Mr. Syracuse's Class

It's here!

2010-02-20T12:55:00.003-05:00

Finally! The new MisterSyracuse.com is here! not everything works, and it's not all pretty-like yet, but you can get all of our notes for the year! Check back often, as I'll be adding course documents soon. That way, you can just go to the site and download extras if you need them, or catch up if you were absent! Enjoy!

The World's Best Tie Rack!

2010-01-21T07:21:00.003-05:00

So here it is, at long last -- my motorized tie rack! All you do is press a button to move in one direction or the other, and the middle button to stop when you see a tie you like. The light goes on automatically. Enjoy a picture and and a video.

How do you say "2010"?

2010-01-07T10:05:00.003-05:00

Sooooo...we were in the 1900's for a while, about 100 years, actually, and saying "1983" or "1999" seemed pretty easy. You'd say it "Ninteen eighty three" or "nineteen ninty nine." But what do we say now that we're in a new decade? According to several online sources, we need to say "Twenty ten," not "two thousand ten." Think about it...would you say "nineteen hundred and eighty three," or "ninteen eighty three?" Very interesting.

www.twentynot2000.com

Mind games....no, really.

2010-01-04T12:38:00.002-05:00

In class, Mary brought up a game in which one uses one's mind to move a ball through a maze. "Impossible!" we all thought. "Utter rubbish!" Well, she was right! The good people at the Mattel Corporation bring you Mindflex, the first board game to use the power of thought to help you play.

To play, you strap on a silly-looking headset and wirelessly connect it to the base unit. Then, you concentrate harder to raise the ball on a jet of air, or concentrate less to lower it. I've searched around, but they're sold out all over. It'd be really nifty to try! Does this mean we're not far off from turning on the TV by just thinking about it? Can Americans really get lazier? Only time can tell!

Fire!

2009-12-14T10:05:00.006-05:00

We've just completed our Calorimetry lab, in which we tried to determine how much energy was contained in a peanut. The object was to burn the peanut to release its energy, and collect that energy in another substance and changing its temperature. Then using an equation (see below), we could calculate how much energy was there. The equation was

Q = MCΔT

Where Q is the energy in joules (what we were looking for), C is the specific heet of the material collecting the heet (measured in J/g·°C), and ΔT is the change in temerpature of the material. For a list of the specific heets of several materials, go here.

We figured out that the amount of energy in a gram of peanut should be about 23,908.57 J, which, if you check out the flames below, you'll see is quite a bit of energy. Most of our values weren't that high, though, because much of the heat ended up escaping into the environment instead of being trapped in the material.

Soot from a burnt peanut provided Shania with some feline artistic inspiration!

These gentlemen found out that some peanuts required more coaxing to light than others...

We kept the window open to prevent the peantus from setting off the fire alarm. This created a breeze and necessitated some creative sheilding.

Various materials, such as the clay seen here, were used to try and funnel heet to the water for capture. Note the temperature probe used.

Kind of Scary....

2009-12-13T13:15:00.002-05:00

So this is a paper that a second-grader in my Mom's class (she's a teacher aide back in Buffalo) turned in. In case you can't read the answers that he or she wrote, I've transcribed them here:

1. poo

2. pooop

3. poooop

4. poop

5. pooop

6. pooop

7. pooop

8. pooooop

9. pooooooop

10. poooooop

11. pooop

12. pooop

What is going on with this world?!

Tie Rack!

2009-12-03T07:24:00.002-05:00

Ok, so this picture isn't of my tie rack, but it's the same kind. I have better looking ties, though. It's even got a light at the front to illuminate your neckwear on those dark winter mornings.

UNICEF Donation

2009-11-29T11:11:00.003-05:00

Recently, Groton Biology students had the chance to obtain a "Where the Solute Goes the Water Follows (WTSGTWF)" wristband in exchange for a donation in the amount of their choice to UNICEF. The United Nations Infants and Children's Everything Fund (More info here) helps make sure that as many children as possible are given the opportunity to lead full and healthy lives.

