Mrs. DuBose’s Class: AdVeNtUrEs iN ScIeNcE

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems. Think of it as “innovation inspired by nature.” Every thought of how cool it would analyze how spiders manufacture a waterproof fiber five times stronger than steel (webs) or be able to study how electrons in a leaf cell convert sunlight to fuel in trillionths of a second (photoeletic cells). This cool new field allows use to envision using biomimicry to create—medicines, “smart” computers, superstrong materials, profitable and earth-friendly business.

To learn more check out the below video, podcasts, and websites

Channel One:  BioDesign Segment

Pulse of the Planet Podcasts

Kids’ Science Challenge: Biomimicry – Unexpected Adhesion
By way of an accidental discovery, engineers are now developing “sticky” material based on the properties of a gecko’s toes.
Kids’ Science Challenge: Biomimicry – Toe Hair
Hairy toes  REALLY hairy toesare essential to a gecko’s wall-climbing ability.
Kids’ Science Challenge: Biomimicry – Running Like Roaches
Roaches and humans have at least one thing in common the way we run.

Kids’ Science Challenge: Biomimicry – Toothbrush Toes
If you want to understand gecko-inspired adhesion, just pick up a toothbrush and follow along.
Kids’ Science Challenge: Biomimicry – Gecko Fingers
A gecko’s ability to adhere to surfaces is leading to advances in manmade materials. Gecko tires, anyone?

You have probably heard the name “Buzz Aldrin” before. Aldrin was one of the first two people to walk on the moon in 1969, along with Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong. Aldrin will be celebrating a big milestone this Thursday, January 21: his 80th birthday.

You can help wish Buzz a happy birthday! Follow the link below to enter your name and birthday message. On January 21, the Planetary Society will give Buzz a giant birthday card, filled with names and messages from all over the world!

Add your name and message to the card on the Planetary Society website.

See restored footage of the 1969 moonwalks on National Geographic Kids.

See pictures of Buzz Aldrin and others exploring the moon on National Geographic Kids.

Courtesy: National Geographic Kids

Check out an Interview with Buzz Aldrin

Something to Think about

What should be the mission of NASA?  At the end of the video, Buzz Aldrin stated that “America doesn’t really need to go back and explore what we have already explored (referencing the moon)”.  What do you think?

Headlines

1. Aftershock Hits Haiti
2. California Mudslides and Evacuations
3. Study: Teen Internet Use
4. Stanford University Student is Victim of Cyber Attack on Google
5. Olympic Pop Quiz

ATTENTION TEACHERS!

• Click here to go to Channel 1: Daily Discussion Guide and Quiz
• Click here for Current Events Quiz

Even though you are a kid, you can still HELP the world.  Let’s see how students across America are volunteering to help raise money to aid Haiti in the aftermath of 7.0 earthquake

To see more stories of how students just like you are having an impact click on the stories below

• Students in Montreal, Canada Pitch In to Help Haiti
• Kids in Washington, DC help too
• Kids sell Kool-Aid to Help Haiti
• Students Organize a Modeling Contest to Help Haiti

On January 12, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7 earthquake, causing widespread devastation. The earthquake’s epicenter was about 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital city. The International Red Cross estimates that a third of Haiti’s citizens will need emergency aid.

The quake destroyed houses, schools, hospitals, and even the National Palace in Port-au-Prince. The city is currently without electricity or phone service.

• Find out more about the Haiti earthquake on National Geographic News.
• Find out how you can help on the American Red Cross website.
• Learn more about earthquakes on nationalgeographic.com.
• Learn more about Haiti on National Geographic Kids.

National Geographic Presents: Earthquakes

EXTEND YOUR LEARNING: Check out these  interactive learning sites

• Plate Tectonics
• Ology: Explore How Plates Affect Your World

Channel One News is THE leading television news network for teens nationwide. Our mission is to inform, educate and inspire by making news relevant and engaging for young people and sparking discussion around the important issues impacting youth. They enable millions of teens to visit and delve deeper into the day’s newscast with quizzes, games and contests, and also for after-school interests, like music, sports and college info.

Headlines

1. Jessica Kumari Reports from Haiti
2. The Next Big Thing: Texting for Charity
3. The Week in Rap

ATTENTION TEACHERS!

• Click here to go to Channel 1: Daily Discussion Guide and Quiz
• Click here for Current Events Quiz

When the gray wolf was eradicated from Yellowstone National Park in the 1920s, more was lost than just the noble and fascinating predator. The park’s entire ecosystem changed. Now, nearly a dozen years since the wolves returned, the recovery of that system to its natural balance is well underway.  In the Valley of the Wolves is a riveting documentary that provides understanding into ecosystems, adapations, food chains, niche, animal interactions and more!! Teachers, I have a created movie questions that go along with the movie for your classroom use. Click here

Hi Super Scientist

This week we enjoyed learning about ecosystems.  We enjoyed watching Finding Nemo and applying what we have learned about ecosystems: abiotic and biotic factors, habitat, symbiosis, and food webs. We created our own cycle of life by creating food chain from National Geographic magazines. 

A food chain includes plants, or producers, plant-eating animals called herbivores, a meat-eating animals called carnivores, animals that eat both plants and other animals (omnivores), and tiny creature, or decomposers, that break down dead plant or animal remains

Symbiosis basically means ‘living together’ . These symbiotic interrelationships can be divided into three main categories; Mutualism, when both species involved benefit from the relationship, Commensalism, when one species benefits and the other isn’t affected, and Parasitism, when one species benefits, and the other is harmed in the process.

Commensalism                              Parasitism                           Mutualism
(credit to Dirk Redecker. University of Basel Botanical Institute)

Commensalism: One partner living on the other with no obvious effect on the second.
Parasitism: One partner living on the other with detrimental effect on the second.
Mutualism (symbiosis in a strict sense): Advantages for both partners.

CAN YOU GUESS IS IT..

MUTUALISM, PARASITISM, OR COMMENSALISM??

What is a habitat?
A habitat is a special place where a plant or animal calls home. Just like you have a home or place to live, so do animals and plants. When we talk about an animal or a plant’s home it is more like a neighborhood than a “house.” An animal needs four things to survive in its habitat—food, water, shelter, and a place to raise its young. Just like you have to go to the store to get food, an animal leaves its “shelter” to get the things they need to live. If the population’s needs aren’t met, it will move to a better habitat.

Working Together
There are many plants and animals that will share the same habitat. The animals and plants that live together in a habitat form a “community.” The community of living things interacts with the non-living world around it to form the ecosystem.

Because resources like water and food may be limited, plant and animal species often compete with each other for food and water. The only way that they can all live together is if they occupy slightly different niches or hold different “jobs” in the community. No two species can occupy exactly the same niche. They all have their own jobs or niche in the community.

A niche is the smallest unit of a habitat that is occupied by a plant or animal. The habitat niche is the physical space occupied by the plant or animal. The ecological niche is the role the plant or animal plays in the community found in the habitat.