Fly Away Seeds by Yenenesh

In class right now we are learning about plants, plant adaptations, and seed dispersal.  Did you know that there are four methods of seed dispersal in flowering plants?  If you didn't, those four methods are animals, wind, water, and force.  After the plant reproduction cycle is over the seed is ready to depart from its parents. Every seed goes away from its parents differently depending on the kind of of plant.

As that seed develops the small ovary inside turns into a fruit. A fruit is a way to spread the seeds. The seeds are inside the fruit and when the fruit gets eaten the seeds are transferred somewhere else. For example pumpkin seeds you eat, digest, then excrete. The reason I chose this to blog about was the seed dispersal. I really find it interesting that there are many ways for seeds to scatter away for its parents.

How are plants like humans? By Reed

You may think that a plant is not like an animal because it can’t move, and it can’t defend itself. But that is not true - if a plant is in the shade, it can grow towards the sunlight. This is movement, but it is just too slow for us to see. Plants also have many ways of defending themselves. While humans have weapons, plants have thorns and poisons.

Humans and plants are made of the same basic substances. There are similarities in their reproductive systems. Both systems include sperm cells and egg cells. The female part of flowers also have ovaries.

Humans have evolved to live in certain climates, but then when they want to live in other climates they have to invent ways to stay warm or cool or to find a way to survive. Plants have also found ways to survive in many different climates such as the desert to the alps. This has happened slowly through evolution. You may never have thought that plants are like humans, but when you think that they move, and defend themselves and can survive in very challenging environments, it is astonishing how similar plants and humans really are.

THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM by Alden

You may have already heard but we recently finished our body systems unit and model building project, but I just want to get into the specifics of a single body system. I want to talk about the muscular system. Did you know that to take one step you're using just over 200 muscles? That just makes napping not seem to bad after all.

In your body you have three types of muscles. The smooth muscle, the cardiac muscle, and the skeletal muscle. The skeletal muscle is a muscle attached to a bone, a cardiac muscle can only be found in the heart, and the smooth muscle is only found in organs. Something I should mention is if you are dedicated to getting strong and you work really hard at it just know that it takes half as long to gain muscle than it does to lose it. That is not an excuse to sit on the couch all day.

Muscles are very important in everyday life and are necessary to survival. They are really important because they help you move, help your heart beat, and help your other organs function. I chose this topic because I wanted to address how cool and interesting muscles are. Trust there is so much more to learn than I have just told you and I encourage you to learn more.

Mountain Lion: One of the “Big Cats” by Erin

This incredible cat is one of the “big cats” because of its powerful predatory skills. The mountain lion is also called the cougar or catamount. The mountain lion is found throughout North and South America. The mountain lion now is found mostly in the western U.S. instead of all over like it used to be found. They are comfortable in many different habitats. They have the widest geographic range of any cat in the Western Hemisphere. Mountain lions in North America mainly eat deer, but they also will eat smaller animals. They have excellent vision and hearing, but a poor sense of smell. They mainly hunt in the evening and in the early morning. Like a house cat, the mountain lion stalks its prey then-pounce! Their hind legs are so powerful they can jump 40-45 feet! Mountain lions hide their prey under leaves and soil so they can feed on it for several days. Surprisingly, mountain lions don't roar. Females “scream” loudly to attract males though. Generally, there are 2-4 cubs per litter, and they are born in a den. The cubs are born with spots! The spots disappear when they are about nine months old, and their eyes turn from blue to yellow at about 16 months. 18 months at the latest the young mountain lions leave their mom. Mountain lions are powerful predators. They are big and strong. Because of this, they are one of the “big cats.” The mountain lion is an amazing animal because of its adaptations to hunt. I chose this topic because I watched an episode of a TV show that had this adaptable cat in it, and I thought it was cool and I wanted to learn more. This topic connects to our class because earlier in the year we learned about animal adaptations, and the mountain lion has adapted with strong legs to be a formidable predator. Do you think the mountain lion’s poor sense of smell impacts their hunting in a negative/positive way?

Here's a link to a video about mountain lions

From this:

To this:

The Human Reproductive System by Elijah

In science right now we are doing human reproduction. We are learning about puberty and physical changes like when the body grows hair. I chose this topic because it is interesting to learn how many changes there are in your body during puberty. I think that what we are learning is very important for middle schoolers to process. We have done some different work sheets for the female and male reproductive system. So far I think this unit is going really well for my class.

