Here is a list of the month, birthstone, and the picture! Thank you!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Birthstones
In gemstone of the week for sapphires, I mentioned sapphire was my birthstone. Well, just to tell you, we all have birthstones. A birthstone is a gift of a precious material, mainly a gemstone, that symbolizes the month of birth. There are different types of birthstones: traditional birthstones, modern birthstones, mystical birthstones, and ayurvedic birthstones. Traditional birthstones are older society-based birthstones. Back then, many different cultures had their own lists for birthstones. Mystical birthstones are of Tibetan origin and date back over a thousand years. Just to let you know, Tibet is from China. Ayurvedic birthstones are from the ancient Indian medicine and philosophy. Modern birthstones only contains one list, because Jewelers of America officially made a list. It is the most used list in the world. India and Babylon's early civilizations considered gemstones magical, and assigned gems of certain colors to the twelve signs of zodiac to help influence the planets in their favor.
Here is a list of the month, birthstone, and the picture! Thank you!
January: Garnet
February: Amethyst
March: Aquamarine
April: Diamond
May: Emerald
June: Pearl
July: Ruby
August: Peridot
September: Sapphire
October: Opal
November: Topaz
December: Turquoise
Here is a list of the month, birthstone, and the picture! Thank you!
Gemstone of the Week
The gemstone of the week is...... sapphire! Previously, the gemstone of the week was opal, and now we are going to be talking about sapphire. Sapphire is a gemstone containing mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide, when it is a color other than red. The most common types of sapphire are blue and yellow. Any other color like red would be a ruby, or a different gemstone. What makes this gemstone a different color is the mixture of different types of elements and minerals. Iron, titanium, or chromium can make it pink, purple, orange, or other colors. The rare variety of sapphire is a pink-orange sapphire called padparadscha. Sapphire can be found in large crystal boules. It is rare and expensive, which is perfect for jewelry. It is mined in many places in the world, such as Sri Lanka and Madagascar. The amazing scientific thing about sapphire is that since it is so hard, it is used in many applications. It is used in infrared optical components, watch crystals, high-durability window, and wafers for the deposition of thin films of semiconductors. Who knew a gemstone can be so convenient and useful! The cost of many gemstones is depending on how big they are, but sapphires are different. The cost for sapphires depends on the color, clarity, size, cut, and geographic origin. By geographic origin I mean where it was mined or found. Here is a list of where important sapphire deposits are found: Eastern Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and in the Missouri River near Helena, Montana. Sapphire can be any color but red, the color of a ruby, but they are both found in the same areas most often. I collect gemstones, and have a rare type. I have a mixture of sapphire and ruby, but in the same stone! It is from Madagascar. Sapphire is a great stone for me because it is my birthstone. I hope I can learn more about it, and I hope you enjoyed reading! Thank you!
-Matthew
-Matthew
Ancient Parrot Fossils Found in Scandanavia
Palaeontologists have discovered fossil remains in Scandinavia of parrots dating back 55 million years. Reported May 14 in the journal Palaeontology, the fossils indicate that parrots once flew wild over what is now Norway and Denmark.
Parrots today live only in the tropics and southern hemisphere, but this new research suggests that they first evolved in the North, much earlier than had been thought.
The fossil parrot was discovered on the Isle of Mors in the northwest of Denmark – far from where you’d normally expect to find a parrot. It’s a new species, officially named 'Mopsitta tanta'. However, already its nick-name is the ‘Danish Blue Parrot’, a term derived from a famous comedy sketch about a 'Norwegian Blue Parrot' in the 1970s BBC television programme ‘Monty Python’.
The Scandinavian connection makes links to Monty Python’s notoriously demised bird irresistible, but the parallels go further. The famous sketch revolves around establishing that a bird purchased by John Cleese is a dead parrot, and in dealing with these fossils, palaeontologists were faced with the same problem.
As Dr David Waterhouse, lead author of the paper, explains: “Obviously, we are dealing with a bird that is bereft of life, but the tricky bit is establishing that it was a parrot. As with many fragile bird fossils, it is a wonder that anything remains at all, and all that remains of this early Danish parrot is a single upper wing bone (humerus). But, this small bone contains characteristic features that show that it is clearly from a member of the parrot family, about the size of a Yellow-crested Cockatoo.”
