Science 5-6

June 8 ,2015

Students will have their final science evaluation for this year on Thursday, June 18th. Please review the notes and questions for themes 21-22-23-24.  I will post the notes here and in the dropbox as we finish each theme.

Theme 21 - The Wonders of Biotechnology

• Biotechnology is a technique that uses the properties of living beings to improve agricultural production or the manufacture of certain industrial products.

• Yeast is an example of how biotechnology can be used. Yeast is composed of microscopic fungi that causes fermentation. Fermentation transforms complex sugars into simple sugars, carbon dioxide and alcohol.Carbon dioxide is what makes the bread rise and champagne bubbly. In wine, the gas is simply removed. Alcohol helps preserve wine and beer, but evaporates in bread as it bakes.

• Biotechnology also plays an important role in cheese production. Biotechnology ensures the development of products free of harmful bacteria and it is constantly improving cheeses, both fresh and aged.

• Biotechnology is also used in livestock raising. Modern selection techniques make it possible to improve the production performance of dairy cows, the quality of slaughter animals and farmed salmon. Cows that produce the most milk or hens that lay the most eggs are selected for reproduction.

• Once the animals are chosen, the next step is crossbreeding, which involves mating the selected animals. Usually, reproduction is achieved through artificial insemination.

Theme 21 - Answers to questions

page 109

2.      a) microscopic fungi

b) sugar

c) carbon dioxide, alcohol

3. cheese, wine, bread, pizza

Page 110

4.      a) pig - size, fast growth, resistance to disease, abundant reproduction

b) dairy cow – resistance to disease, high milk production

c) hen – resistance to disease, size, abundant egg production, fast growth, abundant reproduction

d) dog- beauty, size, resistance to disease, lower aggression

e) horse – speed, resistance to disease, beauty

f) trout – abundant egg production, size, fast growth, resistance to disease, abundant reproduction

g) rose – abundant reproduction, fast growth, beauty, size, resistance to disease

h) potato – resistance to disease, fast growth, size, abundant reproduction

Integration and Application (page 110)

1.             --          livestock raising techniques

-          Bread making

-          Selection and multiplication of plants

Theme 22- Plants That Move

• All plants move. Some move more or faster than others.

• Adaptive motions in plants are referred to as tropisms. There are 4 factors responsible for these motions: gravity, water, light, and the presence of obstacles.

• Geotropism is the movement a plant makes as it reacts to gravity. This is what causes the roots to grow downward and the stems upward. A plant could not survive if its leaves were underground and its roots were exposed to the sun.

• Geotropism is sometimes cancelled out by the presence of water on the surface of the soil. The roots remain on the surface and move towards the source of water. This movement toward a water source is called hydrotropism.

• All plants react to the presence of light. For example, the sunflower turns toward the sun. Place close to a window, a plant seeks the light that passes through the glass. The movement of a plant caused by light is called phototropism.

• Some plants react to contact with an object and attach of wind themselves around it. This is referred to as contact tropism or thigmotropism. Vines, bean and pea plants are good examples of this.

• Most plants move slowly, but the Venus flytrap moves exceptionally fast. It shuts its leaves very quickly to trap its prey.

Theme 22 - Answers to questions:

page 112

2. a. upward                     c. geotropism

   b. downward d. gravity

page 113

4. 1. phototropism  3. geotropism

   2. thigmotropism          4. hydrotropism

Page 114

5. geotropism - It enables the plant to firmly root itself, providing the support it needs and helping it find water.

   hydrotropism - It enables the plant to obtain the maximum amount of water.

   phototropism - It enables the plant to obtain the maximum quantity of light.

   thigmotropism - It enables the plant to attach itself to something else and stretch out toward a light source.

Integration and Application

a)  1. geotropism 3. hydrotropism  

    2. phototropism 4. thigmotropism

Theme 23 - Adaptation: A Question of Survival

• Certain animals migrate (to leave a location in order to live in another place) to protect themselves from the cold, reproduce or find food. The following are example of animals that use migration as a survival strategy: hummingbird, snowy owl, monarch butterfly, eel, salmon and Canada goose.

