-

mRNA- messenger RNA

-directs the order that amino acids are assembled to make proteins

t RNA- transfer RNA

-brings amino acids (the pieces of proteins) to the ribosomes

rRNA- ribosomal RNA

-Ribosomes are made of r RNA

What happens-

Protein production begins when mRNA moves into the cytoplasm
3 ribosomes then attach
tRNA brings amino acids (the pieces of proteins) to the ribosome
In the ribosome 3 nitrogen bases (UAG or C) on mRNA temporarily match with 3 nitrogen bases on tRNA.
The code carried on the mRNA directs the order in which the amino acids bond.
This process repeats and repeats till the protein is made.
The order in which amino acids bond gives each protein a specific role or job. Different orders of amino acids will give the protein a different function.
There a great picture of the process on page 115. Figure 17.

Controlling Genes

Not every cell uses all the genes coded in the chromosomes.
Cells turn off or turn on genes they need or don’t need.

Mutations

Mistakes in copying DNA (Happens mostly in sex cell formation, meiosis)

Results- Non-function of genes

Extra chromosomes
Advantage (the protein could work better)
Mutations are the raw material for natural selection

How do we get mutations?

· Natural mistakes in copying

· X-rays, sunlight (UV rays), chemicals, carcinogens

Chapter 4 Life

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 01:22:00 +0000

Picture of mitosis above.

Chapter 4 section 3 Notes, Talon
Sexual Reproduction and Meiosis

Vocabulary:
Sexual Reproduction: two cells sometimes called an egg and a sperm come together (2 organisms)
Sperm: Formed in the male reproductive organs (testes)
Egg: Formed in the female reproductive organs (ovaries)
Fertilization: the joining of an egg and a sperm
Zygote: The cell that forms as a result of fertilization
Diploid: Containing 2 sets of chromosomes
Haploid: Containing 1 set of chromosomes
Meiosis: The process that produces haploid sex cells

Your body forms 2 types of cells- body cells and sex cells
Body cells are diploid… they have two sets of chromosomes.
In the human body diploid cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes, you get one pair from your mother and one pair from your father.

Sex cells are haploid… They have only one set of chromosomes. Instead of having 23 pairs, they have only 23 in humans.

Sometimes we say that haploid cells have 1n and diploid cells have 2n. (n would represent a set of chromosomes, 2*n would mean 2 sets)
How many chromosomes would be in an egg? How many would be in a sperm?

How do an egg and sperm make a zygote?

Look at the Pictures in your book on pages 106 and 107.

Meiosis produces haploid (1n) sex cells. This process is similar to mitosis but the resulting cells have only one set of chromosomes not 2.
During meiosis, two divisions of the nucleus occur. These are called meiosis I and meiosis II. Each step has names like those in mitosis.
Meiosis I- ( follow along on your diagram)
Prophase I- chromosomes visible, centrioles are at each end, spindle fibers are beginning to form.
Metaphase I- chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell and attach to a spindle fiber
Anaphase I- Two pairs of chromatids move away from each other toward opposite ends of the cell. The centromere (center piece of chromosome) is attached to the spindle so the chromatids do not separate like in mitosis.
Telophase I- cytoplasm divides and two new cells form. Each new cell has one duplicated chromosome from each similar pair.

What is different about the above steps from mitosis?
Meiosis II- The chromatids of each of the duplicated chromosomes will be separated in meiosis II. Meiosis II deals with the duplicated chromosomes. They will be separated and put into the sex cells.
Prophase II- duplicated chromosomes and spindle fibers reappear in each new cell with centrioles on each end of the cell and spindle fibers stretching along the cell.
Metaphase II- the duplicated chromosomes move to the center of the cell and line up. Each centromere attaches to 2 spindle fibers.
Anaphase II- The centromere divides and each chromatid moves to opposite ends of the cell. The chromatids are no longer in pairs so they are individual chromosomes.
Telophase II- spindle fibers disappear and a nuclear membrane forms around the chromosomes at each end of the cell. The cytoplasm then divides.

Summary- Meiosis I produces 2 cells. Both of these produce 2 cells. Two divisions of the nucleus result in 4 sex cells. Each of these sex cells has one-half the number of chromosomes. This process can make eggs or sperm.

Mistakes in Meiosis- Because this process happens so much in organisms mistakes can be made. Sex cells with too many or too little chromosomes can be produced. Sometimes these sex cells die. If they live the resulting organism will have more than the necessary number of chromosomes. Sometimes they will be unfertile (unable to have children). They may not grow normally. Downs syndrome.

Chapter 3 Life Study Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 01:13:00 +0000

Chapter 3 Study Guide from your book (use this to study along with your homeworks and notes)
Section 1 Chemistry of Life

1. Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space

2. Energy in matter is in the chemical bonds that hold matter together

3. All organic compounds contain the elements hydrogen and carbon. The organic compounds in living things are:
Carbohydrates- for quick energy
Lipids- for energy stores and cell membranes, hydrophobic
Proteins- made of nucleic acids, building blocks of structures, enzymes are proteins that are the catalysts of the body
Nucleic acids- Make up DNA which eventually makes proteins

4. Organic and inorganic compounds are important to living things.

Section 2 Moving cellular materials

1. The selectively permeable cell membrane controls which molecules can pass into and out of the cell.

2. In diffusion, molecules spread out from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. They will do this till they reach equilibrium.

3. Osmosis is just diffusion through a semi-permeable membrane.

4. Cells use energy to move molecules by active transport but do not use energy for passive transport.

Section 3 Energy for Life
1. Photosynthesis is the process by which some producers (plants) change light energy into chemical energy. Carbon dioxide plus water plus light yield glucose plus oxygen.

