Project Blog - Charity Fair 2017

Summary

The charity my group choose to support and present about is called the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. AFSP works funds research, raises awareness, advocates to pass laws that will save lives as well as offers support. Every year over 1, 000,000 people in the U.S attempt suicide with over 44,000 succeeding. To support our charity, my group sold black milk tea and peach tea inside a glass mason jar. Each of the jars were covered in glitter, decorated with the blue and purple suicide awareness ribbon and included a tag with more information on our charity. In total, we made $211 dollars by selling out of our 50 jars.

Backwards - In what ways have you gotten better at this kind of work?

Compared to my prior year's charity fair, I definitely improved. For one, this year my group and I completed every aspect of the charity fair in a timely manner. Unlike last year, I wasn't staying up the night before finishing up my board with my group. I also think the product that I created turned out better. The milk tea sold out fast and we got many compliments on our board and presentation. I also made over $100 compared to last year.

Inwards - What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

One thing especially satisfying about the finished product was how our presentation during the charity fair went. I think our group did a really great job. We really took into account what feedback we got during our practice presentations in class and practiced a lot. After the presentation, I felt really proud of how we did. There was no stuttering, we had all our lines memorized, and many people in the audience were touched and emotional when watching us present. Our presentation to the parents was one of the best presentations that I have ever given during my 4 years at AdVenture.

Outwards

What the one thing you particularly want people to notice when they look at your work?
One thing I particularly want people to notice when they look at my work is the effort we put into decorating our jars. Each jar is brushed with multiple layers of gold glitter ,lined with a different colored ribbon based on the flavor of drink and wrapped around with a hand drawn tag. It took us an especially long time to make the tags because on each one we had to untie the already made know (which took awhile for all of them), put on a bell, and retie it an appropriate length for the jar.

Forwards
One thing I would like to improve upon is ...

One thing I would like to improve upon is thinking more ahead before we do things considering our product. Doing this would have saved us a lot of time. This is because when we put the glitter on the jars, we didn't anticipate how much time it would take. We spent many hours layers glitter on all of our 50 jars. In the future, if I wanted to do a half sparkle look for a jar, I could have just used spray paint. If we spray painted the jar, it would have saved us many hours of work giving us time to make other parts of our project and board better.

WAC - Should We Bring Back Extinct Species 12/14/17

     

     “When a species goes extinct, that’s the end. Those genes are gone. That job in the ecosystem is gone. That niche disappears so there is nothing left to serve that purpose.” 10:15, Reawakening Extinct Species. For hundreds of thousands of years, this was the reality we lived in. However, due to our recent explosion of knowledge, circumstances have changed. Scientists are currently exploring the possibilities of resurrecting extinct species with something called de-extinction. Even more, with the variety of de-extinction methods such as cloning, selective breeding, and genome editing, bringing back our long lost friends seems more a part of reality than fiction. But that poses the question, is it worth it to go through the trouble of bring back extinct species? The answer is yes, we should bring back extinct species. Why? Because the practice of de-extinction can actually help with conservation, has environmental benefits, and will expand of our scientific knowledge and understanding. The benefits of de-extinction vastly outweigh the consequences.

     Some people may argue that de-extinction is time and money wasted; time and money that should be going to the conservation of endangered species. However, most don't realize that the technology used to bring back extinct species can also be used to repopulate and help endangered species. By using de-extinction technology to repopulate endangered species, we can diversify gene pools with little variation. According to the SENCER article, Should We Bring Back Extinct Species?, diversifying the gene pools will leave populations "less susceptible to viruses, bacterial infections and disease"(para. 2). This is due to natural selection. When an organism with genetic variations that will increase it's chance of survival arises, natural selection will ensure that that trait is passed down as the species evolves. As the SENCER stated, these variations can be immensely beneficial to endangered species. In addition to this, de-extinction has even more conversational benefits. Ben Novak, a lead researcher from Revive & Restore, a non-profit working to save endangered and extinct species with engineering and science has some thoughts on this topic. He stated in Stephen Ying's article, We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost?, “living species are endangered partly because of 'the lack of an ecological partner or some link in the food web.'"(para. 9). This means that de-extinction can be used as a means of conservation just as easily as it is used for resurrection.

     De extinction also has environmental benefits. One scientists named Sergey Zimov is working to bring back the woolly mammoth by splicing the DNA of similar species with something called crisper to create a hybrid species similar to the woolly mammoths. By repopulating the tundra with the woolly mammoth, we can "encourage the revival of ancient grasslands, which could slow the rate of melting permafrost and, therefore, reduce carbon emissions.”(para. 3), as stated in the Should We Bring Back Extinct Species? article. Sergey Zimov believes we can reduce the temperature by at least 20 degrees. In other words, he is saying that bringing back the woolly mammoth will reduce the rate of global warming through the reduction of carbon emissions. But the woolly mammoth isn't the only extinct animal that carries environmental benefits. In the New York times article, We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost?, Ying also mentions how passenger pigeons will counteract the negative affects of deforestation. When the Eastern deciduous forests were filled with thousands of passenger pigeons, the large flocks would land on the tree and break the branches "excreting layers of rich fertilizer that allowed new trees to grow" (para. 19). This job belonged exclusively to the passenger pigeons. Without them, the once rich forest soil has become poor. These are only two of the many ways that extinct species can better our environment.

     Because of humans, so many amazing and unique species died out to extinction. De-extinction can undo the damage we caused in the past in a positive way and bring back more diversity of life. In addition to this, if we bring back species with amazing abilities that went extinct, scientists can further our knowledge of the world and make breakthroughs that will benefit humanity. For example, Michael Archer, an australian researcher is working to bring back the gastric brooding frog. The sighting of this unique species was the first time anyone had ever seen an organism that could change one organ into another. The medical world was excited about the frogs discovery, but before they could learn anything new the species soon went extinct. In the article, Reawakening Extinct Species, Gabriela Quiros stated that scientists" wondered, could they use this in human health, not to have babies in our stomachs but to manage gastric secretions in the gut?”(para. 9). Imagine how much we could learn from extinct species. By being able to examine living organisms from the past, we can also learn about their ecosystems and the reason behind their extinction "filling in some gaps in evolutionary theory"(para. 2, SENCER article). With de-extinction we have a chance to learn about things we couldn't learn before.

      As I have shown, we should bring back extinct species. De-extinction can help us conserve our endangered species while bringing back extinct ones, benefit and improve our environment, and teach us things about the world they we never could have learned before. Our world has so much to gain from bringing back extinct species. And though we may not have our own Jurassic park anytime soon, thanks to the science of de-extinction you can bet on seeing some old friends in the near future.