• Hibernation (a state of deep sleep caused by a significant decrease in body temperature and a slowing down of vital functions such as breathing and heart rate) is another strategy that enables animals to protect themselves from the cold and to survive food scarcity. It is very common, particularly among rodents. Groundhogs and bats are examples of animals that hibernate.

• Contrary to popular belief, the black bear does not truly hibernate: its body temperature only drops 5 degrees C. Its activity decreases, but it can wake up at any time, unlike animals that truly hibernate. The black bear practices winter hypothermia (a drop in body temperature below normal temperature).

• Adaptation is all the characteristics that enable a species to adjust to their environment in order to survive and reproduce. Migration and hibernation are two forms of adaptation. There are many others:
• the shapes of birds beaks is adapted to their food;
• skunks protect themselves with a terrible smelling spray;
• ladybugs and monarch butterflies taste so terrible that birds never go back for seconds;
• chameleons use colour mimicry (a property that allows certain animals to resemble their surroundings or another creature in order to increase their chance of survival);
• other animals use odour mimicry: the larvae of certain butterflies have the same odour as ant larvae, ants feed the butterfly larvae without realizing it;
• several types of insects use shape mimicry: some butterflies are shaped like leaves, some caterpillars are shaped like twigs and so on.


Theme 23 - Answers to Questions -
page 116
1. salmon, snow goose, hummingbird, snowy owl, eel, monarch butterfly
2.  

   Animals that hibernate	Animals that don’t hibernate
   groundhog bat	black bear caribou chickadee deer wolf





Page 118


4. a) colour mimicry
   b) shape mimicry


Integration and Application
1. a) Canada goose - migration
b) Viceroy butterfly - colour mimicry
   c) Eel - migration
d) Groundhog - hibernation
e) stick insect - shape mimicry

Theme 24 - "I Have a Right to Breathe Clean Air!"

• When water is dirty, we do not drink it. Unfortunately, when the air is polluted, we have no choice: we still have to breathe!

• Air pollution is visible in the summer, on hot, windless days. A smog cloud covers many large cities. Smog is a thick fog formed by smoke from industry, and, especially, car exhaust.

• Air pollution increases the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural atmospheric effect that enables some of the solar heat that reaches the Earth’s surface to be maintained close to the ground. In other words, the warming of the Earth caused by carbon dioxide accumulated in the Earth’s atmosphere. The greenhouse effect enables Earth to maintain an average of 15 degrees C. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth’s temperature would be -18 degrees C! The weather would be freezing all year-round! When the greenhouse effect becomes too great, it can have serious consequences for the environment.

• Carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases: the more it accumulates in the atmosphere, the greater the greenhouse effect and the more the temperature increases on the surface of the Earth. This is called global warming.

• Unfortunately, the use of fossil fuels, like gasoline, coal and natural gas, increases the quantity of carbon dioxide that escapes into the atmosphere. If pollution continues to increase at current rates, scientists predict that the Earth’s temperature will increase by two to six degrees in the next century.

• Everyone has to play a role to help reduce air pollution. One solution is to protect our forests. Plants purify the air by transforming carbon dioxide into oxygen. We must prevent forest fires, avoid clear-cutting, reforest unused lands, and plant trees near our homes.

• We can also reduce pollution by changing our lifestyle and using our cars less. Instead of everyone using their car, people can take the bus, car-pool, ride a bicycle or walk.

May 21, 2015

There will be a science evaluation on Friday, May 29, 2015. Please review notes and questions for themes 17-18-19-20. I am posting the notes here for anyone who is experiencing difficulty with the dropbox.

Theme 17 - Undergoing a Metamorphosis

Direct development - Some animals, like cats, are born in their adult form, just smaller. These animals undergo direct development. Human beings also undergo direct development.

Metamorphosis - Other animals change body form as they grow. This is known as metamorphosis.

There are two types of metamorphosis: complete metamorphosis and incomplete metamorphosis.

In complete metamorphosis the animal undergoes radical changes in form over the course of its life.The adult looks completely different from the baby.

Frogs, many molluscs and insects undergo complete metamorphosis. Among insects, complete metamorphosis includes 4 stages: eggs, larva, nymph, adult. Ants, butterflies, June beetles, ladybugs and bees are examples of insects that undergo complete metamorphosis.

