What was done?

1. We reviewed the definitions for Section 3-1.
2. We studied the "What If They Mated?" presentation.
   

What was collected?.

1. Nothing.
   

What was assigned?

1. Nothing.
   

Daily Science Fact
The cat whisker's primary use is to help a cat judge whether or not he'll fit through an opening. A cat's whiskers are roughly as wide as his body -- sort of a natural ruler. The whisker tips are sensitive to pressure. You'll probably see a cat stick his head in and out of an opening before he puts his body in. He's judging the width of the opening, and is determining if he can fit into it. An interesting note: cats don't have a true collar bone, like humans. This allows them to turn and twist their way through very narrow openings.

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What was done?

1. We went over the process of pollination.
   

What was collected?.

1. Flower Diagrams.
   

What was assigned?

1. Nothing.
   

Daily Science Fact
Interesting Yawning Facts

• The average yawn lasts about six seconds.
• Your heart rate can rise as much as 30 percent during a yawn.
• 55 percent of people will yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn.
• Blind people yawn more after hearing an audio tape of people yawning.
• Reading about yawning will make you yawn.
• Olympic athletes often yawn before competition.

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What was done?

1. We were at the Computer Lab for the Virtual Flower Dissection.
   

What was collected?.

1. Nothing.
   

What was assigned?

1. Complete Flower Diagram.
   

Daily Science Fact
Up until WWII, chewing gum was made of a substance called chicle mixed with flavorings. Chicle is a latex sap that comes from the sapodilla tree (native to Central America). In other words, chicle is a form of rubber.

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When Gregor Mendel studies the genetics of pea plants, he cross-pollinated their flowers. In order to know exactly how he did these genetic experiments, we will learn and review the parts of the flower and the method of pollination.

1. Go to Why Do Plants Have Flowers? page
   
2. Go to Flower Anatomy page.
3. Go to the Life Cycles: Flower page.
4. Follow the instructions on the upper banner to virtually dissect a flower.
5. Label and list the functions of the flower parts on the diagram.
6. Write the questions and the correct answers from the Quiz.
   

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What was done?

1. We read and took notes about Sickle Cell Anemia (p.110-111).
2. We watched A Mutation Story - a snippet about malaria and sickle cell anemia.
3. We read Section 3-1 (p. 70-75).
4. We did workbook pages 21-24 (#1-20).
   

What was collected?.

1. Completed video notes.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completion of workbook pages.
   

Daily Science Fact
You have probably heard weatherpeople on the TV news talking about the windchill factor. The windchill factor is the temperature that a person feels because of the wind. For example, if a thermometer reads 35 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the wind is blowing at 25 miles per hour (mph), the windchill factor causes it to feel like it is 8 degrees F. In other words, your 98-degree body loses heat as though it is 8 degrees outside.

The windchill factor is the same effect that causes you to blow on hot soup to cool it down. The movement of the air increases the soup's loss of heat by convection, so the soup cools down faster.

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What was done?

1. We reviewed the path of a red blood cell through the heart.
   
2. We peer-reviewed the "Journey of a Red Blood Cell".

What was collected?.

1. Nothing.
   

What was assigned?

1. Final Draft of "Journey of a Red Blood Cell".
   

Daily Science Fact
All glow-in-the-dark products contain phosphors. A phosphor is a substance that radiates visible light after being energized. The two places where we most commonly see phosphors are in a TV screen or computer monitor and in fluorescent lights. In a TV screen, an electron beam strikes the phosphor to energize it (see How Television Works for details). In a fluorescent light, ultraviolet light energizes the phosphor. In both cases, what we see is visible light. A color TV screen actually contains thousands of tiny phosphor picture elements that emit three different colors (red, green and blue). In the case of a fluorescent light, there is normally a mixture of phosphors that together create light that looks white to us.

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What was done?

1. We continued the workbook pages for Section 19-1 & 2.
   
2. We worked on the rough draft of the "Journey of a Red Blood Cell".
   

What was collected?.

1. Mr. Kang checked for the Chapter 19 vocabulary sheets.
   

What was assigned?

1. Rough draft of the "Journey of a Red Blood Cell".
   

Daily Science Fact
You should never feed honey to a baby because there is a chance that the baby will suffer botulism. Bees naturally collect botulism spores as they are collecting nectar and mix them into the honey. Most people can eat these spores without difficulty because we have bacteria in our intestines and robust immune systems that eliminate the spores. Infants do not yet have these defenses. So when a baby eats honey, the spores find themselves in the oxygen-free intestine and come to life. They produce the toxin while inside the baby.