In total, Groton's students collected $44.56 in donations. So, Mr. Syracuse will round up to $45.00 and match the student's donations, for a total amount donated of $90.00! Great work for a wonderful cause! If you are still interested in making a donation or getting a wristband, your donation can be added to next year's cause, whatever the classes choose it to be.

Thanksgiving Fun!

2009-11-24T13:09:00.003-05:00

So I know we didn't get any Frivolity this week, but you can make some of your own at your dinner table! Some of these tricks are espically good to share with friends and family around Thanksgiving. Check it out!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/table-tricks

It's from an excellent website called "Steve Spangler Science," and I highly recommend it for fantastic gifts for that science teacher in your life.

The Neck of the Giraffe

2009-11-05T12:43:00.002-05:00

So after we watched a video of two male giraffes fighting (check it out here on youtube), we discussed the fact that the neck of the giraffe is elongated not in order to increase feeding efficiency, but rather to be better equipped to fight. Turns out that giraffes generally spend most of their time feeding at about 60% of their total height. So the long neck of the giraffe did not evolve because of any feeding benefit (after all, it would be easier to elongate the legs), but rather because of the need for males to fight over females or territory. Further, the neck may be subject to sexual selection (females chosing males with longer necks as an indication of health, fitness, etc.) in much the same way that the tail of a peacock is.

If you're interested in checking out a paper I wrote on the subject of the evolution of the giraffe's neck, check this out: Whence the Long Neck?

We went on to discuss the fact that a giraffe must work terribly hard to get blood from its heart to its head, a trip that is often on the order of two meters. If you're really curious about how it happens, check out this paper (that I also wrote!): On the Hemodynamics of Long Necks

Can you think of any other animals where it might be difficult to move blood around? Post a comment if you can!

It was a dark and stormy night...

2009-10-22T21:41:00.003-04:00

You might recognize the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night..." as a classic way to begin a ghost tale, but did you know that it was actually from a real novel? It was called Paul Clifford, and it was written in 1870 by a man named Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. The rest of the opening line goes like this:

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."

It isn't, you might say, a terribly good bit of writing. After all, it's just about what the rain does. So every year, there is a contest to see who can write the worst opening line for a novel. Check out the website here. You can see a list of winners here. Care to write your own? Post it as a comment to this post; better yet, enter it in the Bulwer-Lytton contest!

Sneakers...

2009-10-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

So appearently, though I can't really dress the rest of myself very well, I'm quite good at selecting sneakers. These are the Adidas Attitude. My research tells me that they are availaible in red, as well. I like the blue, personally.

FIELD TRIP!!!

2009-10-14T22:36:00.002-04:00

Well, not really, but wouldn't it be cool if we could go here?

http://www.mikesmaze.com/

It's a corn maze...in the shape of Charles Darwin? What could be more fun!? Check out the website for amazing details.

Science!!

2009-09-28T10:04:00.005-04:00

We've been discussing the structure and properties of various molecules in class. Recall that a molecule is a bunch of atoms all stuck together. To better understand these fascinating beasts, we've been modeling them the old-school way: with wooden models. Check out some of the models and their proud creators:

Markie is very proud of her glucose!

Tyler and his perfect molecule!

You just know glucose is cool now...

It's Elemental!

2009-09-22T07:44:00.003-04:00

So we're embarking on our study of biochemistry. Here are some links to the nifty periodic tables that we looked at in class:

1. A variety of periodic tables. There's a format for every taste!

2. The Periodic Table of Videos! What could be better than a fantastic, fuzzy-headed British man explaining science to you and blowing things up?

3. A picture of every element. A picture is worth a thousand words...or several protons, at least.

and HEY -- If you find another cool periodic table in your wanderings about the interwebs, post the link in a comment on this post! Share the goodness with your fellow students (and teacher!)

ITLAPD!

