November 5th - Saturday - Notes recap and board pics from Friday

      This is the re-cap note that went home today. Board pics are attached. It was a book-work assignment on Friday that gave students a review of organelles. ...

     November 5th - Science - Reading into week #13 - 

November 5th - Science - Reading into week #13 - 

Recap of the notes / concepts for Week #12 (Thursday and Friday)

      We’ve referred to this science class as a history class, sometimes, because we go from the BIG BANG, the very beginning of our universe (almost 14 billion years ago) to now. The first nine weeks of science covered the FUNDAMENTAL FORCES of nature (STRONG, WEAK, ELECTROMAGNETISM, and GRAVITY.) How previous generations of STARS (Stars before our own sun even existed) made larger ELEMENTS from Hydrogen through NUCLEAR FUSION. How our SOLAR SYSTEM formed and, of the eight planets, several minor planets, and dozens of moons - EARTH is, so far, the only place in the universe that we know has LIFE!

     We compared and contrasted MARS and EARTH and our list of the properties that make EARTH ideal for life including:

• WATER. We’re the right distance from our sun where water can exist in a liquid state. Water is the UNIVERSAL SOLVENT and as we search for life beyond Earth, our search begins with finding WATER.
•         MASS:  Earth has an ideal mass for holding an ATMOSPHERE and the right combination of ELEMENTS (Metals and non-metals) to give EARTH a protective ELECTROMAGNETIC SHILED and PLATE TECTONICS. Moving CONTINENTAL PLATES may be critical for recycling material and making advanced life possible.
•       OUR MOON: Our moon has given The Blue Planet TIDES, and a stable spin (AXIS of rotation.) Both important for advanced life.
•       Once the “stage was set” the first cells arose, about, 3.6 BILLION YEARS AGO.  About a quarter billion years later one of the most important CHEMICAL REACTIONS began on EARTH - PHOTOSYNTHESIS. It looks billions more years but OXYGEN, released by BACTERIA, slowly transformed our planet by make an atmosphere capable of supporting RESPIRATION and that protects PLANTS and ANIMALS from ULTRA-VIOLET RADIATION from our sun. Life, itself, transformed our planet!

     As we move forward into Week #13, we’re learning the parts of cells - THE ORGANELLES _ and how they arose  (EVOLVED) to their present forms and how EVOLUTION is the driving force behind the DIVERSITY of life on Earth.

     Few things are more amazing than the story of NATURAL SELECTION and, as we go forward to learn the mechanism of EVOLUTION, we understand how unique and special EARTH is and our human impact on this “one place, we call, “Home.”