Letter to Reebok

5/12/2010
Belgrade, Serbia
ISB (International school of Belgrade)
Dear Reebok,
Today I’m writing about your shoe packaging. I know you are doing quite a lot to save the planet and trying to make your packages as eco-friendly as possible. I strongly support this, but I believe you can do more.
A couple weeks ago I bought Reebok shoes and I recall noticing quite a lot of packaging. Then I flipped the box and found out that it was recycled which pleased me. I did more research about your packaging and found out all the materials were recycled which was great, but there’s still space for improvement. I suggest you reduce the number of materials you use in a package. All the tissue paper is not needed because most of it gets thrown away by the time the costumer gets home. The size of the boxes can be reduced since most of the space is wasted, and it’s not used for advertisement.
I hope you take some of my advice and start changing you packaging, we do not have infinite worlds to waste so let’s start saving this one.
Kind regards,
Marko Bulatović

Reflection on Ultimate Survival

Lots of things helped me to understand the big idea of this unit. The first one is the Biome projects we did in groups, we learned how organisms interact but also how humans interact with with the natural world. The one world essay also helped understand this topic, this showed us some cons of man interacting with the natural world. The packaging project also helped me understand.

For an organism a necessity is food to ensure survival, without food all of the organisms on this planet would die. Each Organism has a way of surviving some have made changes to be able to survive. An example is hiding from predators during day and obtaining food during nigh time. This relates to our unit question ultimate survival because organism do all these things in order to survive many of the things organisms do are weird but they do this in order to survive.

I like to do more labs and projects in groups and watch more documentaries.

In my point of view we did everything really well considering our time, You can study ultimate survival your whole life and still learn. This was a huge topic and i think everybody learned a lot i really like this topic and enjoyed it a lot.

Bioplastic Reflection

Bioplastic is developed from sugar that comes from corn, sugar cane and sugar beads. These plastics are green because they come from sugar not crude oil like normal plastics. Issues with this green plastics are that they evolve using pesticides to grow the corn we use for the bio plastics. We need gas which pollutes the air to transport the corn from the fields to the factories.The factories that make bioplastics need electricity to work which is usually produced from oil and gas. With green plastic we might start using less plastic inn packages and they would be more environmentally friendly.

Reflection on Food Inc.

Food Inc. shows us where our food comes from and how we get it. People need enormous amounts of food to feed all of their specie but there's still world hunger. Making food has turned into a business than rather trying to get the best and healthiest foods, now it's "cheaper is better we make more money." This brings a both positive and negative impact we can feed more people, but where destroying the environment. If consumer start choosing healthier foods the big corporations will have to start adapting.

we humans are connected on how the Earth is used in many ways we are the strongest species, and therefore in a way we control the way Earth is developing. Natural farming is much better than industrial farming it's much healthier for eating but we produce less food. Without science and technology we couldn't produce food so quickly which would equal The entire world to be hungry. I observed that natural farming is much better and healthier than industrial farming but is much more expensive. I think this is a big problem and that we need to find a way for farming to be healthy but quick.

Current Events

Surprise Visitor
February 3, 2010
web
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100203/Note2.asp

Scientist study pollination on the island of Réunion which is located near southern Africa ( Island belongs to France). One night scientist were looking at a Orchid flower though night vision camera's, when they suddenly noticed a cricket on it. Scientists quickly realized they've never seen such a cricket and new it was a new specie. But this isn't all this cricket was carrying pollen for plant to plant. This was quite surprising since they've never seen a cricket carrying pollen. Usually when a plant or flower mate wind or insects carry the pollen from the male to the female part of the plant but this was different. This wasn't a coincidence another group of scientists were studying a type of Orchids called Angraecum cadetii when they saw the same specie of crickets carrying pollen. Scientists conclude this cricket was made for the Orchid.


This relates to our studies in school, because this is an example of mutualism were both species benefit. The orchid gets to reproduce while the cricket can snack on the orchids pollen. We studied this in school that's why I think this would be a very good example.