Turtles: A map in their head by Lizzie

Earlier this year in science we were studying adaptations and instincts for animals and I think that sea turtles are a good example of those characteristics. They were born on a beach buried in the sand so when they hatch they have to dig through the sand to get to the top. Then they have to figure out where the water is so they can crawl to it. Turtles then spend their whole lives swimming and drifting with the currents. Then one day they go back to the exact same beach where they were born and lay their eggs. Sea turtles show a great example of instincts and adaptations.

Frostbite Has Bitten Back by Bella

Do you really know what frostbite is? Frostbite is a condition where the skin and the tissue just below the skin freezes. It can occur when you expose your skin to extreme cold for too long. Frostbite can be treated but the sort of treatment depends on the severity. More mild cases can be treated with gradual warming but more extreme cases have to usually be treated medically by removing dead and unhealthy tissue as well as rewarming. Frostbite can be very dangerous because it can happen anywhere on your body and if it's bad enough whatever place gets “bitten” will usually have to be surgically removed. The most common place that it will happen is fingers, toes, ears, nose and lips. This connects to the quarter of skin conditions and skin sensitivity testing we did in science class. I wanted to do frostbite because I know someone who got frostbite on their nose and had to get surgery. So if this doesn't paint a clear enough picture for you now let me tell you, WEAR WARM CLOTHES!

How Do Starfish Breathe? by Iris

I chose this topic because we just finished our body systems study. I was in the Respiratory group which includes the lungs, throat etc. Starfish (and any fish in general) don't breath the same way we do because they live in water which we can't get oxygen from but they can. All of the starfish’s systems in its body are interesting but I chose to focus on how they breath. Starfish breath through their feet, they breathe by absorbing oxygen from the seawater there in. Most of the starfish's body is thick and ridged except their feet. Oxygen can only be absorbed through their feet. There are little balloon like bulbs that have very thin walls that extend from the inside of the starfish into the seawater. This allows carbon dioxide to pass out into the seawater and oxygen to pass into the starfish in a process called diffusion. Do you think starfish have a brain and blood? The website I got my info from: http://askascientist.nz/z139

This is a picture of the top and bottom of a starfish

Model Building by Annaliese

Do you like building? In our sixth grade science class right now, we are creating models! Not the fashion models and the make-up models, an actual science model. We just recently learned about the body systems (circulatory, muscular, respiratory, nervous, digestive and skeletal). After we made a book about all the systems, we moved onto the big part of the project...the building. Me and my group are doing the muscular system. For our model, we have taken three pieces of wood and cut them to size (about the size of our arm) we then attached them by using hooks and zip-ties. We are attaching balloons and rubber bands to show the muscles. If we bend the pieces of wood, one of the balloons stays the same size and the other contracts. This shows how the muscles move bones.

The Spookfish By Henry

Have you ever heard of the headless horseman? Well this fish is the headless horseman of the sea! Dun Dun Dunnnnn .The spook fish lives in the twilight zone, the twilight zone is the deepest zone in the ocean. It has a see through head and glowing “eyes”. The things you see in its head actually aren't it's real eyes. Those things are parts of its eyes that make it so it can see above it, its real eyes are in the normal place. That adaptation makes it so it can see above it but it makes it so it cannot see bioluminescence. And that is the spookfish. This is where I got my info from.

Looks Can Be Deceiving! By Alice

I am doing the mimic octopus. The  mimic octopus relates  to  science class because all year we’ve been learning about adaptations. I choose this topic because I think the mimic octopus is interesting and cool! Mimic octopus are known for imitating different animal  such as lionfish, sea snakes, and flounder. To do this they change their color and shape. The reason the mimic octopus does this is they can not squirt ink like other octopuses. So they have to have a defense. Other animals won't mess with the animals that the mimic octopus imitates because they are poisonous. Watch out, there is more to the mimic octopus then meets the eye.

From this to…..

....this.    

Rainforests by Colin

Rainforests only cover 6% of the world's surface but ½ of the world's creatures live in the rainforests. Rainforests are misty dense thick jungles which is the reason why they are called rainforests. 30 million different species of plants and animals live in rainforests. One animal in the rainforest is a poison dart frog. The poison dart frog is poison so that other animals won't want to eat it. All animals in the rainforest are amazing in there own unique way.

The Life of a Cactus by Ellery

Do you know why some cactuses have spines? Well it's because the cactus needs something to protect its fruit from getting eaten by the animals. It also provides shade for the cactus. Some animals use cactuses to hide and be protected from their enemies because cactuses have sharp spines. All types of animals feed on the stems and flowers of the cactus plants. Some humans eat cactuses and the flowers that grow on them.

