For a reminder, here's what to do for this assignment:
1) Citation: Here you will put the name of the article, the author, and where you found it (for example, the New York Times or Science News for Kids).
2) A brief summary: Here you will summarize the article in one or two sentences. This is to give your readers (including me) a sense of what you have read.
3) Reflection: This is the biggest part of your report. I am interested in your response to the article. Please address the following questions in your reflection:
a) What did you think about the article? Did you like it or not? Why?
b) What interested you or surprised you about the article?
c) What questions do you have about what you read? What would you like to know more about what you’ve read?
Your report is due Friday here on the blog.
By Monday, you will post comments on the work of three other students. Your comments should include:
1) One thing you appreciated/liked about their report - something you think they did well.
2) One suggestion you have for how they might improve their work in the future.
As always, I look forward to reading your work.
Monday, October 5, 2009
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60 comments:
In Rural Africa, a Fertile Market for Mobile Phones
By Sarah Arnquist
The New York Times
Summary:
This article is about the rapid growth of mobile phone use in rural areas of Africa, like Uganda, the main place mentioned in the article. The main farming industry in Uganda, and also a main food source is bananas. The mobile phones are being used to research and track diseases in the bananas.
Reflection:
I liked the article, because it’s not a topic that strikes you as really scientific. I mean, when I first read it, I thought I would have to find another. But as I got more into the article, I realized that the author gets into the topic of the banana diseases that can be spread. I found out that by the simple use of a cell phone, these researches in Africa are able to advance in helping their people, and saving money.
In Uganda, bananas cover about 40 percent of their farmland, so they’re very important to the people of Uganda. By using mobile phones there, they’ve used applications that help them contain and prevent the disease, which (if it infects the bananas) can cost the farmers a lot of money. In the past couple of years, there have been two main banana diseases in Eastern Africa, which could be estimated to affect up to 30 million farmers.
I was surprised about how little resources some people in the world have. Mr. Rutagumirwa, a farmer in Uganda, has to walk 4 miles just to charge his phone, because his house has no electricity. In American society, if you want to charge your phone, you plug it in whenever you need to. It’s something I don’t think about often (other cultures) but something that really amazes me.
In the article it says that there are a few farmers who are taught how to use the mobile phones, and then they become the main sources of information for the neighboring farmers around them. If a farmer has a question, they take it to the farmer with the mobile to answer it for them. My question about this system is could other farmers, who aren’t taught how to work the phones, be able to have a phone of their own, or do they have limited resources, so that only a few of the farmers can have the knowledge?
More Weight Equals Longer Hospital Stays, Sociologists Weigh In On Obesity Increasing The Length Of Hospital Stays
by unknown author, Science Daily
Summary :
This article is about how the weight of an obese person can affect them, so that they have to stay in hospitals longer than people who's weight is average. It's also about why people who are obese have longer periods of hospitalization.
I liked the article because, the subject was one of interest. Weight, is a very concerning issue in society, so learning how it affects you other than just physical appearance is very interesting. Previously I knew that being obese and having and unhealthy diet has it's consequences, but the fact that it affects the time period in which a person stays in a hospital was something I never knew. The article also has a video you can watch, which is the same as the article, except it is smaller, and goes more in-depth about the story of a woman name Annette Armstead. She was a woman who used to be obese, the video and some parts of the article, are about how being obese affected the woman. I liked the article, and the video was an extra bonus, but I really would've appreciated some more statistics to back up the information. Instead of just saying the number of people suffering obesity is going up in America, I think it would've been better if the author included the the exact amount of people who were obese a few years ago and how many are obese currently. I think that these pieces of information could really open your eyes so you can see the actual difference, in the numbers. However, it was a decent article, and it covered the basic information so you could get the gist of the information.
It surprised me that being obese can affect your life that much, I thought that being obese just meant that you aren't physically fit, and that you are more likely to get certain disease such as diabetes and have high cholesterol. But I never knew there was a connection between that and staying longer in hospitals. One of the main things that surprised me is that, people who are obese have to stay in hospitals generally from one to one and a half days longer than the average person, which is really a major difference. I also was interested by the fact that the longer you are obese can affect you. So if you were obese for a few years, when compared to a person who was obese from an earlier stage, the person who obese longer is more unhealthy and has more problems with their bodies.
I would love, as I may have mentioned before that statistics would've been nice instead of just stating things without evidence to back it up, I would like to learn more about how the people who are obese, are affected in their daily activities. In the article when it talks about how the longer you stay obese the more unhealthy you are, a few questions popped into my mind. The first being; if a person was obese for three year but weighs 276 pounds and another person has been obese for six years and weighs 200 pounds, which person would be more unhealthy, the person who weighs more or the person who was obese the longest? The other question I had was; if a person was obese for 4 years, and then came back to normal weight, still be unhealthy when compared to someone who is currently obese but has only been obese for one year?
