Cell Parts & Functions Practice

I found a really great online activity, it is loaded with information on both plant and animal cells. Each of the different parts (Ex: mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, etc.) are focused on individually. There is also great animation to help you recognize what is what. I know it helped me a lot!


Cell Models: Interactive Animation

http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm

Class on Tuesday, September 27

Today we started talking about our new unit about CELLS. Today in class Mrs. Stein curiously asked the class why they think cells are so boring and hard. We then brainstormed what we know about cells and going around the room, Mrs. Stein made a list of what we know about cells. Each person would make one point about cells. If Mrs. Stein thought the statement was a basis of cell theory then she marked it purple, if she thought the statement is something cells need, she made it green.

PURPLE-Basis of cell theory
GREEN- Cells need this

*"Building Blocks" of life-All living things are made of cells
*DNA- organized in chromosomes
*Cell membrane
*Cytoplasm- liquid in the cell
*Function- Cells are the basic functional unit of life
*New cells come from existing cells- Mitosis (cell division)

Muddiest Point

How and why do ozone molecules trap heat? If ozone disallows heat to pass out of the atmosphere, then why is so much of the direct heat from the sun be allowed to enter the atmosphere?

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point are the pyramids just like the biomass pyramid can someone please explain the biomass pyramid.

Class Thursday, 9/22

Today in class we took notes on 6-3 Biodiversity, Global Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, and Pollution and Biological Magnification. We also talked more about Greenhouse gasses and how they trap some heat that reaches the earth's surface from sunlight. We learned that CFC's were used in aerosol cans and were banned in 1987 because of its negative effect on the environment. We talked about how the ozone layer acts as sunscreen for the Earth because it filters harmful UV rays. After taking notes, we met with out Duckweed project groups to clarify what is needed for tomorrow's presentations! We have an Ecology test on Monday! There will be a review session at 7am Monday Morning in room 374.

The next scribe will be: Patryk S!

My Muddiest Point

The thing that i am most confused about is how to tell what level consumer something is while reading a food web.

Muddiest Point

What is the difference between a biomass pyramid and a numbers pyramid?

Muddiest Point

my muddiest point is Notes i really cant do good notes and i should try to improve that

Muddiest Point

For me my muddiest point is to study and actually get something out of the work and not just do it just to finish it. Also study on a regular bases instead of studying last moment

MY MUDDIEST POINT!

My muddiest point is probably the food wed. One is that I don't really get how the energy gets lost by going up and I didnt get the question # 15 on the Ecology quiz: In the food web, the majority of the energy which entered the ecosystem did not make it to the shark. What happened to that engergy? I got confused by the question. Can anyone help me?

Class Wednesday, 9/21

Today we didn't have a normal class day. Instead of being in Mrs. Stein's room, we were in the auditorium with all of the other biology classes during Period 3 and we watched Planet Earth. Mrs. Stein and the other science teachers weren't there with us because they were having a meeting, so we had substitutes. Even though Mrs. Stein wasn't there, we weren't allowed to sit with the other classes. We had an assigned area in the auditorium where we were supposed to sit. It was obvious if you didn't sit with your class because during the video we had to fill out a worksheet. At the end of the period, the substitute teacher, assigned to YOUR class, collected your worksheet so if you were sitting in the wrong place, she didn't get your sheet.
The only homework we have for biology is to READ 6.3 by TOMORROW and to work on your Duckweed presentation which will be on FRIDAY. There was NO NEW HOMEWORK assigned.

The next scribe will be BROOKLYN.

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is the food web with the energy transfers and what happens to energy that the primary producers create, and how the energy gets lost by going up the web.

My Muddiest Point

Probably my muddiest point was that I didn't do my homework due to my lack of speed to progress. I like to follow along in class but if I lose one detail, I probably lost the whole assignment. How can I speed up?

Muddiest Point

For me the muddiest point has been the most 0f the notes because I get confused with some of the terms and stuff. I use to know some of this stuff but I forgot. The food web and the energy pyramid are also confusing but I just need to study them.

Muddiest Point

I think my muddiest point so far has been homework. I haven't turned in some of our class home work. Lately i have been turning in our homework and i hope i stay on this good path. I just need to focus and right all my stuff down in my agenda.

My first post

Sonya Thomas has gotten the name "black widow" from her buffalo wing eating contests. she crushes the men and therefore got her name. She won first place at the 10th annual National Buffalo Wings Festival this year. She managed to eat 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes, breaking her own world record. I don't know about any of u but i get full after 10 wings, and this girl can eat 183!!!! That is almost impossible!

Unit One Reflection

My reflection on unit one was pretty good. I liked biology it was very interesting and you had to stay on your toes or u would miss something. I learned a lot of new things and im happy i did. it might not look like it but i like to learn :) its fun. Biology is the study of life how can that not interest you? I cant wait for ecology to come because it sounds like a unit i will like even more than biology. Altho that will be hard.

Muddiest point

My muddiest point! My muddiest point is the energy pyramid. I understand that only ten percent of the energy from each organism is transferred to the other organism that eats it. The part i don't understand is were does the other 90% go? does it just Disappear? It doesn't make any sense to me please help...

