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 * EQ1 - How does something so small affect an organism, community, or planet?**

=Wallace= Viruses are very small, even smaller than our cells! However they should not be underestimated. They may be small but they multiply fast, about once per twenty minutes! Once it gets into a host cell, it multiplies and bursts out, destroying the cell and starts to find another host cell. Most viruses are communicable through physical contact (E.g. Saliva) and air.

If the virus is not contained, the results may be disastrous. An example would be HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). If not given medical attention, it will develop into Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

The virus will multiply in your body for a few weeks or even months before your immune system responds. During this time, you won't test positive for HIV, but you can infect other people. Usually, this is through direct contact with another person. If this virus spreads to another individual, it will spread in groups and clusters, possibly resulting in the deaths of many people.

Having stated that, we can easily say that viruses spread and develop reasonably fast. Viruses might rule the world!

The picture below shows the process of how a virus multiplies in a host cell and then destroys it.

Mrs. B: Nice job, especially with a specific example like HIV.

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=Jeffrey=

Okay, this is my comment to Wallace: nice nice, i guess, i agree and all, just my answer is going to be more awesome, definitely. And I like your picture, it describes the procedure very well. Has anyone talked about all the different kinds of viruses yet, or how to get rid of the virus? And do we still have to do the Back to Top link? Jeff, why do you agree? Why is Wallace's answer nice? A virus is small, and not seen with the naked eye. But it can truly affect your body. But viruses do not intend to affect your body, it just happens by their process of reproducing. Viruses need to reproduce, that is their point, and they do that by going into your body, going on a cell, injecting it's genetic material and then making copies of itself, multiplying, and eventually it might burst your cell, which isn't good, and you might get sick. They multiply very fast, and like Wallace said, they can multiply every 20 minutes!

Once you have the virus, it can lead to serious problems. And again, to the question, a tiny virus CAN affect an organism, community, and planet. Because, a disease caused by viruses could spread, by coughing, physical contact, etc. Then once it spreads, it will get lots of people sick, so it has affected an organism, and even more already, unless you stop it. But one thing that doesn't work that effectively are anti-biotics. Because anti-biotics target bacteria, which viruses are not. Your immune system is the thing that kills viruses best, so get some rest, relax your symptoms, and hope to get better.

This picture shows that a virus can come in all different sizes, so they CAN get you.

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Mrs. B: Good job, but kind of the same things Wallace said. I liked how you added the bit about antibiotics though.

=Soomin= Viruses, Bacteria are so small. Even smaller than cells. However, they can be harmful too. For example a virus, like the bacteriophage, it infects the bacteria. So to us, it's helpful, because it kills the bacteria, but also it can be bad too. Because bacteria, can do some good things, like making yogurt, etc. And the tomato mosaic virus, it infects tomatoes, so then tomatoes will be infected and we can't eat them.Also, scientists can use viruses, bacteria, for a way to cure people who is fighting with diseases, like cancer. Scientists can take off the shell and put drugs and then they can inject the medicine to organisms. So sometimes it can be a good use for us. Some viruses can cause diseases to us. Like influenza. It can spread by physically contacting with others and it can even spread by animal waste, sneezing insect bites and all other more ways. People can get sick and people will start dying. A tiny virus, can make a whole bunch of other viruses by just injecting their genetic material in to a cell. A tiny bacteria can make bunch other bacteria by using binary fission. Some bacteria can reproduce as often as once every 20 minutes. Bacterias will be reproduced, and some of these can harm you and some won't. Like good viruses can help clean up oil spills gasoline leaks, and also bacteria are decomposers. They can convert nitrogen gas in the air in to nitrogen that plants need to grow. Also, bacterias can keep you healthy. They help you digest and make vitamins. But some harmful bacterias can really harm you and might die. Like the streptococcus bacteria will cause strap throat. But it can be cured with anti-biotics. This picture below shows how viruses reproduce and multiply.