This is for dancer215:
I liked the topic of your article, it was an interesting one. I liked the fact that the article was international, so that people can know what's going on in other parts of the world and I could totally relate to your thoughts about how we have a lot of things that we don't notice like electricity.
I liked your work a lot though if I had to improve on it, I would've stuck a little bit more to the topic, the format that you typed it in was; in my opinion, well I just can't think of the exact word to put in there but I suppose "disorganized" is kind like what I was trying to tell you. If you organized the format a little differently it would've been nice, because, somewhere in the middle I got confused. But overall, nice work!
How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect
By Benedict Carey
The New York Times
When people are reminded of something unpleasant, it forces them to cling to personal biases. Or if something unusual is occurring, the brain looks for a coherent pattern, and will usually find one when urged to.
I really liked this article. It was an unusual topic but something with a very good theory. All the evidence they had made sense. They talked about how when the brain is processing something nonsensical, it performs better when finding patterns or anything related.
Something that surprised me is that people are unaware that their intellect is sharpening. They had gained knowledge, without being aware of it. The mind is almost in a state of desperation, to look for something that is logical, or makes sense, or can be put together easily. I was fascinated in the studies they performed. They had a group of 20 students read a story that was ultimately, nonsense. They then gave them 45 strings with 6-9 letters like X,M,X,R,T,V. They later had a test, and had to identify the strings they had seen before. Their answers were much more accurate, compared to a different group of student who had read a coherent story.
I would like to know how our brain does this. Is there a certain chemical process involved? Why is it that we move to familiar things, and try to figure them out instead of trying to figure out the problem at hand? Does it work differently with different people? Could the results of someone with a lot of stress in their life be better or worse than someone who has not a lot already going on in their mind?
How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect
By Benedict Carey
The New York Times
When people are reminded of something unpleasant, it forces them to cling to personal biases. Or if something unusual is occurring, the brain looks for a coherent pattern, and will usually find one when urged to.
I really liked this article. It was an unusual topic but something with a very good theory. All the evidence they had made sense. They talked about how when the brain is processing something nonsensical, it performs better when finding patterns or anything related.
Something that surprised me is that people are unaware that their intellect is sharpening. They had gained knowledge, without being aware of it. The mind is almost in a state of desperation, to look for something that is logical, or makes sense, or can be put together easily. I was fascinated in the studies they performed. They had a group of 20 students read a story that was ultimately, nonsense. They then gave them 45 strings with 6-9 letters like X,M,X,R,T,V. They later had a test, and had to identify the strings they had seen before. Their answers were much more accurate, compared to a different group of student who had read a coherent story.
I would like to know how our brain does this. Is there a certain chemical process involved? Why is it that we move to familiar things, and try to figure them out instead of trying to figure out the problem at hand? Does it work differently with different people? Could the results of someone with a lot of stress in their life be better or worse than someone who has not a lot already going on in their mind?
A High-Tech Hunt for Lost Art
By John Tierney
The New York Times
Summary:
In this article, they talk about how Dr. Seracini used scientific gadgetry to find a lost, unfinished work of art by Leonardo da Vinci titled "The Battle of Anghiari" that was said to be hidden inside of a wall in Florence, Italy in the city hall. They had found a clue in another artists painting and used neutrons to look through a six inch wall to see if they could detect chemicals from the painting.
Reflection:
I personally REALLY liked this article. Vasari . This painting has been lost for five centuries and most likely has HUGE value. I love how Giorgio Vasari, another 16th century artist and architect that remodeled the hall in 1563, had left a clue for other's to find so they would find out where he put Leonardo's largest and greatest painting (three times the width of "The Last Supper") "The Battle of Anghiari" in one of his own paintings. He had painted a battle scene of his own and on a tiny flag, he had written "Cerca Trova", meaning "seek and ye shall find". It also really fascinated me how they took historic documents and, using lasers and taking infrared pictures, mapped the room and were able to reconstruct the original blueprint which helped find the spot where Leonardo had painted the picture which was right under Vasari's clue. The most amazing thing I found was how they used a beam of neutrons and two scientific gadgets to "look" through a wall to find the painting. One device would detect neutrons bouncing back if they met with chemicals that Leonardo used. Another device could detect gamma rays that came off when any of the atoms from the painting met with a neutron. I know it's only the second weekly article report, but this article is my favorite one so far.
This comment is for Madscientist101:
I liked your reflection to the article because I agree with you. An article is always better backed up when it shows solid fact and statistics. It sounds like the author of the article could have given more information on the topic altogether, like maybe the causes of obesity in America.
One thing I might have done differently if I was you was going back to check spelling. It made some of the sentences a bit awkward. You did a great job, and I can tell that you did because your only problem was spelling, and it was a well-written response.
Give Birds a Break. Lock Up the Cat.
