Darwin's Blog

I just came across a most amazing blog. Evidently it has just recently been unearthed, a very old copy of Charles Darwin's blog, on his Voyage of the Beagle! I'd encourage everyone to visit, as he slowly posts excerpts from his amazing trip that is beginning to change the world, and everything we understand about reality.

Creationism vs Evolutionism Forum

Hi students,
for those of you that might be able to drag yourselves out of bed by 9 over the weekend, there are some good discussions happening on the origins of the world and man. Here is the link to the Fes world sacred music festival with the program. The discussions are supposed to take place in French with an English translation.

These discussions are from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Musee Batha and cost about 100 Dirhams to get in. There is one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

(Definite bonus points to anybody who attends one of the sessions, and can provide proof.)

Link for McDonald's

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_facts.html

8th Grade Nutrition Test

Here it is! Just like our friend Morgan Spurlock your job will be to "eat" a whole days worth of McDonald's food. UNLIKE Morgan, your job will be to get NO MORE than 2250 calories (I'm taking it easy on the girls to be fair.) You also need to get all of the carbohydrates and protein, without getting more than your recommended amount of fat. You can get more than you need of protein and carbohydrates, but not more than 2250 calories.

Rules:
MAXIMUM - 2250 calories
MAXIMUM - 87.5 grams of fat
MINIMUM - 253 grams of carbohydrates
MINIMUM - 56 grams of protein

3 meals - breakfast has to be breakfast foods.

You must have 1 soda.

You must have a main dish and a side (ex. burger and fries)

Bonus: Get enough Vitamin A 9 milligrams

Enjoy!

7th Grade: Excretory System! - 24.3

You always wanted to know how peepee worked, right?

Ok, it's too gross to think about. But I'm going to make you, for a grade. Ha!

Your urinary system, briefly
Your urinary system, the way your doctor thinks about it
Urinary system anatomy, big size
Kidney and nephron
Nephron, up close
Bladder!
Urine... ewwww....

7th Grade: Respriratory System!

You knew that talking about lungs was fun... and pretending to do mouth-to-mouth on your classmates is not an option at school. So, what to do? Look at somebody's vocal cords through a tube going down their nose! Fly through the bronchi! Animate your alveoli! See your cilia! Look at your lungs!

Oh, the joys of YouTube

Bugs Bunny's Creator - Vocal cords, LIVE!
Flying through the bronchi
Animated alveoli
Motion of Cilia
Lungs of a smoker

Poor Puppy!

Such a sad thing, to be born as somebody else's stupid play-toy.

Behold, the glowing puppy.

General Science: Harvard's Multimedia Page

COOOOOOOOOL videos! Ok, they're college-oriented, but if you're a nerd like me - or you just like to pretend you are - go to this page full of extremely cool animations and videos. I bet even Mr. Mills and Mr. Rice's replacement would like them.

Harvard's Molecular and Cell Biology Multimedia Page

7th Grade: Resources for Activity 23-2, page 642-643

Use the links in this article to answer the following questions.

Pictures of Human Blood, Bird Blood, and Frog Blood. Red blood cells are called erythrocytes, white blood cells are called lymphocytes, and platelets are called thrombocytes.

You can also see this human lymphocyte with special stain under a microscope, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) pictures of an individual human lymphocyte and human blood. From these pictures, and the three microscope slides of different bloods, answer the questions below.

In your classwork notebook, answer the Analyze and Apply questions as well as you can. Observe carefully.

6th Grade: Links for Unconformities

These links should help with any confusion on the pictures of unconformities.

Diagrams:
Making a disconformity
Making an angular disconformity
A page on all the topics

Here are some decent pictures of unconformities
Grand Canyon
Angular Unconformity 1
Angular Unconformity 2
Disconformation
A gallery of pictures

5th Grade: Biome Diagram Questions

Biome Diagram:
Go here and answer the questions below for Monday, 24/5. Answer these questions in your HW notebook.

1. As far as you can tell, which two biomes take up the largest areas on this diagram?
2. As far as you can tell, which two diagrams take up the smallest areas on the map?
3. Which biome has the widest range of average temperatures?
4. What kind of biome do you have if the annual precipitation is 100 cm and the average temperature is 0 degrees Celsius?
5. What is the minimum precipitation a savanna needs to receive each year, with average temperature 25 degrees, to not turn into a subtropical desert?

5th Grade: Biome Links

Here are some useful links to make the ides of the book easier to understand. They can also help you for your Chapter 5 Poster Project.

