And thus ends our Wonderful Journey with you.

     Saying your goodbyes to people who are special to you hurts right? Well that is what we will have to do now. Amazing isn't it? For the past month, we have given you teachings on how the world's biodiversity works and our travels as your science gurus. Well now, the train has arrived its destination and we need to move on. This blog we have made has given us an amazing learning experience for you and for us as well! Well, this blog was actually our final 4th quarter CEO in Science as 6th graders. As you may have noticed, there have been several blogs too that are also having the same topics on what they post on. The 4th quarter CEO or as we call it, the blogging project.

Courtesy of Teacher Rye

     This blogging project was given to us for us to experience and express what we have learned throughout our 6th grade lives through the internet! Preparation of this project? Well, of course we didn't know at first of how we would do this. But then, we were able to develop into understanding how this works. Thinking of display names, posts, words, and others were prepared by intense thinking and cooperative work! Encountering problems happened a few times during our blogging. Here are some we encountered:

• Deciding the name "The Science Gurus" was hard.
• Adjusting small matters on how our posts would look like.
• Wondering on how the format of all posts would be.
• Having delays in a few posts 

     We were able to resolve these problems by:

1. Thinking for a long time what would be a catchy name, which of course leaded to the Science Gurus.
2. It took time to adjust things, but we were able to find out on how to make our lectures look better.
3. Formatting on how our blog and lectures would look like and be like was tough, though, we eventually were able to understand on what fonts, backgrounds and additions should we put in our blog. 
4. Being 6th graders, we had many things to do. Seatworks, homeworks, CEO's, projects. But even though, we were able to find time and we even stayed up late at night just to be able to finish our lectures for you, readers.

     On the other hand, even though if we had our hardships in making this blog something fundamental for you readers, we would not like to take the chance of doing the blogging project yet again! This is because having this experience can prepare us in real and more things like this in the future that might possibly happen to us and for you! Although, of course there are some things we need to improve on as newbie bloggers such as:


    a. Making our lectures and blog posts more meaningful and more presentable
    b. Adding more information that should have been placed in the blog
    c. Having better mechanics, text layouts, graphics, multimedia, and others.
    d. And etc. 


     Our blogging project had many ups and downs. Also, our blogging project could have been handled better by us if we have done more effort on it, given more time for it, and if we could have done a better job. Although, we are still glad that we were able to experience how to blog and how to make it presentable and meaningful for you guys! Do you remember all the things we taught you? Well so in case you forget, here is the summary of the things we were able to teach you about!

Teaching you about some animals

Giving you some plant information

Talking about our extravagant field trip!

Talking about cows and the DTRI

Providing info on some rice and on the IRRI

And finally, talking about our last stop in our field trip, the Makiling Botanic Garden

     Out of all these mistakes, experiences, and lessons, there is one important thing we learned from this project:

Learning how to make a blog and giving you a vision on what we 

have learned in our travels as your science gurus.

     We give our thanks to you and our Teacher Rye, who has given us the chance to be able to express what we have learned us 6th graders who are about to become highschoolers. We now give you a message from each of the science gurus to you as our farewell words:


Hey readers! Guess this is it, our last post. I would like to thank you all for your reading our lectures! I wish you enjoyed reading them. God bless to you all. Bye!

                                                                                                     - Fernando   

Thanks a bunch, viewers! Your views helped us a lot. Thanks for reading our posts and supporting our blog. I hope that you would still look at our blog every now and then. Thanks again! 

                                                                                                      - Ryuu


Hey guys! Thanks for the views and the comments, the support and the reading of our blog. It helped us not only in our Science project but it also helped us learn from your comments and criticisms. Thank you for everything!
                                                                                                     - Hotaru

Hey guys! Thanks so much for viewing our lectures to you! We enjoyed sharing what we know and what we have learned to you. Always try to learn more everyday. We hope this blog would help you in whatever you are doing! God bless to you guys and do your best in everything you do. See you around!

                                                                                                      - John

We, the science gurus, have had the greatest time teaching you about our world's biodiversity. We thank the teacher who made this blogging and field trips happen, Teacher Rye. We pray and hope you guys will carry what information we gave to you to wherever you go. We bid farewell to you. Nurture well and become someone who you should be. Remember, always believe that you can indeed make a difference in this world. 

"Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same."

-Flavia Weedn

Up and Down the Garden!

     After four long stops at our fieldtrip, we finally come to our last stop (Aww) We present to you, the Makiling Botanic Garden!

