7th Grade Honors Science
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Friday 12/15/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
Australian scientists have found that just a few "letters" out of the six billion that make up the genetic code are responsible for most of the variation in human eye colour. The study, which focused on twins, their siblings and parents, shows - conclusively - that there is no "gene" for eye colour. Differences in eye colour are largely down to "single nucleotide polymorphisms" (SNPs - pronounced "snips"); variations in the sequence of letters that make up a single strand of human DNA.
- We completed the "Natural Selection" notes.
- We watched "March of the Penguins".
What was collected?
- "Natural Selection" notes.
What was assigned?
- Nothing.
Daily Science Fact
Australian scientists have found that just a few "letters" out of the six billion that make up the genetic code are responsible for most of the variation in human eye colour. The study, which focused on twins, their siblings and parents, shows - conclusively - that there is no "gene" for eye colour. Differences in eye colour are largely down to "single nucleotide polymorphisms" (SNPs - pronounced "snips"); variations in the sequence of letters that make up a single strand of human DNA.
posted by Mr. Kang at 11:35 AM
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Thursday 12/14/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
There is a gene mutation which prevents otherwise healthy carriers from feeling pain. Scientists from the University of Cambridge made the discovery after studying three related families with a rare genetic disorder in northern Pakistan. One family member, a 10-year-old boy, worked as a street performer, placing knives through his arms.
- We took a pop-quiz on Section 3-4 (The DNA Connection).
- We wrote notes on the "Natural Selection" flash presentation.
What was collected?
- DNA model and Design Yer Genes packet.
What was assigned?
- Write your own definition of "Natural Selection".
Daily Science Fact
There is a gene mutation which prevents otherwise healthy carriers from feeling pain. Scientists from the University of Cambridge made the discovery after studying three related families with a rare genetic disorder in northern Pakistan. One family member, a 10-year-old boy, worked as a street performer, placing knives through his arms.
posted by Mr. Kang at 6:26 PM
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Wednesday 12/13/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
You may have heard about the practice of taking iodine pills during the threat of a nuclear attack. When a nuclear bomb explodes, one substance it forms is radioactive iodine. If you eat, drink or inhale this isotope, your thyroid gland will concentrate it and this can lead to thyroid damage or cancer. By taking an iodine pill, you saturate the thyroid gland with iodine and prevent it from absorbing the radioactive iodine.
- We went over the Design Yer Genes packet questions.
- We took Cornell notes on p. 91-95. (The DNA Connection).
What was collected?
- DNA model and Design Yer Genes packet (only if completed early).
What was assigned?
- Completion of the Cornell notes.
- DNA model if not finished.
Daily Science Fact
You may have heard about the practice of taking iodine pills during the threat of a nuclear attack. When a nuclear bomb explodes, one substance it forms is radioactive iodine. If you eat, drink or inhale this isotope, your thyroid gland will concentrate it and this can lead to thyroid damage or cancer. By taking an iodine pill, you saturate the thyroid gland with iodine and prevent it from absorbing the radioactive iodine.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:57 PM
Tuesday 12/12/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
Olestra is a fat substitute. It is found in a number of snack foods, from potato chips to frozen desserts. In these products, you'll find it in the ingredient list under its brand name, Olean.
- We continued the "Design Yer Genes" activity.
What was collected?
- Nothing.
What was assigned?
- Finish DNA model.
Daily Science Fact
Olestra is a fat substitute. It is found in a number of snack foods, from potato chips to frozen desserts. In these products, you'll find it in the ingredient list under its brand name, Olean.
Chemists create olestra by combining two naturally occurring substances, sucrose and vegetable oil, to form a molecule that is not found anywhere in nature. Yet the resulting synthetic molecule tastes just like real fats do! Fat is what makes candy bars and french fries so filling (and fattening). With olestra, you get the taste of the fat without any of the calories of the fat, because your body has no way to digest olestra.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:52 PM
Monday, December 11, 2006
Monday 12/11/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
A coal-burning power plant emits more radiation than a (properly functioning) nuclear power plant.
- We took the Genetics Test.
- We continued the "Design Yer Genes" activity.
What was collected?
- Nothing.
What was assigned?
- Workbook pages 41-44.
Daily Science Fact
A coal-burning power plant emits more radiation than a (properly functioning) nuclear power plant.
posted by Mr. Kang at 3:31 PM
Friday 12/8/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
NASA announced plans to begin building a permanent base on the moon by 2024, four years after the space agency starts sending crews of four astronauts there for weeklong exploratory missions.
- We started the "Design Yer Genes" project.
What was collected?
- Mr. Kang checked the workbook for chapter 3 assignments.
What was assigned?
- Study for Genetics Test on Monday.
Daily Science Fact
NASA announced plans to begin building a permanent base on the moon by 2024, four years after the space agency starts sending crews of four astronauts there for weeklong exploratory missions.
posted by Mr. Kang at 3:29 PM
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Thursday 12/7/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
If you were to travel in a rocket to the edge of the atmosphere, you would find that there is no air pressure. Instead, individual air molecules are zipping around in the vacuum of space. The molecules can zip anywhere they like, but they tend to zip toward the Earth because the Earth's gravity acts on them just like it acts on anything else with mass.
- We worked on the Test Review worksheets.
- We finished "Blue Gene Challenge" activity.
What was collected?
- Homework Review questions from p. 75 & 83.
- "Genetic Crosses With Two Traits" Extra Credit sheet.
What was assigned?
- Chapter 3 Workbook check on Friday.
- Conclusion questions of "Blue Genes" activity.
- Genetics Test (Sections 3-1, 3-2, & 11-3) is on Monday.
