Mad Science

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Friday, March 24, 2006

Notes for March 24, 2006

OBJ SW
1. Review
2. Quest (It's not a "test". It's not a "quiz". It's a little bit of both.)
3. Create a "beast" that is well-suited for its environment.

Not a lot of notes here, because it was a jam-packed half-day.

HOMEWORK: Create-a-beast worksheet.

Notes for March 22. 2006

Obj SW

1. Differentiate between direct and indirect evidence for evolution.
2. Compare organisms for evidence of evolution
3. Discover how variation in an organism cal lead to its survival.

Evidence of Evolution

Darwin Review
--5 year journey on the HMS Beagle
--Traveled primarily in tropical regions
--Darwin looked at a lot of fossils.

Indirect evidence
1. fossils: evidence of life long ago

2. comparative anatomy
**homologous swtructure: similar structures used for different purposes (whale forelimb, crocodile forelimb and bird wing. These are similar structures that serve different purposes)
**analogous: different structures used for the same purpose (Butterfly wings (scales) and bird wings (bones, muscle, feathers).
**vestigial structures: structures that serve no purpose (tonsils, appendix, wisdom teeth).

3. Comparative embryology
**Comparing the earliest stages of growth and development in an organism.

4 . Comparative Biochemistry
**nucleic acids, amino acids

**comparing DNA (proteins and amino acids)

Direct evidence
–adaptation: any change in an organism that aids in its chance for survival.
1. Structural Adaptation
**Mimicry: copying the appearance of a more dangerous organism that aids in survival. (yellow and black fly)
**camouflage: blending into surroundings
**Physiological adaptation: Change in an organism’s metabolic processes.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Notes for March 20. 2006

Obj SW

1. Record the experimental work of scientists dealing with the origins of life.
2. Record the direct and indirect evidence for evolution.

Notes

Definitions

Abiogenesis:The idea that life is created by non-living things.

Back in time: 200-300 years ago where does a person go to get something to eat? A market. An open air market. For meat, go to a hunter or butcher.

Way back, way back . . . ya cooked your meat, and covered the leftovers and put ‘em on the shelf. After a few days there might be bugs. Ya might think that the bugs actually came from the meat.

You might believe that mosquitoes came from puddles of water.

Scientists during that time believed that life came from non-living things.

Looking at Scientists . . .

Francesco Redi (1600’s)
--He put fresh meat in an open jar.
--Put the same kind of meat in a sealed jar.
--He observed that the meat in the open jar attracted flies and maggots. No flies in the sealed jar. The conclusion here is that the flies and maggots must come from some outside source, that they do not come from the meat.

Louis Pasteur
--Pasteurization is named for Pasteur.
--At Pasteur’s time, the prevailing belief was that Life came out of a prevailing force inn the air.
--Pasteur took broth (meat-based) and put it in a flask. He boiled it and allowed air to get to it through a tube.
--His control: the tube was s-shaped and would trap micro-organisms, but allow air to reach the broth
--His experimental flask was exposed to bacteria trapped in the tube, so bacteria grew in the broth.
--Conclusion? Life begets life. Life comes from living things.

Biogenesis: Life creates other life.

Differentiation between theology and science

Theology: Study of God. Theorizing and explaining the existence of God.
Science: Study of Nature. Experiments to find ways to explain the natural world through lots of supporting evidence.

Alexander Oparin
--Theorized that early Earth was extremely stormy, that there was a great deal of lightning.
--He further theorized that when lightning interacted with the atmosphere of Early Earth, the reaction created organic molecules (proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, carbohydrates).

Stanley Miller and Harold Urey (1953)
--Simulated Oparin’s theory in a lab
--Boiled water and trapped it in tubing with hydrogen, methane and other gasses that were present in Earth’s atmosphere.
--Delivered electrical charge to simulate lightning.
--They found that organic molecules (sugars and amino acids) in the water once it had cooled.

Protocell: A large, ordered structure enclosed by a membrane. It carries on some of the functions of life, such as growth and division. Doesn’t show all characteristics of life.

Lynn Margulis
--Symbiosis: two critters that live together
--She theorized that mitochondria and chloroplasts were once prokaryotic cells. They were taken in by cells, but not broken down.
Clues to back up this craziness . . .
--Chloroplasts and mitochondria have their own DNA.
--Chloroplasts and mitochondria are also the only organelles that have a double membrane
--Have their own ribosomes (small ones found in Prokaryotic cells
--Endosimbiant Theory

Charles Darwin
--Set out on a trip at the age of 22.
--Studied primarily tropical areas.
--Observed a great amount of biodiversity.
--He wrote a journal, drew pictures, collected specimens.

Darwin and Evolution
--All species show variation.
--All organisms produce more offspring than can survive.
--Because of this surplus of offspring, there is a struggle for survival.
--Some individuals have a better chance for survival “survival of the fittist.”
--Wrote “On The Origin of the Species”

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Notes for March 15, 2006

Obj. sw:
1. Record “Early Earth’s Conditions.
2. Define fossils and give several examples
3. Describe two methods of dating fossils
4. Create a geologic time scale

Chapter 14 notes
Evolution

Evolution: change over time


Volcanoes(Image on p. 359): emerging molten rock from inner earth, pushing up through weaker points in mantle and crust.

Early Earth: Lots of volcanic activity
Volcanic activity spews
--Carbon dioxide
--Nitrous oxide
--Sulfur oxide
--Sulfuric acid
--Water vapor
--Ammonia gas
--Ash
--Lava
Elements of life: carbon, hydrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen

Fossil: evidence of life
--Evidence from long ago
--Bones
--See chart on p. 370
--Trace fossils
--Footprints, paths left by feet, tails
--Cast: replica of an organism
--Mold: hollow image formed around organism
--Petrified fossils
--Permineralization: minerals replace the organic material
--Rock forms where soft tissue once was
--Amber: tree sap that hardens
--Resin
--Smaller organisms trapped in amber
--Ice: traps larger organisms—mammoths, humans
--Tar: some fossils trapped in natural tar pits, forms around organism
What now?
Figuring out fossils
--Where did this come from?
--What is the organism?
--When was it alive?
How do you find out how old it is?
--Relative dating
--Layering
--Newer things nearer to the top of the soil
--Older things deeper in the ground
--Flashback Review: ROCK TYPES
--Igneous – molten rock
--Metamorphic – heat and pressure changes rock
--Sedimentary – compacted sediment
--Most fossils found in sedimentary rock. Too much heat and pressure in igneous and metamorphic rock Destroys organism rather than preserving it
--Radiometric Dating
--Using radioactive isotopes found in fossil and or rocks around it to measure the date
--Radioactive isotopes have nucleus that is coming apart
--Carbon 14 – unstable, nucleus comes apart of a steady rate
--Ie, “half of it will change in 10,000 years” This is the HALF-LIFE.
--Fairly accurate method for dating


Time periods
Pre-Cambrian
--oldest dated rock is4.6 billion years old
--first evidence of life
--prokaryotic cell


Homework for Thursday
Geologic Time Scale Activity
p. 274
Include
--Era
--Two or three facts
--Time frame (bya) (mya)
--picture