     So, what is this exactly? It's not just an ordinary garden. It's THE ordinary garden. Well not really! This is a picture of the Makiling Botanic Garden's front view. Here, it was a site of many, many trees and it was teeming with plants! Our class, first had some pictures at the first level of the garden. What we expected to learn and see in a garden was to see, of course, plants and flowers. What we didn't know? To walk down a long way of stairs going up and down. This, of course, we did not expect! Although, it was plenty of fun! Though, we were not able to find any organisms for you because of our tired minds! As gurus, we shall just tell you what we saw and experienced!

     Well, during our stay in this wonderful garden, our oxygen tanks were finally unpolluted! And, we also got to get some exercise. It was a tough walk in this long, slippery staircase made out of cement. Seeing nature at one of its best sites was a very cool experience! Here are a few pictures of our stay there. We give credit to Teacher Rye for these pictures taken at this site.

Our classmate posing at a fountain 

Our girl classmates and batchmates

Our crazy batch posing (please disregard the sad man on the right side)

Our hike

     Okayy, so, after a long walk on all these stair steps, we finally got to cool down. At the bus, we had to rest, stay near the air conditioners, and catch our breaths. Some, changed their shirts because of too much sweat though! Some, even the gurus, got to cool down with some Coca-cola!

Thy heavenly coke can

     And thus ends our amazingly, funny, silly, meaningful, extravagant field trip! We were very sad to end this trip. It was an extraordinary experience for the gurus and their fellow classmates. Our minds and hearts could not stop thinking of going to a next site. Even our dear Teacher Rye was sad to end it. Although, we had great times! All our expectations were satisfied and were even splashed with more fun! After learning so much from DTRI (Dairy Training and Research Institute), the IPB (Institute of Plant Breeding), the MNH (Museum of Natural History), the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute), and finally, the Makiling Botanic Garden, we were able to give and express to you how fun and meaningful it was to us in this extravagant trip. We enjoyed teaching you guys a little something from our field trip! We give our thanks to our teachers so much. We have one more post to give you, and its bye bye for the gurus! So you just wait! But first, here's a message from the gurus about this field trip: We, the science gurus, will never forget this learning experience because, it was one that was different from what other teachers would give, one that would be treasured. And here is a batch picture of us!

One big happy family, ain't it?

Our Eyes on Some Rice!

     Hey fellow bloggers! Once again, we are the Science Gurus. As said in our previous posts, we are currently posting about the happenings in our UP Los Baños fieldtrip. In our previous posts, we talked about the Dairy Training Institute (DTRI), the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB), and the most recent stop we talked about, the Museum of Natural History.

As Filipinos (and Asians, who are stereotypically called rice-loving people), we wouldn’t go without visiting our favorite part of our dishes: rice. After visiting the Museum of Natural History, we arrived at a place which researches on what most, if not all, Filipinos love to eat anything with, the rice grains. Where we arrived for this kind of plant? The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), of course. What is IRRI? IRRI is a nonprofit research and training organization. IRRI develops new rice varieties and rice crop management techniques that help rice farmers improve the yield and quality of their rice in an environmentally sustainable way. They aim to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, etc.  

Before actually arriving at IRRI, most, if not all, of us expected to learn about one major thing there: rice. And of course, we were right. But rice wasn’t all we learned there!

Their intro signage

     When we came inside the “Riceworld” we were greeted by a tour guide who led us to a room that had about eight rows of chairs, a stage, and a screen, a big one, just like the one you see in movie theaters. They presented a video, about 10-20 minutes long, to us, and as we watched, we learned that IRRI has been aiming to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the quality of rice, and many other things. “Rice is life,” the audiovisuals had said. And it is true; rice is, indeed, life. Most people in the world are dependent on rice as part of their main dish. “Without rice, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook,” a famous Chinese proverb says. It simply means that rice is an essential thing in the world. Watching the video in IRRI, most of our minds were refreshed with the thought that, although the first thing that would come into most people’s minds when rice is conversed about would be using rice as food, rice is also made a career by many. We realized that many farmers plant rice for a living, not only here in the Philippines where agriculture is still a main occupation, but also in many other countries.

After watching the audiovisual they presented to us, we got to tour their small museum! Here are some pictures of the museum: 

A painting dedicated to the farmers of the world

A primitive machine used before for rice production

Whoever thought of rice wine?

A computerized system that gives info on agriculture in Asia

 And finally, we give you our daily, nutritious rice-filled cereals!

     This was a quite interesting place for us since one thing would be that it had a big, wide open field in which we could run on! But of course, we were limited to running only for a few minutes for our teachers were like eagles.

