Adv Science

Image: Summary: What is human trafficking? Well, it is modern day slavery in which men, women and especially children are exploited through force, fraud, and threatening. It occurs around the world, including right here in the USA. Victims are trapped, vulnerable and unable to take action without risking their own lives. World of Children is “unlocking the future for vulnerable children by funding and elevating the most effective changemakers for children worldwide.” World of Children’s Honorees are working to rescue and rehabilitate victims of child trafficking so that they are safe, supported, and have the opportunity to rebuild. This charity has been around for 9 years and they have raised a lot of money. According to World of Children Charities, they have made a total income of $1,916,334, from public funds, restricted and unrestricted boards of gifts, and in-kind donations. “Contributions from our Board of Governors pays for 100% of general and administrative costs and fun

              De-extinction in the process of "resurrecting" species that have previously died off through cloning, selective breeding, and DNA splicing. Scientists are working to rack in an immense amount of money to perform de-extinction on animals like the woolly mammoth and the passenger pigeon. The science behind de-extinction is groundbreaking, but with environmental conditions depleting we should focus that money towards preserving species that are still alive today.      Scientists cannot perfectly predict how each and every animal that is resurrected will act. Species that are de-extinct have the complete possibility of being the top predator and wiping out other species, or they could overpopulate because other species don’t have the system to consume it. As well as that, if scientists can de-extinct species humans will care less and less about the environment and continue to destroy it because if an animal dies we can just bring it back. “If we develop a way

Image: https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2017/04/12/should-we-bring-back-extinct-species/ Summary: De-extinction in the process of "resurrecting" species that have previously died off through cloning, selective breeding, and DNA splicing. Scientists are working to rack in an immense amount of money to perform de-extinction on animals like the woolly mammoth. They claim the woolly mammoth would actually be helping the tundra, due to the fact that ice is melting and the soil contains carbon which would release if more ice melts. The woolly mammoth would “punch down the snow in the winter time allowing cold air to come in and in the summertime they would knock down trees which are very absorbent and release the grasses,” said Steph Yin in  We Might Soon Resurrect Extinct Species. Is It Worth the Cost?.  Along with the wooly mammoth, many scientists are considering the resurrection of the passenger pigeon. This particular pigeon allowed regeneration in certain forests by fra

Summary:  A carbon footprint is the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by a particular person or in this case company. Many of the items we currently use were made out of the continent or at least out of the country. You know that shirt that you love to wear, chances are it was made halfway around the world. Imagine how much carbon would be emitted just to make that shirt. It would have to be transported from one place to another a multitude of times before it reaches you and that is just one thing you own. Worst of all, if it was made out of the continent it was most likely shipped through an airplane which produces the most amount of CO2 compared to trains, trucks and cargo ships. As a company, you can see that buying locally and in bulk will not only help our air quality but can save some money. S&EP-Using Models: I developed and used models when I created a map to represent the journey made by fortune cookies. By this, I mean the map showed how different componen

Summary:  Fluxx is a complex game in which the goals are rules are always changing. While creating my very own Fluxx deck my partner and I set out to use this platform to educate others about the Water Cycle. Some main concepts of we included were accumulation, condensation, evaporation, precipitation, etc. Accumulation is when water gathers in large bodies such as lakes, seas, and oceans. We should this through a goal in which you needed lake and rain because the rainwater accumulated into the lake. Precipitation is when water drops onto the earth in ways like snow, sleet, hail, and rain. We incorporated this into our Fluxx deck by having the goal of 'Package Arrived' which required hail and atmosphere because hail precipitated atmospheric water to earth. When liquid water vaporizes into a gas is known as evaporation and the goal that explained this was 'Love is in the air.' In this goal, the connection was water vapor was in the atmosph

Question:  All of the following are reasonable reasons that explain why is the fossil record incomplete, EXCEPT.... Wrong Answer: Scavengers and decomposers eat dead organisms too quickly. Correct Answer: Organisms that are alive today cannot become fossils. Reasoning: The correct answer is, 'Organisms that are alive today cannot become fossils' because organisms that are alive today can be fossils. This is so because certain organisms that exist today have roamed the Earth for many, many years giving them time to die and create fossils. Just because an organism is currently in existence doesn't mean that one of these individuals couldn't have become a fossil. 