AndrijanaA's Muddiest Point

My muddiest point so far had to do with the food web. I don't understand which consumer is the primary consumer in the web. I also don't quite understand what "Niches" are.

Thanks, AndrijanaA

Jessie's Muddiest Point

One of my muddiest points is the energy pyramid. I understand how 90% of the energy gets lost each time, but it sometimes confuses me. For example, on the Ecology Quiz, the question gave us a food chain. (Algae--->Zooplankton--->Herring--->Trout) It asked if the algae gets 500,000 kcal of energy from the sun, how much would be available to the trout? The answer could be either 5,000 kcal, 500 kcal, 50kcal, or 5 kcal. I was confused because if 90% is lost, how could it get to one of those answers? Also, for every energy pyramid, once you get the concept, is it the same thing every time? Thanks!

AndyD's Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is the difference between density-dependent limiting factors and density independent limiting factors as i am very confused about the concept and when i try to understand it i mix it up. Anyone have any useful skills on remembering the difference? Help is appreciated! Thanks,

Andy D

Breck's Muddiest Point

The Point that I am mixing up a lot are the different names for the relationships of animals. I know that the 3 are called mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism, but I mix up which means which.

Class on 9/16!!

Today in class, we went outside for "lab 58". In this lab, we each got a marked off area of grass, and we searched for different plant populations within the marked off squared area. Then for homework, we finished the data tables and analysis questions. This was due on 9/19. Also, we continued to take data on our duckweed experimentt. We touched base with out groups to see how the research precess was going along. Presentations for the duckweed lab will be due on Friday 9/23, so make sure your group is prepared and ready to present next Friday! Lab 58 can be found in your bio lab book. Mrs. Stein has these in her cabinets, and the lab is in them. The other homework for this weekend is to read 4.1 in your book, and make a comparison chart on 6.2 and 6.4. An example for this chart can be found here: http://gbs-moodle.glenbrook225.org/moodle/file.php/4383/Ecology/Envrionmental_Issues_Comparison_Chart_2011.pdf

(but be sure you don't just copy and print it!)

GabbyM's Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is food webs and food chains. What I mean by this is I don't understand the difference between food webs and food chains. Also, I am having some trouble with the biomass pyramid. I don't understand how the greatest biomass is located at the bottom of the pyramid and not the top.

Muddiest Point- PatrykS

My muddiest point is also Density Depending Limiting Factor and Density Independent factors as those confuse me as i do understand a little bit of the concept but as in 2/5 (5 being able to teach it to someone and 1 having no idea what it is) Help is appreciated,

Thanks,
PatrykS

SaraP's Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is for limit population growth on density-dependant limiting factor. I don't understand how this exactly works. The definition I have written down says; a factor that affects larger/denser population MORE. I am confused by what this exactly means.

Thanks

Sara

Class Monday, 9/17

Today in class we turned in our lab number 58 from our biology workbooks. That was the lab that we went outside for in class on friday. Our homework for today was to finish our Water Testing labs by tomorrow and to read chapter 6.3 by Thursday. Our comparison chart for chapters 6.2 and 6.4 was supposed to be due today, but it is instead due for tomorrow because of technical issues with moodle. We will be presenting/turning in our Duckweed lab presentations on friday. We also have to post a "Muddy Point" on the blog by wednesday, which is something that we had trouble with in this unit. Today in class we met up with out lab groups and did a Water Testing lab to find out how polluted the Des Plaines River is. We used actual water from the Des Plaines River to use for out tests. Most of my group's test results showed that the Des Plaines' River water is very polluted. One thing we did to test the water was but Nitrates in the water in a test tube and let it dissolve for 5 minutes. Then we check the color of the water to the color chart for the Nitrates test. The color of the water shows how polluted the water from the Des Plaines River is. We talked a little bit about how the river water might have gotten so polluted. There were sheets at our lab group tables that instructed us on how to organize and do the lab.

Next Scribe will be GabyM

Paul s muddiest point

My current confusion in biology has to do with food chains. The part I do not understand is how to figure out what level consumer that certain organism is.

Thanks
Paul s

MOODLE IS DOWN!!!!

See the attached chart for guidance on your homework. Click on it to make it bigger. Do not print out mine. make your own!

Class 9/15
We only did a couple of things today in Biology. First, we took our Chapter 3 and 4 Quiz, which you can find the objectives sheet on the first page of your Ecology packet. When we finished the quiz we had to take out our stamp sheet and our homework. The homework was to read lesson 5.1 and 5.2 in our Biology books and write 6 questions and answers according to the reading. Ms. Stein gave us sheets to help us write the 6 questions. The sheet told you how and what to write and some examples to help you. That is what we had to show after the quiz. Once we did that, we went to the back of the room in groups of 4 people and we asked each other the questions. Then, we came back to our seats and took out our Community Interaction notes that we started on 9/14. On 9/14 we talked about predation, (an organism kills and feeds on another) symbiosis (living together) and the 3 classes of symbiotic relationships in nature, (mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism) and niches (physical and biological conditions of an organism) Today, we talked about exponential growth. (J-Shaped on a graph) Exponential growth is growth under ideal conditions and there is a rapid increase in population. We also talked about logistic growth. (S-Shaped on a graph) Logistic growth slows or stops following rapid growth and the carrying capacity is the number of individuals and environment can support and the population levels off. Next, we took notes on the Limits to Growth. The first limit is Limiting Factor. A limiting factor is anything that causes a population to decrease. The second limit is Density Dependent Limiting Factor. The DDLF is a factor that affects larger/ denser populations. MORE: food availability, disease, competition (space, food, mates,), predation, and parasitism. The last thing we took notes on was Density- Independent Factors. It affects populations regardless of its size density. Such as hurricanes, fire, or extreme temperature.

