Some people may think that there is nothing to be found in Antarctica, but there really are things that have been discovered. There were fossils discovered in Antarctica and they were fossils of temperate climate plant fossils. Since Antarctica is pretty much deserted, how did those fossils end up there? Well, I don't have a correct answer, but I assume that fossils were found in Antarctica because Earth's plates. 
          When Earth was forming, all the plates were together and they were a one huge plate. But after many years of forming, separate plates started forming. I think that the fossils that were found in Antarctica were once somewhere sunny or somewhere with plants, but then it got moved away from the environment and separated into its own plate. 

Quizlet is a website used to create online vocabulary flash cards. The cool thing about it is that we could study them online. There are different games that involve matching and memorizing the definitions of the words. Quizlet is very helpful for me. It helps me remember the words better, and it makes studying words more interesting rather than studying it on a piece of paper. There was this one time where I didn't remember much of the science vocabulary. The next day was the test, and it had all these vocabulary words. I turned to Quizlet, and I studied non-stop. I reviewed the flashcards, and I played the games. When I took the test the next day, I felt confident about the vocabulary because I knew that I remembered all of it very well. 
          I think this way of studying is very helpful. It's not that difficult to create either. It involves technology and most kids today have all kinds of technology devices. The games are also helpful too because they test you to see if you could match it with its definition. I wouldn't mind using this studying technique again in 8th grade. Quizlet is an easy and cool way to study almost anything (mostly vocabulary words). 

Who was Charles Darwin? Charles Darwin developed the theory of natural selection and evolution. He did this because he was on a voyage, traveling around the world on the Beagle. When he traveled around the world, he observed many different animals and came up with different theories about them and how they change over time. His ideas weren't believe when people first heard about it. While Charles was still trying to prove his theories to people, other people came up with theories and ideas too. 

Superposition means that one geological form evolves into an other one. Cross cutting determines whether the relationship to one thing is related to another, and it determines how old or young thins are. The Grand Canyon demonstrates superposition and cross cutting because this place is very old, but new things could also be evolving there. The Grand Canyon demonstrated superposition and cross cutting in many ways.
        The Grand Canyon shows superposition because this place shows that the rocks at the bottom are the oldest, and the ones at the top are the youngest. This shows how it is possible to determine the age of the rocks. Superposition is great for the Grand Canyon because it has formed a long time ago. Cross cutting is apart of the Grand Canyon also because it also shows the age of the rocks there in the Grand Canyon. That is how the Grand Canyon demonstrates superposition and cross cutting. 

      Peppered moths weren't always dark, and they always didn't have those dark "peppered" spots on their body. According to the project we did in science, many people in England thought of different reasons to why  the peppered moths had different body color. The main reasons is because the darkness in the moth is a genetic thing. The moth's offspring will usually have that gene, which is why there are dark spots on the moth. The other reason is from natural selection. Scientists thought the color change of the moths was an example of  natural selection. Natural selection explains how species evolve and change over time. 
        In this case, the moths changed because of pollution. Their natural habitats were being polluted by factories, so they learned to adapt and change to that. The pollution of gas caused the forests to become dark. I think the color of peppered moth will stay the same. It helps them survive in the wild, and nothing has been changed.

     Overpopulation and limited resources can create competition. How can that be you ask? Well, it can created competition because if there are too many people, and the resources are limited to a small amount,  of course it will create competition. Take an animal and it's prey for example. There are probably other animals searching for that same prey, but there are a limited amount of that prey; that creates competition. 
         I think this type of problem can lead to evolution over time. I know that this type of problem can't last for long, because overpopulation ends. People only have one life, and eventually everybody will die. So it makes room for new generations. If it does happen, I think we will be able to adapt to it. Somethings things may run out, but there aren't always limited supplies of it. People will probably just get over it because not everybody likes the same thing. Evolution is an important role in human history. It helped our lives evolve and become something better and newer. This competition of limited resources and overpopulation can lead to evolution over time. 

       You're probably wondering what this project is about; well, here's a blog post all about it! The Paper Pet Family project was something we did in science class to help us understand genotypes and phenotypes better. We had to partner up with our partners for this project. We were the parents, and the six paper pets were our imaginary kids. To determine our genotypes, both of us flipped a coin twice. For example, my genotype was Tt and my partner's genotype was TT. We used that to determine our kids' genotypes. We had to flip the coin twice for every kid. After we determined all the genotypes, it was time to make the kids. The phenotype was based on what we got for the genotype, and there was a table of physical features that had the genotypes. 
         From this project, I learned more about genotypes and how it is transferred from the parents to the offspring. I know it isn't as simple as it was in class, but it gives a pretty good idea on how it's mainly done. This relates to my family and I in many ways. Well, for one, that was how all of us get our physical features. And two, it determines which trait we received the most from our parents, just like the Paper Pets.   

       Do you know what a Punnet Square is? Well, if you don't, here's a blog post all about it! Punnet Squares are used to determine the genotype of the offspring of two parents. In my science classroom, we have done a lot of problems with Punnet Squares. They are not that difficult to understand once you get the hang of it. The first step you need to do when you use a Punnet Square is determine both of the parent's genotype. Once you get that, you put one genotype on top of the square, and one genotype on the side of the square. Then you start to cross and get the genotype of the offspring. 
      One of my science worksheets had to deal with creating Punnet Squares. The problem was given to us and we created a Punnet Square to show our work. For example, one of the problems said, "Bob is homozygous for black hair, and his girlfriend also has black hair but she is heterozygous, what is the chance of them having a baby with black hair?" We would put both of the genotypes on the square and solve for the answer. It would be a 100% chance of have a baby with black hair.

       In science class, we learned how to make a DNA ornament for Christmas. There were a lot of steps to the process, but eventually, it became easier as we kept working on it. The ornament wasn't only perfect for a Christmas tree, but it was also able to make earrings, a necklace, or anything else that you would like. Here are the steps we did when we were making the ornament. 
       The first step we did was picking out the beads and cutting the wire. The phosphates were white and gold, and the paired bases were red, green, blue, and yellow. After that, we started with the first pair. First, we put in the white and gold for the phosphates, then we put one color of the paired bases. We pushed that all the way to the center of the wire. Then we grabbed the wire and inserted that into the other end. We added the phosphate again and other color, but this time it was on the other wire. We kept repeating the process until we had no more beads. Along the way, the wire might get curled up, so you want to avoid that. 
       After inserting all the beads into the wire, we had a bit of wire left on the ends. With that, we put them through the white beads in the phosphates. Once it got to the end, we pulled it down. We repeated that step to the other side. At the end, it was tied up in a knot from Mrs. Poole which created a little hoop. That is how you make an DNA ornament! 

        In the past semester, I have learned and studied for a lot in science. We took about  4-5 major tests that were worth many points, and I studied really hard. On all those tests, I got at least an A-. The way I did that was because I studied. It wasn't easy studying, though. There were some topics that I understood very well, and there were some that I had problems with. The one topic I had the most trouble with was studying for DNA. There was a lot to learn about DNA and I couldn't remember all of it in a short period of time.
       DNA has a lot of information to it. I studied what its made of, what it does, who discovered it, what it looks like, how it duplicates, etc. It was frustrating for me to know and study all of that because it was long and annoying. But I knew that if I tried harder, it would pay off. So I did. I studied for about 2-3 hours everyday until the test came. And on that test I got a 95%. I think my strategy worked well for me because I achieved my goal, which was to pass that test.