EXTRA CREDIT!!!

Click here to watch the recent segment about the hunting of endangered species in Texas.

For extra credit, post a comment to this post expressing your response and opinion on the story. The quality of your response will determine how much extra credit you get! This opportunity will be limited to the first 4 people in your class to respond.

SCRIBE JAN 25/26

IN class on Wednesday we reviewed The movie that we watched on tuesday Mrs.Stien explained that The booby pushed its brother out because the mother wont be able to feed both of them or she wont have enough food so the booby pushed the brother out. she will feed them but she sacrifices her food to the baby and she will die. also the booby always hatch 2 eggs and 40% that they wont hatch thats why they hatch two so at least they get one. after we discussed about the movie we started our lab NATURAL SELECTIONS LAB.
The lab demonstrated NATURAL SELECTION by using a piece of  fabric  as the environment and hole punched chips as animals and we were the predators and see which type of color had the best chance to survive so we picked up The chip without look too long just one second and see how many left and this shows basic natural selection.
The lab page was 18.



In class thursday we talked about our double bubble map of Darwin and Lamarck Mrs.Stien told  us the key concepts of the two. Darwin was later than Lamarck and Darwin disagreed on Lamarcks hypothesis. darwin had a theory because he had much more evidence than Lamarck while Lamarcks was A Hypothesis. darwin used natural selection to describe evolution and they both accepted that environment also influenced evolution.after our discuss we turned back our papers and we did our lab BREAKFAST FOR THE BIRDS.
 this lab demonstrated how evolution worked on the birds BEAKS. we had 4 different types of beaks Plier, Forceps, Spoon, Staple remover. we had 5 station and 1 MINUTE to "eat" the food station one wich was Larvae (rice) and station 2 was Pond with small animals and plants Station 3 was seeds in an open fields station 4 was rocky ledge with freshly killed rabbits Station 5 was worms hidden in grass these environment needed all different types of beaks. one beak matched one environment and this show how birds evolve by eating as well

Scribe January 24

Due on FEBRUARY 28 is the new project we were given. It's a group video were you have to explain why we should or should not give money for an endangered animal. Make your groups now and start shooting. remember it should be interesting and should make the audience want to watch. You need research to persuade the audience for your cause.

In class today we watched the rest of the video and learned a lot about Darwin and his discovery's on the islands. We learned that finches on the islands are a great example of evolution. On each island there are different finches because on each island there are different size seeds. Also if there is a drought through natural selection bigger birds with larger seeds will survive because there will be larger seeds. the large birds will breed because they will survive to reproduce and the next generation will be a bigger size. but if it rains a lot the opposite will happen and the smaller birds will bread so the next generation will be smaller.

As animals moved to different islands they change because of natural selection. They do this in order to survive. Natural selection is a change that occurs in an organism to survive when the animal needs to adapt to the environment around him.

I found this really cool paper on natural geographic about a island with mini animals and people, like a mini elephant a mini Komodo dragon and more here is the link. its cool cause its also got to do with evolution.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1027_041027_homo_floresiensis.html

Scribe

2nd Semester just started and we are starting a unit on EVOLUTION.

Homework is to Read 16.1-16.3 (pgs. 450-464) and do a double bubble "Darwin vs. Lamark". Also visit Mrs. Stein for a homework pass but read the reflection questions she posted first so you know what to talk about.

We went over things we knew about Evolution and made this list:

-Time of Change

-Adaptation to enviroment

-Changes/Transformation

-"Apes turn into People" --> False

-How Humanity got to where it is today

-Pangea --> landmass of all the continents

-Charles Darwin

-"Proved" --> it is a theory, cannot be proved

-Galapagos- origin of understanding of evolution

-migration

-SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

Evolution: Change in a species over time

EVERYTHING SHARES A COMMON ANCESTOR!

In class we started watching a video on Darwins voyage to the Galapagos Islands which are the tips of volcanos coming through the water.

We had four questions to answer.

What did Darwin observe on his voyage?

-In 1822 darwin went to the Galapagos for 20 years.

-He came to the conclusion that living things are shaped by the world around them.

-He saw Giant Turltes, Hummingbirds, Plants, Iguanas, Finches, and many more.

-He noticed that the same animals on each of the different islands which are pretty close together have different fundamental characteristics; Turtles had different shaped shells, birds had different beaks and colors.

What is Natural Selection?

-The process that animals are able to adapt and have different abilities and characteristics which suit them better for their environment.

How did the story of the Finches Beaks illustrate Natural Selection?

-It showed how each Finch from a different island had different beaks specifically for their island. some had beaks to dig better, crack nuts better, eat certain foods better.

It shows how they adapted to perform better in the places they are in most.

How did iguanas illustrate Natural Selection?

We did not finish the video so we will continue it tommorow. I am guessing iguanas adapted their skin colors.

JACK WILL BE OUR NEXT SCRIBE!!!

2nd Semester! Wooohooo!

Welcome Back!

As 2nd semester gets underway, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on first semester. If you would like to earn a homework pass, come visit me in the next week and be prepare to answer these questions!

1. Do you feel like the grade you got this semester was the grade you earned? Why?

2. What were you most proud of from 1st semester?

3. What disappointed you most about your performance from 1st semester?

4. What goals have you set for yourself for 3rd quarter/2nd semester?

5. What will you do to achieve those goals?

6. What can I (Mrs. Stein) do to help you?

I look forward to speaking with each of you about how to make this a successful semester!

The first scribe for second semester will be TYLER!

AndyD's Muddiest Point

Positive and Negative Feedback, What are they? Differences? Similarities? Thanks =).

