Class; Thursday, May, 2

In class we continued the Cell Lab which the former scribe briefly described. Today however we looked at onion cells (a plant cell unlike our cheek cell which is an animal cell). We peeled the skin off the outside of the onion to do this. First we looked at them with water at 40x magnification then drew what we saw. Then we added a drop of methyl blue stain and looked at it again with 40x magnification and drew what we saw again. After that we looked at cell at 100x magnification. This was more detailed and we could see more of the cell. I personally thought that the onion cells were more interesting than the cheek cells. I found the folded parts of the onion skin very interesting. However we were supposed to avoid this as much as possible because Ms. D. only wanted us to see the flat part so we could see all the aspects of the cell. For the final part of the lab we had to answer three questions about our observations. If you have anymore questions about the lab the instructions can be found on the 7th grade Moodle.

After we finished the lab Ms. D. passed around some slides with interesting materials on it. There were three with skin, one with bone, and one with a plant ( I forget the name). They all looked very interesting under a microscope and if you have the chance you should look at them. Next MS. D. took out a microscope that when you put it in front of something it showed that. It wasn't a conventional microscope. It hooked up to the computer and we looked at some things that couldn't be put on a slide. Some examples of these are an eye, fabric, a paperclip, and writing ( very large on the screen).

For the remainder of class we discussed our note taken on chapter 1. We did not get very far because we were off task a lot talking about random things related to the human body (will be explained in description). Our first question was on the levels of organization of the human body. In the discussion we went past and before the human body. Ms. D. told us the whole chain. It is as follows (smallest to largest):
Quarkselectrons/protons/neutronsatomsmolecules
organelles
cells
tissue
organs
organ systems
organism
species
genus
family
order
class
phylumkingdom

Then we listed the six kingdoms of life which all this living matter falls under.
The second question past without exaggeration but on the third question when we were talking about the types of tissue we discussed how epithelial tissue lines the inside of the stomach. From this we went into what stomach acid could do to you. We found out that it could make an ulcer and cause you extreme discomfort and if it leaked out the acid could dissolve your whole body until you literally were just skin and bones. You would then starve to death because all you reserves would be gone( a terrible way to die). Again when we were talking about connective tissue we somehow got to bone marrow transplants. We learned that in order to do have a successful operation you couldn't be "put to sleep" but a needle had to be stuck through you skin and bone into the marrow. This method is also used in a spinal tap but that is in between two vertebra. The two next question were what was an organ or organ system. Originating from that question we discussed what would happen if you didn't have some of your organ systems. All of them got to the same point: you wouldn't be here. In the case of the excretory system the waste would build up inside you and you would swell until you burst sending body flying everywhere. This shows that all of the systems are important, no matter how unimportant they seem.

What we did in class today directly relates to real life in many ways. We were looking and discussing parts of us for one thing. This knowledge will hopefully help us understand ourselves better.
Here is a link to a video that animates human body features and movements enjoy.

After finishing everything we had our break and went to the bodies revealed exhibit which will be explained by the Noam and she will chose the next scribe.

May 18, 2010

Hi everyone, I will be talking about the class of May 18, 2010. So, today we started using the microscopes to see cells and we started the cell lab.


This cell lab had a very specific way to see the cells. You had to first rub the inside of your mouth with a toothpick. Then you pour a couple drops of Methyl blue onto a glass slide. Then you placed the cells in the Methyl blue and stirred it with the toothpick. You placed the cover slip (a plastic slip) at an acute angle to the glass slide and you dropped it. If you did this correctly, then the Methyl blue would spread across the cover slip and leave no air bubbles. We drew pictures of our cheek cells with magnifications of 40 & 100, although some people had a microscope with more lenses, who could see at a whopping magnification of 400 times. We could see the nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria, and cell membrane of the cell. Some of us managed to get onto the second step, which involved seeing onion cells, but I personally didn't see what they were like.