2. Some one-celled organisms and cells that lack oxygen use fermentation (done without oxygen) to release small amounts of energy from glucose. Wastes like alcohol, carbon dioxide, and lactic acid are produced.

Chapter 3 Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 01:02:00 +0000

Talon
Chapter 3
The Chemistry of Life (from your text book)

See table on Page 69.

Elements that make up the Human Body -Highest percentage on top
Oxygen
65.0
Carbon
18.5
Hydrogen
9.5
Nitrogen
3.2
Calcium
1.5
Phosphorus
1.0
Potassium
0.4
Sulfur
0.3
Sodium
0.2
Chlorine
0.2
Magnesum
0.1

The study of chemistry plays a huge role in the study of biology.

Organic compounds: Contain carbon and hydrogen

Lipids- fats, oils, waxes, phospholipids, cholesterol- do not mix with water. (hydrophobic)

Carbohydrates- sugars, starch, cellulose, supply energy or serve to give structure to plant cells (cellulose)

Protiens- Enzymes, hormones, skin, hair, tissues, DNA codes for protein, made up of amino acids, muscle contains large amounts of protein. Enzymes regulate all chemical reactions in cells.

Nucleic Acids- DNA, the genetic material, RNA, used to make enzymes and other proteins.

Inorganic compounds- non-carbon compounds.

Water- VERY important, used in every process in the body (adult 60% water) 2/3rds are inside cells

Other important compounds-
Calcium phosphate- gives strength to bones
Hydrochloric acid- breaks down food in the stomach
Sodium bicarbonate- helps the digestion of food to occur
Salts, KCl, NaCl- important in sending messages along nerves.

What's the difference between a substance and a mixture?
A mixture can be seperated by ordinary processes. A mixture is made up from a combination of different substances.
Substances have only one property.

Ex. Mixture- iron filings and sand
Substance- Salt

Chapter 3 section 2-
Passive transport- movement of substances through the cell membrane without the use of energy
Active transport- Movement of substances through the cell membrane with energy

Diffusion- When molecules more from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration (ex) when someone sprays axe in a corner of a room it will diffuse till all the molecules are spread evenly throughout the room

When molecules are spread evenly we call that "Equilibrium"

Osmosis- Diffusion through a membrane like a cell membrane. In a cell water or other materials may diffuse in or out through the membrane.

Cell membranes are called "Semi-permeable" because they let some things in but not all. You could think of this like a screen on a window; it lets air in but not bugs.

Endocytosis- When a cell takes in large particles by surrounding it with a membrane.

Exocytosis- When a cell gets rid of a large particle in the opposite way of endocytosis

Chapter 3 section 3
Energy for Life
How do we get energy? Ultimately- the sun
Directly- we eat food

Food must be changed into useable forms.

Metabolism- The total of all chemical reactions in an organism

Catalyst- substance that speeds up or causes a reaction to happen

Enzymes- Help reactions take place in the body. The “catalysts of the body”

Photosynthesis- Plants use water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide to produce their energy which is sugar. Oxygen is a byproduct of the reaction, this benefits us. This is very important in the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Light energy+ carbon dioxide+ water -> Sugar (glucose) + oxygen

Respiration- Chemical reactions that break down food into simpler substances we can use (enzymes involved) Takes place in the mitochondria

Breaking down Carbohydrates- respiration happens in the cytoplasm. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose. Glucose is broken down into two simpler molecules….. See below.
Digestion Glycolisis fermentation Krebs cycle
Carbohydrate--> glucose->2 molecules of pyruvate-> 2 acetyl groups->2 molecules of ATP

The whole process uses energy and creates waste products of CO2 and water.

Fermentation- (in the cytoplasm)- release of energy anaerobically (without oxygen)
Examples: Running- burning buildup of lactic acid.
Bread dough rising- yeast ferments sugar in dough and excretes a gas
Alcohol- product of fermentation
Bacteria- breakdown sugar in milk to make yogurts and cheeses

Chapter 2 Life Science

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 02:26:00 +0000

This week you will be discovering all of the amazing complexities of the cell. All cells on Earth have derived from one single cell about 3.5 billion years ago! Throughout this time our cells have built incredible machines and even incorporated other organisms into their genomes to preform the complex functions we see today.

Below you will find vocabulary, quotes, and notes for each section of Chapter 2 in Glencoe's Life Structure and function. Please read these before class. Assessments for this chapter include a "create-a-cell" project, quizzes, and a final test at the end. It should take about two weeks to learn this chapter so there's a lot of information.
Introduction to cells.

Chapter 2 Section 1
Cells are the building blocks of our bodies.
Organisms are made up of 1 to many cells.
These microscopic amazing micro machines are the key to life’s function.

Vocabulary:
Cell Membrane:
Cytoplasm:
Cell Wall:
Organelle:
Nucleus:
Chloroplast:
Mitochondrion:
Ribosome:
Endoplasmic reticulum:
Golgi body:
Tissue:
Organ:
Cell Theory:
virus:
Host cell:

Notes Chap 2 section 2
Viewing cells, Microscopy
Imagine that you are living in a world where there are no microscopes. How would you explain the world around you? Would you even know about cells? Would you know about anything microscopic? How could we explain how disease works? What is disease anyway?
Not very long ago:
In the1500’s the first microscope was made by a Dutch maker of reading glasses. He combined lenses and got a larger image than could be made by one lens.

In the mid 1600’s Antoine van Leeuwenhoek made a microscope and looked at pond water. He reported seeing things that no one had ever imagined, he called them beasties. We can assume now that he was looking at protists. His microscope could magnify up to 270 times or 270X.
Imagine the unknown world that this discovery opened up. It was like discovering a new continent with all new species of life never known before.