De Extinction - Weekly Blog 12/10/17

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Summary

Weekly Blog 12/3/17 - Carbon Footprint

Summary

Air pollution is caused mostly by the transportation of goods. Almost all of the items we own are manufactured in other countries. To get from retailers to us products have to shipped around the world creating an insane amount of pollution. Out of trains, trucks, boats, and cars, airplanes release the most grams of CO2 per kilogram per mile. In order to keep our planet fresh and prevent things like global warming, we need to be aware of how much pollution products create and act of that knowledge. Buying your favourite products locally can make a huge difference over time. You can start by visiting local farmers markets to purchase your everyday groceries. In addition to reducing the amount of CO2 produced in the air, you will also be treating yourself to fresh and higher quality ingredients.

SP2 Developing and Using Models

I developed models when I created a map of my charity fair products journey with google maps. My map kept track of all the CO2 released into the air to make my product by showing how each component was shipped from its manufacturer, to retailer, to me. I used this model to see approximately how many total grams of CO2 per kilogram per mile was emitted into the air during the creation of my product. By knowing this information, I was able to see just how much air pollution one jar of milk tea could release. My model explained to and showed me that when creating future products and buying items, I need to keep in mind how much air pollution is being created. 

XCC: Scale Proportion and Quantity

 When calculating the quantity of grams of CO2 per kilogram per mile the total amount of CO2 emitted depends on the amount of miles traveled and the type of vehicle. For airplanes, 1 mile of travel would be equivalent to 0.17 grams of CO2, 2 miles would be 0.34, and 5 miles would be 0.85. The relationship between miles and CO2 is a scale proportion. In order to calculate the quantity of CO2, you have to first determine what kind of vehicle the items was shipped by. If it was in the same country, it was shipped by a truck, if it was in the same continent, train. If it was in a different continent, airplane or boat. After that, multiply the amount of miles traveled by the amount of grams of CO2 produced per mile. 

Project Blog 11/16/17 - Fluxx Cards

Summary

This past week we were tasked with the project of creating a deck of fluxx cards that taught a certain science concept. The deck of cards had to include keepers, goals, actions, creepers, and rule cards. My teammate and I chose our topic to be symbiosis. Symbiosis can be defined as interactions between organisms. There are three forms of symbiosis: parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism. Parasitism is when one organism benefits while the other is harmed. Commensalism is when one organism is benefited while the other is neither harmed nor benefited. One example that we used as a goal in our fluxx card deck is the relationship between the phainopepla bird and saguaro cactus. Since the bird builds its nest in the cactus, the bird gets a home and the cactus isn't affected. Finally, the last type of symbiosis is Mutualism. Mutualism occurs when both organisms are benefited.

Backwards Looking - What problems did you encounter while you were working on this piece? How did you solve them?

After printing out our cards, we realized that the backs and front of the cards were not lined up correctly. In order to solve this problem, we decided to just cut the cards normally while holding the side with all of the information. By doing this, we would be cutting off and cropping parts of the card back but keeping the important information on the inside of the cards. After doing this, we realized the backs of the cards haven't consisted however the important part was still intact and unaffected.

Inwards Looking - How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

One thing I particularly liked about these cards was the design aspect of them. On each type of card, we changed the font and picture for the sidebar of the card to match our topic. I think this tied everything together very nicely. One thing I didn't like, however, was how the back side of the cards was cropped of due to how we didn't line up the backs to the front while printing.

Outward Looking - Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

Unlike other groups, my partner and I was the only group that drew in the pictures for the goal and keeper cards. This along with how we changed the fonts of our cards was the main major difference. Somethings we did similar in our work was how for other groups the fronts and backs also weren't lined up. I noticed that lining up the sides was a struggle for many groups.

Designer Species Project Blog 11/5/17

Summary

In order to surviv, organisms have to have certain characteristics and adaptations. These can include camouflaging coats of fur, certain body shapes, and much more. For example, to stay cool inside a hot burning desert, fennec foxes have giant ears. They provide more body surface for the fox's body heat to radiate around. The fur of sloths is able to suck up moisture and grow algae to help them camouflage. The gornopoulos, a mammal that lives in humid tropical rainforests has both of these characteristics as well as a flying squirrel body and sticky feet pads. Like all organisms, the gornopoulos has many specials ways that it survives to reproduce. It eats nuts, fruits, and insects. The large ears also serve another purpose. It gives the gornopoulos great hearing which allows it to hear predators and prey to know where they are. In conclusion, animals need certain adaptations and abilities to reproduce.

Backwards Looking - 

What process did you go through to produce this piece?

In order to produce our poster and presentation, we first had to research about what type of traits our animal would need to survive on its planet. The next step was to begin creating our species and answering the questions about our organism. Once we were completely sure about our idea, we began to make our model. For our model, we created a diagram (shown above). The final step was to make our presentation and script. Once that was completed all we had to do was practice.

Inwards Looking -

What were your standards for this piece of work? Did you meet your standards?

For this project, my standards were high. I felt that I had a good group and that there wasn't a reason for me to not do a great job. After presenting, I felt that I did meet my standards. My group was able to create a great poster that not only looked organized but was also informational. Our presentation was okay overall but I felt like with more practice we could have definitely improved.

Outwards Looking -

Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

Unlike other groups, my group decided to create a skit for our presentation. We were the only ones that did this. The reason why we wanted to do a skit was that we wanted to present our information in an interesting and entertaining way. However, like most groups, we created a poster for our model rather than making a 3d version of our organism. 

Forwards Looking -

One thing I would like to improve upon is...

One thing that I would have liked to improve upon was our presentation. Since we wrote the script eh day before, we weren't entirely comfortable with our lines. Since we used no script, some of us forgot their lines. In addition to this, we definitely could have added more to the performance. In the future, I can solve this problem by thinking ahead and making sure the script gets done early enough to allow our group to practice how we want to present.

Weekly Blog 10/29/17 - Animal Adaptations

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Great_male_Leopard_in_South_Afrika-JD.JPG/1280px-Great_male_Leopard_in_South_Afrika-JD.JPG

Summary

In order for organisms to reproduce, they adopt certain traits and characteristics they help them survive in their habitats. These can include a striped coat for camouflage from predators or maybe a long, thin beak that allows them to collect pollen. The fennec fox, for example has giant ears that help keep them cool. The ears provide more surface area for the fox to spread it's body heat around. In addition to this, the fennec fox has thick sandy colored fur. The fur serves many purposes. It reflects heat, keeps the fox warm during cold nights and grows on the paws of their feet to prevent their feet from getting burned by hot desert sand. When a new species is created, they have to be able to survive by having certain adaptations.