The next scribe will be Breck M.

Class 9/15

Unit 1 Reflection

My thoughts on Unit 1 was that it was alright. It was a very intriguing process. There are so many things to learn about biology. I liked being taught new things but I do not like how I progress. I wish to learn more and I know that will happen. As always the first unit is easy because it's a bit of a review for people. Maybe a few new things here and there but it was mainly a review. I definitely liked learning how the tetrahymena thermophilia bounced around for heat. Then we looked at the vacuoles of tetrahymena through a microscope. I must also be aware that if I screw things up, I won't get another chance at good data. At the same time, whenever I'm careful I should not dilly dally. Science will be fun and I have to be quick on learning new things.

Preview of 9/9

In class today we got lots of things done. First we walked into class and Mrs. Stein checked our homework and today we got Elmos as our stamp. Then Mrs. Stein told us about our homework which was the Double Bubble Map which is a lot different then a venn diagram. A double bubble map is when you make two circles that are the main points then branch of those circle with different circles that have facts about the main circles. Next Mrs. Stein told us about the EXTRA CREDIT this doesn't happen often so take advantage visit the extra credit page for more info. Next thing we did was learn about the three pyramids the Biomass Pyramids , Pyramid of Energy and Pyramid of Numbers. Then we worked on our Duck weed project and Mrs. Stein told us we could redo our lab if we wanted to.

NEXT SCRIBE IS SARA P

Preview of 9/9

Class 9/12

Today in class on 9/12 we turned in our homework from the weekend, the Alien poster and double-bubble map on 4.3 and UP 27. We took notes on 3 different types of succession. We also recorded data from our duckweed lab and learned how to make Climatograms.

One type of succession that we learned about is ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION. This is a type of succession in which there are predictable changes that occur in a community overtime. This can occur in things like ponds, lakes and forests.

Another type of succession that we learned about is Primary Succession. This type of succession occurs where no soil exists; early plants then prepare soil.

The last type of succession that we learned about was Secondary Succession. This type of succession occurs in areas that have been destroyed, but still contain soil. Some types of destruction may be fires, logging or hurricanes. Some plants have adapted to cycles of fire and regrowth.

Other important things we took notes on were Climax Community and INTERMEDIATE STAGES. Intermediate stages is during the process of succession when there are deep roots that absorb water and minerals. Also, when there is enough growth to make shade which inhibits grass growth and allows some growth of trees. Climax community is when the process of succession has reached a point when there is rich soil and dense forests of maple and beech. This is a stable collection of organisms following succession.

We also learned what a Climatogram is and how to make one. A climatogram is a graph that is used to show the climate of a region. In the specific activity we did, we compared the climate on the with climates from other biomes to determine what makes a prairie a prairie. These graphs show the average precipitation and average temperature. Therefore, since is contains two different types of information there are two Y axes. The axis on the left was labeled for temperature and the axis on the right was labeled for precipitation.

For a brief period of time we took data from out Duckweed Lab. Our homework for tonight is to read 4.2 in the book and complete a reading strategy of our choice. We also have a QUIZ on Thursday September 15, 2011.

The SCRIBE for next class will be Brooklyn C!

Black holes

My older sister told me about black holes creating a galaxy. I didn't know about that so I looked it up. It turned out to be true. Upon looking through this, I found some official sites that say black holes can probably be wormholes to alternate universes, which might show that there's a possibility of a multiverse and that the black hole is a bridge between those universes through what scientists call 'dark flow.' They also think black holes may be the origin of the big bang theory. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of the universe. One thought was that a black hole that exploded creating a shock wave of matter in the universe to create the expanding space into infinity and leaving behind a finite amount of matter. A white hole in short. For now we accept these events as singularities, things that happen beyond the human comprehension. Space is amazing, and the fact that formulas so simple can have a huge impact on the universe show that there is so much we still do not know.