By Natalie Angier
The New York Times website
Summary- The article I read was about the population of birds in areas with lots of domestic cats that are let outdoors. Some birds have a very low population in areas that there are many cats that are allowed to hunt around the neighborhood.
Reflection- I liked this article because I felt as though I could relate to it. I have cats so I have had experience with cats hunting small animals. The article says that domestic cats are the “most abundant carnivore in North America today”, and even thought this doesn’t really surprise me it does surprise me that these cats could hunt enough to kill that many birds. My cats will sometimes catch a bird, but that is once or twice during the spring or summer, so it would take a lot of cats for this to really build up. The article was a little too much like a story though, and I think a few more facts would have made more of an impression on me because they back up the point better, I think. I thought it was interesting that domestic cat hunting could have such a big effect on bird population. It was also surprising that they would have an effect at all, because if these cats were in the wild, I don’t think that they would damage the bird population this much, because the birds would not survive. I would like to know more about whether there is a reason or theory about why cats are having this effect on the birds. I would also like to know if a certain species of birds is going down in population more than another species, and if there are theories about this, too.
This is for Riddle me this:
Excellent, someone who show interest in the arts, of the renaissance!
Or at least that's is what seems a bit apparent, since you chose a topic so intertwined with the renaissance. Truth be told, I love the topic, and I think it's very interesting, and I can really enjoy it because Leonardo Da Vinci, is one of my favorite artists of all time. I also am intrigued by the hidden messages of the renaissance art. In many novels, they make reference to the renaissance time period, and hidden messages (The Da Vinci Code), so I really enjoyed it.
If there was anything I would improve on is... You didn't tell us whether the painting was found or not. It's just too much suspense, and you left me hanging... I'm not sure whether the article stated whether they detected the Da Vinci painting or not. But you can be assured that I will find the article and read it myself. But overall, very nice, and most definitely interesting.
This is for Klutzyh417:
Good job, I really liked your reflection, and the way you connected yourself to the article, and also that you asked good questions. I think it really shows the amount of thought that you put into this.
I think it would've been better if you could've included some more detailes from the article itself, but apparently, you said that there weren't many facts, so it was kind of like a story. I can understand this, but I still think, quotes or such from the article, would've been nice. Overall, good thoughts!
This comment is for RiddleMeThis:
I thought the article you chose sounded interesting. I also think it's interesting that a tool could help find a painting in that way. I like how you told the story of the piece of art in your reflection.
You could have given a couple more of your opinions, because you really did a good job of telling the story of the artwork, but didn't give a whole lot of your own thoughts, or questions. Also, did they find the artwork in the wall where they were looking?
Over all, really good though.
Two Monkeys see a more colorful world
By Neitz Laboratory
Science News for Kids
This article was about how scientists were doing genetic work on two male squirrel monkeys to make them also see the colors red and green. They injected viruses into the monkey’s eyes for twenty weeks and know they can recognize the colors red, green, blue, yellow. All other scientists said that it couldn’t be done but the scientists wanted to see what would happen if they tried. They tested this by showing dots on a screen and they had to touch the colored dots and when they did they got rewarded with grape juice.
I found the article interesting in the fact that they could so drastically change the lives of these two monkeys. It also makes you think about what else this type of science could be used for. You could let the blind see and you can do other parts of the body. I was shocked at how color blind these monkeys were even though they are so closely related to humans. I wonder how color blind other primates are. What I want to know more about is what type of medicine they used on the monkeys and if it didn’t do what it was supposed to what type of effects it would have on the primates and if we were to use it on humans what effect it would have on us, I would also want to know if we were to use this type of medicine and that types of procedure if it would take the twenty weeks it took to cure the monkeys of their color blindness and if it would vary depending on the form of surgery.
How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect
By: Benedict Carey
New York Times
This article was about how the brain may work harder when it’s confused. This theory states that when you see something that you don’t understand, or is puzzling and seems way out of the ordinary, the brain suddenly becomes more alert.
I thought that this article was really interesting and funny at the same time. It seemed weird how researchers are beginning to show how “nonsense” may actually make people smarter. This research shows how the brain “comes alive” when at first it is confused. Things that you never knew or understood can all of a sudden become clear to you. I thought this was such an out of the ordinary finding, and kind of funny.
What I’m wondering now is, will confusing really make us smarter? Would it become a technique for learning subjects in school? I’m also wondering, if more research will be done on this topic, and if so will it really determine whether or not confusion leads to brainpower.
Two monkeys see a more colorful world
By Neitz Laboratory
Science News for Kids
This article is about two squirrel monkeys named Sam and Dalton. Normally squirrel monkeys are color blind two colors red and green. The scientists wanted to try to give the monkeys the genes so they were able to see those two colors. None of the scientist thought it was possible but they try just to see what would happen. In the end the experiment did work and the monkeys see red and green.
