Hello everyone. This week was pretty interesting. I turned in my plant tissue lab that wee started two weeks ago before the snow days. We also did another lab called the flower dissection lab. It taught us about the male and female reproductive parts of the flower. The plant tissue lab wasn't that interesting to me because I wasn't there for the microscope part of the lab. I hate being sick. I really do. I am now going to start taking in more antioxidants to boost my immune system. It's a really good thing that I like blueberries. We also took a test  on the plants. I got had one of the best grades in the middle school. I got a 96%! I am proud of that. I know my blogs the last few weeks have been short and boring but there haven't been too many labs to talk about that you guys can do at home. The whole school has been set back because of that stupid ice storm, and now we have to make up days, which I am really not going to enjoy. We had a ton of work to do over that 'break' and we still have to make up a few days at the end of the year.
We did fun projects on Friday. We made fake 'snow' that is actually made up of a water absorbing polymers. It started out as a light coating of dust at the bottom of a cup that as soon as wee added water, poofed up. It was really cool. We are also growing crystals out on pipe cleaners. The crystals are made up of borax, which is used in laundry detergents. As the water evaporates, crystals form on the pipe cleaner. We twisted the pipe cleaners to look like snowflakes, and at the end of the lab, they should look like the picture on the left.

Wow guys1 what a week! I was out Monday for because I was sick. Then school was canceled because of a sheet of ice on the roads. It was super dangerous to go places because of the ice patches. Plus nobody here is used to snow, or for that matter ice. I really need to study for a couple of tests that were rescheduled because of the snow storm. Math science and spanish tests, oh my! I chilled this week and worked on a couple of projects. Hope you guys have had a good week and weekend. Stay safe!

Hi all. i'm not exactly feeling great right now as I went on a 15 mile backpacking trip in Uwaharrie National Forest. It was 9 degrees Fahrenheit, which is pretty cold! Pair that with the wind and it made it sort of miserable. Two summers from now, I am going to have to do that distance times five when I go to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. There really wasn't that much that we did this week except for one BIG lab. The bio-dome. A three litter bottle high tower made up of clear plastic soda bottles, potting soil, randomly assorted twigs and leaves, and crickets, earthworms, shrimp, and snails. Paired with the plants in the habitat, the bio-dome is a self-sustaining ecosystem, which is really cool! It even waters itself through evaporation and condensation. Each level serves a different purpose. The top level is the terrarium level. It houses the twigs and leaves as well as the earthworms and crickets. The second level is the evaporation condensation level. This is how the top level is watered and how water falls into the aquarium giving it nutrients from the soil above. The bottom level is the aquarium level. It houses the most water as well as two pieces of elodea, a water plant, and shrimp and snails.The one problem is the shrimp in the aquarium level are suicidal.

Hey guys! This week is pretty much gonna be me blabbing on and on about my observations from the labs we started last week. While we didn't start anything new because we had our midterms, we did observe our Lima Bean Lab every day. Mine has begun the crack open, mean it is going to grow soon! I need to get my grade up! I have an 88% and thats not good enough for me. I really let the ball drop in the second quarter, and now I need to work hard to get it back to an A. I got a 90% on my midterm, so I know I studied, but could have studied harder. My bad. I thought midterm was fairly easy, but that may just have been me. This is just a recap of last weeks post with some new things added, so if this is your first time reading my blog, make sure to go back to last weeks post. Thanks all of you reading this!

Hey y'all! Big week for my class and I this week. Our science mid-terms are this Tuesday! I am not that nervous about it, but I know I need to study. We had a rather slow week this week, but that is because of the holiday messing up our sleep schedules. Did you know that it's not healthy to sleep in on the weekends? I found out a few months ago that sleeping in on Sunday messes up your schedule for the entire week causing you to be tired and less productive. I just thought that was interesting. I almost forgot to ask! How were all your breaks?  My condolences to all viewing from the North-Eastern portion of the Untied States. Stay safe guys!

This is what I felt like the first day back.

I most definitely need to study on my mid-terms. I know most of the information but I do need to touch up on my small details. We started two new labs this week and finished up our mold terrarium lab from before winter break. We identified leaves, which I didn't find that interesting, but we did start a lab where we can actually see the roots on a plant grow! I forget the name of this lab, but  I most definitely want to see this. We are watching store bought lima beans, which I though were dead, grow into full fledged plants inside of CD cases. So cool! Anyway. Have you heard about the huge snowstorms up North? I love the snow but that much would drive me batty along with the wind chill and the ice. In other news, a man was convicted of murder by killing his stepfather, by accident, with an atomic wedgie during a drunken fight between the two. Apparently, the man suffocated on his own underpants. How awkward would that be? Thanks for looking in again and tune in next week for more on all things science( and maybe some social studies)

Hey guys. Lot's to talk about this week. We had a quiz last Wednesday, which I got a 96 on. The question I missed was worded weird and I didn't really understand it. Oh well. I think I have a pretty good grasp on what we are doing in this chapter, but I do need to study more in advance than the night before. I also need to work on my labs because that was one of the areas that was bringing my grades down. So I definitely need to work on answering the question completely because on some of the labs, I answered part of the question, but not all of it. Anyway, we started a lab this week about fungi, as it is tha next part of our chapter, Viruses, Bacteria, Protists, and Fungi. We brought in jars of varying sizes and different types of food to make a mold terrarium. 

Let's Make  A Mold Terrarium

Materials

• A jar or tuba-wear container
• 5 different foods
• masking tape 
• Recording sheet

Procedure

• Cut up all the different foods into small pieces(run them under water if they are dry)
• Place them into the container try to not let them touch.
• Seal the container with masking tape. 
• DO NOT OPEN THIS CONTAINER AGAIN. SOME OF THE MOLD MAY BE PATHOGENIC
• Put it in a dark place
• Let it sit for a day. 
• The next day, look to see if any mold is growing. Continuously do this for 10 days.

This is called a bacteriophage. It is a virus that invades bacteria.

Hey y'all. Hope you guys had a amazing thanksgiving. Comment about the food you ate in the comments section. I know I did. Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, pistacchio salad and ham. My dad bought a whole 18 pound ham for my sister because she doesn't like turkey. The real star of the show was the pie. This week, we started learning about viruses and bacteria. I have a lab you can try at home as well. I find it funny that we waited until cold and flu season to start this section in our book. One thing I found that was interesting was that viruses are not actually living, but are like little grains of sand. They look like robots with two main parts. The protein coat which allows it to attach to cells and the inner core which contains either DNA or RNA but never both. There are no cures for viruses but you can prevent them with vaccines. Vaccines contain a weakened strain of the virus which puts your immune system on alert for the actual threat. Bacteria are very different. There are both good and bad bacteria. The good bacteria help clean up oil spills help digestion and produce food. The bad bacteria cause infection, and illness. You can prevent illness by washing you hands and staying away from sick people. If you do get an illness, you can use antibiotics to kill it. Did two labs that show the growth of bacteria. Here is the one you can do at home. The Bacteria Lab

The bacteria lab

Materials:

• A q-tip
• Petri dish
• Agar
• water
• A dark warm place

Procedure

• Mix the agar with the water
• Pour into the bottom of the petri dish
• Close the dish. It should gain the consistency of jello.
• With the q-tip, swipe it across a surface
• Open the lid of the petri dish to a 45 degree angle
• Swipe the q-tip across the agar, but don't break the surface
• Close the lid and tape it shut. do not open it again as some of the bacteria may be pathogenic
• Place the side of the container with the agar upside down in the warm dark place.
• Over the next four days, you will begin to see white spots appear. These are bacteria colonies
• Count them and record them at two day intervals.