Sewer Lice Conclusion
In science we have been studying living things. We looked at these awesome
creatures called “Sewer lice”. Mrs. Jones told us that they were found in the sewer
and that her friend was the one that collected them for her. Gross! We also looked
at characteristics of living things. Did you know that there are six characteristics of
living things? All living things share these six traits. The purpose of this conclusion
is to determine whether these “sewer lice” are living or not.
What are these organisms called “sewer lice”? They are about 2-4 cm in
Try not to
over-use
length and dark brown in color. Upon closer inspection, there are usually lots of
questions as
deep cracks and crannies present. As these “lice” are placed into the liquid, they
a transition.
instantly sink to the bottom. From there, the bubbles begin to accumulate in the
crevices. Sometimes, the “sewer lice” rolled around a little bit, and the really
active ones began to float to the top. As they reached the surface, a few bubbles
popped and they sank back down. This cycle continued as long as the liquid was
bubbling.
This
Before one can determine if “sewer lice” are living, one must understand
sentence
the
six
traits of all living things. The first is that all living things are made up of
might be
cells. Cells are the building blocks for all living things and contain the genetic
better if
information (or DNA) for the organism to function and contains a cell membrane.
broken into
two
Another trait of all living things is that they respond to stimulus. For example,
sentences
when a human being is cold, they begin to shiver. This is our body’s way of
achieving homeostasis. It is our body’s response to being cold. Another
characteristic of living things is that living things reproduce, either sexually or
asexually. All living things use energy to function in their daily lives. Usually, this
energy is produced through the consumption of food, although plants can produce
their own food using the energy from the Sun. Finally, all living things grow and
develop throughout their lives.
While conducting the Is it Alive investigations, we had to determine
All three
whether
various “things” were living or not based on these characteristics of living
examples are
things. For example, a coral reef sample was closely examined. Although we knew
missing an
that a coral is actually an animal, the reef, itself was not living. Another example
important
connection….
was the Venus Fly Trap. Plants are obviously living, so since the Venus Fly Trap is
The six
a type of plant, it must be living as well. One other example was the “lava lamp”.
characteristi
When we put the tablet into the bottle, little green blobs moved up. This was a
cs of living
form of energy, but just because it uses energy does not mean that it is alive.
things
So what about these “sewer lice”? They moved, just like the “lava lamp”,
but that doesn’t mean that they are living. In both cases, they did not provide the
energy from within, such as our metabolism. In fact, what we called “lice” were
actually raisins in Ginger Ale. They only moved because of the bubbles collected in
the crevices, making them buoyant. Once they floated to the surface, the bubbles
popped and they sank. Just like the lava lamp. The green bubbles only formed
because of the tablet causing the water bubbles to rise. Since water and oil don’t
mix, they appeared like circular blobs in the oil layer. All living things are made of
cells. If “sewer lice” are actually raisins, then they were originally grapes, which are
made of cells. Unfortunately, once, the grape was picked, the cells began to die. The
This
paragraph is
too informal
Remember
to describe
in detail the
appearance
and the
“behavior”
Notice that
the six traits
are not just
listed, but
they are
explained.
Sewer lice are
being
connected to
the lava lamp
as well as the
characteristic
of living things
requiring
energy
Connect
to living
things
having
cells.
Connect to all
living things
responding to
stimulus
raisin will not be able to reproduce, as the cells are no longer living. This is like the
coral reef. The animals that once lived on the coral, and created the coral reef, are
no longer alive and, therefore, are not able to reproduce. Some might argue that the
raisins react to their environment by rising and falling. While the raisins appear to
react to their environment, it was not in an attempt to establish homeostasis. The
raisin was simply pulled up and down through the laws of physics, rather then an
internal biological response.
In conclusion, we can determine that “sewer lice”, being raisins in ginger ale,
are not living. We were able to prove this through the use of the six characteristics
of all living things. Although they held some characteristics that resemble living
things, “sewer lice” are not an exotic insect found in the depths of our dark sewers.
Connect
to living
things
being able
to
reproduc
e and
tying it in
with the
coral as
an
example