Space Current Event

Name of article: Martian microbes, maybe
Author: Stephen Ornes
Date: March 21, 2013
Link: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2013/03/billions-of-years-ago-mars-could-have-been-teeming-with-very-small-martians/

During February 2013 the NASA Curiosity rover found a powdery rock sample which have shown that Mars might have been able to support life billions of years ago. Since scientists already know that Mars had freshwater, but now with the collected rock samples they have more evidence that Mars's watery environment could have supported microbes. Last August, the Curiosity Rover landed into the Gale Crater, but soon came to the Yellowknife Bay which looks like a place where a stream could have spilled into a larger body of water. This is where Curiosity took its first sample. The Curiosity Rover also has a drill which allows it to collect rock samples from underneath Mars's surface instead of just taking rocks that have been blown by winds. When Curiosity scooped up a rock, two of it's tools identified it's chemical structure showing that it consisted of 6 different elements which could have supplied energy for the martian microbes and the microbes could feed on them. However, this is only the beginning of Curiosity's exciting adventure on Mars, and scientists need more samples of these elements in rocks on Mars to understand what it was like on the red planet in the distant past.

I think that this is a big success to scientists because they found another clue to life on Mars. I found this article interesting because I didn't know how scientists could find out if there was life on a planet. Also, before reading this article I didn't know that scientists knew for sure that there was water on Mars. In conclusion, I think that this was a very important discovery for scientists but they will need more evidence to get an idea what was happening on Mars billions of years ago.

Current Event

Title: The Buzz on Bees

By: Alexandra Stifferlin

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/buzz-bees/83886 

A new study has showed that caffeine improves honeybees' memories, which makes the pollinate better. This study was conducted by the "Newcastle University" in the United Kingdom. The team decided to teach one group of bees to learn to associate the smell of flowers, with the smell of certain fruits, which contain some amount of caffeine and another group of bees to only go to flowers with sugar, but not caffeine. In result, after 24 hours, the bees that were caffeinated returned to plants 3 times as much as the other bees did. This shows that the bees who went to the caffeinated plants improved their ability to search for food and made them continue to look at return for these types of plants. Scientists have also found out that caffeine has a similar effect on the brains of mammals which  means that they get a better memory. 

This article talks about a study that has been conducted because of the problem of bee population drop. This study gave a good result which might help us in the future if the bee population continues to drop, and we train bees to pollinate better and faster, agriculture will continue to work properly. Also, as stated in the article  this study can be used on other animals, which can help humans and animals in many ways. In conclusion, I think that this was a very useful study and can greatly help us!

Tsunami Report

Nadia 

Science 7B

Mrs. Medenica

Tsunami Report

Tsunamis are a series of giant waves that are caused by underwater disturbances such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides or meteorites. The word “Tsunami” comes from Japanese “tsu” meaning harbor and “nami” meaning wave.  In the open ocean a tsunami can travel almost 1000 kilometers per hour which means that it can cross the whole ocean in just a few hours! As a tsunami approaches a coast it hits the beach floor which causes it to increase in amplitude but decrease in wavelength. Also, tsunamis usually become visible only as they approach the coast and can be only 1 meter tall in the deep sea making them hard to detect. Underwater earthquakes cause about 85% of all tsunamis. In order for an underwater earthquake to create a tsunami it has to have a magnitude of minimum 6.5. The strongest tsunamis occur in zones of subduction which are places where the oceanic crust sinks into the mantle.  About 7% of tsunamis are caused by landslides. Landslides can cause local waves but can hardly create big waves that travel through entire oceans. Volcanic eruptions cause only about 5% of all tsunamis and don’t usually create powerful tsunamis. Almost 80% of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, mostly occurring in countries that border “The Ring of Fire”. This is because “The Ring of Fire” is a region of high seismic and volcanic activity and includes several subduction zones.

The results of a tsunami are usually devastating. When tsunamis hit a coast they can cause a lot of damage such as: destroying and washing away buildings, killing or seriously injuring people, washing away resources, trees and vegetation. Hundreds or even thousands of people die because they had very little time to evacuate. Also, deathly diseases can be spread by tsunamis if corpses of animals and people start to rot they will attract insects that will spread sicknesses to the population.

