Sick, Sick Sick

I'm out sick today and went home early yesterday.  Teaching stress takes its toll on the immune system.

Jenner and Smallpox

Here are a couple of videos on Edward Jenner
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3- What smallpox does to the body- a little gross
Video 4

Cowpox

Like any other doctor of the time, Edward Jenner carried out variolation (the deliberate infection of a person with a weakened form of smallpox, which caused a weak infection, after which came a quick recovery) to protect his patients from a more serious and usually life-threatening smallpox infection. However, from the early days of his career Edward Jenner had been intrigued by country-lore which said that people who caught cowpox from their cows could not catch smallpox. This and his own experience with variolation as a boy and the risks that accompanied it (1-2% of people died) led him to undertake the most important research of his life.
Cowpox is a mild viral infection of cows. It causes a few weeping spots (pocks) on their udders, but little discomfort. Milkmaids occasionally caught cowpox from the cows. Although they felt rather off-color for a few days and developed a small number of pocks, usually on the hand, the disease did not trouble them.


The First Vaccination
In May 1796 a dairymaid, Sarah Nelmes, consulted Jenner about a rash on her hand. He diagnosed cowpox rather than smallpox and Sarah confirmed that one of her cows, a Gloucester cow called Blossom, had recently had cowpox. Edward Jenner realized that this was his opportunity to test the protective properties of cowpox by giving it to someone who had not yet suffered smallpox.
He chose James Phipps, the eight-year old son of his gardener. On 14th May he made a few scratches on one of James' arms and rubbed into them some material from one of the pocks on Sarah's hand. A few days later James became mildly ill with cowpox but was well again a week later. So Jenner knew that cowpox could pass from person to person as well as from cow to person.
The next step was to test whether the cowpox would now protect James from smallpox. On 1st July Jenner variolated the boy. As Jenner anticipated, and undoubtedly to his great relief, James did not develop even the weak form of smallpox, either on this occasion or on the many later times when his immunity was tested again.

1. What is the question Jenner was trying to answer?
2. What is the manipulated variable?
3. What is the responding variable?
4. Write a hypothesis statement.
5. Describe his test.
6. What conclusions did he come to?

Broadstreet Pump Cholera Epidemic of 1854

The Broad Street cholera outbreak was a severe outbreak of cholera that occurred near Broad Street (now renamed Broadwick Street) in the Soho district of London, England in 1854. Cholera leads to an infection of the small intestine which results in extreme diarrhea which may lead to massive dehydration and death. The disease can be treated by giving the victim a lot of fluids -- either by mouth or intravenously (directly into the blood stream).

John Snow was a respected scientist investigating the outbreak. Snow did not subscribe to the common belief that miasma (poisonous or bad air)
caused the disease. The germ theory (the belief that microorganisms were the cause of many diseases) was not widely accepted at this time, so he was unaware of the mechanism by which the disease was transmitted, but evidence led him to believe that it was not due to breathing foul air.

By talking to local residents (with the help of Reverend Henry Whitehead), Dr. Snow plotted the distribution of deaths on a map. He confirmed that an unusually high number of deaths were taking place near a water pump on Broad Street. He suspected the source of the outbreak as the public water, and not something in the air. Although Snow's chemical and microscope examination of a sample of the Broad Street pump water was not able to find anything suspicious, his studies of the pattern of the disease were convincing enough to persuade the local council to disable the well pump by removing its handle. This was done and the number of cholera deaths was dramatically reduced. This action has been commonly reported as ending the outbreak.

The work of Doctor Snow stands out as one of the most famous and earliest cases of geography and maps being utilized to understand the spread of a disease. Today, specially trained medical geographers and medical practitioners routinely use mapping and advanced technology to understand the diffusion and spread of diseases such as AIDS and cancer.

Activity Answer the following questions in complete sentences: What question was Snow trying to answer?  What did most people at that time think the cause was? Identify variables in Snow's study. (manipulated, responding, and controlled) Write a hypothesis statement using the Manipulated and Responding Variables. How was this a controlled experiment?

 

Weekly Schedule 9/24

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Correct James Lind Broadstreet Pump Cholera Epidemic (due end of hour)	Penny Lab Corrections- summative	Penny Lab Corrections- summative (due Thursday) Jenner Article and questions - due tomorrow	Copter Lab	Copter Lab (contd. Monday)

Scientific Method Practice

James Lind (1716 - 1794)

Lind was a Scottish doctor, and an expert on the treatment of scurvy.

