Help fund my Donors Choose Project ! Only $98 to go!

UPDATE #2: MY PROJECT IS FULLY FUNDED! MANY THANKS TO MY DONORS AND ALMOST HOME/AMERICAN EXPRESS. I CAN'T WAIT TO USE THE LIFE SIZED MODEL IN CLASS:)

UPDATE #1: ONLY $78 TO GO (THANKS TO MY FIRST OFFICIAL DONOR)!

Please help fund my project, Unsolved Mysteries of the Human Body Systems, on DonorsChoose.org. I am requesting funding for a life sized model of the human torso. This is a hands on tool that will make learning about the human body much more interesting and exciting.

My project is eligible for funding by Almost Home and American Express. This means that $370.91 will be funded by partners of Donors Choose. The remaining $98 must be contributed by citizen philanthropists (that's you, your family, your neighbors, etc). Students - please tell your parents. Parents - please tell your friends and family. Every dollar counts!

If my project does not reach funding ($98) by the time the Almost Home grant runs out or expires, the cost of the project will revert back to its original price ($468.91). This offer is only available for a limited time, so act now if you are interested in making a donation.

Remember, only $98 to go!

Fingers crossed. Wish me luck:)

Thank you on behalf of my students and myself.

Osmosis in Red Onion Cells

Osmosis in Red Onion Cells from Leslie S on Vimeo.

Watch the 20s video clip of osmosis occurring in red onion cells. Look familiar? What solutions were added to the wet mount? In what order?

CellCraft: Exploring the Cell Through Gaming

CellCraft is a realistic cellular simulation that challenges players to learn about and manipulate a cell and its various components in order to survive. Have fun!

Special thanks to Andrew Glasser:)

Winter Break Assignment

Click here to view and print the winter break assignment.


Click on the links below to complete pages 1A and 2A:
Blood that Amazing Tissue

Cardiovascular Diseases

Plasma

Platelets

Red Blood Cells

White Blood Cells

Circulatory System

Circulatory System and Gas Exchange from Leslie S on Vimeo.

Click here to view a helpful website about circulation.

Click here to read about the blood that fills our arteries, veins, and capillaries. Click on the topics on the right to learn more about each type of blood cell.

Finally, click here to learn about disorders of the circulatory system.

Respiratory System Q & A

1)Why do we breathe?
Your body produces energy through a chemical reaction that requires oxygen. This energy allows us to move around, and also keeps our hearts beating, our digestive systems moving, and our organs functioning! Humans can’t store oxygen in our bodies, so we need to get it from the environment. The easiest way to do this is to breathe in oxygen from the atmosphere!

First, air travels through the nose or mouth when you breathe in. It then moves down the trachea to your lungs, where it fills tiny sacs called alveoli. These are surrounded by tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Oxygen from the air seeps through the alveoli and into the capillaries. Red blood cells inside the capillaries transport the oxygen throughout your body, delivering it to all the cells that need it. A separate set of capillaries surrounding the alveoli pass carbon dioxide (a poisonous waste gas created by your cells) from your blood to the alveoli. The carbon dioxide is then expelled from your body when you breathe out.

2) How can oxygen pass from the alveoli to the capillaries?
Oxygen moves through the body by diffusion. That’s a form of passive transport, which means that oxygen flows through the membranes of cells without any energy being expended. Diffusion occurs is when molecules move from areas of high concentration, where there are lots of them, to areas of low concentration, where there are fewer. Because there is more oxygen outside the alveoli and capillaries than inside them, oxygen passes into them by diffusion. Once oxygen enters the capillaries, it is transported through the body by blood vessels.

3)How does pollution affect our lungs?
Pollution is the contamination of the environment as a result of human activities. Air pollution is largely caused by the burning of wastes and fuels. Air pollution can contribute to health conditions like asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung disease, heart disease, and respiratory allergies. Another thing that can trigger breathing problems is smoke from cigarettes. Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke can cause or contribute to the development of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, bronchitis, and asthma.

