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Ask a Scientist

    When I asked my questions: How can we all have the same ancestry in life?  If we did come from

one ancestor, what made us develop into the many species of life that we have today?  I was

disappointed that the result that I received was no answer found.  When this happened I thought about

it and restated my question.  Did life start with one organism? With this question I did receive an answer

to my question. The answer to my question explained was the origin of life was a process that took a

long time and occurred in many gradual steps.  This part of life I already knew because of my studies of

evolution.  What I didn’t know was that there are three hypothesis of the origin of the first organic

molecule.  The scientist proceeded to explain to me about each of the steps: the first is the organic

molecule spontaneously synthesized in a highly reducing prebiotic atmosphere, but there is no prove

that the atmosphere of the Earth had a reducing atmosphere.

     The second hypothesis was the organic molecules originated in deep sea hydrothermal vents,

catalyzed by the energy released from a reaction between hydrogen sulfide and iron sulfide. But there

is no prove for the synthesis of organic carbon-based molecules.

      The third hypothesis consist of the first organic molecule came from meteorites that impacted the

Earth. Molecules such as amino acids have been found in the remnants of meteorites on Earth. Because

of this belief scientist are excited about exploring space.

    I believe that life could have originated from a combination of the last two.  The reason I believe this is

there has been proved that organism can exist at the high temperatures that was on Earth at the

beginning and life exist in the coldest habitat on Earth.  With the ability to adapt to its environment a

molecule would replicate and accumulate variation that would lead to the development of more

complex functions, and organisms.

      With this in mind, I realize that this is a useful tool that my students could also use.  It will help them

answers questions, and like me if the question that it asks cannot be answered.  By restating the

question could find them the answer or give them a starting point to research.

Resources

Ask a Scientist http://www.askascientist.org

Presentation Tools

I explored several different tools to use for my own research projects. As I explored the different sites I

wanted to incorporate presentations tools that I could use with my students. I wanted something that

anyone could use.  I really like the Microsoft program that I have used in the past for power points,

presentations, etc.  I have also found through my exploration that there are three of them that I will like

to learn more about.  The following three are those programs, though I find myself leaning more

towards  Preezo and Prezi because they are more affordable, and a tool that I could use in the

classroom.

 PreZentit: create presentations, could be private or public. Each one has its own web address, you do not need a internet connection to download or to present.  Editing is easy and web pages are HTML format. You have to sign up to use. I signed up, I realized that you had to make a power point using a different method and download it.  It was fairly easy, though I do know if this is what I want.

Preezo: Create professional quality presentations. Access them from any computer. Reuse images or the content of entire slides from easy to use galleries. Collaborate on a centralized web document. This site allow you to use different programs like Corel Word Perfect 5, cost is $299.99 with an upgrade of $199.99.  I have used Corel programs before and found them to be great, but sometimes confusing for those individual not technology smart, like me. I don’t think I would use this one.

Prezi:  Create maps of texts, images, videos, PDFs, drawings and present in a nonlinear way. Move beyond the slide. You are able to use this tool in the classroom, with your students once you teach them the format, Able to develop and present live to colleagues.  I like this program.  The cost of it starts at $59 to $159.00 giving you more options.  I still need to examine this more, by talking to other colleagues about if they have had any issues with any of these three.

Resources:

Website: Web 2.0 Cool Tools for Schools—Presentation Tools http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Presentation+Tools

Preszent-betait.com, http://prezentit.com/

Preezo, http://preezo.com/

Prezi-The Zooming Presentation Editor, http://prezi.com/