Sunday, May 8, 2011

McCall is Requesting STEM Professionals to Participate in STEM Night 2011

Check out the project posting for STEM Night at McCall School here:

http://www.nationallabnetwork.org/projects/1103-stem-career-fair

Saturday, April 30, 2011

QR Code for this Website

Download any barcode scanner app to your smart phone and hold your phones camera to this image:

2nd Annual STEM Night Scheduled for May 25th, 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Baruch Blumberg, Nobel winner and recent speaker at McCall, dies at 85

By Stacey Burling and Andy Wallace

Inquirer Staff Writers

Baruch Blumberg, 85, a Philadelphia researcher who won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1976 for his work on hepatitis B, died Tuesday in Moffett Field, Calif.

He collapsed after giving a speech at the International Lunar Research Park Exploratory Workshop being held at the NASA Ames Research Center, said his daughter Anne Blumberg. Her father, who was the director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute from 1999 to 2002, had been in good health and died of an apparent heart attack, according to NASA. "He was as busy last week as he was his whole life," his daughter said.

Dr. Blumberg, who had worked at Fox Chase Cancer Center since 1964 and still maintained an office there, discovered the hepatitis B virus and later helped develop a vaccine against it. The vaccine, which is now made in a different way, was approved by the FDA in 1981. Dr. Blumberg's work also allowed blood banks to screen for hepatitis B, a blood-borne virus. It can cause serious liver disease, liver cancer, and death.

"His vaccine and his research have saved hundreds of thousands of lives," said Ann Skalka, basic science director emerita at Fox Chase in Northeast Philadelphia.

Friends and family described him as an unusually curious, outgoing, funny, affable, and adventurous man who traveled widely and loved walking in his beloved Philadelphia. He had given up active research in recent years but still had the title of senior adviser to the president and CEO at Fox Chase and university professor at the University of Pennsylvania. At NASA, he had focused his formidable intellect on studying the possibility of life in space.

Dr. Blumberg, who was known as Barry, was also the current president of the American Philosophical Society, a Philadelphia-based learned society founded by Benjamin Franklin.

Dr. Blumberg traveled the world for his research and was particularly interested in Lewis and Clark's journals, which were part of the society's collection. He started a Lewis and Clark grant program to help young scholars do field research, Annie Westcott, director of meetings for the group, said.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Spell Your Name with the Elements

Make your own elemental name at http://theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/MSP/ElementBanners.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Supermoon Astronomy Photographs

Supermoon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

A perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system or "supermoon" is a full or new moon that coincides with a close approach by the Moon to the Earth. The Moon's distance varies each month between approximately 357,000 kilometers (222,000 mi) and 406,000 km (252,000 mi) due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth (distances given are center-to-center).^[1]^[2]^[3]

^{Student submitted Supermoon Photos:}

^{By Henry R. 7th Grade}

^{By Keanne W. 7th Grade}

^{By Qianyi Z. 7th Grade}

^{By Xin L. 7th Grade}

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

2010-2011 Carver Science Fair

I am patiently waiting as J. Dickie, An. Zheng, N. Huang, B. Mach, J. Davalos, Y. Liu, S. Khoa, J. Zhao, V. Russell, S. Tang, E. Liang, Ar. Zheng, and T. Smith are presenting to the judges. Good luck!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Tri Fold Board Ideas

Tri-Fold Display Board Construction Link

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Final Report Template

Title of Project

(Cover Picture or Clip Art From the Internet)

By: Student Name

Abstract

250 word or less short summary of the hypothesis, materials & procedures, results, and conclusion

Question

The problem or question that you are asking to start the scientific process. Must be a testable question.

Variables

What is the one variable that you will be changing? What are variables that you will not be changing that will remain the same for all trials.

Hypothesis

The educated guess to answer your question.

Background Research

Includes all the research you did from your research plan

Materials

Listing of the materials needed for your project

Experimental Procedures

Can be copied from your science buddies project idea page

Data Analysis

Add a table or a graph with your numerical data. Label and include units.

Conclusion

Describe the results of your experiment in words and tell the reader if your hypothesis was correct or not.

Ideas For Further Investigation

What you would change if you did it again, or a new question?

Acknowledgments

People to thank for helping you

Bibliography

Five sources formatted in APA Format. See the link on www.mccallscience.com.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Concentration Maze Game

Instructions:
1) Take your Heart Rate by feeling your pulse on your wrist.
2) Count how many beats in 30 seconds then multiply by 2 to get your beats per minute.
3) Then play the concentration game and get to level 5.
4) When you get to level five take your heart rate again.
5) Leave your Name and your heart rate before the test and after the test as a comment to this blog post.

How To Measure Your Pulse

Taking your pulse is easy. It requires no special equipment, however, a watch with a second hand or digital second counter is very helpful.

1. Turn the palm side of your hand facing up.

2. Place your index and middle fingers of your opposite hand on your wrist, approximately 1 inch below the base of your hand.

3. Press your fingers down in the grove between your middle tendons and your outside bone. You should feel a throbbing - your pulse.

4. Count the number of beats for 10 seconds, then multiply this number by 6. This will give you your heat rate for a minute.

Example:

If you count 12 beats in the span of 10 seconds, multiply 12 X 6 = 72.

This means your Heart Rate or pulse, is 72 (or 72 beats per minute).

Another popular way to measure pulse rate is by measuring it at the neck (carotid pulse). This is especially convenient during exercise. The formula is the same as above, however, when taking the pulse at the neck, place your fingertips gently on one side of your neck, below your jawbone and halfway between your main neck muscles and windpipe.

Taking your pulse upon rising in the morning, or after sitting without activity for about 10 minutes, is know as your Resting Heart Rate.

concentration test

Sunday, January 2, 2011

How to Cite Your Sources in Your Bibliography

Many of you are asking how to cite your 5 (at least) sources for your Bibliography. The link below has the format that is preferred (APA) and instructions for how to fill properly show where you got your information.

How to Format Your Bibliography

Remember that of your 5 sources 1 has to be something other than a website. There are many sources of informative texts that would relate to your topic in the school Cybrary or at your local branch of the Phila Public Library.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Science Fair Research Plan Template

Science Fair Research Plan Template (Due January 7^th)

(Must be typewritten and submitted electronically)

(To be completed and approved by Mr. Knoflicek prior to experimenting)

By First Name Last Name

I. Title _____________________________________________________________________

II. Problem (question) ________________________________________________________

III. Hypothesis (If........, then…….. will happen)

IV. Research (notes and information written in your own words and the sources from which you obtained it – I will confirm that your research is in your own words by using a plagiarism checker. If you plagiarize you will be given a zero and will be written up for academic dishonesty (Level 1 Offense))

1. source: _________________________________________________________________