Dr David Waterhouse was funded by a UCD postgraduate scholarship from 2002 to 2006. He is currently Assistant Curator of Natural History at Norfolk Museums Service. Dr Bent Lindow was an IRCSET ‘Basic Research Grant’ scholar at UCD and the University of Copenhagen from 2004 to 2007. He is currently postdoctoral researcher in palaeontology at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
At around 55 million years old, this is very much an ex-parrot. Indeed, Mopsitta represents the oldest and most northerly convincing remains of a parrot ever to have been discovered.
Waterhouse continues: “It isn’t as unbelievable as you might at first think that a parrot was found so far north. When Mopsitta was alive, most of Northern Europe was experiencing a warm period, with a large shallow tropical lagoon covering much of Germany, South East England and Denmark. We have to remember that this was only 10 million years after the dinosaurs were wiped out, and some strange things were happening with animal life all over the planet.”
“No Southern Hemisphere fossil parrot has been found older than about 15 million years old, so this new evidence suggests that parrots evolved right here in the Northern Hemisphere before diversifying further South in the tropics later on.”
So was Danish Mopsitta “pinin’ for the fjords”? “It’s a lovely image,” says Waterhouse, “but we can say with certainty that it was not. This parrot shuffled off its mortal coil around 55 million years ago, but the fjords of Norway were formed during the last ice age and are less than a million years old.”
This research was supported by the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) and University College Dublin (UCD).
-Blake
Parrots today live only in the tropics and southern hemisphere, but this new research suggests that they first evolved in the North, much earlier than had been thought.
The fossil parrot was discovered on the Isle of Mors in the northwest of Denmark – far from where you’d normally expect to find a parrot. It’s a new species, officially named 'Mopsitta tanta'. However, already its nick-name is the ‘Danish Blue Parrot’, a term derived from a famous comedy sketch about a 'Norwegian Blue Parrot' in the 1970s BBC television programme ‘Monty Python’.
The Scandinavian connection makes links to Monty Python’s notoriously demised bird irresistible, but the parallels go further. The famous sketch revolves around establishing that a bird purchased by John Cleese is a dead parrot, and in dealing with these fossils, palaeontologists were faced with the same problem.
As Dr David Waterhouse, lead author of the paper, explains: “Obviously, we are dealing with a bird that is bereft of life, but the tricky bit is establishing that it was a parrot. As with many fragile bird fossils, it is a wonder that anything remains at all, and all that remains of this early Danish parrot is a single upper wing bone (humerus). But, this small bone contains characteristic features that show that it is clearly from a member of the parrot family, about the size of a Yellow-crested Cockatoo.”
Dr David Waterhouse was funded by a UCD postgraduate scholarship from 2002 to 2006. He is currently Assistant Curator of Natural History at Norfolk Museums Service. Dr Bent Lindow was an IRCSET ‘Basic Research Grant’ scholar at UCD and the University of Copenhagen from 2004 to 2007. He is currently postdoctoral researcher in palaeontology at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
At around 55 million years old, this is very much an ex-parrot. Indeed, Mopsitta represents the oldest and most northerly convincing remains of a parrot ever to have been discovered.
Waterhouse continues: “It isn’t as unbelievable as you might at first think that a parrot was found so far north. When Mopsitta was alive, most of Northern Europe was experiencing a warm period, with a large shallow tropical lagoon covering much of Germany, South East England and Denmark. We have to remember that this was only 10 million years after the dinosaurs were wiped out, and some strange things were happening with animal life all over the planet.”
“No Southern Hemisphere fossil parrot has been found older than about 15 million years old, so this new evidence suggests that parrots evolved right here in the Northern Hemisphere before diversifying further South in the tropics later on.”
So was Danish Mopsitta “pinin’ for the fjords”? “It’s a lovely image,” says Waterhouse, “but we can say with certainty that it was not. This parrot shuffled off its mortal coil around 55 million years ago, but the fjords of Norway were formed during the last ice age and are less than a million years old.”
