Beavers by Abi

Beavers are the second biggest rodents in the world. When you see the dams in rivers or ponds, that is because of the beavers. Beavers help our landscape. They have been around for a long time. They are family oriented and normally mate for life, which consists of about fifteen years.

             What I find most interesting about this topic is that the beavers have coarse hair on their back and soft hair on the stomach. The coarse hair acts a waterproof coat.

Beavers are very interesting. They have scent glands that extract a vanilla scent. You should respect a beaver’s boundaries, because they are protective. Also beaver’s teeth never stop growing.

Ask yourself this…. Are you cleaning the environment to help your beavers continue to fix the landscape?

Avocado or Avogadro? By: Sydney

            This week in Chemistry, we have been learning about the differences and similarities between formula and molecular weight as well as how to calculate molar mass. To fully understand the work we have been doing, it is first important to know the terms we are working with.

            Formula Weight is the sum of the atomic weights of the atoms in the chemical formula of the substance.

            Molecular Weight is the same as the formula weight when the chemical formulas between the two are the same.

In order to calculate the formula weight, it is necessary to find the atomic weight of each element. This is found above the element symbol on the periodic table.

With that in mind, we need to determine how many atoms of each element there are in the formula. For example, if we have the formula C₁₇H₁₉NO₃ , we can see that the subscript tells us there are 17 atoms of Carbon, 19 atoms of Hydrogen, 1 atom of Nitrogen, and 3 atoms of Oxygen. Now we can combine the information we have. Basically, we are going to multiply the number of atoms and the atomic weight of each element, then we will add all the atomic masses together to get one number as the total average atomic mass of the formula.

C₁₇H₁₉NO₃

27(12)+19(1)+14+3(16) = 285 amu

And voila! That is how we find the formula or molecular weight of a chemical formula.

Next, we will go over molar mass. Molar mass is the mass in grams of one mole of a substance. When working with molar mass, we use Avogadro’s number. Amedeo Avogadro was a physicist who was best known for his contribution to molecular theory. Personally, I think he looks kind of like a bird!

To find it, we use Avogadro’s number.

6.022 x 10²³

When you have grams that you want to translate to moles, they are the same numbers but they are labeled with different units of measurement.

16 grams = 16 moles

Regarding the information we have been studying this week, I think it is interesting that after using Avogadro’s number, the numbers are the same, yet the units of measurement are different. This must make it fairly easy when working with molar mass!

Here are some interesting facts:

            Avogadro’s full name is Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro di Quaregna e di Cerreto… that’s a really long name!

            Avogadro’s number is abbreviated as N_A.    

            There are only a little over 100 types of atoms!

Lastly, my question for the audience is, do you think Avogadro looks like a bird? 

Digestion by Luke

            In the Advanced Biology class, our class is learning about the digestion system. There are three different types of digestive systems. Herbivores it plants and carnivores eat meat. Also, omnivores eat both such as humans. All vertebrates have one-way digestive tracts, they typically begin in the mouth and end in the anus.

The mouth is the first step of the process. The mouth breaks down food using teeth and saliva. The saliva serves as a lubricant for food so it can pass through the esophagus easily, and the esophagus connects the mouth to the stomach. The stomach is a sac-like structure that stores food that is waiting to be digested and it churns food with the help of HCl. The processed food, called chyme, leaves the stomach through the pyloric sphincter into the small intestine. While in the small intestine enzymes created by the pancreas continues to break down food into useful nutrients like carbohydrates and protein. After it passes through the small intestine, the large intestine compacts the waste products into feces so it can pass through the anus. Overall the digestion system is used to break down food into useful nutrients that our bodies need, but how long does it take humans to completely digest a piece of food?

Interesting Facts

1.      The small intestine in humans is about 23 feet (7 meters) long.

2.      Herbivores have large divided stomachs called ruminants.

3.       Hydra worms have two way digestive tracts.

Cells by Santi

This week is biology we are learning about cells and the cell cycle. The main difference between animal and plant cells is that plant cells contain vacuoles, a cell wall, and chloroplasts.

Plant cells get their energy from sunlight, this process is called photosynthesis. The chloroplasts are what controls photosynthesis. These chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, which is what captures and absorbs the sunlight.

The cell wall in plant cells is made out of cellulose and adds more protection and stabilization to the cell.

The vacuoles main function is to control what comes in and out of a cell. They are also used for storing nutrients.

3 fun facts: All living things are made up of cells. Groups of cells can make tissues and organelle systems. Even the largest cell, is still too small to be seen with the human eye..

My question for y’all is what do you know or like about cells?

