Zebrafish

 Michael - Zebrafish live in a river in india. And zebrafish are transparent. They live in India where there is freshwater. Scientists study zebrafish because they are transparent.  Zebrafish is 2.5cm to 4cm long. In its larval stages it is transparent and as it matures to an adult it develops stripes that run along the length of the body and look blue in colour. The zebrafish are called embryos; the egg has three layers: The single cell. The yolk and the protective membrane. And it takes 3 or 4 days for the egg to hatch and the zebrafish lifespan is 2 to 7 years. After scientists breed about a hundred or thousands of zebrafishes killed them and looked at them under a microscope to study them. E.g cutting the head off the body, sagittal means cutting in half and vertically E.g cutting the left side away from the right side. Different types of dye to see different body parts like the eyes then the scientist do pictures.

early human evoulation

 The evolution of humans can be easily seen through their Latin translations; Hominins (man), Homo Habilis (able/handy man), Homo erectus (standing man), Homo neanderthalensis and Homo Sapien (wise man). Over millions of years these creatures changed and developed. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how we got to be the modern humans we are today.

Written by Miss Ashley

Theory of evolution

Charles Darwin’s ‘theory of evolution’ was made famous in 1859 when he published his book called ‘The Origin of Species’. In this book, he talked about the idea that all living things originated from one common ancestor and evolved over millions and millions of years. He also introduced the idea of ‘natural selection’. Natural selection means that animals/organisms with desirable traits (E.g. things about them that helped them to survive, like their size, camouflage, long neck, etc) would survive and pass their traits onto their children. The ones with undesirable traits (e.g. too small, too slow, couldn’t hide, couldn’t fight back) were eaten and their traits were not passed on. His ideas were accepted by scientists around the world as he had been studying different species around the world for decades. 

Written by Miss Ashley

First land organisms

The first organisms to venture onto land (apart from plants) was around 30 million years Ago. A fish called coelacanth was one of the first to venture onto land - into a shallow marine environment. Scientists think it was either looking for food, avoiding predators or laying eggs in the shallow waters. It had to develop a stronger rib cage in order to support its body weight out of water (as in water all things are more buoyant). Over time, they also evolved lungs so they could breathe, and their fins became more boney and became strong legs which helped them move.  Years after the first amphibian-like animals came along the first one had fins and years after it had half fins and legs after a lot more years it has all legs.

Written by Eh Htoo Wah, supported by Miss Ashley

Hominins

Hominins are the earliest version of a human that we know of. For about 6 to 5 million years ago hominids/ancestors have been known to live on planet earth located in Africa. They were around 130cm tall and weighed about 35kg. Hominins used to draw things in caves.  They eat hard items or food such as seeds and nuts. Hominins are closely related to humans or homosapin. And the first hominins that step foot on Africa or New Zealand 3 million years ago. And the olds hominins live for 5.8 million year. They were bipedal. They had grasp too. And they have family. Hominins evolved and turned into a human. 

Written by Mariah/Railey

 

Homo Habilis

Homo Habilis lived 2 million years ago. The person the first discovered homo habilis was Mark Leakly. Homo Habilis were flexible and versatile. They were also to eat tough food like leaves and woody plants and they also eat meat by scavenging from animal carcasses. Homo Habilis were the first kind of human to make/use tools. Their family is Hominidae and live in small groups. Homo Habilis inhabited parts of Sub Saharan Africa from roughly 2.4 to 1.5 million years ago. They also have several teeth in the lower jaw and have bipedal with no grasping feet; limiting them to a life on the ground. They are the most ancient representative of the human genus and their brain ranged in size from 550 cm cubed to 687 cm cubed. The tools made by Homo Habilis were made from volcanic rock cobbles. 

Written by Hope

Homo erectus

Homo erectus had Larger brains then the homohabilis. They were the first to leave Africa around 1.5 million years ago, then the homo erectus went into Europe/Asia. Their hands used to look like a foot but then it changed into a hand, then they had Dexterous Fingers which means they can use them. Homo erectus is a Bipedal which means they stand on two long legs. By 800,000 years ago, they used fire to cook food. Homo erectus ate meat and crisp root vegetables, they ate small animals and ate animals many times larger than their own body size, such as elephants, rhinos, buffalo, and giraffes, whereas chimpanzees. Homo erectus is an extinct species of archaic humans from the pleistocene. Homo erectus Height is 1.4 to 1.8m. Their brain size is 550-1,250 cm. They weigh about 41 kg to 65 kg. The homo erectus fossils are found in Africa, Asia and perhaps Europe. Their appearance is human-like body proportions and upright stance, a protruding brow ridge, large face and no chin. 

