THE GREAT RACE

The car I have built is an example of all three of Newton’s laws of motion. Newton’s first law states that every object continues in its state of rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces acting on it. As seen in my car, it was at rest until the thread was wound back which caused the car to move forward. Newton’s second law of motion states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on the object (in the direction of the net force) and inversely proportional to the mass of the object. In the process of making my car I had to consider both the mass of my car and the right amount of energy to create a great enough force allowing the car to achieve maximum acceleration. Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The string which is tied to the trap is wound tightly and the trap is held. When the trap is released, the string unwinds propelling the wheels forward as they push on the floor and the floor pushes back. Thus I have built a mouse trap car which exemplifies all three of Newton’s laws of motion.

A GENETISIST'S ANSWERS

Did you know that goldfish have 94 chromosomes when we, human beings, only have 46? All organisms have a different number of chromosomes. Why? Well according to Flo Pauli of Stanford University, what makes two organisms different is the genome that doesn't code for genes which directs the activity of the genes in the genome. The genes give instructions for making proteins but only 3% in genome codes for protein. This means that 97% of the genome could be controlling the time, amount, and place of protein being made. For example humans and chimps are very alike. The proteins are very similar but the difference is the amount of protein being made in the brain. I found this answer very interesting. This made me want to explore more facts about genomes.
Have you ever wondered why the human genome is split into separate chromosomes rather than being one long strand? Our DNA is a mixture of our parents DNA. According to Dr.Bronwyn MacInnis, some of the simplest forms of life, like bacteria, keep all of their DNA in a single chromosome. However, more complex creatures, like us, split their DNA into many different chromosomes. Why exactly 46 in humans?Dr. Bronwyn doesn't have a straight forward answer. That is a mystery.

PIPPIN'S QUESTION BOX

There are many ways that allow you to travel bacck in time. The first way to go back in time is to repeat exactly what you did in the past to create the same chain of events that occured in the past. Another way is to build a machiene that helps you travel faster than the speed of light. This way you can catch the light waves before after they pass you(the past). the last way you can go back in time is to watch videos of past events and reilve them in your mind, and from your perspective you have traveled into the past!!!

HOLIDAY BLOG ASSIGNMENT

When I read "what is heredity?" and "what are traits?" I learned many things. When I read "what is heredity?" I learned that heredity is when traits are passed down from your parents or other family members. Also I learned that we look like our family because we inherit traits from our family members. For example if nobody in your family has black hair except you and your grandma, that means you inherited the black hair trait from your grandma. When I read "what are traits?" I learned that our genes define our traits which are made of DNA and reside in our chromosomes. The environment we grow up in also defines our traits. For example if someones hair is a certain color exposure to sunlight could have an affect on the hair and may change the hair color. This was a very interesting and informative article and I have learned alot from this.

CLASS RESPONSE

The topic that we studied in class was the concept of predation. We went outside and acted as predators to various "prey" (toothpicks). Though predators are organisms that the prey must always fear as life-threatening enemies, nature has also given them forms of defense against predators. I found these forms of defense very interesting. For example some of the prey were camouflaged in the grass making them harder to spot. They had pointy tips that might harm the predators upon attack. Lastly, they were also very small compared to the predators making them hard to find.
Even though in class, the predators were many times larger than the prey, predators can also be much much smaller than their prey. For example, parasites are tiny bugs that use their prey as hosts, gaining food from what the host eats and shelter from the host's body. Parasitoidism is another type of predation where the bug "lives in or on the host and feeds directly upon it."(Wikipedia)
In my opinion, predation can be an ugly thing. However, it is necessary to maintain the balance in our ecosystems. Though we may feel bad for certain prey when they are consumed by their predators, we would all be worse off if our ecosystems were overrun with those prey. We must also realize that humans are one of the most powerful predators in the food chain. We are almost always at the very top of the food chain, right below decomposers. I found that the role of parasites and parasitoids as predators that can prey on even humans, was very interesting and kind of frightening. However, I am actually glad that we have such a high place on the food chain and do not have to go through the troubles that most prey have to deal with.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predation