Earth's mass extinction - Peter Ward This Island Earth is a 1955 American science fiction film directed by Joseph M. Newman. It is based on the novel of the same name byRaymond F. The Rare Earth hypothesis argues that complex extraterrestrial life requires an Earth-like planet with similar circumstance and that few if any such planets exist. The Life and Death of Planet Earth is a book by Peter Ward about how the new science of astrobiology charts the ultimate fate of our world. A runaway greenhouse effect is a process in which a net positive feedback between surface temperature and atmospheric opacity increases the strength of the greenhouse effect on a planet until its oceans boil away. The Permian Extinction is the Earth's most severe known extinction event, with up to 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species becoming extinct. The three ages of dinosaurs were marked out by geologists to distinguish among various types of geologic strata laid down tens of millions of years ago.
stroop effect The famous "Stroop Effect" is named after J. Ridley Stroop who discovered this strange phenomenon in the 1930s. Here is your job: name the colors of the following words. Do NOT read the words...rather, say the color of the words. For example, if the word "BLUE" is printed in a red color, you should say "RED". Try this Interactive Stroop Effect Experiment. [Run Experiment] Also available: print out Stroop Test Mini Cards. Why? The words themselves have a strong influence over your ability to say the color. Speed of Processing Theory: the interference occurs because words are read faster than colors are named.Selective Attention Theory: the interference occurs because naming colors requires more attention than reading words. I think that this puzzle would be easier for a very young child than for older children or adults. My scores: Test #1 = 10.1 seconds; Test #2 = 22.4 seconds It took me more than TWICE the amount of time to read the "confusing" words. More experiments to try:
How life came to land - Tierney Thys The Shape of Life series educator resources www.Shapeoflife.org Additional Shape of Life series resources (In particular, check out Bill Shear’s work TEDxSMU talk by Tierney Thys highlighting the 8 major body plans of animal evolution Beautiful imagery and rich information featuring planktonic animal life www.PlanktonChronicles.org The Tree of Life web project explores the connections and evolution of life. The World Register of Marine Species keeps a tally of all species described in the ocean. How many species inhabit Earth and how might we answer that question? Where did squid, jellyfish, and other sea creatures begin life? New videography techniques have opened up the oceans' microscopic ecosystem, revealing it to be both mesmerizingly beautiful and astoundingly complex.
Scientific Studies: Scientific Method Learning about the scientific method is almost like saying that you are learning how to learn. The scientific method is a process used by scientists to study the world around them. It can also be used to test whether any statement is accurate. We all have questions about the world. Just about everything starts with a question. So you've got a scientist. As more questions are asked, scientists build a foundation of answers. The whole process allows the world to advance, evolve, and grow. Experimental evidence is used to confirm the answers in science. Scientists start with general observations and then make a hypothesis. Once you have a scientific hypothesis, the fun can begin. It is very important that the experiment is objective. So what about that first hypothesis? There are different terms used to describe scientific ideas based on the amount of confirmed experimental evidence. You may also hear about the term "model."
Curiosity, discovery and gecko feet - Robert Full UC Berkeley biologist Robert Full is fascinated with cockroach legs that allow them to scuttle at full speed across loose mesh and gecko feet that have billions of nano-bristles to run straight up walls. He's using his research to design the perfect robotic "distributed foot," adding spines, hairs and other parts to metal legs and creating versatile scampering machines. He's helped create robots, such as Spinybot, which can walk up sheer glass like a gecko -- and he even helped Pixar create more realistic insect animations in the film A Bug's Life. Robert Full on animal movement Robert Full: Engineering and evolution Robert Full: Learning from the gecko's tail
World Builders: Punnet Squares E Viau CSULA Punnett Squares Punnett Squares are diagrams used by scientists to help them to figure out how inherited traits (characteristics) will be distributed. The yellow rectangles show the genes that the parents have. The genes of one parent are in the two boxes at the top: the A and the A. This parent has one copy of this gene on each of two chrosomes. The genes of the second parent are in the two boxes at the left side of the diagram: a and a. This parent also has a pair of chromosomes with one of these genes on each one of the pair. The green boxes represent what each of four children will inherit. Each child inherits one gene on the chromosome it gets from each parent. One gene plus one gene = 2 genes: in this case, Aa. You may want to use Punnett squares to explain how your life forms pass on characteristics, or to help you to figure out what is going on in the Chromosome Kindergarten! Let's try some samples and see how these squares can help us. The orange bird has two dominant Agenes.
Are we ready for neo-evolution? - Harvey Fineberg Theodosius Grygorovych Dobzhansky was a prominent geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the unifying modern evolutionary synthesis. Antonio Damasio's research in neuroscience has shown that emotions play a central role in social cognition and decision-making. His work has had a major influence on current understanding of the neural systems, which underlie memory, language, consciousness. Listen to his TED talk about the quest to understand consciousness. The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened at the very beginning of our universe. Evolution is the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. The Human Genome Project (HGP) was one of the great feats of exploration in history — an international research effort to sequence and map all of the genes - together known as the genome - of members of our species, Homo sapiens.
Using the Internet to Do Punnett Squares Summary:Using a computer connected to the Internet, the student will construct and use Punnett squares of monohybrid crosses to explain how genetic traits are passed to offspring. Main Curriculum Tie: Science - 7th GradeStandard 4Students will understand that offspring inherit traits that make them more or less suitable to survive in the environment. Materials: computer lab (1 computer per 1-3 students) or TV or Video projector connected to a demonstration computer paper and pencil Background For Teachers:This lesson is best done after students have been introduced to the concept of the Punnett square and how it is used to predict possible traits of offspring. A Punnett square looks like a box divided into four squares. Intended Learning Outcomes:1. Instructional Procedures:1. 2. 3. Before you click the "Breed" button, write down a Punnett square showing your predictions of what the offspring will look like for the chosen trait. 4. Extensions:Visit the Mutant Fruit Fly exhibit.