Written by Michael and Davlyn

Homo neanderthalensis

Homo neanderthalensis lived in southern Europe and Asia. They are commonly called Neanderthals, named after a region in Germany where fossils were found. They existed around 1,000,000 years ago and are often depicted hunting ice age animals such as mammoths. Their height was around 1.7m.  Neanderthals lived alongside early modern humans for at least part of their existence. They had large front teeth; scientists think they used these like a third hand when preparing food and other materials. They lived peacefully and had children with other types of humans. Homo neanderthalensis looked after their sick and buried their dead. They were mammals. Neanderthals could make their own spears and flint handaxes. They used their tools to kill large mammals and eat them. Their skulls were like the same size as homo sapiens; they had a large nose, strong brow bridge. Scientists think that their stocky bodies and wide open nostrils helped them survive colder climates. 

Written by Wesley

Homo sapiens 

Homo sapiens is the scientific name for modern humans. It is the only extant homo species (not extinct). Homo sapiens first migrated from Africa 70-50,000 years ago and lived in Southern Asia and Europe. Males were around 1.7m tall and females around 1.6m tall. They ate meat gathered by killing animals, plants and fungi. They lived at the same time as some Neanderthals, and lived peacefully alongside them, even interbreeding with them. Some modern humans have upto 2% Neanderthal DNA in them.

Ideas and draft by Saia, Kymani and Nitika, rewritten by Miss Ashley.

Over time, humans grew bigger and taller, travelled across continents, learnt to make and use tools/weapons, learnt to cook food, and grew bigger brains.

Graph

timeline

How do animals evolve

THE FRAGILE WEB

THE FRAGILE WEB

Transcript from YouTube: Amazing circle of Life - The Fragile Web

Life first emerged in the oceans nearly three and a half billion years ago. Water, air, light and energy - these are the elements that made life possible.  About 425 million years ago life began moving from sea to land.  Vegetation covered the earth.   Over millions of years an amazing variety of habitats and ecosystems developed. This enabled the diversity of life forms to proliferate on our planet.  From tiny microbes invisible to the eye to enormous giants of the oceans, the richness and variety of life is astounding. Because of the diverse climates and landscapes, different species evolved to survive and thrive in different habitats.

In spite of diverse ecosystems, the earth is a unified pulsating living system in which all beings are connected together. For millions of years species have evolved - as allies, adversaries and enemies… developing strategies to adapt, survive and reproduce.  Breeding time and behaviour and even the number of offspring produced is all part of nature’s intricate design. Top predators like lions and tigers produce only two or three offspring every few years. Having no predators above them, their survival is  ensured. Species lower in the food chain breed more often and produce more babies. The higher number ensure the survival of at least a few. The majority become food resource for other species.

Every species and life form has been designed with a specific purpose and plays a crucial role  in maintaining a healthy and vibrant ecosystem. Even the tiny bee is as important as the tiger and vital for the survival of all other life forms on earth, including man. If the bee and other pollinators disappear, the tiger will vanish within a year. Man will disappear in three years and all other life on earth will soon follow.

In the mindless race for progress, man is creating a new world, transforming the whole planet as he plunders it. We have ravaged our forests, polluted our water systems, poisoned our air, altered our environment, impacting climate and pushing thousands of species to the brink of extinction and beyond. Almost 300 species are disappearing each day.  Mankind may have triggered the next mass extinction. Our planet has never before witnessed an extinction of this speed and magnitude. Never before has just one species been responsible for the destruction of so many others. According to scientists, within the next 30 years, one-fifth of all living species could go extinct. Species that have evolved over millions of years will vanish in a few decades. A global  tragedy is unfolding right before our eyes.

Extinction is an irreversible process. Species that go extinct will be lost forever, never to return.  A once vibrant living planet has been plundered and destroyed.  In our haste we have forgotten that we are not the supreme commanders of the earth but only a strand in the delicate web of life.  Our own survival and evolution depends on learning to share this planet with other creatures that have been here millions of years before us.  