There are many different kinds of cactuses. Some are commonly known as the saguaro, prickly pear, barrel, the organ pipe, old man, cholla, etc. Cactuses grow in hot places like Mexico, the southern and western United States, Central America, and the Andes Mountains. And because they live in such hot places, the ribs of the cactus store water to keep them from getting too hot. Cactuses grow in many shapes and sizes. They can grow as tall as 60 feet. Some cactuses are less than one inch. My topic connects to our science class because we talked about adaptations and soon we will be talking about plants. I chose cactuses because I thought it would be a fun topic and I don't know much about cactuses and I wanted to learn more! Here's where I got my information.

Body System Book by Mia

How much do you know about human body systems? In science class, we have been studying different body systems. We were split into five groups and each one studied a system. The five systems were the skeletal, muscular, digestive, nervous and circulatory. Each group also made a chapter for our class book. Each chapter had to include all the information we found out during our research and it had to have pictures. Once all the chapters were done, we airdropped them to Lisa. This was a fun project to do and we all learned a lot about the body's different systems. Here is the finished book for our class: F block Body Systems Book

The Nervous System by Safwan

Did you know that your brain is 75% water? The topic I chose today is the nervous system.The overall function of the nervous system is to transmit signals between different parts of the body. One of the major parts of the nervous system is the brain. The brain is like a central computer that controls all the functions of your body. A fun fact of the nervous system is the human brain alone consists of about 100 billion neurons. If all these neurons were to be lined up, it would form a 600 mile long line. I hope you learned quite a bit about the nervous system.

The Circulatory System and You by Liam M.

Did you know your body is always circulating blood to get rid of harmful materials in your body? Our class is studying human body systems. I am doing the circulatory system. I chose this because I like to figure out how the body works. The circulatory system is the system of the body that circulates blood and get oxygen to the cells. The main parts of the system are the heart, vessels, and blood. The heart is the pump which pushes the blood around. The vessels are the pipes of the body. There are three kinds of vessels: arteries, veins, and capillaries. The arteries carry blood away from the heart, and blood flows back to the heart through the veins. Capillaries connect arteries to veins. The blood is the liquid which carries the nutrients to the cells. A fun fact about the circulatory system is the femoral artery, which is located in the thigh, is one of the biggest arteries in the body.

Are you really double-jointed? By Killian

I have always been fascinated when people can bend their fingers backwards.  Most people call this being double-jointed, but actually there is only one joint but the ligaments are stretched so their length of movement is extended. As we have been learning about the skeletal system in science class, we learned that a joint is where two bones meet, and ligaments connect the two bones together in a joint. Ligaments are a short band of tough, flexible connective tissue. The technical term for double-jointed is hypermobility. You can have one or two hyper mobile joints or a large group of them. In most cases it won't involve any treatment but sometimes, if the ligaments around a joint are too loose, it can cause joint pain and increase the risk of dislocating that joint. Hypermobility can be caused by age, genes, or even repetitive stretching. If you want to learn more go here,

Last week in class.... By Tobias

Last week in class we started a unit on human body systems. We were split up into five groups and these groups are the skeletal, nervous, muscular, circulatory, and respiratory systems. As of now we are doing some research, then we will make a ebook using the app book creator. I'm in the skeletal system group and we are making a page book about joints and bones.

Bones! By Beatrice

Do you know how many bones humans have? If you don't know, humans are born with 275 bones, but adults have around 206. When I first heard that I thought: how would the number of bones get smaller and not larger? Well the answer to that is the bones grow or if you want to use a scientific term fuse together. For example you have many bones in your skull but as you grow the bones fuse together to create bigger bones in your skull. The reason I chose bones as a topic is because I am learning about them in my body system group, and that's also why this topic is relevant to my science class. I have learned a lot about bones or the skeletal system. One of my favorite facts I've learned is the funny bone is actually a nerve called the ulnar nerve, it “hurts” because it bumps up against a bone called the humerus which the ulnar nerve runs through. I hope you are inspired to go learn more about bones after reading this blog post. To learn more information go to this link.

Dehydration by Charlie H.