Explore page 50 in the text,
Bright field microscopes (1 dimentional)
Leeuwenhoek microscope (1 dimentional)
fluorescence microscope, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope, phase-contrast microscope.

A simple microscope has 1 lens; an example would be a magnifying glass.

A compound microscope has multiple lenses and is much more powerful.

How do you get the total magnification power of a compound microscope?
Multiply the power of each lens in the scope.
Example- 10X lens piece, 43X objective lens. Multiply together. (10*43=430X power)
Do some examples

How do we see really small things? I mean REALLY small like atoms and parts of cells.
We use an electron microscope. These scopes don’t use lenses. They use a magnetic field in a vacuum to direct beams of electrons.

Different electron microscopes serve different purposes such as 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D.

Development of Cell Theory:
Cells weren’t discovered till the microscope was improved.
In 1665, Robert Hooke cut a thin slice of cork and examined it under a microscope. The cork seemed to be made up of little boxes, this reminded him of rooms in a monastery, these rooms were called cells. He therefore named the box-like structures cells.

Schleiden and Schwann claimed that plants and animals are made up of cells.

Virchow hypothesized that cells divide to form new cells.

Cell theory: (three parts)
1-All organisms are made up of cells
2-The cell is the basic unit of organization in all organisms.
3-All cells come from cells.

Notes: Viruses

Chapter 2 section 3.

What are Viruses?
What viruses do we know about from class and your personal lives?

A virus is a strand of hereditary material (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein coating.
No nucleus, no organelles, no cell membrane
Viruses come in a variety of shapes.
Not considered alive by definition.

Virus existence was proven when the electron microscope was invented. They are too small to be seen with a light microscope.

How do they multiply?
They don’t reproduce like most organisms, they make copies of themselves.
They need a host cell.
They can exist in the environment for years without a host and not die.
Once inside a host they can be active or latent. (inactive)

Review figure 15 virus replication. Draw on the board.

Active Viruses:
Causes the host cell to make new viruses and kills the host cell.

Latent Viruses:
A virus can enter a cell and incorporate itself into the host’s DNA. When the host cells duplicate the virus DNA is also duplicated. Under the right conditions, the virus can activate. HIV AIDS Herpes, cold sores

How are organisms affected?
Viruses can attack specific cells. Some may infect only one species. Some such as rabies can infect all animal species.

Viruses attach to cells like two puzzle pieces fit together. If they don’t fit perfectly than the virus cannot attach.

A virus that only attacks bacteria is called a bacteriophage.

Vaccines: A weakened strain of the virus can be injected into you so that your body can build up immunities to it. You body makes what are called interferons and antibodies, protein coats that protect your cells. If your body is immune to the virus then you won’t be affected if you are infected.

Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine in 1796 for smallpox.

What vaccines have you had? MMR, polio…etc.

In the near future, viruses may be used for helpful purposes. Since viruses incorporate their genes into your genome, we may be able to change defective genes in your body. The engineered virus would carry the new gene.

Antibiotics are used for bacterial infections and do absolutely nothing for viruses.

What to Print and how

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:41:00 +0000

Please print the next 3 posts. (You don't have to print this post)
Don't print off the blog. Copy and paste needed sections onto a word document so you save paper and ink. It's expensive.
If you don't plan of ever reading these, don't bother printing them.
The key is to read ahead of time so you know more than the average joe.

"The secret to success is knowing something that nobody else knows".

Do it!
Print Origins of life,
Scientific Method
What it means to be living

Mr. Talon

Origins of Life according to Science

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:36:00 +0000

“Where does life come from?”

Vocab: spontaneous generation
biogenesis

Where does life come from?

Old thoughts- Spontaneous generation- Living things come from non-living things.
-This idea was a theory for hundreds of years before scientists developed controlled experiments.

“Before the seventeenth century, some people thought that insects and fish came from mud, that earthworms fell from the sky when it rained, and that mice came from grain.” (text)

Newer thoughts and experiments-

Louis Pasteur, a French chemist disproved spontaneous generation.
Replaced with biogenesis- The theory that says Living things come only from other living things.

Pasteur used a swan necked flask (pg 22) - Only when the broth in the flask was exposed to the air did he find growth inside. Otherwise there was no growth.

Life’s Origins- Since life only can come from other life how did Earth’s life start?
The earth is 4.55 billion years old.
The oldest fossils are more than 3.5 billion years old.

This was determined independently by many scientists on different parts of the globe. Two radioactive isotopes of lead helped determine the age.
We can test the “Half-life” of the isotope. The time it takes for half of the radioactive lead to disappear.

By testing those calculations we can determine the age of anything.

Oparian- Russian scientist 1924-

Suggested that Earth’s early atmosphere had no oxygen and was made up of gases ammonia, hydrogen, methane, and water vapor.
He suggested that these gases could have combined to form the complex compounds found in living things.

Scientists still don’t know how the first cells formed on this planet but we have created the conditions of early earth and used electricity to make amino acids, cell walls, and other complex structures.

Scientific Method

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:35:00 +0000

Review: What is science?

Advice: Always ask questions, never stop questioning. You don’t have to live your life taking everything at face value. Be a free thinker. It will make you more powerful.

Types of Science- Many types according to what is being studied

Science involves Critical thinking- We solve problems every day using the scientific method. Let’s examine a CD player that isn’t working.

What would you do? -Check batteries, check cord (wall and unit), is there a CD in the player?
- You use your prior knowledge to determine the problem, you make an inference.

Scientific Method- (using the CD example)
1) State the problem- The CD player won’t work
2) Gather information- Does it need batteries? Is the CD missing? Is it plugged in?
3) Form a hypothesis- “If I plug in the CD player it will work.”
4) Test the hypothesis, Experiment- Plug it in.
5) Controls- Does another player work in the same outlet?
6) Analyze data- Does plugging in the CD player fix the problem.
7) Draw conclusions- does the CD player work now, if so it must have been the cord.
8) Report results- If this were a new experiment we would write a report.