Image: Summary:  The water cycle is the process in which water travels through various steps such as accumulation, condensation, evaporation, precipitation, etc. Accumulation is when water gathers in large bodies such as lakes, seas, and oceans. Condensation is when water vapor "condenses" into the liquid form of water.  Condensing water forms clouds in the sky.  The so-called ingredients for clouds include humidity, condensation and sudden change in air pressure.  When liquid water vaporizes into a gas is known as evaporation.  Water vaporizes from the surfaces of oceans and lakes or from the surface of the land.  Precipitation is when water drops onto the earth in ways like snow, sleet, hail, and rain. A subsurface runoff is when a form of water flows underground into sewers or drains, whereas a surface runoff is when water flows into rivers and streams located on the surface. Transpiration is when plants absorb water through its roots, but it is later evaporated like

Summary: The bezeus is a marine animal that lives in the lakes of tropical rainforests located on planet C. Its shape and structure is almost identical to a seal except for the fact that its tail does not part in the ends. It stays cool by living in the water, for one, and its seal-like skin is designed to keep it cool. Not only does it absorb water, but it doesn't have blubber or a furry texture. The climate of planet C is very warm so it doesn't need to worry about the cold, but it does move to the top of the water if it does become cold. The bezeus gets its water from the lakes it resides in and eats algae, seaweed, and small fish. As well as that, it uses its two front limbs to eat the vegetation that surrounds the lakes. It will sneak up on its prey because it's the same murky color as the water. In addition to camouflage, the bezeus can use its tail to inject poison into both birds and bigger fish that try to consume it. The first few months, the babies look somew

Summary : My group and I were posed with the task of deigning a species that could not only survive, but thrive in Planet C. Planet C is a tropical environment with a flat terrain. It is predominantly rain forests that are moist and hot. There are many large pools of water or lakes in the rain forests where killer poisonous plants grow. The vegetation is comprised of an abundance of leaves, nuts, and fruits and some of the animals are carnivorous snakes, monkeys, fish, insects and birds. Our animal lives in the multitude of lakes in the rain forests and eats both plants and animals. It is in the middle of the food chain, eating fish, algae and seaweed and getting eaten by birds and carnivorous snakes. The fact that it is an omnivore allows the animal to survive longer. For example, if the fish dies off this animal can eat seaweed. The animal will still eventually die because the seaweed population will decrease, but the since it is an omnivore it will live longer. S&EP-Us

Image: Pierre Kleinhouse Summary:  When we think of evolution we see monkeys magically turning into humans, but what is missing from that picture is the portion below it that makes it a cladogram. What is a cladogram? A cladogram is a diagram that shows the common characteristics of certain animals, as well as how closely related they may be. The top of the cladogram includes the organisms name and sometimes a picture. On the side of the cladogram, you will usually see different characteristics. Since a cladogram is drawn at a downward angle, the characteristic applies to everything above that point on the diagram. As you go up the cladogram, the animal at the top has all the characteristics listed throughout the cladogram. Along with this, the points in which two animals meet is not when they evolved from one another, but their common ancestor. Lastly, the diagonal line of a cladogram represents time. S&EP-Models: SliderBase Cladograms are a diagram or model that s

Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIEoO5KdPvg Summary: Throughout this unit of Evolution, we've determined that all living things have a common ancestor and that natural processes can determine who lives and who dies, but what evidence is there to back up this "theory".  The Four Lines Of Evolution include comparative anatomy, embryology, fossil records, and DNA.Comparative anatomy is analyzing the physical similarities and differences between organisms. Embryology is studying how creatures develop before being born and noting comparisons. Next, there is the fossil record in which you compare and contrast animals that are living today with fossils of animals who lived in the past to bridge the gap and help figure out which animals resemble each other more. Lastly, you can use DNA to see which animals are closely related to one another. Diving a bit deeper into the fossil records, we can see how different organisms of the past acted and see how that applies to

Image: Nat Geo Education Blog - National Geographic Summary:  What is natural selection? Do the strong survive and the weak die? Not necessarily. Natural Selection is when organisms who are better adapted to their environment outlive those who aren't and have a chance to pass down their genes, which is the ultimate goal for all living creatures. Out of the five fingers of evolution, natural selection is the only "finger" that can cause adaptations. You've probably heard that organisms, most commonly dogs, are bred. Humans pick and choose which dogs can mate and with whom to determine the outcome. This case is true for natural selection, except for the fact that there is no dog breeder causing evolution. Evolution acts on nature. The idea of natural selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin, who stated that nature could determine which organisms survive and which don't. He traveled on the HMS Beagle that departed for the Galapagos Islands on 12/27/183

Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NdMnlt2keE Summary: What is evolution? Evolution helps us understand the diversity and variety of life. Evolution is more than just change over time, it is descent with modification or any change in the gene pool within a population over multiple generations. The central idea of evolution is that all living things originated from one common ancestor. Evolution cannot occur over a single lifetime which is why if there is no reproduction there is no evolution. One way of evolution to occur is natural selection. Most people think natural selection is survival of the fittest, the strong survive and the weak die, but that is not the case. Natural selection means organisms who are best adapted to their environment survive. For example, a sea cucumber isn't fast or strong, but it is very well adapted to the sea floor so it would survive. S&EP-Using Models: A mutation is a random mishap in your DNA. It can change your physical appearanc

     In this age of throwaway living, the three R's were born. I'm sure you have heard the phrase reduce, reuse, recycle, but have you ever taken the time to consider which of these three is more important? When it comes to this mantra we hear so much, we tend to focus on the recycling aspect, leaving reducing and reusing out in the dust. What if I told you that recycling and reusing can be harmful and you should have spent that time reducing? You wouldn't believe me, right. Well, you should because it's true. Reusing and recycling does sound like a good plan, but there is only so much you can do before it gets to be too much. Out of reducing, reusing, and recycling, reducing is the most important and is something we should try and implement into our daily lives.      In recent years, big time companies are trying to appeal to their consumers by reducing the number of natural resources they consume. These large companies who are reducing are setting a good example f

Image: If the image doesn't show, click here to view the project. Sorry for the inconvenience, I have no idea why it is acting up. https://drive.google.com/a/oakgrovesd.net/file/d/0B_AaLebEKZB_dUsycWQxdTdfeW8/view?usp=sharing Summary:  The Mesozoic Era ranged from 245 million years ago to 66.4 million years ago. The previous geologic Era was the Paleozoic Era and the following geologic is Era is the Cenozoic Era. The Mesozoic Era is known as the age of reptiles, although it contained dinosaurs, birds, and flowering plants, as well. The Mesozoic Era is comprised of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous time periods. The Triassic time period lasted 37 million years, the Jurassic time period lasted 64 million years and lastly, the Cretaceous time period lasted 78 million years. During the Triassic period the climate was hot and dry with strong seasonality. In the Jurassic period, the climate changed to warm and moist with some flooding. The beginning of the Cretaceous per

https://www.geologyin.com/2016/12/10-interesting-facts-about-geological.html In the text book the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian times are replaced with the Carboniferous section, but due to later research, I learned that those are both parts of the Carboniferous time period. Fun fact, the Pennsylvanian period is also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous. Like you said, these eras are divided into sections and those sections are divided down to make it easier to understand, and because it consumed so much time.   Summary:  The geologic time scale is a record of all life forms that ever roamed the Earth, as well as geological events in Earth's history. Relative age in the sense of rocks is the age of a rock in comparison to another whereas absolute age is the number of years since that particular rock was formed. Radiometric dating can allow scientists to analyze rocks and determine their absolute age. The Law of Superposition states that new rock is placed

Summary: Geology is the study of Earth, as well as Earth's structure and the forces that shape it. Abram's principal or James Hutton's principle is that geologic processes that operate today operated the same way in the past or in other places that have the same conditions.Hutton's principal, uniformitarianism, allows us to estimate what happened to rocks long before humans roamed the Earth and can help us predict what may happen to Earth in the future. There are three types of rocks, igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks form when molten material from under the Earth's surface cools and hardens. Sedimentary Rock is made of sediments that have been deposited on top of each other and pressed together to form solid rock. Metamorphic rock is an existing rock that has been changed by heat, pressure or chemical reactions. Landforms are features on Earth's surface like mountains that are made when two plates meet. Fun fact, the dif

Scenario: Students in Mrs. Garcia's class use a class chart of what different animals eat and group the animals in different ways based on their food sources. Students then discuss which animals would be affected if changes occurred to different food sources. Wrong Answer: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking Correct Answer: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Why: The correct answer is Analyzing and Interpreting Data because the students are looking at a chart to and analyzing what each animal eats, as well as how things would change if certain food sources were different. This is the correct answer because they are studying the chart in different ways and trying to predict and analyze what will happen if changes were made. Scenario: A group of 7th graders creates and analyzes graphs of the data from an investigation about the relationship between a ball's mass and its speed down a ramp. Wrong Answer: Analyzing and Interpreting Data Correct Answ