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What was done?

1. We followed the trip of a red blood cell around body and through the heart.
2. We started the vocabulary sheet for Sections 19-1 & 2.
   

What was collected?.

1. Heart diagram.
2. Completed Bill Nye: Heart notes.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completion of Vocabulary sheet.
   

Daily Science Fact
Sea Monkeys are really a type of brine shrimp, and brine shrimp are an incredibly cool life form. Brine shrimp are naturally found in salt lakes, like the Great Salt Lake in Utah. In a salt lake like this, the water is so salty that the only things living in it are the brine shrimp and certain types of algae on which the brine shrimp feed.

One of the things that make brine shrimp fascinating is their ability to lay encapsulated eggs called cysts. A cyst can dry out and remain viable for years. If you put brine shrimp cysts in salt water, they hatch very quickly, and the shrimp mature in about eight days. They can grow to be pretty big -- about half an inch (15 mm) long.

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What was done?

1. We labeled and colored a diagram of the heart.
2. We took notes on the Bill Nye: Hearts video.
   

What was collected?.

1. Nothing.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completed Nye: Hearts video notes.
2. Colored and properly labeled heart diagram.
   

Daily Science Fact
"Pop Rocks" is an extremely cool candy to some people, but to other people it is just plain weird and they won't touch the stuff. Regardless of which view you subscribe to, you have to admit that it is definitely a technology candy -- nothing in nature works like Pop Rocks do!

So how do they work? One of the amazing things about Pop Rocks is that they are patented. That means that you can go read the patent and see exactly how they work. You can click here to see the patent -- this page is a synopsis, and if you click the "View Images" tag at the top of the page you can look at scanned images of the actual patent. Page 4 is the key page.

To make Pop Rocks, the hot sugar mixture is allowed to mix with carbon dioxide gas at about 600 pounds per square inch (psi). The carbon dioxide gas forms tiny, 600-psi bubbles in the candy. Once it cools, you release the pressure and the candy shatters, but the pieces still contain the high-pressure bubbles (look at a piece with a magnifying glass to see the bubbles).

When you put the candy in your mouth, it melts (just like hard candy) and releases the bubbles with a loud POP! What you are hearing and feeling is the 600-psi carbon dioxide gas being released from each bubble.

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What was done?

1. We took the Chapter 17 Test.
2. We read p. 594-600 (Cardiovascular System).
3. We started Workbook pages 195 - 197 #1-13).
   

What was collected?.

1. Nothing.
   

What was assigned?

1. Nothing.
   

Daily Science Fact
Pearls come in a variety of various colors, including white, black, gray, red, blue and green. Most pearls can be found all over the world, but black pearls are indigenous to the South Pacific.

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What was done?

1. We worked on and corrected the Chapter 17 Test Review Packet.
   

What was collected?.

1. Colored and captioned "Levers" illustrations.
   

What was assigned?

1. Study for Monday's Test covering Sections 17-1, 17-2, & 17-3.
   

Daily Science Fact
Hawaiian Teen Named Top Young Scientist

(10-27) 00:21 PDT Honolulu (AP)

A Hawaiian teen has won a $20,000 scholarship and the title America's Top Young Scientist of the Year.

"Right now, I'm more or less in shock," said Nolan Kamitaki, 14. "I was just happy to be in the national competition. I didn't expect this at all."

The Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge is for student grades 5 through 8. The winners were announced Wednesday.

Kamitaki is now a freshman at Waiakea High School. To get to the national competition in Washington, D.C., he first had to win his school science fair, district science fair and then state science fair.

He entered with a project analyzing the affect arsenic in local soils has had on Big Island school children. He also competed against 40 finalists in a series of challenges at the National Institutes of Health.

"I tested for arsenic levels first in the soils of the Keaau and Hilo area, and I tested hair samples of students who attend nearby schools," Kamitaki said. "After reading newspaper articles, I realized there is a big problem with arsenic in the Keaau area where a hotel is about to be built. I decided if it is a problem for tourists, it is definitely a problem for kids who go to the schools there."

Information from The Honolulu Advertiser:

school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/dysc/

www.thehonoluluadvertiser.com

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What was done?

1. We did a review worksheet for Section 17-3.
2. We made drawings and captions for the "BrainPop: Levers" animation.
   

What was collected?

1. Mr. Kang checked for the Three Column Vocabulary sheet. This should be in the "Notes" section of the student's Science Binder.
2. Mr. Kang checked for the completion of workbook pages 180-181.
   