SP2 Developing and Using Models

I developed models this week when I started to map out and draw my groups designer species. My group first brainstormed ideas. Then we drew a rough sketch of our first model that included all of the characteristics we wanted in our organism. Finally, we began to finalize our ideas which we wrapped up with an official drawing of our species. At the end of the week, we began to bring in materials that we could use to actually create our 3D model. It was important for us to develop and create our drawing models so we could visualize what we wanted our designer species to look like.

XCC: Structure and Function

Many animals and plants have certain body structures that carry out perform certain functions. For example, think of a giraffe. The structure of a giraffe includes a yellow coat of fur with brown spots. They also have an iconic long neck. All of these things serve a purpose. The "function" of the brown spots is to allow the giraffe to camouflage from a far distance. The dark and light spots mimic the shadows that is produced through leaves in a tree. The "function" of the long neck structure is to allow the giraffe to reach food high up in the trees. Again, all organisms have a structure and function in the adaptations and body.

Weekly Blog 10/22/17 - Animal Classification

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Summary

To keep track of the evolutionary relationships between organisms, organisms are classified into groups inside groups inside of groups starting with their kingdom. Organisms can be classified into the 5 following kingdoms: Animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, and protists. Once they have been classified into their kingdoms, they are grouped into their phylum and organized by their main features. In the animal kingdom, for example, there are 40 different phyla.  After that, organisms are organized into classes, orders, families, genus, and species. Whenever you hear the scientific or binomial name of a species, the first word would be their genus while the second word is their species. For example, the binomial name for humans is homo sapiens. Homo is the genus and sapiens the species. To organize all of this scientists use something called a cladogram (a branching off diagram like shown above). 

SP2 Developing and Using Models

I developed models when I completed worksheets by organizing my data into cladograms and data tables. When figuring out the t-rex's closest relative, I first created a table or model that listed out which organisms had or didn't have the traits. Once the data table was completed, I followed the online interactive and created a digital cladogram model. I used the model to find the closest relative to the t-rex. I did this by seeing which species shared the most traits with the t-rex as well as looking at the common ancestors. 

XCC: Patterns

In cladograms, all of the species are organized in a pattern. At the bottom of the cladogram, there are species that share only a few traits with the other species and are not as closely related. At the top of the cladogram, you will find the species that have all of the traits. Cladograms are organized in a pattern and order of common ancestry. They can also help us understand the patterns of evolution. We can look at cladograms to see the order of how species changed and to find patterns in evolution.

Weekly Blog 10/15/17 - Evidence for Evolution

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Summary

There is a lot of evidence for evolution including the fossil record. The fossil record is the history of life documented by fossils. When looking at the fossil record, you can compare different fossils to other fossils that look similar and slightly different to one another. By examining the rock you found the fossil in, you can also get an estimated time and duration of that species life. Once you have found enough fossils of animals that look extremely similar, you can place them in an order that makes sense and see how the particular organism evolved over time. More evidence of evolution can be found in comparative anatomy. For example, when you look at the bones in the arm of a human, bird, dog, and whale, you will see that all of those organisms have a very similar bone structure. This tells us that all of those species are related therefore evolution has occurred.

SP2: Developing and Using Models

I developed a model when I created a poster with my group containing the fossil record for the "adventurian" species. The table included the duration and time that the species lived as well as a picture of what the species looked like. You can use this model as a visual representation of how the species evolved over the years by looking at the pictures of the species and noticing the small changes that appeared. The purpose of this model was to explain how fossil records can be used as evidence for evolution.

XCC: Stability and Change

In evolution, organisms always change and evolve through generations. In our fossil record of the "Adventurian" species, I noticed how in the beginning or first few eras the species didn't really evolve. This must mean that the environment of the species was stable. However, after that, the species started to change a lot. It evolved by growing spikes, legs, changing shape, size, and more. in nature, though it may seem stable organisms are always changing.

Weekly Blog 10/7/17 - Natural Selection

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Summary

     Natural selection is the process in which animals more adapted to the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. For example, when Darwin studies the same species of finches located on the different island of the Galapagos he noticed that all of them were slightly different. Each of the finches had certain variations of color, beak or claw shape, size, etc.) depending on what adaptations helped them survive long enough to reproduce in their particular environment. Darwin learned that this was due to natural selection. Let us say in this environment there are a lot of little bugs for the finches to eat. If one finch with a fat beak had 4 finch babies one of which was born with a long skinny beak. The finch with a long skinny beak would be more likely to survive because it can more easily consume the small insects. That finch would have kids who would survive to have kids and over time the finches would all be better adapted to their environment. That is why all of the finches on each island were different. They all adapted to their own environment.

SP6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions 

     I constructed explanations after I read passages and played games to explain the mechanics of natural selection. While playing the games, I evaluated the information given to me by the game. With that information, I was able to design solutions to the problems given to me and understand how exactly natural selection works. I did this with two topics: peppered moths, and Darwin's findings.

XCC: Stability and Change

     In the peppered moth's forest ecosystem, originally the system was stable. There were lots of white moths and a few black moths. However, when the Industrial Revolution took place, pollution turned the trees black causing change within the before stable system. The black moths were now better adapted to the environment. Through natural selection, the white moths were eaten and the black moths reproduced changing the ratio of black moths to white. Over time and generations, the system would stabilize. There are now only a few with moths in the once all-white system. If the trees turned white again, the system would once again change.

     

Weekly Blog 10/1 - Evolution

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Selection.svg/2000px-Selection.svg.png

Summary

The theory of evolution explains how all of the earth's species came to exist and that all living things share a common ancestor. It is any change in the heritable traits within a population across generations. In order for evolution to occur, reproduction is needed since an individual can't a evolve (a population with reproduction can). Evolution can occur five different ways. There can be the shrinking of a population, mating, mutations (a change in n organisms DNA), genetic drift (gradual loss of certain genes), and natural selection (only the best adapted to the environment survive). Out of all 5 of these types of evolution, however, only natural selection can cause adaptations to occur.   

SP 3 - Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

I planned and carried out investigations when I worked on two evolutions labs on mutations and genetic drift. The purpose of the experiments was to understand how mutation and genetic drift occurs and works in real life. While experimenting I collected data which helped me answer questions about how evolution occurs. 

XCC: Cause and Effect

The earth's and its organisms are always evolving whether it is visible to you or not. The cause of this change might have to do with the organism's environment. For example, think of a farmer. The farmer might use pesticides for their crops. However, he starts to notice that the pesticides aren't doing their jobs. What happened? because of the pesticides, the bugs weren't able to access their food. This caused their bodies to evolve and become immune to that pesticide. This story shows us that evolution may occur because of cause and effect.

