The Bridge Building Competition begin!!!

For the remainder of the year the students are going to partake in a basswood bridge building competition.  Each team will get 12 pieces of 3/16 x 3/16 basswood to work with.  There will also be specifications and guidelines that each team has to meet — these are coming soon.

Ultimately, the champion bridge is the lightest bridge that holds the most weight.  The way we do the score is we take the mass held (in grams) divided by the mass of the bridge (in grams).  For example: If your bridge weighs 15 grams and holds 9 kg (9000 grams your structural efficiency score would be 9000/15 = 600.

You will build two bridges!

The two websites below will give you some examples of truss designs to use for your bridge.  I would encourage you to read through them and have a design in mind for the competition.

http://www.garrettsbridges.com/design/trussdesign

http://pghbridges.com/basics.htm

Also, while I will supply you with glue you may want to purchase your own.  The best is CA modeling glue (gap filling) or you could just get super glue.  There are many brands of CA glue to choose from and all are good.  We get our glue for Science Olympiad from Tom Thumb Crafts in Evanston.  The website with the address and phone # is below.

www.tomthumbcrafts.com

Should We Create Babies By Design?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/humans/babies/

The paragraph below is taken from the above website

“Would you like a blue-eyed or a brown-eyed baby? Is Alzheimer’s in your family? We can screen for that. And obesity? We’ll see what we can do.” In the not-too-distant future, doctors might routinely ask such questions of expectant parents. They might even alter the genes of a developing fetus and create, in effect, custom-made babies. But should they”

Please read through the below website and be prepared to discuss on Monday.

Baby by Design

Objective:
You have to post at least one Pro and one Con in response to the Babies by Design Website.  The main questions that you will be responding to is:

–Should we be able to genetically alter developing fetuses?
Or
–Do the benefits of new genetic tools outweigh the risks?

YOU CANNOT STATE THE OBVIOUS IN YOUR RESPONSE!!!

THE WORLD OF GENETICS
A whole new world will be opened up to the students this week.  We have moved on from vocab and Punnett squares to what the genetic code is all about.  The students will begin this week learning about meiosis (see image below).  We will also be learning about the structure and function of DNA.  Not only that, all students will also be extracting their own DNA form cheek cells.  They will then take it with them in a small capsule — Makes a great Mother’s Day present!

Process of Meiosis

Human Genome Project

Human Chromosome Map

A students study websites:
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/mendelian_genetics/problem_sets/dihybrid_cross/03t.html

http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/plsc431/mendel/mendel3.htm

http://www.siskiyous.edu/class/bio1/genetics/dihybrid_v2.html

This week we will be beginning to study biology with an emphasis on human anatomy.  This will all be kicked off with the study of Genetics.  To get an overview of what we will be covering the next few weeks go to the link below and then go to Tour the Basics.

The link below is from the American Heart Association, and it is very good.  If you click on the drop down menu in the upper left corner you will get numerous aspects of the heart, which could help you gain a better understanding of the concepts.

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

– Click the link below to read more about blood typing and to also play the Blood Typing Games.

http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/landsteiner/readmore.html

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Let’s step it up a little.  We have been doing an in-depth study of the heart and the body’s circulatory system.  We will now see the detective work that a doctor has to do to diagnose cardiovascular diseases.  Below is an excerpt from the website that you will be investigating.

“Welcome to the Virtual Cardiology Lab. The focus of this lab is on heritable diseases of the heart. You are cast here as a virtual intern to accompany a doctor examining three different patients. Each patient is examined, using more than one diagnostic tool, and at each stage, the doctor will invite you to examine the patient yourself and ask for your opinion.

Making a diagnosis is, in many respects, like detective work. You gather clues using a variety of techniques and form a coherent picture, taking into account both the power and the limitations of the techniques used and building on current knowledge of diseases and their symptoms.” Click the link below to begin:
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/vlabs/cardiology/index.html

This week the students will venture into the amazing Circulatory System.  The students will do an in-depth study of the structure and function of the heart and its components.  Ultimately the students will be expected to follow a red blood cell through the circulatory system starting and ending at the right atrium.  The link below is a great site that reviews the system as a whole:

This is an excellent website on the sheep heart dissection.  Use this for the lab and to study for the identification portion of the test.

http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/class/bio202/heart/anthrt.htm

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The link below is from the mayo clinic and opens up to an outstanding video about the heart and circulatory system.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/circulatory-system/mm00636

This week the students will be taking in and in-depth look at the human digestive system.  They will learn what happens in each area throughout the system and they will gain an understanding of the organs and enzymes responsible for breaking down the food that we eat into the six usable nutrients.

Click on the links below to take a 7th grade practice ISAT test and a 4th grade practice ISAT test.

7th Grade Practice ISAT test

4th Grade Practice ISAT test

HEALTHY OR UNHEALTHY — That is the question.

In the next week or you will be expected to write down your diet for 2 days.  That means, with the exception of water, you should keep a log of everything that you put into your  mouth and swallow.  You must also include the amounts.  With this information you will be doing an in-depth analysis of your diet.  Here are some of the factors that you’ll be analyzing:
1.  Amount of Calories compared to the recommended.
2.  What percentage of your Calories are from Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats?
3.  Are you eating good fat or bad fat?
4.  Are you deficient in any of the vitamins and/or minerals?
5.  etc.

HELPFUL HINTS WHEN WRITING DOWN YOUR FOODS:
– Must do two days, but they don’t have to be consecutive
– Be sure to include amounts as accurately as possible
– When writing down liquid amounts use a can of pop as your reference: 1 can = 12 fl. oz.

Click the cheeseburger below to view one of the websites we will be using for your diet analysis.