Our Science Solutions blog assignment for today is to choose 3 parts of a cell and describe their functions and importance. For my entry I think I'll write about three important parts of the cell - the mitochondrion, the nucleus, and ribosomes.

The mitochondrion or mitochondria is/are the "powerhouse" of the cell. They regulate activities in the cell and are almost as important as the nucleus to the management of it. Mitochondria can look different depending on the type of cell in which they are located, but most are somewhat irregular-shaped and off-center.

The nucleus is probably the most identifiable part of the cell. It's located in the middle of the cell and contains the most information, like DNA and cell function. It's a powerhouse, too, like the mitochondria. Unlike the mitochondria, though, there is only one nucleus in each cell. If a cell was modeled after a city, the nucleus would probably be the city hall, the mayor's office, or some other important kind of building.

Last but not least I'll describe the ribosomes. There are many ribosomes in every cell. They store important genetic information and are filled with chromatin, which holds DNA. Therefore they are important to life science. If a cell were an average-sized cake, the ribosomes would probably be tiny, flavored sprinkles.

The most important part about cell anatomy, I think, is the fact that there are millions and maybe even billions of cells within us. Each cell could be an individual city, but it's so complex inside!

This assignment ties in with our current science unit because we are studying cells and cell parts. We are currently working on a diagram of an edible cell to explain the functions in a relatable, kid-friendly way.

Our Science Solutions blog assignment was a bit unusual today. It involved a science experiment that none of us did, so we were instructed to ask someone in a different science class about it. 

Using the answers some of my friends and a few web resources gave me, I found out that baby rats' heads grew quite much, as well as their bodies and tails, in the beginning stages of their lives. As the days went by, the head-to-tail circumference ratio grew at changing paces. These circumferences were measured in centimeters rather than inches. The circumferences seemed to vary from rat to rat, though. Like humans, the growth probably slowed down after the subject reached a certain age.

Because we had next to zero knowledge of baby rat growth when given this assignment, I think that it also focused heavily on our skills to use weblinks (we were provided with some) and rely on our friends for information. We also, of course, learned about rodents and their growth patterns. Also, it tied in with our curricular standard of using different measurements. In Mrs. Poole's class we put body parts in water and charted their growth (length and mass) using the metric system. The body parts followed a similar pattern of growing rapidly and then slowing down.

Of all the fun things we did in science this past quarter, I'd say my favorite was the "By Golly, By Gum, By Time" experiment. I think this was the most fun of all of our labs. It involved everyone in each group chewing a piece of gum for separate periods of 2 minutes and weighing all of them at the same time. The objective was to see what happens to the mass of gum when it is chewed for a long time. I also enjoyed it because my hypothesis was proved right - the mass of the gum did decrease because our saliva (I know, gross!) thinned it out over time. After a few seconds or a minute of chewing gum, it would become softer, but when it entered our mouth after being weighed, it would become harder. We also blew bubbles. One even popped on my face.

It was also educational because at the time, we were learning how to use a triple beam balance. Its interactiveness definitely helped make it a lot more interesting for my classmates and I. Plus, everyone thought it was cool because we were allowed to chew gum in class for once, and learned things with it. We also learned to properly zero the balance and record data properly with this experiment.

This was definitely my favorite lab in Science all quarter. I hope we can do more fun things in science that also tie in with what we're learning. 

One of the six core characteristics of living things is that we all have cells. A cell is the smallest unit that is able to carry out the basic functions of life. Some organisms have just one cell, but most, including humans, have trillions upon trillions of cells. Despite this, though, we cannot feel cellular activity. Our Science Solutions prompt today (which is overdue) is to explain why we can't.

Multi-cellular organisms cannot feel cellular activity because as mentioned above, cells are the smallest unit able to carry out the basic functions of life. Cells, of which there are many types, are all very small. Our cells do literally everything for us. Even as you read this, your trillions of cells are moving inside you. They're helping blood pump throughout your body. They're growing and dividing and helping you grow. Without cellular activity in your body, you'd be dead.

Cells are very tiny, but they contain a lot of information and are able to do many things. The smallest organisms are made of just one cell and are thus called single-celled organisms. They are very different from us and can only be seen on a microscope, but they are living things who are made of cells. They are unable to feel so they cannot feel their cell moving - in fact, no organism can. This is because cells come in various sizes. 

