8th Grade LE - Period 9 Weekly Science Article Report #10

December 2006
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December 11th, 2006 · 69 Comments
LE - Period 9

Here we are, back doing weekly science article reports.

This week, be sure to include what you said you would work on in last week’s assignment. Please continue to pay attention to your spelling and grammar.

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69 responses so far ↓

1 rosie13 // Dec 12, 2006 at 4:31 pm

WEBSITE: sciencenewforkids.com
AUTHOR: Emily Sohn
URL: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com/articles/20061213/Note3.asp

My article was called ‘A Tongue and a Half.’ It was about a species of bat that has just been discovered [the Anoura fistulata]. The bat has a tongue that is one and a half times longer than its body, which gives it the longest tongue [in comparison to body size] of any mammal. Nathan Muchhala discovered the bat in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. The bat’s tongue starts in its ribcage and there are special muscles that help the tongue expand quickly.

This article was interesting to me because it’s so strange to think that a bat has a tongue that is almost twice as long as its body. I also liked that Emily Sohn compared the bats to anteaters because of the way they eat. Anteaters poke their snouts into anthills, and the bats stick their tongues into a certain type of long flower. It’s so alien to me to think of having a tongue that is almost twice as long as your body. Just think, for most of us that would mean that we had a tongue that’s about eight feet long!
2 eyesticker 03 // Dec 12, 2006 at 4:45 pm

Common Cancer Treatments Toxic To Healthy Brain Cells
By University of Rochester Medical Center
December 12, 2006

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061130081550.htm

This article explains how the chemotherapy treatment that cancer patients are given, have side effects including brain damage. At first when cancer patients came in saying they were having side effects scientists and doctors expected theses were not cancer related side effects. The Rochester Medical Center preformed a study on the side effects of chemotherapy. The results were found that chemotherapy was causing, on a light side effect: memory loss and in a more extreme case: seizures, vision loss and even dementia. The chemotherapy drugs are used on certain cases of cancer, “including certain types of breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and, in the case of carmustine, brain tumors.”

This article was very interesting to read. It wasn’t nearly as confusing as the last article I read but it still gave a lot of information. The style of writing seemed to still target adults but it, at the same time, explained the information clearly. I found it interesting that they’re finding flaws in the treatment for cancer. Although chemotherapy is not known to cure cancer every time, it’s supposed make it better. I hope when they find a cure for cancer it will not cause dangerous side effects like this does.
3 eyesticker 03 // Dec 12, 2006 at 4:49 pm

This comment is for rosie 13.

Emily Sohn mentioned that article when she came to PVC! It sounds interesting, I might just read it!

I liked yiour reflection too
4 eyesticker 03 // Dec 12, 2006 at 5:13 pm

oops i spelt your wrong…

This comment is for rosie13.

Emily Sohn mentioned that article when she came to PVC! It sounds interesting, I might just read it!

I liked your reflection too
5 opac1 // Dec 12, 2006 at 6:28 pm

Rosie 13:

Your reflection was really great. I could not agree with you more when you said that Emily Sohn did a great job comparing bats and anteaters. I also find it amazing if humans had tounges half the size of their bodies. Keep up the good work.
6 opac1 // Dec 12, 2006 at 6:29 pm

Excuse me, I WOULD also find it amazing if humans had tounges half the size of their bodies.
7 mmhmm // Dec 12, 2006 at 8:40 pm

To Catch a Dragonfly

By Emily Sohn

This article was about dragonflies, and that they are very smart and fast. Dragonflies are so swift that they can cover about 60 kilometers (37 miles) in less than two weeks. This article also showed that the majority of them do migrate. They found this out by putting radio transmitters on them the radio transmitters were about 1/3 of the size of the dragonflies, the scientist say that the dragonflies can carry heavy loads, and they didn’t seem to mind when they put the radio transmitters on them. The scientists also found out that the emerald dragonfly is a type of dragonfly that doesn’t migrate but it hibernates instead. The scientists had trouble finding the emerald dragonfly’s hiding spot but after a while they found they were in crayfish burrows. The scientists never thought that’s where they would be because the crayfish eat dragonflies. The scientists are still trying to find out how they can help save the emerald dragonflies.