 

WAC - Is it more important to Reduce, Reuse, or Recycle?

     According to KQED's the Math of Trash video,“Yearly America makes 160 million tons [of trash]”, (0:15). That's where the phrase reduce, reuse, and recycle comes in. It's a common phrase that we have all heard at some point in our lives. Annually, 22 billion pounds of Co2 is emitted into the air from garbage trucks alone. This causes climate change and pollution. But does recycling, reducing, and reusing really benefit the environment? And most importantly, which of the three is most important to do? It is more important to reduce than reuse and recycle. This is because reducing takes care of the root of the problem whereas recycling isn't efficient or cost effective and reusing items can become hazardous to your health. Let us elaborate on that.


     The root of our environmental dilemma can be addressed with reducing. After all, "The most essential way to reduce waste is to avoid creating it in the first place."(para. 2), wrote Bethany Wieman in her article What is Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? In another article, Is it more important to You to Reduce, Reuse, or Recycle?, written by Trent Bateman and others, the article states that, “Conservationists argue that we cannot maintain our quality of life as human beings with as much waste as we produce, and that embracing sustainability is the best way to maintain modern culture"(para. 2). In other words, this means that the "best way to maintain modern culture" is by reducing. Reducing the amount of waste we produce and products we use would be the most efficient way to save our environment. The problem is that the amount of waste America produces is ridiculously high. Cutting back on how much we use will lead to a decrease in the trash we produce. In addition to this, reducing also preserves our resources. It saves our energy, plastic, paper, and more. In closing, reducing is a great way to address the root cause of problem and decrease the amount of trash in landfills.

     Sure reducing is a great solution, but what's wrong with recycling? Putting paper your plastics and more in that blue bin for it to be recycled into something new seems like a great idea. However, recycling isn't exactly what it is made out to be. For example, when it comes to single stream recycling (when all kinds of recycled items are mixed together in a collection truck), "about 25% of items in those streams end up going to landfills anyway"(para. 5), wrote Bateman and others in their article Is it More Important to You to Reduce, Reuse, or Recycle. Thus, meaning that recycling isn't really helping the environment as much as it should be. Furthermore, if the recycled items end up in landfills, the money being put into recycling is lost. That's not it though, the authors also stated, “The cost of recycling rises and the benefits decrease as cities transition from recycling just paper and metals to the practice of recycling plastic, food waste, and glass as well" (para. 5). In conclusion, recycling should not be a priority over reducing when it comes to helping out mother nature.


     Now that recycling has been discussed, let us review why reusing isn't exactly the best solution either. “Continuous use of some plastic bottles can lead to health risks if they are made with cheap plastic or if harsh chemicals leach out of those containers with increased use.”(para. 4), says Bateman and others once again in their article Is it More Important to You to Reduce, Reuse, or Recycle. This doesn't only apply to plastic bottles. If you reuse any poorly made item for too long, you are putting yourself at risk. Another example of this is if you are driving an old car. You may think that you are helping out the environment by continuing to use your old car rather than buying a new one but in reality, you aren't. Older car models are typically much less environmentally friendly. They use more gas and pollute the air with their old technology. All in all, reducing is still the best of the three solutions. 

     As I have shown, reducing is is the easiest, most efficient, and overall best method to prioritize of the three R's. Recycling is expensive and sometimes ends up leaving more trash in landfills and reusing can be unsafe. The next time that you brush your teeth or even leave a room will you turn off the tap? or turn off the lights? Hopefully you will. Just remember, the first step to creating a healthy environment is to reduce. 

     

Our Interactive Tri-fold of the Geologic Time Scale

Summary

Throughout earth's history, so many things have occurred. Continents were formed and broken apart, species were created and wiped out, and humans have appeared bringing along with them, technology and more. The history of the earth is organized in a table which can be divided into eons, eras, and periods in order from largest to smallest. The earth itself is approximately 4.5 billion years old. There are four eras, the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. All of these eras are divided into several periods each of which has different major events. Currently, we are in the Cenozoic era. 

Backwards Looking

What problems did you encounter while you were working on this piece? How did you solve them?

One problem that came up while working on the geological timescale project was a conflict between some group members. While brainstorming ideas for the project, one group members started to feel excluded and that all of her ideas were being shot down. I solved this problem by explaining to her that the reason that we aren't going with any of her ideas was that of a time restraint. We wouldn't have enough time to execute her ideas well before presentation time and wanted to make sure our plan was realistic. After explaining this to her she felt better and the conflict was resolved. 

Inwards Looking

What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

For me,  was especially pleased with the finished product. I felt that it was organized, informative, and creative. My favorite thing about this project was the addition of the pop-up flaps. I feel like the flaps added a lot o the project because of their creativeness. In the future when making tri-fold type things, I will keep in mind the idea to add in pop-up information flaps. 

Outwards Looking

Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

My group was one of the only groups that created a tri-fold. Most groups made their project on a flat foam board. However, some groups created 3d models of things like rooms and bookshelves. In addition to this, while most groups printed out their information, my group handwrote everything down. On way our final product was similar was the information. Since most groups got their information from similar sources, the information turned out the same. Our work process was also the same with most of the groups. First, we researched, planned out our flaps, then began making them.

Forward-Looking

What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?

One goal I would like to set for myself next time is to manage my time more efficiently and plan out when I am going to spend time on the project to get to get it done on time. I ended up staying up later than usual one night to get the project done. This was because I didn't realize how long it would take to create all of the information flaps.

Weekly Blog 9/10/17: PreCabrian Era

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Summary

The Precambrian Era ranged from 544 million years ago to 4.6 billion years ago. It was a time of continent building for the earth. In addition to this, the first early stages of life also took place. During the Archean Time, the earth's crust was creating by the cooling of lava. Some lava escaped through cracks and those volcanoes help create more rock surface. The volcanoes created clouds which created rain which made the ocean. In the ocean, the first life was created, single celled bacteria. Thanks to the oxygen the organisms released into the air, life forms developed becoming more complex. In addition to this, the first plate tectonics were creating causing the first super continent called Rodinia. That took place 1.1 billion years ago. The ocean caused Rodinia to break up making the second super continent Pannotia.

SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions

I constructed explanations and designed solutions when I researched information and completed a data sheet on the Precambrian era. When I researched information on how the earth first formed as well as what it was like during that time, I explained and answered the questions on the data sheet and exercised the sixth science and engineering practice.