I thought that this was a very interesting article and I liked it. Thought that it was really cool how scantest could put a gene the monkey doesn’t have in to their eye and their body will accept it and use it. At the end of the article they said that they don’t know that if the monkeys are seeing green and red but they no they are not see gray anymore when they see those colors. One question I have is how do the scientists get the gene in the eye and how do they see the gene? Also at the end of the article they said that they don’t know if this same type of experiment would work on humans. Why would it work on monkeys and not us and what makes it so hard to tell if it will work on us?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8294421.stm
Nobel Prize for chemistry of life
By: Victoria Gill
This article was about the Nobel prizes winners of this year. It explained how what they discovered/figured out was really the way ribosome are structurally built and how they carry the DNA. The ribosome were mainly focused on because the way they could make antibiotics from them.
I thought the article was interesting because it was on something we had been focusing on for most of last. I also the article was interesting because we had just recently been focusing on how parents pass how to live to their offspring and this was kind of the same. What surprised me about the article was that I thought the Nobel prizes was awarded every year but it turns out this is the 101th chemistry award in108 years. Also I thought the award was for figuring out the whole structure of ribosome not both how they’re made and how they could be used to make antibiotics. I would like to know more on the thought process of what these three people were thinking as they researched and how they decided what they would like to work on. It’s not like you have a giant list and pick one thing off of it randomly.
Astronomers Discover Solar System's Largest Planetary Ring Yet around Saturn
John Matson
Scientists discovered a new ring for Saturn around the moon Phoebe. It is 12.5 kilometers from the planet Saturn itself, but it is the biggest ring yet.
I liked this article because I learned a lot of things from it. . I learned that people were pushing for an expedition to Saturn, and when they got one in 2004, the probe flew through ring, and didn’t pick up any thing because the particles were so fine. I also learned that if you could see it in the sky at night it would be like seeing Saturn with 2 full moons next to it, that’s huge. Finally, they found out that the ring is always undoing itself and replacing itself. When the part that is taken out leaves, it is swept into Iapetus, another of Saturn’s moons, which explains it’s two toned surface.
What surprised me was the fact that they had not sent out a probe before 2004, and not discovered this earlier. I know space exploration is expensive but it just seems like they didn’t give it the attention it needed. Also, I was surprised that some of the scientists at the Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society thought they made it up! I bet they were just jealous.
I only have a couple of questions for the writer of this article. Fist, how could anyone think that the scientists made this up? It would take years and I think someone would have found out by then. Second, how many moons and rings does Saturn have? Finally, why are Saturn’s rings different colors and widths? I’ll do some research and see what I can find.
This comment is for RiddleMeThis:
I liked your reflection, and the article seemed really cool also. I think you did a good job explaining the article because i understood what it was about. I also liked how you included some facts about the article and supported them with your opinions.
I think the only thing that you could have worked on is to state whether or not they did find the painting, or if they were close.
This comment is for jem1234556:
You did a really good job with the reflection, I think. The article sounded interesting, and you asked some really good questions that now I want to know the answer to too.
I don't think there's that much you could improve on for your reflection, it seemed like a good balance of your opinions and actual facts from the article, and it worked well. I would only improve it by maybe explaining the experiment a little further. It seemed interesting, but I didn't exactly understand what they did to make the people who read the nonsense story understand what the strings represented.
Good job.
This comment is for The Skinless Wonder:
I thought the article sounded really interesting, and you asked some good questions about whether or not the experiment would work on humans. You also explained what the experiment was well.
I would only change some of the wording, because some of the sentences were a little awkward, and confusing. Also, I would want to know more about how the viruses could make the monkeys see color. That was a little confusing to me, but it sounded interesting.
This comment is to The Skinnless Wonder:
I thought that your reflection was pretty good, and you clearly stated what the article was about. I really liked how you included the ways that they tested the monkeys and what they had to do. It was funny, but also interesting. I agree with you when you wonder if this type of science can be used on something else also.
To improve your reflection, you could have rearranged some of the words because at times, it was a little confusing. I also think you could have elaborated more on the facts about the monkey's. Other than that, I think your reflection was good.
This comment is to klutzyh417:
I liked how you related yourself to the story and explained why you thought some of the facts would be confusing, or wrong in some way. I thought that it was good how you said that it should have been more of an article, instead of a story. You can tell that you know the differece but you still found the facts in it and almost made it an article.
I think the only thing that could improve your reflection would be to split up some of the sentences and to make the wording a little bit clearer.
New York Times
Predating Lucy, Fossil Skeleton Pushes Back Human Ancestry
By John Noble Wilford
This article is about the oldest human ancestor ever discovered to date. This article talks about How we evolved and how this compares to the second oldest human discovered (Lucy) who is 1.1 million years younger.
I really liked how the article was set up, and all the pictures it had to show. The pictures really show how everything fits together. For example, the author refers to many different skull types, and the pictures make it much easier to understand what the author is talking about. I found that the article was easy to read and even easier with the pictures. I really liked the article a lot. It was so interesting and thorough. Even the ways hands have evolved is interesting.