A useful site on ecosystems and biomes:
Ecosystems of our World

Biome Maps: Each of these is a little different. Why do you think this is?
Blue Planet Biomes
United States Bioregion Map <-- This is pretty complicated, because ecosystems come in as many varieties as places on earth. Interactive Biome Map: The Wild Classroom: Biome Map
The main Wild Classroom site can be reached at Wild Classroom Home

Now, here are links about food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids:

Food Chains and Food Webs
Two examples of food chains
An example of a food web

Also, here are links about the different kinds of cycles that happen in different biomes:

Here is a video describing the water cycle. This animation might also be useful.
Here is a picture of the water cycle. You can see the rest of web site at The Blue Planet.
Biogeochemical cycles talks about all the cycles, including, the water cycle, the carbon dioxide cycle, and the nitrogen cycle.

7th Grade: Circulatory System - 23.1

After you've tried the explore activity on p. 625 of your textbook, check out some of these links that can

You can use the first two links to locate the circulatory system and then figure out how blood moves inside of it.

Gross Anatomy : Use the section on cardiovascular system
Blood Cells
Smaples of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood

These animations go along with the pictures in section 23.1
Simple Animation of Heart Pumping
Systemic Cirulation
Blood cells moving through capillaries

When they open your heart for surgery, they have to use one of these.
A heart-lung machine

7th Grade: Human Body Systems

Here are a whole bunch of good links you cna use to get started in your quest for independent learning! That means: you go do the work outside of class! Yay!

Ok, joking aside, I hope these are good tools to help you out in learning about your own body and possibly even learning something that can help others.

Of course, you can always search around for yourself on Google and YouTube. I probably spend more time than I should myself, but the stuff just fascinates me.

Enjoy,

- Mr. Rice

Human Gross Anatomy :This one is a little intense on names, but very detailed.
Human Body Systems : This one is more for middle school students.
Kids Konnect - Human Body : Ok, this site really just takes a whole lot of other links and sends you to them, but the pictures are fun and help you understand what you're going to find.


My own video and image picks:

Torso with labeled organs
Detailed Muscular System

Human body 101
Human Body Systems Revealed

Article Summaries 9th Grade 6th Grading Period

Hey students,
Sorry that I did not get this up earlier. The assignment is the same as last time.

To review:
Post 4 article summaries as comments in the appropriate grade level, with your opinion about each one.
- DO NOT copy and paste the article, it will not count.
- DO include the link to the article.

Post 1 response to another student's summary with your opinion.

Please do not include any other languages (unless mentioned by the article).
Please do not include other student's names except for the original poster.

Again, this should be an easy 25 points.

Article Summaries 8th Grade 6th Grading Period

Hey students,
Sorry that I did not get this up earlier. The assignment is the same as last time.

To review:
Post 4 article summaries as comments in the appropriate grade level, with your opinion about each one.
- DO NOT copy and paste the article, it will not count.
- DO include the link to the article.

Post 1 response to another student's summary with your opinion.

Please do not include any other languages (unless mentioned by the article).
Please do not include other student's names except for the original poster.

Again, this should be an easy 25 points.

Article Summaries 11th Grade 6th Grading Period

Hey students,
Sorry that I did not get this up earlier. The assignment is the same as last time.

To review:
Post 4 article summaries as comments in the appropriate grade level, with your opinion about each one.
- DO NOT copy and paste the article, it will not count.
- DO include the link to the article.

Post 1 response to another student's summary with your opinion.

Please do not include any other languages (unless mentioned by the article).
Please do not include other student's names except for the original poster.

Again, this should be an easy 25 points.

6th Grade: Fossils!

Making plaster casts... for babies...

Making fossils

Ancient footprints?

Index Fossil Chart

A great page of visualizations to help you understand the concepts of geologic time.

5th Grade: Chapter 4 - Links for Lessons 3 and 4

Pollination Video!
Seed dispersal
Sporophytes!

Check out these tropism videos!

Phototropism
Gravitropism
Thigmotropism

Germination 1
Germination 2
Grass of the field...

Nutrition - Part 1

You know you want to be healthy. What does nutrition have to do with it? You'll find out in chapter 22.

Here are some links to help you out!

Plain old nutrition facts.
What IS a macromolecule, you may ask. Find out here

And, of course, what happens when you eat too much vitamin A

5th Grade Seed Germination: Guided Inquiry

Materials:
3 paper towels
1 clear cup (plastic or glass)
water
4 beans

1. Fold a paper towel in half. Fold it in half again, lengthwise. use it to line the inside of the cup.
2. Stuff wads of paper in towels in the center of the cup. Pour water on the towels to make them wet.
3. Poke the seeds down between the lining and the cup.


