Growing Plants Indoors

Day 10

Growing Plants Indoors

   This day is for all you [new] gardeners. This whole lesson is about growing your plants inside your homes or greenhouses! :)

     Plants grown indoors like bright light. Windows facing the South or West have the best light. Try to place the plants close to the window to take advantage of all the light. The further away from the window, the darker it becomes. A plant will tell you when it isn't getting enough light, because it's stems will be thin and its will lean toward the light.

     Water is important in the plant's ability to make and move nutrients. Without water or with too much water, a plant dies. For this reason, watering is an important part of plant care. Most plants lie to be watered when the soil is slightly dry to the touch. When watering, moisten the soil by using enough water so that it starts to come out of the hole in the bottom of the container. Your best guides, though, is to feel the soil. If you stick your finger 1 inch into the soil and it is dry, then water your plant.

     Plants use carbon dioxide in the air and return oxygen. Smoke, gases and other air pollutants can damage plants.



Test

Test 1

Random Questions

1. Define the following terms

         a. Humidity

         b. Absolute Humidity

         c. Relative Humidity

         d. Greenhouse effect

         e. Parts per million (ppm)

 

2. The temperature is the same at 1:00 in the afternoon on two consecutive days. For a person who is outside working, however, the second days feels cooler than the first day. ON which day was the humidity higher?

 

3. A child decides to keep his goldfish outside in a small bowl. He has to add water every day to keep the bowl full. ON two consecutive days, the temperatures are very similar, but on the first day, the relative humidity is 90% while on the second day, it is 60%. On which day will the child add more water to the goldfish bowl?

 

4. If you put a glass of water outside when the relative humidity is 100%, how quickly will the water evaporate?

 

5. Why does sweating cool people down?

 

6. What is the percentage of nitrogen in dry air? What about oxygen?

 

7. What would be the consequence of removing all of the carbon dioxide in earth's air supply?

 

8. What would be the consequence of removing all the ozone in earth's supply?

 

9.  What would be the consequence of  a sudden increase in the concentration of oxygen in the earth's air supply?

 

10. Suppose astronomers found another solar system in which there was a sun just like our sun. Suppose further that a plant existed in this new solar system which was just as far from its sun as is earth from our sun. Since the vast majority of energy that plants get comes from their suns, is it reasonable to assume that the new planet would have roughly the same average temperature as that of earth? Why or why not?

 

11. What makes up the majority of the air that we exhale?

 

12. Do we exhale more carbon dioxide or more oxygen?

 

13. Is global warming happening today?

 

14. The current concentration of ground-level ozone in the air is about 0.110 ppm. What is that in percent?

 

15. Suppose you had a sample of air in which the nitrogen oxides concentration is 0.023%. What would be the concentration of nitrogen oxides be if you expressed it ppm?

 

16. Is the air cleaner today, or was it cleaner 20 years ago?

 

17. What is a cost/benefit analysis?

 

18. What does a catalytic converter do in a car?

 

19. What does a scrubber do in a smokestack?

 

 

 

 

 

ANSWERS:

1.

   a. The moisture content of air

   b. The mass of water vapor contained in a certain volume of air.

   c. A quantity expressing humidity as a percentage of a maximum absolute humidity for that particular temperature.

   d. The process by which certain gases (principally water, carbon dioxide, and methane) trap heat that would other wise escape the earth and radiate into space.

   e. The number of molecules (or atoms) of a substance in a mixture for every one million molecules (or atoms) in that mixture.

 

2.The humidity is higher on the first day.

 

3. The child will add more water on the second day.

 

4. The water will not evaporate.

 

5.Sweat cools you off because when it evaporates, it takes energy from your skin.

 

6. Dry air is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.

 

7. If the air had no carbon dioxide in it, the earth would be colder.

 

8. If there were no ozone in the air, ultraviolet light would kill all living things.

 

9. If more oxygen were in the air, lifespans would decrease and forest fires would increase in frequency and ferocity.

 

10. There is no reason to expect that the new plant will have the same temp as earth. If it does not have essentially the same air, with all the same levels of all the greenhouse gases, then it will not have the same temp!

 

11. Nitrogen makes up the majority of the air we exhale.

 

12. We exhale more oxygen.

 

13. No.

 

14. 0.000011%

 

15. 230 ppm

 

16. The air is much cleaner today than 20 years ago!

 

17. A cost/benefit analysis attempts to determine whether or not to take an action by determining the benefits of that action as well as the costs. If the benefit outweighs the cost, then the action should be taken. If not, the action should not be taken.

