What's Going On Here?

Calling all Biology students! Out by your butterfly garden, I noticed something happening that you are learning about in this week's chapter about plants.

Here is a plant in the genus Oxalis in the shade:

And here is the same kind of plant in the sun:

Can you tell me what is happening here?

The Garden that We Built

April 22 was Earth Day, and boy, did you guys do it up right! Thanks to the Three Rivers Foundation, you guys used your own hands to make SHS's very first butterfly garden! I am so proud of your attention to detail, the way you got in there and worked hard in the sun, and helped each other to do something good for your school. Now we have completed what is the first step to all kinds of cool projects - like tracking butterfly and hummingbird migrations, an eventual bigger garden, and even building a box turtle habitat. Good job!!!

And here's the result of your hard work! (Drumroll......)

Great work, guys!!

Chemistry: What Are Fossil Fuels?

This week in Chemistry, we are taking a little trip away from your text book and are going to study something out of ~Chapter X~.....

What's Chapter X, you ask? It's a chapter that I built myself so that you can learn a little more about hydrocarbons - how we get them, how we use them, and how they affect us. By the end of the chapter, you will know more about alternatives to using hydrocarbons also.

To start off, go to this link: What are fossil fuels?

Use the website that comes up to answer the questions on your class handout.

Let's Take A Walk

Spring is upon us - more or less. :) And depending on whether or not there are hurricane force winds outside, you may have gotten a chance to walk around outside some and notice a few things. If you are in Biology right now, you might start noticing some things we've been learning about in class. For example, on a shrub along the Brazos river, I saw this thing...What is it? What kingdom is it from?

You're right, I just asked you a trick question. This organism is actually from two kingdoms - it's part fungus and part algae - a symbiotic relationship known as a "lichen."

Not too far from the lichen, I saw this thing...

Whoa!! What is that?!!? The Blob? Maybe you need a bigger picture to figure it out...

Still don't know? Let's try an even bigger picture...

Those green blobs aren't blobs at all - they are algae. And if you go back to the first picture of "the blob," you'll see that it is using it's photosynthetic skills like the sun won't shine tomorrow. See all of those bubbles? What gas do you suppose is in them? To answer that question, you've got to think back to the chemical equation for photosynthesis:

Light + Water + Carbon dioxide --> Sugar + Oxygen

That's why algae can be good for water ecosystems. It is not only part of the food chain, but it oxygenates water for other organisms.

And even the Blob can't do that.

Seymour Science Day

Seymour Science Day was this past Saturday, and wow, what a day! The Three Rivers Foundation brought everything from turtles, to bird seed garden kits, to meteorites to telescopes and even a cool game that let you build your own bracelet while learning about the water cycle. The Houston Museum of Natural Science was there too, with fossils, kites, coloring contests and yes - even bugs.......to eat!! A special thanks go to our student volunteers who put in a lot of hours to make this whole program work. Your hard work is deeply appreciated and you did such a great job!!

The only thing that could have made the day better was if the sky had cleared up in time for a star party, but don't worry, we'll have another one soon.

Here are some pics from our busy day that you might like. And I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted - so let's have a good, restful Spring Break! It got kicked off to a great start!

Do Something

The last few chapters in our Biology book have made us very aware of some of the difficult issues (like acid rain, ozone depletion, global warming, chemical pollution, loss of resources and population growth) we face on our planet that will have to be addressed if we are going to be able to keep Earth so that it can sustain our growing population.

Believe it or not, as big as these issues are, there are actually a lot of things you can do to start working toward our new goals of protecting our life on this planet. If you will look over to the right hand menu over there, you will see a new "widget" called the "Act Now Matrix." This cool little tool is from DoSomething.org and lets you pick from a list of lots of pressing issues we have, and see lists of things you can do about your issue, all organized by the size of the group of people you are working with and where you want to work on your issue.

Here's what I want you to do:

1. Pick one of these issues that we learned about in class:

• Acid Rain
• Ozone
• Global Temperature
• Chemical Pollution
• Loss of Resources
• Population Growth

2. Use the widget from dosomething.org to find something reasonable that you can do, today, to do something about your issue. There are a lot to choose from.

