Describe the picture you see here. Tell me about the things you see.

( use the "comentários" area to write your description )

READING

Choose the best option.

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FATAL ATTRACTION
1. Rats have evolved a strong, innate aversion to the smells of their predators. Healthy rats-even those bred for hundreds of generations in the laboratory-show distinct anxiety around feline odors. When the amoebic parasite Toxoplasma gondii gets into their brains, however, many of the rodents seem to lose their fear: 2. Zoologist Manuel Berdoy, epidemiologist Joanne Webster, and colleagues at the University of Oxford have studied the life cycle of T. gondii to test the hypothesis that the parasite manipulates the behavior of its intermediate host, the rat, to reach its ultimate target, the cat. The researchers infected captive rats with oocysts of the parasite and then placed them in large outdoor pens containing both cat and rabbit urine. Uninfected rats tended to shun the cat-scented areas, while the parasitized rats became substantially less afraid. With their fear of felines diminished, parasitized rats may become uninhibited about approaching their arch predators, with the predictable result of ending up as dinner. 3. Although all mammals are susceptible to infection by T. gondii, the amoebas can reproduce only within members of the cat family. Once T. gondii has bred in the brain of a cat that has ingested an infected rat, the parasite’s oocysts are expelled with the cat’s feces. After being washed away by rain, these oocysts can remain infectious in moist soil for more than a year. They can be ingested by beetles and worms, which are readily eaten by rats. 4. While the parasite affects rats’ fear of cats, it appears to leave other aspects of rat behavior intact and to leave cat behavior completely unchanged, The Oxford researchers believe that T. gondii has evolved to alter rat behavior in this specific way and that the reduction of fear is not simply a side effect of cerebral malfunction. ("Fatal Attraction in Rats Infected With Toxoplasma gondii," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 267, 2000. Natural History 4/01)

You can infer from the information in the article that the T. gondii parasite…

(    ) can weaken the reasoning capacity of cats as well as rats, though it is particularly destructive to rats;

(     ) can weaken the reasoning capacity of cats as well as rats, though it is particularly destructive to cats;

(     ) can attack and weaken the muscles of any mammal, though it must infect rats and cats to reproduce;

(     ) is a fundamental element in the life cycle of cats as well as rats, though it causes behavioral changes only in rats;

(      )  seems to make any animal that it infects less susceptible to feelings of fear or anxiety.

Put in order.


6 - And just like you can't believe the information on every website out there, you can't rely on what strangers you 'meet' on the internet tell you either. Just like you could make up things about yourself to tell someone, someone else could do the same to you!

4 -  Just because you read something on a piece of paper someone sticks on a bulletin board doesn't mean it's good information, or even correct, for that matter. So you have to be sure that whoever posted the information knows what they're talking about, especially if you're doing research !

7  - But what if you're just emailing people? You still have to be very careful. If you've never met the person that you're communicating with online, you could be on dangerous ground! You should never give out any personal information to someone you don't know, not even your name!

5- It's kind of like a giant bulletin board that the whole world uses! But since anyone can put anything on the internet, you also have to be careful and use your best judgement and a little common sense.

3 - Twenty years ago, kids in school had never even heard of the internet. Now, I'll bet you can't find a single person in your school who hasn't at least heard of it. In fact, many of us use it on a regular basis and even have access to it from our homes! 

1 - You may enjoy using it to do research for a school project, downloading your favorite songs or communicating with friends and family. Information is accessed through web pages that companies, organizations and individuals create and post.

2 - The 'net' in internet really stands for network. A network is two or more computers connected together so that information can be shared , or sent from one computer to another. The internet is a vast resource for all types of information.

Write your sequence in the comments. 

 

I am uploading this clip in order to test if it´s working. Take a look at this. It´s one of my favorite clips. See you!

Material da 1a aula

Bacterial infections are caused by bacteria and viral infections are caused by viruses. Infections caused by bacteria include strep throat, tuberculosis and urinary tract infections. Diseases that result from viruses include chickenpox, AIDS and the common cold.   Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that thrive in many different types of environments. Some varieties live in extremes of cold or heat, while others make their home in people's intestines, where they help digest food. Most bacteria cause no harm to people. Viruses are even smaller than bacteria and require living hosts — such as people, plants or animals — to multiply. Otherwise, they can't survive. When a virus enters your body, it invades some of your cells and takes over the cell machinery, redirecting it to produce the virus. Perhaps the most important distinction between bacteria and viruses is that antibiotic drugs usually kill bacteria, but they aren't effective against viruses. In some cases, it may be difficult to determine whether a bacterium or a virus is causing your symptoms. Many ailments — such as pneumonia, meningitis and diarrhea — can be caused by either type of microbe. Inappropriate use of antibiotics has helped create strains of bacterial disease that are resistant to treatment with different types of antibiotic medications.

Fale sobre o ambiente em que cada um desses seres vive.

Quais são mais resistentes ao meio em que vivem?

(…) any of a domain of prokaryotic round, spiral, or rod-shaped single-celled microorganisms that may lack cell walls or are gram-positive or gram-negative if they have cell walls, that are often aggregated into colonies or motile by means of flagella, that typically live in soil, water, organic matter, or the bodies of plants and animals, that are usually autotrophic, saprophytic, or parasitic in nutrition, and that are noted for their biochemical effects and pathogenicity;

Sobre qual dos seres da primeira leitura se reporta essa segunda leitura?

Qual a principal diferenciação que é feita sobre esses seres? Vemos sempre essa classificação em bulas de remédios.

Any of the unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms of the class Schizomycetes, which vary in terms of morphology, oxygen and nutritional requirements, and motility, and may be free-living, saprophytic, or pathogenic in plants or animals.


Nessa outra definição, um novo dado é informado sobre tal organismo. Esse dado nos remete a uma nova divisão. Que divisão é essa?

These beings  can also form spores, dehydrated forms that are relatively resistant to heat, cold, lack of water, toxic chemicals and radiation. Most of them have a rigid cell wall outside of the cell membrane primarily composed of a dense layer of peptidoglycan, a network of polysaccharide chains with polypeptide cross-links. Some antimicrobial agents, the penicillins and cephalosporins, act by interfering with peptidoglycan synthesis.

Como os remédios, normalmente,  freiam a proliferação desses seres em nossos organismos?

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O que dificultou sua compreensão?

O que facilitou sua compreensão?

Você já tinha visto esse assunto em uma de suas aulas? Onde e quando?

Highlight the words that you consider similar to our language. Can you distinguish if they are from Latin or Greek origin?

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Go to page 33 on your book and read The Research Projects Session. Has it got the same level of difficulty you found in the previous readings? Why / Why not?