Chemical Reactions by Luke

Currently, the Garden Valley Chemistry Class is learning about chemical reactions between molecules and bonds. The class is learning about four different chemical reactions, but are there more types of chemical reactions in our world? The first type of chemical reaction is named single replacement, this is when one element replaces another element in a compound. The second type is called a double replacement reaction. This is when two compounds switch their cation and anion. The third reaction is called synthesis. This occurs when two elements combine to create one product. Finally, decomposition is the last type of chemical reaction. This is when a compound breaks down to create two or more elements.

Interesting Facts About Chemical Reactions:

1.      Melting or freezing water is not a chemical reaction. This is because it stays as H2O

2.      When one reaction causes several reaction, it is called a chain reaction

3.      One cell causes 100,000,000 chemical reactions per second in the mitochondria

I find it interesting that all chemical reactions are directly related to molecules forming and breaking down, it’s also scientist can link a specific chemical reaction to the composition of molecules.

Evolution by Darwin and Wallace by Molly

Think about this.

I'm going to explain the work that darwin and wallace both did, who do you think did the most work? Who deserves the credit for evolution?

Charles Darwin

●    He was a naturalist

●    Second youngest out of 6 kids

●    Came from a long line of scientist

●    Grew up wealthy

●    Had lots of schooling

Alfred Russel Wallace

●     Naturalist

●     Not very educated more self taught

●     He didn't grow up in a wealthy family

●     Did things on his own

More on Darwin

Darwin and his mentor went on a 5 year voyage that was going to send them around the world.

Darwin collected specimens from all around

The galapagos islands are what stuck out most to darwin.

When he got home we was looking over his finding and came up the the theory of evolution.  (finches)

More about Wallace

He went on an 8 year expedition in indonesia

He gathered over 100,000 animal bird and insect specimen

As soon as wallace figured out exactly how evolution he wrote it down on a 8-9 page paper, he sent it to darwin for a peer review.

In an earlier year wallace was bringing back superman and his boat caught fire.

Together

Darwin and wallace came to the same conclusion about evolution.

They published a paper together on evolution.

Darwin published a book on the origin of species and wallace faded away.

My opinion

I find it interesting how they tried to do this together and it ended up being darwin taking a lot of the credit and wallace just stayed quiet while continuing his research.

Sources

"He Helped Discover Evolution, And Then Became Extinct." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.

"Charles Darwin." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 12 Feb. 2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.

Mushrooms by Bryce

This week we learned about Fungi and Mushrooms.I learned that most mushrooms with gills on them are poisonous.

I also found out that most of the poisonous mushrooms are identical twins to edible ones which cause them to be easily misplaced.

The difference between a fake moral and a real moral is that the cap is connected to the stem of a real moral where in a fake moral has the top just kinda placed on there.

I also learned that black holes can throw planet sized rocks really fast out of them like a spitball...luckily they are millions of lightyears away but it’s still kinda scary.

It is amazing how crazy everything around us is and the best part is that we don’t even notice it most of the time...Just ponder on that and just take a look around you and just imagine what a person had to think to invent something or the first time that we studied a certain thing.

The Rules of Binary Covalent Nomenclature by Caitlin

Binary covalent compounds are composed of two different elements, typically non-metals. It is important in the scientific community to know how to correctly name these compounds. There are four main rules to follow in order to piece together the name of a binary covalent compound.

Rule #1:The first element keeps its name.

Rule #2:The first element only gets a prefix if it has a subscript in the formula.

Rule #3: The second element gets the suffix -ide.

Rule #4:The second element always gets a prefix.

Prefixes Used in Binary Covalent Nomenclature

Prefix	Number Indicated
Mono-	1
Di-	2
Tri-	3
Tetra-	4
Penta-	5
Hexa-	6
Hepta-	7
Octa-	8
Nona-	9
Deca-	10

Exceptions:

●     If the compound contains one atom of the element that is written first in the name, the prefix "mono-" is not used.

●     When there are two vowels adjacent to one another, the end of the Greek prefix is usually dropped.

●     When the compound contains a oxygen and a halogen, the name of the halogen is the first word in the name.

Nitrogen Monoxide

The rules of binary covalent nomenclature help set a standard for all scientists to follow. Without it, chemists would be using different names for the same compound. This miscommunication would create a lot of problems.   