James Lind was born in Edinburgh in 1716. In 1731, he registered as an apprentice at the College of Surgeons in Edinburgh and in 1739 became a surgeon's mate, seeing service with the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, Guinea and the West Indies, as well as the English Channel. In 1747, while serving as surgeon on HMS Salisbury, he carried out experiments to discover the cause of scurvy, the symptoms of which included loose teeth, bleeding gums and internal bleeding.

Lind selected 12 men from the ship, all suffering from scurvy, and divided them into six pairs, giving each group different additions to their basic diet. Some were given cider, others seawater, others a mixture of garlic, mustard and horseradish. Another group of two were given spoonfuls of vinegar, and the last two oranges and lemons. Those fed citrus fruits experienced a remarkable recovery. While there was nothing new about his discovery - the benefits of lime juice had been known for centuries - Lind had definitively established the superiority of citrus fruits above all other 'remedies'.

 

Answer the following on a separate sheet of paper

1. What is the question was Lind trying to answer?
2. What is the manipulated variable?
3. What is the responding variable?
4. Write a hypothesis statement.
5. Describe his test.
6. What conclusions did he come to?

 

Cricket Chirp Data

The equation below (y=1.0775x-42) should allow you to count cricket chirps (y) and solve for (x) temperature.  Since 1.0775 is awfully close to 1, just add 42 to get the temperature!

Picture Day!

Today is Picture Day so we won't get as much done as we might like, but c'est la vie!  In honor of picture day, here's a picture of me.

Cricket Lab Questions

1.      What is the question the scientist is trying to answer?

2.      What is the manipulated variable?

3.      What is the responding variable?

4.      Write a hypothesis statement.

5.      Describe her test.

6.       How can she ensure this is a controlled experiment?

7.      Take her data and plot it using Microsoft Xcel.  Use an XY scatter plot.  Your title should include both the X and Y axis labels.

8.      What conclusions did she come to?

Cricket Lab

Measuring Temperature Using Crickets

Supposedly you can count cricket chirps to estimate temperature. I heard this a number of years ago, but never thought much about it until I heard it mentioned on television this summer. Was this true, or just an urban myth? I decided to go outside and see for myself. I started listening to crickets and recording the temperature.

It took me a week or two to figure out how to count cricket chirps. 15 seconds was too short a time. I kept ending up with numbers like 30-and-a-half chirps so I went with 30 seconds.

Then I discovered that the crickets didn't always chirp together (CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP) but sometimes got out of synch (chir-rurp chir-rurp chir-rurp). In this case, I would count the chirps when they were in unison, and try to maintain the beat until they got back in unison again. To make things more accurate, I'd count chirps for five 30-second periods and average the numbers.

I ended up with a lot of data for temperatures above 70 degrees. But getting numbers at the cooler temperatures was harder.

Since temperatures are the coolest around sunrise, I had to start getting up around 2:00-3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. to get data for the cooler temperatures! What did I find? Well, why don't you see for yourself!

Cricket Chirp Data from Boulder Colorado, USA. All dates 2007

Temp (F)	Chirps/15s
80.500	44.000
78.500	46.400
78.000	43.600
73.500	35.000
70.500	35.000
68.000	32.600
66.000	28.900
65.000	27.700
61.500	25.500
57.000	20.375
55.000	12.500
76.250	37.000
74.000	37.500
74.000	36.500
72.500	36.200
66.000	33.000
77.500	43.000
78.500	46.000
68.500	29.000
68.500	31.700
68.000	31.000
66.000	28.750
59.000	23.500
70.000	32.400
69.000	31.000
67.000	29.500
61.250	22.500
58.500	20.600
72.000	35.000
71.000	33.100
69.000	31.500
66.500	28.800
60.000	21.300
75.000	37.800
73.250	37.000
72.500	37.100
70.000	36.200
67.500	31.400
66.000	30.200
69.000	31.300
63.000	26.100
63.000	25.200
61.000	23.660
62.000	22.250
56.500	17.500
55.000	15.500
52.000	14.750
53.000	15.000
50.000	14.000
52.000	18.500
65.000	27.700
63.000	26.000
59.000	21.700
50.750	12.500
49.250	12.500

Chirp Chirp Chirp

Today we started our cricket chirp lab.  We're looking to see if you can actually tell the temperature by counting cricket chirps.  We've got some great data and students are practicing their Excel graphing skills.

The Japanese Burrowing Cricket

This Chinese have a real affinity for crickets!  Here's a cool link about Chinese cricket culture.

Weekly Schedule 9/17

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Check off 1.2 Definitions Vocabulary matching & definition writing Lab report analysis rewrite activity	Read Pgs 870-871 Hypothesis W.S. Hadta Hurl W.S. All due Wed.	Temperature and Crickets Lab 203 Computer Lab	Temperature and Crickets Lab 203 Computer Lab	Temperature and Crickets Lab due Helicopter Lab Part A (contd. next week)

Schedule Change

Students could use some more time and guidance finishing up their lab reports so they may have today and this weekend to finish them up. This is a summative assignment.  Chapter 1.2 Vocabulary terms will be due on Monday.  This is a formative assignment.