-Blake
Parrots!!!
A parrot is a bird belonging to the family Psittacidae.
Parrots have a characteristic curved beak shape with the upper mandible having slight mobility in the joint with the skull and a generally erect stance.
All parrots are zygodactyl, having the four toes on each foot placed two at the front and two back.
Cockatoos are types of parrots, as are parakeets. They are wonderful pets that come at a price: they poop a LOT.
-Blake
Cockatoos!!
A cockatoo is any of the 21 bird species belonging to the family Cacatuidae.
Along with the Psittacidae family (the true parrots), they make up the order Psittaciformes.
Cockatoos share many features with other parrots including the characteristic curved beak shape and a zygodactyl foot, with two forward toes and two backwards toes. Many people take these wonderful little birds in as pets, training them to be good house animals. Just remember: avoid the guard bird.
-Blake
Along with the Psittacidae family (the true parrots), they make up the order Psittaciformes.
Cockatoos share many features with other parrots including the characteristic curved beak shape and a zygodactyl foot, with two forward toes and two backwards toes. Many people take these wonderful little birds in as pets, training them to be good house animals. Just remember: avoid the guard bird.
-Blake
Friday, March 26, 2010
A Really Big Bird: The EMU
The Emu is the largest bird native to Australia and, after the Ostrich, the second-largest bird that survives today. Like all birds in the Ratite group, it is flightless, although unlike some it does have tiny wings hidden under the feathers. This is an extremely elite and beautiful bird that can easily captivate anyone that sees it and its beauty. I just have one question: can I ride them?
-Blake
-Blake
Quartz Crystals
It belongs to the hexagonal crystal system, and is made up of silica (SiO2) tetrahedra.
Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale.
Density is 2.65 g/cm³.
The typical shape is a six-sided prism that ends in six-sided pyramids, although these are often twinned, distorted, or so massive that only part of the shape is apparent from a mined specimen.
Additionally a bed is a common form, particularly for varieties such as amethyst, where the crystals grow up from a matrix and thus only one termination pyramid is present.
A quartz geode consists of a hollow rock (usually with an approximately spherical shape) with a core lined with a bed of crystals...
-Blake
Petrified Wood
Petrified wood is a type of fossil: it exists of fossil wood where all the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (most often a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the wood. The petrifaction process has occurred underground, when wood became buried under sediment...
Growth Rings
Growth rings (or "tree rings" or "annular rings") can be seen in a horizontal cross section cut through the trunk of a tree. Visible rings result from the change in growth speed through the seasons of the year, thus one ring usually marks the passage of one year in the life of the tree...
-Blake
-Blake
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The flying squirrels are a tribe of squirrel...
There are 43 species in this tribe, the largest of which is the woolly flying squirrel.
The term "flying" is somewhat of a misnomer, since flying squirrels are actually gliders incapable of true flight.
Gliding is achieved by this animal by launching off the tops of trees and extending flaps of skin stretched from arms to legs: once they have launched themselves into the air they are highly manuverable while in flight.
Steering is accomplished by adjusting tautness of the patagium, largely controlled by a small cartilaginous wrist bone.
The tail acts as a stabilizer in flight, much like the tail of a kite, and as an adjunct aerofoil when "braking" prior to landing on a tree trunk...
The term "flying" is somewhat of a misnomer, since flying squirrels are actually gliders incapable of true flight.
Gliding is achieved by this animal by launching off the tops of trees and extending flaps of skin stretched from arms to legs: once they have launched themselves into the air they are highly manuverable while in flight.
Steering is accomplished by adjusting tautness of the patagium, largely controlled by a small cartilaginous wrist bone.
The tail acts as a stabilizer in flight, much like the tail of a kite, and as an adjunct aerofoil when "braking" prior to landing on a tree trunk...
The study of Mesozoic birds and the dinosaur-bird transition is one of the most exciting and vigorous fields in vertebrate paleontology today. A newly described bird from the Jehol Biota of northeast China suggests that scientists have only tapped a small proportion of the birds and dinosaurs that were living at that time, and that the rocks still have many secrets to reveal.