2009-09-15T12:07:00.002-04:00

It's almost here! This Saturday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Even if you don't feel piratical in general, at least let your inner buccaneer out on this day! Though I can't officially recommend pillaging or plundering, renting a shoulder parrot for the day is good, or get an eye patch! Don't try replacing the steering wheel on your car with a big ship's wheel....the police don't like that....not that I would know. Anyway, you can go to www.talklikeapirate.com for tips on how to celebrate, and even purchase books from the founders of ITLAPD! ARRR!!

Mystery!

2009-09-15T08:03:00.005-04:00

So we've started talking about what makes up good science and bad science (maybe even ugly science...), and we've been doing some experiments to help us along. Here are some pictures of the Spheres-o-Mystery...can you figure out what's going on when we place them in water?

Welcome Back!

2009-09-15T07:51:00.002-04:00

Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had an excellent summer and are enjoying the beginnings of summer. I haven't posted in a while, but I did a lot of work over the summer. I worked in a lab at Cornell University over the summer for six weeks with Mrs. Portnoff, who will be joining us at the end of September. The research that we did focused on how proteins interact with each other. Check out our classroom for a poster detailing the work that we did. Or...check out the version that I've linked to here.

Re-Bops!

2009-05-26T08:02:00.006-04:00

So in genetics, we've been talking about how DNA is much like the recipe that controls what your body looks like. More accurately, your DNA encodes a genotype, which determines your phenotype, or what you see. To explore this concept, we took a dip in the Re-Bop gene pool and built our own (delicious) organisms. Don't worry, the energy in them was successfully recycled into the great circle of life -- that is, we at them. Take a look at the variation in the organisms due to different alleles for the same gene!

SCIENCE NIGHT!

2009-05-26T07:51:00.006-04:00

Mice in a maze -- Classic stuff!
There were GOATS!
Searching for "blood" with a blacklight at a "crime scene!"
Blood Splatter Analysis!

GOSH it's been a while since I've posted here, but better late than never, I suppose. The illustrious Groton Science Department recently presented our second annual Science Night, and it was a smashing success! Everyone that attended had nothing but glowing remarks about the evening. I'm already looking forward to next year, and bigger and better things! Check out a few of the pictures that we took.
A project about the benefits of hemp!

Hermaphordite Fetal Pig!

2009-04-08T10:53:00.005-04:00

Today, during the penultimate day of our fetal pig dissection, not one but TWO of our specimens were discovered to be hermaphroditic. A hermaphrodite is an organism that possesses both male and female reproductive organs. The word originates from the two Greek gods Hermes and Aphrodite whose baby was fused with a nymph to produce a creature with both male and female genitalia.

According to research by Mr. Ott, hermaphrodites occur in pigs in about 0.1 to 0.6% of all births. The specimens that we examined appear to have fully formed ovaries and uteri, but have under-developed (but full-sized) testes. See the picture above for more detail. Neither Mr. Ott or I have ever seen a hermaphrodite pig, let alone two, and we have dissected hundreds between us!

Many thanks to Ashley, Tiffany and Sam for bringing this condition to my attention!

Daphnia magna

2009-03-25T08:39:00.003-04:00

Check out our Daphnia magna! They're in kingdom anamalia and phylum arthropoda (insects, crustaceans, spiders, etc.). They've got a clear exoskeleton so that you can see all their internal organs, and they reproduce in quite an interesting way! They use parthenogenesis, which means that the entire species is female and they produce eggs that are already fertilized! They can make males under certain conditions, but 'tis certainly more efficient when you don't have to reproduce. They're our lab for this week. Next week, YOU are the lab, as we discuss the nervous system. Oo....foreshadowing.

Plants can TALK!

2009-03-10T10:17:00.002-04:00

Well, not really, but scientists have discovered that they can communicate in heretofore unheard of ways! The scientists who did the study poked tiny electrodes into the open stomata of some common plants, and measured the voltages of the cells. They found that wounding of the plant can actually induce a change in voltage, which can change how the cells of the plant act. Check it out here. The signal can be passed from leaf to leaf, and to the stem as well.

Osteichthyes!