Here are the links for a more detailed explanation.
http://big-bang-theory.com/
http://io9.com/5805202/mysterious-cosmic-explosion-might-be-first-ever-proof-of-white-holes
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030917072015.htm
http://www.math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/BlackHoles/universe.htmlhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100409-black-holes-alternate-universe-multiverse-einstein-wormholes/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/03/100322-dark-flow-matter-outside-universe-multiverse/

What I'm most excited about...
Learning more about the world and of life.
What I'm least excited about...
Miscommunication and bad cooperation.

first post, something interesting

One day I was thinking to myself what is a photon. Later my father introduced me to a book explaining this very subject the name of the book is SCHRODINGER'S KITTENS AND THE SEARCH FOR REALITY written by John Gribbin. In short the book explains different experiments, theories and questions about the sub atomic universe it turns out that everything that scientist thought the new about the sub atomic universe was completely wrong after a revolutionary experiment involving photons. It was always thought that photons were particles not waves but the experiment showed them to be both, the one which you saw at the end was determined by if you watched the experiment. I highly suggest reading it it is very interesting.

Today in biology we learned about invasive species. An invasive species is an animal or organism that doesnt belong but is placed in an area. An example of an invasive species would be a zebra mussel.

We also went over the differences in biospheres, biomes, communities, populations, and the organism. All of these that we went over go from one organism, to many organims, than to the whole world. We reviewed what herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores were while learned the food webs. Normally at the rop of the food web there is only one species because there is less energy being transferred. at the end of class, we checked on our duckweed and had to count all of the new leaves that it has grown. Don't forget to finish the bean lab. Get it done!!!

MICHEAL M is the next scribe!!!

Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1 was pretty fun. To me it was kind of challenging, though, because all of the microscope parts confused me a lot. I thought that looking at all of the different organisms under the microscope was awesome because it's a whole different world under that lense. The Tetrahymena lab was interesting to me. Our group didn't get too far, but the changes in the numbers of vacuoles really shocked me. I already knew what the jumping beans were but I liked seeing what affected their activity. Unit 1 was a good unit, let's hope for more good units.

My First Post: Chris Young

Chris Young is an up and coming countrymusic artist. The start of his career was winning "Nashville Star" in 2006. He went on tour with the show, then went on his own tour as a starter. He is currently with RCA records. He was born in Murfreesboro, Tenessee which is close to Nashville. His birthday is June 12, 1985. His #1 song in 2010 was "The Man I Wanna Be." His video for his song "Voices" has his actual family in it. He was raised by his mom and stepfather, who is dad to him. He's said to be the next George Strait. He's a really good country singer.

Something I'm excited about for this school year is having a lot more people to meet.

Something I'm not excited about is the amount of homework.

EXTRA CREDIT!

Hey Everybody! Looking for some extra credit and an opportunity to help the environment in Glenview??? Check out these volunteer opportunities in Glenview. To get extra credit, you must do the following:

1. Attend a Restoration Work Day

2. Take pictures at the site.

3. Write a summary of what you did and your reflections on doing it. Post this along with a photo or two (do not include your face) to the blog.

You may take advantage of this once a quarter!

Saturday, September 10th: Restoration Work Day at Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie

Sponsored by the North Branch Restoration Project. Seasonal activities include brush cutting, weed removal and seed collection. Please meet at the Tyner Interpretive Center; 9:00-12:00.

http://www.northbranchrestoration.org/calendar.html#

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/kent-fuller-air-station-prairietyner-center/restoration-work-days

Sunday, September 11th: Restoration Day at Harms Woods

Sponsored by the North Branch Restoration Project. Activities include brush cutting, weed removal and seed collection. Please meet at the Forest Preserve Glenview Woods parking lot on the west side of Harms Rd. just south of Glenview Road; 9:00-12:00 or 1:00-4:00.

http://www.northbranchrestoration.org/calendar.html#

Saturday, September 17th: Techny Basin River Cleanup Day

Help to beautify the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River with trash pick-up, brush cutting and weed removal. Work gloves, tools and bags will be provided by the Village of Glenview's Natural Resource Commission. Please meet in the Kohl's parking lot off of Willow Rd.; 9:00-12:00. Contact Henrietta Saunders or Robyn Flakne for more information.

Saturday, September 24th is NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY!

Come out to The Grove from 9:00 to 12:00 and do your part by collecting native seeds or removing invasive brush. Please meet at the Interpretive Center.

OR join the North Branch Restoration Project at Harms Flatwoods from 9:00-12:00 for brush cutting, weed removal and general cleanup. See these websites for more information:

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/the-grove/get-involved

http://www.northbranchrestoration.org/calendar.html#

http://www.publiclandsday.org/npld-sites/search?state=Illinois

Saturday, October 8th: Restoration Work Day at The Grove National Historic Landmark

The Grove's restoration team needs your help to remove non-native, invasive plants and make way for native wildflowers, grasses and trees. Bring work gloves if you have them. Please meet at the Grove Interpretive Center, 1421 Milwaukee Ave.; 9:00-12:00.

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/the-grove/get-involved

Sunday, October 23rd: Restoration Work Day at Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie

Sponsored by the North Branch Restoration Project. Seasonal activities include brush cutting, weed removal and seed collection. Please meet at the Tyner Interpretive Center; 9:00-12:00.

http://www.northbranchrestoration.org/calendar.html#

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/kent-fuller-air-station-prairietyner-center/restoration-work-days

Saturday, November 5th: Restoration Work Day at Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie

Sponsored by the North Branch Restoration Project. Seasonal activities include brush cutting, weed removal and seed collection. Please meet at the Tyner Interpretive Center; 9:00-12:00.

http://www.northbranchrestoration.org/calendar.html#

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/kent-fuller-air-station-prairietyner-center/restoration-work-days

Saturday, November 12th: Restoration Work Day at Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie

Help Air Station Prairie's restoration team remove invasive plants to make way for native prairie grasses and forbs. Bring work gloves if you have them. Please meet at the Tyner Interpretive Center, 2400 Compass Rd.; 9:00-12:00.

