Mrs. Remis' Science Blog - 5th Grade: August 2013

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Diamondback, Big Bend National Park

Photograph by Fred LaBounty, My Shot

I carry snake tongs when I travel to Big Bend National Park to move snakes from the warm roadways in the mornings so they won't be run over. I came across this diamondback near Panther Junction. He went on the defensive as soon as I exited my truck. I didn't want to pass up the photo op and photographed him. I then moved him into the underbrush about 30 feet from the roadway.

Identifying Features

The Western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) is a heavy bodied snake with a triangular shaped head. There are two dark diagonal lines on each side of its face running from the eyes to its jaws. It has dark diamond-shaped patterns along is back. The tail has black and white bands just above the rattles.

Extra Fun-facts

The rattle of the rattlesnake is made up of a protein called keratin (the same protein that your hair and fingernails are made of). A new segment is added each time a rattlesnake sheds, but they can shed at different rates. Because of this, and the fact that segments can break off, you really can't tell a snakes age by counting the segments.

A rattlesnake can move its rattle back and forth 60 or more times per second.

Rattlesnakes give birth live, and can have up to 25 babies (called 'neonates') in a brood.

Full grown rattlesnakes can range from 3 to 7 feet in length.

The average rattlesnake can live 15 to 20 years.

A rattlesnake can move the rattle on its tail back and forth 20-100 times in just one second.

Rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous, which means that they produce eggs but the eggs hatch in the mothers body, and therefore result in live birth of the young.

The rattlesnake’s signature “rattle” is formed from the hardened remnants of the snake’s shed skin. The rattle grows segment by segment, adding a section with every year’s molt.

The rattlesnake can survive 2 years without eating.

Rattlesnakes give birth around the beginning of the fall season.

Predators of rattlesnakes include roadrunners, large birds, coyotes, and kingsnakes. Other animals who see these snakes as a threat and may try to trample them include cows, horses, antelope, and deer

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LAB EQUIPMENT REVIEW & VOCAB TERMS

After doing the activities below add to your 3 x 5 cards:
On one side draw the an apparatus and label by name;
on the other side give 1 use or example of the apparatus.

LAB EQUIPMENT VOCAB TERMS DUE: 9/10

LAB EQUIPMENT QUIZ - 9/13, Friday

Matching Vocab Terms

Interactive Flash Cards Vocab Terms

REVIEW OF LAB EQUIPMENT

Interactive Lab Equipment

Common Laboratory Apparatus

	1.Test Tube 2.Test Tube Rack		Test Tube Holder
	Reagent Bottle		Beaker
	Bunsen Burner		Stand and Clamp
	Crucible		Measuring Cylinder
	Dropper		Electronic Balance
	Evaporating Dish		Filter Funnel
	Flat Bottomed Flask		Safety Glasses
	Mortar and Pestle (used for grinding paste or powder)		Round Bottomed Flask
	Spatula		Tripod
	Plastic Wash Bottle		Wire Gauze
	Triple Beam Balance

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

METRIC SYSTEM - HANDOUTS

MEASURING LENGTH IN CM & MM
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RtDpuHaBRldwE-V0AYxAwmErzixBOflOCwt6DS1BKZg/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z0dAPv_A28ZdkTiFS1KyveGw8xVLLNXJFpbhYmSdR3s/edit#

METRIC SYSTEM VOCAB TERMS & DEFINITIONS
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I_kVDSOax5z89l_I0ydXfNuzuCgMi3u7GPUf1KC13Jw/edit

SCIENCE NEWS - BONOBO #5

The bonobo, once called the pygmy chimpanzee, is a unique species of ape, native only to forests on the left bank of the Congo River.

The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth and movement, though commercial poaching is the most prominent threat. It typically lives 40 years in captivity, though its lifespan in the wild is unknown.

Where is the Congo River?

What is Endangered Species List?

Poaching is good for Bonobo? True or False