One type of warnings you might get, if you live near a coast, before a tsunami occurs is a strong earthquake. Since the epicenter of an earthquake is usually in the ocean the earthquake on land is much weaker, so if an earthquake starts in a tsunami danger region it is better to get as far away from the coast as possible in order to be safe. A tsunami starts its way to the coast straight away after the earthquake happens, and it will reach the coast in few hours. Another warning is a warning system which consists of a network of sensors that detect incoming tsunamis and a structure that issues alarms when a tsunami is detected. But, this warning system is not always efficient because the time before the tsunami strikes is too short for people to evacuate or move far inland. This is why some scientists say that it is far better for people to start evacuating as soon as they feel a shaking that lasts more than 30 seconds.

If you get a warning before a tsunami and you live near a coast, you should make an emergency kit and evacuate inland or to the highest point possible. Before a tsunami strikes the water usually recedes far away from the coast, baring the seabed for hundreds meters of even kilometers. The most important thing when this happens is not to stay at the beach to collect the shells or fish because the tsunami will occur in several minutes to half an hour. Another way to find out if a tsunami will occur soon is to watch your pets/animals behavior because animals can often feel disasters in advance. During the tsunami go not get close to the beach because you might get covered by the wave and remember to put living beings before you possessions. Do not return to your home before the local officials tell you it is safe and that the danger of an incoming wave is over. Also, you should stay away from buildings in disaster areas that the tsunami has hit because they might collapse.

Scientists around the world are trying to create a more effective way to warn people about incoming tsunamis. The International System of Tsunami Alerts in the Pacific Ocean was created by governments of tsunami dangered countries and scientists. 4 tsunami stations were put to work at the north part of the Pacific Ocean and 3 more stations around the state of Oregon. Each of these stations is supplied with a registrator of pressure which is an appropriate change, since there is a big change in pressure when the giant waves form. After the registrator of pressure records the movement of waves the station gives a signal to a buoy that it on the surface of the sea.  Then, the bouy sends a signal to a satellite which transfers the signal to the Earth’s stations located on land which send a warning if there is a chance of a tsunami.

In conclusion, tsunamis are one of the most dangerous natural disasters and have many disastrous consequences. The main reason for the emergence of these waves are underwater earthquakes. But, the destructiveness of these waves relies on many factors which is why thankfully, tsunamis don’t happen very often.

Sources:

"Tsunamis." Home. FEMA, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.

"Tsunami- EnchantedLearning.com." Tsunami- EnchantedLearning.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.
"Effects of Tsunamis." Universe Today RSS. The Universe Today Team, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.
"Tsunami Facts and Information." Bureau of Meterology. Australian Government, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. 

Current Event

Name: Nadia

Date: 21 February

Teacher: Mrs. Medenica

Class: Science 7B

Article Title: Space Storm

Date of Article: Kelli Plasket 

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/space-storm/80006 

On February 15th, on a clear day, in the town of Chelyabinsk in Russia, an explosion was heard and a big streak of light burst across the sky. A meteor weighing 10-tons has exploded about 24 miles away from the Earth's surface. It was approaching the Earth at 33,000 miles per hour and its explosion was very powerful and was the largest space rock recorded to hit the Earth in more than 100 years. This explosion injured almost 1500 people the repair of the damage is estimated to cost about 33 million dollars! Meteors are smaller pieces of rocks that break of comets or asteroids. Scientists have found more than 50 fragments of the meteor in a lake located in the Ural Mountains.

In my opinion, this is a very sad event because of the injuries, damage and destruction, however, it is a very good opportunity for scientists to observe fragments of the meteor and find out information. I found this article very interesting because it explained how this event happened and what it cause and explained information about meteors that I didn't know before. 

Current Event

Name: Nadia

Subject: Science 7B

Teacher: Mrs. Medenica

Date: 30 January 2013

 

Current Event

Link to article: http://lightandcolorinnature.org/2011/10/continuing-press-for-triple-and-quadruple-rainbows/

Title of article: Continuing press for triple and quadruple rainbows

Both a rainbow and a double rainbow are beautiful sights, but a German photographer has captured both triple and quadruple rainbows. Triple and quadruple rainbows are an extremely rare sight, and there has been only 5 reports on triple rainbows over 250 years and none on quadruple rainbows! In fact, some scientists even think that these rainbows are just a myth. This is because the first and second rainbows are easy to see since they are farther away from the sun, while the third and fourth rainbow are located a lot closer to the sun causing them very difficult and even dangerous to see from the sun's glare. They can only become visible against a background which is darkened by thunderclouds or during very heavy rain. Also scientists found out that even though these rainbows are created the same way as normal rainbows are only the triple rainbow has three internal reflections and quadruple rainbows have four internal reflections.