Put the seeds at equal distances around the cup (see your notes from class).
Arrange the seeds in the positions indicated from class (also see your notes from class).

4. Place the cup in a warm place. Observe the seeds daily for one week. Keep the towels moist.
5. Draw and describe how the roots grew in your notebook using the instructions from class.

Explain your results:
1. What direction did the roots grow.
2. Interpret Data: What might you conclude about the effect of gravity on the growth of roots?

Bones and Muscle

So, here are a few links to help you make sense of today's class:

First, go to this other post I made for 5th Grade originally (it was hard for them) here

Then, try these links:

Smooth Muscle
Muscle Video
Smooth and Skeletal Muscle
Cardiac Muscle

The most awesome mitosis video ever

It's done without any computer-enhanced effects (they say) except for some optical tricks. And it's supposed to happen in real time. I don't know about that, but it really is just about the coolest thing I've ever seen. THIS is how plants grow... and you too.

Real-time mitosis

Computerized Music

Why not?

It's like musical Legos. Enjoy!

Plate Tectonics and Earth Origins?...

A series of videos that explore the origin of earth and the way plate tectonics works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft-dP2D7QM4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x8-KMR0nx8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_7obPhGCCk&feature=related

Leaves and Photosynthesis

Links to pictures and videos of leaves, leaf parts, and explanations of photosynthesis.

http://www.molecularexpressions.com/primer/java/photosynthesis/index.html

http://www.osovo.com/diagram/photosynthesisdiagrams.htm

http://www.molecularexpressions.com/cells/leaftissue/leaftissuelarge.html

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPLANTANAT.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/biology/world_of_plants/making_food_rev5.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_WKgnL6MI

http://www.5min.com/Video/Plants-Photosynthesis-1354330

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2052546048515904444&ei=l2b5SeC0KY6g2wKkhcHqBQ&q=dry+ice+carbon+dioxide

6th Grade: Plate Tectonics Links

A picture of plate tectonics
A map of global plate tectonics

Global view of plate tectonics

Another view of plate tectonics

There you go. I hope this helps.

Biology B: Evolution Online

1) Go to this web site:

http://www.fossweb.com/modulesMS/PopulationsandEcosystems/index.html

2) Click "Populations and Ecosystems" button on the left.

3) Enter the username and password.

username: ch3mboi
password: w473rd0wn

4) Click "enter the program". On the next page that loads, click "continue"

5) Click on the "Walking Sticks" cage and play the three different games available, in order. It may take you some time, but as you go, explore the different menu options. You can use this to answer the questions in Biology B Unit 7, Activity 3.

Enjoy!

Article Summaries 11th Grade 5th Grading Period

Okay, new idea. Since most of your grades are going to be destroyed by article summaries, I have a new plan. There will be one post this grading period for each grade. You must post 4 different article summaries by 12:30 on April 30th. This means that you can post 4 in a row, or one a week, or any combination that you desire. If you have already submitted articles, they will still count.

Also, you must post one response to another student's article summary. This means that if nobody turns in an article summary until the last minute, all of you will lose points.

In conclusion, by April 30th, 12:30, you will have 4 article summaries and 1 response to another student's summary. That is worth 25 points, or close to a test grade. Easy, right?

Enjoy,
Mr. Mills

P.S. There are already some articles posted if you look.

Article Summaries 9th Grade 5th Grading Period

Okay, new idea. Since most of your grades are going to be destroyed by article summaries, I have a new plan. There will be one post this grading period for each grade. You must post 4 different article summaries by 12:30 on April 30th. This means that you can post 4 in a row, or one a week, or any combination that you desire. If you have already submitted articles, they will still count.

Also, you must post one response to another student's article summary. This means that if nobody turns in an article summary until the last minute, all of you will lose points.

In conclusion, by April 30th, 12:30, you will have 4 article summaries and 1 response to another student's summary. That is worth 25 points, or close to a test grade. Easy, right?

Enjoy,
Mr. Mills

P.S. There are already some articles posted if you look.

Article Summaries 8th Grade 5th Grading Period

Okay, new idea. Since most of your grades are going to be destroyed by article summaries, I have a new plan. There will be one post this grading period for each grade. You must post 4 different article summaries by 12:30 on April 30th. This means that you can post 4 in a row, or one a week, or any combination that you desire. If you have already submitted articles, they will still count.

Also, you must post one response to another student's article summary. This means that if nobody turns in an article summary until the last minute, all of you will lose points.