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/kent-fuller-air-station-prairietyner-center/restoration-work-days

Also on Saturday, November 12th at the Prairie: AMERICA RECYCLES DAY

Celebrate National America Recycles Day at Kent Fuller Air Station Prairie's "green" Interpretive Center! Get the answers to all your recycling questions and take part in fun family activities and craft projects. This event is FREE at the Tyner Interpretive Center, 2400 Compass Rd.; 10:00 am-2:00 pm.

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/kent-fuller-air-station-prairietyner-center

Saturday, November 19th: Restoration Work Day at The Grove National Historic Landmark

The Grove's restoration team needs your help to remove non-native, invasive plants and make way for native wildflowers, grasses and trees. Bring work gloves if you have them. Please meet at the Grove Interpretive Center, 1421 Milwaukee Ave.; 9:00-12:00.

http://glenviewparks.org/index.php/facilities-parks/the-grove/get-involved

Sunday, November 20th: Restoration Day at Harms Flatwoods

Sponsored by the North Branch Restoration Project. Seasonal activities include brush cutting, weed removal and seed collection. Please meet at Forest Preserve parking lot on the west side of Harms Road, directly west of Old Orchard Road where it ends on Harms Road; 9:00-12:00.

http://www.northbranchrestoration.org/calendar.html#

Biology outdoor ecology walk

Today in Biology we went outside for an "Ecology Walk". We filled page 11 and 12 out in our Illinois Ecology packet. What we did was look for producer organisms and consumer organisms and write how many of them we saw. We did not have enough time to fill out the Analysis part of page 12 in the Illinois Ecology packet, however it was not assigned as homework. The homework was to read 3.3 in our textbooks, and fill out "Picture this" witch can be found on Moodle. And also for those who have not started their lab write up, It is due 9/8/11.

Tommarows scribe will be Peter S.

Manchester City F.C. First Blog

This here is the logo of my favorite football club.
I love Manchester City this club has changed from the old days where Manchester City was a bad team they would wind up losing a lot of games and I didn't like them at that time. 3 years ago in the  summer of 2008 Manchester City was sold to  Abu Dhabi United Group. After the Takeover the club purchased Robinho a brazilian forward from the spanish La Liga Great Real Madrid C.F. after that year the team signed many new people. they signed Kolo Toure, Gareth Barry,Emmanuel Adebayar, Carlos Tevez, and Joleon Lescott. all of these players were starting lineups for them. after a year the start of the 2010-2011 season they signed David Silva, Yaya Toure (brother of Kolo), James Milner , Aleksander Kolarov, Mario Balotelli, and Jerome Boateng. then they finished 5 in the league. which they improved from last year.This year they signed Edin Dzeko a Bundes Liga top scorer in 2010, Sergio Aguero striker from Argentina , Samir Nasri a midfielder from France and Gael Clichy a Left Back from France. this has been the most signings of a three year period in football history and I was glad that now Manchester City has some chance of winning titles. Thats how they improved from bad club to a great club with many individual talents. they have been far doing well this season 2nd so far on the list and hope to win some champions this year they have promised fans with a better team and hopefully they can do good this year.


EXITED- Freedom that GBS provides 
NOT EXITED- Homework

JayJ Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1 was a good first unit for me. At first I had no clue what most of the stuff meant, but after tie reviewing I knew most of the material. Also, I didn't remember the parts of the microscope and things about it which is important, and we reviewed that also. Learning about tetrahymena and making hypothesis about it and identifying the control group, independent and dependent variables was a good review. Unit 1 was also very interesting to observe microscopic organism and observe them. I am looking forward to many great units to come, just like this one.

Unit 1 reflection

Well it was a really fast unit and it went by a flash ( probably because it was 1 and a half weeks ). I learned many things in this unit in short period of time. I noticed that in High school we learn more than most places and I feel that unit one was probably the easiest unit there is and its packed with many information its shows us that we can learn a lot if we try. this unit was very fun as well I loved the labs it was really fun to do it. the labs were great experience and were on a great start to a good year

Unit one

I thought unit 1 was good. it helped us learn to do labs and use the equipment and fill out questions about the labs we did. unit one was really easy because my entire group had everything ready for the days we had the labs. Using the microscope to see the microscopic specimens was pretty cool. i missed out on the ink feeding lab but i did see the living tetrahymena the day before when we had extra time. the rest of bio seems like it will be alright and kinda interesting so it wont be too bad.

Unit 1 Reflection

This unit was very interesting and i learned quite a lot in what seemed to be a short period of time. I can already see the expectations you have for us pretty clearly and got caught off guard. The tetrahymena lab was fun to do and the one where we do our own experiment seemed more realistic and i felt like how a real scientist would feel like. I am looking forward to the labs in the future.