The two humans talked about in the article are Lucy and Ardi. Lucy is 3.3 million years old, and Ardi is 4.4 million years old. Ardi’s first fragments were discovered in 1992 in Ethiopia. Now she has been presented as an almost full skeleton. Ardi was found along the Awash River.
The article taught me that human adult women used to be 4 feet tall and 120 pounds 4.4 million years ago. The thing that is even more interesting is that humans shrunk. Lucy is almost a foot shorter and half the weight of Ardi. Just in the last century the average human grew 2 inches. What amazes me is that we evolved from what are now extinct animals. This really shows how animals changed to better suit their environments. What makes humans different from their ancestors, is that we developed feet and arches and were able to walk on 2 feet. 4.4 million years ago we had arms that went down past our knees to make it easy to climb. Their hands were way bigger than their feet. Ardi is an Ardipithecus and Lucy is between a kenyanthropus and an Ausralopithecus. These words may sound big, however when matched with a picture they really show the change and make sense. Looking this up on the internet may help you understand this better. Scientists also believe that there were earlier forms of humans yet to be found.
Some questions I have are what were the differences in diets for Ardi, Lucy and modern humans? Also, what were the differences in exercise, and how did this affect the body? Ex. (does exercise make you shorter) The final question I have is, what ecosystems were they living in? Did they just live in Africa, or did they settle the whole earth and every continent?
This comment is for krazyj6:
I really liked the article you chose (I chose the same one!) I think your questions were really interesting, and something I hadn't though about when reading the article.
Your response was very clear, and easy to understand. There's nothing I would improve, except maybe going into a little more detail. Overall, it was great.
This comment is for klutzyh417:
I really liked how much opinion you included in the response. You seemed to have really read the article deeply. The article sounds really interesting, and actually, really surprised me. I think your response was really great.
This comment is for krazyj6:
I thought that the topic of your article was very intriguing, and something I'd be more interested to research. I thought you did a great job making the topic understandable, because a topic like that must have been hard to decipher. Your writing was really great, and your interest in the article really shone through.
One thing I might have added was how the researches were finding the information. Maybe that wasn't stated in the article, it's just something I wanted to know more about. Great job though!
Citation: “Shuttle Endeavour Lands at California Airbase.” By: not stated. Found at: CNN.com
Summary: This article is about the space shuttle Endeavour that landed safely at California’s Edward Air Force Base. The shuttle was steered by Commander Christopher Ferguson.
Reflection:
A) I liked this article very much. It provided a lot of information not only about the landing itself but also the details of preparations before landing and how the shuttle set off at first. The article itself was very well written and interesting. The style in which it was written was easy for young readers to understand. It even had a little clip at the bottom, which gave extra information about the landing and the shuttle itself.
B) What interested me was that the shuttle was up in space for about two weeks. I thought that they would have stayed up there longer. Also interesting was the fact that the shuttle had to cancel its original landing at Kennedy Space Center because of bad weather and had to reroute landing to California’s Edward Air Force Base. What really surprised me and that I found to be amazing was that the shuttle had a urine recycling system on board. This system produces drinking water from the urine and sweat of astronauts.
C) The questions that I have after reading this article include: How exactly does a space shuttle land? If it’s going at such an enormous speed, what exactly do they do in order to slow down the shuttle along the runway? Also, what was the shuttle’s mission? In other words, why was the shuttle sent out to begin with? But most of all, I would like to know how a urine recycler works.
This comment is for bjoe2195:
I right away picked your article, because it's the one I used last time. I liked how you explained the article, and it was interesting to see how we both interpreted it. I though that your interpretation was great, and you brought up questions I hadn't thought of.
One thing I might have done was to go back and read through your reflection because some of the sentences were written out a bit awkwardly, and at some points, that made it difficult to read. Overall, you did a really nice job.
Is Tetris Good For the Brain?
Biologynews.net
Researchers have found that the video game Tetris, increases gray matter in the brains of girls.
When I saw the article pop up I immediately clicked on it. I play Tetris ALL the time and I never knew that it was actually good for your brain!
Tetris always seemed like just a regular video game. When I read that it actually increases gray matter in your brain I was so surprised! They had 26 girls play Tetris everyday for 30 minutes for 3 months and in the end every single one of them had their gray matter increase. The areas of the brain that grew were the Brodmann Area (BA) 6 in the left frontal lobe and BA 22 and BA 38 in the left temporal area. BA 6 plays a role in the planning of complex coordinated movements and BA 22 and BA 38 are believed to be the parts of the brain the control coordination of visual, tactile, auditory and internal physiological information. I was so surprised that Tetris played in a role in increasing all of these parts of the brain!
In the article it never mentioned whether Tetris increased the brain matter in the boys. I would like to know whether is has the same effect or whether it’s just a girl thing.