I thought that this article was very well written and it was interesting to read about because I never really think about dragonflies and how smart they are. It also thought me a lot about them and how cool they are. I think that scientist should definitely look further into dragonflies. This article doesn’t really need any improvements on it.
8 mr.coolguy // Dec 13, 2006 at 10:44 am

This comment is for mmhmm:
I found it really amazing how something as small as a dragonfly could travel 37 miles in just two weeks! Do you think the reason the Emerald dragonfly is going extinct is because they don’t know they are in a crayfish burrow until to late?
9 mr.coolguy // Dec 13, 2006 at 10:45 am
10 Svogthir // Dec 13, 2006 at 11:14 am

comment for rosie13:

that is a pretty alien idea to have a tongue that long. I wonder how those bats adapted a tongue that long, as in what circumstances they needed that sort of thing to survive. Maybe really fast prey? Oh… i just read that it drank out of flowers… oops. Good reflection.
11 opac1 // Dec 13, 2006 at 11:25 am

mmhmm:

Say, I bet that other animals are even more have even more suprising than a dragonfly, maybe a moth or a gecko, but your right; I never would have thought that dragonflies were that smart.
12 opac1 // Dec 13, 2006 at 11:29 am

Excuse me, I bet that other animals HAVE even more OF A SUPRISING INTELLECT than a dragonfly
13 opac1 // Dec 13, 2006 at 11:30 am

Period.
14 brooklynmavis22 // Dec 13, 2006 at 4:33 pm

My article is about the mammal with one of the longest tongues in the world in relation to its body–a small South American bat. Its tongue is one and a half times longer than its body, and it has the record of the largest tongue for a mammal. Nathan Muchhala discovered this bat in the Andes Mountains in Ecuadore, and named it Anoura fistulata.

This bat’s tongue is more than twice as long as other nectar bats’. Also, the base of its tongue starts down at its ribcage, near its heart, as opposed to the back of its jaw. This bat is compared to an anteater in the way they eat. They both use their mouths the same way to get food. An anteater sticks its snout all the way into an anthill, and this bat sticks its tongue all the way into a specific type of flower to get its nectar. Also, both animals’ tongues start at their ribcages.

I thought this was a really fascinating article. It’s interesting how its tongue can start all the way down at its ribcage, and then they can extend it quickly with mucsles within their tongues.
15 mr.coolguy // Dec 13, 2006 at 6:14 pm

Taking Back Steps in Space Exploration
mr.coolguy
Overbye, Dennis. Back to the Moon! But Why? Science Times, New York Times, F1, December 12, 2006.

Last week, NASA said that it planed to build a moon base on the moon. Just two days after the announcement about the base, the Mars Global Surveyor went into the dark and is now presumed to be dead but still in orbit. Many people are wondering (including the author of this article) why NASA isn’t making plans for something Mars related. Many people still want NASA to be focusing it’s time on trying to get people to Mars!
I think that it is a good thing that NASA is planing to build a moon base. Say NASA wants to send out a probe or space shuttle to lets say, Mars. It takes about four days to get to the moon so it might be a good place to possibly restock if anything was needed or left behind. It would probably be a good place to have one final check of a space craft to see if it is ready for further travel. When the last couple of space shuttles that went up and docked at the International Space Station, the shuttle had to do an entire 360 to check that everything was OK. Now, things can be run like an auto shop with astronauts getting out and manually checking the hull of the ship. Probably a better way to check for anything wrong. Further more, while the author of this article suggested that this moon base project is holding us back from Mars, maybe even the project being abandoned, the facts that I have compiled suggest otherwise that this base is a worthwhile thing to consider. For the sake of visiting other planets that is.
16 mr.coolguy // Dec 13, 2006 at 6:16 pm

Sorry, it doesn’t look good with just one line separating the paragraphs.

Taking Back Steps in Space Exploration
mr.coolguy
Overbye, Dennis. Back to the Moon! But Why? Science Times, New York Times, F1, December 12, 2006.

Last week, NASA said that it planed to build a moon base on the moon. Just two days after the announcement about the base, the Mars Global Surveyor went into the dark and is now presumed to be dead but still in orbit. Many people are wondering (including the author of this article) why NASA isn’t making plans for something Mars related. Many people still want NASA to be focusing it’s time on trying to get people to Mars!