First Post- PatrykS

My favorite sport is soccer and i just love the sport as you don't need much equipment to play it for fun and it is a worldwide sport that everybody plays.

This site gives you a lot of information about the basics of soccer in general:

http://library.thinkquest.org/3903/

Here are some quotes i learned from playing soccer:

1. "Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it."- Mia Hamm

2. "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." - Pele

3. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of knowledge,
but a lack of will.” - Vince Lombardi

What i love about going to high school is all the freedom and responsibilities.

What i hate about going to high school is the homework.

Mario

Mario is one of the most well known and popular video game characters. He has many games including: super smash bros., Mario kart, Super Mario Bros. and more. He has been around since the early 1980's. Mario is an Italian plumber who has a brother Luigi who is also a plumber. Together they go on missions to save Princess Peach from Bowser. Mario's first apperiance was in the game called Donkey Kong where he battled Donkey Kong for Princess Peach but later mario battles bowser. thats why i love mario and u should try it too.

Unit one Reflection

Unit one was very interesting, but sometimes confusing. I had trouble getting used to doing Homework but i think i got it know. I had fun times doing labs especially the tetrahymina lab. I also liked the Mexican jumping bean lab it was fun to make our own lab. I hope the rest of the year is fun and i look forward to future labs

Unit 1 reflection!

The unit was a great way to start off and freshen up our brains from our summer. The unit Nature of Science talked/ showed me about what science is and other important facts. The unit was sort of a review for me because in middle school I did do the controll variable, and variables for lab. Also we did hypothesis format IF....THEN....BECAUSE (but this year the because really doesnt matter). I loved theTetrahymena lab because I learned something new the first week and I got to do an experiment. The microscopes were sort of hard to figure out beacuse at my middle school we used the camera microscope not the original kind that Mrs. Stein has. I look forward to the next units and challenges I get to meet and learn from. :)

Pauls First Post

Baseball is very simple game but very fun. Listed below are some interesting facts about baseball.

1. The National League and the American League played in the first All-Star game in 1933.

2. The National Baseball Hall of fame is located in Cooperstown. It was built in 1935 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of baseball.

3. In the MLB, the distance between bases is 90 feet and from the pitchers mound to home plate is 60 feet and 8 inches to be exact.

4. Before 1859 umpires used to be seated in padded chairs behind home plate.

5. Pittsburgh and Boston played in the first World Series in 1903. Boston had won 5 games to 3 in the 9 game series.

6. Baseballs generally have 108 stitches per ball.

7. The American league and National League used to have different types of baseballs. Generally the American League balls were stitched with red and blue, and the National Leagues balls were stitched with red and black.

8. Mike Schmidt earned the first $500,000 salary in baseball of 1977.

9. The 1926 New York Giants still hold the record for the longest consecutive winning streak for 26 games.

10. Fenway Park in Boston is the oldest baseball stadium still in use.

Michael M Unit 1 reflection

Unit 1 was a good start to the year because it really showed me what science was and what it was not. It showed me that science is huge and realy hard to explain. It brought back what I had forgotten from last year and really shed light on what would be expected from us this upcoming year and now after this first unit I think i'm ready for a wondeful year ahead of us.

Michael M First Post

Hockey
Hockey is my favorite sport I play for the majority of my fall, winter and spring. Its the longest season out of most sports I know because it consumes 3/4 of my year. I play hockey for the Glenview Stars and I currently am a Bantam major. I sacrifice my social life to play hockey becasue it consumes most of my freetime that usually i'd be spending with my friends. I don't really care though because I love the sport alot. Everytime i'm on the ice it feels like I belong here and kind of like a home away from home. I play hockey in my free time outside with my brother or go to a pond or Johns park and play on those rinks there. If there is one place a person belongs I think my place is the Ice Rink.

BrooklynC- Unit 1 Reflection

The first unit of Biology was a great way to start off the year because it was a good review of the things I could not remember from last year. It was a bit confusing just trying to get back into the swing of doing work, but I feel like it will be better now that we are past our first unit. I refreshed my memory on how to use a microscope and how to write a correct hypothesis during this unit and am now more comfortable performing experiments. I learned to take better and more detailed observations because they are important when it comes to writing the final lab report. I think that I will learn a lot more new information this year and even though this will be a challenging class, it will still be fun and interesting.

Brooklyn C's First Post-Johnny Weir

Although he may be an unusual person, Johnny Weir has always been my idol. Born in a small town in Pennsylvania, it wasn't until johnny was 12 did he experience the wonderful world of figure skating. Only four years after teaching himself how to skate on a frozen pond in his backyard did he win the gold medal at the 2001 World Junior Championships. Johnny Weir won his first senior US national championship in 2004 and defended that title until 2006 earning him a spot on the US Olympic team. In his first Olympic appearance he placed second on his short program and landed in an overall place of fifth! Johnny has been extremely successful since then even going to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Johnny Weir has won many more titles and has been awarded the Reader's Choice Award for Skater of the Year twice, the only other skater to win this more than once aside from Michelle Kwan. Figure skating has been a huge part of my life since I was seven and Johnny Weir has become my favorite skater of them all. I love how he becomes a character when he is performing and is his own unique person. My favorite performance of Johnny's was his short program skate at the 2010 US Championship. Here is the video of his performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ4atQjCSHI

Something that I am excited about for this school year: having the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

Something that I am not excited about for this school year: the amount of time I will spend on homework.