XCC: Stability and Change

The planet we call home is constantly changing from the species that inhabit it to the geologic structure of the earth itself. The Precambrian Era was a big time of change. When the earths crust was made, plate tectonics created the first super continent Rodinia. 350 million years later Rodinia broke up. North America moved towards the South pole while the rest of the continents moved up north. 150 million years later they collided again creating Pannotia. Now, the earth looks completely different. This shows that the earth is constantly changing and moving. However the process of change (how the plate tectonics move to create new land forms is still the same as it was millions of years ago.

Multiplier

This week I was a learning because I mainly focused on my own research. I read articles and passages to gather information and record it in my data sheet to use in the final project.

Weekly Blog 9/3/17 The Rock Cycle

1. Sedimentary Rock           2. Metamorphic rock

 Summary

Geology is the study of the structure of planet earth and the forces that make and shape the earth. In geology, there is a law called the principle of uniformitarianism which is the idea that geologic processes that operate today also operated in the past. This principle helps geologists understand the world and explain the natural phenomenon by allowing them to look at how things are made now and know how things were made then. The rock cycle is the cycle that changes rocks into different kinds. There are three types of rocks: Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. 

S&EP 2: Developing and Using Models

This week I developed and used models when I created a model representing the rock cycle using starbursts. First sedimentary rock was created by cutting up two different colored starbursts and applying a light amount of pressure on them. The sedimentary rock was then transformed into metamorphic rock when more heat and pressure was applied. The metamorphic rock was then thrown into a microwave (volcano) and heated up and cooled into igneous rock. This model represents the rock cycle because it shows the process needed in order for each type of rock to change into another.

XCC: Patterns

As I mentioned earlier, the principle of uniformitarianism is the idea that what process is happening now also happen in other places around the world and will operate the same way in the future and past. This principle proves that geologic processes in the world repeat a pattern. By looking at the geologic pattern scientists can date rocks, understand the past, and predict the future.

Science and Engineering Practices Quiz Re-Grade

Question # 2: A group of 7th graders creates and analyzes graphs of the data from an investigation about the relationship between a ball's mass and its speed down a ramp.

My answer: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Correct answer: Using mathematical and computational thinking

The answer I selected was analyzing and interpreting data. The reason why I thought the answer was analyzing and interpreting data was because the group of 7th graders were analyzing graphs of data. However, I didn't take into account how they were investigating and analyzing the relationship between mass and speed with takes mathematical and computational thinking. Due to how the 7th graders were using mathematical thinking to analyze a graph on the relationship between a ball's mass and speed down a ramp, the correct answer is SP5: Using mathematical and Computational thinking. 

Question #5: Students in Mrs. Garcia's class use a class chart of what different animals eat and group the animals in different ways based on their food sources. Students then discuss which animals would be affected if changes occurred to different food sources.

My answer: Using mathematical and computational thinking

Correct answer: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

The answer I selected was using mathematical and computational thinking. I mixed it up with analyzing and interpreting data which was the correct answer. The students did not use much mathematical and computational thinking. Analyzing and interpreting data is the correct answer due to how the students used and studied charts of what animals eat to understand the way the data works (predict which animals would be affected if certain events happened).

 

Why I Returned to AdVenture

     AdVenture, a school full of projects, teamwork, different people, and technology. My name is Enya Do and I have been going to the AdVenture ATEM program since the 5th grade. I returned to Adventure for my eighth-grade year for several reasons: I like the way we learn in AdVenture, I already know all of my teachers and peers, and my brother is transferring this year. Let me go into more depth about all of that.

     Reason number 1: I like the project based learning curriculum that AdVenture has adopted. Learning through real world situation based projects as well as practicing team is important to me. Since the 5th grade, AdVenture has been setting me up for success in the future by teaching me social skills. Reason number 2: I feel like it would be too hard as well as unreasonable to transfer into a new school in my last year of middle school. I already know all my friends, teachers, as well as the way this school works. For example, I have been in Ms. Garcia's class for four straight years. Reason number 3: This year my brother will go through his first year in AdVenture as a fifth grader. It is more convenient for my parents to pick both of us up at the same time and location. In addition to this, I can also help him out if he doesn't understand anything.

     AdVenture is a great school for kids that prefer project based and hands on learning like me. That being said, I am proud to return and be apart of the AdVenture STEM program for my last year of middle school.

Article Blog 5/21/17 - Stars

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Starsinthesky.jpg

Summary

When huge clouds of dust and gas get so big they start to cave in, the center heats up and becomes a core that will one day become a star. Stars come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. The larger the star, the quicker it will burn out. Most stars live for billions of years. When giant stars die, a huge explosion called a supernova is created. If the supernova is big enough, a black hole can be created. 

Citation

"How Do Stars Form and Evolve?" Newsela | How Do Stars Form and Evolve? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.

SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data

The author of this article analyzed and interpreted data to learn more about stars and write an informational article communicating what he or she learned. In order to find out all of this information, he or she had to read, watch, and talk to experts about stars, supernovas, black holes, and more. 

Weekly Blog 5/13/17 - The Environmental Accords

https://sites.google.com/site/earthsciencehumanimpact/_/rsrc/1472778978660/home/Human%20Impact%202.jpg

Summary

Humans impact the earth in many different ways both negative and positive. However, most of it is negative. Things like clearcutting, overfishing, polluting the air and more are happening. The Urban Environmental Accords is a document with a list of goals that will get us to an "ecologically sustainable, economically dynamic, and socially equitable" future, as stated by sfenviornment.org. There are 21 "actions" or goals in the environmental accords all under 7 categories. The categories include energy, waste reduction, urban design, urban nature, transportation, environmental health, and water. The environmental accords are important because they protect the earth and make it more sustainable for the future. 

SP6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

I constructed explanations when I rephrased and summarized parts of the Urban Environmental Accords to better understand what they were saying. I explained and discussed the meaning of the accords with a partner. I thought of solutions to problems while playing legends of learning. Some puzzle games required thinking about the solution to get to the next level.

XCC: Cause and Effect

Everything happens because of cause and effect. For example, if we plant more trees around a sidewalk, there will be more shade on the sidewalk, this will make the air cooler not only preventing things like global warming but saving energy. Since the air is cooler, fewer people will use their A/C and fans. Simply making more shade outside (the cause) has many positive effects. Creating more shade is once of the environmental accords. 

Article Blog 5/7/17 - Stone Age dentists treated cavities with tar

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Blausen_0864_ToothDecay.svg/2000px-Blausen_0864_ToothDecay.svg.png

Summary

Long before dentists existed, during the stone age, humans cleaned their cavities differently. They used sharp stones to scrape and chip out their decayed teeth and coated the damaged tooth with bitumen, a tarry type of crude oil. They also used toothpicks (pieces of sticks). About 20 years ago in a site in Italy called Riparo Fredian, some researchers excavated six teeth human teeth. The teeth were found to have scratch marks in the decayed part and after a chemical and microscopic analysis of the teeth, the researchers found out the dark parts of the cavity walls were actually bitumen as well as plant fibers and some hairs. Benazzai, a researcher believes that by coating the teeth with bitumen, it protected the teeth from further infection.