This comment is for ski4life:
I really like the article you chose and your reflection on it. I actually saw the fragments of Lucy in a museum in NYC not long ago. They were really amazing to see. I was very fortunate. I liked that you wrote about all the facts. I thought it was very interesting how humans actually shrank!
I wish you could've told us what a Ardipithecus was and what a Kenyanthropus was. For future reference maybe you shouldn't tell us to look it up when you should just tell us yourself.
this comment is for krazyj6:
I liked the article you chose a lot. It made sense to me because I tend to get confused a lot. I liked the irony of it.
I thought your reflection was a bit too short though. Maybe next time you should add more thoughts. And usually when I get confused my brain becomes more active but then I still don't get the question. So that fact was kinda misleading.
3 Win Nobel for Ribosome Research
By Dennis Overbye
The New York Times
This Article is about how three scientists showed how the information encoded on strands of DNA is translated into proteins.
I thought this article was interesting I’ve never really been that interested in this type of work but that is why I chose this article to read. It really made me think about all the little things for example Atoms I’ve always knew that Atoms are very important but I had never thought about how powerful it could be. In the article they talk about how these three people were able to map out locations of the many atoms in the ‘giant molecular complexes inside cells known as ribosome’s.’ These people were honored with a Nobel Prize “for having showed what ribosome looks like and how it functions at the atomic level. A question I have about this article is does this discovery do anything more for us or is it just a better look?
Citation: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8293628.stm BBC news
Summary: this article is on a study that showed low quality finches tend to like other low quality finches. It also showed that high quality finches like high quality finches and pairs of the same “class” produce eggs faster.
Reflection:
I did like the article because it was very well put together. The information was organized and the wording and topic made it interesting to read. The author based their information of of a study and the study seemed valid to me. I also liked the article because it included a video and gave details of the study and their interpretation of what they prove.
I thought this article was very cool. I think its really interesting how these birds seem to know their “mating class” and usually only mate with other birds in that class. For some reason these birds are aware of what class they're in and choose their mate based on class. I just thought that was a really weird thing for a bird to do. Why wouldn't a low class bird want a high class bird. In the bird world don't all birds try to find the mate with the best song? Apparently not. In the article it said that they made a study and did a test where they taught the female birds to touch two keys. One of the keys played the song of a low class male and one of the keys played the song of a high class male. The low class females pushed the low class song button and the high class females pressed the high class male song button which proves the birds like other birds of their class.
I would like to know if this happens with other birds and if so which types. I would also like to know why this happens and if there is a middle or very low or very high class etc. My last question is how do these birds know what mating class they are in (especially the females who don't have a call).
Tiny 'nuclear battery' unvieled
By BBC News
This article was about how a group of researchers discovered how to make batteries about the size of penny by using the energy produced from decaying radioisotopes. I thought that this article seemed science fictiony because when I started to read it it said that it had about a million times more charge than a regular battery. I saw that and just thought 'wow that seems so futureistic'. I didn't like the article that much because I had some trouble understanding what the whole point was. I got that it's a huge advancment but why is it to the general public? What really suprised me was that when we use radioactive power we get energy but now we can get it as it decay's too. Some question I have are how is this a big advancment to people in general. Also if we can make batteries that small with that much power how much energy would we have if we had a big one like in a form of a power plant? Does this advancment mean we won't have rely on coal to give out power? Can this also be a way to power cars?
Title: Lunar Crashes won’t hurt the moon
Author: Tariq Malik
Location: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33232257/ns/technology_and_science-science/
This article is is about the fact that NASA is about to hit the moon with 2 of their spacecrafts. They are hitting the moon at 7:31 am on Friday.
I thought the article was very well written. The author used terms that were less complicated which made it easier. I could tell the author put a lot of information and time into this article. There were no filler sentences because all the sentences were informative. I like this article because I like the solar system and the moon is one of the closest things to our planet in the solar system. I was surprised because the idea of not trying to divert the spacecrafts from hitting the moon. I have many questions about this topic and article. How much do the spacecrafts cost? Is there any way to divert them? How much damage will they do?
This comment is for jem1234567:
I really like how your comment was written. It wasn’t long and boring, but it really got to the facts and interesting thoughts. I usually have some trouble getting to the point. The questions that you asked really showed that you were interested in the topic and even interested me. I think that maybe you could have put in some numbers to express the results from the test. I always like to see hard facts and numbers.
Twins and Fingerprints
By C. Claiborne Ray
New York Times
This article is about why identical twins have different fingerprints and why we have fingerprints at all. According to a review study from last year, the ridges where skin meets and the shapes that make your fingerprints are very different even if you’re an identical twin. If you’re in a different place in the womb that will affect the fingerprints you form. We have fingerprints because as a baby developing inside of the uterus, our fingers press against different structures in the environment that causes the ridge patterns.