I chose dehydration because people don't pay enough attention to how much water they drink. If you don't drink nearly any water for more than a couple days you might start to get sick because you have not got back the number that was lost. Dehydration is when your body doesn't have enough water to keep it working right. You mostly lose water when you sweat, but you even lose a little water when you breath. Usually it's pretty easy to make up for the water that we sweat out. Some signs of dehydration are feeling lightheaded, a fast heartbeat, or dry lips or mouth. You should try to drink 8 glasses a day but any number close to that is fine too, just find the right amount for you. If you're thirsty the best drink is water or milk but a Gatorade every once in awhile won't hurt. This topic connects to our science class because a common type of dehydration is cellular dehydration where your cells are unhealthy because they need water. I got my information here.

Dolphins by Jaden

I chose dolphins for this life science blog because they are one of my favorite animals. A young dolphin can stay with it's mother for up to two years!! A dorsal fin on top of a dolphin is different and unique to each one and can be used to distinguish them from each other. Dolphins can be as small as 5.1 feet but also be as big as 31 feet! Even though it is called a killer “whale” an orca is a type of dolphin. Dolphins are most commonly found in tropical areas but a few like the right whale dolphin can be found in colder oceans. Dolphins have several adaptations. The dolphins fins allow them to cut through the water more easily. They also have blow holes which allow them to consume oxygen and blow out air when they comes up. It has also adapted to swim incredibly fast as to avoid predators. Their retina can gather light very well which allows them to see underwater. This connects to our science class because earlier in the year we talked about adaptations. Websites I used: website 1 and website 2

Amazing Polar Bears by Amelia

Polar bears are strong, brave, smart animals. In our pond ecology unit we learned that animals have adaptations. Polar bears have adaptations such as strong legs for swimming and running, thick white fur to keep them warm in the cold and for camouflage. Polar bears live in the arctic so they are swimming in freezing cold water, but luckily their fat and thick fur keeps them warm. Polar bears have large paws that act like snowshoes and they have fur on the bottom of their paws to grip onto the ice. Polar bears need these adaptations to survive in their habitat. I chose this topic because polar bears are amazing animals that have many adaptations and because I wanted to learn more about polar bears. Click here for a website on polar bears.

How do tattoos work? by Dudley

During our skin unit I was interested in how a tattoo works. Artists create tattoos by injecting ink into a person's skin. To do this, they use an electrically powered tattoo machine that resembles a dental drill. The machine moves a solid needle up and down to puncture the skin between 50 and 3,000 times per minute. The needle penetrates the skin by about a millimeter and deposits a drop of ink into the skin with each puncture. It seems like the ink would just come off with the dead skin right? It doesn't because the ink gets injected into the dermis. When you look at a tattoo you are actually looking through the epidermis and into the dermis. Here is the site that I got my information.

Inside the mind of dogs! by Sadie

Dog are extremely intelligent animals, more so than they are given credit for. I knew this but was curious as to just how much dogs really understand. During my research I discovered that dogs were much more astute than I had thought. Dogs have about the same amount of understanding and cleverness as a 3-5 year old human. Dogs feel emotions just as a toddler would. For example when another dog is getting attention another dog might get jealous and start whining. The brain of a dog has a very similar structure as a human brain does. The thing that differs drastically in the two brains is that dogs use more of their brain in the part of their brains that is associated with smell. This is why dogs have such a keen sense of smell. Research has shown that a dog can understand up to 200 words and are able to comprehend many different phrases and tones. Another unique thing about dogs is they dream just as humans do. Dogs sleep in something called REM/deep sleep which is the same type of sleep humans experience! There is so much more to learn about the intelligence of dogs, but with the small amount of research I did I concluded that humans and dogs are much alike! Do you think that dogs can only see in black and white? (Add your answer as a comment.)

Check out this video of a really smart dog and his owner!

http://www.petmd.com/dog/behavior/dog-brain-facts-understanding-canine-cognition

The Sense of Touch!!! by Joe

Last week in science class we wondered what the most touch sensitive areas of the skin are. To gather this information, we split into partnerships and laid a pair of pins onto our skin to see how sensitive it was to touch. Now, you might be wondering how we just figured that out. We figured it out by pressing the pins at certain distances apart, and when we could only feel one pin we stopped. The distance between the pins was recorded in a data table, and in the data table the smaller the distance between the pins means the more sensitive the area is to touch. For example my arm had a sensitivity of 2.5 centimeters between the pins or a general sensitivity of 2.5. Our classes (B block) most sensitive area was the lips, with the average of less than 0.3 centimeters.  