1st Unit

I thought this Unit was both interesting and a little confusing at times. I learned many different words in this chapter, but I was confused how to use the word in a lab. Even though I kind of struggled through this Unit, it was still pretty fun. I am very excited to learn about Ecology on the next unit and I will try more harder to understand the words so that I wouldn't struggle as much as I did in the First Unit.

SaraP's Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1 was a really good way to start off the year. It helped me refresh my memory from last year and was a good way to help us settle in. Even though it was our first experiment and probably wasn't the most challenging experiment we will have, it still kept me interested and I was actually excited to come to biology to see what we will do with the Tetrahymena next. It was also good because we got to refresh our memory on how to use the microscopes too. I will always remember how to right a correct hypothesis with independent and dependent variables from the review during this unit. I learned how to take good observations and what the difference between an observation and an inference is. I used to mix inferences in with some of my observations but from this I don't get confused anymore. I really enjoyed the things we did throughout this unit and hope we do more things like it!

JessieW- Unit 1 Reflection

The first unit of Biology was a good way to start off the year because there were many things that were review from last year that I did not remember. Some of the materials that were refreshed in my memory, were the different variables and the microscope and it's parts. I used to get confused with the parts of the microscope, but going over it again helped me remember them. I also learned how to write a hypothesis and the trick to remember how to write it. We learned about the difference between quantitative and qualitative data.

Overall, I think this class will be challenging, but also fun and interesting. I look forward to learning a lot this year.

SaraP's First Post

Volleyball

One of the things I enjoy doing on my free time is playing volleyball. This is a sport both girl and boys play and it is played at all levels. There are always 6 players on the court at one time. Each player has a different position ranging from a middle hitter, usually the tallest on the court, to a libero, usually the shortest on the court. There are many different rules to the game from overlapping on the court to no jewelry or hard clips in your hair. One of the most complicated rules is overlapping. On the court there different rotations that you can run. There are 6 zones on the court, starting in the back right corner with zone one and going all the way around to the middle back with zone 6. Each player cannot overlap the person in front of them or behind them on a serve receive or a serve, if they do the ball goes to the other team and the other team gets a point. It took me two years to finally understand most of the rules, but everyones different

The position I play is libero or defensive specialist. I am one of the shortest players on my team, therefore I am always playing in the back row. I am one of the players that digs up balls that are either hit or tipped by the other team onto our half of the court. The libero is also the only player that can switch onto the court without having to wait at the 10 foot line to sub in. One of the reasons they can do this is because they switch for only two players, the middles. They also have a different colored jersey than the rest of the team. I love playing volleyball and spending time with my teammates!

Most excited about: A few of the things I am most excited about are sports and meeting new people!

Least excited about: Some of the things I am least excited about are taking finals and the homework load compared to last year!

Paul S. Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1 was a very interesting unit and I hope to have more units like this one. In general I did not know much about this unit before we studied it but now I know many new things, even if it was a review. I already knew how to write a hypothesis and perform labs but I was taught new ways to do it. The types of variables were a review to me too but it was nice to refresh my memory from last year. And finally the microscope. I know the different parts and what to do but actually finding the organisms was a challenge for me. But with a good review I feel confident that the rest of the year will come easy. This was a fantastic unit and I am looking forward to the next one!

The Nature of Science

I enjoyed the first unit of science. I think that it was a great and fascinating way to start off the year. We also got a chance to work on labs which helped us get to know each other more. During the first unit, I have learned many new thing as well as old things. I learned new words such as; biosphere, biotic, abiotic, what levels of organizations are, and what an ecosystem is. Some of the things that reviewed was the different variables. The different variables were, independent, dependent, controlled variable, and control group. Also we reviewed on the outline of writing a hypothesis. Another thing that I reviewed was how to use a microscope. We learned how to form a conclusion. Also we learned the difference between qualitative and quantitative. The last thing that we learned about was organize and tell the difference between line, bar, and pie graphs.

Breck M's Unit 1 Reflection

Unit 1 of STS Biology was a great way to start off the year. I learned a lot of new information and reviewed some information. I refreshed my memory on the different types of variables, and learned a new way of performing labs. I also reviewed how to write a hypothesis and learned a new way to write them as well.

I learned about the "scientific method". I now know that the first step is to ask a question, and then to form a hypothesis and test that hypothesis. We also did a lab on Tetrahymena. I learned a lot of new information during that lab and also refreshed my memory on how to perform a lab. I also learned the parts of a microscope. I used to be confused on a lot of things with the microscope, but that was cleared up during this unit. I think this will be a great Biology class and I look forward to the the rest of the year!