"The study of Mesozoic birds is currently one of the most exciting fields; new discoveries continue to drastically change how we view them," said Jingmai O'Connor, lead author of the study. The article appeared in the March issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The new bird, named "Longicrusavis houi," belongs to a group of birds known as ornithuromorphs (Ornithuromorpha), which are rare in rocks of this age. Ornithuromorphs are more closely related to modern birds than are most of the other birds from the Jehol Biota.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc59NDoUzahQpX93m08VxCxiuKOmWZsMG0bhI4Z9PaM4udlQOaA8fevJ6cbsAUDhGRAdAJNBKyZMeNB1sWalmc2FTqQ7K31W1vJNvYnAp_rhZ0X3NbPqixpubnx2NLfgYNJY6QXbVmMti1/s400/Avian_Archaeopteryx_03_10.jpg
"The study of Mesozoic birds is currently one of the most exciting fields; new discoveries continue to drastically change how we view them," said Jingmai O'Connor, lead author of the study. The article appeared in the March issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The new bird, named "Longicrusavis houi," belongs to a group of birds known as ornithuromorphs (Ornithuromorpha), which are rare in rocks of this age. Ornithuromorphs are more closely related to modern birds than are most of the other birds from the Jehol Biota.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc59NDoUzahQpX93m08VxCxiuKOmWZsMG0bhI4Z9PaM4udlQOaA8fevJ6cbsAUDhGRAdAJNBKyZMeNB1sWalmc2FTqQ7K31W1vJNvYnAp_rhZ0X3NbPqixpubnx2NLfgYNJY6QXbVmMti1/s400/Avian_Archaeopteryx_03_10.jpg
Scorpions: Are their habits reversible?
Blind scorpions that live in the stygian depths of caves are throwing light on a long-held assumption that specialized adaptations are irreversible evolutionary dead-ends. According to a new phylogenetic analysis of the family Typhlochactidae, scorpions currently living closer to the surface (under stones and in leaf litter) evolved independently on more than one occasion from ancestors adapted to life further below the surface (in caves).
-Blake
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flight-international/scorpion.gif
-Blake
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flight-international/scorpion.gif
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Thank You!!!
This is Matthew saying thank you to my whole team for putting effort into their work, and covering each other when they are gone! We love our new team, and I also want to thank Mrs. B for putting her effort into her work for helping us have a great time and learn in science! I lastly want to thank everyone in the grade for working their hardest, and for giving nice comments to other peoples' blogs. Good luck for everyone!!!
A Threat to the Environment!
Hey, it's Matthew with the news! Anyways, I am in Ms. Webber's class, and all of us read persuasive articles every day. One of the persuasive articles is about a snake becoming a threat to the Florida Everglades National Park. It may be strange, but there has been a thriving population of native snakes named Burmese pythons in the South lately. The explanation is that pet owners have been throwing these snakes here when they don't want them anymore! This has caused a big problem. The beautiful scattered wildlife of the Florida Everglades National Park is now full of approximately 2,000 deadly snakes, and growing. The problem is, they are moving north! This is a bit frightening, and government scientists say that in 100 years or so the snakes could be all around North America, and could even become a common species! Snake lovers will change their mind when they realize these snakes can grow to about 20 ft long! Surprisingly, this is longer than a boa constrictor! But, the Burmese python can live in a tropical and harsh terrain, or cooler weather. Also this snake has no natural predators. This is the interesting thing. They've been known to eat leopards, alligators, porcupines, antelope and jackals! This has been the interesting, yet frightening, news of the week! Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story!
This week in science
This week in science I was more of the tech guy. I did a lot of the saving to the folder thing and resetting everyone's computer. I did learn that being a helpful and caring person is a good thing.Google Earth doesn't have to be for projects it can be for fun too. For the coastal erosion project we did was to see if we could do something about making a house stable on a cliff and not let the waves collapse the house onto the shoreline. The house also had to look really nice to sell so the Little Smarties found the perfect house and it looks beautiful. The cliff underneath was 3/4ths of the way from where it started on the edge of where the waves come up to crash down. If the house collapsed while the new owner was inside sleeping, he would have evaporated into the ocean. I really enjoyed the project, although all my work got deleted. So I didn't get to post.