Why Do We Have Fingerprints? by Cole

Do you ever wonder why we have fingerprints and just on our hands and feet? I chose this topic when the question came up in science: why do we have fingerprints and why just on our hand and feet? I thought that it would be interesting to learn about and spread the word about. Here is some information about the skin on your palms on your hands and feet: First, we don't have any hair on the palms of our hands and feet, even areas that you wouldn't think would have hair has at least the smallest amount (except the palms of hands and feet). Also there are many sweat glands. There is much less pigment in our palms of hands and feet. This skin is about 8-14 times thicker so the skin doesn't tear or wear down. Now here's what fingerprints are: They are tiny ridges or grooves on the surface of the skin and epidermis, these grooves are formed by lines in the dermis. Fun Fact: Did you know that fingerprints probably give us better grip by making friction and they could help the skin from tearing easily. Another Fun Fact: We are born with the same fingerprints we have through our whole lives. Now Here's a Question For You: Do you think that identical twins have the same fingerprints?

Click here for the website where I got my info.

Leatherback Sea Turtles by Cosi

I chose leatherback sea turtles for this life science blog because they intrigue me. The leatherback sea turtle is the largest species of sea turtles in the world. It lives in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.  They prefer warm waters but they will go up to the cold waters of Canada or Norway. Every 3 to 4 years they will lay up to 80 eggs on warm sandy beaches. Leatherback sea turtles can weigh 550-1500 pounds. The biggest leatherback sea turtle ever seen weighed 2,016 pounds.  Leatherback sea turtles diets consist mostly of jellyfish and squid.

Hatchling Leatherback Sea Turtle

Adult Leatherback Sea Turtle

Science iMovie By Charlie D

My favorite project in science so far has probably been the mistake under the microscope iMovie project. In this project we got split up into groups of three and had to choose 3 mistakes that can occur while using the microscope. Our group chose, a) You lose the specimen when going from low to high power under the microscope, b) The specimen is too far to the left, and c) Things seem dark under the microscope. There are a lot of easy ways to solve all of that. When all groups were done with their iMovie we presented them to our class. I thought this project was REALLY fun and I'm glad we got to experience this project.

A Painful Condition By Jasper

The skin has many different parts and layers. Lately in class we have been talking about how some people can feel more pain than others. I wanted to know what would happen if someone couldn't feel pain at all which is why I wrote this. Around a million people have a condition, known as congenital insensitivity to pain, causing them to not feel physical pain. This causes self harm without knowing an injury has occurred. Often caused by a defective gene the condition allows the patient to put their hand in boiling water and not feel pain. This is bad because the body is being burned and does not pull away from the cause of the burning. The condition starts at birth and can sometimes lead to young death due to injuries.

Here is where I got my info: click here.

Freckles by Ian

In science class, we are learning about skin and what it does for us. We have gotten topics about skin, so I will share with you what I have learned about freckles. Freckles are small dots of melanin pigments in your skin. Melanin is what makes your skin darker or lighter. The more melanin have, the darker your skin is. There is a book by Judy Blume called Freckle Juice about a young boy who buys a formula that apparently grows freckles, but with a disastrous outcome even though there is no way to get rid of freckles for a while. In the winter, there is a lot less sunlight. Your skin cells don't have enough sunlight to generate melanin, making your freckles either go away or fade. In the summer, it's always sunny, so your melanin is reacting to the sun, bringing your freckles back.

Acne as you Age by Connor

Acne is what the little red pimples are called on pre-teens/teens faces. It can also be a whitehead or blackhead. If one of your pores is clogged with sebum or even dead skin cells, it can cause acne. Washing your face once or twice a day with warm water and soap or a cleanser can help prevent acne. This connects to our class because it's a connection to skin. I chose this topic because it was my topic in science class. (Information found at kidshealth.org)

Skin by Seth

This year we are doing an awesome study of skin. We did plant/animal cells and right now we are studying skin. The most interesting parts about skin (in my opinion) is that there are 3 layers of skin: the epidermis, dermis and the subcutaneous fat. There are many things that are happening on/under our skin. One of them being that dead cells rise up to the epidermis. You shed 1 million skin cells in 1 second. But you will never run out of cells. You will never run out of cells because your body keeps on producing more cells. Skin is the biggest organ in your body! It literally keeps your body from falling apart.

Blisters by Ty

In class we have been working on projects that are about skin. My topic is blisters, so I decided to write about what I've learned. Blisters are small pockets filled with fluid that form in the upper layers of skin. They form because of friction, burning, freezing, or chemical exposure. They form to protect the damaged tissue underneath. They are normally filled with clear liquid but can be filled with blood or pus if infected. Most blisters form on the hands and feet. Blisters heal naturally after 3 to 7 days. To treat cover the blister and try to make sure it doesn't get punctured, though if it's large and painful use a sterilized needle to puncture the edge of the blister and slowly drain it.