I think that it is a good thing that NASA is planing to build a moon base. Say NASA wants to send out a probe or space shuttle to lets say, Mars. It takes about four days to get to the moon so it might be a good place to possibly restock if anything was needed or left behind. It would probably be a good place to have one final check of a space craft to see if it is ready for further travel. When the last couple of space shuttles that went up and docked at the International Space Station, the shuttle had to do an entire 360 to check that everything was OK. Now, things can be run like an auto shop with astronauts getting out and manually checking the hull of the ship. Probably a better way to check for anything wrong. Further more, while the author of this article suggested that this moon base project is holding us back from Mars, maybe even the project being abandoned, the facts that I have compiled suggest otherwise that this base is a worthwhile thing to consider. For the sake of visiting other planets that is.
17 eyesticker03 // Dec 13, 2006 at 6:53 pm

This comment is for mr.coolguy.

I agree with you, I think it’s a good idea for NASA to build a base on the moon and that it would be a possible stop for future flights to Mars! Good Job!
18 eyesticker03 // Dec 13, 2006 at 6:55 pm

This comment is for brooklynmavis22

Allthough you and rosie13 wrote about the same article you had some different views but quite a lot of simillar thoughts. It was interesting comparing your reports! You did a very good job!
19 Brown eyed girl // Dec 13, 2006 at 7:01 pm

Back to the Moon
Emily Sohn
Science News for Kids
December 13, 2006
This article is about making a base on the moon. The project will be finished in 2024 so we will be about 31 years old by the time you can visit the moon for a long period of time. Scientists do not know where the base is going to be yet. No one has been on the moon since 1976 so this is a really big leap. They are slowly going to ease themselves into it by having astronauts live there for a week, then a few weeks, and then six months to record data and any problems that come their way.
I thought that this article was very interesting. Although people have not set foot on the moon for a long time, I think that we will be able to have people live on the moon in year 2024. Personally I would not want to visit the moon for a long period of time. It would be really cool, but imagine having to wear a space suit, whenever you go outside, In order to breathe. Although they have made pressurized air so when you go inside you wouldn’t have to wear the suit it would still be a real pain. I think that Emily Sohn did a good job with this article. I wish that she added more facts and more information.
20 dancingintherain102 // Dec 13, 2006 at 7:11 pm

The article “The Cost of an Overheated Planet” was written by Steve Lohr, and published on http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/12/business/worldbusiness/12warm.html?ref=science on December 12, 2006.
This article was mainly about global warming in terms of carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. It goes into a lot of detail about how people are pressuring the government to do something about global warming. They are considering at the moment anyway, two different ways for the government to regulate carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere. One way mentioned was just to put an almost regular tax on carbon dioxide emission by the ton. A positive thing said about this idea is that the money collected from the tax could be used for research on more fuel efficient energy sources. The other way that was mentioned was what is called a “cap and trade” regulation system. Basically that system is that you would be given a permit by the government for a certain amount of carbon dioxide emission. And if you came below your limit you could sell or trade what was left to another company who needed to emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So basically the permits for the carbon dioxide emission per ton would become as good as money. People se more of a negative side to this idea as well as somewhat of a positive side. They say negatively that there would be more room corruption with this system then with the other.
This article was written for an audience of mainly adults and not for younger age groups. I still really liked the topic of the article and the message it was trying to send people. In the article they used a lot of quotes from economists and other experts. Sometimes it was a little hard to keep track of which expert of what had what opinion. It was good to here from the experts but, I think it would have been better if it has been somewhat more of his opinion and not just endless experts. He actually included basically non of his own opinions, jut facts and other peoples opinions. One of the few opinions he did include was his disapproval of President Bush and his administration about global warming issues along with other things.
The author really tells you name for name, who is really trying to do something about carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere, and who already has. This was a very informative article that was written very well for it’s target audience.
21 Svogthir // Dec 14, 2006 at 3:28 pm

“Empty-Stomach Intelligence” by Christopher Shea
Found in New York Times Magazine, December 10

This article is about a study done by several scientists on a group of mice. They infused several mice with a chemical called ghrelin, which is secreted by the stomach lining when the stomach is empty, and notifies the brain that it is “time to be hungry.” The ghrelin infused mice were then tested for intelligence against some normal mice. The “hungry” mice outperformed the control mic in every experiment.