Daily Science Fact
If you were to travel in a rocket to the edge of the atmosphere, you would find that there is no air pressure. Instead, individual air molecules are zipping around in the vacuum of space. The molecules can zip anywhere they like, but they tend to zip toward the Earth because the Earth's gravity acts on them just like it acts on anything else with mass.
posted by Mr. Kang at 3:42 PM
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Wednesday 12/6/06
What was done?
What was collected?
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
Samples of human bone can be turned into jewelery by growing them in the laboratory.
- We started the "Blue Genes Challenge" genetics activity.
What was collected?
- Nothing.
What was assigned?
- Review Questions #1-4 on p. 75 & #1-5 on p. 83
- Chapter 3 Workbook check on Friday.
- Conclusion questions of "Blue Genes" if students are finished with the activity.
Daily Science Fact
Samples of human bone can be turned into jewelery by growing them in the laboratory.
posted by Mr. Kang at 3:54 PM
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Tuesday 12/5/06
- We reviewed Section 3-2 worksheet (Probability & Genetics).
- We did the "Let's Get Square" sheet.
What was collected?.
- Section 3-2 worksheet.
What was assigned?
- Completion of "Let's Get Square".
Daily Science Fact
White noise is a type of noise that is produced by combining sounds of all different frequencies together. If you took all of the imaginable tones that a human can hear and combined them together, you would have white noise.
posted by Mr. Kang at 1:05 PM
Monday 12/4/06
What was done?
What was collected?.
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
If you were to step outside a spacecraft, such as the International Space Station, or on a world with little or no atmosphere such as the moon or Mars without the protection of a spacesuit, your body fluids would "boil"because there is no air pressure to keep your blood and body fluids in a liquid state. In addition, because the "boiling process" would cause them to lose heat energy rapidly, the fluids would freeze before they were evaporated totally.
- We took notes on the "Punnett Square" powerpoint presentation.
What was collected?.
- Completed the video notes with questions and a summary.
What was assigned?
- Summary for "Punnett Square" notes.
- Section 3-2 worksheet.
Daily Science Fact
If you were to step outside a spacecraft, such as the International Space Station, or on a world with little or no atmosphere such as the moon or Mars without the protection of a spacesuit, your body fluids would "boil"because there is no air pressure to keep your blood and body fluids in a liquid state. In addition, because the "boiling process" would cause them to lose heat energy rapidly, the fluids would freeze before they were evaporated totally.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:28 AM
Friday 12/1/06
What was done?
What was collected?.
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
- We watched "Cracking the Code of Life" - a video about the Human Genome Project.
- Some people took the District Assessment.
What was collected?.
- Nothing.
What was assigned?
- Complete the video notes with questions and a summary.
Daily Science Fact
If you put helium in a balloon and let go of the balloon, the balloon rises until it pops. When it pops, the helium that escapes has no reason to stop -- it just keeps going and leaks out into space. Therefore, there is very little helium in the atmosphere at any given time.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:23 AM
Thursday 11/30/06
What was done?
What was collected?.
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
On the Flintstones, a small bird sits inside the light and turns it on every night before he goes to bed. In a modern streetlight, a small circuit replaces the bird and turns the light on when the amount of light falls below a certain threshold.
- We took the District Science Assessment. This was an extra credit assignment.
What was collected?.
- "Just Like Me" genetics packet.
What was assigned?
- Nothing.
Daily Science Fact
On the Flintstones, a small bird sits inside the light and turns it on every night before he goes to bed. In a modern streetlight, a small circuit replaces the bird and turns the light on when the amount of light falls below a certain threshold.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:20 AM
Wednesday 11/29/06
What was done?
What was collected?.
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
According to Musgrave Pencil Co. Inc, more than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year, enough to circle the earth 62 times. This pile of pencils includes a wide variety of styles and widths. If you've ever have taken a fill-in-the-bubble test, you're probably aware that pencils vary in darkness. The number printed on the side of the pencil indicates hardness and darkness of the graphite core: the higher the number, the harder the graphite core. Because a hard core leaves behind less of the graphite-clay mixture on the paper, it will have a fainter mark than a softer core.
- We continued "Just Like Me" genetics activity.
What was collected?.
- Nothing.
What was assigned?
- Answer all questions on the "Just Like Me" packet.
Daily Science Fact
According to Musgrave Pencil Co. Inc, more than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year, enough to circle the earth 62 times. This pile of pencils includes a wide variety of styles and widths. If you've ever have taken a fill-in-the-bubble test, you're probably aware that pencils vary in darkness. The number printed on the side of the pencil indicates hardness and darkness of the graphite core: the higher the number, the harder the graphite core. Because a hard core leaves behind less of the graphite-clay mixture on the paper, it will have a fainter mark than a softer core.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:16 AM
Tuesday 11/28/06
What was done?
What was collected?.
What was assigned?
Daily Science Fact
A ball point pen is a pen that uses a small rotating ball made of brass, steel, or tungsten carbide to disperse ink as you write. All of the pens that preceded the ballpoint -- whether quill, metal or fountain -- used a watery, dark india ink that fed through the pen using capillary action.
- We started "Just Like Me" genetics packet.
What was collected?.
- Nothing.
What was assigned?
- "Just Like Me" homework page.
Daily Science Fact
A ball point pen is a pen that uses a small rotating ball made of brass, steel, or tungsten carbide to disperse ink as you write. All of the pens that preceded the ballpoint -- whether quill, metal or fountain -- used a watery, dark india ink that fed through the pen using capillary action.
posted by Mr. Kang at 2:14 AM