In incomplete metamorphosis, the baby greatly resembles the adult, but with a body of different proportions. The animal undergoes several moults before becoming an adult. In the incomplete metamorphosis of insects, there are only three stages: egg, nymph, and adult.

Grasshoppers, dragonflies, cicadas, crayfish, lobsters, and snakes undergo incomplete metamorphosis.

Theme 18 - Life on Earth

• The Earth was formed 4.65 billion years ago.

• The evolution of life on Earth  is divided into 5 eras: precambrian era, primary era, secondary era, tertiary era, and quaternary era.

• Precambrian Era - The first cells appeared 3.5 billion years ago. Algae emerged 700 million years ago. There was no animal life during this period.

• Primary Era - The first animals appeared in the Primary Era. Life first took form in the water. Molluscs and trilobites emerged first, then fish and the first animals with a spinal cord appeared. After that, it was the first land animals, then came amphibians and insects, and lastly, reptiles.

• Secondary Era - Dinosaurs and the first mammals appeared at the beginning of the Secondary Era. Birds (descendants of dinosaurs) came next. The first birds were only able to glide. At the end of this era, monkeys and marsupials (mammals with pouches, like the kangaroo) emerged.

• Tertiary Era - Dinosaurs suddenly disappeared at the beginning of the Tertiary Era. With the disappearance of dinosaurs, mammals were able to multiply. Their evolution led to the appearance of the first hominids (ancestors of the human being).

• Quaternary Era - Our species of human being appeared only 100 000 years ago, at the beginning of the Quaternary Era.

Theme 19 - How Do Plants Eat?

• Plants are living things.

• Plants need certain things to survive:

- suitable temperature (some prefer heat, others are better adapted to the cold)

- water and mineral salts (the roots absorb water and mineral salts in the soil)

- air (plants take in carbon dioxide in order to make their food, glucose)

- light (light supplies the energy they need for photosynthesis)

• Plants make their food through a process called photosynthesis.

-Carbon dioxide enters the plant through tiny openings called stomata, located on the underside of the leaves.

-Plant roots draw up water and mineral salts. These elements form xylem sap,

which rises right up to the leaf cells.

• The leaf cells contain chloroplasts, which is where photosynthesis occurs. Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, a substance that gives plants their green color. Chlorophyll captures the light energy needed for photosynthesis.

• Water and carbon dioxide are transformed into oxygen and sugar.

• The oxygen is released into the air through the stomata, and the glucose (sugar) is distributed throughout the plant through the phloem sap.

• The glucose (sugar) is the plant’s food. Plants make their own food using non-living elements.

• Plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, which is essential for life. Without plants, we would have no oxygen to breathe.

Theme 20 - How Do Plants Reproduce?

• There are two major modes of plant reproduction:

sexual reproduction and asexual reproduction.

• Sexual reproduction is accomplished with the help of male or female reproductive parts called gametes.

• First, the plant produces pollen. The wind, insects or birds transport the pollen. This ensures the fertilization of flowers. (Example: Apple blossoms are fertilized thanks to the wind and the work of bees that transport the pollen to the flowers.)

- Once fertilized, the flowers produce fruits whose seeds ensure plant reproduction. Apple seeds grow into apple trees; tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers also reproduce this way.

• Asexual reproduction can occur in many ways and usually requires human intervention. The main techniques of asexual reproduction are layering and propagation by cuttings.

• The layering technique involves laying a stem of the plant along the ground. After a period of time, the buried stem develops roots. When the roots are strong enough, the stem is separated from the original plant. The new plant will grow on its own.

• Examples: Spider plants and strawberry plants reproduce through a kind of natural layering. These plants have stolons, that end in a bud. When the stolons are long enough, they drop down to the ground. The bud comes into contact with the soil and roots there, creating a new plant.

• Propagation by cuttings involves removing a young shoot or leaf from the plant and putting it in soil or water to root. The cutting soon develops into a new plant.

• Certain plants can also be reproduced by dividing their rhizomes.  The banana tree and potato reproduce through their rhizomes. The potato is the edible part of the rhizome. To reproduce the plant, a piece of potato containing at least one bud is planted, creating a new potato plant.

February 9, 2015

Science evaluation has been postponed to Tuesday, February 17th. Please review notes and questions for themes 9-10-11-12. I have posted the notes here for those who are experiencing trouble with the dropbox.