In conclusion, by April 30th, 12:30, you will have 4 article summaries and 1 response to another student's summary. That is worth 25 points, or close to a test grade. Easy, right?

Enjoy,
Mr. Mills

P.S. If you look, there are some comments already posted.

Biology B: Wanna test DNA?

How SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis works
The next video in the series, which can be followed in the side-bar

Hey, 5th grade!

Guess what?

Cells and Tissues: Animations and Pictures

Here are some animations and pictures of cells and tissues at work.

Cells are the smallest individual living things. Tissues are groups of cells that work together to perform a certain job. Your body depends on both of them to stay healthy and alive.

Animations:
Cilia in protists
BioVisions: Inner Life of the Cell
Body to Cell
Muscle Cell Contraction
Preparing cell slides
Red blood cells

Pictures:
Man with skin, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels
Bicep muscle joined to arm and hand ligaments
Muscle parts
Body with muscles - diagram, front
Body with muscles - diagram, back
Bone cross-section

The Science Spot!

So, I've been using some worksheets from this web site for a number of years now. Lots of fun stuff, for teachers and students alike!

There you go kids, Mr. Mills....

You're welcome....

- Mr. Rice

Apr. 6th Article Summary for 9th Grade.

If you get this week's article and last week's article time-stamped by Monday April 6th at 8:30, I will give full credit. If they are not in by 8:30, they will not count. Each article is worth 5 points.

Mr. Mills

Apr. 6th Article Summary for 8th Grade.

If you get this week's article and last week's article time-stamped by Monday April 6th at 8:30, I will give full credit. If they are not in by 8:30, they will not count. Each article is worth 5 points.

Mr. Mills

Apr. 6th Article Summary for 11th Grade.

If you get this week's article and last week's article time-stamped by Monday April 6th at 8:30, I will give full credit. If they are not in by 8:30, they will not count. Each article is worth 5 points.

Mr. Mills

Hey, there's another science blog!

This person is just as random as me and Mr. Mills! Cool!

Get Your Science On!

- Mr. Rice

Mar. 30 Article summary for11th grade

First grade of the 5th nine weeks!

Mar. 30 Article summary for 9th grade

First grade of the 5th nine weeks!

Mar. 30 Article summary for 8th grade

First grade of the 5th nine weeks!

Making your own petri dishes at home...

So, for anybody interested in learning how to make their own petri dishes so they can grow nasty little bugs at home...

Boil ¼ cup of water. Add one teaspoon of gelatin and one teaspoon of sugar. Stir for one minute until everything is dissolved.
2. Cool the solution for ten minutes.
3. Fill a petri dish to a little below the top edge.
4. Close the petri dish by putting on the cover immediately. Let the covered petri dish stand for at least four hours. Don’t touch the growth medium or you’ll add your own germs!

This recipe will fill two small petri dishes. If you and your class plan to fill more petri dishes, make more germ food by increasing the amount of your ingredients proportionally.
*Adapted from Gross But True Germs by Luann Colombo. See details in bibliography. If you don’t have the materials needed for the experiment, you can purchase Ms. Colombo’s book, which includes all the supplies needed to conduct the experiment.

Recopied from wikiHow

March 16th Article Summary for 8th Grade

Just a reminder that I don't want you to copy and paste an article. I want you to summarize an article, provide the link, and give your opinion on the article. Enjoy.

Mr. Mills

March 16th Article Summary for 9th Grade

Just a reminder that I don't want you to copy and paste an article. I want you to summarize an article, provide the link, and give your opinion on the article. Enjoy.

Mr. Mills

March 16th Article Summary for 11th Grade

Just a reminder that I don't want you to copy and paste an article. I want you to summarize an article, provide the link, and give your opinion on the article. Enjoy.

Mr. Mills

Fish With Transparent Skull

This is just weird and creepy, and really cool. My best friend sent me this link.

Barreleye Fish

Enjoy!

- Mr. Rice

Mar. 9th Article Summary for 11th grade

I know, I'm so mean for giving an assignment over break, but hey, that's what I do. I can't just let you sit around and not think about science for 10 days in a row.

Mar. 9th Article Summary for 9th grade

I know, I'm so mean for giving an assignment over break, but hey, that's what I do. I can't just let you sit around and not think about science for 10 days in a row.

Mar. 9th Article Summary for 8th grade

I know, I'm so mean for giving an assignment over break, but hey, that's what I do. I can't just let you sit around and not think about science for 10 days in a row.