I thought that this article was very interesting because it’s interesting that everyone has different fingerprints, even identical twins that have the same DNA. It’s amazing that there are billions of humans and all of us have different ridge patterns on our fingers. The most interesting thing that I learned was that fingerprints form when you press against the uterus or the fetus and that causes the whorls, ridges, or loops. I would like to know if the fingerprint patterns differ whether you’re a male or a female.
For Kultzyh417
I liked your article choice. I really liked how you connected the article to your own experiences with your cat. I wish that the article did have more facts because it’s something that you could look into more.
For Ski4life
This article sounds really interesting, great topic choice. I wish you gave more detail when you were summarizing the article but you gave more good information in your reflection.
For MrsRonWeasleyx3
I thought that this article was very interesting. I’d really like to learn more about this and I’m wondering the same thing whether it effects boys the same way. I’d also like to know exactly what grey matter is, I think that you should have included that in your reflection.
In Test of Water on Moon, Craft Hits Bull’s-Eye
by Kenneth Chang
New York Times
The article that I read about was how the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite hit the moon with a rocket searching for water. The crater was not visible though a live image transmitter from the spacecraft, which disappointed many of the NASA researchers. So far they have not found any water, but they did find hydrogen within the permanently shadowed craters near the Moon’s poles, and hydrogen is probably a form of water.
I thought this article was very interesting. I didn’t know about it until my parents told me, and I thought I would look for it and write about it for this blog assignment. I thought it was interesting because we are going so far with technology now doing things like this. I also think it’s kind of bad though because we’re not only destroying our earth, but now our moon. I know this is a way to discover is life could survive on it, but maybe we could do it being less damaging to the moon. It just surprises me that now we’re going that far. Some questions that I still have were things like who thought of it crash a rocket into the moon? I know for years now we’ve been wondering about the moon, but who thought of this strange was to do it?
For dancer215
I think that the topic you picked was very interesting. If I read this one I would have picked it too because it’s really something we can relate to because of the cell phone part, and we all know what bananas are. Even though you put more information in your reflection I thought you could’ve gave a little more information in your summary just to get the reader started on what the article was really about because I didn’t really get a real understanding on what it was about until I read your summary. Other wise great job!
For hockeyfighter26:
The article you chose was facinating. When you asked the question aboutu if we could make one big one to powere everything, I was thinking the same thing as I was reading. One thing I thought you could have improved was why you didn't understand the article.
For silversox92:
You bring up a good point about how they crashed into the moon with a rocket, adn just now I'm realizing how reckless we humans are. The only example of us being carful on another planet is when we went to mars and had that marshmellow thing come out of the rover so it would bounce for a while. I thouhgt you could have gone into deeper detail about the exploration itself.
For princepricklypaul:
I thought the article you chose was helariuos. It brings new meaning to the phrase "out of your league", I was laughing so hard. The one thing I thought you could improve was the serious structure of your post. Make it more fluid.
This comment is for RiddleMeThis
I thought your topic was really interesting. I think you described the investigation really well. Its so cool that scientists can use lasers and neurons to detect the chemicals that Leonardo Da Vinci used in the wall!
I think that you should have added what happened after the expedition (if it told you in the article).
This comment is for Mrs.RonWeasleyx2
I thought that the article you picked was really cool. I never knew that Tetris could actually be good for your brain! I think you described the areas of the brain really well.
I think that in your next article you should include more about whether you liked it or not.
This comment is for dancer215
I thought the article you picked was really interesting. I didn't know that by farmers using mobile phones, could track diseases in bananas. I think that your reflection was really good.
I think that you should have described a little more about the applications that the farmers use to prevent and contain the disease.
To Hockey fighter26
Your right that does seem a lit bit science fictiony and I thought that it was an interesting topic. I wish your summary was a little bit more about your topic.
To Mrs. Ron Weaslyx3
I too play Tetris and I too did not know that Tetris was good for your brain but I can see how it is. I wish that you could have explained out your opinion a little bit more.
To Ski4life
Yes I also thought that the finding of this new ancient ancestor of ours was interesting to. I wish that you could have put a little more into the summary and a little bit less into your opinion.
Dear Studdmuffin:
I think you did a good job summarizing the article. It seemed pretty interesting to find out about this. I would agree that the people who said the scientist would be ashamed now and jealous about the discovery. One thing you may want to do is research why they didn’t send out probes before 2004.
Good Job!
Dear Skinless Wonder:
I think you article was pretty interesting. The fact they got these monkeys to be able to see these colors was amazing. I wonder what it would do to blind people as well. One thing you may want to check is the ordering of some of your words.
Good Job !
Dear Ski4life:
This is an amazing discovery. When I first heard about it I was shocked. The fact that a 4.4 million year old skeleton was found. I have a question that you may be able to answer. Do you think the fact that the two of them (Lucy and Ardi) we females have any thing to do with their age and why they were found and not males. I think you should check out the special on discovery channel about her find. I think if you used a little more varied words it would have been better.