2009-03-09T09:38:00.010-04:00

We have 11 new friends in our class that will be helping us with our lab this week. They're comet goldfish, Carassius auratus. We will be investigating the effect of temperature on the rate of opercular opening. The operculum is the flap that covers the gills, and allows fish to fill up their mouths with water and
then push it out over their gills. Fun times! Osteichthyes is the scientific name for the bony fish,
to contrast with chondricthyes, which are things that swim but have skeletons made out
cartilage, like sharks and rays. We need names for them, because currently they are simply
"Fishy I,Fishy II, Fishy III...and so on. Help us out! Also...note the sunken pirate ship in the
lower left corner...ARRR...

Ozzy

2009-03-09T09:27:00.002-04:00

Ozzy, our bearded dragon, has recently popped out of his period of brumination. Brumination is similar to hibernation, but is slightly different due to lizards being ectotherms, while hibernating animals are generally endotherms. This period of dormancy is brought about by reduced temperature and daylight. In november, I begin taking time off the timer for Ozzy's UV light, so he senses that the days are getting shorter. When the days start to get longer, I add time back on, triggering him to come out of his dormant period. He always welcomes visitors, especially endothermic ones with warm hands that he can sit on.

Eye-Fi!

2009-03-08T19:41:00.002-04:00

So I got this new card for my digital camera from Eye-Fi. It connects to a wireless network and instantly uploads my pictures to photo-sharing software like picasa, facebook, or a bunch of others. No cables, no waiting. It's pretty neat. It'll even use other wireless networks around you to triangulate your location and geotag your photos for you. I highly recommend. It doesn't upload directly to blogger, but maybe that'll be included in the future.

NEW SPECIES!

2009-03-06T10:35:00.003-05:00

Check it out -- a new species of frogfish! Really nifty, becuse it actually "walks" on its fins, instead of swims. Check out the news release from www.sciencedaily.com below for more info.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402164131.htm

Groton's Future

2009-02-28T17:22:00.005-05:00

Mr. Wiech, ever the cool one, has introduced me to Twitter. I've been tweeting from time to time, and watching the amazing interactions of everyone else. There have been some fascinating conversations and some wonderful points made. I'd like to take a moment and expand on two of them in more than the 140 characters of a tweet.

POINT NUMBER ONE -- Spanish at Groton: I've seen a tremendous amount of resistance to the elimination of our Spanish program from students. I've been presented with a petition, heard and had conversations, and seen all the great tweets. Teachers, in addition to being vast repositories of knowledge, must also be advocates for students regardless of their personal feelings.

My personal feeling is that eliminating Spanish in this day and age doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I took French in middle school, high school, and even completed a minor in it in college, but I know that Spanish, in America in 2009, is something important to know. Studies project that the percentage of spanish-speaking people in the US is going to expand exponentially, so a functional knowledge of the language will become increasingly important.

Setting that aside, though, many students still want the choice to study Spanish. And shouldn't we give them more than that? What about Japanese, or Latin, or German? Students at Groton deserve the best education possible, and I encourage students to come forward and have more good, RESPECTFUL conversations with each other and with teachers, principals, and superintendants about their feelings on the matter. Your voices can have the power to shape the future of Groton.

POINT NUMBER 2 -- Internet Filters and Cell Phones. With all the emerging technologies that are available, what are we to do about having them all in school? All you twitter-ers out there have shown that Twitter can be used productively and with respect. Can we trust the entire population of the school to do that? Sadly, I don't think we can. What if we were allowed to use cell phones during the day? What about facebook? Can we fit those into our academic goals? Again, talk about this with teachers and other students in a respectful and productive way.

CAVEAT EMPTOR -- (a Latin phrase, meaning "buyer beware" -- in this case, it means if you read this article you have to THINK about it, too!) I don't have the answers to these problems, and I don't pretend to. But many people working together as a community can come up with answers, and I challenge you to do so. If you want Groton to be a certain way, then get up off your couch and do something about it! GO! Stop reading this and GO!!!

Mr. Syracuse's New Toy!