Soo-min comment to Jeremy:Ｉ don't really agree with you on the part you said" The main goal of the virus is to infect and reproduce." The goal of Virus is to reproduce, but their goal is not to infect organisms. It just happens by their process of reproducing. Back to top

Wallace's comment to Soomin: Very nice you have a lot of details and variety in your answer. I never thought of answering this in a good way too. You forgot your picture...

What do you mean by it will strap your throat? -Mary Mrs. B: Wallace's comment is very appropriate...you have a lot of variety in your answer. I'm sure that served as a good review of what we have been learning. = = =Mary =

Small organisms can have really big effects on the planet. For example, archaebacteria was the first organisms to inhabit the earth and they helped shape our current environment. Without them, the earth would just be a barren, oxygenless muddy sphere in the universe. Bacteria also help with keeping the earth clean. They break down large substances into little particles which can be reused again and again. When oil is spilled into the ocean, people can use a certain type of bacteria to ‘eat’ the oil and prevent any danger to the sea creatures. Tiny organisms can also have negative effects on a larger being. Viruses can infect its host, causing some of the most feared diseases. And since viruses can spread and reproduce very quickly, there is also a chance that it might completely wipe out some species of animals or even plants. And if too many plants start to disappear, there would be less and less oxygen and everyone would die. Another way that these small creatures can effect a large community is when it starts to spread. Somebody in a village might have the flu and eventually, the virus would spread through contact. Then everybody would be sick, and if there is no treatment present, then they would all die. But it could also affect the community in a positive way. The bacterium might be a cure for something or would make a really good type of cheese. So, in short, small organisms can have a very big impact on a its surroundings. Mrs. B: Good, detailed answer with lots of examples. I wonder what types of bacteria can clean-up oil spills and how do people actually make it work? How is your picture relevant to your post?

Back to top =**Coco **= Bacterias may seem small but it has big effect to it's surroundings. And some people might think that bacterias are normally bad but they most of them are not. Without bacteria, every thing changes. Things like what we eat, we won't be having cheese and yogurts because there's lots of bacteria in them and basically made of it. Bacteria grows in dairy products, although that some of the bacterias make the food spoil and make it taste bad or even make you sick but all our eating habits will change if there's no bacteria. Bacteria also breaks down the decomposers, and make the earth clean. They clean up the dead bodies, oil and lots of different natural wastes. For viruses, the viruses could copy it's DNA into the host's cell and make it burst open and have more. It might let the host die. It could spread really quickly. If it reproduces a lot, then we might all die. So small organisms affect the community a lot. Mrs. B: I like how you compare how some bacteria are good for food and others can be quite bad. I wonder if there is more detail to be found about all the different cheeses and how that relates to bacteria type. How does your picture relate to your post?

=Paige = What small creatures that affect our planet are called bacteria and viruses. Bacteria could be good in ways, such as breaking down some of the materials that we bury in our filthy planet. They release the methane gas that we use to make electricity. When your listening to your ipod or texting on your phone, you’d need to realize how hard the little bacteria cells work to get that to you. Now this may or may not be true, but scientists today think that archaebacteria were the first living life forms on earth in the past. Well that makes sense since archaebacteria means ancient bacteria. These little life forms aren’t always nice though. Some are contagious as in someone in your household could catch chickenpox then soon enough, if you’ve never had them, you would catch them too. Those little viruses are mostly just doing their job. Although, I wouldn’t call that “their” job since they aren’t living, but they could play a good role in science one day. As in there little “shell” around the outside of their genetic material, could be stripped empty and replaced with drugs to cure certain diseases. They would just go about their business and inject their “genetic material” and be done. Now these little buggers aren’t always good either. They recreate and reproduce over and over again that they form diseases that can’t be cured. Viruses cause the colds and the flu that you catch every now and then, and some diseases that are life threatening.  Jeremy Comment to Paige: I totally agree with your answers! Bacteria have changed the world! Nice pink Font BTW! Mrs. B: Nice job adding the bit about how viruses can be helpful by adding drugs to their shells. Perhaps a little more detail about that would be interesting. Where is your picture and explanation? = = =Jeremy =