Theme 9 – Rocks or Minerals?
 •Minerals are solid matter that are found in the Earth’s crust. They have specific composition and properties, such as hardness, colour and texture. (ex: gold, table salt, precious stones)

•The beauty, hardness and rarity of some minerals makes them very valuable. These are precious stones. (ex: diamonds, emeralds, rubies)

•Semi-precious stones are stones that are a little less rare, hard or extraordinary, but still of special interest. (ex: jade, tiger’s eye, turquoise, topaz)

•Rocks are made up of various minerals.  (ex: marble, granite, sand)

•When rocks are broken you have probably noticed the tiny sparkles, shiny specks or different coloured grooves inside the rock. These are the minerals.

•When a mineral is taken out of rock, several tons of rock must be processed in order to get just a few grams of the desired mineral. Ore is the rock that contains enough of the mineral to be mined.

Theme 10 – Discovering the centre of the Earth

•To get to the centre of the Earth, you would have to travel 6400km! Along the way, you would pass through 3 different parts : the crust, the mantle and the core.

•The crust is solid and quite thin compared to the entire Earth. If the Earth was the size of an egg, the Earth’s crust would be about the thickness of an eggshell.

•Next, is the mantle. It is divided into two parts: the upper mantle (located just below the Earth’s crust) and the lower mantle (just above the core).

•The upper mantle is solid at the top and viscous (doughy) at the bottom. This semi-liquid part contains the magma ejected during volcanic eruptions. The lower mantle, located just above the core, is solid.

•In the centre is the Earth’s core. It is composed primarily of nickel and iron. It is divided into two parts: the inner core (at the very centre of the Earth) and the outer core. The outer core is thicker than the inner core and it is liquid. The inner core is solid and extremely hot; just as hot as the surface of the sun.

Theme 11 – Erosion Really Eats Away at Things

•Wind and water can move matter. Wind, for example, moves soil in fields that have been just ploughed. Waves move sand on the beach. Wind and waves gradually eat away at rocks along the seashore. Glaciers, which are made of frozen water, move large quantities of soil and rocks as they slide down mountains along the ground.

•Erosion is the action of wind and water moving matter from one place to another. Erosion can transform the Earth’s relief in different ways. Wind creates hills, such as sand dunes. Glaciers and waterways create valleys. Landslides and floods make land disappear.

•Erosion can have beneficial aspects. It gradually breaks rocks, which are slowly transformed into 
       fertile soil, suitable for vegetation.

•Erosion can also have damaging effects. It can erode arable land, cause banks along waterways to collapse, and carry pollutants to waterways.

•People can limit some of the consequences of erosion by building structures that block the wind or prevent water from flowing.

Theme 12 – Fossils That Fuel the World

•Fossil fuels are substances that release large quantities of energy when burned. Examples of fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gas.

•Oil and natural gas are the fossilized remains of plants and marine organisms which died hundreds of millions of years ago. The remains of these plants and animals decayed and mixed with other sediments. Over time these transformed into oil, gas or sedimentary rocks.

•Some of the oil rose to the surface while in other cases the oil was trapped by a layer of rock.  Therefore, some oil accumulated in reservoirs beneath the Earth’s surface. 

•The formation of coal is very similar, except that this fuel has been transformed from land plants rather than marine organisms.  Over time, the dead plants became packed into the soil and eventually transformed into coal. 

•The extraction of oil and natural gas, whether on land or at sea, is basically the same. First, a hole is drilled through the layer of rock above the oil. A long pipe is fed into the well, all the way down to the oil or natural gas. The pressure contained in the natural underground reservoir pushes the oil to the surface. If the pressure is not sufficient, pumps are used to bring the oil to the surface.

•Coal extraction is done differently. If the coal is located on the surface, an open-pit mine is built. If the coal is located deeper in the ground, a traditional mine with underground galleries is dug out. Cart and conveyors are used to bring the coal to the surface.

•Fossil fuels are very important in our everyday lives. Natural gas is used mostly for heating.  Coal was also used for heating in the past and is also used to manufacture steel.

•Oil gives us gas for our cars, boats and planes.  It is also a source for heating oil and is used to produce electricity.  Oil is also used to manufacture plastics, medications, beauty products, paints and clothes.

