Updated Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Wednesday night's homework - all classes, including Period 1: write a rough draft (sloppy copy) of your GMO paper. Your rough draft :

• may be handwritten on the form at the back of the packet or written on SPP or typed;
• should have at least 6 paragraphs - Introduction, 4 or 5 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. 
• Body paragraphs should be based on 
• the 4 arguments in your organizer that support your position, with
• one paragraph to minimize the arguments against your position.
• Please use your rubric to construct your sloppy copy, and use it again when editing/revising to check that you've done all you can to maximize your project grade.

Final version is due on Monday, March 2.   

++++Also, we have a really important program for the PTO meeting+++++
Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the Cafeteria.

Sargent Scanlon of the Stamford Police Department is coming to discuss

Internet Safety: What Parents AND Kids Need To Know.

Students ARE encouraged to attend.
Hope to see you there! 

Tuesday night's homework was to write at least one paragraph of sloppy copy (rough draft) of your GMO Food Position Paper.
Rough Draft due Thursday.
Final due Monday, March 2. 


For the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Food Position Paper project that we're working on for the next few days, we'lll be using the following sites to begin our learning on GMO's:

Videos:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/video/what-is-a-genetically-modified-food2013-07-24/


Genetically Modified Organisms pros and Cons (2:50)      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCpiN54nbXY

Articles:
Fact sheet: Pros vs. Cons - Genetically Modified Foods  www.geneticallymodifiedfoods.co.uk

Basics of GM Foods     www.healthresearchfunding.org/pros-cons-genetically-modified-foods/ 
Truth About Genetically Modified Food  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-genetically-modified-food/?page=2  

GMO Benefits https://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmpe080e/Spring05/projects/gmo/benefits.htm
GMONegatives:  https://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmpe080e/Spring05/projects/gmo/negative.htm
Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? - CSA http://search.proquest.com/docview/304588520/AAC9511040224F72PQ/1?accountid=108621
The juggernaut and the butterfly  http://search.proquest.com/docview/248705987/AAC9511040224F72PQ/4?accountid=108621
Case Studies: A Hard Look at GM Crops. N. Gilbert, Nature, Vol.97, pgs 24-6; May 2, 2013.
http://www.nature.com/news/case-studies-a-hard-look-at-gm-crops-1.12907

Other Research sources you can check out (courtesy of Mr. Aulenti):

http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/10-Reasons-to-Avoid-GMOs

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/truth-about-gmos

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/us/on-hawaii-a-lonely-quest-for-facts-about-gmos.html?_r=0

http://www.nature.com/news/case-studies-a-hard-look-at-gm-crops-1.12907

http://www.healthline.com/health/gmos-pros-and-cons

http://www.newportnaturalhealth.com/2013/07/gmos-the-pros-cons-of-genetically-modified-food/

http://carrington.edu/blog/student-tips/health/genetically-modified-food-pros-and-cons/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/exist/

http://www.blueribbonfoods.com/my_health_info/GMOs_-_pros_and_cons.pdf

Homework assignment:

All classes: Write a 1-page paper about your dragon.  How
do your dragon's traits help your dragon survive in its environment?

4th Period: Sea Slug Current Event due any time between now and Friday, Feb. 20, 2015.  The unedited article is at:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150203155925.htm

I've also inserted a copy of the current event to the blog if you don't have yours.

Sea Slug Has Taken Genes From Algae It Eats, Allowing It To Photosynthesize Like A Plant
Author: Diana Kenney, Marine Biological Laboratory   Date: February 3, 2015 
[Edited for reading level by Mr. Goldsmith]

A …green sea slug can live for months at a time "feeding" on sunlight, like a plant[, says] a recent study …in The Biological Bulletin.

The authors present the first direct evidence that the emerald green sea slug's chromosomes have some genes that come from the algae it eats.

These genes help sustain photosynthetic processes inside the slug that provide it with all the food it needs.

Importantly, this is one of the only known examples of [transfers of a gene that is then used by the second species] from one multi-cellular species to another.  [Some scientists are researching this in] gene therapy to correct genetic… diseases in humans.

"Is a sea slug a good [biological model] for a human therapy? Probably not. But figuring out the mechanism of this natural…gene transfer could [teach us a lot] for future medical [use]," says study co-author Sidney K. Pierce, … professor at universities in Florida and Maryland.

The team used an advanced imaging technique to confirm that a gene from an algae (V. litorea) is present on the chromosome of the slug (E. chlorotica). This gene makes an enzyme … critical to the function of photosynthetic "machines" called chloroplasts, typically found [only] in plants and algae.

It has been known since the 1970s that [the sea slug] "steals" chloroplasts and embeds them into its own digestive cells. [Stealing genes from the algae is called "kleptoplasty".]  Once inside the slug cells, the chloroplasts continue to photosynthesize for up to nine months. [This is] much longer than [chloroplasts] would perform in the algae. The photosynthesis process produces carbohydrates and [fats], which nourish the slug.

How [does] the slug [keep using] these photosynthesizing organelles for so long? [Scientists have intensely studied and argued about this].  "[An] algae gene needed to repair damage to chloroplasts, and keep them functioning, is … on the slug chromosome," Pierce says. "The gene is incorporated into the slug chromosome and transmitted to the next generation of slugs." While the next generation must take up chloroplasts anew from algae, the genes to maintain the chloroplasts are already present in the slug genome, Pierce says.

