what we did in class this week 12/18/09

This week in class we discussed cells and their functions. In class we made a chart of each structure and their function. Also this week we have been refreashing on photosynthesis, respiration, fermantation and protein synthesis. We have been reading from a science book to refresh our knowledge on these topics. We have a project coming up on the subject. your have to teach Mr. Finley about one of these topics. I'm doing a jeopardy game on photosynthesis as my project that includes a little bit about respiration. We also have a test coming up so we reviewed for the test which is on monday.

what we did in class 12/12/09

This week in class we learned about how DNA works. We learned that DNA gives of a code and that is how the cell knows how to function. We also learned the process of DNA. First DNA gives the cell a code. The mRNA then copies the code and gives it to the ribosomes. The ribosomes then crack the code. Then the solved code is given to the tRNA which gather all of the supplies needed to carry out the code. They then give the code to the ribosomes to build and now we have a protein.

We also learned how the proteins are actually made. The DNA strand unwinds releasing the code. Then the U base pair matches with the A base pair. The code is copied as many times as needed. then the RNA strands are read as a codon or a triplet. Each code represents an Amino Acid. this happens with every triplet and with every triplet make, one goes away leaving the Amino Acid and bonding with the other Amino Acid on the other triplet. This happens until the strand is complete and now you have a chain of amino acids. Using ATP it becomes a protein.

what we did in class 12/5/09

This week in class we discussed fermentation. Fermentation is respiration without oxygen or annerobic respiration. We wanted to know how this happened so we set up an experiment. We put water, sugar and yeast into a tube and shoock it up and we let it sit overnight with the lid closed. As a result, the next day we found that in the tube there was CO2, alchohol and energy. We learned that fermentation is respiration without oxygen or o2 and it makes alchohol. Respiration is with oxygen and it makes energy and both of them make CO2.

This week we also learned about DNA. We learned that its in every cell in your body. Within the cell its in the nucleus and it conrols things like a nucleus does. It is a molecule because it is made up of more than one cell and it looks like a twisted ladder. It is made up of two parts One is called the double helix which is also known as the backbone of sugar bacause it is made up of sugar. The other part is caled the base pair which connect the two helixes. We also learned that the full name of DNA is Deoxyribonucleic Acid which when u break it down is double oxygen suger molecule and that basicly is what DNA is.

what we did in class 11/29/09

This week in class we discussed the formula for photosynthesis. We know the outcome is glucose or C6H12O6. We also know that to get photosynthesis you need CO2, H2O and sunlight. but the question was how do you get from that to C6H12O6. We made up an equation that gets us through the process to get us to glucose.

In Photosynthesis there is H2O and CO2. We need 12 hydrogen molecules and since there are 2 per H2O we would need 6 H2O molecules to give us H12O6. Then we need 6 carbon molecules so we need 6 CO2's and that gives us C6O12. That combined is C6H12O18. Then the oxygen molecules are let out into the air leaving us with C6H12O6 or glucose or food for the plant that we get from photosynthesis.

what we did in class 11/20/09

This week in class we discussed photosynthesis and how it effects plants.we decided that plants need carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and sunlight to produce photosynthesis. We tested this by separating each component individually and testing them if each one produced oxygen, one of the products of photosynthesis. they all did proving that sunlight, CO2 and water are all needed in the process of photosynthesis.
We also learned the process of process of photosynthesis. First H2O enters the plant. Then sunlight is introduced. The sunlight strips the H's(hydrogen) and keeps it int the plant and lets the O's (oxygen into the air so that we have something to breathe). Finally carbon dioxide enters the plant. The hydrogen atoms combine with the CO2 to makes glucose (sugar or food for the plant) or as a molecule it is C6H12O6 meaning it has 6 carbon dioxide atoms, 12 hydrogen atoms and 6 oxygen atoms. That is how the plant gets the food that it needs, through photosynthesis.

what we did in class this week 11/6/09

This week in class we further discussed animal and plant cells. Last week in class we did an experiment involving cheek cells. after the experiment we were curious to know whether cheek cells were animal or plant cells. After researching them we found out that cheek cells were animal cells for two reasons. The first reason being that cheek cells come from humans and humans are animals. The second reason being that cheek cells had the same cellular structure as an animal cell. Another thing we did was research the different organelles in plant and animal cells. An organelle is a like a tiny organ in a cell.After doing this experiment we were wondering what were the differences between animal, plant and bacteria cells so we made a triple Venn diagram to compare the three cells an we came up with many similar and different things for all three of them.

The last thing we did this week was an experiment with Paramecium. Paramecium is an organism found in pond water that we found in the pond water experiment for the sick students at Jackson and Truman Middle Schools. So we looked at pond water to find Paramecium and after we did we did some more research and found out that Paramecium is neither a plant nor an animal cell.

what we did in class 11/1/09

This week in class we had been learning more about cells and how they worked. We looked under a microscope at a potato cell and cheek cells we drew what we had seen. On one test we look a thin slice of potato, put a drop of water on it and look at it under the microscope. On another test we used Methionine Blue instead of water and you could see the object under the microscope clearer. On the next test we used a orange liquid instead of the Methionine blue and could see the potato sample even clearer. On the last test we looked at a sample of grass under the microscope. For the cheek cell wee took a toothpick and took sample of our cheek cell and looked at that under the microscope. We immediately agreed that the potato was a plant cell and the cheek cell was an animal cell.