Question:

●     How would the field of chemistry change if there wasn’t a standard for all scientists to follow when naming binary covalent compounds?

Sound Waves by Connor

            This week in Physical Science, we are learning about sound. Sound is energy that is carried by waves. Many things affect how these waves travel, such as density and temperature. Our outer ears are what pick up sound and send it to our brain. Human ears have many parts, such as the eardrum, ear canal, cochlea, and smaller middle ear parts. I learned that loudness is actually how humans perceive intensity, which is the amount of energy in a specific time and place. Humans actually know many things about sound instinctually, such as having to increase loudness when wanting to talk to someone farther away. Humans can only hear things at a certain pitch or frequency. Our range is from 20Hz to 20,000Hz. Different animals have different ranges of pitch that they can hear i.e. dogs can hear much higher than humans can and this is why we can’t hear dog whistles.

●     I learned that when you hear something loud and it hurts your ear, that is when the loudness is at or above 120 dB(decibels). Decibels are what we use to measure loudness.

●     The Doppler Effect happens when something that is making a sound passes you. It makes the same sound coming up towards you, but then it changes pitch after it passes you, even though the pitch that something is making hasn’t changed at all.

●     One more neat thing about how sound travels is that different mediums make sound travel faster or slower. Sound travels at 347 m/s in air, while in water sound travels at 1498 m/s which is a much faster pace. In our ear, we have liquid in it to help sound travel faster.

What I find most interesting about sound is that even though we can’t hear many sounds, they are still there and can be heard by other animals. This fascinates me because if I can’t hear a sound or I can’t see something, a lot of times I will think nothing is there, when in fact there could be something there. Examples of things we can’t hear are things like a bat’s echolocation or a nuclear bomb test. Kind of makes myself wonder about what things the government may be doing without our knowledge, even though I’m sure many people have pondered that. A good question to take away from this might be ‘how can I experiment with different pitches and sounds at home?’

What Are Sound Waves? By Benjamin D. Jackson

            Sound waves are waves of energy that move by transferring energy from one molecule to the next. Sound waves travel outwards in all directions from where they are formed. Sound waves are formed when an object vibrates, this vibration transfers energy to the molecules touching it. Sound waves can travel through: solids, liquids, and gases. However they cannot travel in a vacuum because there are no molecules to transmit the energy.

This is what a sonic boom would look like if we could see sound waves.

Humans use sounds waves as a way to communicate thoughts and ideas. When we speak we are creating sound waves using our vocal cords. Our vocal cords vibrate causing the air molecules in our throat to move , creating sound which travels out of our mouths and into the air to be heard by people nearby. Other animals create sound waves as well, anything you have ever heard is really just a pattern of sound waves hitting your ear.

Speaking of the ear, how does it allow us to hear? The outer ear is the part of the ear that you can see all the time and the ear canal which leads into our heads. The area that most people call the ear collects sound while the canal funnels it to the middle ear. The barrier separating the outer ear from the middle ear is called the Tympanum(eardrum), this is a thin membrane that vibrates and lets the sound waves into the middle ear. The middle ear has three main parts: Stapes(Stirrup), Malleus(Hammer), and Incus(Anvil). These are small bones which act as an energy amplifier, they vibrate and increase the intensity of the sound. The sound then goes into our inner ear or cochlea, where thin hairs feel the vibrations of the molecules of liquid that fill the cochlea. When the hairs vibrate it turns the sound into nerve signals that our brain can interpret.

This diagram shows all of the important parts of the ear.

Despite how cool sound waves are and how interesting the ear is, what I find most interesting about sound is how animals use it. Animals that use echolocation, emit a high pitched sound and then wait for it to bounce back to their ears. When they hear the sound waves from their sound they are able to discern what objects looked like, their size and how far away they are. Many types of bats and a few types of birds use this as a way to hunt and to maneuver around any obstacles in their path. Sonar is what it is called when a marine mammal uses echolocation while underwater. Whales, dolphins, and many other types of marine life use sonar every day.

My parting question to you is, what is the greatest possible measure of decibels?