3. Start a new page in your science journal ("Ch. 18 The Issues") and describe your issue - what has caused it, what is the overall goal we need to reach to resolve this issue and then tell me something that you can realistically do (for example, if acid rain is my issue, then my overall goal might be to cut down on putting chemicals in the air, and what I can do is something more specific that will help achieve that goal. And no, you can't use what I just said for your entry! :) ). Don't forget to draw a picture!

Summer Science

There are some really cool opportunities for you guys to do some really cool stuff this summer!Here are some descriptions of programs you can apply for and links where you can read more about the ones you are interested in. You should be able to find applications on each website also. You can post a comment here to let me know what you're looking into. Let me know if you need help!


Aquatic Sciences Adventure Camp
Students study water resources in the beautiful Central Texas Hill Country. Activities
include collecting aquatic organisms, microscope labs, water chemistry labs (pH, temperature,
dissolved oxygen, turbidity), viewing wildlife and spring systems from a glass-bottom
boat. Recreational activities include tubing, swimming, river rafting, a scuba/snorkeling
lesson, and Sea World.


iD Tech Camps
Create digital movies, websites, video games, robots and more! iD Tech Camps provides
weeklong day and overnight summer programs for ages 7-17 at 60 universities in 26 states,
including UT Austin. Teen programs include: iD Gaming Academy, iD Film Academy and iD
Programming Academy.

Texas Brigades Wildlife Ed & Leadership Development
Dates: 6/14/2009 to 7/30/2009
Six week-long camps to choose from! Intensive programs studying wildlife biology and ecology,
along with leadership and life-skills development. Network with professionals in the industry.
Connect with youth with similar interests. Become a leader!

Wonder-Space Computer and Technology Camp
Build a computer or a robot! Design a computer game! Direct and edit your own video!
Or animate graphics and more! At Wonder-Space campers get hands-on experience with
engineering and technology principles using project based curriculums designed by Rice
University graduates. Ages 7-17. Coed. All experience levels.

Bridge to Engineering
Residential engineering camp for 9th & 10th grades

Science; It's A Girl Thing
The goals are to provide girls with strong role models and dispel myths and misconceptions about science and careers in science. Campers experience university life, hands-on classes and recreational activities. Some classes include: food and nutrition, chemistry, environmental toxicology, the biology of disaster relief, engineering, mathematics and animal science.

Shake Hands With Your Future
Shake Hands is a summer residential camp for academically talented students. Students experience university life and attend two classes. The camp includes field trips, and recreational activities.


Run on the Wind:Engineering A Clean Tomorrow
Students will explore the power of the wind and the means by which we harness it. They will measure the wind, learn the basics of turbine design and test their wind turbine. They will learn what academic skills are necessary to succeed in this important emerging field. Attendance is limited to 45 students. We encourage early registration.

Check them out and then let me know if you want to apply for any of these. If the program is not free, there is a possibility that you can get a scholarship through the Texas gifted and talented program. Keep in mind that being involved in programs like these can really get the attention of college, people who give scholarships to go to college, and even future employers. I met some of my best friends by taking the leap and getting involved in programs like these, and you never know what doors of opportunity will open to you, just from saying "yes" to one opportunity that comes your way.

Keep me posted!

Reading, 'Riting, Rithmetic, and....Recess?

*I think it's safe to say that Spring Madness at our school started this week. On top of being busy in the classroom, we've got golf and ag events and tennis and baseball and softball and basketball an cheerleading and band and play practice and after-school jobs and - well, you get the idea. Spring Madness. Do you ever feel like spring time is just exhausting? Like you can't get a break, but you need one desperately? Like Spring Break might quite possible save your life?

Did you know that there's science to back that up?

An article just came out in the New York Times about how that recess time that you remember so fondly from grade school is actually good for you.

Check it out here.

Why is that break from recess so important? Here's what an article from helpguide.org says about the effects of relaxation:

"The relaxation response brings your system back into balance: deepening your breathing, reducing stress hormones, slowing down your heart rate and blood pressure, and relaxing your muscles.
In addition to its calming physical effects, research shows that the
relaxation response also increases energy and focus, combats illness, relieves aches and pains, heightens problem-solving abilities, and boosts motivation and productivity. Best of all – with a little practice – anyone can reap these benefits. "

Of course, now I know what you're thinking - If taking a break during difficult tasks, or between tasks can help your brain concentrate and focus efficiently on your next task, why don't we have recess in high school? You've got a good point there. Well, recess in high school might be a little disastrous, (looking at it from a teacher's perspective, anyway), so what can you do to stay better focused in class? How does this research apply to you when you are taking the TAKS test? How could opportunities for a little down time be worked into your every day schedule, or during class time, even? Or is it worth working in down time at all? Tell me your ideas.

