Organisms in extreme conditions...

I decided to do my blog on halophiles. "Halophiles are aerobic microorganisms that live and grow in high saline/salty environments. The saline content in halophilic environments is usually 10 times the saline/salt content of normal ocean water. Some environments that halophiles live in are the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Owens Lake in California, the Dead Sea. These microorganisms use osmotic pressure and chemical substances like sugars, alcohols, amino acids to help control the amount of salt inside the cell. Halophiles are like other extremophiles because the proteins inside the microorganisms play the most important role of making it possible for them to survive in extreme saline/salty environments" (Oracle Think Quest).

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212089/halo.htm

Plant...

Day 1: We got our plants today. I picked one of the smaller sunflower seeds. Unfortunately, I think I over watered it. I cut holes in the bottom but I don't know how much help that will be.

Day 2: It still looks a little over watered but the holes at the bottom seem to be working. I'm having a hard time finding a place in my apartment to put my plant in sunlight.

Day 3: still no sign of growth. I think it needs more sunlight.

Day 4: It sprouted!!

Day 5: It is getting bigger but it still has the seed stuck on the top of it.

Day 6: It was growing out of the cup but still had the seed covering stuck on it. I took the seed coat off and it has two leaves.

Day 7: It is still getting bigger. It is really far out of the cup now and I think its roots are getting to big for the cup. I need to repot it.

Day 8: It is pretty much staying the same size.

Day 9: Nothing new

Day 10: I'm taking him on a field trip to class today :)
Later that day... tragedy struck in the caf! my plant broke its neck.


New Plant
Monday: I got a new plant

Tuesday: I watered Little Timmy but nothing has happened yet

Wednesday: Still nothing

Thursday: I watered him again today but no signs of life from Little Timmy

Friday: I gave Little Timmy to Dr. Rood today to babysit during spring break.

SPRING BREAK!!

Monday: I got Little Timmy back and he has sprouted! He is a couple inches tall with 2 big leaves.

Tuesday: I watered him today and he is looking good! :)

Wednesday: He has two more leaves that are starting to grow

Thursday: His two smaller leaves are getting bigger and I think he is growing taller

Friday: I watered him today. He is starting to turn more yellow than green.

Saturday: He is still turning yellow but his two newest leaves are really fuzzy

Sunday: I dont see much change in him today. I watered him. Maybe he needs more TLC

Monday: Little Timmy is not lookin good :/

Tuesday: I think he is getting wilty

Wednesday: I came back from class today and Little Timmy was totally wilted and leaning to one side. I tried to revive him but his condition is critical

Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning

Inductve Reasoning is defined as "creating general principles by starting with many specific instances" (naked science). The example we used in class involved taking many different triangles of all different shapes and sizes and realizing that they all have a sum or 180 degrees for their internal angles. From this we induced that all triangles have internal angles that add to be 180 degrees.

Deductive reasoning is defined as "arriving at a specific conclusion based on generalizations" (naked science). These tend to be the If, then, but, therefore statements. An example from nakedscience.org is this. It is hypothesized that the color of a mineral is determined by its crystal structure. This hypothesis can be tested using deductive reasoning. "If the color of a mineral is determined by its crystal structure; then all purple minerals should have the same crystal structure. But purple amethyst has a hexagonal structure and purple fluorite has an isometric structure (determined by observations). Therefore, the hypothesis is not supported or strengthened" (naked science).




http://www.nakedscience.org/mrg/Deductive%20and%20Inductive%20Reasoning.htm

Scientific Inquiry so far.....

In the last couple of weeks we have done several activities relating to different methods of communication. We translated a sentence from spanish to english, played charades, wrote in different forms such as print, cursive and typed, drew a picture, made paper footballs, played a paper football tournament, and played cat's cradle. Each of these activities used one of more forms of communication. Cat's cradle required verbal direction as well as a visual demonstration. I have learned from this class that all forms of communication are crucial to get even the simplest idea across. This was a very valuable lesson becuase I can use my forms of communication more efficiantly while communicating. For example, a person who learns best by example should not be given only verbal instructions. That is one reason why being skilled in all levels of communication is so important. I can show people of all learning types how to do something if I know how to use all my different methods of communication effectively.

The Swift Red Fox

Different forms of communication are used every day by every person in the world. In class we experienced how hard it would be to communicate if we could not talk by playing charades with the sentence, "the quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog." Through this excercise I have come to appreciate all the ways we can get our throughts across to other people and how meaningful communication is.