Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Week 28 Test Link and Access Code

Hi Scientists;

Here's the link to this week's test along with the access code. https://www.classroomclipboard.com/854670/Test/42EA549A-9696-441A-8F4A-423917B2D0A8

Access Code:  3CSMSG

The eleven Key Terms for this week are:

1.  Central Nervous System

2.  Wave

3.  Cerebellum

4. Cerebrum.

5.  Optic nerve.

6.  Motor nerves.

7.  Medulla.

8. Rod cell.

9. Cone cell.

10.  Lense.

11.  Concussion

Friday, March 26, 2021

Week 27 - Notes and reading for Thursday / Friday -

 Week 27b – 03.25 / 03.26 – Thursday / Friday – 2021


  1. I. Current Events:  Weather and Space Junk / Rainforest! (CNN10)
    1. a.Australia has been trying to recover from devastating fires and now is dealing with floods. (It’s their Autumn right now!)
    2. b.Newton’s Second Law: Force = Mass x Acceleration – A small object going very fast has tremendous force!
      1. i.(For Friday) Rainforests have been burned to make room for livestock grazing.
      2. ii.The RESPIRATORY and CIRCULATORY systems … 
    3. c.OUR atmosphere is about 20 percent oxygen … thanks to PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
    4. d.RESPIRATION and PHOTOSYNTHESIS are opposite reactions.
      1. i.Write the reactions here: _______________________
      2. ii.Muscles, breathing, and our ATMOSPHERE:  The human body systems work together.
    5. e.A MUSCLE called the DIAPHRAGM (“Belly breathing”) is located below the lungs. When it CONTRACTS the lungs expand because air is forced in. 
      1. i.Note: CONTRACTS: That’s all muscles can do! Muscles DO NOT push, they ONLY contract!
    6. f.WHY is air “forced” in?  (Straw demonstration.)
    7. g.WHY are we bothering to breath in the first place? (Sounds silly at first. BUT … What’s going on?)
    8. h.The LUNGS (Part of the RESPIRATORY system) exchange the Carbon Dioxide that was in the blood with Oxygen in our atmosphere.
    9. i.Remember our heart rate experiment? (What was YOUR heart rate? ________ BPM). 
    10. j.This exchange wouldn’t happen without the HEART (Part of the CIRCULATORY SYSTEM) moving our BLOOD (Created by the SKELETAL system) through VEINS and ARTERIES.
      1. i.(HW) What’s the difference between veins and arteries?
      2. ii.BILL NYE: Atmosphere:  We live at the bottom of an ocean of air!
    11. k.Death Valley: In CA – Lowest place in the US (On land.)
      1. i.Air pressure drops as we go higher.

“YouTube” ad (this morning) – Dent extractor using a suction cup … suction is NOT a real force! Why not???(A vacuum doesn’t “suck” – Although, I do suck at basketball - )


Week 27 Reading

03.26.2021


     Middle School science covers a broad range of topics. Sometimes it’s helpful to work backwards from the concepts we want to understand to where we began. That’s often what we do as we approach the last weeks of school for the semester; see where we’ve been and where we’re going.

   Our goal is to have a good foundation for understanding life.  That’s a big, complicated subject and we wanted to give some background on how we know what we know (the Scientific Method) and the conditions that make life possible (Earth Science)

     The story brought us all the way back to the Big Bang – the time when our universe began.  A bit if understanding about light helped us know that our universe probably is about 14 billion years old.  

     Knowing about the four fundamental (basic) forces of nature helped us get a clearer picture of how “simple” atoms like Hydrogen can combine – through fusion in stars – to make all the heavier elements necessary for life.

    By the time our solar system, and Earth, formed – about 4.6 billion years ago, all the elements needed for life were available. Those elements are like the building blocks and cells - the basic units of life - put together and rearrange those building blocks in endlessly complex ways.

      When the elements are rearranged, it’s called a chemical reaction, and none is more important than photosynthesis for setting the stage for complex animals.

     It took billions of years for the oxygen released into Earth’s atmosphere to build up enough for life to take advantage of this for releasing energy from chemical bonds.

     As life evolved from one-celled organisms it diversified into several kingdoms. (Plants, Animals, Protists, Fungi, and Bacteria.) Our branch of this evolutionary tree, the animals, breath the oxygen in our atmosphere and humans are capable of affecting every other branch on the tree of life, which is why we incorporate ecology into our studies.

     We spend time learning about our species in detail and try to get a picture of how our eleven body systems work together, and work with our environment, to sustain life.  While we study systems and species individually, it’s always with an eye towards the connections between subjects, species, the non-living systems of our planet, and the living system – of which we are a part.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Week 27 Rover Assignment

 

Week 27 – Rover Assignment – 

Options:

     Turn in either a drawing of, or a picture of, your “Egg drop” experiment from earlier in the week. OR turn in a picture of your budget for your Egg Drop. OR, if you did not have the packet and you were unable to do the experiment; answer the following questions and turn them in via email. 


  1. 1. Why are we looking for signs of life on Mars? In other words, what’s so special about Mars that it may have once (or may still) have life?
  2. 2.Why does the distance between Mars and Earth vary so greatly?
  3. 3.Look up ANY of the rovers that we have sent to Mars.
    1. a.What was its name?
    2. b.When did it launch?
    3. c.When did it arrive at Mars?
    4. d.How long did it successfully operate?
    5. e.What was learned from the mission?


Thursday, March 11, 2021

Week 25b - Notes and link to video

March 11 / 12 – Week 25b – Science – 


The CAPITALIZED TERMS are our KEY TERMS for week 26.

