Do Now

1. How many single-celled organisms it takes the cross the road?

(Hint!!!) Take a moment to draw a pyramid with one single celled organism at the top, then two, then four….

Do Now Answer

1. How many single-celled organisms it takes the cross the road?

Answer: At least one too start. Despite having no brains or feet, one amoeba can become two, the two can divide and become four and so-fourth.

Agenda

• Diagramming an amoeba cell • No Brains, No Feet, No Problem!• Slime mold and academics, No way!• Writing

Diagramming an amoeba

What is an Amoeba?

• Amoeba: Unicellular animal with pseudopods that lives in fresh or saltwater

• Psuedopod: False feet which extend from the amoeba. Used for movement

Types of amoebas

• There are many kinds of amoebas (or amoebae), and they thrive in places where their food sources are abundant.

• Often that means where there is vegetation, fungi, and yeast.

• Slime mold, of which there are over 900 different species, will survive as a unicellular organism when food is plentiful, but will adapt when and grow into a mass of amoebas when starving.

Slime Molds: No Brains, No Feet, No Problem

• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/04/the-sublime-slime-mold.html

Slime Videos

• Time lapse clips, so they don’t really travel that fast

• However, this does represent how the slim mold moves in an organized way towards a goal.

• Mold is very efficient in search for food.

What does this mean for science?

• Write a paragraph in class as if you were in one of the following careers:

• Network engineer, trying to figure out how to get better coverage from cell phone towers in remote parts of North America

• An oncologist, seeking new healthy cells on which to experiment with potential cures for cancer, in a way that does not harm people or animals.

• A mathematician, seeking a formula or algorithm, replicating information repeatedly to problem-solve was to reach the broadest audiences. (Hint: Research the phrase, “Sum Ergo Computo,” meaning, “I am, therefore I compute.”)

• An environmentalist hoping to study manage the impact different kinds of slime may have on a habitats of endangered animals, or animals that need to adapt to find new sources of food.

• A geographer, tracking the migration patterns of wildlife based on food sources, using slime mold as a model.