~~~DAILY SCIENCE~~~
Day 1: What is science?
Day 2: Diagram the scientific method.
Day 3: What was the most important scientific discover or invention? Explain
your answer.
Day 4: For a cell phone, list 3 intended benefits and 3 unintended
consequences.
Day 5: Yolanda breaks her arm and must wear a cast for 6 weeks. Is the cast
assistive or adaptive bioengineering or both? Explain.
Day 6: Thomas Huxley wrote: "Science is nothing but trained and organized
common sense." Relate this quote to the scientific method.
Day 7: Explain the difference between classification and taxonomy.
Day 8: Name the 6 kingdoms and give 2 characteristics of each.
Day 9: Use dichotomous key to ID 5 animal tracks.
Day 10: If mermaids really existed, would they be classified as mammals or as
fish? Why?
Day 11: Construct a cladogram using data provided.
Day 12: A cereal box has a mass of 300g. Its dimensions are 20cm x 30cm x
5cm. What is the box's volume? Its density?
Day 13: List at least 5 ways an animal can avoid becoming prey to a predator?
Day 14: Explain the difference between fragmentation and regeneration.
Day 15: Are humans predators or prey? Explain your answer.
Day 16: What adaptations would organisms living in your refrigerator need to
thrive and to reproduce?
Day 17: The cockroach originated over 250 MYA and still thrives worldwide. A
giant 2 meter tall deer appeared <1 MYA and became extinct ~11,000 YA. Why
did one survive while the other perished?
Day 18: A predator repeatedly avoids prey that is red in colour. Explain why
the predator would exhibit this behaviour.
Day 19: Is it a fossil? (ID 12 items)
Day 20: "The present is the key to the past." How can studying the present
reveal the story of Earth's history?
Day 21: Describe the fossil record of your own life that might be found 65
million years from now. [List at least 5 items that might be found. List at
least 5 items that would decay and disappear.]
Day 22:
Day 23:
Day 24: Why is the sky blue?
Day 25: If you were asked to describe an orange to someone who had never seen
or tasted an orange, what would you tell that person?
~~~VOCABULARY~~~
ENGINEERING: process of creating technology
HYPOTHESIS: an explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific
problem that can be tested
SCIENTIFIC METHOD: orderly technique for scientific thought - observation of
nature, formulate question, formulate hypothesis, experiment/research/observe
(test), analyze, conclude/communicate
TECHNOLOGY: use of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems and
needs, especially in industry and commerce
LAW: statement of fact meant to describe an action or set of actions,
generally accepted as universal and true, and can sometimes be expressed in
terms of a single mathematical equation.
MODEL: pattern, plan, representation, or description designed to show the
structure or workings of an object, system, or concept
THEORY: explanation of a set of related observations or phenomena based upon
porven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached groups of
researchers
BIOENGINEERING: application of engineering to living things, such as humans
and plants
ADAPTIVE BIOENGINEERING: engineering that results in a product/process that
changes living organisms
ASSISTIVE BIOENGINEERING: engineering that results in a product/process that
helps living organisms without permanently changing them
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS: process of determining whether the cost of doing
something is worth the benefit provided
CLASSIFICATION: systematic grouping of organisms into categories based on
similar evolutionary or structural characteristics/relationships
DICHOTOMOUS KEY: a key for identification of organisms based on a series of
paired choices
EUKARYA: domain made up of all organisms with a membrane-bound nucleus and
organelles; includes kingdoms Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia
ARCHAEA: domain made up of prokaryotes, most of which live in extreme
conditions (also known as Kingdom Archaeabacteria)
PROTISTA: kingdom of mostly one-celled eukaryotes ("garbage-can kingdom")
FUNGI: kingdom of eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms without movement,
reproduce generally by spores, getting food from dead/decaying organic matter
PLANTAE: kingdom whose members are complex, multi-cellular heterotrophic
eukaryotes, lacking a cell wall, can move about at some point in life cycle,
and can respond quickly to environmental changes
ANIMALIA: kingdom composed of eukaryotic, autotrophic, complex, multi-
cellular organisms containing chlorophyll, with cells walls of cellulose,
cannot move about, and are photosynthetic
SPECIES: group of similar organisms whose members can mate with one another
and produce viable, fertile offspring
ADAPTATION: characteristic that improves an organism's ability to survive
and reproduce in a particular environment
ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: reproduction in which a single parent produces
offspring genetically identical to itself
NATURAL SELECTION: process by which individuals that are better adapted to
their environment survive and reproduce more successfully than less well-
adapted members
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION: reproduction that results in genetically unique
offspring, receiving half its genetic material from each of 2 parent organisms
TRAIT: a genetically determined characteristic or condition
FOSSIL: trace or remains of ancient organism, commonly preserved in
sedimentary rock
INDEX FOSSIL: fossil used to establish rock layer's age because that fossil
is distinct, abundant, and widespread, and the species that formed it existed
only for a short span of geologic time
PALEONTOLOGY: study of ancient life forms, especially as seen in fossils
BIODIVERSITY: number and variety of organisms in a given area during
specific time period
NONRENEWABLE RESOURCE: natural resource which cannot replenish itself in
less than 100 years
POLLUTION: introduction of harmful substances or products into the
environment
RECYCLING: conservation method in which substances are reused in forms
different from the original
RENEWABLE RESOURCE: natural resource that is able to replenish itself within
100 years; natural resource that replenishes itself about as quickly as it is
used
ATOM: smallest unit of an element that maintains its chemical properties
CHANGE OF STATE: change of a substance from one physical state to another
CHEMICAL CHANGE: change in matter that produces a new substance with new
chemical properties
CHEMICAL PROPERTY: property of matter that describes a substance's ability to
participate in chemical reactions, depending upon the arrangement of atoms
CONDENSATION: change of state of matter from a gas to a liquid, either by
coolring or by being subjected to increased pressure
EVAPORATION: change of a liquid into a vapour at any temperature below its
boiling point
GAS: state of matter with no definite shape nor volume
LIQUID: state of matter with a definite volume but no definite shape
MASS: measure of the number of atoms in an object per unit of volume;
property of matter that measures its resistance to acceleration (change in
motion)
MATTER: anything that has mass and volume
PHYSICAL CHANGE: change that alters the form or appearance of a material but
does not make it into a different substance chemically
PHYSICAL PROPERTY: characteristic of a substance that does not involve a
chemical change
SOLID: state of matter in which the volume and shape are fixed
STATES OF MATTER: the physical forms of matter which include solid, liquid,
and gas (also: [PLASMA: super-heated atoms consisting of free electrons and
ions of the element] and [BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATES: atoms only a few
billionths of a degree above absolute zero where nearly all molecular motion
ceases])
WEIGHT: measure of the gravitational force exerted on an object
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~