Save our New Jersey Forests

http://blabberize.com/view/id/340363




Lisowski, Marylin. Sciene Explorer. Environmental Science. E. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2009. 63. Print.

"Boulder Hops and Star Gazing." Jenny Jump State Forest. Guest Services, Inc., 2010. Web. 23Nov2010. http://www.njskylands.com;.

"Wharton State Forest." Division of Parks and Forestry. N.p., 4 11 10. Web. 23Nov2010
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/wharton.html;.

Mites and Symbiotic Relationships

This is a picture of microscopic mites on my skin. The symbiotic relationship that this demonstrates is mutualism. This is mutualism because both species are benefiting. The mites are benefiting because they get food, and I benefit because the mites are clearing away all my dead skin.

The Sun

The sun is a very important abiotic limiting factor, as it controls many living things. It helps plants to grow and and in turn, the plants then help us to live. We eat plants just as well as other animals, then we also eat those animals. The sun also helps us to keep us warm. Without the sun, we wouldn't be able to live.

Hurricanes

Project citations:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/hurricanes/

http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/emergency/naturaldisasters/hurricanes/katrina/index.html

http://camellia.shc.edu/govdocs/scale.htm

http://goflorida.about.com/od/floridaweathe1/a/hurricanes.htm

http://www.livescience.com/hurricanes/

Lit. Poems

"Red"

Gold is perfect hair,
Gray is ash;
Red is Hans' chest
From the whip that did slash.

Blue eyes are beautiful,
Green is their meal;
Red is the apple
That Liesel and Rudy did steal.

Yellow a Jew wears,
White is Germany's fall;
Red was the fire
That killed almost all.



"The Hubermanns"

Rosa
Loud, mean
Swearing, yelling, scolding
Strict, angry, considerate, helpful
Loving, listening, reading
kind, wise
Hans.

Philadelphia Zoo Visit

On Friday, we were visited by the Philadelphia Zoo. The employee brought different artifacts that were part of the animals and actual animals. We learned that there are four different groupings within reptiles- snakes, turtles/tortoises, lizards and crocodiles/alligators. You can tell that they are reptiles mainly because of their scales. The first artifact was crocodile skin. The difference between a crocodile and an alligator is that alligators are black while crocodiles can be many other colors like tan brown or green, and they have different shaped snouts. Next was the turtle shell and an actual tortoise. The difference between a turtle and a tortoise is that turtles can go in water while tortoises can't. Then she brought out the anaconda skin and an actually snake. Snake's self defense consists of either injecting venom or constricting. Lastly she brought a lizard and a lizard that looked like a snake, called a legless lizard. The only reason why you could tell that the legless lizard was a lizard and not a snake because it had ears, and snakes don't have ears. I enjoyed that experience a lot.

Frog Disection

Last week we performed a dissection on a frog. We had to open it up with directions from the lab packet and look for specific organs such as the heart, the livers and the gall bladder. Others included the fat bodies, the cloaca, the small intestine, the large intestine as well as the stomach. Some frogs were females, some were males and we had to differentiate between the two. My group's frog was female and we could tell because there was a large amounts of eggs. To get around those we just had to scoop them out. Many people found this dissection to be disgusting, but i enjoyed it. It was a good hands-on way to learn about the parts of the frog without having a test. It is also a lot less boring then just filling out worksheets. I would rather have a dissection then have a test or do worksheets any day.

Math-Child Soldiers

Child soldiers can relate to math in many different ways. For example there was counting involved and estimating to come to the conclusion that by the end of the twentieth century there were over 300,00 child soldiers participating in warfare. Math was also used in a survey given to ex-child soldiers. 77% saw someone being killed, 39% killed someone, one-third of girls had been raped, 18 % had given birth in captivity and 69/71 who were surveyed showed significant symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Also 6% percent witnessed a family member being murdered while 2 % had killed a relative. Each child experienced on average six traumatic events. As you can see, even if you wouldn't think so math is involved in the use of child soldiers.

Haitian Earthquake

Three days ago, a tragic accident occurred in Haiti. They were hit with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. An earthquake is a shaking of the ground caused by the sudden breaking movement of tectonic plates of the earth's crust. The edges of the tectonic plates are marked by faults. Most earthquakes occur along the fault lines when the plates slide past each other or collide against each other. The Haitian government estimates that over 50,000 people had died from this devastating disaster but there is no official count. Despite the natural disaster that had just occurred, women were found singing and chanting while marching down a street. At the capital in Haiti, many people are with food water and electricity. I think that this is a terrible event to occur, especially in such a poor country. Buildings were destroyed due to the plates movement meaning there will have to be a lot of rebuilding. Haiti is going to have to receive a lot of help to rebuild their cities and towns because they don't have the money for it themselves. It was a tragic event that no one should have to experience.