4)Why does your breathing rate increase during and after exercise?
When you exercise, your arms and legs and the rest of your body needs more oxygen to function. Your heart beats more quickly to send oxygen to the rest of your body. Your heart, in turn, requires more oxygen from your lungs, and so you begin to breathe more quickly. When you stop exercising, your breathing rate returns to normal, but it can remain high for a time after you stop.

Respiratory System Video

Respiratory System Video from Leslie S on Vimeo.

Click here to view a second video about gas exchange from Discovery Health.

How does gas exchange occur?
Why does our body need oxygen?
Why does our body produce carbon dioxide?

One more digestive system video

Click here to watch a short video about the digestive system. This video is super cute!

Also, watch the video, "Banana and Candy." The voice of the banana is Rena's mom.

All of the videos on the website have helpful information about healthy nutrition. Enjoy!

Peristalsis and the digestive system

Click here to watch a short video about peristalsis.

Where do these muscular contractions occur? Why are they necessary?

Click here to watch a general video about the digestive system. (Warning - the video plays interesting sounds!)

NASA-Funded Research Discovers Life Built With Toxic Chemical

NASA has discovered a new life form that can grow by substituting arsenic for phosphorus. This microbe, called GFAJ-1, was found on the bottom of Mono Lake in California. Why is phosphorous an important component of all living organisms?

Click here to read the information posted on NASA's website and here to read the article posted in the NY Times.

What do you think about this exciting discovery?

Cellular Respiration Animation

Click here to view a cellular respiration animation. Click on the link to the, "Big Picture." Feel free to watch the animations about glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and electron transport if you want a more detailed description of the events that occur during cellular respiration.

Cellular Respiration Video

Cellular Respiration from Leslie S on Vimeo.

More on photosynthesis

Click here to view a detailed description of photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis Song

Photosynthesis Song from Simple Science on Vimeo.

This song is very catchy!

The Animators of Life

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/11/15/science/1248069334032/the-animators-of-life.html?src=dayp


Watch the video featured above from the NY Times about scientists who are creating animations about the complex inner machinery of living cells. Hopefully we will able to view some of these animations in our classrooms:)

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis from Leslie S on Vimeo.

Click here to view a photosynthesis slide show.

Click here to view a helpful photosynthesis animation.

Passive and Active Transport

Do you want to know more about passive transport? Osmosis? Active Transport?

Click on the pink words above to view an animation about each topic.

What is a concentration gradient? A solute? How do they effect the rate of passive transport? Please respond:)

Cell Membrane

Click here to read more about the cell membrane. Be sure to read the information about passive and active transport as this will be discussed in class this week. Also, feel free to check out the cell structure and function tabs to review the information we have been covering in class.

Do you want to learn more about the different types of protein channels that make up the cell membrane? Click here to view an animation on this subject. Did you take the quiz at the end of the animation? How did you do?

Science Competitions

Are you interested in applying for a science competition? See below for details about various science competitions that are taking place this year.

1. Science Olympiad (Elementary – High School)

2. ExploraVision (Grades K-12)

3. Young Naturalist Awards (Grades 7-12)

Please let me know if you decide to participate!

More on lysosomes

Do you want to read the entire article about the self destructive behavior of lysosomes? Click here to read more.

What did you find more interesting about lysosomes?

Cell Models

Click here to view a model of a plant an animal cell.

Do you want to learn more about the difference between prokaryote and eukaryotes? Click here for more details.

After School Tutorials

**AFTER SCHOOL TUTORIALS BEGIN THIS THURSDAY, 10/14!**

See eboard for a permission slip. You will not be allowed to attend without a permission slip.

3:15-4:00pm, room 311

Enzymes

Here is example of an enzyme controlled reaction. In this reaction, maltose (a double sugar) is split into 2 glucose (single sugar) molecules. This is how our digestive system breaks down complex carbohydrates. What did you notice about the behavior of the enzyme after the reaction was complete?

Are you a pro-tein?

I know, it's not that funny, but I couldn't help myself!

Do you want to learn more about animo acids and protein structure? Be sure to click on the small yellow arrow on the left of the page to get to the next page on the site (I didn't see it at first!).

Did you know that proteins actually have 4 different structures? They are very complex molecules, indeed!