We don’t think about these things- We do this whole process in 2-3 minutes or less. We use the scientific method every day to solve problems.

Define Theory- A well thought out idea about how some part of the natural world works. A theory is a hypothesis that stands the test of time never proven wrong.

NOVA- “Just a Theory.”

What is a law? A statement about how things work in nature that seems to be true all the time. Laws are less likely to change than theories but both are considered facts in science.

What it means to be living

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:33:00 +0000

Talon
What is life?

What does it mean to be living?

All living organisms have these characteristics- Organization, Responsiveness and Homeostasis, Energy use, Growth and Development, Reproduction.

Living vs. Non-Living

1) Organization- All organisms are made up of cells.
Cells are the smallest units of organisms
Organisms contain at least 1 cell
Each cell contains DNA- Deoxyriboncleic acid
DNA- contains the programming code for organization and function

2) Responsiveness and Homeostasis -Living things will respond to stimuli
Movement is usually the response
Homeostasis- Regulation of internal environment

3) Energy use- All organisms use food
Food comes directly or indirectly from the sun.
Plants- direct through photosynthesis
Animals- Indirectly through eating plants, or eating animals that ate plants.
Most organisms besides deep-sea archebacteria use oxygen in some way.
Autotroph- Can form organic compounds by itself, can make it’s own food.
Heterotroph- gets food from other organisms.

4) Growth and Development- Raw materials are used for growth
Development- Changes in organisms
Length of life varies from days to thousands of years.

5) Reproduction- All “living” things reproduce.
Varies from once every 20 minutes in some bacteria to every two years

Basic living needs are Space or a place to live and Raw materials, water is number 1.

Chapter 3 Ecology

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:06:00 +0000

Chapter 3- How Ecosystems Change (from your book)

Section 1
Succession- refers to the normal, gradual changes that occur in the types of species that live in an area.
If you never cut a lawn, in 20 years or so, it eventually would turn into a forest. Each stage of growth from lawn to forest is a stage of “succession.” We study succession in forest fires and volcano eruptions.

Primary Succession (1۫ succession)- Is the 1st species to colonize an area. They usually don’t require soil to survive. We call them the “pioneer species”. They can usually survive harsh conditions.
In primary succession new soil is being formed by the pioneer species. Example: Lichens grow and die adding nutrients to the ground. If the lichens grow on volcanic rock, they break down the rock into finer and finer pieces.
Primary succession begins in areas with no life at all. It can take hundreds or thousands of years to develop into a climax community.

Secondary Succession (2۫ succession)- This happens after soil is available. Seeds are carried to the place by the wind or by birds. Other wildlife may move in.
Wildlife is different in 2۫ succession than in 1۫ succession.
Secondary succession is usually shorter than primary succession, but it may still take a century or more.

Climax Communities- A community that has reached a stable stage. Balance has been reached and an ecosystem has been formed.
Fire is sometimes required for climax communities. The forest has evolved and adapted to fire. Seeds of evergreens are held in pine cones. Some cones of pine trees won’t open without fire.

Review and possible test Questions: What is ecological succession? Explain the difference between primary and secondary succession. What is the difference between pioneer and climax communities?

Section 2- Biomes- Areas in the world with similar and different climates.

The seven biomes-
1) Tundra-
a. Just south of the north pole
b. covered with ice for most of the year
c. Cold, dry, treeless, sometimes called a “cold desert”
d. The land is dark 24 hours a day because the sun never goes above the horizon (the sun only shows for a few days in the summer.
e. Only the top few inches thaw in the summer. Below is permanently frozen soil called “permafrost”. The soil has few nutrients.
f. Plants such as lichens, mosses, small shrubs, and grasses are adapted to drought and cold.
g. During the summer black flies, mosquitoes, and other insect fill the air.
h. Birds nest on the tundra during the summer.
i. Mammals such as mice, voles, lemmings, hares, caribou, reindeer, and muck oxen are found there.
j. Conservation problems such as oil pipelines, roads, and fences have interrupted migration and destructed habitat can take decades to recover.

2) Taiga
a. South of the Tundra
b. The world’s largest Biome
c. Cold, forest region dominated by cone-bearing evergreen trees
d. Warmer and wetter than tundra. Mostly snow precipitation.
e. Soils mostly thaw in the summer making it easier for trees to grow.
f. Little sunlight reaches the forest floor.
g. Moose, lynx, shrews, bears, foxes.

3) Temperate Deciduous forest
a. 4 seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
b. Where we live.
c. Evergreen trees, deciduous trees
d. 90 percent of NH used to be farmland. After the land was stripped east of the Mississippi river, people moved out west and to the south, abandoning farm lands. Secondary succession kicked in and now we are forested again.

4) Temperate Rain forest
a. Pacific Northwest, southern Chile, New Zealand.
b. 200-400 cm of rain per year.
c. Needle-like trees including Douglas fir, western red-cedar, red-woods, sequoias, and spruce.
d. Black bear, cougar, bobcat, endangered northern spotted owl, salamanders
e. Logging is a big business in these forests (California Blue takes place in a Temperate Rain forest) Some forests are starting to be protected.

