home

__**Mission Statement:**__ To provide students with in-depth biological knowledge through field study and explanantions of phenomena that occur in everyday life.

What we Learned all week!

Living Environment Studies Schedule:

__**Monday, 10/17/11: Hike in Central Park www.Centralpark.com/guide/attractions/nature-observatory.html**__ On monday, we went to central park. It is really big. Its about 3 square miles. The first thing we saw was the block house, that was used during the war of 1812 by the Americans to spot the british coming. We also went to the turtle pond, where there are turtles and fish on rocks and in a pond. The coolest thing we saw was the Belvedere Castle, which no one knows why was built, but cool because it is on a cliff and overlooks the park. Central park was built in the center of manhattan to preserve nature and remind the world that manhattan wasnt always an urban jungle.

__**Tuesday, 10/18/11: The Biology of Bowling -- Harlemlanes.com**__ Bowling is really cool. To bowl, you have to knock down 10 pins by rolling a ball down a long alley. If you knock 10 pins in one try its called a strike. If you dont knock all 10 pins down in one try, you get a second turn. We learned that bowling involves all muscles and bones in the body. The most important muscles involved in bowling are the deltoids (shoulder muscles), biceps brachii (forearms), lower back muscles, gluteus maximus (your butt), and the Hamstrings( back of thigh). The bones involved are the metacarpals (fingers), radius and ulna (forearm), humerus (upper arm), vertebrae (back), pelvis, and femur (thighbone).

__**Wednesday, 10/19/11: Science Movie discussion -- Iamlegend.com, Thecore2003.com**__ The Core--We learned that the Earth is about 14000 miles wide. It is composed of 4 parts: The crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. The outer core is made of liquid iron that spins around and makes earth's Electromagnetic Field. The EM field protects us from the suns harmful rays.

Also, we learned about Epidemology-- the study of how disease is spread. We learned that humans can use viruses to work for them and do good things, by putting good things into cells.
 * I am Legend:** This movie dealt with the cure of cancer by making a virus to kill it. In the movie the virus mutated into a deadly disease that killed 90% of the world's population and turned the rest into zombies. We learned about Cancer, and that it is caused by a gene that makes a cell not able to stop multiplying. Cancer causes tumors, which damage the body parts around it, causing a person to get sick with no cure.

__**Thursday, 10/20/11: American Museum of Natural History -- www.amnh.org**__ 1. We saw a elephant with its baby and it looks like they were going to hunt for food 2.We also saw a herd of buffalo 3 We saw lions that look like they were just enjoying the view 4. We also saw zebras that look like they were also looking for food etc... 5.We also looked at rocks, which most of it actually hit earth and then most of the rocks we actually went to other planets and got some of the rocks that were there. there was big rocks, small rocks, smooth rocks and rough rocks 6. We also went to a show that was titled "Journey to the stars"

We also watch the journey to the stars show it was about We learned that animals evolve because of their surroundings. Their environment makes them evolve characteristics that help them live. also, what they eat, and how they find food helps them evolve. -We saw a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton and compared it to an Apatosaurus skeleton. The T-rex is smaller, but has a big head with long sharp teeth because it has to run fast and chase its prey and tear the meat off of it. The Apatosaurus is about 10 times the size of the T-rex. Its head is half the size and it has non-sharp teeth because it chews vegetables and stuff. It also has a long neck so it can get food from trees. Also, mammals have traits that help them live. Armadillos have armor that protect them from predators. A Glyptodont is like a huge armored turtle with spikes on its tail to protect it

We liked the show journey to the stars. Whoopi Goldberg was talking behind the pictures but she wasnt in it. We are stardust. Stars are biggg burning balls of gas. The blue stars are the hottest ones and the red stars are the coolest. Our sun is a medium size star. Stars form from hydrogen and helium clouds called Nebulae that spin around and form a star. When a star blows up, it creates a black hole that has such strong gravity that even light cant escape.