As is seen with cells, it really is a big world after all.

In Science, we are currently learning about the characteristics of living things. There are 6 of them, and one of them is that all living things have DNA. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is found in all of the cells of living things and contains instructions for an organism's traits, like a blueprint contains instructions for the structure of a building. When two animals create offspring using sexual reproduction, the genes in their DNA are passed on to the offspring. This is called heredity. When one's traits are passed from one generation to another, we say that the offspring has inherited those traits.

Our assigment today is to look at ourselves. Look at our traits. Which of these traits have we inherited from our parents? Which parent? How are they similar? 

I inherited my eyes, which are a steely blue-gray color, probably from my mom, since my dad's eyes are a lighter blue. I also inherited my hair color from her, since my father's side of the family is predominantly dark-haired, and my mom's hair was lighter when she was younger. I probably inherited my 20/20 vision from another, more distant relative, because my parents, brother, and their parents are all bespectacled. I believe I get my nose from my mother, and most likely my body type from my maternal grandmother. 

Direct inheritance of traits is not always the case, though. Some children are born with blue eyes to brown-eyed parents. This is because blue eyes are recessive and were somewhere in one or both of the parents' DNA. Both of these parents inherited brown eyes from their parents, but they also carry the recessive code for blue eyes. The two blue-eyed genes met and formed the child's blue eyes. Brown eyes are a dominant genetic code, which is why they are so common. It is not possible, I believe, to have brown eyes and two blue-eyed parents, because both of the parents carry the recessive code in two genes, and in order to inherit a recessive trait, one must have two of two codes for that recessive trait. In fact, any colored eye (non-brown) is a recessive gene, including green and hazel.

In asexual reproduction, only one code of DNA is inherited, so offspring are identical to their parents. Genetics is one of my favorite areas of science because it helps you get a better understanding of why you're you. 

Thanks to Science class, I can  find this solution in the blink of an eye -- by using the displacement technique, one can find the volume of an irregularly (not box-shaped) shaped object. This technique is executed by first filling a graduated cylinder to a certain, even point in millileters (mL). Next you would place the irregularly-shaped object in the water and see what level the water is at now that the object is there. Next you subtract the first level of water from the current amount. Then you would convert that difference into cubic centimeters (cm). One mL is equivalent to one cm, so this conversion is easy. Finally you would conclude her answer and possibly share it.

     For example: (1) A gradulated cylinder is filled to 40 mL. (2) Linda puts in a rock and observes that the water level is now 56 mL. (3) She solves the simple subtraction problem by using mental math -- 56 - 40 = 16 mL. (4) She converts 16 mL to cm. (5) The water level is 16 cubic centimeters. 

Yesterday, instead of having my regular 5th Period Computers and 6th Period Science, My Computers/Science class had a double period of Science. On Tuesdays, we have a double period of Computers. That's why I didn't write yesterday, but now I'm here to write about my learnings in Science class since it's a normal day, although I believe we will have a substitute for a week or so starting to day since Mrs. Poole is flying to Washington, D.C. with the rest of Computech's Science department for an award. 

Like most school years, this one began in Science with Lab Safety. We had to sign forms, take quizzes, and finally we took a test on the first day of the second week. I got a perfect score! It helped maintain my "A" in Science and my 4.0 Grade Point Average. On our first double-period Science day we took a pretty difficult 100-question review test, to test what we already knew of the 7th Grade Science curriculum. We still haven't gotten our grades back on that. For part of the second week we did some math; calculating decimal averages and rounding decimals to the nearest hundreths. I realize in hindsight that this was practice for the third week of school. This week we are learning more about measurements and the metric system. Last week we bult origami frogs from different types of paper and measured how far they jumped. We have used our devices and sometimes Mrs. Poole's to watch BrainPop videos on our curriculum, and we have done a lot of moving around this week, because we have to take measurements and calculate the volumes of random objects around the room. Science usually isn't my best subject, but I think it's quite easy so far. I like the people I sit with and the activities we do, and I hope I'm lucky enough to maintain my 4.0 by working hard in Science as well as my other classes. I look forward to doing more advanced things in 6th Period this year. I wonder what we'll do today.