What was assigned?

1. "Levers" drawings should be colored and given captions.
2. Section 17-1, 2, & 3 Test is Monday 11/13/06.
   

Daily Science Fact
Astronauts who spacewalk outside the space shuttle and International Space Station can work for up to 7 hours in the current spacesuit, which is also called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). The EMU is a marvel of technical achievement with a $12 million price tag. Despite the advanced technology of the EMU, the "mechanics" used to meet the astronaut's basic needs of food, water, and waste elimination are surprisingly "low tech."

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What was done?

1. We made a three column picture dictionary with the Section 17-3 Key Terms.
2. We wrote and answered the Section 17-3 Review Questions.
3. We started Workbook pages 180-181.
   

What was collected?

1. Completed video notes from previous Monday.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completion of the assigned workbook pages.
   

Daily Science Fact
Typically, a meteoroid would have to be about the size of a marble for a portion of it to reach the earth's surface. Smaller particles burn up in the atmosphere about 50 to 75 miles (80 to 120 kilometers) above the earth.

The meteorites a person is likely to find on the ground probably came from significantly larger meteoroids -- pieces of debris at least the size of a basketball, typically, since larger meteoroids usually break up into smaller chunks as they travel through the atmosphere.

You can actually find and collect tiny meteorites that have made it through the earth's atmosphere with a simple experiment -- Put a pan on your back porch or deck to catch them! For details on doing this experiment, click here.

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What was done?

1. Mr. Kang was absent. Students worked on the "What are Joints?" Worksheet.
2. Students took notes on the Eyewitness: Skeleton video.
   

What was collected?

1. The answers to the Joints worksheet.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completion of the video notes.
   

Daily Science Fact
A submarine (or a space ship, for that matter) is a sealed container that contains people and a limited supply of air. There are three things that must happen in order to keep air in a submarine breathable: (1) Oxygen has to be replenished as it is consumed. If the percentage of oxygen in the air falls too low, a person suffocates. (2) Carbon dioxide must be removed from the air. As the concentration of carbon dioxide rises, it becomes a toxin. (3) The moisture that we exhale in our breath must be removed.

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What was done?

1. We read Section 17-2: The Muscular System.
2. We did the Workbook pages for Section 17-2.
3. We took notes on the Musculoskeletal System Powerpoint Presentation.
   

What was collected?

1. Nothing.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completion of the workbook pages.
   

Daily Science Fact
Whales and dolphins do not "sleep" in the conventional sense. Because of their undersea environment, whales and dolphins must be conscious breathers: They have to actively decide when to breathe. Consequently, in order to breathe, they have to be conscious. When you're a conscious breather, it's just not feasible to be completely unconscious -- what if you don't wake up in time? The solution for whales and dolphins is to let one half of the brain sleep at a time. In this way, the animal is never completely unconscious, but it still gets the rest it needs.

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What was done?

1. We took the Light & Senses Test (Sections 22-3 & 22-4).
2. We read section 17-1 (p.532-539) - The Skeletal System.
3. We started workbook pages 175-178 #1-22.
   

What was collected?

1. Eye/Ear Disease Report.
2. Test Review Packet.
   

What was assigned?

1. Completion of the workbook pages 175-178.
   

Daily Science Fact
Most fruits today do not come from seeds. They come from cuttings instead. This is true of grapes, blueberries, apples, cherries, etc. (pretty much all fruits except citrus, although scientists are working on that, too). A piece of a vine or branch is cut off, dipped in rooting hormone and then placed in moist dirt so that roots and leaves form. Because they come from cuttings, new grapevines are essentially clones of the vine they were cut from.

Seedless grapes actually do contain seeds at some point. But a genetic error prevents the seeds from forming hard outer coats like normal seeds do.

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What was done?

1. We viewed examples of artificial eyes, ears, and limbs on "The Real Bionic Man".
2. Period 5 worked on the Test Review sheet.
   

What was collected?

1. Nothing
   

What was assigned?

1. Eye/Ear Disease Report is due Thursday 11/2/06.
2. Light & Senses Test (Sections 22-3 & 22-4) is Thursday 11/2/06.

Daily Science Fact
Bats roost upside down because it puts them in an ideal position for takeoff. Unlike birds, bats can't launch themselves into the air from the ground. Their wings don't produce enough lift to take off from a dead stop, and their hind legs are so small and underdeveloped that they can't run to build up the necessary takeoff speed. Instead, they use their front claws to climb to a high spot, and then fall into flight.

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