Today we removed our eggs from the vinegar and recorded the new data and observations.  After measurements, we submerged the eggs in distilled water.

Jacob shows off his new membrane-bound egg.

Today was day 1 of a 4 day osmosis lab. We are studying diffusion of liquids across an egg membrane. We entered initial mass and circumference data into a spreadsheet and tomorrow we will check our eggs to see what happened after spending 24hrs in vinegar. Here, Nikiah and Shania measure circumference.

We are finishing up the Herbs and Spices unit in Food, Land and You. Before the break we cooked up some eggs and other great foods using herbs and spices we learned about to add an extra zest to a usually boring egg!

Today we looked at plant cells under the microscopes - onion cells to be specific. Iodine was the stain we used to highlight the nucleus and cell wall. Tuesday's test will cover all organelles and their functions.

Cells - 7th Grade Life Science

Resources for Cell Organelle Research:

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/begin/cells/insideacell/

http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm

http://biology4kids.com/files/cell_main.html
http://school.eb.com/comptons

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Food, Land, and You

Today was pond-water exploration day. Not the best time of year to look at pond-water but we made some great discoveries, nonetheless.

The best came 9th period when AUSTIN V. brought in a sample from home. Just from looking at it with my eyes, I could tell it was loaded with Volvox. Volvox is a colony of algae cells (sometimes up to 50,000 cells) that are just visable with the naked eye. This view is under 100x magnification.

Ancestors of Volvox transitioned from single cells to form multicellular colonies at least 200 million years ago, during the Triassic period.  An estimate using DNA sequences from about 45 different species of Volvox and related species suggests that the transition from single cells to undifferentiated multicellular colonies took about 35 million years.

In the elementary school outside of Ms. King's class I noticed this cool poster on seed dispersal. Why would plants evolve mechanisms like this to move their seeds?

Here is the website that we explored a little in class on Friday about the "micro-artist." Check it out. It is a pretty awesome example of how science can be used in other subjects like art!



http://www.willard-wigan.com/

Today was our first "hands-on" day with the microscopes. We are in the process of familiarizing ourselves with the parts and functions of the scopes and how to create a wet-mount slide. We will have a quiz fairly soon on microscope safety and the functions of each part. Below is the virtual microscope we used in class:

http://www.udel.edu/biology/ketcham/microscope/scope.html

Our trout came today 5th period. Here, Michael takes a closer look before we dumped them into the tank.

Mercedes spent some time today getting the trout tank ready for tomorrow's egg delivery. We will be receiving about 100 Brown Trout eggs to raise until May when we release them back into the wild. Mercedes tested water pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Today after school Chris B., Tyler M., Kodie C., and Steve F. Helped build the new Middle School bird feeder. It will be placed near the track for winter bird watching. The newly-improved feeder and new binoculars were made possible through a grant from the Groton Education Fund.

This week we welcomed Miss Reynolds to class. She comes to us as a student from Cornell. She grew up in California and has come to love the Finger Lakes area. Here, she works with Dom and Ian on their dichotomous key activity. We're looking forward to a great 7 weeks, Miss Reynolds!

Today I met some very enthusiastic 5th graders from Mr. D'Antonio and Ms. King's classes as we built three 4' x 10' raised beds.  These will be used to grow food for the elementary school.

After construction we filled each bed with soil that was donated by a parent.  Next spring we'll amend the soil with finished compost that is collected from lunches at the elementary and middle/high school buildings.

I'm not sure if I'd want to run into a Yagerlum samus in the woods by myself.

Today members of Food, Land, and You prepared about 10 Acorn and Butternut Squash for freezing. The cafeteria will serve these with brown sugar at their annual Thanksgiving lunch in Nov. These squash came from the student vegetable garden.