After we did some research we learned the name of each cell part for both the animal and the plant cell. Now for homework this weekend we are going to research the function of each of the parts.

what we did in class this week 10-23-09

This week in class I was absent for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but I was there on Thursday. On Thursday my partner and I did some more research about what bacteria could have been in the chicken. From doing some research we found that salmonella symptoms start to take effect after about a day or two. When most of the kids were sick it happened one or two days after a band class or competition where they went to Cheep Chicken hut.

Other kids in the class have done a gram test on the bacteria they found. My partner and I still have to do it and will hopefully do it on Monday.

What we did in class week 10/16/09

This week we started to test the samples that the school gave us to try to figure out what was causing all of the sicknesses. First my partner and I made all of our objectives for this week to get done. Our objectives were get all of the microscope tests done, write down and get checked for all of the procedures that we wanted to do. And finally actually do the experiments. Our experiments were test the pots and pans from Cheep Chicken Hut and the Chicken also from Cheep Chicken Hut for bacteria by using a petri dish. Our other experiment was looking at the pond water sample under the microscope. and after we finished our experiments we found some pretty interesting results.

In our pond water experiment we found that there was a living organism in the water. We saw it eating plant matter and move around. after doing some research we found out that the organism could possibly be a freshwater crustacea. We still have to do a little more research on it to see if it could be potentially harmful to humans. In our petri dish experiment we closely monitored the progress of the growing bacteria colonies and after a couple of days for both the pots and the chicken had a ton of bacteria on them. I know that chicken has bacteria on it that is harmless to humans so I'm not sure if the bacteria my partner and I found are good or bad bacteria. For the pots there was also a lot of bacteria. I was not surprised by that because it was my hypothesis that is that the pots are where the people got sick from. So, so far we got pretty far in our experiments, with a little more research we will be almost done with our experimenting.

what we did in class 10/8/09

So this week in Mr. Finley's class we furtherr dicussed whether a bacteria is living or non-living. We finally came to a conclusion that it is not living. While bacteris may have some things that make it look living about it, it does not have all of the characteristics to be living. The other things it needs to be living iit needs to have a host (a human ) to support it. So now we know that bacteria is something that is non-living.

What we also did in class this past week was get samples of the some of the things that we think may have caused all of the kids being sick for school. We got pond water, pots from the resteraunt, chicken, and blood samples. My partner and I decided on what kind of experiments we would like to do. For the things from the kitchen we decided that we would use a petri dish that would test to see if there was any bacteria on the items. For the pond water we will use a microscope to see if there is anything that could potentially make us sick in it. we will do the same thing with the chicken from the resteraunt. Finally Mr. Finley will do the experimant on the blood samples. We will do most of the testing next week.

what we did in class 10/3/09

This week in class we did a cool experiment. We took petri dished that Mr Finley made for us ( thanks!) and took samples of what our group would have bacteria and what wouldn't have bacteria. My group will check the progresss of it every day in class to see if our hypothesis we made were correct. The first time we will check the petri dishes will be on Monday, three dyas after we took the samples.

The experiment was in class to go into a bathroom(I went in the girls bathroom) and take swabs of what we thought would have bacteria. My group took a swab of the door lock because everyone touches it and the janitors may not have time to clean it. we also took a swab of what we thught was clean, the sink drain. We thought this would be clean since all of the water and soap go down it and that wold wash out most of the germs(hopefully!). I can't wait until monday to see the progress of the petri dishes.

blog for week 9/21/09

This week in class we were trying to learn why so many kids were absent from school from Truman Middle School and Jackson Middle School. The science ideas that I learned was that many of the kids that were out sick were sick with stomach problems like stomach pain,vomiting and diarrhea. We also learned that the kids started to get sick more during the month of May. with this information we may be closer to solving the problem of why the students are sick.

We did not learn all thi stuff by ourselves. We found that most of the kids had stomache problems by seeing interview the principals of both schools had with the kids who were absent. Another thing that we learn was when the kids started to get absent lot was by looking at the attendance data on the schools' website.

Finally many people including myself could find learning these things valuable in the real world. these things can teach us about observation and getting facts from the direct source. You could use this if you decide to become a journalist, a scientist or just someone who wants to know something. In many things that you do the skills can help you in everyday life.

what we did this week in class 9/18/09

Hi

So this week in class we learned about diseases and how they are spread from person to person. We did an experiment in class to show how this happens and most of the class got sick except for a few people. We also had a homework assignment about a different disease. i got cholerea. This is a disease found in dirty water and makes you get severly dehydrated.

Also this week we dicussed what things areliving and non-living and what are their characteristics. we came up with a few things like living things have to be able to breathe, get energy, and reproduce. So tis is what we learned in class this week.