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