Chapter 1.2 Terms

Define the following terms from Chapter 1, section 2

• Scientific Method
• Observation
• Hypothesis
• Manipulated Variable
• Responding Variable
• Controlled Experiment
• Scientific Theory
• Scientific Law
• Model

Using a Triple-Beam Balance

Students had some issues remembering how to use a triple-beam balance to mass pennies.  Here is a refresher.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Penny Lab- gather data Due Thursday	Penny Lab Graph Data in Xcel	Penny Lab Write-up in Word	Penny Lab Write-up in Word Due at end of hour	Online Textbook Registration and 1.2 Terms definitions- Due Monday

More Cornell Notes Resources

Here's some stuff from Florida State on Cornell Notes with examples.

Penny Lab

After going over the textbook scavenger hunt, we finished our background notes for the penny lab.  Some interesting information on the history of the penny is here.  Some classes started writing purpose statements and hypotheses for the lab.  Next week we'll finish the lab and write it up.

Scientific Paper Outline

The Relationship Between _____________ and __________

Name:

Science 9 – Mr. Winberg – Hour _

Purpose

    The purpose of this lab is to investigate the relationship between ________ and ________.

    

Background Information

Usually provided by the teacher. If not, find your own.

Information necessary to understand the relationship between ____ and ____

Cite your references using endnotes (see a scientific journal article for an example)

Hypothesis/Prediction

What do you expect the results to be?

Why do you expect to get these results?

Procedure

Steps should be listed and numbered

Steps should be clearly written giving necessary details

Data

Must be in the form of a table and/or graph.

The correct type of graph should be used.

Analysis

What is the data telling you?

Do you see any trends?

Are there any irregularities in the data (outliers)? Provide possible explanations for these.

Conclusion

Restate the purpose

Give a brief description of how you investigated it.

What did the data tell you?

What additional questions do your findings raise?

References

Give a list of references in APA style

Study Skills

Here is a great page with information on study skills, time management, studying, etc.  It's for a college audience, but most of this information will apply to Junior High students as well.

Blue Sheet- Addressing behavior concerns

My Action Plan

 

 

1. Describe your behavior (What was I doing?).
   

 

 

 

 

 

1. What are some other choices I could have made? (Is there a more appropriate choice I could have made?)
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. What choice will I make in the future? (What can I do differently?)
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________________

Name

 

 

_____________________________________________ __________________

Student Signature Date

 

 

Contact	Date	Time	Correspondence

Textbook Scavenger Hunt

Textbook Scavenger Hunt

1. What section of the book will tell you what page Chapter 7 starts on?
   

 

1. Give the contents of each Appendix
   

   A:
   

   
    

   B:
   

   
    

   C:
   

   
    

   D:
   

   
    

   E:
   

   
    

   F:
   

   
    

   G:
   

   
    

   H:
   

   
    

   I:
   

   
    

   J:
   

   
    

2. What is the difference between the glossary and the index?
   

 

1. What are the vocabulary words for chapter 1, section 4?
   

   
    

 

 

1. What do the yellow "keys" throughout the text stand for?
   

 

 

1. On what page(s) can you find copies of the periodic table?
   

 

 

1. Where is the study guide for each chapter found?
   

 

1. What are the first 4 skills sections?
   

   
    

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

1. Which chapter do you find the most interesting?
   

 

1. What is one interesting piece of information you found in this chapter?
   

Notes

Tomorrow we will start our first lab of the year.  It's about pennies!  Students will take some notes on the history of the penny using the Cornell Note Taking System.  We'll watch a short video , "The Key to Good Notes" on taking and using notes before we do so.  These note will become part of the "Background" section of the first scientific paper we'll write this year.

Students also will get their textbooks.  These books should stay at home as we have a classroom set for students to use here. 

Today I collected Class Policies sheets and reviewed behavior expectations.  We read over Laboratory Safety Policies and a copy was sent home with students.  Lastly, we started a Textbook Scavenger Hunt which will be due Friday.

Welcome!

Welcome back! Today students filled out an informational notecard about themselves.  The also got a copy of class policies as well as District grading and reporting standards for this year.  Students are to have the back page of their policies packet signed and returned by the end of the week.

STUDENTS WILL NEED A 3-RING BINDER FOR SCIENCE CLASS.



STUDENTS WILL NEED A 3-RING BINDER FOR SCIENCE CLASS.