 

18. A catalytic converter converts carbon monoxide in the car's exhaust to carbon dioxide.

 

19. A scrubber trap sulfur oxides in a smokestack and keeps them from being emitted into the air.

 

 

 

 

How'd you do? Most of these answers can be found from an easy Google search! :)

Thinking Like A Scientist

Day 9

Thinking Like a Scientist

If you let your emotions rule your thinking, you might think a thumping noise was ghost. If you think like a scientist, however, you ask questions and make observations. You'd observe the shutters are loose and blowing in the wind.

Modern science is a way of understanding the physical world, based on observable evidence, reasoning, and repeated testing. If they develop new ideas about the way the world works, they set up a way to test the new ideas.

How can you think like a scientist? Thinking like a scientist is based on asking and answering questions. Scientist ask questions, and then make detailed observations to try to ask more specific questions, and develop a hypothesis. They may design and perform an experiment to try to answer their question. From their result of their experiment to try to answer their question. From their results of their experiment, scientists draw conclusions.

Scientists ask questions: The key to being a great scientist is to ask questions. Imagine you area scientist in the African Congo. While in the field, you observe one group of healthy chimps on the North side of the jungle. On the other side of the jungle, you find a group of chimps that have mysteriously been dying. What questions might you ask?

1.  What differs in behavior between the two groups of chimps?
2. Are there differences in behavior between the two groups of chimps?

Scientist make detailed observations: To observe means to study and watch attentively. A non-scientist may only say, "The chimps on one side of the jungle are dying, while chimps on the other side of the jungle are healthy." A scientist, however, will make more detailed observations, "While all seven adult females and three adult males on the north side are healthy and show normal behavior, four female and five male chimps under the age of five on the south side have died." From these observations, a scientist will develop a hypothesis to explain the observations. A hypothesis is the scientist's proposed explanation for his observations.

Then scientist's find their needed answers using tests. Evidence is made up of the observations a scientist makes during an experiment.

However, when the scientist get answers, they still question the answers. Good scientist are skeptical. Scientists never use only one piece of evidence to form a conclusion. They (should) always constantly question their own conclusions. They also find other scientist to confirm or disagree with their evidence.

STEPS OF A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION:

1. Make Observations
2. Ask a Question
3. Form a Hypothesis
4. Test the Hypothesis
5. Draw Conclusion
6. Communicate Results
7.  

The Life Cycle of a Plant

Day 8

The Life Cycle of a Plant

A plant's life cycle describes how long a plant lives or how long it takes to grow, flower, and set seed. Plants can be either an annual, perennial, or biennial.

Annual: A plant that completes its life cycle in one growing season. it will grow, flower, set seed and die.

Perennial: A plant that live for 3 or more years. It can grow, flower and set seed for many years. Underground parts may regrow new stems as in the case of herbaceous plants, or the stems may live for many years like woody plants (trees).

Biennial: A plant that needs two growing season to complete its life cycle. It grows vegetative (produces leaves) one season. Then it grows dormant or rests over the winter. In the spring, it will begin to grow again and grow flowers, set seed, and dies. The seed that if left behind on the ground germinates and the cycle begins again.

Inside a Flower

Day 7

Inside a Flower

There are many types of flowers. Some are colorful, some are plain. Some are big enough to sit in. Other are so small they're hard to see. They have different shapes, different shapes, different patterns and they live in different places.

So here a question: What do flowers have in common?

What parts make up a flower and what are they for?

 

Let's start with sepals. Sepals are found where the flower attaches to the stem. They are usually green and look a lot like leaves - but not always. Sepals are important because they protect the young flower before it opens.

Next are the pedals. Pedals are often thin and flat like leaves. Unlike leaves, however, most pedals are not green. The colors ad patterns on pedals can help animals spot the flower and find its nectar.

Flowers have special structures for reproduction. Many plants have all of the structures in all of their flowers, but some do not. The anther makes pollen. Pollen grains are very small, like dust.

The stigma is usually found someplace in the flower likely to get pollen. If pollen from the same kind of flower ends up on a stigma, a pollen tube forms.

The pollen tube grows from the stigma through the style to the ovary. ON this flower, it's a long trip! The ovary is a safe, protected place for a seed to form.

IN the ovary, there is at least one ovule with an egg. The sperm moves down the pollen tube. When the sperm joins with the egg, a seed begins to form. IN a single ovary, multiple seed may form. As the seeds grow, the ovary grows also. It become the fruit and protects the seed.

Photosynthesis

Day 6

Photosynthesis

Plants make photosynthesis to make food. To perform photosynthesis, plants need light. Light from the sun on a bright sunny day is good - but even the light on cloudy days or from indoor lights will work.

  Plants need water. They get the water rom the roots. The water goes up the stems through tubes to the leaves.