Good Job!
This comment is for Tennc:
I think the topic of fingerprints is very interesting. Your report was very factual and I learned quite a bit just from reading it. It’s funny how even people with the same DNA have different fingerprints, isn’t it?
My only suggestion is that I think you repeated yourself a bit in your reflection, but it’s just something to watch out for. Great job!
This comment is for MrsRonWeasleyx3:
Tetris is good for your brain? Whoa. I love your topic choice! I can't believe Tetris helps girl's brains so much!
The only comment I have is that your Summary and your Reflection seemed a bit mixed.
This comment is for DaBigC:
I really liked your report. You seemed really interested in your topic and you had good questions at the end.
I think you should try to explain your article with a little bit more detail. Good job, though!
This comment is for pretty pink prince
I believe that your comment shows that you have a good idea of what the article is about, and how it relates to what you already know. Factually it was a great response.
I just think you could make it a little easier to read by fixing some grammar, and by not jumping around as much. But overall, it was an interesting comment and good job.
I'll have to check out the tv show, it sounds interesting and I want to learn more about the Lucy and Ardi.
for klutzyh417:
I liked how you mentioned why you didn't like the article. Many people say everything they like, and not much about what they don't like.
I think you could talk a little more about the article rather than your thoughts. But since it was like a story, maybe you could have found a little more facts about it to put in the reflection. Good job.
this is for Jem1234567
I liked how in your reflection you can tell you put a lot of thought into it. You could also tell you knew what you were talking about and had a good perspective on the whole thing.
Something I thought you should have changed was, I thought maybe your summery could have been expanded I didn't really know what the article was about until I read your reflection.
this is for SilverSox92
I liked how you had two different perspectives to the article. It made me understand more about what the article was about. I also thought your reflection was really well written.
I don't think you should have changed anything I understood every part of it, it was short and sweet straight to the point and perspective.
this is to Tennc
When I read your summery I knew exactly what the article was about. I also though that your reflection was very good and that it also explained a lot about the article.
Something I thought you should have changed was maybe you could have spent more time on the reflection to make it better but that is really it.
This is for princeprickilypaul:
I thought you did good job in the amount of writing you did and I thought the aritcle was cool. I thought you could've come up with one or two more questions.
This is for studdmuffin:
First I think that that article is pretty awesome and I thought you did a good job expalaining the article altough I feel you could've wrote a little more about the article. Beside that I thought you did a great job. keep writing!
This is for ski4life:
WOW that's cool. That article really shows how much we've evolved if you believe in that. I personally don't but I think you did a great job on your article. I have to say I really don't have anything to tell you to improve on. Keep writing!
This is for Studdmuffin:
I think that you did a good job explaining the article and it gave me a good scene of what the article was about. I liked how you were just not stating facts you talk to your reader.
One thing you could of have improve is that you could of voiced your opinion more in your essay.
This is for madscientist101
Wow you chose a really cool topic! I liked how you explained a little about the topic of your article with the facts you new from your knowledge. You explained really well what you didn’t like, and gave ideas to replace things you weren’t happy with.
I noticed there were some grammar mistakes but otherwise it was great!
To krazyJ6
I liked how you thought your article was funny and you stated why you thought this very well with examples.
I think you should have put a little more on what you liked about the article in your comment.
To Jem1234567
I liked how you explained a lot about what happened in your article. You really backed up your opinions well.
Something I would have done would be; organize my comment in paragraphs or letters.
To dancer215:
I liked the way you took specific information from the article end applied it right into your report. The topic you chose I thought was Interesting because if they have no electricity and are farmers Where are they getting a cell phone and who would think they would use one? I liked how you portrayed the Ideas of your article in you report. Next time I suggest you might want to use a few more specific details such as one of the diseases of the bananas or where they get cell phones but other than that, great report.
To jem1234567
I think your topic is interesting because I have noticed that about myself and if I'm trying to teach something else to someone I have to try and put it in words they will understand because it relates to something they already know. I've noticed that when I try to do a type math problem that I've never seen before I usually look for something that relates to what I've previously learned. The brain has a lot of cool ways of figuring things out and this one of those, I think its an interesting topic for an article. I would have included some more information on the studies they performed but you did a really good job and your report was fun to read.
to klutzyh417
I also can relate to what you're saying. I have 2 cats right now and have had 3 other cats before them so I've seen some of the birds they bring in. Sometimes I try to nurse the birds back to health which actually worked for a couple of the birds but a lot of them died. Now that I think about it there are a lot of people who have cats and some people have more than one and that means that cats can really make a difference. My family and I are obviously just one family and we get 3-7 birds a year. Multiply that by all the families with cats and you've got a bird's worst nightmare. I think you should have maybe added a little bit of your opinion as to why you think the cats cause this much change and I would like to know have domestic cats run any species of bird extinct?
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