I found this article very interesting because before I read this article I didn't know that double, triple or quadruple rainbows even existed! I also find it very interesting that scientists can find out information about such rare things. This article is connected to the unit we are studying in class now because we are studying "Sound and Light" and rainbows are made using light. 

Making Waves Lab

Making Waves Lab

Guiding Questions:

1. When water is dropped from a pipette into a pan of water, how does the wave behave?

2. What properties does a mechanical wave have?

3. How do waves interact with each other and with solid objects in their paths?

Hypothesis: (question 3)

I think that waves interact with each other by rolling one after another in a cycle. If there is a solid object in a waves path, if the object is big enough it can stop the wave and cause it to bounce back, but if the object is small then the wave will just continue its way over the object. 

When doing this lab we needed to drop water from a pipette into different parts of a container which was filled with water and see how the wave behaves. Also we needed to see how the cork that was in the container would behave when the waves were caused. Then we put different obstacles/objects into the container to see how the waves would react to them. 

Data Analysis:

I noticed that first when we were just dropping drops of water that the waves always began from the point/points where we dropped the water from and came one after another each farther away from the point where the water dropped and wider than the previous wave. When we dropped the water from two different pipettes the waves made by one drop of water reached the waves made by the other drop they crashed into each other but still continued going with less power than they had before. After this we repeated all this but with a cork to see how it would react to the waves. I noticed that the cork mostly followed the direction of the waves but didn't go very far because the waves didn't have enough power. When we used a paper towel as a barrier, the waves didn't stop but continued under the paper towel. Then, we put one stick of clay into two different positions and I saw the the waves didn't continue after the barrier but went through the gaps between the sides of the tray and the stick of clay. After we did this, we put in two and three sticks of clay each into two different positions and the waves stopped only where the barriers were and went through the gaps between them and the sides of the tray. 

Conclusion: 
In conclusion, I learned that waves become wider and less powerful from the point where they start, that two or more waves can interact with each other when they crashed into each other by entering the area of the other wave and that barriers can stop waves if they are big and dense enough but the wave will keep on going through the gaps between the barriers. I think that my hypothesis for question 3 was correct because this experiment proved that what I thought before doing the lab was correct.

Wave Interface Program:
In this program there is a tap and a pool of water where the water from the tap in dropping. The speed and size of the drops from the tap can be increased and decreased. I noticed that when the size of the drop is big than it creates a larger wave because there is more power in it. Also the waves become more frequent if the more drops of water are dropped. If there are two taps then the waves continue rolling in circles the way they would if there was only one tap and they interact by coming onto the area where the other tap's waves are forming. Also, on this program barriers can be formed which stop the waves from continuing so they can only continue going through the gaps between the barriers. 

Current Event 6

Gain For Gorillas 

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/gain-gorillas/59721

November 14 2012

By: Cameron Keady

Summary: Mountain gorillas live in groups of about 30 with their leader. The total population of mountain gorillas is finally starting to rise with the help of humans. In 2000 the population of mountain gorillas was only 320! Their population became so low because of illegal hunting, habitat loss and disease. Since then their population is slowly rising with the help of many organizations.They live in only two countries in Central Africa. In the last two years the population of this specie has risen from 786 to 880.  Nearly half of all of the population of mountain gorillas live in national parks in order to get more protection and care. “Mountain gorillas are the only great ape experiencing a population increase,” said David Greer, WWF’s African Great Ape Program Manager. “This is largely due to intensive conservation efforts and successful community engagement.”

Thoughts: I think that this article talk about an event that is very good to our society because people have started taking action to help the population of mountain gorillas rise. I think that people are starting to understand how important animals really are to our planet, and how important it is to help them survive. From this article I learned facts about mountain gorillas and their life and how people are trying to help their population to rise. 

