Digestive system help!

This is for my Health class, since we are talking about the different organ systems in the body.  Right now, we are talking about the Digestive System.  Here is a site that helps students understand the different functions of the different parts of the Digestive System.  Click on the small blue box that says "click here for a full diagram." Here, students can scroll over different organs and it will give their function!  Have fun with this site as you learn more about the Digestive System!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thank you,

Miss Poarch

Homework for 7/31/09

In class, we talked about the process of Photosynthesis.  This evening, students need to draw a picture of the process of Photosynthesis found at this site.  In their picture, students need to label the following things:

• water
• light
• carbon dioxide
• oxygen
• sugar
• starch

This should help students get a better grasp of the process of Photosynthesis.  Tomorrow, we will go over their pictures, and talk about any questions they may have.  This will be counted as a "quiz" grade.  If you have any questions, please let me know!

Thank you,

Miss Poarch

Science Fair

This year, your kids will get to participate in Science Fair!  The fair will take place here in Amarillo, and the kids will be able to select their own topics.  Mrs. Wilcox, the english teacher, will be working together to help students create a folder throughout the year that will make the process a little easier for students!  There will be more details to come, and I will let you know as soon as I am aware of them! But until then, encourage your kids to start thinking about what they might be interested in or want to learn more about that they could use as a topic!  Thank you for your help in this process, I look forward to helping kids explore their interests in the area of science!

Thank you,

Miss Poarch

Circulatory System

For this unit, we will be learning about the systems of the human body and their functions. This refers to TEKS Life Science 7-9a. This week, we will be introducing and talking about some main points about the circulatory system.

The cardiovascular system is the "transport" system for our bodies. Like we learned in class, the heart pumps blood that carries much needed oxygen and nutrients to our cells. The oxygen comes from our lungs, and the nutrients come from the food that we eat. Let's review a few terms, and then you can play some games that will help you get familiar with the transport system of our bodies.

• circulatory system- made up of the heart, blood vessels, and blood. This is one of the systems that make up the cardiovascular system.
• lymphatic system- this is the other system that makes up the cardiovascular system. It is made up of lymph, lymph nodes, and lymph vessels. We will learn more about the lymphatic system later, for this section, we are concentrating on the parts and functions of the circulatory system.
• the heart- this is the main organ of the circulatory system. The heart is the muscle that pumps the blood that circulates through the body.
• arteries- blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart to different parts of the body (think of Arteries carrying blood Away from the heart)
• veins- blood vessels that carry blood back to the heart. (think of a big "V" as an arrow pointing towards the heart!)
• red blood cells- (RBC's) these blood cells are the little "discs" found in blood that carry oxygen to different cells in the body.
• white blood cells- (WBC's) these blood cells are like the little nurses (wearing white!) that help our bodies get well when we are sick. They help our bodies fight infection.

Now, watch this movie to learn more about the cardiovascular system!

Phases of the moon

For this unit, we are studying the moon and solar system. In this unit, we will be talking about how our views of the moon change as it goes through different phases as it orbits around the earth. This refers to TEKS Science Grade 7-13b.

The phases are the moon are "cyclic," meaning that it orbits regularly around the earth. In class, we learned that the moon orbits around the earth once every 29 days. During that time, we see the moon differently because of the way the sunlight hits the moon.

We also learned about the different 8 cyclic phases of the moon. Let's review those phases and some key terms, and then you can get to playing some fun games!

• New moon- this is the first phase of the moon. In this phase, the moon is directly between the sun and the earth, so we only see the unlit side of the moon from here on the earth.
• Waxing Crescent- less than half of the moon is lit up by direct sunlight. The part of the moon that is lit up is increasing, or going to be bigger for the next phase.
• First Quarter- during the first quarter phase, more of the moon is hit by direct sunlight. So, we see one half of the moon since it is lit by the sun.
• Waxing Gibbous- "Gibbous" means more than half, but less than fully illuminated (lit up). So, in the case of this phase of the moon, more than half of the moon would appear to be lit up, but it would still not be fully lit by the sun.
• Full Moon- The side of the moon that is facing the earth is in full sunlight, so we see the full moon from here on the earth.
• Waning Gibbous- more than half of the moon is lit by the sun, but this time, the part that is illuminated is decreasing.
• Last Quarter- half of the moon looks like it is lit up by the sun, but again, the part that is illuminated is decreasing.
• Waning Crescent- less than half of the moon is illuminated by the sun, and the part that is lit up is decreasing.

To see a chart of the moon phases for the millinium, go to this NASA site!

Now, let's play some games that will help you get familiar with the phases of the moon! In this game, be sure to think carefully about which phase belongs in what spot!

For this game, put the phases of the moon in order!

Ok, one more game to help you really get the names of the phases down!

Genetic Inheritance

This week, we will be learning about dominant and recessive genetic traits, and how an individual's inherited traits are found within their genetic material. This refers to TEKS Science Grade 7-10c.

In this unit, we have talked about genetics. In genetics, we have studied something called heredity, which is the passing of the parent's traits to their offspring. We have also talked about genotypes and phenotypes. The genotype of an individual is their genetic characteristics that we cannot see by looking at the person. Phenotype is the physical characteristics that you can see. We also talked about alleles, which are alternate forms of a gene that are located on the chromosome of an individual.

In this part of the unit, we will be talking about dominant and recessive traits. Dominant traits are traits that are always expressed in an individual. This means that you can always see these traits. For example, brown eyes are dominant over blue or green eyes. So, we know that a person who has brown eyes has at least one dominant allele for brown eyes. Recessive traits are only expressed when two recessive alleles are matched up together.

It is the allele (the alternate form of a gene) that carries the dominant or recessive trait. So, the inherited traits of an individual are found within the genetic material. These traits effect the phenotype of an individual, or their physical characteristics.

Gregor Mendel studied "inheritance," which is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring. He is known as "the father of genetics," because of his studies and discoveries on inheritance. He used pea plants for his first studies on inheritance.

A very useful tool for determining inheritance is the punnett square. A punnet square is a diagram that helps determine what the offspring of two parents will look like when they are crossed. We used these in class, but this will give you more practice. Remember that lowercase letters mean that the trait is recessive, and capital letters mean that the trait is dominant.

This might still be new to you, but that's ok! Practice doing some punnett squares, and you will have it in no time! (for this activity, only worry about the top part, the part that says "monohybrid cross," we will learn about dihybrid crosses later!)

Here are some more sites that you can practice more with punnett squares! We will do some of these together in class, but go ahead and get some practice on your own too!

Ecosystems

This week, we will be learning about the relationship between organisms and their environments. This refers to TEKS (Texas Essential Knowlege Skills) Science Grade 7- 12A.

In this unit, we will study Ecology. Ecology is the study of the relationships between all organisms and their environment. These relationships happen inside something called an ecosystem. An ecosystem is made up of all of the living and nonliving organisms of an environment. Here is a picture of a pond ecosystem. Now, keep in mind that there are all kinds of ecosystems, including forest, ocean, and pond ecosystems for a few examples. An ecosystem can be as large as an ocean or as small as a pond. Examples of living organisms would be animals and plants. Nonliving organism would be things like soil, wind, or rocks.

A great way to learn about the types of organisms that live in an ecosystem is to play a game. For this game, help the animals find their "habitat," which is where they live in the ecosystem.

Here is another game that will help to introduce you to more ecology terms. You may not have seen all of these term before, but this will be a fun way to introduce some ecology terms. To change the matching game, click "start over" at the bottom right. So, get started and have fun with the matching games at this site, and learn some new ecology terms!