I chose this article because it still relates to our school work. Just the title was very appealing and made me what to learn it. From this I learned that we know a lot but that we can still learn a lot and discover new species. I really enjoyed how this article was written, and I also enjoyed reading it because it was interesting but it gave a lot of information.

Answers to Owl Pellet Questions

1. From our class data the most frequently consumed prey by the owl is the Vole all together as a class we found out the pellets contained 88 vole's.

3. Hunting 35 insects a 1 gram each is much more expensive than hunting one 35 gram vole. This is because the insects are smaller and the owl has to waste much more energy hunting the 35 insects then that one vole

5. If the shrew population declined it would certainly affect the owl's but not that intensely as if vole declined, because owl eat the vole the most. Owl would still survive if shrew were declined.

Further Inquiry: Our information might not be reliable because we didn't find all the bones we also didn't have all the bones to match the skulls. Next time I would search for the bones more thoroughly.

Current Event

When Frog Gender Flips
March 24 2010
web, Science News for Kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100324/Note2.asp

A student called Ngoc Mai Nguyen at the Californian college was doing a experiment with male frogs. One day she went to check up on these frogs and realized that some of the frogs were acting like female frogs. She went and reported this to her biologist boss Tyrone Hayes. Hayes did experiments with male frogs and found out that a chemical called atrazine(used as weed killer) affected the frogs. The atrazine affects the frogs that were born in water that atrazine was put in. Hayes did another experiment were he put 40 male frogs in to a water tank with atrazine and 4 of them started acting like females. They dissected 2 and found out they have female reproductive organs, the other two were mated with normal male frogs and both had male babies.

This relates two are study of animals and organisms in class. If this continues the frog specie can become endangered. This is a serious problem because many animals depend on frogs as food but also shelter. If frogs disappear they will disrupt many ecosystems and biomes.

I found this article on the site " Science News for Kids" and it really drew my attention because the disappearance of frogs won't be good or helpful for anybody. I enjoyed reading this article because I learned a lot from it. I think the article was written really well, and by reading it I learned that we have yet another problem.

Human Footprint Movie

This movie showed us all the materials we use and it showed us that people need to start sustaining materials. Sustainability in ecology means that civilization and human population meet there needs while preserving the environment and biodiversity. We need to start sustaining are materials, were wasting them quickly. Some materials and resources are going to last only a couple more years. An example is coal it's quickly running out and we are using it for lot's of stuff. Human footprints our the way we affect the planet. We can lessen are human footprint and preserve the world in many ways. We can take shorter showers, use environmentally friendly detergents, Use fuel efficient cars such as hybrids. I think this video was trying to show people that we are wasting to much materials per person and that we to start sustaining materials.

My Human Foot Print is 6.9 I think I should really start caring for the environment around me. We don't have 7 Earth's so I really think I should change my habits because they really have a big impact on Earth. What I leaving Behind isn't very good. This site helped me realize what I have to change and how to change it I think the biggest problem is transportation.

Whales May Round Up Squid for Dinner
March 10, 2010
web, science news for kids
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100310/Note1.asp

Scientists studied the Sperm whale for quite a bit, and found out that these creatures usually herd up squid, and then eat when they desire. Scientists new that these massive creatures sometimes form communities for short periods of time, where female and young whales stay, but to them it's new that they hunt together. Sperm whales hunt and herd squid in groups of three; two of the whales circle the squid while the third swims under so none of them escape. After they let other whales eat. The whale that swims below always rotates among the three whales because it takes up a lot of the whales energy.

I think this relates to our unit,because these whales adapted to there environment and surroundings. They figured out away of hunting that functions really well for them, while the squids have no way out.

I found this article while searching for my current events. First I found another article but I liked this one much better. I enjoyed reading this article because I think the way these whales adapted is truly amazing. I agree with the scientists statement that the squid have a huge problem unless they figure out away to escape from this deathtrap.