Current Event 5

A Never Before Seen Whale

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/never-seen-whale/59326

Author of Article: Veronique Greenwood

12 November 2012

Summary: In December 2010 scientists found two Gray's beaked whales who washed up at a place in New Zealand called Opape Beach. A few months later after the scientists examined the animals, they realized that they weren't the Gray's beaked whales, but that they were two spade-toothed beaked whales, the most mysterious whales in the world! This is because they were never actually seen by humans, but we know about them from bone fragments and fossils that have washed up in the last 140 years! The only evidence for their existence which we had before this discovery was a lower jaw and two skulls. A mammal scientist named Anton van Helden was told all this and Anton van Helden and his team started working right away: they found out that the female whale was 17 feet long while the young male whale was 11.5 feet long. They also examined the colors and bones of the whales and saw why they can be so easily confused with other beaked whales. The scientists were fascinated because before this no one could even try to imagine what these whales looked like from the fossils. This discovery made scientists more interesting into beaked whales and this is only a small step in their study because nobody saw this specie of whales alive!

Thoughts: I found this article really interesting because scientists have finally found out what this whale specie really looks like and they have a chance to study this animal carefully while before they had only two fossils. This is related to science because the article explained how it was found out which species it really was and how the scientists carefully examined the whales. What I found surprising about this is that scientists knew about this species of whales only from fossils without ever seeing it! This article also shows us how little we really know about our environment and it shows the bio diversity of the species on our planet!

Current Event 4

The Competition For Title Of 'World's Smallest Dog' Heats Up!

http://www.dogonews.com/2012/11/9/the-competition-for-title-of-worlds-smallest-dog-heats-up
November 9 2012
Article written by: Meera Dolasia

 Many owners of small dogs want their dog to win the title of "The World's Smallest Dog" for the  Guinness World Records but this is not easy. The first dog to apply for this title was a female Dashchund mix dog named Beyonce. She was born in March 2012 and is not expected to grow over 1.5 pounds but she couldn't win the title until she has fully grown or turned one years old. The next dog is a Puerto Rican Chihuahua named Milly. She was only  3 inches long when she was 3 months old! 

In July 2012 news came from Jacorin, Poland about a tiny dog named Meysi. She weighed only 1.58 pounds when she was born and her owner had to feed her with a syringe every half and hour, both day and night! The current smallest dog found is a 6 year old Chihuahua who is 4 inches tall and about 1.5 pounds!

I found this article very interesting because it explained how the tiny dogs and their owners can get into the Guinness World Records book and how owners are fighting for them to be the ones to get into it! Before reading this article, I didn't know that dogs could be so tiny and that their owners have to feed them so often with tiny objects.  

Current Event 3

Blue Iguana Slithers Back from Extinction

Date: October 22 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/blue-iguana-slithers-back-extinction-153604628.html

Summary:   

Only about a decade ago, the Grand Cayman blue iguana was almost extinct: there were only 10-25 of them left in the wild. But today, it is not anymore listed as a critically endangered species. The blue iguana weighs 11 kilograms and is 1.5 meters in length. Deaths related to traffic and stray dogs caused them to become almost extinct.  This iguana, which lives only on the Caribbean island called Grand Cayman now has 750 members. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has helped this species achieve this and now plans to achieve their long-term goal:  restoring at least 1,000 Grand Cayman blue iguanas to the wild. 

This article is connected to what we are learning in science class because we were learning about ecosystems and this current event relates to the ecosystem of the blue iguana. I found this article interesting because I am interested in endangered animals and how to save them from extinction. This article states a very good event because it is good that the blue iguana is not on the brink of extinction anymore and that the number of these creatures get larger and larger! While reading this article I felt very happy to hear that organizations are finally taking action about animals being very near extinction! 

Dirt Movie Reflection

Dirt Movie Reflection

Several people in the film indicate that working in dirt is calming or satisfying. In your experience, is this true? If so, why?

I agree that working in dirt is calming and satisfying because dirt is what the earth is made up of and what plants and trees grow from. Dirt is the real material from which our earth is made from, not concrete.

What is your reaction to hearing about the number of farmer suicides in rural India over the past decade? (The film reports there were 200,000.) If such a thing occurred in this country, what do you think would happen?

This fact made me very sad because their crops don’t grow well enough to get them enough money to live. If this occurred in this country, it would affect the populations in villages and countrysides a lot and the country’s economy would drop.


In the film, mycologist Paul Stamets characterizes the human species as a virus because of the harmful effects our activities have had on the land. Do you accept his analogy? Why or why not?
I accept this analogy because humans did the most damage to our planet. Rainforests now cover less than 2% of the Earth’s surface while they used to cover 14%.