Citation

Bower, Bruce. "Stone Age Dentists Treated Cavities with Tar." Science News for Students. Science for Students, 05 May 2017. Web. 07 May 2017. <https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/stone-age-dentists-treated-cavities-tar>.

SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data

The author of this article, Bruce Bower, analyzed and interpreted data to learn more about this topic and write an article communicating what he learned. In order to find out all of this information on studies and what other scientists and researchers have learned about old dentistry, Bower had to do lots of research and analyze what information he found to verify its credibility. 

Weekly Blog 4/30/17 - Endothermic and Exothermic Reactions

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Summary

Nearly all chemical reactions involve a change in energy. Endothermic reactions occur when energy is absorbed from its surroundings. Exothermic is the opposite of endothermic reactions. It is when energy gets released during the chemical reaction. In an endothermic reaction, energy is absorbed from the surrounding environment. This means the container, for example, that the reaction occurred in would feel cold. The products have more energy than the reactants. In an exothermic reaction, energy gets released into the surroundings making it warmer or glow (like in glowsticks). The products have less energy than the reactants.

SP5: Using Mathematics

This week I used mathematics when I balanced chemical equations while playing games from legends of learning. To balance equations we had to add in coefficients to the beginning of each compound until there was the same amount of elements on each side. To do this, we used addition as well as multiplication.

XCC: Energy and Matter

In endothermic and exothermic reactions, energy is absorbed and released. It is moved around and never destroyed. The same is for matter. In chemical reactions, the amount of mass in the reactants is the same as the amount in the products. That is why we balance equations. Both energy and matter are never destroyed. 

Article Blog 4/16/17 : Using Diamonds to Protect Smartphone Screens

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Brillanten.jpg

Summary

One company known as AKHAN semiconductor is working on using one of the worlds strongest minerals to coat smartphone screens. They want to use man made diamonds grown in labs to develop a stronger and more shatterproof screen. They are experimenting with ways to heat, cool, and re-arrange the bonds of the diamonds. Creating the diamonds are also proving to be challenge due to how they need to be at very specific temperatures. Changes in temperature can easily occur. Though the founder of AKHAN semiconductors, Adam Khan claims he can create a synthetic diamond film, other people are still skeptical due to all the problems making and heating diamonds is causing.

Citation

"Diamond in the Lab: Man-made Coating May Protect Smartphone Screens." Newsela | Diamond in the Lab: Man-made Coating May Protect Smartphone Screens. Newsela, 12 Apr. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

SP8: Communicating Information

The author of this article communicated information by writing an informational article and publishing it online. By publishing the article he or she wrote, he or she made information on new and developing smartphone technology available to all readers online. The author helped take a step forward in understanding the world by sharing information on technology with others. Without communicating information and informing others, no science would be advanced.

Article Blog: Experiment proves that foxes can be tamed the same way as dogs

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Sleepy_fox_01.jpg

Summary

Foxes are usually considered wild animals, whether tame or not. However, a Russian biologist named Dimitri Belyaev was interested in how dogs became domesticated. He wanted to simulate the early days of domestication in dogs. In order to simulate and see what the domestication process looked like, he used foxes due to their similarities with dogs.  He and his team picked the tamest wild foxes they could find, spent time around and bred them. They recorded and analyzed data and slowly the foxes began to change. Nowadays, there is a large population of domesticated foxes. The tamest foxes are called the elite. Over time, as the elite had children and the children had children the number of elite foxes being born began to increase. The foxes also showed physical traits that weren't found in wild foxes. They developed spots, curly tails, and floppy ears. When the Soviet Union (where the experiment took place) fell, the scientists had to stop their research due to a lack of money to fund it. Now, the facility sells the domesticated foxes. 

Citation

"Experiment Proves That Foxes Can Be Tamed the Same Way as Dogs." Newsela | Experiment Proves That Foxes Can Be Tamed the Same Way as Dogs. Newsela, 5 Apr. 2017. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. <https://newsela.com/articles/domesticated-foxes/id/28741/>.

S&EP: SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data

The author analyzed data on the domestic fox experiment to write about and communicate information on what the experiment was. In order to put together an article, the author/s had to do lots of research and reading on the experiment and the scientists. Once the data was gathered they would have to go over and summarize it to create a short and informational article on the topic.

Weekly Blog 3/31/17 - Chemical Reactions

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Electrolysis_of_Water.png

Summary

During chemical reactions, atom molecules get rearranged to become new things. Sings that a chemical reaction has occurred includes color change, a seemingly random change in temperature or state and more.

Weekly Blog 3/24/17 - The Periodic Table

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Periodic_table_large.png/1280px-Periodic_table_large.png

Summary

The periodic table organizes the elements by atomic weight and similar properties. The first version of the periodic table was created by Dmitri Mendeleev. On the right of the periodic staircase (the green stair like line on the right side of the table), there are the non-metals. On the left side, there is the metals. A period is a row in the table, a family is a column. Elements share similar properties and are grouped together within the family. They have the same amount of electrons on the outer layer of the atom. This is what gives them similar properties. In order from left to right, first there are the alkaline metals, they have 1 electron in the outer shell and are highly reactive. Next, there are the alkaline earth metals which have 2 electron in the outer shell. They are less reactive than the alkaline metals but still reactive. Third is the transition metals. These are all of the elements in between the towers on both sides, they are good conductors. Then, there's the Boron family which has 3 electrons in the outer shell. After that there is the nitrogen family, which has 5 electrons. Next is the oxygen family and then the halogens. Lastly, there is the noble gases with a complete set of 8 electrons sin the outer shells. Due to that, they don't react with anything.

SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions

This week I constructed explanations on why the periodic table is organized the way it is by looking at things like how many electrons elements have on their outer shell as well as what properties they have and what their atomic numbers are. By looking at patterns in different atoms I was able to learn about the relationship between elements in families and how they have similar properties. I learned that the periodic table is organized by atomic number as well as properties in the element. 

XCC: Structure and Function

The function or properties of an atom or element is very dependent on its structure. For one, the amount of protons in an element is what defines the atom. If you added just one proton to an atom, you would have a 

completely different element. In addition to that the amount of electrons will also affect the atom. If you take away or add an electron the charge of the atom will change.