Even the tiniest on creatures on this planet can do lots of good or bad. Virus are one example. The main goal of the virus is to infect and reproduce. While some of the virus use your cells to reproduce and nothing happens, some will make you have deadly diseases, such as HIV AIDS. No matter what kind of drastic measures you take they will still go and get you. Although viruses might sound very harmful to you awesome scientists have found ways to use the natural "instinct"(well its not actually living..) to put good medicine inside you withought having you to take a lot of medicine which could give you some bad side affects. Paige already talked about this...can you add some detail to it? Another thing is bacteria. Bacteria are microscopic organisms that can do a lot too! Some of the bacteria in the world can do some harm to you but most do good to your body. They can help you digest food by breaking down the food in your stomach. They also can create tasty food such as cheese and yogurt.  One other thing that i can do is clean up oil spills. You may wonder why they can clean up the oil so fast. Oil is considered food to them, they keep on eating and easting, while keep on reproducing using binary fission. Binary fission doubles all the bacteria so they can clean up the spills really fast.  This pictures shows how bacteria can use binary fission to reproduce very fast. Soo-min comment to Jeremy:Ｉ don't really agree with you on the part you said" The main goal of the virus is to infect and reproduce." The goal of Virus is to reproduce, but their goal is not to infect organisms. It just happens by their process of reproducing. Rahul: I agree with Soo Min on this one. A virus doesn't infect all the time. It sometimes leaves without any harm. But it does reproduce most of the time but still a very good job. Nice Picture Mrs. B: I wonder what kind of things the bacteria produce when they eat the oil? Is there any downside to the bacteria cleaning up the oil?

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=Megan=

Even small organisms, like bacteria, or particles like viruses can either infect or save the whole world. For example, the bacteria found in yogurt are not only good for our digestive systems, but they also keep the "bad" bacteria from spoiling the yogurt. However, this "bad" bacteria can spoil our foods, and may even kill us. Both kinds of bacteria can multiply as fast as once every 20 minutes, so while the "good" bacteria keep our digestive system working well, the "bad" bacteria can spread quickly from person to person, animal to animal by sneezing, contact with an infected person/object, etc., killing many people.

I disagree with Jeremy's "the <span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">main goal of the virus is to infect and reproduce". All viruses only want to reproduce, they don't mean to harm us in any way. Yes Jeremy, harming does include infection. However, I do agree that infection and death may be a result of viruses reproducing. A virus reproduces by attaching itself to a cell. It then injects its DNA or RNA into the cell, and the DNA takes over the cell's functions. It makes the cell reproduce more of the virus until either the genetic material runs out or there are too many viruses in the cell. If the genetic material runs out, the viruses leave, no harm done. But if the viruses overpopulate the cell, the cell explodes, and viruses pop out to infect other cells. They can also be transmitted by sneezing, coughing, contact with contaminated sources, etc.

http://schoolnet.gov.mt/biology/virus%20life%20cycle.gif

<span class="wiki_link_new"> <span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Mrs. B: Nice job with the yogurt. The good bacteria keep the bad bacteria from the yogurt by competeing for the same resources (the sugar in the yogurt). This is true in your intestines also! How does your picture relate...missing your explanation.

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=Nellie=

Viruses and bacteria are WAY tiny. They are even smaller then our cells and A LOT more dangerous. The cells in your body always have to be clean and healthy, because they are the root of your systems. But viruses and bacteria are bad. They the cells in your body, and sometimes kill them. That makes all the organs in your body sick and weak.

Viruses are very dangerous because they can multiply every 20 minutes! That makes them extreamley hard to control. They can take over your body in a matter of days because they are so fast and deadly. But that is only for Viruses, bacteria are a whole different story. Bacteria are sometimes actually good for you and can help you fight off others of its kind.

Nellie's comment to Meg: I didn't know that yogurt helped your digestive system. But I think Jermy was right about how all viruses want is to infect snd reproduce, but i think they don't mean to hurt out cells and that is probably just their nature and stuff.