2009-02-25T07:41:00.005-05:00

So I don't know if you know this or not, but I've taken up the pipe organ! I've been taking lessons since last summer, and I'm slowly getting better. It's pretty difficult to play two different things with your hands and sometimes something different with each foot! Well, I got tired of driving into downtown Ithaca to the church where I take my lessons to practice, so I searched around on eBay for a pipe organ of my own. I found one (it's electric -- no pipes!) in Owego, and I picked it up on Monday. I'm sure my neighbors are going to hate me because it's so loud! I'll try and get a recording up on here so you can hear its magisterial beauty. And yes, I have a candelabra on it, just for dramatic affect. Good times.

Wilson Synchrotron Lab!

2009-02-25T07:26:00.002-05:00

Because he's a huge dork, Mr. Syracuse spent Tuesday morning of February break about 15 m underground in the Wilson Synchrotron Lab. The lab contains a particle accelerator, an electron/positron storage ring, X-ray creation equipment, and much more. The lab can accelerate and smash electrons to create X-rays which can be used to perform X-ray crystallography. This process can help determine the structure of proteins and other molecules. There were lots of shiny buttons and things that I really REALLY wanted to play with, but knew they would probably kill me, so I didn't. Ah well. Check out the pictures, and contact Mr. Syracuse if you'd like a tour -- they're available at no charge!

I'm Dorkin' Out...

2009-01-14T08:25:00.003-05:00

Hey! Have you seen the ginormous Periododic Table-o-the Elements that Mrs. Hume's classes have compiled? It's got snazzy information about each element, including cool facts, history, and chemical properties. If you haven't seen it, it's next to the middle school office. If you're not often down there, though, you can take a gander at the pictures here. This looks like a really big version of my shower curtain...

Welcome Back!

2009-01-06T11:57:00.002-05:00

I hope that you all had a good break. We're into our unit on bacteria, and we'll be collecting various samples from around the school to grow. If you've got a suggestion as to what you'd like to see sampled, just leave a comment! When we're all done, we'll post pictures of the bacteria on the plates, as well as magnified 1,000x with our snazzy oil-immersion lenses on our new 'scopes. Fun times!

How old is the earth?

2008-12-13T13:43:00.002-05:00

Births are usually happy events -- attended by families and doctors and accompanied by baby showers and the like. For the Earth, however, it must have been rather lonely. We humans don't really know, however, because there were none of us around when the Earth was born. Scientists all over the world have data that indicates that the approximate age of the Earth is 4.5 billion years. That's 4,500,000,000 years! Considering her age, she's looking pretty good (aside from a few wrinkles the size of the Grand Canyon....ha....haha....).

Scientists have divided up this time into eras and epochs and periods to make studying such a vast time more manageable. The group of scientists who are responsible for setting up this time scale are called the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Stratigraphy is the study of the layers of rock on the earth, and how they can tell us about the past. Information is gained through the study of fossils, when and where they appear, the types of rocks found, and many other factors.

Here is a link to their current version, although a new one is due out soon:

Geologic Time Scale

If you like, you can also check your Earth Science Reference Tables for a great view of the history of the Earth. In the event that you have misplaced yours or don't keep them with you at all times (like you should!), here's a link where you can get your very own copy.

Earth Science Reference Tables

I keep a very small version in my wallet (with one of those little magnifying glasses) at all times...just in case. They're great at parties.

Diffuse-a-riffic!

2008-11-17T08:49:00.004-05:00

We just finished up a rather spiffy lab in which we discovered exactly why cells can't get very big. We used blocks of agar with phenolphthalein (a pH indicator) in them to see how far a liquid (NaOH solution) could diffuse in 10 minutes. Turns out that if you're a sizable cell, it's not far enough. Check out the pictures, though!