My information came from these sources: Source #1 and Source #2.

Skin and Birthmarks by Tori

Did you know that every 30 seconds your skin sheds about 30,000 dead skin cells? In class we are working on skin. My topic in class is birthmarks. This is what I learned.

          Facts about birthmarks

• Birthmarks are caused by abnormal blood vessels under the skin.
• Pigmented birthmarks are caused by clustering of pigment cells.
• Usually birthmarks go away by themselves.
• Rarely people need surgery to get rid of birthmarks.
• Birthmarks are usually purple, red, pink and brown.
• Birthmarks usually appear at birth.

Here are some facts about skin.

• Your skin is the biggest organ in your body, for an average person it covers about 2 square meters.
• Skin that is badly cut heals itself by forming scar tissue, which is different from skin tissue because it lacks hair and sweat glands.
• Skin is approximately 15% of your body weight.
• Every square inch on your body there's about 19 million cells and up to 300 sweat glands.
• Skin is home to 1,000 species of bacteria and contains over 11 miles of blood vessels.

Skin by Keegan

Today in science we started our skin unit. We watched a video about the layers of the skin, it showed us what the job for each layer of skin is. We learned that there are three main layers of the skin, the epidermis, dermis, and the subcutaneous layer. After that we got a diagram and we had to label the diagram on what we knew about the skin. After that we each got assigned a topic about skin to learn about, like freckles, birthmarks, and sunburns. I got birthmarks. We had to do some research on our topic and go to certain websites to learn more. I think that this is going to be a lot of fun!

What are Microscopes? By Phoebe

Microscopes are tools that magnify things that are too small for the naked eye to see. They have helped us make huge discoveries such as cells. In the late 17th century Zacharias Jansen made the first real compound microscope. To see your organism under the microscope you have to make a wet mount slide. When you make a wet mount slide it will depend on what cells you want to see: for the cheek cells you will place your organism on the slide, you will stain it with a blue stain, and you will carefully place a coverslip on! And that's how you make a wet mount slide.  What would you like to see under a microscope?

Cheek Cell Lab by Eva

This week, we have been working on cheek cells. What we did was put methylene blue stain on a slide, take the dull end of a toothpick, rub the inside of our cheek, then, roll the toothpick around on the slide. After doing that we placed the cover slip on and put the slide under the microscope. Honestly, it was like making a wet mount slide. The cells are super small meaning you had to look under high power to really see them. It was really cool to look at your own cells. Here's my labeled picture of my cheek cells.

Elodea Cell Lab By Julia

In class, we are doing science labs. We have done labs on onion cells, elodea cells and cheek cells. I am going to blog about the elodea lab. For this lab, we needed to make a wet mount slide of the elodea leaf, look at it under low power, medium power, and high power, and then we took a picture of the cells. We used an app called Skitch to label all the parts of the cell. I chose to blog about the elodea lab because I liked discovering all the cells and its parts. I liked all the labs but the elodea lab was my favorite because it was so colorful (the reason it is colorful/green is because of the chloroplasts) to look at through the microscope. Below are pictures of the elodea leaf under the microscope and not under the microscope.

The elodea plant 

The elodea leaf under the microscope

The Mysterious Tomato Cells By Liam A

I did my blog post about tomato cells. Tomato cells start out with large amounts of a  green pigment called chlorophyll (inside of chloroplasts) when it first starts to grow. This explains why tomatoes start out as a green color. There are tons of cells inside tomato skin. They seem to be a lot more of a circular shape which is different from the onion cells which are more like a brick shape. When tomatoes get older/riper other pigments like lycopene start showing up. Lycopene is the reason why a tomato becomes red. Lycopene is like a stain for the outside cover of the tomato. It makes all red fruits and vegetables red. Lycopene begins to dominate other chlorophyll pigments and that is why tomatoes become such a red color. I think that it's interesting how the tomato cells change color.

I got my Information from this link: click here.

This is a comparison between onion and tomato cells.

Onion Cells

Tomato cells

Onion Cells by Catherine

Today, in science class we did a lab on onion cells. We made a wet mount slide for our onions. We peeled the outside layer off and put it under the microscope. We stained the onion with iodine so we could see the nucleus. I saw the nucleus, the cell wall and the cytoplasm. Then, we took pictures of the cells. It was kind hard to take a picture under the microscope on medium power. Below is a picture of cells with their labeled organelles.