Current Events #2

This article is about the discovery of an ancient animal. These species are called Kombuisia. Scientists found fossils in Antarctica. These animals are about the size of a cat and have a short tail and stubby legs. They believe that Kombuisia laid eggs and did not have any fur. It is not sure whether these animals are warm blooded or cold blooded. These animals became extinct a long time ago, back when Antartica was part of Pangea. The climate was too hot for these animals, as well as many others to survive. A volcanoe eruption in Siberia caused global warming at that time, making it even worse.
I think that this is a very interesting article. I find it hard to believe that all these animals are exinct because Antartica was too warm. To be exact, about 80-95 percent of species went extinct, land and water. This is a very huge number. Today, Antartica is colder because overtime, it shifted more towards the south pole, making it cold. I think it is fascinating that scientists can find out so much just from looking at fossils.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34259034/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Class Response

One of my favorite things we did in class are the owl pellets. We took apart an owl pellet, found all the bones of the prey that it ate, and put its skeleton back together. It was very interesting and fascinating to see all the bones and feathers. I really liked this activity because I was amazed at how much I learned. I learned that owls do not chew their food, they swallow their prey whole. Owls usually eat rodents and small birds. The proventriculus produces enzymes and acids that help digest. The gizzard holds back the indigestible material such as the bones and feathers. The nutrients are absorbed by the small intestine. The indigestible material forms into a pellet. It goes back to the proventiculus and stays there for 10 hours before regurgitated. Regurgitation means that the owls is ready to eat again.
There are many new things I learned from this link. For instance, owl pellets are different from other pellets because they contain more food residue. This is because an owls digestibe juices are less acidic that other birds. I also learned that when an owl is about to regurgitate, it has a pained expression. It is reluctant to fly. The owl just simply spits the pellet out and leaves.
http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=owl+physiology&title=Digestion

Science Current Events #1

The article I read is about new viruses that were discovered in Antarctica. A virus is DNA surrounded by a capsule structure. They are parasites, so in order to survive, they must infect the hosts cells. Nearly 10,000 species were discovered, coming from 12 different families, some which were never discovered before. The Antarctic lake is more diverse than many aquatic environments around the world. Weather also has an affect on the viruses. In the winter, when the lake is completely frozen up, there were only small viruses. In the summer, the lake was inhabited by large viruses.
I am surprised. I didn't think Antarctic lakes had such a diverse microbial ecosystem, even if it's just viruses. That would probably explain why there was few animal life in those lakes. If there were a lot of animals, they would most likely be infected by the viruses. This is a good article because it expands my thinking of ecosystems. It makes me realize an ecosystem can simply be just microbial organisms such as viruses.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33676044/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Summer Reading Question

Q: What kind of person do you imagine the author to be (from My Side of the Mountain)?
A: I imagine the author to be a very experienced person. I think the author has been in this situation where he has had problems with his family and ran away too, so he decided to write about it. I imagine the author to have lots of knowledge on the wilderness and surviving on your own.

Bullying (Man's Inhumanity To Man)

Some people like to bully other people because they feel insecure about themselves. Or they might be having some problems so they take out their anger on other people. It's hard to put an end to it because not everyone thinks the same or makes the right choices. We can't control other peoples actions or emotions. In Lord of the Flies, everyone is scared of Jack because he is violent. Jack enjoys picking on people, especially Piggy. He likes to have authority and always be the "brave one" that everyone can depend on, even if he's not.

Welcome, Beta Scientists!

My favorite subject is literature because I enjoy reading fiction novels.
The best book I ever read was the Clique series.
My favorite food to buy in the cafeteria are chocolate chip cookies!
On the weekend, when all my chores are done, I like to relax and hang out with my friends.
If I won a free airline ticket to any place I wanted, I would go to New Zealand because it's very beautiful and scenic.
My favorite colors are blue and green.
If I had a pet, it would be a dog and I would name it Cliff.
This year, if I work hard enough, I hope to make new friends and get good grades.