Cellular Respiration explanation made easy>>>>>

Should we use Microwaves to cook our food? By:Kiahna

I believe that using a microwave is not bad. The Microwave has a electric tube called a magnetron. It produces electromagnetic radiation.  The Magnetron inside the oven changes regular electric power from a wall socket into super short radio waves. They are about four inches from crest to crest. They are made when the microwave's magnetron is at a frequency of 2450 megahertz. When  something gets to that frequency the power is absorbed and absorbed  by water, fats, and sugars, that become  very fast vibrations and high temperatures that cook the food.   

           

Microwave ovens  heat food by making radiation which is caused by the water molecules being  absorbed. It  makes the water molecules vibrate and makes heat and then cooks the  food.  Almost all ovens that are made  recently are safe to use as long as you follow the instructions. Almost everyone has a microwave, some people think that cooking food in a  microwave can harm you. They think that it gets rid of all the nutrients.

           

Microwaves do spill out some radiation, but that is the same as using a cordless phone, cellphone, laptop. They turn on and off like a lightbulb. It does make radiation waves so when it is on it is better to stand away. When the microwave is off the waves can’t emit. They also can’t flow around in the oven  and get into the food.

It is actually better to cook your vegetables in the microwave because it cooks them fast and it doesn’t use as much as water as steaming does. Using a microwave is very helpful but you need to use microwave safe containers. Microwaves will kill bacteria when a food is cooking, microwaving is safe. 

Evolution by Darell

Evolution is the change in species over time. Evolution must have a competition for survival, mutations, and reproducing organisms. This is important because it take variation to later develop into evolution and natural selection is where this variation comes from.

Natural Selection is the survival of the fittest. This means the most adapted or the organisms that are best fit, survive and pass on their genes to produce offspring with that same favored trait. After time this becomes a larger change and eventually a new species is created. The other way this can happen is through mutations, a simple favored mutation that is accepted and passed on can lead to a new species much faster through the same process.  Because of evolution, we have a variation in species and we are able to have diverse amount of organisms. People often debate whether or not evolution is a real or if it should be accepted by society. There is a large amount of proof to back this idea up. First is biochemistry, this shows that different species have common DNA and scientist are able to prove the relatedness of species based on that. Homology is another solid piece of evidence that goes to show that species originate from one another, the best example has to do with whales and bats. Humans have a arm/hand structure that is very specific, and yet whales and bats share that same structure. Although they are used for different things, they show that they developed from a similar being.  

Charles Darwin was the first to recognize and attempt to understand this process. He visited the galapagos islands and observed all the different types of finches and the different beaks they had. He began to realize that the beak shape, size, etc had a direct correlation with the habitat in which they lived. This intrigued him and he later founded his idea of “Evolution”. I find it interesting that organisms are able to develop overtime and change even though there is no “answer” to how the changes occur. I also find it interesting that birds that are so closely related and live in only slightly different environments would change overtime like that to develop different beaks and why this process was not discovered before. What do you think is the most important part of evolution?

Causes of Cancer By: Rachael

Cancer is a medical issue that most people worry about but not a lot of people actually know the causes of cancer. I've always been interested in cancer and how exactly the cancer cells get abnormalities. Cancer begins in a single cell that normally didn't go through mitosis properly. Scientists have found that most cells that went too quickly through the mitosis process didn't have checkpoints in the cell. These checkpoints allow the cell to go through mitosis at the right speed, but if a cell doesn't have these it rushes through everything which creates abnormalities.

These abnormalities will create a cancer cell which keeps replicating forming more and more. These cancer cells will come together to form a tumor. Tumors are masses of cells which interfere with normal cells. They suck energy and things like that which they need and that causes other healthy cells to suffer from not getting what they need. These tumors can normally be cut out or some other form of treatment but it is best if it is caught in the early stages. An interesting fact is the different kinds of cancer are normally named after the body part that the tumor is in. So the name making process isn’t as creative as you think it is.

Metastasis is when a cancer cell breaks away from the tumor and travels to other locations, infecting them. This causes cancer in multiple places which is why you hear stories of people with multiple kinds of cancer. Once you get cancer in multiple places it is very hard to treat and dangerous for your body. Another interesting fact about metastasis is in the naming of the new cancer. Say you have breast cancer and metastasis happens and it travels to your lung it would then be called metastasis breast cancer not lung cancer. The name of your new cancer is the same as the old one, just with metastasis added to the front of it.

Two different causes of cancer are genetic or environmental. You could have it in your genes and something triggers it or you might get it from an environmental factor. Some direct causes of cancer are UV radiation exposure, smoking, your diet, air pollution, and viruses. An interesting fact about environmental factors is if you move to a country with a different cancer rate than your previous country then your cancer rate will change. A prevention tip is just trying to live a overall healthy lifestyle. Exercising daily, no tobacco use, and a high fiber diet are all ways to help you live a healthier life.

Questions:

What are some things in your diet that might be linked to causing cancer?

What are some different types of cancer you could develop?