September 29, 2014

Cycle 3 will have a science evaluation on Friday, October 10th on:
   - Book C, Theme 1 - That's Hard! Hard as....
                    Theme 2 - Oh No, Rust!
                    Theme 3 - Energy Here, There and Everywhere!
                    Theme 4 - Let Us Reflect
Please review the notes and questions in the notebook as well and the worksheets in the duo-tang. Students will take turns taking home the textbooks, we share them in class.
Following are the notes for these sections:

Theme 1 : That’s Hard, Hard as...

• Mass, color, volume, and state (solid, liquid, gas) are all properties of matter.

•Flexibility, tenacity and hardness are three other important properties of solid materials.

•Flexibility is a property of solid matter that allows it to bend more or less easily. A paper clip, a sheet of paper and an eraser have great flexibility.

 •Tenacity is a property of solid matter that makes it more or less difficult to break. Plastic is more tenacious than glass (plastic is harder to break than glass).

•Hardness is a property that allows solid matter to resist varying degrees of pressure and scratching. A knife blade is harder than a piece of wood.

•The Mohs Scale is a scale used to compare the hardness of minerals. In the Mohs Scale, 10 is assigned to the hardest mineral and 1 to the softest mineral. Diamond, which has a hardness of 10, can scratch any other mineral. Talc is the softest mineral; it has the hardness of 1.

Theme 2 : Oh No, Rust!

•If an object made of steel or iron comes in contact with moisture and oxygen, oxidation will take place. The chemical reaction, oxidation, causes the deterioration of steel and iron.  The deterioration is called corrosion and in the process rust is formed.

•Copper will also oxidize but, instead of rusting, a pale green substance known as verdigris is formed.

•There are many ways to protect iron and steel from rust:
  - Coating the object with an impermeable layer   (ex: wax, paint, enamel, grease, oil etc.)

  - Forming an alloy which involves adding a metal that is more resistant to corrosion than the iron by itself (this is much more expensive).

•Stainless steel is formed when iron is mixed with substances that do not rust, either chrome or a mixture of chrome and nickel.  Examples of items that are made of alloys are: pots, kitchen utensils, jewellery and coins.

Theme 3 : Energy Here, There and Everywhere!

•Energy is the capacity of a system to do work.

•Sources of energy can be divided into 2 categories : renewable sources and non-renewable sources.

•Renewable sources are those that can be regenerated quickly. Examples are wind, sun, waves, tides, waterways, and wood.

•Non-renewable sources of energy take millions of years to form. Once used, they cannot be quickly replaced or regenerated. Examples are petroleum, coal, uranium and natural gas.

•There are several forms of energy:

- Mechanical energy is that which is associated with objects in movement, such as a bicycle.

- Chemical energy is contained in matter like wood, gasoline and coal, and can be released through burning.

- Electrical energy is transmitted through wires. It can be used for lighting, heating and operating various electrical devices.

  

- Radiant energy travels from one point to another, like light from the sun or heat from an electrical heater.

- Thermal energy is associated with the temperature of objects.

- Nuclear energy is contained in the heart of atoms in matter and can be released in nuclear reactors or during the explosion of an atomic bomb.

Theme 4 : Let Us Reflect   

•Reflection is a change in direction of light bouncing off an obstacle.  Mirrors reflect light. There are different types of mirrors: flat, concave, convex.

•Flat mirror - The most common type of mirror is a flat mirror.  The mirror in your bathroom at home and a rearview mirror are examples of flat mirrors.  Flat mirrors always reflect an image in which left and right are reversed.

•Concave mirror - A concave mirror concentrates the light that it reflects.  It is similar to looking into the hollow of a spoon.  As light hits the mirror, it is reflected in a much more intense beam. Car headlights and flashlights use concave mirrors so that even from a small light source, an intense light beam is produced after the light reflects in the mirror.  Objects reflected in these types of mirrors can appear larger.

•Convex mirror - A convex mirror makes the field of vision larger. It is similar to looking at the back of a spoon. These types of mirrors are usually found in places that require surveillance; such as in stores and on buses.  Objects appear smaller and like in the flat mirror, a convex mirror reverses left and right in the image.

September 11, 2014

Visit this page to find the notes for science class and information about upcoming evaluations.