Oh, and then put all of your ideas into practice. Go take a break. Then get back to your homework!

*Photo obtained from "The 3 R's? A Fourth is Crucial, Too: Recess" on Feb. 25, 2009. Photo by Stuart Bradford.

An Inconvenient Truth - and What You Can Do

In Biology this week, we've talked about the carbon cycle and global warming. Then we watched An Inconvenient Truth and saw lots of alarming science. Did you know that we are already seeing effects of global warming? On the Inconvenient Truth website, scientists have stated the following facts:

1. " The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.
   
2. Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.


3. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.


4. At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles."

Scientists also predict the following changes:

1. Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year


2. Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.


3. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.


4. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.


5. The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.


6. More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050."
   

Curious about how you affect global warming. Take this quiz to see how big your carbon footprint is.

Geeze, this all looks rather hopeless, doesn't it? In fact, a lot of people look at these facts and say "Ok, so I get that global warming is real. But this is such a huge problem, that there's just no hope that I can do something to fix it," and so the problem goes on. Is there anything you can do? Actually, yes! Here are some things you can do - right now - that can help counter global warming.

1. Replace a regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb (cfl).
CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save
about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. If every family in the U.S. made
the switch, we’d reduce carbon dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds! You
can purchase CFLs online from the Energy Federation.

2. Move your thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer. Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling. You could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year with this simple adjustment. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has more tips for saving energy on heating and cooling.

3. Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases. Look for the Energy Star label on new appliances to choose the most efficient models. If each household in the U.S. replaced its existing appliances with the most efficient models available, we’d eliminate 175 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year!

4. Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (350 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.

5. Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible. You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.




6. Turn off electronic devices you’re not using. Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer when you’re not using them will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.


7. Unplug electronics from the wall when you’re not using them. Even when turned off, things like hairdryers, cell phone chargers and televisions use energy. In fact, the energy used to keep display clocks lit and memory chips working accounts for 5 percent of total domestic energy consumption and spews 18 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!


8. Only run your dishwasher when there’s a full load and use the energy-saving setting. You can save 100 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.


9. Be sure you’re recycling at home (when you can). You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates. Earth 911 can help you find recycling resources in your area.


10. Buy recycled paper products. It takes less 70 to 90% less energy to make recycled paper and it prevents the loss of forests worldwide.





11.Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%. The Arbor Day Foundation has information on planting and provides trees you can plant with membership.



12. Buy fresh foods instead of frozen. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

13. Avoid heavily packaged products. You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by 10%.

Want to see the complete list? You can find it here.

You're right. The climate crisis is a really big problem. But solving it has to start somewhere. Why not you?

*All facts, figures, tips and pictures came from the Inconvenient Truth website. Accessed on February 20, 2009.

Chemistry, Energy and You

In Chemistry this week, we're talking about energy, and when we talk about energy, a lot of times, we're talking about heat (energy flowing from one place to another). You are also learning that the energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance, like water, is called a calorie.

Wait a minute. I thought calories had to do with food?

Well, calories are related to food. You just use the word "calorie" a little differently. When the "calorie" is associated with caloric intake, you are actually referring to the heat (energy) released from the chemical reactions that take place in your body when you eat food and then break the bonds between all of those little molecules in your food. So if a particular food has a lot of "calories", that means that more heat can be released by breaking its bonds than other foods. The amount of energy that can be released is not to be confused with whether or not the food is good for you. A candy bar may have a lot of calories, but it has few nutrients that you actually need and has lots of stuff in it that you don't need. It also gives you the kind of energy that gets used up really quickly, but leaves you with oils and fatty materials that hang around in your body a long time.

All of the activities you do during a 24 hour period require different amounts of energy. Running, for example, requires a lot more energy than jus sleeping (which does require energy, by the way.) So because different people have different energy requirements, that means that a healthy diet varies depending on who you are.