-Tyler
-Tyler
Coastal Erosion
Hey, it's Matthew, and I just want to say thank you to Mrs. B for booting up Google Earth for us to do the coastal erosion project. As you all know, we had to pick an area where we liked and thought had some coastal erosion issues. Ours was Hanover, Jamaica. If you researched about Jamaica's erosion issues, it would seem very harsh. There is so much erosion that people may have to move to higher altitude! This is because Jamaica lies on a hurricane belt, which means they get a lot of storms. If you want to see more information, go to this link, and it will tell you a little bit about the coasts of Jamaica. Just read the coasts section.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Jamaica
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Jamaica
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Gemstone of the Week
Hey, this is Matthew with gemstone of the! week! I used to be on C.S.M. and came up with this idea, but never really got to use it. To start it off, I am going to be talking about opal. The ancient Romans used opal as a symbol of power, but it is considered to be unlucky! This is because of King Louis XIV. He rode in a fancy carriage, and one of the drivers' names was Opal. Opal always was drunk driving. He got the king in trouble, and is one of the reasons why the French rebelled. The Aztecs mined it in Central America, and is the best source for fire opal. The cool thing about opals is that they have a large uniqueness and interest. Fire opal is famous because it has intricate patterns on it that dazzle you. The cool thing is that when you move the fire opal around, you can actually see flashes of red on it! I collect gemstones myself, and have to say that this type of opal is beautiful! You all know from learning in science that opal is probably the softest gemstone. The other unique thing is that opals are one of the noncrystalline gems. It has a tendency to crack and chip, and this can occur under extreme temperature changes! Opal is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock! Pretty cool, huh! Some rocks are limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt. There are other types of opals too, such as white and black opals, found in Australia. The lightning ridge opal is my favorite, and is found in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. It is considered the finest black opal, and its dark body color and amazing detail make it finer than white opals. This is the gemstone of the week! Thanks for reading! GO SMARTIES!!!
-Matthew
-Matthew
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Life
On March 21,2010, the astounding new television show, Life, premiered on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, etc. This highly awaited television show blessed men, women, and children everywhere with its amazing photography, footage, and Oprah Winfrey's scientific explanations to the strange ways of many animals on this planet of ours.
The first episode broad-casted was the episode on reptiles and amphibians, displaying up close and personal looks on komodo dragons, basilisk lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, and other creatures portraying themselves in ways never before video-taped.
If you love anything living, or enjoy watching and learning new things, this show is absolutely perfect for you.
-Blake
The first episode broad-casted was the episode on reptiles and amphibians, displaying up close and personal looks on komodo dragons, basilisk lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, and other creatures portraying themselves in ways never before video-taped.
If you love anything living, or enjoy watching and learning new things, this show is absolutely perfect for you.
-Blake
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Ipads are coming, the ipads are coming!
Apple has announced that the new and obviously very amazing ipad is coming out on April 3, 2010. That date is coming up.
Apple has put a lot of time and money into this amazing machine. It features 150,000 apps and counting, full access to the internet, a built in ipod, and many other things. They start at $500, and range all the way to $830. A lot of buzz is going around about them, and many are pre-ordering them to get their hands on them. The question remains: what is going to come next from the apple company?
-Blake
Apple has put a lot of time and money into this amazing machine. It features 150,000 apps and counting, full access to the internet, a built in ipod, and many other things. They start at $500, and range all the way to $830. A lot of buzz is going around about them, and many are pre-ordering them to get their hands on them. The question remains: what is going to come next from the apple company?
-Blake
Monday, March 15, 2010
El Nino
This year there was an El Nino and that's what caused all the rain. I enjoy the first few days but after I didn't like staying in doors for lunch and things like that. El Nino is good for the plants and crops to grow although it could flood rivers, and flood the crops out. El Nino can be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing.
It got really cold after when it started to clear up and get blue again. I am happy that spring is coming and longer days.
-Tyler
-Tyler
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