A field that IRRI uses for its research


And of course, since this is a place full of rice, we got to find info on a rice organism!

1. Rice

• Common name: Rice/ rice grain
• Scientific name: Oryza sativa
• Scientific classification:
•          Kingdom: Plantae
           Division: Magnoliophyta
           Class: Liliopsida
           Order: Poales
           Family: Poaceae
           Genus: Oryza
           Species: sativa

         a. Characteristics: The rice plant is a tall crop well-grown in the tropics. It contains several vitamins such as zinc, iron, potassium, and etc. 


       b. Ecological relationship: Rice is a producer in an ecosystem. Herbivores predate on it for nutrition. Humans also use rice for when they eat.

AND HERE ARE TWO PICTURES OF RICE!

The rice crop

The processed rice in an authentic bowl

Credits and References:

1) Teacher Rye for the pictures used in this post

2) Information about the rice

3) Information about IRRI

(Check out the IRRI website here!)

Well, wasn't that a great experience? Our eyes finally met some rice in a museum! See us in our next lecture, and our last stop at this out-of-this-world field trip!

Our History's Natural Awesomeness!

     Heyy there bloggers! We are back, giving you info on different kinds of organisms and happenings in our awesome field trip. After talking to you about the DTRI (Dairy Training and Research Institute) and the IPB (Institute of Plant Breeding), we shall now go to our third stop at this trip, the Museum of Natural History. This, was of course, one of the best sites in the trip since it was filled with different kinds of animals and plants and so many biodiversities! Since this was a museum, we sure expected to meet a lot of things. And that was just what we found here! From whales to bats to beetles to eagles and many more! But of course, these were just models of the animals. But the museum did contain some species that were real. Well anyway, in this museum, we got to find many kinds of Archaeans, Bacteria, and Fungi. We learned how the Philippines is so diverse in its organisms! 

     Well, here are a few pictures of the museum. Although, we are very sorry for our photographer, Ryuu, who had too much fun in the museum that he only got to picture only a few things for our group. We apologize. Well here are the pictures!

A small bridge we found in one of the exhibits

Colorful butterflies

Different kinds of moths

More moths

     In this amazing museum, we got to find about a few species and their information. Here are the organisms:

1. Short Whale

• Common name: Short-finned pilot whale
• Scientific name: Globicephala macrorhynchus 
• Classification:

            Kingdom: Animalia

              Phylum: Chordata

              Class: Mammalia

              Order: Cetartiodactyla

              Family: Delphinidae 

              Genus: Globicephala

              Species: macrorhynchus

     a. Characteristics: This whale has a stream-lined body. It is dark-blue.

     b. Ecological relationship: This whale is a carnivore. It's relationship with other organisms is predation. The short-finned pilot whale preys on small fish or pelagic cephalopods for it's diet.

AND HERE'S A PICTURE ON THIS WHALE!

Two short-finned pilot whales under the sea 

     2. Lungwort

• Common name: Lungwort 
• Scientific name: Lobaria alavae
• Classification: 

           Kingdom: Fungi

             Phylum: Ascomycota

             Class: Lecanoromycetes

             Order: Peltigerales

             Family: Lobariaceae

             Genus: Lobaria

             Species: alavae

      a. Characteristics: It is a leafy lichen. It has a different color when it is wet and when it is dry. It grows on coniferous trees.

      b. Ecological relationship: The lungwort is a decomposer. It of course decomposes on remains of organisms. 

HERE IS THE FUNGUS PICTURE!

The lungwort growing on a tree

    3. Sea turtle

• Common name: Green sea turtle
• Scientific name: Chelonia mydas
• Classification: 

          Kingdom: Animalia

            Phylum: Chordata

            Class: Reptilia

            Order: Testudines

            Family: Cheloniidae

            Genus: Chelonia

            Species: mydas

           a. Characteristics: The green sea turtle has a flat body and a beaked head. It has paddle-like arms which are well adapted for moving. It has a bluegreen color. It is either carnivorous or herbivorous (It changes depending on its age).

             

           b. Ecological relationship: The green sea turtle is either a herbivore or a carnivore. It predates on either plants or small fish. 

AND FINALLY, HERE IS THE SEA TURTLE!

A green sea turtle gliding through the water

And thus ends our long discussion on this museum. Meet us next time on our next lecture on our next trip!

Let's Breed Some Plants!