In class, I want you to go to the USDA's food pyramid website and find MyPyramid Tracker (on the right side menu). We're going to do three things: 1) Calculate your caloric intake. 2) Calculate your Energy Requirements. 3) Compare the two.

To do this, scroll down to "Check it Out" and click there. You can register as a user for free later if you want to use the tools you're about to see on a regular basis.

Now fill in your information about how tall you are, etc. This will help the tracker identify how many calories you use for any given activity.

Click on "Proceed to Food Intake." Here, you can type in foods that you eat on a normal day. To find your food on the list, type it in, hit "Search" and select what you want from the list that appears. Click "add" for each food.

When you are happy with your list of foods for one day, click on "Select Quantity." Now you can tell the Tracker if you would normally eat an entire pizza or just one slice (big calorie difference!). When you are finished with that, click "Save and Analyze."

Now you have two options. Choose the first on - "Calculate DG Comparison," which will compare your intake to what is healthy. Take a look around.

Now scroll back to the top of that page and find the little sphere labeled as "Physical Activity Entry." Choose the "Standard Option" when asked. Now you are going to make a list of what activities you perform on a daily basis. To choose from a complete list of activities instead of thinking them up on your own, you can click on the "Select" button and choose from the detailed list that shows up. Add each activity you want and when you are finished, "Select Duration."

Now is the hard part - make those activities fit in a 24 hour period. When you are finished and everything adds up to 1,140 minutes' worth of activities, tell the Tracker to analyze your activities. Choose the to calculate your physical activity score. This is your energy requirement for one day.

Now go back to the spheres at the top of the page again and choose the one that says "Energy Balance." This will compare the amount of calories you need to what you actually take in on a typical day.

How do your numbers compare? People who take in fewer calories than they need will lose weight as they bodies get the energy they need from anywhere they can get it - usually fat reserves in the body. People who are taking in more calories than they need tend to gain weight because their bodies make the executive decision that just in case a famine occurs in the near future, all of that energy ought to be saved. The energy gets saved as fat, which is not that big of a deal if you live somewhere were famines occur. The problem is that in the U.S., famines don't occur too terribly often. Food is pretty readily available for most folks here and a lot of that food has a high caloric content. A great deal of U.S. citizens live pretty inactive lives (not like you guys, who have practice before school, go to school, go to athletics, go to practice after school, then go home and work some more), eat out all the time, and eat a lot every time they eat. Not good.

Put this data in your science journals on the same page as your estimated caloric requirements that you calculated in class.

As I mentioned earlier, this tool is available to anyone, is free and if you register (also free) you can use this tool to track your intake and needs on a daily basis. You can also find information about what a healthy diet should look like for you based on your energy requirements. Pretty cool, huh?

Biology Links - Material Cycles

Hey guys! For today's lesson about how materials get cycled through both living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem, check out these links:

Water Cycle

Carbon Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle

For your daily grade today, post a comment on how you think people could influence the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. Is that impact good, bad, or both (explain why)? Do these cycles need protecting in any way? Why? What can you do to help maintain a healthy ecosystem?

Fall in Love with Science

Valentine's Day is just right around the corner, and whether that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside or feel like swearing off of all major holidays, you can't help but notice that love has some strange affects on people. Loss of appetite, a racing heart, blushing, sweaty palms, lack of sleep, giddiness, bursts of energy, and the complete inability to think about anything else except the object of your affection are all the typical symptoms of falling hard for someone. Did you know that these symptoms aren't just cliche ways of describing someone in love, but are actually real reactions to chemicals in your body that are released in response to finding a possible mate?


From biology class, you know that the survival of a species depends on successful pairing between individuals of that species. And your body ensures that you're interested in the survival of your species by pumping out hormones that make you feel good about carrying the species on. Don't believe me?


That intense interest in that significant other person initially comes from the hormones estrogen and testosterone (both hormones are released in both sexes). Then when the giddiness at the very sight of that person, flushed skin and sweaty hands - that's hormones like dopamine and norepinephrine at work. Do those names sound familiar? If they do, it's because we talked about both of them during Drug Free week this past Fall. Dopamine is the hormone that your body sends out every time you do something that needs to be encouraged, like eating, getting exercise, and promoting survival of the species in general. It's also the hormone that switches pathways in the brain when addictive drugs enter a person's body.