Chapter 9 Challenge Assignment

Ok, 7th grade. Guess what: you get a chance to add a whole 5% to your next chapter test grade if you can complete this extra credit assignment by Monday, February 23rd. Here is the challenge:

You need to do some internet research that you can put on this web page. Find:

- At least ONE web page about a species of protist or fungit that explains in words YOU can understand. Write your own summary, including the name of the species in binomial nomenclature.

- At least THREE high-quality pictures of your species, each one a different view that shows something different about the species. This could be different angles, shapes, or magnifications.

- At least ONE decent video that helps to show how this species moves or grows.

Use the example given here and post your own comment on this article, in the same way. If you need help with the computer part, ask outside class or by email to me, Mr. Rice

Example:

Ulva Lactica - common name: Sea Lettuce

Sea lettuce is a species of green algae, in the phylum chlorophyta. They grow in ocean environments in different parts of the world and are often able to be eaten. I know this because I have tried them. They can be TASTY!

Check out some articles about them here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_lettuce
http://www.crd.bc.ca/watersheds/protection/wildlife-plants/sealettuce.htm

Those articles have some good pictures. Here is another really good one with pictures too:

http://www.jonolavsakvarium.com/blog/200708/blog200708.html

And, here are some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsU6xRvGl8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU6KKGBLN

And, just to let you know, I did this assignment in about 20 minutes. It might take you about an hour. But, have fun with it! Try to learn a little about your particular subject. If you can tell me something useful about it on the extra credit question in the next test (DURING the test) then you'll be able to earn up to another 5%. That means you can make a total of 10% extra. That means going from a C to a B, or even a B to an A.

Good luck! I hope to see your entries here.

- Mr. Rice

Great Photos of Diverse Bacteria and Protozoans

I found this page while doing research for 7th grade. I love the pictures. Great color. Better than a photocopied textbook any day.

Enjoy.

http://www.bio.mtu.edu/the_wall/phycodisc/CHLOROPHYTA/

Feb 16th Article Summary for 11th Grade

All right guys, one more time. If everybody manages to get a comment about an article up here by Monday morning, then I'll give everybody no homework on Monday.

Feb 16th Article Summary for 9th Grade

All right guys, one more time. If everybody manages to get a comment about an article up here by Monday morning, then I'll give everybody no homework on Monday.

Feb 16th Article Summary for 8th Grade

All right guys, one more time. If everybody manages to get a comment about an article up here by Monday morning, then I'll give everybody no homework on Monday.

Feb. 2 Article Summary for 8th Grade

Okay guys, let's try this again.

Find an article, summarize it, opinionize it. Paste the link here.

Mr. Mills

Feb. 2 Article Summary for 9th Grade

Okay guys, let's try this again.

Find an article, summarize it, opinionize it. Paste the link here.

Mr. Mills

Feb. 2 Article Summary for 11th Grade

Okay guys, let's try this again.

Find an article, summarize it, opinionize it. Paste the link here.

Mr. Mills

Jan. 26 Article Summaries for 11th Grade

Okay, we are going to give this a try, in the interest of saving paper, and the overload on the printer at 8 o'clock Monday morning.

Post your article summary as a comment on this post. Make sure that you include a link to the article. Summarize the article and give your opinion on it. Also, make sure that your writing is understandable and use American English spell check!

Have fun,
Mr. Mills

Jan. 26 Article Summaries for 9th Grade

Okay, we are going to give this a try, in the interest of saving paper, and the overload on the printer at 8 o'clock Monday morning.

Post your article summary as a comment on this post. Make sure that you include a link to the article. Summarize the article and give your opinion on it. Also, make sure that your writing is understandable and use American English spell check!

Have fun,
Mr. Mills

Jan. 26 Article Summaries for 8th Grade

Okay, we are going to give this a try, in the interest of saving paper, and the overload on the printer at 8 o'clock Monday morning.

Post your article summary as a comment on this post. Make sure that you include a link to the article. Summarize the article and give your opinion on it. Also, make sure that your writing is understandable and use American English spell check!

Have fun,
Mr. Mills

Flash Interactives for Seasons and Lunar Phases

The Earth-Moon-Sun system... what a joy to behold! It's a little hard to understand at first, but these interactive flash simulations make it a whole lot easier. Say thanks to McGraw-Hill.

"Thank McGraw-Hill"

That's nice, children. :-)

Lunar Phases

Earth Seasons

Designer Babies

Read this article Designer Babies. Ethical? Inevitable?
Reply to this post in a comment about how you feel about this article. No need to summarize, as all of us are reading the same article.

Specifically:
1. Should the choosing of a child's genetics be allowed?
2. Is it ethical to destroy the unwanted embryos?
3. Would you use this process on your own children if you knew that you had a specific genetic disease?