5) Tropical Rain forest
a. Warm and wet weather.
b. The most species on earth are found in tropical rain forests because the climate has stayed the most stable throughout the earth’s history giving organisms a lot of time to adapt into amazing things.
c. Zones:
i. Forest Floor- Mammals, insects, bushes
ii. Understory- Cool and dark under the canopy, insects, reptiles, amphibians
iii. Canopy- Full of life of all types
iv. Emergents- Giant trees, birds, insects, and more.

d. Human impact- Uneducated farmers use slash and burn agriculture techniques, the crops use all the nutrients quickly and the farmers have to clear more land. This breaks the transpiration part of the water cycle and causes irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
e. Logging may be prohibited but not enforced

6) Desert- The driest biome on Earth.
a. Less than 25 cm of rain each year. Some get no rain for years.
b. Thin sandy soil that contains little nutrients
c. Any plants are spaced far apart due to a lack of water.
d. Plants and animals are adapted to dryness
e. Cacti, kangaroo-rats (never need to drink water), bats, coyotes

7) Grasslands
a. Dominated by grasses
b. Lack of moisture prevents the growth of forests.
c. Prairies, savannas, and plains are other names for grasslands.
d. Mammals graze on stems, leaves, and seeds of grass plants
e. Kangaroos, wildebeests, zebras and many others live there.
f. Grasslands are good for certain types of farming.

Review and test questions- Which two biomes are the driest? Compare and contrast tundra and desert organisms. Why does the soil of tropical rain forests make poor farmland? What are some animal adaptations that allow them to live in specific biomes?

Section 3- Aquatic Ecosystems
1) Rivers and streams-
a. The faster a stream moves, the clearer it is, and the higher the oxygen content is.
b. The slower, the more plants and organisms not well adapted to fast water.
c. Human impact- In fairly recent history we dumped sewage into rivers and streams. Throughout the world this is still practiced.

2) Lakes and Ponds
a. Ponds move less than lakes and contain more plant growth.
b. Lakes are larger and deeper than ponds. Plants are limited to the shoreline. Colder temps and less light can penetrate deep water.
c. Ponds tend to be high in nutrients due to the excess plant growth

Water Pollution-
Fertilizer runoff and sewage can lead to algae-blooms and overgrowth of plants in ponds.
This reduces the oxygen level which makes it harder for some organisms such as fish to survive.
Sewage needs to be treated before going into the environment.

Wetlands-
Regions that are wet all year round.
Other names are swamps, everglades, bogs, and fens.
They are very fertile ecosystems
Plants adapted to waterlogged soil live there.
Beavers muskrats, alligators and some turtles live there along with migratory birds.
Economic value for cranberries, fish, and shellfish
Development in these areas is now prohibited in some places
Think about it: What would happen to coastal wetlands if the oceans rise due to global warming?

Saltwater ecosystems-
95 % of water on earth contains salt.
Open oceans- Tons of different forms of life.
Zones have been created based on the amount of light penetration.
Coral reefs- the most diverse ecosystems of the world
They are formed over thousands of years from the buildup of calcium carbonate. When corals die their shells still remain.
Reefs don’t adjust well to change and could die and not come back.
They can “bleach” from the increased temperature of the ocean due to global warming.
Seashores- Lots of salt-water ecosystems are in the world.
All life is determined by the rise and fall of tides.
The intertidal zone is the area of shoreline with tides.
Organisms need to be adapted to huge temperature differences, air, water, and waves.

Estuaries- The areas where rivers meet oceans.
Mixtures of fresh and salt-water.
Other names are bays, lagoons, harbors, inlets, and sounds.
They are extremely fertile due to high amounts of nutrients.
Algae, salt-tolerant grasses, shrimp, crabs, clams, oysters, snails, worms, and fish.
Estuaries are nurseries for many species of fish.

Questions- What are the similarities and difference between a lake and a stream? Why are there few plants at the bottom of deep lakes? What adaptations are necessary for organisms that live in the intertidal zone?

This week Jan 17th, 2006

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:20:00 +0000

This week we will be finishing our global warming papers, correcting our "open-book" tests, and getting into chapter 2. Next time you know there's an "open-book" test, you might want to study.
Don't be a passive student, just along for the ride. Be the driver.
"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going"
This is the start of a life-long education.
Don't cheat yourself by not doing the reading and relying on me to give you the lecture.
You will find yourself ill prepared, time and time again!

Mr. Talon

Ecology Chapter 2 notes

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 03:10:00 +0000

Chapter 2- Ecology- Many factors contribute to organism success
Vocabulary: Biotic, abiotic, atmosphere, soil, climate, evaporation, condensation, water cycle, nitrogen fixation, nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, chemosynthesis, food web, energy pyramids

Environmental factors-
Biotic factors- “biotic” means living- features of the environment that are or where once alive.
Abiotic factors- “a” means not “biotic” means living- non-living physical features of the environment.
What’s some of the most important abiotic factors in the environment? Water and oxygen

Abiotic factors-
1) Air- the atmosphere is 78 % nitrogen, 21 % oxygen, and small amounts of Carbon dioxide, argon, neon, helium, and others.
Organisms use air for feeding body cells in a process called respiration.

2) Water- most organisms are 50-95% water. The following processes only take place with water: respiration, digestion, photosynthesis.

3) Soil- The topmost layer of the earth’s crust. Soil contains rocks, minerals, dead organisms, and air. Soil is biotic and abiotic because it contains dead and living organisms and other non-living factors. Humus- decaying matter found in the soil

4) Sunlight- All life on earth relies on producers that get their energy from the sun. Photosynthesis!!

5) Temperature- Organisms survive mostly at temperatures from 0 deg C to 50 deg C. (Water freezes at zero degrees C)

Aside- Why is it hotter at the equator? Answer: The equator gets direct sunlight strait on. The poles get sunlight at an angle. This keeps them cooler. In winter the earth tilts causing less sun to hit at higher latitudes. This causes lower temperature. The southern hemisphere is in summer when we are in winter.