My computer is being weird so I'm just going to link my picture. [|Virus Reproduction Process]

Mrs. B: Nice job talking about how fast bacteria can reproduce. What does enable us to control them? Also, be careful about saying that once a virus attacks it would make ALL your organs sick and weak. Sometimes it only affects certain types of cells. Anyone want to look into that some more? You need to explain how your picture relates.

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=**Rahul**= A virus not able to be seen by the naked eye can affect a whole organism/ community/ planet. What its main thing to do is to go into your cell and to reproduce. As it multiplies in your cell it can sometimes get you sick and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it gives you HIV and if this isn’t cured it can lead to aids. If there are too many viruses we could lose plants which would cause to less oxygen which this planet needs to survive. Bacteria can also affect organisms because it has many diseases that affect you but it also has good sides to it. Bacteria produces vitamins and it helps your digestive system digest properly. Most dairy products contain bacteria and dairy products are good for you to eat/drink. Bacteria also reproduces very quickly like everybody is saying every 20 minutes and the big thing is it doubles every time. Who knows someday bacteria could rule the world! My Picture shows the process of how viruses multiply. 1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> The virus attaches itself to the surface of the bacterium tightly 2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Next it injects its genetic material into the bacterium 3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> The genetic material is reproduced many times in the cell 4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> The proteins and genetic material assemble into new viruses that fill the bacterium 5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Once the cell is full it bursts and all the viruses escape out of the cell

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Mrs B: You need to add something to the conversation. You are just summarizing. Are you sure that picture is bacteria being attacked by virus? It kind of looks like red blood cells?

=Hong beom=

Rahul, I agree with the part that you are saying about loosing plants which causes oxygen problem. Plants are there to make oxygen and if there are no more plants, then there would be no oxygen too. But, don't worry, because there are lots and lots of different kinds of plant in the world that even viruses cant take them all over! <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 6);">Excellent observation!!!--Mrs. B However in the proceduer part you made a mistake. you said "The virus attaches itself to the surface of the bacterium tightly. Well, It is not just a bacteria but all cells. Execpt for that, your writing is good!

Bacteria is a tiny microrganism. They reproduce so fast so that someday people concider that it can take over the world! Most of them are good for you, like the ones that are in the yogurt and cheese! However, there are also some HARMFUL bacterias. If the harmful bacterias gather together and multiply by every 20 sec. So afterawhile, there would be milions and milions of bacterias! If these harmful bacterias infect any plants or animals, it spreads out really quickly and infect everything around that place. Thats how does bacterias affect lager things such as a earth!



Mrs. B: Great reaction to Rahul! Bacteria reproduce every 20 MIN. Need to add to the conversation; you are summarizing. Back to top

=Ele=

Wallace, I think you messed up when you said that viruses multiply every 20 minutes into 2 new ones. I think bacteria does that, not viruses. But other than that I think your answer was good. I liked Soo min's answer because it was clear and easy to understand. Hong beom, I thought your answer as interesting but you always talk like it will be the end of the world, and what about viruses? I like your picture, though! It's pretty creepy how fast they reproduce!

Even though bacteria is small, it can really affect everything. They divide into 2 new bacteria every 20 minutes! Think how much bacteria that would make in 2 hours. It's 64! So you see, since bacteria multiplies so fast there is a chance of too much bacteria on the Earth, and not enough room for other things. Also, you can get sick from bacteria, like the e-coli disease. However, all bacteria aren't bad. Bacteria is EVERYWHERE, even on your face, and if all bacteria were harmful, then there would hardly be any humans left on the planet because if every bacteria on your body were harmful, then it would be hard to stay alive. Some bacteria are actually helpful. Some are delicious foods that are good for you, like yogurt, cheese, or apple cider. Some are decomposers, and they break down dead organisms. If we didn't have these recycling bacteria, then the world would be filled with dead organisms, like animals you see on the side of the road. They also help your body function, like the bacteria that lives in your inestines help you digest food. Also, they are good for the environment because they clean up oil-spills.