Atoms, Elements, and Ions

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Atom_diagram.png

Summary

Atoms are the basic building blocks of matter. They can't be broken down further without maintaining their function and properties. They are made of protons, electrons, and neutrons. Protons have a positive charge, electrons a negative, and neutrons neutral. The protons and neutrons live in the nucleus of the atom while the electrons orbit around the neutron. They are also defined by the number of protons they have. Elements are pure substances made from only one type of atom. They are all on the periodic table. Ions are atoms that have either lost or gained electrons. There are two types, cations, and anions. Cations are ions that have lost electrons. Because they lost negatively charged elections, they have a positive charge. Anions are ions that have gained electrons. This means they have a negative charge. You can figure of the charge of an ion by subtracting the number of electrons from the number of protons.

SP5: Using mathematics and computational thinking

Over the course of the week, I used mathematics to calculate the density, volume, and mass of different objects. For example, while solving the density dilemma, we had to calculate the densities of 5 different crowns using division. We were given the information on each crowns volume and mass. Since density (how much stuff there is in a given space), is calculated by dividing m by volume we were able to use math the find the densities. Then we had to compare the densities of the crowns to the densities of other materials to figure out what each material was made out of.

XCC: Structure and Function

The structure, (density and buoyancy) determines its ability to float or sink. In class, we tested different objects to see if they would float or sink. If an object has a higher density than water, it will sink. If it has less mass or a lower density, it will float. Whether or not an object float doesn't have to do with its material, weight, or volume. For example, you could have two cubes with the same volume. But one is made out of stone while the other one is wood. The wooden block might float while the stone block will probably sink.

Endangered Species - Project Blog 3/12/17

The Infographic We Created

Summary

In this project, we choose an endangered species, created an infographic on the animal, and developed a protection plan for our animal. The animal we choose is the blind velvet worm. The blind velvet worm has a soft, velvety which can measure from 25 - 35 mm and if you couldn't tell from the name, it has no eyes. They also have two antennae as well as two small appendages on either side of their mouths. They use those to hunt their prey. Due to their blindness, they are super sensitive to air currents caused by movement. This is what allows them to figure out what's going on around them. They can be found in Tasmania's eucalyptus forests. The reason why they are endangered is mainly due to deforestation (loss of habitat) and sometimes wildfires. One way we can save the blind velvet worms is by creating laws and rules protecting te small area of habitat that the blind velvet worm is known to live in. This will give them and home and reserved space to live.

Backwards Looking - What process did you go through to produce this piece?

The first step was to choose an endangered animal. We did this by going on a website with a list of endangered animals and clicking on the worm tab. We choose the blind velvet worm since its name sounded interesting. The next step was research. Each group members was assigned a different role and were in charge of a different piece of research. After our research was finished we created the infographic on the left with information about all of our research. The last step was to worm on a presentation and come up with a conservation plan.

Inwards Looking - What was especially satisfying to you about either the process or the finished product?

One thing that was especially satisfying to me about the infographic was that it has lots of information. To communicate the information we also used a variety of media including a video, pictures, and text. In addition to this, our infographic looks visually appealing.

Outward Looking - If someone else were looking at the piece, what might they learn about who you are?

If someone else were looking at my piece they might learn that I like to make sure the work that I make is very neat, easy to read and nice to look at. I do this by making sure the background or text color doesn't make it hard to read and by adding in lots of visuals and pictures. 

Forward Looking - What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

If I had a chance to do this project over again, then I would choose a different endangered animal to do this project on. This is because it was really hard to find information on our animal due to the fact that very little research has been done on the blind velvet worm. What helped us was finding information on the velvet worm and seeing if it applied to the blind velvet worm also since the two animals had very similar traits.

Interactions Between Organisms - Weekly Blog 3/5/17

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Anthidium_February_2008-1.jpg
An Example of Mutualism

Summary

In nature, there are many different types of relationships between organisms. Some nice, some not so nice. Predation is a win lose interaction. It is when one organism consumes a lot of or all of another. An example of predation is a when a lion hunts or kills a zebra for food. Competition is when organisms are competing for resources such as food, light, water, shelter, mates and more. There are 3 kinds of symbiotic relationships. A symbiotic relationship is one between organisms of different species where the survival of one is dependent of the survival of the other. The first one is mutualism. Mutualism is a win win interaction where both species get something good out of it. An example of mutualism is shown in the picture above.

The second one is commensalism which is a win ehh interaction. When one organism is benefitted while the other is neither harmed nor benefited. The last one is paratism which is a win lose interaction. It is when one organism is benefited (a smaller species) and the other is harmed (a larger species). The difference between predation and paratism is that in predation the organism being harmed is killed or eaten whereas in paratism the outcome would be less extreme.

SP1: Asking questions and defining problems

I asked a question and defined problems when I completed research about the type of habitat my groups chosen endangered species, the blind velvet worm. I researched about where it lives and what, might be happening to the ecosystem that is causing their endangerment. The point of my research was to gather background information to be able to answer why that species is endangered and how we can prevent it from becoming extinct and getting it off the endangerment list. 

XCC: Cause and Effect

During the past week I worked on finding the cause of the blind velvet worms endangerment. The effect is the endangerment of the blind velvet worm. The main cause is the clearing of the worms habitat, dry eucalyptus forests. A decrease in population of the blind velvet worm will also become the cause of more and more things leading to more and more effects. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Weekly Blog 2/17/17 Inter-Dependence of Organisms

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B0%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B53.jpg

Summary

An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living organisms which interact with each other. Living organisms are biotic while non-living parts of an ecosystem are abiotic. One way biotic organisms are dependent on abiotic factors is how animals need oxygen to survive. Animals are biotic and oxygen is abiotic. An example of how biotic organisms rely on other biotic organisms is in an ecosystem's food web. When the population on one creature drops, increases or gets diseased than all organisms part of the web are affected since everything is somehow connected.

SP3: Planning and Carrying out Investigations

I planned and carried out an investigation when I used a Gizmos simulator to experiment with how populations and health of organisms might affect the other organisms in the food chain. I did this by changing populations and the health (normal or diseased) of rabbits, grass, snakes and/or hawks. After watching a graph of the populations of each organism over a certain period of time, I recorded my data. After that, I studied my data and thought about why the organisms were affected the way they were.

XCC: Cause and Effect

In an ecosystem food chain, all of the organisms are dependent on one another. If something changes with one organism, then all of the other orgnisms in the ecosystem will be affected since everything is connect whether directly or thorugh another organism. For example, imagine a simple food chain with grass as the producer, then rabbits that eat the grass, snakes that eat the rabbits, and hawks that eat the snakes. If out of nowhere the snake population drastically increased. Several things would happen. During the first few months, the rabbit population would increase causing the grass population to decrease while the haw population would also decrease. However, overtime eveyrthing will most likelt balance out eventually or somehow work out.