Climate- Refers to an areas average weather conditions. Includes temperature, precipitation, and wind. Temperature and precipitation are the most important for living things.
Wind- How is it created? Air molecules are heated by the sun. These warmer molecules rise up (warm air rises) and a current is created. This current is wind.

Review questions. What’s the difference in abiotic and biotic factors? What are the examples of each? What parts of air are required for life? Why is soil both biotic and abiotic.

Section 2- Cycles in nature.

The Water cycle- Water cycles through the environment through a number of different processes.
Evaporation- liquid water is converted to a gaseous water and rises into the atmosphere
Condensation- Gaseous water is converted into liquid water
Transpiration- evaporation directly from plant leaves.
Precipitation- general term for water that falls from the sky as solid or liquid
Respiration- organisms breathe out gaseous water

The Nitrogen Cycle-
Nitrogen is in all living things. It is in DNA and proteins and therefore is vital to life. Plants use Carbon Dixoide, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium to grow.
Plants cannot use the nitrogen that exists in the atmosphere. They have to get it from fertilizers or from a process called Nitrogen fixation. In this process bacteria transform atmospheric nitrogen into a more useable form called ammonium.
Bacteria have a symbiosis with plants.
Legumes such as peas, and beans have unique nodes on their roots that house bacteria. Bacteria provide food for the plant. Mutualism!!

Soil Nitrogen-
Growing crops takes a large amount of nitrogen and other elements out of the soil.
Farmers need to put it back by using fertilizers.
They may add synthetic fertilizers containing N, P, and K.
They occasionally use organic fertilizers like cow manure.
Farmers occasionally rotate crops with ones that use nitrogen fixation. These legumes put nitrogen back into the soil and other crops can be grown there in future years.

Carbon Cycles-
Plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
Things that add CO2 to the atmosphere
Wood burning including heating and forest fires
Volcanoes
Organism respiration
Burning fossil fuels including coal, natural gas, and oil products (#1)
Where did all the fossil fuels come from?
FOSSILS!!! More accurately… all the fossil fuels on earth came from the billions of organisms that have lived on earth in the past 3.5 billion years.
All organisms are carbon based, when their bodies break down after death their carbon enters the ground and over billions of years turns into oil.
Isn’t it interesting that we could be possibly using up all the oil created though billions of years of decay in just a couple hundred years? It’s mind boggling!

Section 3. Energy- Where does it come from? The sun of course!
Photosynthesis-Sunlight+ 6H2O + 6CO2 ----------> C6H12O6+ 6O2
Light is converted into chemical energy

Chemosynthesis- How do the bacteria and organisms at the bottom of oceans make energy without the sun?
o Organisms use sulfur and other chemicals that come from oceanic vents to make their energy. Molten lava flows through these vents and provide the energy.
o It is thought that the first organism on earth probably used chemosynthesis due to a lack of sunlight and an abundance of harsh chemicals.
Food Chains- Show feeding relationships in an ecosystem

See the food chain below-

A food web is more complex and shows all possible feeding relationships. See below

An energy pyramid shows how much energy is lost at each energy level. The energy remaining on any step is only 10% of the last step. The first step of any energy pyramid is a producer. This limits the number of links in a food chain. (the max is usually 5)
Review Questions- Why is the presence of carnivores positive evidence of a healthy forest?
What’s the difference in Chemosynthesis vs. Photosynthesis?
Why is there a limit to the number of links in a food chain?

Chapter 1 ecology

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 02:53:00 +0000

Ecology Notes
Chapter 1

Native Americans lived “conservation” as a way of life. This was the idea of sustainable living.
Example: Cheyanne bison hunt
Strict rules on killing more bison then needed
Used all parts of the animal so none was wasted
Meat eaten for food
Fat used for cooking
Bones used for tools
Hides were used for clothing
Stomachs were used for water pouches.

It was a Native American belief that people must cooperate with nature so that revival and rebirth can continue.

The Mayans believed that cutting down a tree unnecessarily shortened one’s life. Although this was thousands of years ago, there is some truth in this. Trees and plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and reduce global warming.

Quotes from Chief Seattle:
Every part of all this soil is sacred to my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hollowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. The very dust you now stand on responds more willingly to their footsteps than to yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.
We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy - and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his fathers' graves, and his children’s birthright is forgotten.
The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things are the same breath - the animals, the trees, the man. .
The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you might suffocate in your own waste.
When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires, where is the thicket? Where is the eagle? Gone.
We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us.
There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities, no place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insects’ wings. Perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand, but the clatter only seems to insult the ears.
If the Native Americans lived “conservation,” then what is conservation?
_____________________________________________________________________
Definition: The practice of modifying human behavior to preserve Earth.

Ecology studies how all species on Earth are connected.

Ugly fact- In 1950 30% of the earth’s land was covered by rainforest, now it is only 7%.

Section 1- The Interactions of Life

Vocab- Biosphere, ecosystem, ecology, populations, community, habitat

Biosphere- The part of the Earth that supports life. 3 parts: the top of earth’s crust, the water, and the atmosphere.
- The biosphere has many different environments such as polar, desert, ocean, etc.

Life on Earth- Very lucky, we are the 3rd planet from the sun
- Any closer too hot, any further too cold

Ecosystems- An ecosystem is all the organisms living in an area and the non-living features of that environment.
-ex: a Prairie’s living parts contain bison, grass, birds, insects, and bacteria. Its non-living parts contain water, temperature, soil, sunlight, and air.

Ecology: The scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organism.

Ecologists study populations. A population is made up of all the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species.

Ecologists study how populations interact.
-ex: Bison grazing affect prairie grass, birds and insects are in the grass, birds eat the insects.

A community refers to all populations in an ecosystem.
A habitat is the place an organism lives.