Current Events

Fruit Flies Taste water
Stephen Omes
Web
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100421/Note2.asp

If you ask a friend what water tastes like he would say nothing, but scientists did research on a type of fly, the fruit fly and determined that these flies tastes water. They can't yet explain whats the taste like but there sure it can taste water using a protein called PPK28. This protein adds taste to water. This protein they use is in a larger family of proteins one of these proteins humans use to taste salt. Scientist did an experiment to prove this they had to groups of fruit flies a normal one and one were the flies taste cells were disabled. Then They added a chemical to both groups of flies, the chemical started glowing when the protein PPK28 was in use. They let both groups toward water the normal fruit flies started glowing immediately and drank. While the other ones didn't even want to try the water.

In class we are studying survival of animals and organisms. In a way this protein ensures the survival of fruit flies. It supplies the with a food source. In the experiment scientists conducted the fruit flies with disabled taste cells didn't drink the water and the ones with the cells did. Which means protein helps them survive, because the flies can taste the water it supplies them with nutrients. The only thing the flies have to do is find a clean water source. And there's ample of nutrients for them.

I found this article while browsing the Science News for Kids website. And I chose it because this was weird but amazing. This discovery doesn't really help us solve any problems we face but scientist are trying to find a way to transfer this protein into humans. I while reading this article i thought I weird that such small creatures developed something amazing. I enjoyed reading this article because it was amazing but also made me think how water would taste.

Animals Without Oxygen, Underwater
Stephen Ornes
Web
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100428/Note2.asp

Scientists found a multicellular specie of animals the size of a grain that do not need oxygen to live.
These amazing creatures were found in the Mediterranean sea in the L’Atalante Basin were it's so salty theirs no oxygen. This is really amazing because this is the first multicellular animal that can breath without oxygen.At first scientist believed these were just dead animals. Because this is not normal seawater it does not contain oxygen. After scientists studied these animals they still can find out why they don't need oxygen.

This relates are unit about organisms and there surroundings. This specie clearly made an adaption to suit the water there living, they changed to be able to survive in a specific surrounding and habitat.

I found this article when searching for a current event. I enjoyed reading this article because I never imagined that there were animal that can live without oxygen. I chose this article because i related to the unit we are studying in class. These small animals are the first multicellular creature that can actually live without oxygen this is what truly amazed me.

Current Events 3

Afraid of Its Own Fishy Reflection
Stephen Ornes
Web
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100526/Note2.asp

Male Chichlids are a type of freshwater fish, that go to after fish who dare to cross there path. When some chichlids see there one reflection in a mirror aggressively. Although these situations look the same, there brain reacts differently. When scientists looked at the fish's hormones they didn't see a difference but when they looked at the brain there was a difference. When they looked at the fish's brain while looking in it's reflection they saw it was active in a place similar to amygdala. In a humans brain this is where you associate with fear.

This is affecting scientific knowledge, we are learning that some animals don't even know how there reflection looks like. The limitations in this article is that you can't see how fish actually react when they see there reflection. I had a question how don't they know there own reflection.

When I was searching for an article, the title of this article sounded strange but interesting at the same time. My attention was grabbed when I read how fish react to there own reflection. I learned that some animals react differently to there reflections. I believe this is reliable because it was tested out more then one time. I felt amazed that fish act so aggressively when they see there reflection.

Reflecton on Mr. Watts Presantation

On Antarctica there are many interactions between animals. I many ways predator prey, mating, some rituals animals have. A good example of this is penguins eating krill or elephant seal eating an penguin. Animals migrate to get food they also to a warmer place when in one place is to cold, an example of this is penguin migrating to Antarctica during the spring and summer is to obtain krill. Animals reproduce in a specific moment they need to know there will be food for the babies, there also won't be lots of predators nearby. When reproducing they look for season with lots of food. Most animals reproduce in spring because the season of krill starts near the end of spring. This depends on the food the have. Animals have adapted in many ways krill have big eyes when they are so they can see predators some animals swim in groups like penguin so predators have a hard time to pick a individual, Elephant seal females eat lots and lots so they can feed there babies. Each animals have birth and mating rituals leopard seals sing to attract a female other animals fight for the female the stronger one wins. We have been studying about animals interactions with other animals, plants and other non living objects. I am wondering all this functions instantly.He gave real examples how all of this functions how animals interact and how this functions in a biome.