I think this is a very interesting article and an interesting idea. It disproves anything that you hear about eating well before a major test being beneficial to your results, and mentions that being moderately hungry during the test can improve your performance. Now that I have read the article, I realize that last year, I did better on the tests that were closer to lunch (ie. midmorning) than I did on those later in the day (ie. 9th period).
22 rosie13 // Dec 14, 2006 at 4:05 pm

This is a comment for brooklynmavis22

I read the same article as you and it was really interesting to compare your reflection to mine. Nice job.
23 rosie13 // Dec 14, 2006 at 4:07 pm

This is a comment for brown eyed girl.

The article sounds really interesting. Your reflection was really good and I liked that you added your opinions about how you would like/dislike living on the moon.
24 rosie13 // Dec 14, 2006 at 4:08 pm

this is a comment for Svogthir.

I completely agree with you– I usually do better on tests near lunch.
25 twinkletoes // Dec 14, 2006 at 4:13 pm

“Recipe for Hurricane”
Emily Sohn
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com

This article was about how scientists are becoming more accurate with hurricanes; when they will come, how bad they will be, and where they will hit. This helps save more lives and people can flee the area with actually having their valuables. It gave examples such as hurricane Ivan, Frances, Charley, and Jeanne, which killed more than one thousand people in Haiti.
Even though scientists can predict lots f the details in a hurricane, the slightest change makes a gigantic difference. For example, hurricane Charley was originally supposed to hit Tampa Bay, Florida, but ended up hitting a more southern part. Meteorologist Eric Blake says, “Meteorology is both a science and an art”.

The main idea of this article was how scientists can find out when and where a storm is going to hit and how that can save lives. I thought that that was a pretty pointless idea. Everyone knows that, and they don’t need hurricane Jeanne and Charley and Ivan to show it. Just ask the people in New Orleans, who experienced horrible hurricane Katrina, and you’ve got your story. That was all she needed, and it would have been more interesting, shorter, and more enjoyable to read. A lot of people like to hear real life experiences about Katrina and any other hurricane, for that matter, and that is what Emily Sohn should have done, not just listed a bunch of facts and called it a story.
26 a is for awesome // Dec 14, 2006 at 5:47 pm

Many people don’t think about endangered species in their every day lives unless they are asked too. It has always been something that people have been trying to work with and make better, but we haven’t really devoted too much to it. More animals kept becoming extinct over time, and they still will. There are many endangered species. One example of a species considered endangered is the bald eagle. Before the 1970’s a chemical called DDT was used to protect crops from insects and such, but it also was harmful to creatures such as bald eagles. They started to die off. People knew something was wrong so they banned DDT. After this, bald eagles started to return and become a bigger population, though still not very big. Today, they are still becoming a larger species, and are doing so well that they may, though not yet, soon be taken off of the endangered species list. This article was written by Emily Sohn on March 29, 2006. I found it at http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060329/Feature1.asp. I thought that this article was very interesting. Personally, I like and care about animals and I am very glad to hear that the bald eagle is making a big return. Maybe they can find more ways so that more species become farther away to extinction. I thought this article was very well written. I really liked how there was lots of facts to keep you interesting and make you knowledgeable, but at the same time she quoted many different people. I think it was cool too see other people’s outlooks and what they had to say. I also liked the way she wrote what kinds of experiments and things scientists were doing. I found that very interesting. I really liked this article and I hope to see the bald eagle of the endangered list soon.
27 a is for awesome // Dec 14, 2006 at 5:49 pm

this comment is for mr coolguy.

I really liked the topic you chose. It was cool to read about. I think that NASA should make a base on the moon, and it’s really cool that they’re doing so.
28 a is for awesome // Dec 14, 2006 at 5:51 pm

This comment is for Svogthir

Wow i always thought of it the opposite way. That’s really cool to think about now. Good job.
29 a is for awesome // Dec 14, 2006 at 5:53 pm

This comment is for brown eyed girl.