We also spent some time talking about the field trip to "Bodies Revealed". As you probably all know, "Bodies Revealed" is an exhibit full of the bodies of people who donated themselves to the cause. You can see all sorts of human parts, such as the lungs of a smoker, the brain, and even things such a baby in a bottle. Don't worry, all of the babies died of complications. None came from abortions. That's pretty much it. Thanks!



The next scribe is Noam for the trip, Bryce for the class.

Science class on Tuesday May 3rd and Thursday May 5th

Hello seventh graders!!!

Tuesday was the day we had to take the entire machine we've been building in class down, while Mr. Boulai filmed us. We had the sixth graders come in to see our creation and a couple teachers, too. The Simple Machines unit is finally finished.

Thursday's class started off with a few reminders. The first one was about blog comments.

All comments for this week must be posted by tomorrow at four o'clock. Please make sure that your comments are longer than one or two sentances. Also, remember that in your comments you must include compliments, suggestions and science!!

Another reminder was that our field trip to Bodies Revealed is coming up, and you have to make sure to bring both the money and the signature by Monday May the 17th, otherwise you will be spending the day with Mr. Houlis.

Finally, today we got the rubric to our new project, which is due Thursday May 13th.

In case you loose the rubric, it will be on moodle.

In our cell project we have to create models of animal or plant cells, which shows the various organelles and their functions. We have to use everyday objects to create a representative model of an animal or plant cell. For each organelle, you should choose objects that symbolize or represent the organelle's function. Then, we must create a table which lists each organelle you have represented in you model. For each organelle, state it's main function, what you used to represent it, and the reason you chose the object you did to represent it.

After we got this assignment, we got a packet about cells. This can also be found on moodle.

This packet talks about the different parts of cells.

We learned that:

A plasma membrane has the job of protecting the inside of the cell from the outside enviornment, and that it controls the movement of water, nutrients and wasts into and out of the cell.

A cytoplasm is everything in the cell except for the nucleus.

A nucleus is the control center of the cell. It is one of the largest organelle and it has DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) which contains all the genetic information.

A nucleolus is located inside the nucleus and is responsible for making ribosomes.

An Endoplasmic reticulum is a network of membranes throughout the cytoplasm of the cell. When ribosomes are attached it is called the Rough ER and when there are no ribosomes attached it is called the Smooth ER.

A ribosome is an organelle that helps make proteins. Some ribosomes are found in the cytoplasm, but most are attached to the endoplasmic reticulum. They also make proteins to be exported from the cell for work elsewhere in the body. Ribosomes are made in the nucleus.

A Golgi complex or Golgi apparatus is an organelle in the body responsible for sorting and correctly shipping the proteins in the ER. This organelle is named after the Italian physician Camillo Golgi, because he was the first person to describe this organelle in the cell.

A Mitochondria is the cell's powerhouse. It packages the energy of the food into special molecules. Every type of cell contains a different number of mitochondria. Mitochondria cells can be leg muscle cells, heart muscle cells and brain cells.A vesicle is a small vessel that help store and transport products produced by the cell. It transports material such as waste, outside the cell in a process called exocytosis.

A vacuole may look empty but it contains large amounts of water and stores other important materials such as sugars, ions and pigments.

Lysosomes are found mostly in animal cells and have the job of digesting things. It might be used to digest food or break down the cell when it dies.

The chloroplast is found only in animal cells and it is a cell organelle where the photosynthesis takes place.

Our homework was to highlight all the important things in the packet. We were allowed to take Ms. D's markers but we are to return them!!!

Next we learned that M r s. G r e n stand for:

M: movement

R: respire

S: sensitivity

G: growth

R: reproduces

E: excerete

N: nutrition/NRG

All living things must have all of these in order to be alive!

This is the easy way of finding out if something is alive or not.

Then, we learned about the six kingdoms:

Animals

Plants

Fungi

Protists

Monerans

Archeabacteria

We also looked at tree man. To see some pictures of him, follow this link:

www.hemimy.net/2008/04/15/ded-koswara-the-tree-man-undergoes-treatment/

Next scribe is.......................... Iva