Remember: Test 24 and 25 are, currently, “live.” Please be sure to take the tests before 03.13.2021 – Saturday at 9:00 pm. All of the material covered in the on-line assessments is in our text and notes.



  1. I. The tallest person ever was almost nine feet tall. The reason he became so tall was due to his ENDOCRINE system, a series of GLANDS that use HORMONES (chemical messengers – often proteins - ) to signal cells to do certain things. In the case of a nine-foot person; his PITUITARY gland never sent a chemical signal to stop growing.
  2. II. The glands and HORMONES regulate:
    1. a. Growth and development.
    2. b. Reproduction
    3. c. METABOLISM
    4. d. Responses to STRESS.
    5. III. GLANDS of the ENDOCRINE system:
    6. a. Hypothalamus:  Controls the Pituitary
    7. b. Pituitary:  Growth
    8. c. Thyroid:  METABOLISM
    9. d. Parathyroid:  Regulates calcium in the blood
    10. e. Adrenal: “Fight or flight” response.
    11. f. Pancreas:  Regulates blood sugar.
    12. g. Pineal:  Melatonin. (Sleep / wake cycles)
    13. h. Ovaries / Testes: Female / Male sex hormones and cells
    14. IV. Strange Days on Planet Earth:  Follow the link to the first 15 minutes of this episode of Strange Days … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVKlt3DLzso
    15. V. This episode – in the first fifteen minutes, brings together much of what we’ve done since September in this class. The most important highlights include:
    16. a. We’ve studies water as a universal solvent.  UC Berkeley biologist Tyrone B. Hayes follows the trail of a weed killing chemical that is widely used in the United States. The name of the weed killer is Atrazine and it has been implicated in damage to the ENDOCRINE system of frogs.
    17. b. Frogs are AMPHIBIANS: They live in, and depend on, water for part of their life cycle.
    18. c. Humans are exposed to ENDOCRINE disruptors through plastics on a daily basis. It’s nearly impossible, in modern life, to go through a day without using plastic. However, many chemicals in plastics may be hurting our ENDOCRINE system.
    19. VI. Addition Key Terms for week 26
    20. a. BRAIN
    21. b. SPINAL CORD
    22. c. NERVE CELL
    23. d. AXON
    24. e. DENDRITE
    25. f. CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
    26. g. PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Week 25a notes

 



WEEK 25 NOTE

 Note home: 03.10.2021


Week 24 and Week 25 tests.


Hi Scientists:

Below is the link to this week’s test. (WEEK 25) – ALSO, below, is the link for last week’s test. BOTH tests are now “live” and will be available to take through 03.13.2021 – Saturday.


     We are in week 25 and we know that there is an on-line assessment every week. I had quite a few emails asking for last week’s test to be re-opened as it was not taken for various reasons.  We have a WEEKLY test and it’s the responsibility of the student to take them. If it is missed, it is a zero in the gradebook. This far into the year we know what is expected and as we do not have as many assignments (due to distance learning) the students are expected to complete the on-line assessment and one other assignment each week. I’m aware that distance learning is quite challenging. However, ALL of the material in your on-line assessments are in our text and our notes. Please refer to the blog and your Google Classroom to obtain any missing notes. Also, take the time to review the YouTube videos.


Thanks


Scott Forbes


Week 24 test link and access code:


https://www.classroomclipboard.com/854670/Test/7E18BBCF-16CA-4DAA-AA1F-803F51ACD6D0


Access code:  488YLL



Week 25 assessment and access code:


https://www.classroomclipboard.com/854670/Test/26A51866-C439-4E4C-8778-C37FFDF381BA


Access Code:  XT6MSG

Monday, March 8, 2021

Reminder of different link for third / fourth period on Mon / Tues

 Ms. Lakata

Reminder:
Due to the fact that Mr. Forbes and I have to combine our 3rd and 4th period classes for this program, I have set up a new Zoom link for those 2 classes. This is to be used ONLY when we are doing the SFS lessons. The class meeting time will remain the same:
3rd period on Mondays from 11:30-12:30 and 4th period on Tuesdays for 9-10:
Topic: Science From Scientists 3rd Period
Join Zoom Meeting
pacificasd.zoom.us/j/84014978268?pwd=WitMV0FKbDFFcUZaV2lGT0dydEFhdz09
Meeting ID: 840 1497 8268
Passcode: SFS
Topic: Science From Scientists 4th Period
Join Zoom Meeting
pacificasd.zoom.us/j/81923346081?pwd=N3FZWFYyUi82OVZkb0YwV1RsOVpNQT09
Meeting ID: 819 2334 6081
Passcode: SFS

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

03.02.2021 Tuesday - Notes for the first half of Week 24

 



 Hi Scientists;

Welcome to Week #24! Time flies ... Below is the link for this week's test... The access code is 488YLL.  There's a pickup tomorrow, if you can pop by between 11:00 and 2:00, for our next day with Dr. Guccionne. (Two packs: Polymers and "Rover.") Finally, this Week's Key Terms are attached. (Several of you already did these eleven terms as they were posted last week.)

Today's notes will be posted in your Google Classroom and at www.pacificascience.org. Check out Friday's CNN 10 if you can - the story about Beavers; it relates to the Ecosystem Unit.

Happy Tuesday :-) ... Scott Forbes



https://www.classroomclipboard.com/854670/Test/7E18BBCF-16CA-4DAA-AA1F-803F51ACD6D0