Mr. Syracuse's Fossil-collecting Field Trip

2008-10-26T12:23:00.002-04:00

We went all over this part of New York on Saturday collecting fossils. I have some that I brought back to show, and here are some pictures of where we went. I'll have more soon. We saw mainly brachiopods (which are clam-like creatures), clams, and crinoids (commonly called sea lillies, they are animals that lived at the bottom of ancient seas and were filter feeders). Exciting stuff! We were looking at rocks that were about 359 million years old, which dates back to the end of the Devonian. Back then, most of the continents were in the southern hemisphere. There was a mass extinction at the end of the Devonian, and we were looking at the possible causes and effects of that. Good times!

HUGE Wolf (?) Spider

2008-10-23T11:59:00.004-04:00

This little bugger was hanging around outside the Bio lab, and naturally we had to go out and investigate. The ever-intrepid Mike got in close to get a picture. The never-intrepid Mr. Syracuse stayed far back with his camera to take the pictures and video above. Don't worry, we put the spider outside after we photographed it so it wouldn't get trampled during passing time!

The Dehydration of Sucrose!

2008-10-20T07:32:00.003-04:00

Our Frivolity this Friday involved dehydrating sucrose -- standard table sugar. We took about 400 cm^3 of sugar and added about 250 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid. The results are what you see above! The acid dehydrated the sucrose, taking out all the hydrogen and oxygen (water). All we were left with was the black carbon! The column of carbon rose out of the beaker due to the pressure of the water that was vaporised to steam by the heat of the reaction. Nifty business! We did it in the hood so that the sulfuric acid fumes wouldn't make us all dead and stuff.

IT'S NATIONAL METRIC WEEK!

2008-10-08T07:53:00.002-04:00

Happy National Metric Week! NMW is celebrated every year during the week that contains the tenth day of the tenth month -- 10/10 -- to honor the simplicity and whimsy of the metric system! Check out the link below for more ways to celebrate and spread the joy and wonder of the metric system!

National Metric Week

The USMA -- US Metric Association!

Spheres-O-Mystery!

2008-10-01T11:15:00.002-04:00

Today we discovered some interesting properties of our Spheres-O-Mystery! Check out what happened in Tiffany's Petri dish...can you explain it?

Period 4 Bio Lab!

2008-09-26T11:57:00.004-04:00

Period 4 obviously had a lot of fun with their molecular model kits. Do you love science as much as they do?Sami is very proud of her glucose molecule!
Mike and "Erkel" are obviously pleased with their glucose...
Sami wishes for peace...and for glucoese?

Ozzy!

2008-09-24T07:47:00.003-04:00

Here's Ozzy, our beloved class pet. He's a bearded dragon (Pogono barbata), and he's about 5 years old. He's fairly large compared to many others. He eats veggies (green beans are his favorite), as well as crickets and other small insects.

Meeting Pictures

2008-09-19T11:46:00.005-04:00

Just to prove to you that I was actually at a meeting, and not out doing some other nerdly bio-teacher thing, I present you some pictures. There was a fire drill, and a man on the roof and juggling by Mr. Filzen and Dr. Dove...oh man, very exciting.

Meeting...all day

2008-09-18T10:42:00.004-04:00

So, while you kids are all happily learning, taking quizzes, and generally having fun, Mr. Syracuse is slaving away learning about all sorts of new technology that we can use in our classroom. It's actually pretty fun! We'll be getting a document projector soon, something like the one to port, and we'll have lots of fun with that. Remember to practice talking like a pirate for tomorrow!

Ozzy's Return and Pictures, Perhaps?

2008-09-09T08:23:00.002-04:00

We open the second week of school with the return of Ozzy! He's our class pet, a bearded dragon. His scientific name is Pogono barbata. He's probably about 6 years old, and pretty big as bearded dragons go. Make sure you say "hi" to him. As soon as I remember to bring my camera to school, I'll have some pictures of him on the blog for you to see.

First Day!

2008-07-30T11:43:00.001-04:00

We all made it! Our first day of class went very well, I think. We had a bit of fire, a bit of Strauss, a bit of (well...a lot of) bad jokes from Mr. Syracuse, and hopefully you all had fun. Remember to check out the website frequently for updates, and please do take the welcome survey that's up there. I'm looking forward to a great year!