Project Blog - Super Genetics

A poster of all the components of my project

Summary

Genes are made of DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. A genotype is a pair of alleles or forms of a trait. n addition to all this, traits can be either dominant (represented by uppercase letters) or recessive (lowercase). Genotypes can be either heterozygous (hybird) or homozygrous (purebred). A phenotype is an observable trait resulting from someone's genotype. You inherit half of your traits from your mom and half from your dad. To predict traits, scientists use punnett square. Punnett squares help scientists make predictions about genotypes. In addition to this, some traits or characteristics you might have might be a result of epigenetics. Epigenetics is how the decisions your mother (from the moment you are in her stomach) and you make will affect you later on in your life. For example, if you smoke while pregnant, the effect will more than likely be that your child is born too early as well as underweight. You can also genetically engineer genes. On common technique is by inserting a new gene into a plasmid or loop of bacterial DNA. First, the loop of DNA is cut with a restriction enzyme. It scans for the base letter sequence GAATC, as it runs along the double helix. Once it finds it, at that exact point it cuts the loop of DNA leaving the ends of the loop sticky. This allows a new piece of DNA to be inserted. After the new strand of DNA gets inserted, the joins are stitched together by another enzyme called DNA ligase. Once you finish all these steps you now have a loop of genetically modified bacteria. In our project we had to create a superhero, villain, and child using genetics and learning about it while we did so.

Backwards Looking - How much did you know about this topic before you started?

Before we started our whole genetics unit, I didn't know much about genetics. Only that we get our genes from both of our parents and that genes determine our traits which includes how we look, what genetic diseases we might develop, and some personalities or ways we act. I also knew about genetic engineering and mutations (that genetic engineering existed). Most of what I know about genetics now is new knowledge.

Inwards Looking - What was especially satisfying to you about the product?

I especially liked how all my drawings turned out in this project. I think the extra week that was given at the end to complete everything and put it all together really gave me time to refine all the work I did and make sure it was the best. I used that time to go over a lot of my drawings with a pen and color it more. I also fixed and re-read a lot of my writing.

Outward Looking - If someone else were looking at the piece, what might they learn about who you are?

If someone were to look at my project, they would learn that I really enjoy keeping things organized as well as pretty and enjoyable to look at. I spent a lot of time on the villains packet writing, drawing, and coloring, for example. I also made sure that the tape was neatly and evenly cut. They might also learn that I love food since a lot of the stories I wrote for this project revolved around food.

Forward Looking - What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?

Next time, I would like to set more firm checkpoints while I do my work. This will keep me on track as well as make sure I don't have to rush at the end like I did for a bit on this project. I will do this by thinking of exactly what I want to accomplish by the end of that class period or day. If I don't make my goal, I will need to work extra hard after school, or the next day to catch up on my work.

Weekly Blog 2/5/17 - Genetics

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Eukaryote_DNA-en.svg/320px-Eukaryote_DNA-en.svg.png

Summary

In human cells, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes meaning 46 chromosomes total. People get 23 from one parent and the other 23 from another. Chromosomes can be found in the nucleus of cells. They are made of DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, which is the instructions for making us. Segments of DNA is called genes. Your traits, come from your genes. Genes can also be modified. Lots of foods are actually genetically modified, they are known as GMO (genetically modified organisms). 

SP2 Developing and Using Models

I developed a model this week when I created and tweaked my superhero automata. I also developed a model when I worked on my super villain nefarious papers. I had to draw four models about the original and nefarious of different body systems and organs. In addition to drawing these models, I wrote a short paragraph about the function of the normal and nefarious, how it changes from one to another, and more. In addition to this, I started creating a giant model with all of the information and papers from this superhero unit and began assembling it into one poster.

XCC: Structure and Function

The structure of the eye in my supervillain is what gives it is supervision or ability to see (well). Compared to a normal eye, the structure of the nefarious eye includes a larger lens to allow more light into the retina as well as a thicker retina. A thicker retina means more photoreceptors which will improve my supervillains vision. Photoreceptors are the cells that actually allow us to see everything around us including the shapes of objects and color. This idea was based off cats eyes. Cats amazing vision comes from their larger number of photoreceptors. They have around 6 times more than humans do. 

1/29/17 Super Villans

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Summary

The brain, a part of the nervous system is located inside of your skull, It is sort of like the person in charge due to how it controls most functions in our body. The brain is important because it controls almost everything meaning without it, nothing would function. You wouldn't be able to think, move, feel, or do anything really. The first body system thing I choose to change during my superhero transformation is the nervous system mainly the brain. The brain transforms in my super villain by

Weekly Blog 1/15/16 - Genetic Manupulation

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Bacteria_used_to_make_wheat_s
eeds_nearly_immune_to_wheat_take-all.jpg

Summary

A common technique in genetic engineering is to insert a new gene into a plasmid. A plasmid is a loop of bacterial DNA. First, the loop of DNA is cut with a restriction enzyme such as EcoR1. As it runs along the groove of the double helix, it scans for the base letter sequence GAATC. Once it finds it, at that exact point the enzyme cuts the loop of DNA leaving the ends of the loop sticky to allow the new strand of DNA to more easily be inserted. This allows a new piece of DNA to be inserted. After the new strand of DNA gets inserted, the joins are stitched together by another enzyme called DNA ligase. Once you finish all these steps you now have a loop of genetically modified bacteria.

S&P 2: Developing and Using Models

On Monday, I developed a model of my superhero's child epigenetic results which I got from flipping a coin the week before. To represent the sickness that my superhero's child ended up with (breast cancer, other cancers and inefficient and malformed organs), I drew a drawing of her in a hospital bed, bald, with an iv attached as well as with a ventilator. By drawing the outcome of the epigenetics, I was able to use the model to compare the two drawings of my superhero's child, one of a healthy child and one of what actually happened to her.

XCC: Cause and Effect

Modifying someone's genes can have many different effects. For example, if you insert a new string of DNA into the DNA of a type fruit, the effect will be that the fruit will change based on what type of new DNA you put into the fruit or what you took out. Farmers use genetically modified seeds to grow a modified kind of plant or plants that don't get affected by pesticides. In the case of my superhero, her and her partner used human DNA and the DNA of a Lyrebird to grow \modified vocal organs with a higher vocal range giving her "superpowers" once surgically put into her. The cause (altering human DNA with the DNA of an animal) ended up with the effect of a sort of cross between the two (organs for humans with amazing animal like capabilities).