Birdwatching has been going well. Today Kenny, Luke, and Tim recorded 6 different species at the feeder during the rec. period. Students participating receive a couple extra credit points for participating. Data is submitted daily to Cornell University's citizen science database, www.ebird.com.

Check out this cool video. Why do you think the bird would do something so apparently stupid?

This week we've been doing a diffusion/osmosis lab involving chicken eggs. Day one our eggs spent 24 hrs in vinegar, which dissolved the calcium carbonate shell. After spending another 24 hrs in distilled water the water diffused through the egg's membrane (osmosis), making the egg a little more plump. Today we removed the water and added a coating of thick corn syrup to the plump eggs. What do you think will happen by tomorrow morning??

Today we began constructing cell models using candy and household
items. Here, Tristin pastes down her nucleus.

Erin Marteal was in today to show us a brief overview of plant propagation, which is a way to reproduce plants asexually. She brought in a cool variety of plants and we actually got to practice rooting new plants.
Step one: Sarah loads up on the root-starting soil.
Step two: Select yor favorite varieties.
Step three: Sam shows off his new plant. Kodie C. even did a cool experiement where he used a root-growing hormone powder for the plants in one cup and the other cup he rooted normally (the control). We'll see how that works in a couple weeks.

Thank you Erin!

Today we did the famous onion cell lab where we looked at a one-cell thick onion film. This showed us very nice plant cells with the box-like cell wall and a clear nucleus in the middle. We also looked at elodea to give us a good look at chloroplasts. Earlier in the week we studied each cell organelle individually in groups and related them to real-world items. Nice job everyone and great idea Mr. Meade.

CELLS!

We are made of trillions of living building blocks called cells. We are currently studying them and the functions of the tiny organelles inside of them. Here are a couple great sites I found to help you memorize their functions.

http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/CURR/science/sciber00/7th/cells/sciber/orgtable.htm
http://www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm