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Assignment |
Requirements and expected learning |
| Diversity of Life (DOL) Resources Book pp.21-23 |
Read pages 21-23 and answer the questions
on the question sheet.
What needs and functions demonstrate that something is living?
All living things (organisms) need to use energy, absorb water, exchange
gases, and eliminate waste. All organisms respond to their
environment, grow, reproduce and are made of one or more cells. |
| Is Anything Alive in there? |
Students place five different materials
into three different watery liquids and observe for evidence of life over
the course of a week. Bubbles, odor, movement, growth, possible
reproduction may be evidence of life.
Students
learn that…
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All living
organisms exhibit common characteristics; they grow, consume
nutrients, exchange gases, respond to stimuli, reproduce, need
water, eliminate waste, and are composed of cells.
-
We differentiate
between living (shows characteristics of life), nonliving (materials
that have never been alive), dead (was once alive) and dormant (do
not show characteristics of life until they are placed in the right
environment)
|
| Science Court |
The Science court cartoons
are a fun
and engaging series that mixes animated courtroom drama, hands-on science
activities, and humor. As each case unfolds, students examine the facts and
perform hands-on experiments to help them predict the verdict. By discussing
their findings in groups and as a class, students are able to articulate and
comprehend challenging science topics.
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|
Field of View
(worksheet) |
The circle of light that we see when we
look through the eyepiece of a
microscope is
called the field of view. When we change
the total magnification by turning the different objective lenses into
place, the size of the field of view changes. Even though the circle
of light appears to always be the same size, the higher the power, the
smaller the actual width of the field of view. At 40x total
magnification, the field of view is about 4 millimeters wide, at 100x it is
1.6 mm, and at 400x it is only 0.4 mm wide. (See
example.) |
|
Diversity of Life (DOL) Resources Book pp.24-26 |
Read pages 24-26 "The Lowly Paramecium" and answer the questions on
this worksheet. (modified) The paramecium is a member of the Kingdom Protista. It is a common
example of a single-celled organism, which, despite being simple in structure,
exhibits all of the intricate functions of life. |
| Focal Plane
(worksheet) |
The lenses of a
microscope are
able to focus clearly only at one certain distance from the object on the
stage. When we turn the focus knobs, we move the lens up or down until
the objective lens is exactly that certain distance away from the object. At
that point, the object on the stage is in the focal plane and we can see the
object clearly in
focus through the eyepiece. The focal plane is very thin.
Therefore, as an example, we can only see one layer of ribbon in focus at a
time when we place three layers of nylon ribbon on top of each other on the
stage, even though the ribbon is only a few
microns thick. |
| Diversity of Life (DOL) Resources Book pp.27-30 |
Read pages 27-30 and answer the questions on this
worksheet.
Cells are the building blocks of living things.
The first cells - the first living things - appeared on Earth about 3.5
billion years ago. 2 billion years later, the first cells appeared
that had structures inside of the cell membrane. These structures,
organelles, each have a
specific job to do in the cell. Life began in the ocean and life on
land developed when some organisms were able to "take their water with them"
by developing cell walls to hold the precious water inside. Our salty
tears may be evidence that we are descendants of those first terrestrial
organisms. Investigation 4: THE
CELL
Life happens in cells. No matter how simple
or complex an organism is, it is made of cells, and the cells are alive.
Cells have defining structures, such as a membrane, cell wall, nucleus,
chloroplasts, and cytoplasm. A major subdivision in cells is whether they
have a nucleus (eukaryote) or not (prokaryote). The diversity of cells
helps us understand the diversity of life on Earth.
|
| Ribbon of life |
Explore the
FOSS CD-ROM section on the Ribbon of
Life, which illustrates the particle nature of living things: Cells
are the basic unit of life, but they are made of smaller, non-living parts:
atoms, molecules and organelles. Cells join together to form tissues,
which make up organs. Organs join together in organ systems (like the
circulatory system) and these form multi-cellular organisms like animals.
Prokaryotic (no nucleus) and eukaryotic (containing a nucleus) are the two
basic kinds of cells. Cells are alive, but cells are not organisms
unless the cells are able to live independently, like a single-celled
paramecium, for example. |
|
Read Pages 65-70 |
The world of living things is divided into
5
Kingdoms: Bacteria, Protists, Fungi, Plants and Animals.
Scientists further divide each kingdom into subdivisions:
Phyla, Classes, Orders, Families, Genera, and Species. Organisms have
scientific names which are two-word Latin names made of the Genus and
Species names; humans, for example, are Homo sapiens. |
| Read
pages 31-34 in DOL book |
Seeds are dormant plants with a food
source (cotyledon) wrapped inside a protective seed coat. Under the
right conditions of moisture and temperature the dormant embryo (baby plant)
begins to grow. Energy needs of the plant are supplied by the starchy
contents of the cotyledon until the leaves reach light and begin to make
food for the plant through photosynthesis. Roots of the plant take in
water, not food, for the plant. |
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