Your article was similar to mr coolguy’s. I liked seeing what you both had to say.
30 bmw x5 girl // Dec 14, 2006 at 6:22 pm

I cannot find out how to see my old reports but I know how I have been doing:

I think I have been making my articles good. I know there is stuff I can work on. I need to make the reports a little longer and fuller. Every article I have done has been on monkeys. I love monkeys and writing about them is really fun!
31 bmw x5 girl // Dec 14, 2006 at 6:30 pm

Monkeys Count
Science News for Kids
E. Sohn

This article is about how monkeys can count. They can match voices and faces. Of course they can’t add really large numbers or do algebra but they can just keep track of small things. They did tests showing that the male monkeys look at a screen with the same amount of faces as voices they here. They can really sense things like us!

I love to write articles on monkeys and think this article is very cool. Every week I learn more and more about the animals who are so close to us. The fact that they can keep track of small numbers in their heads amazes me and makes me want to learn more and more.
32 ewannawanna chewbacca // Dec 14, 2006 at 8:26 pm

This article is about a backpack that can create electricity and power electronics. It makes electricity by you walking and when you walk you move two big poles which powers something up and then it creates electricity, or something like that… You can watch T.V., do some uber pwnage on a video, listen to music and walk all at the same time, pretty sweet.there is onky one and the creator has it, what is he going to do with it, he’s like 50 years old. Yeah, he’s going to play a lot of video games, mabey there is some he could play, like pac-man or pong. all the people that wore it said it was very comfortable and it works.
I think that the author could have done a better job explaining how the back pack worked because I did not get it at all. I think she did a good job showing what it looked like and what it could do.
33 coolchic // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:04 pm

A Tongue and a Half
By: E.Sohn
Published:December 13,2006
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061213/Note3.asp

This article is about a small South American bat found in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador. Nathan Muchhala of the university of Miami found the small bat and named it Anoura Fistulata. It’s tongue is 1.5 times the bats body length. The bats tongue even sets a record as the longest mammal tongue in relation to it’s body size. Only the chameleon has alonger tongue. A chameleon’s tongue is twice as long as it’s body size.
I think hat the author of this article did a good job explaining the bats tongue. I remember when Emily Sohn came to visit us she said that she was going to write something about a bats tongue. Now it is interesting to actually read the article. I thought this article was interesting becuase you usually don’t hear things about an animals tongue.
34 iheartj&js // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:12 pm

Oceans may rise up to 140 cms by 2100 due to warming
Alister Doyle
December 14, 2006
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=L14565762

Summary- This article was about how global warming has created such a huge problem with the ocean level rising. According to the article, ocean level could rise 140 centimeters or 4 feet, 7 inches by 2100. This is because of global warming, which results in glaciers and ice melting in places like Antarctica. One other reason the sea level is rising due to global warming is because water expands when it gets warmer, and global warming is heating up the water.

Reflection- I think that Alister Doyle did a decent job with the article. In my opinion, it seemed a little rushed. The topic was interesting, but the author didn’t present it in a very exciting way. Even though I am sure that this article was not written for kids, it would have been more appealing to the eye if there were a picture, chart or graph. It would have grabbed my attention and got me to think twice about the article. Since this article was not the most entertaining article I have ever read, I had to read it over a few times to make sure I understood it all.
I am surprised at how big of an impact global warming has today and will have in the future. If it continues to be such a factor, there will be many problems in the future. However, I do think that at the rate technology is advancing, people will find ways to handle the effects of global warming. I hope that people start being more considerate about how they treat the planet. Pollution is one of the reasons for global warming, and that is an easy way to slow it down.
35 room217 // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:21 pm

This article is about the moyamoya disease.got it at http://www.nids.nih.gov/disorder/moyamoya.htm. It was perpared by office of communications and public liaison. The article says that moyamoya disease is a rare progressive cerebrovascular disorder Italso says that moyamoya means “puff of smoke” in japanese. It is caused by blocked arteries at the base of the briancalled basal ganglia.They say there are several types of revascularization surgery that can restore blood flow to the brain.I chose this article because I thuoght that it was well writen and also because I was supposed to look it up for science class (becuase we did not now what kind of disease it was) and because I was too lazy to go look up another article to write about.Other than that I thought that the article was very well written.
36 dusty schmidt // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:24 pm

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20040825/Feature1.asp
A Dire Shortage of Water