Viruses can affect the world alot. For example, a person might have a disease, and then they spread it to another person through contact (e.g.sneezing), then that person spreads it to another person, and then so on, until it could become an epidemic disease and threaten the world. Viruses aren't mean, it's just their purpose of life is to attach themselves to a cell and start reproducing more viruses until the cell explodes and the host it infected becomes sick. However, with some research, scientists have discovered a way to rid a virus of it's contents and replace it with a drug that kills a disease, e.g. cancer. So, viruses can be helpful to us.

My pic relates to how bacteria multiplies FAST! See the long ones? They are actually dividing into 2.

http://www.oxygentimerelease.com/A/imagesa2/9205.jpg Mrs. B: Good summary of much that we have learned in class. Can you add something new? Talk to me about how to add a picture so that it shows.

=Juliana= Ele I think it was very smart how you included all the stuff we did in class like how a disease is very easy to spread. Like when we did the glitter stuff where Nellie touched the glitter and infected everyone.

I think viruses can affect a whole community in many ways. Most of them are already said. Even though most viruses are parasites and are harmful to us, especially the really agressive ones like HIV and ebola, harmless and acutally help us in many ways. Like methane, which is a gas produced by bacteria, there is also alot of food made by bacteria, and they help us digest our food. Bacteria alos takes out all the bad DNA and leaves the good DNA. But thats bacteria. Viruses help too. There are two scientists trying to make a cure from viruses because a virus already knows how to move from place to place between cells. If the virus can carry a cure between cells it could cure cancer or other diseases instead of going through chemo-therapy.

But when virus ARE harmful and not not helpful they cause diseases. Once one person gets sick by a virus, a whole community can get sick, and if the community spreads out alot or one person who is sick moves to another community that community might get sick too and soon enough the whole world could be contaminated with that same sickness since the virus spreads so fast. Luckily, because of doctors, that sort of thing doesnt happen. Life as we know it would not be the same without viruses and bacteria. We humans need it to survive in life.

I chose this picture because it shows person to person contact that may transmit a disease. [|http://www.ishakehands.com/Portals/24/iShakeHands-logo2.jpg]

Mrs. B: Be careful when you talk about virus vs. bacteria. You have mixed them up a few places in your post. Also, you need to have your picture show. Go back to the requirements page to see if you are following the correct procedure. You provide a good summary and talk about a specific virus, but need to give a little more detail.

=**PETER**=


 * //You would think that viruses are tiny things smaller than cells that do absoultuley nothing...WRONG. Viruses can be what makes us ill. Viruses are parasites which means that they live off a host cell. They inject some of their genetic material which can either be hidden or start right away. The genetice material starts to make copies of the original virus. This is bad because if the person gets sick, the copies will go infect other people and they will get sick too. An example would be the HIV virus. HIV can turns into AIDS which weakens the immune system. This lets really small and usually harmless things like the flu, to kill. And this goes back to wha I said earlier, if this virus gets spead, it can infect a whole community, town or city! Bacteriia can affect us too. They multiply every 20 minutes! Thats a lot of bacteria. But bacteria can do good things aswell. For example: They help digest food, these bacteria are in your stomach! The problem is if somehow the bacteria or virus find a way to be immune to vaccines of antibiotics.. then we are in trouble..//**



=Lian= Well as you know HIV/AIDS are really important viruses but there are more viruses and bacteria than you think. Here's a list of some viruses. Avian flu, Ebola, Hepatitis, Influenza, Leprosy, Rabies, Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, Yellow fever and a lot more. So if some of those come to your town you need to take care of yourself fast because they can be transfered through all different kinds of ways. All bacteria can reproduce every 20 minutes but luckily they need the right conditions. If they had those things there would be no space for us. I am amazed and mostly glad that scientists found the cures for most of those viruses and pathogens, without them we'd be dead. Even though we can treat and kill bacteria by using anti-biotics overusing them is really bad for us. 1. Some bacteria are resisting them and they are getting stronger. 2. When the reproduce they are just making more strong bacteria. The scariest thing is that like there is so many viruses and bacteria what if they become resistance to vaccines and anti-biotics they could kill us and take over the world!!!

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