Organic Compound Videos

Do you want to watch the videos about organic compounds? Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, DNA, & RNA. Enjoy!

Organic Compounds

Want to learn more about organic compounds? Click here for more information (scroll to the bottom for biology related facts).

Do you want to view animations about each of the organic compounds? Click on the list below:

• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Proteins
• Enzymes (also called biological catalyst)

Were the animations and websites helpful? Did you learn anything new? Explain.

How does the American black bear maintain homeostasis during the winter?

Certain mammals have what many people might consider the good fortune to be able to sleep through the winter—to hibernate. They bed down in the fall and, for all intents and purposes, don't arise again until the spring. Raccoons and skunks do it. So do woodchucks and chipmunks, hamsters and hedgehogs, bats and bears. Some, particularly rodents, sleep very deeply, while others, such as bears, slumber more lightly.

One of the most celebrated hibernators is the American black bear (Ursus americanus). It can go for as long as 100 days without eating, drinking, urinating, defecating, or exercising.

Preparations for over-wintering begin in the summer, when bears begin gorging carbohydrate-rich berries and other foods to put on weight. During this period, they can gain as much as 30 pounds per week. In early autumn, a bear (and its cubs, if any) will rake leaves, twigs, and other plant materials into the den to form a nest. Throughout the fall its activity level steadily drops until it ends completely when the bear enters its den.


Bears make dens in burrows, caves, hollowed-out trees, and rock crevices. Dens of the bears Rogers studies in Minnesota typically feature entrances just large enough for a bear to squeeze through; interior chambers measure two-and-a-half to five feet wide and two to three feet high.

It's cramped for a single bear, much less for a mother and her cubs. But that's the way bears like it: Black bears do no exercising of any sort during the winter months, preferring to lie rolled into a tight ball, with their heads between their forepaws and their heavily furred backs exposed to the worst of the cold. Dens themselves offer little insulation. In Minnesota, dens with open entrances are about as warm inside as outside, where the temperature, Rogers says, often plummets to as low as -28°F. Bears keep warm using their great bulk, their inches-deep layer of fat, and their fur, which more than doubles its insulative value during the fall.

Why is it important that the American black bear over eat carbohydrate rich foods before hibernating in the winter?

How do bears utilize their fat stores during the winter?

Can you find an example of homeostasis in this article? Explain.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/satoyama/hibernation.html

Autotrophs, Heterotrophs, Decomposers, and CHEMOTROPHS?

Did you ever wonder how organisms that live on the ocean floor get energy if they are so far away from sun? Well, there is a group of organisms, like the tubeworm, that carry out chemosynthesis. Click here to find out more.

Homeostasis and Blood Sugar

Click here to view a short animation that describes how the body maintains stable levels of glucose, even after consuming a big meal or a candy bar.

What part of the body helps to maintains stable levels of glucose?

How is this an example of homeostasis?

Also, click here to read a short description of how the body maintains a stable body temperature.

Can you think of additional examples of homeostasis in the human body?

5 Kingdoms

Do you want to learn more about he 5 Kingdoms of Life? Click here to read a detailed description of each kingdom. Did you learn anything new?

In which kingdom will you find the bacteria? What is a bacteria?

What about mushrooms? Do they belong to the fungi or plant kingdom? Explain.

Scientific Method

Do you want to review the information that we have learned about the scientific method?

Click here for an animation about two classic experiments that review the use of the scientific method.

Or, click here to view a second animation from BrainPOP. This is a cartoon featuring Tim and Moby who use the scientific method to help them figure out why their fig plant has brown leaves.

Did you view the animations? Did they help increase your understanding of the scientific method and variables?

Online Textbook

Do you want to access the Living Environment textbook online? Click here to register. All you need is the class access code written below.

Will you use this feature????

Access codes:
GH: B12CD0C6070266F824B9
EF: A0F6373041816C283E4D
AB: 9CF92F8E05821272A2A6

Welcome 7th Graders!

Welcome to Nest Bio Blog. This is a fun and educational way for you to access online resources and current events about the Living Environment curriculum. I hope you enjoy reading and commenting on this blog throughout the 2010-2011 school year.