When both dopamine and norepinephrine (the hormone that makes your heart race) work together, then you get all of those other lovely side effects, such as sleeplessness and that loss of appetite that your friends make fun of you for. The two hormones' combined efforts, along with altered levels of serotonin, also lead you to focus on that person above all other things around you. These hormones even affect the pathways in your brain that you use when you judge what kind of a person someone is. If those pathways get suppressed, you have a hard time seeing that person's faults (anyone ever heard that "love is blind?")





By the way, eating chocolate actually stimulates a similar hormonal response in your brain, which might explain the Valentine's Day tradition of buying, giving and eating chocolate.


For folks who are going the distance in their relationship, some of these intense and exhausting symptoms we've just discussed might feel like they're fading. Science backs that up too. People who are in long term relationships have shown higher levels of hormones like oxytocin and vasopressin. These two hormones are associated with building bonds between people, and are also known for interfering with hormones like dopamine and norepinephrine, so now all of that skipping of meals, being oblivious to a person's faults, and sweaty palms fade away. But don't worry - even though the rush that comes with crushing on someone might fade, a hormones called endorphins pick up where dopamine lets off. Endorphins are feel-good hormones too, and they also make a person feel peaceful, happy and secure.


Like it or not, Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, but now you know the science behind the celebration. Whether you've got a valentine or not, if you think about it, your body is pretty smart when it comes to making sure your species lives to see another generation. Pretty cool, huh?

(By the way, the information and diagram in this post came from an article at How Stuff Works, by Lee Ann Obringer. )

Math Shmath

Did you ever get the feeling that Chemistry feels an awful lot like Math class?

Even though you might feel a little lost in the midst of all of those complicated stoichiometry problems sometimes (check out the cartoon above by Sidney Harris), the cool part is science concepts are built on more branches of study, all tied together, than almost any other subject matter. Think about it - the ideas we discuss in chemistry are also often tied to:

• biology, agriculture, and earth science (chemistry explains why we see the things we see in around us),


• physics (think particle motion, kinetic energy, pressure, temperature - sound familiar?),


• history (remember that science builds on itself),


• english (anyone who ever wrote a lab report knows that you those research projects in english really do have a purpose),


• technology (technology provides the tools we use in science and, and science, in turn, helps us create better technology),


• health (chemistry is involved in medicines and their reactions in your body, for example),


• and yes, you guessed it, math.

What all of this means is that it's not hard to find some part of science that you like, even if science itself is not your favorite subject. And what that means, is that when you start thinking about careers and fields of study outside of high school, organizations that are closely related to science, (like NASA, museums, chemical companies, etc.) depend on a really wide range of people with wide ranges of interests and skills to meet the goals they have for their organization. It also means that almost any job you choose is going to involve science, one way or another.

So next time you are in science class and you start to think about saying that "you're never going to use this" - think again. Science is everywhere, my friends, and there's no escaping it! :)

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it is tied to everything else in the universe. "
-John Muir (1838-1914) U. S. naturalist, explorer.

Interview with Leonardo the Dinosaur Mummy

Speaking of a species going extinct, do you remember Leonardo the Dinosaur Mummy? I got to visit him this past Fall. Here are the pics from my trip.

(For the full story on the Leo exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, click here.)

Me and Leo like he would have been in real life.

Bone Structure

Leo's Head (He's looking to the right.)

Leo and the smoking gun. Whodunnit?

My challenge for you is this: If you could interview Leo, what would you ask and what do you think his answer would be? For extra credit, post your question and Leo's answer in a comment. If it's a really good - and I mean really good as in scientifically relevant to something you've learned in class - I'll give you a bonus point on your next test (Ch. 15 for Biology, Ch. 14 for Chemistry).

Science in the News - Bringing a Species Back from the Dead

Hey Guys! Right now in Biology, you're learning about what happens when an entire population of a species begins to decline and possibly become extinct. In the last couple of chapters, you've also learned about genetics, evolution and history of the Earth in general. Put that all together and you get a common question: "Can you bring an extinct species back from the dead?"

Check out with Discovery Magazine has to say -

Cloning Makes a Mountain Goat Un-Extinct, But the Newborn Kid Dies 80beats Discover Magazine

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