Review questions: What’s the biosphere? What’s ecology? What is a community vs. a population, how do they relate?

Section 2- Populations

Competition- Organisms in the same population compete for a variety of things
Food and space
Growth Limits
mates

Population Size- Counting populations can help identify those organisms in danger of disappearing.

The size of a population that occurs within a specific area is the population density.

Measuring- Different models exist for estimating populations. Some include mark-recapture techniques which involves live trapping. The organisms are re-captured and then mathematical equations are used to estimate the population.
Sample counts can be taken if you want to know the number of animals in a particular area. Ex. How many mice are in a 100 acre forest? Count the number of mice in 1 acre and multiply by 100.

Limiting factors- Organism’s need resources. They can’t grow or will stop growing or reproducing if a resource runs out.
-A limiting factor is anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population.

Carrying capacity (K)- The largest number of individuals of 1 species that an ecosystem can support over time. The Earth’s carrying capacity is estimated to be about 10 billion.

Changes in Populations- Birthrates and Death rates
Death>Birth- population gets smaller
Birth>Death- Population gets larger see pg 18 pop. Growth chart

Exponential Growth: The larger a population becomes, the faster it grows.
- Exponential growth occurs till it reaches carrying capacity or K. When this happens it is limited by a resource. For humans it is believed to be fresh water.
See human growth graph pg 19. 6.5 billion now, 10 billion by 2050.

Section 3- Interactions within communities.

Most energy on Earth comes from the sun. Directly or indirectly

Producers- Make their own energy. Plants and photosynthesis

Consumers- Cannot make their own energy. They eat other organisms for their energy.
- Herbivores- Eat plants
- Omnivores- Eat plants and animals
- Carnivores- Eat animals
- Decomposers- Break down dean organisms and waste

Food chains- Model of the feeding relationships in an ecosystem.
Question- What happens when you break a chain?

Symbiotic relationships- close relationships between species
Types: Mutualism (+,+) Both organisms benefit from the relationship
Commensalism (+,o) 1 organism benefits, the other is not helped or affected
Parasitism (+,-) 1 organism benefits, the other is harmed

Niches: An organism’s specific role in its community; its specialized job. Each organism can live in the same area of a community because they use different resources, they have their own role. If two different species need the same niche and have the same job, they will compete till one wins.

Predator/ Prey: The presence of predators increases the number of different species that can live in an ecosystem. They limit populations, therefore, food isn’t as limited.

Cooperation- Some populations work together such as bees, deer, and ants. They have different jobs and tasks. They have a common goal of reproductive success and survival.

week of January 9th

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 17:45:00 +0000

I would like to thank my students for taking such an interest in global warming. For the select few who still think global warming is not caused by humans I hope you will still start becoming an activist. We can all do little things in our lives to preserve this great planet for future generations such as recycling, turning off appliances and lights, and buying more fuel-efficient cars.

You can see the flash video on global warming at www.leonardodicaprio.org and click on the global warming video link.

Unfortunately, we don't have the mobile lab till next week so we have to take a break from writing our papers. I can tell that you are disappointed.

For the month of January we are going to study ecology. Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms. Basically, where are the organisms? Why are they there? What part of their behavior lets them live where they do? How do they interact with each other?

We will be discussing conservation a lot. Conservation was started by the Native Americans. It is the practice of modifying human behavior to preserve Earth.

You can see from this definition why we are studying this after global warming.

See you in class.
Mr. Talon

Global Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 02:57:00 +0000

We just finished up electricity, what would we really do without it? But do you know how we make it? Our largest way of producing electricity is through burning coal... This obviously adds to our greenhouse gases increasing global warming. It also pollutes water with mercury making native fish die. The ones left are inedible because of the toxic mercury.

We will be learning a lot about global warming. It is the most serious crisis affecting out planet today. It will affect us and our children. (yes, most of you will have children)

You can check out stopglobalwarming.org.

Don't spoil the party but here's the truth, we have squandered our resources including air and water as if there were no tomorrow, so now there isn't going to be one. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

In a mucked up lovely river,
I cast my little fly.
But I look at that river and I smell it,
and it makes me wanna cry.
To clean our dirty planet,
now that's a nobel wish.
So I'm putting my shoulder to the wind,
because I wanna catch some fish.
~Jack Johnson

Ohm's Law notes

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 21:41:00 +0000

Welcome back from Turkey Break. It is full speed ahead for the rest of this year. We will finish electricity and magnetism before you leave for your holiday break.
When we get back in January we will start my very favorite stuff; cells, living things, evolution, ecology, global warming, and more. I can only open the door, you will have to walk through it. What's it going to be, the red pill or the blue pill?

The notes you need for later this week are below. We will be covering basic electricity concepts mon, tues, wed, and then moving on the Ohm's law Thurs and Fri with a finale', on Monday. (A test)

Enjoy and see you soon.

Ohm’s Law-
1) There is a relationship among voltage, current, and resistance in an electric circuit.

Name the Law: Ohm’s Law
Expression of the Law: Voltage=Current * Resistance
Equation: V=I*R

Cover up which value are missing on the triangle below to calculate it.

2) There are two types of electrical circuits

a. Series circuits- A circuit that has only one path for the electric current to follow

b. Parallel circuits- A circuit that has more than one path for the electric current to follow.

3) The electrical power of a circuit can be measured.

a. Definition: electrical power- amount of electric energy used by a device

b. Unit of electrical power: 1) Name: Watts

2) Abbreviation: W

3) Term for 1000 units Kilowatt

4) Abbreviation for 100 units: kW

c. Determining the electrical power of a circuit: 1) Expression: Power=current * voltage

2) Formula: P=I*R

Electric Vocabulary

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:52:00 +0000

Electricity vocabulary

Ion: a positively or negatively charged atom.