Breck M's First Post- John Mayer

I have always loved John Mayer’s music and enjoy hearing about his rise into fame. John Mayer is an extremely talented artist, guitarist, and singer. He has had many popular and successful albums. His career started with his first album “Room for Squares” and then following with “Heavier Things”. Then in 2003, he won a Grammy award for best male vocal performance for his song “Your Body is a Wonderland”. Mayer started with a lot of acoustic rock pieces, but has now started to write and perform songs of the American blues genre. After his album “Heavier Things”, he released “Battle Studies”. This album is one of the more popular works. It has the hit song “Half of my Heart” with Taylor swift. Mayer was born and raised in Bridgeport Connecticut. When he discovered that music was his passion in life, he attended the Berklee College of music in Boston.

“Any Given Thursday” is a collection of live music that was put together from his concerts in 2003. The live version of all of these songs proves once again that Mayer is a truly gifted singer and guitar player. Some of his best work is when he is performing live. "Any Given Thursday" is also a movie of him performing live. Mayer's music is timeless and great for any occasion.

What am I most excited about?- Sport seasons, meeting new people, and going to school with old friends.

What am I least excited about?- The homework!

GabbyM- Reflections on First Unit

I think that this first unit was a good way to start off biology for this upcoming year. This unit wasn't very hard because most of the information we covered was a review from last year. I enjoyed studying this first unit because we didn't spend it all just taking notes or watching movies the whole time during class. We actually got to get out of our seats and we were able to start doing experiments right away. Unlike last year during science, we spent at least half of the year just taking notes and watching either Mythbusters or Bill Nye the Science Guy episodes. Occasionally we did experiments, but not as often as I would have wanted.
The first unit was very interesting for me because I got to learn about something that I had never seen or heard of before and that was the cydia deshasisiana moth. I was stunned when we were told that the mystery object was holding a larvae. I thought that the mystery object was some sort of plant that moved when it was exposed to our type of environment and I wasn't expecting it to be holding something living inside. Overall I found the first unit very interesting and I hope that the second unit will be as fascinating.

GabbyM's First Post- Kopalnia Soli Wielicka

Over the summer, I visited Poland with my family and we stayed with my grandparents in Wieliczka. While we were there my mom decided to take my brothers and me to the Kopalina Soli, or Salt Mine, since it was only a couple blocks away from where we were staying.
This particular Salt Mine was discovered during the 13 century. The mine contains 5 levels, but turists can only visit the first 3 because the lower levels are dangerous if you aren't wearing the right equipment. While we were on the tour through the mine, we saw many chapels and sculptures created by the miners that had worked there.
One thing that stood out to me the most during the tour was Saint Kinga's Chapel. This chapel is located on Level 2 and it took over a hundred years to be created. It took so long because only 3 self taught miners created this chapel. Everything in this chapel is made of salt, starting from the floor to the walls and the ceiling. Also, the alter at the front of the chapel, cross, and the stairs leading into the chapel are all sculpted from salt. Even the chandeliers are made with small salt crystals. The chapel walls are decorated with beautiful sculptures that show New Testament scenes. All I can say is that this chapel is more gorgeous in real life. If you get offered an opportunity to visit this Salt Mine take it. It is such a unique experience and you learn a lot of interesting things that you may not have know before.

To learn more about Saint Kinga's Chapel visit the Salt Mine's official website here: www.kopalnia.pl/site.php?action=site&urlMain=2,185,1,853,,&&idsite=185&level=853



What I am Most Excited About?
getting to meet new freshmen


What I am Least Excited About?
doing homework, getting up early, and studying for tests/quizzes

Sammy Kim’s First Post - Colossal Squid

A few days ago I was watching videos on youtube and found one video which I found very interesting. The video was about Colossal Squids. (Here’s the video I’m talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09UD7b8lSCo) After watching this video I looked up the colossal squid on google, trying to get some information out of it. From reading the articles online, I learned that these Colossal Squids were only found 6 times. These Species are found in deep waters near Antarctica(They are found 3,200 Feet under water). The Colossal Squid in the video is 19- to 26-foot long (6- to 8-meter) and weighs about 1,100 pounds (scientists say the squid can grow up to 1,600 pounds). For More Information about the Colossal Squid Click the Link Below:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080429-giant-squid.html

I'm Most Excited about:

Meeting new people and learning interesting things at school

I'm Not Excited about:

Having homework every day

MattD's First post the next tallest building

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is currently the worlds tallest tower at 2,700 feet but it won't be for long. In 2016 or around that Saudi arabia will begin work on the Kingdom tower, a massive building that will become the next tallest building in the world. It will be 3,281 feet tall. To compare this to something we all know this tower will be twice as tall as the sears tower. Kingdom tower will be in the middle of Jeddah wich is being redeveloped before the tower is built. the kingdom tower will cost 1.23 billion dollars and the whole project will be around 20 billion.

The tower was designed by Adrian Smith, a chicago architec who also designed the Burj Khalifa, and Gordon gill.

As you can see in the picture to the right there is a obsevation deck. The deck is about half way up the tower and will have a small resturant and a park in the center. Thats all I know for now.

I am most excited about meeting new people and seeing old friends

I am least excited about the homework