 The last ingredient is carbon dioxide. Land plants get carbon dioxide from the air through open pores or holes in the leaves.



Plant Parts: Roots

Plant Parts:

Roots

Day 5

   Basic parts of most all plants are roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. The roots help provide support by anchoring the plant and absorbing water and nutrients needed for growth. They can also store sugars and carbohydrates that the plant uses to carry out other functions.  Plants can have either a taproot system (such as carrots) or a fibrous root system (such as turf grass). IN both cases, the roots are what carries the water and nutrients needed for plants to grow.

Plant Structure

Day 4

Plant Structure

 

Plants can be either herbaceous or woody. Most herbaceous plants have stems that are soft, green and contain little woody tissue. These plants are ones that die to the ground each year. Most annual and perennial flowers fall into this category along with vegetables and houseplants.

 

Herbaceous - plants with stems that are non-woody and die back to the ground every year.

 

Woody - Stems that are hard. These stems usually don't die back to the ground during winter.

Immune System Defenses

Day 3

Immune System Defenses

 

Lesson Objectives

• Describe the immune system.
• Explain how lymphocytes respond to pathogens.
• Define immunity and vaccination.

If pathogens get through the body's first two lines of defense, a third line of defenses takes over. This third line of defense involves the immune system. It is called the immune response. The immune system has a response for each type of pathogen.

The lymph organs are the red bone marrow, thymus, gland, spleen and tonsils(which I had to get removed a few years ago). Each organ has a different job in the immune system:

Red Bone Marrow is found inside many bones, including the femur. Red Bone Marrow makes lymphocytes.

  

The Thymus Gland is in the chest behind the breast bone. It stores lymphocytes while they grow older.

The Spleen is in the abdomen below the lungs. Its job is to filtered out of the blood are destroyed by lymphocytes in the spleen.

The Tonsils are in the throat. They trap pathogens that enter the body through the mouth or nose. Lymphocytes in the tonsils destroy the trapped pathogens.

First Two Lines of Defense

Day 2

First Two Lines of Defense

 

Lesson Objectives

• Describe you body's first line of defense against pathogens.
• Explain how inflammation helps protect you from pathogens.

Your body has many ways to protect you from pathogens. Like a castle, you body has a series of defenses. Only pathogens that get through all the defenses can harm you.

Your first line of defense is like a castle's moat and walls. It keeps most pathogens out of you body.

 The skin is the body's largest organ. The skin is also the body's most important defense against disease. The skin has many layers. The outer layer is tough and waterproof.

Most body fluids that you release from you body, contain chemicals that kill pathogens. For example, mucus, sweat, tears, and salvia contain enzymes that kill pathogens. The enzymes are called lysozymes. They break down the cell walls of bacteria to kill.

The stomach also releases a very strong acid, called hydrochloric acid. This acid kills most pathogens that enter the stomach in food and water. Urine is also acidic, so few pathogens can grow in it. 

Noninfectious Diseases

Day 1

NONIFECTIOUS DISEASES

Lesson Objectives

• List causes of noninfectious diseases.
• Describe causes and treatments of cancer.
• Explain why diabetes occurs
• Describe autoimmune diseases and allergies
• State how noninfectious diseases can be proved

A disease that doesn't spread from person to person is called a noninfectious disease. And example is:

Cancer is a disease that causes cells to divide out of control. Normally, the body has systems that prevent cells from dividing out of control, but in the case of cancer, these systems fail. Cancer is usually caused by mutations; you know that mutations are random errors in genes.

Cancer is caused by many different chemical substances. Dozens of chemicals in tobacco smoke, including nicotine, have shown to cause cancer. Smoking increase the rick of cancer of the lung, mouth, throat and bladder.

Another noninfectious disease is diabetes. Diabetes happens when the pancreas cannot make enough insulin. In other words, from to much sweets.

And allergy is when the immune system attacks a harmless substance that enters the body from the outside. Common causes of allergies include: Mold, dust, dead skin and bee stings.



Welcome

If you are a Science Lover like me then you came to the right place. I will post fun stuff that I learn in school as much as possible for us all to enjoy. Even if you may know some of the stuff, please just read for fun!
My name is Allison Knutson, I also have another blog just about my homeschool daily life (allies-corner.blogspot.com), go and visit that! Anywho, I am a homeschooled freshman who loves MATH and SCIENCE, and honestly really, really, really dislikes (I won't say hate :)) History. So all yal history lovers, this probably won't be your favorite blog! :P
Most of my amazing facts come from Exploring Creation with Physical Science by Dr. Jay L. While. And also, all my facts are biblical and believe there is a Creator (God).