This article is about serious droughts in the southwestern part of the U.S.A. Droughts could destroy a whole ecosystem, and some of them in the southwestern states already have. The Colorado River Basin has been drying up, and it’s been a big problem.
This article is really intresting. First of all, it’s written by Emily Sohn, so that’s a plus. I also thought the pictures on the article where it shows where the ocean temperatures are above and below normal temperature. The drought has been getting worse by the year, and it destroys many organism’s homes, and it destroys resources for other organisms. I’d like to see how the organims work together to help repair the ecosystems that were destroyed. I also think it’s intresting how it’s happening in the U.S. Usually when I think of droughts, I think of parts of Africa and the Middle East. I thought this was a really intresting article and I enjoyed reading it.
37 Hungry Man // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:48 pm

A Tongue and a Half

A Tongue and a Half
Emily Sohn
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org

This article is about a South American bat that has a tongue that is half of its body size. Your wondering what does this bat do with such a long tongue, well when in use of the tongue it sucks nectar from flowers like a bumble bee. The bat’s tongue reaches all the way down to his ribcage in its body. Muscles in its body make the tongue shoot the tongue as long and quick. This bat is like an Anteater because both have really big tongues which they use to obtain their food. Other nectar bats only reach with their tongues to get nectar 4 centimeters down this bat can go twice as far! This is an amazing bat.

Response- My response for this article is about how does this bat have a tongue so long and about the nectar bats in general. This bat has a amazingly long tongue which is pretty cool. But since its tongue is so long and does go all the way to its ribcage wouldn’t it choke the bat because the tongue goes all the way down its throat? In addition to the bat what else can this bat do other than it has a very long tongue? I think that having this massive tongue is a plus to the way it lives its life because it can get more food,which in this case it’s nectar, it can be more of a healthy and stronger bat with all of its nutrition. The other thing that I wanted to respond on this article is the nectar bats in general. I think that these nectar bats,that I never heard of before, are actually pretty cool. I think that is good that they are nectar bats because than they are not carnivore type of bats. This is a cool bat and I got interested in this article because Emily Sohn talked about it when she came to our class.
38 Hungry Man // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:51 pm

this comment is for dusty schmidt:

I was really interested in this article because i have always wanted more about droughts. Your article looked a little short though. Great Job!
39 Hungry Man // Dec 14, 2006 at 9:58 pm

this comment is for rosie13:

Hey I did the same article as you cool. I liked your response because you made a text to world comment with the Anteaters liked that. Great Job!
40 Hungry Man // Dec 14, 2006 at 10:03 pm

this comment is for ewannawanna chewbacca:

I liked your response it was funny the way you talked about the guy wearing th backpack which is true about what you said. I also liked how you corrected the author about what he/she did wrong. Great Job!
41 kenny24 // Dec 14, 2006 at 10:51 pm

Protecting Cows—and People—from a Deadly Disease
Sorcha McDonagh
Jan. 14, 2004
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com/articles/20040114/Note3.asp

This article is about mad cow disease. Some countries have banded the importing of U.S. beef because of one incident in December. Japan is afraid of someone eating infected meat and getting the human version of mad cow disease. The mad cow disease got its name because the cows that are infected act nervous and distressed, they have a hard time standing and walking properly. The mad cow disease used to spread from cow to cow because the farmers would use the bad parts of the cow (brains, eyes, spinal cords and intestines) and use it as feed for the other cows. The bad parts are the parts of the cow that could be infected. This was made illegal in 1997. Christl Donnelly of Imperial College in London says as long as the ban is enforced it should stop the spread of the disease from person to person.
I thought this article was very interesting. I did not know much about this disease before but after I read the article I felt like I understand not only the disease but the issue behind it. I think it is very interesting that one sick cow can be killed and used for feed and actually get many other cows sick. Then these cows can actually make many people sick. I think the ban on feeding cows other cows was very smart. If they had not done this I am sure mad cow disease would be a much greater epidemic today. There would be a lot more sick cows and lots of sick people. I think the author did a very good job writing this piece. It was easy to read and very informative. I do think the author could have put in some more details about the effects the disease has on humans.
42 kenny24 // Dec 14, 2006 at 10:54 pm

this comment is for iheartj&js
your response was really good. You really seem to know what your talking about.
great job
43 kenny24 // Dec 14, 2006 at 10:58 pm

this comment is for Hungry Man i liked listen to what Emily son said and you found that article and did a report on it.
44 kenny24 // Dec 14, 2006 at 11:02 pm

this comment is for dusty schmidt
your response got a lot better. i have one question though. Why douse it being Written by Emily Son make it a plus?