This week in Chemistry by BreeAnn

This week in Chemistry we learned about the Lewis Dot Structure, Molecular Geometry, and the difference between Ionic Bonds, Covalent Bonds, and Acids. You’re probably wondering what all of those different topics are if you aren’t in Chemistry. Well, I’m here to tell you what they are without going in depth about them. Your question may be, “ Why do we need to know this?” I may not seem important but, if you want to be any sort of Chemist then you need to know about them. Let’s start with the Lewis Dot Structure; the Lewis Dot Structure helps us show the bonds between molecules and the lone pairs of electrons that may exist in the molecule. By knowing this you should be able to tell the difference between a lone pair and shared pair. Molecular Geometry lets us see a 3D version of a molecule. Ionic Bonds, Covalent Bonds, and Acids make up different resources in life that we will need. For example Hydrochloric Acid is the acid in our stomach that allows our body to be able to break down food to make it easier to digest. Ionic Bonds are made up of nonmetals and metals such as, NH4Cl or Ammonium Chloride. Covalent bonds are made up of a nonmetal and nonmetal such as, CO2 or Carbon Dioxide which we exhale. Acids are made up of Hydrogen and a nonmetal such as,HCl or  Hydrochloric Acid. They’re two types of acids ternary and binary. I find the different bonds more interesting because, it is just cool to know those, it makes you feel smart if know them and, can help someone with them if they have a question about it. 

Peat Bog Bodies by Joe

How peat bogs are able to provide scientists with perfectly preserved examples of early humans

INTRODUCTION

Peat bogs in Northwest Europe, specifically those in the United Kingdom and Denmark, present prime conditions for the preservation of human bodies. Scientists can gather a variety of evidence about the lifestyle of the people they find, including diet, cause of death, and travel patterns.

Causes

The chemical makeup of bogs varies due to factors of climate and altitude, and as such some bogs will better preserve the skeleton, while others will preserve the whole corpse. Bogs located near saltwater and in a colder climate, such as those in Denmark, will do an excellent job of preserving flesh, often leading people to believe that they have discovered the body of someone who only recently became deceased. Humic acid, which is released when old peat is released by new peat, is the driving factor behind the preservation, working in a manner that is comparable to that of pickling vegetables.

Importance

Researchers can apply techniques such as carbon dating to learn what time period remains are from if any clothing or accessories have deteriorated, determine cause of death, and from their diet and skeletal structure make connections to the deceased’s peers lifestyles.

Prominent Examples

1.    Tollund Man (Denmark)

    2.    Lindow Man (England)

Question

How can researchers use the natural mummies produced by bogs to deepen their knowledge of past civilizations?

Facts

●   Alfred Dieck is estimated to have catalogued 1,850 bog bodies.

●   Facial reconstruction makes it possible for scientists to better understand how the person whose remains they are studying would have looked.

●   Most bodies were discovered by peat farmers (peat was commonly used for fuel in the last couple of centuries.

Bat Echolocation and the Different Ways They Do It by Kateri

When it comes to echolocation, even the smallest bat can scream up to a loudness of 128 decibels. Human hearing could easily be damaged by this, but luckily the frequencies of their calls are too high pitched to hear. A special muscle in a bat’s ear prevents it from going deaf. The muscle pulls bones inside the ear apart so the bat goes deaf for just the right amount of time.

The reason that they use such high pitched frequencies is because the wave has to be smaller than the insect’s wing, or it won’t work

The thing that I find most interesting is the faces of nose-echolocating bats

Surprisingly, bats could fly before they could echolocate.

Not all bats can echolocate, too, so that helps to prove that flight came first

Bats make the sounds that they use to echolocate by using their larynx and screaming through their mouth, or screaming through their noise, which also is made by the larynx. The fruit bat species is different, they make tongue clicks

Bats with large ears and small eyes are typically the ones that use their mouth to emit sounds to echolocate, and do not have the strange facial features of the nose-echolocators

Brown Bat

Bats with large ears and weird noses typically echolocate through their nose

Bats that echolocate with their noses have evolved to have very strange facial features that help to scoop up the bounce back of their calls

Because they echolocate through their nose, these bats can continue to echolocate while they take a breath or eat a moth

Horseshoe bat

Bats that have small ears and big eyes either do not echolocate, or make tongue clicks to echolocate

Some species of fruit bats that echolocate aren’t nearly as scary because they do not make noises from their nose or mouth

Instead, they make clicking noises with their tongue

Egyptian fruit bat

Most fruit bats do not echolocate because they eat fruit, and do not have to be nocturnal, but there are a few fruit bat species that are nocturnal, which is why they can echolocate

Question: Why does a fruit bat need to echolocate if it eats fruit?