     

     Hey hey everyone! Welcome back to our extraordinary fieldtrip! So we first talked about our trip to DTRI (Dairy Training and Research Institute). This is where we learned a lot about cows and how they live. Well, let's move on to the next stop, the Institute of Plant Breeding or IPB! In this place, of course, plants are bred. We were shown to many kinds of plants and crops such as the tomato, the sweet potato, corn, and we even got to see some fungi! Here is our tour guide:

Our tour guide holding beans

And here are some samples of the plants there:

     They also taught us how to treat our plants properly like by constantly watering the plants and giving it good sunlight. After looking at plants, the tour guide brought us to a series of different kinds of flowers and with colorful colors! We even could buy a plant for a souvenir! But then, none of us had money. 

     Well let us give you a few organisms that we found interesting in the IPB. First, let us give you a picture of a fungi we saw:

And here are the organisms we got to find some info on:

     1) Cassava

  

             a. Common name: Sweet Potato

           b. Scientific name: Manihot esculenta

           c. Classification: 

               Kindom: Plantae

               Division: Angiospermophyta

               Class: Dicotylodones

               Order: Malpighiales

               Family: Euphorbiaceae

               Genus: Manihot

               Species: esculenta

• Characteristics: A shrubby, tropical, perennial plant which is resistant against insects due to its covering and it tastes sweet.

• Ecological relationship: The cassava plant is a producer in an ecosystem. It is the prey of the herbivores. The herbivores eat the cassava or sweet potato as nutrition so the eco-relationship of the cassava and the herbivore is predation.

AND HERE IS AN AMAZING PICTURE OF THIS PLANT!

The delicious cassava/sweet potato

Here is one more plant we found in the IPB, the Jungle Geranium:

      2) Santan

             a. Common name: Jungle Geranium

             b. Scientific name: Ixora coccinea

             c. Classification: 

               Kingdom: Plantae

               Division: Angiospermophyta

               Class: Dicotylodones

               Order: Gentianales

               Family: Rubiaceae

               Genus: Ixora

               Speies: coccinea

• Characteristics: This is a plant which is color red. Each strand of this plant has 4 petals which makes it a dicot. 

• Ecological relationship: The plant is a producer since it is a plant. It relates with other organisms through predation of herbivores on it. And because we are omnivores, we can eat this too. 

AND FINALLY, HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE GERANIUM!

The Ixora coccinea

Well, that's all for now people! See our next stop in this wonderful fieldtrip!

The Trip to the LegenDAIRY Institute...

     Hooorayy! Our class has finally gone for a field trip outside of town! Our classmates and us went to U.P. Los Banos, Laguna on the day of February 4, 2011 for our Science class led by Teacher Rye, of course. Why you ask? Well, he wants us to learn more on plants and animals. He likes to give his students a good vision and working on topics on different kinds of organisms. Why did we join the field trip you ask? Well, of course for fun and learning. But even more for the experience :D Of course, since this was a field trip, we wanted and expected for it to be a great learning experience for the gurus. I'm sure we were all excited to go somewhere out of the town and to meet a new place in the Philippines before this great experience happened!
     
     Now, the first site we went to for our field trip was, the Diary Training and Research Institute OR we can just call it shortly as DTRI. Here, we expected to learn how to milk cows and of course how cows grow up. And, that is exactly what happened! We got to see cows and learn where the sperm of male cows go, how to milk cows, what they eat to grow well, and where the milk is processed! Here first is a picture of one of the things DTRI workers use there to help them in their work. The item on the left-most is something they use for keeping the male cow's semen where they put in a container. The item on the second from the left is a model of how the milking part of the cow looks like. And finally, the two items on the right are microscopes for viewing some specimens that are really small. Here is the picture! 

     After going through all these lectures and visuals, we were finally treated to some milk in a little dairy shop in DTRI's premises. It was neat. Well here is an organism we got to find in DTRI's territory:

1. Name of Organism: 

• Common name: Cow/ cattle
• Scientific name: Bos taurus
• Taxonomic classification:       

          Kingdom: Animalia
          Phylum: Chordata
          Class: Mammalia
          Order: Artiodactyla
          Family: Bovidae
          Genus: Bos

          Species: taurus

   2. Characteristics:

        a. Has black and white/brown spots all around its body.

        b. Has four teats which produces milk.

        c. Has hooves for feet.

   3. Ecological Relationship:

• Ecological role: Herbivore
• Ecological relationships with organisms: It's relationship with grass is predation.
• Description on this relation: The cow predates on grass in fields to gain a healthy diet.

     And finally! Here is a picture of this amazing creature, the cow:

We'll be posting soon on the other sites we visited in UPLB.

So just you wait! 

                                                                              -The Science Gurus