The Oily Gulf
Stephen Ornes
June,2 2010
web
http://sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100602/Note2.asp
On the night of April 20, there was an explosion on an oil platform in the gulf of Mexico. Most people escaped but 11 died. There was a pipe underwater that went from the platform to the bottom of the ocean,which cracked open and oil started spewing out. Scientist tried covering the oil in domes which didn't work. Lots of fish and birds were affected by the oil; they were covered in oil and couldn't swim or fly. The authorities warned people not to eat fish because they may have been affected by the oil. A group of scientists predicts that up to 75000-109000 barrels of oil are being spilled. This is the biggest oil spill that ever happened.

This oil spill is affecting science in many ways, lots of fish and birds are affected by the spill if animals are affected science is, because scientists research about these fish and birds. A benefit of this article is that you learn what happened. The disadvantage is that this really happened. The problem is that the ocean and shore lines are being affected by the oil spill. Why was there an explosion.

I chose this article because I wanted to find out what happened during the oil spill. My attention was grabbed, when I heard how much oil was spilled in a single day. I learned how it happened when it happened and the effects it caused. I agree with idea to cover the oil with domes, but I am disappointed it did not work. I do believe this is reliable because I heard about it before. I was sad that lots of animals lost there lives because we made a big mistake. I really think this is a disaster.

"James Bond"-Like Worms
Unknown
Web
August 20 , 2009

Scientists found an unknown species of worms in oceans at the depth of 1800 meters.This annelid worm throws green bombs to blind a predator. By the time the predator can see again the worms gone. These little worms rage from the sizes of three fourths of an inch to almost four inches. The bombs are modified gills that consist of four chambers. When they are released they glow about a minute.

We are studying about creatures living things, and how they interact. This relates to are study, first it's a living creature it also interacts with other creatures such as the predator. This affects science, it gives us proof there are still creatures we don't know about such as this one. A benefit to science is that we found a creature that no one ever found, down under the ocean there are probably more creatures.

I choose this article because the title was appealing, I also like James Bond movies. The green bombs that little worms drop really grabbed my attention. I learned another way animals interact with each other. I do believe this is reliable people really went under water and found these species. I felt amazed while reading this article, living creatures have something people developed overtime and took them years. I really learned a lot and enjoyed this.

Survival

I learned a lot for this survival video. Each animal has a specific tool for survival. Most animal use camouflage. But many different animals have different tools. Eggs are used as shield while they are in the egg. Foxes play dead, then hungry birds land to eat, then it grabs the bird and eats it.Lions practice hunting on other lions. Vultures fly 60 miles to eat, they use there eyesight to spot dead animal they can eat.Hawks hunt in packs,groups they surround the prey and push it into a cir circle, then the prey has a little chance to escape then they take it. Polar bears make a snow cave in which they hide. Camels can survive in the dessert where people pass out. They can stay in the dessert a very long time thanks to there humps were they store fat that they use up slowly. Geese can fly at a attitude of 6 miles, they increase there breathing 20 times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXO3h6bpEUU

Living and the environment

1. In a certain organisms environment there is the food the organism eats. The organism can survive in that terrain or area. The whether conditions are just right for the organism and there isn't huge amount of predators.
2. It interacts with other living creatures in the same habitat and also the nonliving objects.
What are the levels of organization within an ecosystem?
3. You find different kinds of organisms in different environments, because some organisms don't survive in certain habitats, while others survive in that habitat. For example you wouldn't find a polar where in the tropics, because it lives on Arctic.
4. How do animals prepare for such a change?Some organisms will start collecting and storing food for the long winter while other will be getting ready to fly to warmer parts of the world.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/threats-to-animals-environment/polar-bears.html

KWL: Living things + Enviorments

K

• All living things excrete waste
• All living creatures need a specific environment
  
• All creatures need nutrients
• All creatures create new creatures
  

W

• What makes living creatures so specific?
• Do all creatures move?
• What creature lives the longest?

L

My Quarter 1 Goals

1. My goal is to get a 6 or more in the first quarter
2. my second goal is to keep my notebook organized
3. Study a lot for each test