good work
45 acex2inurface // Dec 15, 2006 at 7:40 am

Monkeying Around With Human Health
By Rusty Rockets
http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/animal_testing.shtml

The article that I did this week was about human and animal testing. Before medicine and drugs were used for humans to cure problems, animals such as mice and rabbits were the test animals. But some scientists from Britain claims that not all of the animal tests work on humans. Most test were usually a failure on animals. From this information, scientists know that it won’t work on humans. There were tests on humans also, but most caused quite a lot of damages to the people.

I think this article was a very good article. It gave a lot of information and was well written. The author could have written it more organized though. This article was persuasive and is helpful information. I think the author did a good job.
46 room217 // Dec 15, 2006 at 11:28 am

This comment is for rosie13 i think it s pretty cool that the bat’s tounge starts in its rib cage and the fact that there are muscles to help it come out faster.
47 room217 // Dec 15, 2006 at 11:33 am

to dustyshmidt i liked your article about the drought.
48 room217 // Dec 15, 2006 at 11:38 am

this comment is for ewanaewana chewbacca i liked your article about a back pack that could make electricity when you walk i think that that is pretty interesting.
49 opac1 // Dec 15, 2006 at 11:46 am

TV Viewing And Physical Inactivity Independently Associated With Metabolic Risk In Children

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061212091910.htm

Public Library Of Science

The article says that many people have made a connection between watching TV and not being physically active and how they have caused diabetes, along with other metabolic diseases. The European Youth Heart Study surveyed 1,921 children in Portugal, Denmark, and Estonia. The children were asked how many hours they spent watching TV over a four day span. The scientists than measured the children’s metabolic risk factors. In most cases, the more hours the children watched TV were fatter they were, but the risks for metabolic diseases were not that high. However, the children who had low levels of physical activity were found to be at a higher risk for metabolic diseases. The scientists concluded that the TV watching and physical activity levels were independent of each other, and thus they said that the two issues should be treated differently.

The article itself was very informative, and provided many facts. It stated all the things the scientists tested during the experiment, and followed the scientists’ train of thought as they went through the experiment. It also had many details. For example, the article said that 1,921 children were questioned, instead of saying about 1,900. The author of the article also demonstrated a high vocabulary, throughout the article. I predict that because TV watching and physical activity are independent of each other they can be easier to treat, thus children will not have as much of a risk for metabolic diseases, like they do today.

Overall, I thought that the article was really good.
50 opac1 // Dec 15, 2006 at 11:52 am

Acex2inurface:

Your summary was excellent. You did a good job of explaining the article, and what it was about. I liked your reflection too. However, I thought it could have been a little longer, but the content was very good. I agreed with everything you said in your reflection. Keep up the good work.
51 HiMan // Dec 15, 2006 at 11:53 am

Article Report

The name of this article is “Stardust may be basis of life on Earth”. It was written by Alok Jha on Friday December 15, 2006. I found it at http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1972955,00.html.
The article is mostly about how scientist found complex molecules in the trail of a commit. Scientist sent stardust to test the theory that commits were just balls of dirty snow left over from the old solar system. They were extremely surprised to find out that there was a large range of different materials in the commits trail. Because of this finding they are coming up with new theories about the solar system. Some of the molecules in the commit were those of an early solar system.
I thought this was a very good and interesting article. The writer did a very good job of explaining every thing to the reader. I also liked this article because I think it’s very interesting that life on earth may have been started by something from outer space. It makes me think that in some ways we could be aliens on earth.
52 iheartj&js // Dec 17, 2006 at 10:45 am

this comment is for hungry man

You did a really great job summarizing the article. I agree with you on how the bat does not choke with such a long tounge. I am sure that the bat somehow rolls it’s tounge up into a ball and stores it in it’s body like that. Once again, awesome job!
53 iheartj&js // Dec 17, 2006 at 10:53 am

