Thursday 9/16/10

Today, the first thing we did was turn in pages 35-41

from our UP packet. The Biome charts (pages 30-31

from or pink UP packet) were also checked in.

Next, we talked about population density.

population density: The size of the population within a particular unit of space.

For example, the picture to the right shows the population density of the United States.

We will be focussing on population density tomorrow while we do lab 58.

Note: If you have not already gotten the lab book, bring money tomorrow and buy it from the bookstore. We will be using it while we do the lab.

Next, we watched a video. It was a seven minute video on counting the population of plants and animals. While watching it, we learned how people find the average population of these things.

We will have to do a project on an alien invasive species. We will have to create a "most wanted" poster for a problem alien species. It should include:

• Common Name(s) and Scientific Names
• Description of organism, characteristic
• Color illustration of organism (8.5 x 11), detailed
• Origin: country or world region, Year it first arrived
• How/Why it was introduced
• Ecological Impacts
• Control methods

Some alien invasive species include:

Northeast: Green crab, gypsy moth, purple loosestrife, etc.

Southeast: Melaleuca, water hycinth, Chinese tallow, etc.

Midwest: Zebra mussel, rusty crayfish, sea lamprey, etc.

West: Scotch broom, Chinese mitten crab, goldfish, etc

Southeast: Fire ant, Africanized honey bee and tamarisk

websites for more information on these invasive species include:

www.invasivespecies.gov

www.issg.org

www.nps.gov/plants/alien

www.usgs.gov/invasive_species/plw

www.invasive.org

www.great-lakes.net/flora-fauna/invasive/invasive.html

In case you don't know what an invasive species is, it's a species that enters into new ecosystems and spreads, causing damage to native species and their habitats.

This project is due on 9/27, but you can turn it in on Tuesday (9/21) for one extra credit point.

For the last twenty minutes of class, we watched a video on lions and predators.

Note: On Monday, we will meet in the IMC. We were supposed to work the the invasive species project but we decided we'd rather work on the oil spill project.

Homework: Pages 43-48 in the pink UP packet are due tomorrow (9/17). Start working on the invasive species project which is due on 9/27, and you can also start working on the oil spill project which is due next Thursday (9/23).

Wednesday 9.15.10

The first thing we did in class today was take notes on niches and controlling population size.

-Niche: physical and biological conditions of an organism.

>where it lives

>role in food chain

Mr. Paek showed us this picture of a niche in class.

-Controlling population size
>not enough resources
>predators
-Density-dependent limiting factors: affects large populations more than small
Examples:
1. lack of food, water, and space-these are the 3 main ones
2. Predators
3. Parasitism (disease)
-Density-independent limiting factor: controls population size regardless of how large the population is at that time. Mostly natural occurances like drought/monsoon, hurricanes, weather, fire, and volcanic eruptions.

After taking those notes we worked on our homework while watching part of a video, we will watch the rest later. The video was called Planet Carnivore: "Lions". It is about an isolated volcanic crater in East Africa, where there are lions that compete for food against other animals like hyenas.

The homework is: pgs 35-41 and 43-48 in your pink packet, due tomorrow. You can also work on your oil spill project which is due 9/23.

Wednesday 9.8.10

Today in class we started off by talking about the upcoming project involving the pictures. Mr. Paek will assign that sometime next week.   Also make sure you are logged into blogger.

Next we went over the different kinds of consumers. First you have Primary consumers, they feed directly off of producers. They can also be called herbivores. next you have secondary consumers they feed off of the primary consumers. after that you have Tertiary consumers they feed off of secondary consumers. The last type of consumer is quatemary consumers and you guessed it they feed off of  tertiary consumers.

We also went over what is called the pyramid of energy. The pyramid of energy is another way to show the way energy passes through different organisms. on the bottom is producers then primary consumers, then secondary consumers so on and so forth ending with quatemary consumers.  Mr. peak explained that when energy passed to another level of the pyramid it losses 90% of the energy. so producers have a 100% energy but when a primary consumer eats a producer it only gets 10 % percent of that energy. it keep decreasing by 90% all the way down so it goes  100% 10% 1% .1% and .01%. there are two other pyramids called number pyramids and biomass pyramids. number pyramids show the total number of organism in each level. Biomass pyramids show the total number of mass in each level of the pyramid.

For the end of class we worked on pages  15,16,19 and 20 in the pink ecology packets

Homework:   15, 16, 19, 20(whatever you dint finish in class).  Also you can do page 17 in the pink ecology packet for extra credit

Friday 9.3.10

              At the beginning of class today Mr.Paek gave us a homework sheet that has all of the assignments for this unit.  On that sheet it says we have a deer project to do.  He has changed that project to finding 10 pictures on the internet about the oil spill in the Gulf.  Five of the pictures can be the general aspects of the spill, and the other five have to be on five specific aspects of it such as:  animal life, fisherman, tourism, BP, or local people. Keep in mind that all five pictures have to be on the same subject.  Then we have to narrate each part on a digital storyboard, which he will give more details about later. 

                After this we went on a nature walk in the back of the building.  There we had to finish page 14 in the new unit packet we received at the beginning of class.  Two things we learned were that producers produce air, and consumers eat, and are live.  Producers consist of plants, while consumers are animals and bugs.

When we got back we logged onto the Glenbrook South website, and went to Google apps at the bottom left, and then logged onto that. From there agree to the terms and answer their questions (for the birthday make sure you are over 18).  Next we went to Google docs on the left. We had to create a new document and to do that you go to Create new near the top left.  Before you do this though decide who will be the one to create it.  The person that creates it must then go to share and type in the name of his/her lab partners and Mr.Paek for the Rip-o-meter project.  From there once you are do that each person has to give a color to their name and put it at the top so that Mr.Paek knows who did what(you must use your color for all of your writing).  Next he taught us how to change the name of the document, and what to change it to.  The person that created the Google doc goes to the top left where it says Untitled Doc, click on it and then changes the name to: Period 8 leaf lab and everyone in the group's name.

Then go back to the home page and go to student email on the bottom.  Type in your username and password, once you are in open the blog invitation.  You need a Google account and if you don’t have one go to create Google account and use your own email to create a Google account.

The homework is to read sections 1.2 and 1.3 for Wednesday, and finish page 14 of the new unit packet.