My Weekend in Carnegie Hall

So this weekend, the PB wiki shirt traveled to NYC! After patiently waiting in Michelle's school bag during Turkey Day, I taken out and placed in Michelle's Carnegie Hall bag, which was extremely exciting. I then realized that I would be spending the next 2 days with Michelle as I listened to rehearsels for a choir performance in Carnegie Hall with David , Becky, Jillian, Nicole, Melissa, Tommy, and Allie. Their choir teacher, Mrs. Mello, is friends with the conductor of the performance, John Leavitt, whose music was actually performed. They performed his pieces in Carnegie Hall with 4 other choirs, some of them local, and 2 of them from Kansas and Vancouver area! They had an amazing time, and being in Carnegie Hall was extremely inspiring to all of them. I think I want to sing someday!

I could not enter Carnegie, however, because the kids were not allowed to bring in anything valuable with them, and I am EXTREMELY extremely important, so they didn’t want to risk me getting stolen. Instead, I got to listen in on their rehearsals in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which were incredible. The picture that the kids took is of them, me, and none other than John Leavitt, the conductor. Pretty cool, huh?

Now, in relation to biology, in order to sing, one must use their vocal chords. According to wikipedia.com, the vocal chords, or vocal folds, are comprised of two mucous membranes that stretch across the larynx, which protects the vocal chords and houses all of the elements needed for sound production. When singing, the mucous membranes vibrate, creating sounds. For example, when a person sings the note A, they vibrate 440 times per second!! These also open when one breathes in, closes when one is holding their breath. Men and women have different sized vocal folds. Men’s are usually larger, making them produce lower sounds. They are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length. This is very different from women’s vocal folds, who tend to be less muscular and much smaller. They are between 12.5 mm and 17.5 mm in length. Food does not travel through the vocal folds; it travels through the esophagus. However, if food does travel through it, it causes choking.

I think I want to be a singer someday and sing in Carnegie Hall just like the kids in Miss Eberhardt's bio class...

My Weekend in Sussex County!

This weekend was filled with some crazy great times! On Saturday we visited a Brown Swiss Dairy Cow named Twiggy! She is actually expecting a calf sometime this week. Last Thursday was the actual, predicted due date. However, after waiting patiently for a couple of days, the owners were getting pretty curious as to what was going on. So, I was lucky enough to be around for the interesting conversation where they were informed that 280 days is the expected gestation period for most dairy cow breeds. But, they found out that Brown Swiss cows are usually 290 days and sometimes can carry longer if the baby is a male. Isn't that interesting? We were all hoping that I would be around for the birth but it looks like she's holding out. Here's something gross I learned though.... When cows give birth they have three stages of labor. During the third stage they pass the placenta and then eat it!!!! Yuck! My first question was "Why the heck would they do that?" I guess it could be beneficial though, in evolutionary terms. If after giving birth a cow cleaned up the evidence it might prevent predators from hunting the calf. So I guess it is plausible that this behavior would be selected for. But, it is still super strange. Anyway, I think it would be great if I could visit the baby sometime, if I don't get to see it being born!
On Sunday we went hiking at Buttermilk Falls in Walpack, NJ. As you can see in the slide show, these falls are pretty cool. When we got up close we saw that there was so much plant life right along the falls, all over the rocky terrain. There was even moss growing on the rocks under the water. Around the falls we found many different types of moss, lichen and ferns. I guessed that this habitat presented awesome conditions for this type of life! For instance, mosses are a group of plants that lack certain adaptations that are necessary for retaining and transporting water, therefore, it makes sense that they would thrive in such a wet environment. The falls provide a constant spray that keeps the rocks wet. Mosses also enjoy a shaded area for growth, which made this area perfect! The falls were beautiful. I cannot wait for my future adventures! Until next time!

And The Idea Was Born!

It was a crazy day in Ms. E's 6th period biology class, the day that I was born. I was just about to be offered up as a prize to the student with the coolest wiki page when mass chaos broke out! Students were frantic, nervous, competative... it got ugly! Everyone wanted to win me, naturally. The craziness began to simmer down down when a student suggested that I be shared! From there the ideas flowed.... "It could be like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!", one brilliant student chimed in. The idea drew immediate support and excitement and it was soon refined by the addition of rules, a schedule, ideas of places I would go, etc.

Now here I am, ready to start my adventures! Here's the run-down on what you can expect to find in my blog, from here forward. I am starting off with Ms. E this weekend. I'm not sure what to expect just yet but I'm totally excited! When I return from my adventures, to the classroom on Monday, I will blog about where I was and what I have done. Furthermore, I will be writing about all of the connections to biology that I encounter and all of the interesting things that I learn! I could end up traveling all over the world! Be sure to check in and learn with me! Here I go! Talk to you soon!

Oh... and by the way, my name is Watson the Wiki Shirt! Ok... talk to you soon!