If mankind is the cause, it can also be the solution. Just as we have the ability damage and destroy, we also have within us the ability to protect and conserve and learn from our mistakes and once again learn to live in harmony with nature. The future of this fragile planet, our home, is in our hands.

Transcript from YouTube: Amazing circle of Life - The Fragile Web

 

study of animal

adaptions

 

early humans

Amazing circle of Life - The Fragile Web

 Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HURyGlOksR0&t=87s

Link to transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-hqNC56zU5g-UzfefWU8_I3m7qyjNWjDviqw5IqFcbY/edit?usp=sharing

Words from transcript:

•  Vegetation -All plants
• Proliferate - spread
• Enabled - allowed, afforded
• Microbes - teeny tiny organisms like bacteria
•  Adversaries - enemies, foes. 
•  Majority - the biggest section
•  Irrevsible - can’t go back, can’t undo it.
• Pulsating - vibrating, moving, alive.
• Eco systems - a group of organisms that live together and rely on each other for survival
• Pollinators - animals that spread pollen, like bees.
• Magnitude - importance
• Breeding - making babies 
•  Ensured - make sure. 100% gonna happen.
• 
  

Summary of ideas: 

Paragraph one -  organisms/living things came out of the water. Life emerged from the ocean nearly 3 and a half billion years ago.The Earth was covered in plants (vegetation). Different species of animals/organisms evolved over millions of years in different habitats. 

Paragraph two - Animals that are predators have less babies, less often, (E.g. humans mostly have one baby at a time) because they will survive. Animals that are prey, have more babies/eggs, more often, because their babies/eggs will get eaten by predators. For example, glow worms lay eggs in batches of  30. When the first egg hatches, that worm eats its siblings as its first food source.

Paragraph three - Animals live in ecosystems, which is like a web or team where all the organisms rely on each other to survive. Some animals eat each other  (predator and prey), some trees are homes for animals, some fungi rot the leaves that fall from trees and feed nutrients back into the ground.

Paragraph four - Humans are destroying the planet through pollution, cutting down trees (deforestation) and putting bad gases into the air. We will have lots of animals/species either by killing them or destroying their habitats. Scientists predict that within 30 years, ⅕ of all species on Earth will be extinct.

Paragraph five/six  - In a rush to improve our own lives, humans have damaged the planet forever. Species that go extinct can never be brought back to life.

Write a Summary

lockdown again

 

reaction of lockdown

 

Room 8 graph

 

Room 8’s graph interpretation

Rosie and Chanel - 15 year olds don’t get bullied as much as Year 9’s.

Kymani and Boston - Year 5’s get physically hurt the most.

Kordell and Saia - Almost 40% of year 5’s and year 9’s were made fun of or called names. 

Eve and Lemeki - Year 9’s are called names equal amount to year 5’s. 

Nitika and Litia - No 15 year olds reported they had been made to do things they don’t want to do. 

Stanley - 15 year olds get bullied the least because they are more mature. 

Mariah - Almost 40% of year 5’s and year 9’s were made fun of or called names BECAUSE their younger. 

Michael and Wesley - Year 5’s get bullied more than Year 9’s or 15 year olds.

Hope and Maria - Only year 9’s reported that they had embarrassing things posted about them online. 

Ana and Senitila -  15 year olds are not being pushed around to do things.

Fereti and Mathew - More year 5’s feel left out of games than Year 9’s and 15 year olds.

Railey and Davlyn - 60% of YEar 5’s reported that they have been bullied in some kind of way.

TRUE OR FALSE?

100% of Year 5’s have been bullied. false

0% of 15 year olds reported they had something embarrassing posted about them online. true

More than 20% of Year 5’s reported having something stolen from them. false

50% of  YEar 9’s have been bullied.true

20% of YEar 9’s reported they have been purposefully left out of games.true

One way to trick you

one way to trick you is not starting the Y Axis at zero.

Another way to trick you is having number that are way to big on Y Axis

Some times they make the data better so the schools take people out.

E.g you wouldn't use a pie chart when showing something that changes overtime

. going against conversation means doing things Not in the normal-E.g  having green to mean stop and red to mean go.