this comment is for opac1

I really liked the article you reported on, I was going to report on it too, but i decided not to. You are right about it being very informative, because it was filled with facts. Great job!
54 iheartj&js // Dec 17, 2006 at 11:00 am

this comment is for mr.coolguy

I think that it is really cool that we are going to build a base on the moon. I have always wanted to go up in space, and maybe some day it will be easier to because of this base. Nice work!
55 iheartj&js // Dec 17, 2006 at 11:01 am

this comment is for mr.coolguy

I think that it is really cool that we are going to build a base on the moon. I have always wanted to go up in space, and maybe some day it will be easier to because of this base. Nice work.
56 dusty schmidt // Dec 17, 2006 at 8:46 pm

This comment is for kenny24

I thought your article was intresting. I didn’t know that much about mad cow disease either.
57 dusty schmidt // Dec 17, 2006 at 8:49 pm

This comment is for iheartj&j’s (me too by the way)

I did the same article a couple of weeks ago. It’s pretty intresting. Good job on your reflection
58 dusty schmidt // Dec 17, 2006 at 8:50 pm

This comment is for Himan.

I think what you said is an intresting thought; how humans can be aliens on earth. Great job on your reflection and good article selection.
59 HiMan // Dec 18, 2006 at 1:21 pm

This comment is for opac1:

I thought your report was very good and I find it interesting that TV and physicle activity levels are not related.
60 HiMan // Dec 18, 2006 at 1:23 pm

This comment is for Kenny24:

I can’t belive farmers would feed cows to cows!!
61 HiMan // Dec 18, 2006 at 9:12 pm

This comment is for rosie 13:

It is really weird to think of anything that has a tonge that is almost twice the size of your body. I wonder how long the bat is?
62 ewannawanna chewbacca // Dec 19, 2006 at 4:23 pm

this comment is for HiMan

i always thought that commits were just ice that flew around, but i was wrong. i thought it was interesting when you said that we could be aliens on earth.
63 ewannawanna chewbacca // Dec 19, 2006 at 4:28 pm

this comment is for opac1

some kids are lazy and sit on a couch all day, and thats what your report thing said. some people have those diseases when thy are born, some aren’t active at all and because of that, they get those deseases. your report was very true and a lot of people just watch tv all day.
64 ewannawanna chewbacca // Dec 19, 2006 at 4:33 pm

this comment is for acex2inurface
your title was very, let’s say strange. your article was very good though and you were very informative.
65 mr.coolguy // Jan 23, 2007 at 4:46 pm

This comment is for HiMan:

I think that some scientists think that life came from comets. You did a very good job.
66 polaroid gangsta // Jan 23, 2007 at 4:47 pm

A Tongue and A Half by Emily Sohn from Science News For Kids, December 13th 2006

If you think you’ve seen crazy body parts, let me be the first to tell you - you haven’t seen anything yet. A South African Bat can stretch out it’s tongue longer than the length of it’s own body! With a tongue 1.5 times it’s own body, this bat has the longest tongue of any animal. While human tongues begin in the mouth and throat area, these bats tongue’s begin near their heart, and it has muscles that help the tongue get longer. With a tongue like this, these bats have no trouble getting food in crevices and other small areas.
This article was exactly the type of thing I was looking for! When Emily Sohn came to class, I asked her if she could put the numbers in comparison, and that’s exactly what she did here. It was very informative, and gave more information than just the basic topic. It was also a really good length, not too long, not too short. I hope to find more articles like this in the future!
67 acex2inurface // Jan 23, 2007 at 8:52 pm

This comment is for opac1:

I liked your article a lot. At first, it didn’t really make sense to me, but when I read it a couple more times, it got more clearer. You uesd an article that was about a really important issue. Good job!
68 acex2inurface // Jan 23, 2007 at 8:57 pm

This comment is for coolchic:

I really liked your article! It was different from the others because it was not that serious. I’ve heard about giraffes tongue and a chameleons tongue, but never about a bat. I learned something very interesting and new. Thanks!
69 acex2inurface // Jan 23, 2007 at 9:02 pm

This comment is for kenny24:

I really liked your article because it had facts about mad cow disease that i never knew about. I knew that Japan banned beef (because I was there when that happened) but I never knew that the farmers fed…yea you know what I mean. Your article was written really well. Nice job!