Static charge: buildup of electric charge on an object

Electric force: attractive or repulsive force exerted by all charged objects on each other.

Electric field: field through which electric charges exert a force on each other.

Insulator: material such as wood, glass, or plastic, through which electrons cannot move easily.

Conductor: material, such as copper or other metals, through which electrons can move easily.

Electric discharge: rapid movement of excess charge from one place to another.

Electric current: flow of charge, either flowing electrons or flowing ions, through a conductor

Circuit: closed- conducting loop through which electric current can flow.

Voltage: a measure of how much electrical energy each electron of a battery has, measured in Volts (V)

Resistance: a measure of how difficult it is for electrons to flow through a material. Unit is the Ohm (Ω)

Ohm’s Law: relationship among voltage, current, and resistance in a circuit. V=IR

Series circuit: circuit that has only one path for electric current to follow.

Parallel circuit: circuit that has more than one path for electric current to follow.

Electric power: rate at which an electric appliance converts electrical energy into another form of energy; usage is measured by electric meters in kilowatt-hours.

Time to get electrified

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:48:00 +0000

Name:
Date:
Academic 1 2 3 4
History of Electricity Notes

Timeline:

Early B.C. Magnetism was studied but how to harness it was unknown.

1269- Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt, a French scientist published research on magnets.

1600- Gilbert published book called “Of Magnets, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet of Earth.” Discovered that earth behaves like a huge magnet.

1745- The Leyden Jar was invented by Musschenbroek. What was it? A glass vial that contained water and a conducting wire capable of storing a static charge. Ben Franklin’s kite was connected to a string that was connected to a Leyden Jar. This experiment proved that lightning was an electrical discharge. (Benny never held the kite, he would have been killed)

1820- Hans Oersted (Dutch) showed that current would deflect a compass needle. This proved that there was a link between electricity and magnetism.

Later that year, Andre Ampere (French) established the laws of magnetic force between electric currents.
Michael Faraday took (English) took this information and discovered that moving a magnet near a wire induced current. (this is how electricity is made today)

Maxwell- Translated these findings into math.

1886- Heinrich Hertz (German) verified the existence of electromagnetic waves when he discovered radio waves.

-note- None of these discoveries would have been made if work had not been done previously. This illustrates the importance of scientists sharing information.

The history of magnetism and electricity is an illustration of how science often is the result of the investigations of many people over centuries.

Scientists do not work alone in any field. Documentation is very important. The advancements in electricity would have been much slower if each scientist has to rediscover the findings of the scientists before them.

Chapter 1: Section 1.
Objectives:
-Describe how objects can become electrically charged

-Explain how electric charges affect other charges

-Distinguish between insulators and conductors

-Describe how electric discharges such as lightning occur.

We must return to atoms for a bit, everything is made up of atoms. Atoms are made up of 3 particles: Protons, electrons, and neutrons. Remember that protons and electrons are the only charged particles. Neutrons are neutral.

The two types of electric charge are positive (protons) and negative (electrons).

The amount of negative charge is equal to the amount of positive charge in neutral atom.

When an atom loses or gains an electron it becomes an ion.

Remember that electrons can move from atom to atom and from object to object. Rubbing a balloon transfers electrons from your hair to the balloon. As your hair loses electrons and the balloon gains electrons they become attracted to each other.

The buildup of electric charge on an object is called static charge.

Flow of charge can be caused by the movement of ions in solution not just the flow of electrons. When NaCl is dissolved in water is makes Na+ ion and Cl- ion. Because of the positive and negative charges the charged signals can move.

In an atom, when electrons are attracted to protons in the nucleus it creates an electric force. All charged particles exert an electric force on each other.

Unlike charges attract. Like charges repel. “Like repels like.”

Electric force is repulsive or attractive. More distance between charges = less force
Charged objects don’t have to touch to exert a force on each other.

An insulator is a material in which electrons cannot move through. Ex. Wood, glass, rubber, plastic.

A conductor moves electrons easily. Electrons will spread out evenly over a conductor.
The best conductors are metals. When metal atoms bond some of their electrons aren’t held tightly. These electrons can leave the atom creating metal ions. .

What is a wire? Metal with an insulator over it. The electrons spread out in the metal carrying current from one place to another. The plastic prevents it from escaping.

Electric discharge is the rapid movement of excess charge from one place to another. When you walk across a rug and are shocked by a door knob. You are discharging the charge that was build up on your body.

What is grounding? Remember that electricity is lazy, it wants to take the quickest and easiest route to the ground. If lightning strikes your house it can ruin your appliances if they aren’t protected. Some houses are equipped with lightning rods. This is a metal rod that is placed as the highest point on your house. A wire is extended to the ground so that the lightning will hit the rod and safely go to the ground. This avoids hurting your electronics in your house.

Questions:

1) If two charges repel each other what can you assume about them?

2) What is the difference between an insulator and a conductor? List three of each.

3) Where have you experienced an electrical discharge before? Give two examples.

Early Release week/ String theory

noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Talon) — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 23:07:00 +0000

This week and next we are learning about string theory.
What is it??
Einstein came up with relativity, the theories that explained how large bodies of matter acted. (Like stars, planets, and the galaxy)
Bohr and others came up with quantum theory, this explaned how the world of the very small acted. (atoms, electrons, etc)

Quantum and relativity do not get along. They both describe the universe that we live in so they should get along.

String theory is a "theory of everything". It is a master equation that unifies quantum theory and relativity.

The idea of string theory is that at the smallest level, the universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings of mattter. These would be even smaller than electrons and protons.

Without string theory, you cannot explain black holes. (Which are very small with a very large mass)

Enjoy the video and think, wouldn't it be intersting if there were parallel universes right under our noses?