Tardigrades by Teresa

We watched a video about Tardigrades in class and something about them fascinated me. Those little things that could make such a huge difference and can help us in a lot of ways. So I decided to make my blog post about them and I will tell you a little something about Tardigrades now.

Tardigrades are also known as water bears or moss piglets. They are microscopic animals with 8 legs and they are about one millimeter long. The biggest ones grow up to one and a half but the average size is 0.5 millimeter. With their look they remind us of a teddy bear.

The first Tardigrade was discovered in 1773. Now there are more than 1000 different types. The name Tardigrade comes from latin which basically means slow-walker.

You can find them in the ocean, in fresh water, in wet habitats like moss or roof gutters, on the Himalaya or in the Antarctica. The only way they can move is when they are in water. Only then they can move, eat or reproduce. But they can easily survive a dry period or extreme temperatures. Changes of the ocean salinity, high pressure, radiation or oxygen deficiency is easily bearable for them. The little animals are good prepared for sudden changes in their environment. If there are sudden dry periods or an unexpected cold snap they are able to build some kind of resistance. They can produce cysts and another skin and instead of peeling their skin they increase the sugar in their blood. Some kinds can build so-called tuns: they roll themselves like a ball and pull in their legs so they almost dry out. Their metabolism is reduced and they are in a dead-like contrition, they can stay like that for up to 30 years without any damage. That condition allows them to survive extreme environmental conditions. And they are the first animals that are able to survive in space.

My question is “Could Tardigrades be the answer to life in space?”

I think it is really interesting how those little animals can be so tough. They don’t look like that at all at first but if you learn more about them it is really impressing. The three best thing is that they can survive through all those environmental conditions, they can survive in space and they can pretend to be dead and survive without doing anything for up to 30 years.

Protists by Traven

This week I learned about the four groups of Protista! The four groups of Protista are Sarcodines, Ciliates, Flagellates, and Protozoans. All of these groups have different attributes as well. Some even have to hunt for their own food.

Facts:

1.       All of these types have a meaning, for example, Sarcodines means false foot.

2.       Protista have the ability to move but fungi on the other had cannot.

3.       The most interesting fact in my opinion is that Sarcodines can for limestone, marble, and chalk!

A question to ask yourself is… What do these four types of Protista have in common and are they similar or opposite of fungi?

                Overall, this week I learned about Protista, Lichens, and Fungi but overall I think I learned about Protista the most. I learned that Protista have four different groups, Protista moves, they produce asexually and sexually, they can hunt or make their own food, and they are either plan like or animal like structures.

                I think that learning about how the Protista can move is the most interesting because it is so surprising that a little cell can move! Like who would have guessed that they could move? The fact that they can move is also interesting because it kind of explains how the Protista hunt for food

Binomial Nomenclature by Caitlin

Introduction:

Scientists have estimated that between 10 and 100 million species populate our Earth. Without a standardized way of classifying them, it would be extremely difficult to study and talk about them. This is why a man named Carolus Linnaeus created the binomial system. This system incorporated two-part names in Latin, making a standardized way to name organisms.

History:

Organisms were first classified by the Greek philosopher Aristotle. It was a simple system that distinguished between plants and animals, and then by where each lived. This system was further developed in the Middle Ages, and it became known as the polynomial system.  However, naming organisms in this way caused a lot of confusion. Some names had up to 12 latin describing words. Also some people used different words to name the same species. For example, the wild briar rose was called Rosa sylvestris inorda seu canina by some scientists and Rosa sylvestris alba cum rubore folio glabro by others. It was in the mid-1700’s that Linnaeus finally created his system.

Rules:

1.    The entire two part name must be italicized

2.    The genus name (first word) is always written first

3.    The genus name is always capitalized

4.    The specific epithet (second word)  is never capitalized

Facts:

●     Many names of species actually describe the organism

○     Quercus alba is “white oak”

●     Subspecies can be identified with a trinomial

○     Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus

●     The are two organizations dedicated to the naming of species

Question:

●     How significant of a setback would the field of biology have faced if Linnaeus had never developed binomial nomenclature?

Molecular Geometry Project by Joe

We did a project in chemistry about molecular geometry, and one of the chemistry students, Joe, made an awesome website. Check it out!

GEOMOLE