"There is no way on earth that genes from an algae should work in an animal cell," Pierce says. "And yet here, they do. They allow the animal to rely on sunshine for its nutrition. So if something happens to their food source, they [won’t starve] to death until they find more algae to eat. "

This … adaptation is also [part] of rapid evolution, Pierce says. "When a successful transfer of genes between species occurs, evolution can basically happen from one generation to the next," he notes, rather than over [the usual] time scale of thousands of years.

Name_______________________  date _____________ Per._____________

Answer the following:

1.      Give credit (Cite T.A.D.S.).   Write the information out below, or get a zero.

Title:_________________________________________Author_________________ 

Date: ______________   Source:_______________________________   

• Answer all of the questions below in complete, written sentences, and
•  be sure to cite evidence from the article,
•  or get a zero.

2. Main Idea: What surprising ability has appeared in sea slugs?

3. Supporting Details: Why is this ability surprising?

4. Supporting Details: How did sea slugs get this ability? What parts (organelles) do sea slugs need to get and wheere do they get them from?

5. Supporting Details: What is unusual about how sea slugs are able to use chlorplasts?

6. Supporting Details: Why is this information important to people?

7. Vocabulary: what is an enzyme?  (Look it up).

Update for Thursday night:
Quiz tomorrow. Tonight, study vocab and Bikini Bottom or other Punnett Square worksheets.
All classes: Homework tonight is to work on Bikini Bottom Genetics 2 (1st page only). 

Friday's Quiz will be on:
1. Genetics concepts such as
* Dominant vs. Recessive,
* Phenotype vs. Genotype,
* Heterozygous vs. Homozygous;

2.  How to use Punnett Squares to find the possible results of pairing two parents with a certain trait, and the probability, or chances, of each trait appearing in each offspring. 

3. Vocabulary, copied below.  You should have all of these terms in your science notebook (if not, now is a good time to add those definitions to your vocab section).  Don't forget: you were to draw out 8 Frayer Diagrams, using vocab words. I f you didn't already do it, do it now and show me your work tomorrow:

Phenotype - organism's observable traits (what you can see on the outside).

Genotype - individual's pair of alleles for a specific gene or group of genes that determines a trait (what's in the genes).

Dominant - version of gene that appears with only one copy of a version of a gene (an allele).

Recessive - hidden trait, that is, the genetic trait that is not observed in a heterogeneous individual.

heterozygous - an organism that has more than 1 kind of allele for a characteristic. 

homozygous - an organism that has only one kind of allele for a characteristic.

Punnett Square - diagram to show the likelihood of each outcome of a breeding experiment with known parent genes for a trait. See p. D-37.

Characteristic - an observable or measurable feature of an organism and may be caused by one gene or many genes. Ex: eye color.

Gene - A specific sequence of DNA that determines one or more traits.

Allele - a variant or version of a gene. Ex: a gene could code for a round thumb joint, or a squared off thumb joint. One is Dominant (it wins), while the other is Recessive (it loses unless its the only one).
Genetics is the study of the location and behavior of genes, their passage to offspring, and of how characteristics are inherited.
Heredity - traits passed down to people or other organisms from their biological parents. Ex: eye color, tongue rolling, height potential, genetic diseases, arm span.

Inherited - The passage of traits from parent to offspring.

Hybrid: is an offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds, resulting from the breeding of two genetically distinct individuals .  Ex: Tiger + Lion = Liger.  The Liger is a hybrid.

The opposite of Hybrid is Purebred.

All of my classes: We will only have one quiz this week, combining both quizzes on Friday on:
Genetics, including how to use Punnett Squares, concepts, and vocabulary.  I have copied the vocabulary  below, and you should have all of it in your science notebook. 

To help you get ready for the Quiz on Friday, you are to draw out 8 Frayer Diagrams, using vocab words from the list below:

Phenotype - organism's observable traits (what you can see on the outside).

Genotype - individual's pair of alleles for a specific gene or group of genes that determines a trait (what's in the genes).

Dominant - version of gene that appears with only one copy of a version of a gene (an allele).

Recessive - hidden trait, that is, the genetic trait that is not observed in a heterogeneous individual.

heterozygous - an organism that has more than 1 kind of allele for a characteristic.

homozygous - an organism that has only one kind of allele for a characteristic.

Punnett Square - diagram to show the likelihood of each outcome of a breeding experiment with known parent genes for a trait. See p. D-37.

 

o Allele - a variant or version of a gene. Ex: a gene could code for a round thumb joint, or a squared off thumb joint. One is Dominant (it wins), while the other is Recessive (it loses unless its the only one).

o Characteristic - an observable or measurable feature of an organism and may be caused by one gene or many genes. Ex: eye color.

o Gene - A specific sequence of DNA that determines one or more traits.

o Genetics - the study of the location and behavior of genes, their passage to offspring, and of how characteristics are inherited.

o Heredity - traits passed down to people or other organisms from their biological parents. Ex: eye color, tongue rolling, height potential, genetic diseases, arm span.

* Inherited - The passage of traits from parent to offspring.