     My name is Sohini Pillay and I am an 8th grader at AdVenture, a STEM program. As any other student, I go to school and complete the work I am assigned. I walked into class posed with the question of, "Why I returned to AdVenture?" I had to think about this for a while before I realized that I had never stopped to think of it before. I have been a student at this school starting in 5th grade and it has been second nature to go to this school there ever since. Although there are many, many wonderful things about AdVenture there are some main aspects that keep most students from leaving, including me.      One of the reasons my parents and I decided for me to continue learning at AdVenture is because I am going into the 8th grade. I know you're probably thinking, "It's just the 8th grade," but most people don't understand that transferring to a new school for one year is pointless and more work than it has to be. If I moved schools I would have to g

Science News for Students Summary: With the rates of young people using e-cigarettes climbing, people are beginning to discuss the downs of vaping. Some say that e-cigarettes may be the healthy alternative compared to a regular cigarette because they do not contain tobacco, but an e-cigarette can be just as harmful. E-cigarettes contains nicotine, found in regular cigarettes, which creates the habit of regular smoking. In addition to this, nicotine is harmful to developing brains which is why no young people should be using e-cigarettes. Along with nicotine, there are other harmful components that go into making an e-cigarette. The flavorings of e-cigarettes may sound kid friendly, but they release chemicals that can irritate your lungs. Citation: Rosen, Meghan, and Janet Raloff. "Vaping Can Lead to Teen Smoking, New Study Finds."Science News for Students. N.p., 12 July 2016. Web. 19 May 2017. <https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/vaping-can-lead-teen-s

Image: JoeWoodOnline.com Summary:  The pH scale tests how acidic or basic a substance is. Acids have a pH ranging from 0 to 6.9. The lower the pH, the stronger the acid. An acid that has a pH of 6 is weak while an acid that has a pH of 1 is strong. Bases have a pH ranging from 7.1 to 14. The lower the pH, the weaker the base.  A base that has a pH of 8 is weak while one that has a pH of 13 is strong. Neutral substances have a pH of 7. One example of a neutral substance is water. Acids have a sour taste, while bases have a slippery feel. Acids turn a litmus paper red and bases turn litmus paper blue. A litmus paper tests a pH of a substance. Fun fact, even though it is better to drink an acid rather than a base cough syrup is a base (it stabilizes the acids in your stomach). S&EP: Even though we didn't do anything big this week, like an experiment, my group and I carried out a mini investigation of our own. As we have been doing lately, we play the legends of learnin

Image: Science & Biology Summary: A solution is a liquid that contains a solid that is so spread out that it is no longer visible to the naked eye. A base is high on the pH scale because creates a lot of hydroxide ions when mixed with water. Bases are extremely bitter and a common example of a base would be soap. On the other hand an acid creates a ton of hydrogen ions and is lower on the pH scale. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a solution is, 14 being the most basic and 1 being the most acidic. Water is neutral meaning it is smack dab in the middle of the pH scale. If you have two beakers containing clear liquids, but one is an acidic and the other is a base how would you tell the difference. We would use a simple piece of litmus paper. Litmus dye is taken from lichen and put on paper. Adding acid to the mix would have red litmus that would be for testing bases and vise versa for testing acids. S&EP- Conducting Investigations: To start off the week we co

Image: Twitter Summary: Atoms are the building blocks for everything in the world. Compounds are two or more atoms that combine to make something new. A chemical reaction is when atoms come together or break apart to form new things. The Law of Conservation and Mass states that atoms cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged. Extra atoms after a chemical reaction become waste to be used in another reaction. Atom economy is the attempt to have as few atoms leftover from a reaction as possible. An experiment of burning sulfur proved that weight can transfer during a chemical reaction. During this experiment the burned sulfur weighed less than it did before, but the air around it weighed more.  S&EP-Conducting Investigations: You can tell that a chemical reaction occurred if gas was created, a change in temperature, and a change in color. There are times when a reaction occurs, but you cannot tell because the reaction is going at such a slow pace. This week in cl