How can humans “listen to nature” and bring their needs and activities into alignment with those of nature? Are there ways you can be more attentive to the natural world in your daily life? How?
We can spend more time in nature in order to understand it and to help nature we can recycle, treat animals kindly, throw our garbage into garbage/recycling bins, not around our city.

Keeping in mind the hummingbird story told in the film, do you think doing the best you can is enough to preserve the health of the planet, even if millions of people do their best? What responsibility do governments have to help maintain a healthy planet for future generations?

I think that if millions of people try their best we can preserve our planet and make it a better place for the future generations. Governments should make more recycling centers and recycling bins in their countries, make strict rules about throwing garbage into nature and make many animal shelters.

What feelings are you left with after seeing this film? Do you feel motivated or empowered to make changes, either personally or as part of a group effort, to keep Earth’s soil healthy? What part(s) of the film especially resonated with you? What did you learn from the movie? How do you feel about dirt(soil) after watching this film? Do you feel that Dirt is really important as the film states?
  
After seeing this film I feel very inspired but sad about what is happening around the world. I feel motivated to make changes in the world to keep the Earth’s soil Healthy. The part of the film with the hummingbird trying its best to stop the fire inspired me the most. From this movie I learned that even though a lot of people might think that dirt is dirty and disgusting, it is not true because dirt is a home to many living organisms and helps farmers grow crops. I feel very differently about dirt after watching this movie because it explained the purpose and importance of dirt and I feel that dirt is very important to humans and other living organisms.

Current Event 2

Venus the Two-Faced Cat a Mystery

August 31 2012

By: Katia Andreassi

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120831-venus-two-faced-cat-genetics-animals-science/

Summary:

Venus is is the world's most famous cat. One half of her face is black with a green eye while the other is orange with a blue eye. Many scientists think that Venus is a chimera. According of myths a chimera is a monster that is made up of parts of different animals. A feline chimera is a feline that has cells that contain two types of DNA. Another interesting thing about Venus is her blue eye. Since cats usually have green or yellow eyes and only Siamese cats or white cats have blue eyes which is why nobody knows why Venus has a blue eye. This cat shows how changes in genes mutate a living organism. Also this two-faced cat shows still how much scientists have not yet studied and discovered. 

This article is connected to what we are learning in science class because we just finished the topic of classification and this article talked about a house cat and a house cat is a placental mammal and vertebrate. I    found this article interesting because I never heard of an animal having two types of DNA in a cell and having such a fascinating appearance. I think that Venus, the cat in the article, affects our society in a good way because scientists are studying it and trying to find out what caused her face to be separated into two halves. From this article I learned that usually there is only one type of DNA in a cell but sometimes there are exceptions when a cell has 2 types of DNA and that can cause mutation. 

Current Event 1 - A Marvelous Monkey

A Marvelous Monkey 

By Cameron Keady

September 17, 2012

 http://www.timeforkids.com/news/marvelous-monkey/47331

Summary:

On September 12 scientists have found a new specie of monkeys in Opala in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new specie was named "Lesula" short for it's Latin name: Cercopithecus lomamiensis. It lives in rain forests throughout Central Africa. The monkey weighs about 5 kilograms and is  about 50 centimeters tall. It's fur is blond and has a white stripe on its nose. The lesula eats mostly fruits and plants so it is a herbivore. This monkey was compared to the Cercopithecus hamlyni (known as the owl-faced monkey) and they saw that the lesula and the owl-faced monkey were similar in size and both had a stripe on their nose. The researchers found out that these two monkeys are relatives but they are not from the same specie. This specie was already known and hunted by hunters in the rain forests and scientists say that while this discovery shows that there is many more species to be discovered it also shows us the importance of preserving our rain forests and the effects of illegal logging and hunting.

This article is connected to what we are learning in science class we are learning about classification of the animal kingdom and the Lesula monkey is a placental mammal and a vertebrate.  I think that this event affects our society in a good way because it is good when scientists discover new species of animals because they can protect them from extinction. I chose this article because it is connected to what we are studiying in class (animals) and because I am interested in animals and how scientists discover them. What I found interesting and surprising about this article is that thie only the second of discovered monkey species in 28 years.