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.