Muddiest Point

Can you please explain to me the differences in the menstrual cycle with and without fertilization?

Muddiest Point

im confused about the phases of the menstrual cycle

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is like, the stages of the menstraul cycle, I'm having a little bit of trouble understanding which stages go where and what exactly they do and release. Thanks!
Jessica B

Muddiest point

my muddiest point is what is the diffrence between LH and FSH because don't the both do the same thing?

Class on Tuesday, 1/10/11

Today in class we reviewed the menstrual cycle, learned about the development of the embryo, and watched a video on it.

When estrogen levels get low, the hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to release FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Leutinizing Hormone). FSH stimulates the ovaries to produce more estrogen, which builds up the lining of the uterus, while LH controls the formation of the corpus luteum and signals for ovulation to occur.

Fertilization occurs in the oviduct. A fertilized egg is called a zygote. Cell division will begin; the embryo is just one cell, the morula is a solid ball of cells, then the blasocyst which is a hollow ball of cells. The blasocyst takes a week to implant in the uterine lining (implantation). After this, differentiation occurs and the cells specialize. This then leads to gastrulation.

Gastrulation is the formation of 3 embryonic development germ layers. Endoderm makes up the lining of the digestive, reproductive, and respiratory system. Mesoderm makes up the muscles, blood, and bones. Ectoderm makes up the skin and nervous system.

In the video, we saw how the embryo turns into the morula and then into the blasocyst. We saw how the blasocyst implants in the uterine lining and the development of the baby in the uterus.

Our homework for today is to post a muddiest point by tonight and comment on one tomorrow. We also have a test on this unit this Thursday.

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point in this unit was why the release of FSH and LH are needed and how the hypothalamus know to signal the pituitary gland to release these hormones.

muddiest Point

My muddiest point is how does the fertile egg go from being stuck in the uterine lining to the ovary?

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is what is a blastocyst and where do the cells go after this step.

Muddiest point Matt DeBow

My muddiest point is the difference between fsh and lh. Do they both do the same thing or do they do different things.

JoeM's Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is what does the blastocyst turn into after it is made?

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point is the difference between the embryo, morula and blastocyst. Thanks!!

Muddiest Point-Patryk S

My muddiest point is what FSH, LH, Estrogen, Patrogen and what they trigger. Each hormone when released has a different effect and i dont know what the effects are.

1/9

In class, today we turned in 34.4 Flow Map on "Fertilization, Development, & Pregnancy" which was assigned on Friday as homework to do over the weekend. After, we took out UP 20-21 and we first went through the answers with the people sitting near us and then we went over the answers as a class. We didn't turn in UP 20-21. Next, Mrs. Stein has us work on Lab 31 with anyone we wanted. Even though, you were supposed to have it done for homework she let us talk to our partners about any questions we had trouble on. She walked around and answered questions while we worked on it. We worked on Lab 31 for about ten minutes, and then we turned it into the bin. Finally, we took notes on two slides that Mrs. Stein put up on the smart board.
Here are the notes:

Contraception
-preventing union of egg and sperm
-barrier method
- condoms, diaphragm, vasectomy
-chemical methods prevent gamete formation or kill gametes
- The pill, IUD, spermicide
-behavioral changes in sexual practices
- abstinence, rhythm, withdrawal

Fertilization and Implantation
-fertilization occurs in oviduct
- zygote- fertilized egg, diploid cell
-cell division begins
- embryo-> 1 cell
- morula-> solid ball of 64 cells
- blastocyst-> hollow ball of cells
-blastocyst takes 7 days to implant in uterine lining
-differentation begins, cells specialize

HOMEWORK: 1) Test Thurs. 2) FINALS start studying!
3) Muddiest Points->Post by Tues. Midnight
Comments by Weds. Midnight
Since there isn't going to be much homework this week make sure you don't slack off and actually start studying a little each night for the TEST ON THURSDAY!! Just because there may not be mandatory homework DOES NOT MEAN you shouldn't study. Remember studying is part of the homework so do it, and don't procrastinate until the last minute!!

Andrijana will be our next scribe!

GabbyM's Muddiest Point

My muddiest point for this chapter is the difference between estrogen and progesterone because it seems to me that they both cause the uterine lining to thicken. That is a similarity and I was wondering what is a difference. Thanks!

Muddiest Point

Im confused about positive and negative feedback. Also the endocrine system.

Muddiest Point 1/9

My muddiest point is number 5 on the objectives sheet. It says know the terms in the context of hormones and the menstrual cycle. The terms are negative feedback and positive feedback. Is that the chart where if the estrogen and progesterone are high, they tell the hypothalamus to turn everything off? If not, what are they?

Muddiest Point

My muddiest point for this section is that I am confused on the the difference of functions between progesterone and estrogen. I feel like they both do the same function, thicken the lining of the uterus.

Scribe 1/6

Today in class we had a reading check on sections 34.1 and 34.2 on the assigned pages. After the reading check we took notes on the Pituitary gland, the Hypothalamus, and the contol of Endocrime system.

Hypothalamus

1. Integrates the Endocrine and Nervous system
2. Controls Pituitary

Pituitary gland

1. Secretes 9 Hormones
2. Regulates other endocrime glands

Control of Endocrime system

1. Regulated by a feedback mechanism
2. Negative- last signal inhibits the first
3. Positive- last signal stimulates the first

After the notes we got to work on lab 31 wich is part of the homework. The rest of the homework was up 20-21 and section 34.4 with a flow map on fertilization, development, and pregnancy

Paul S muddiest point

I am confused on "Hypothalamus". What is it, and what does it do?

Thanks,
Paul S