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SocraticSeminar–VirusesIntroduction:Avirusisatinybundleofgeneticmaterial--eitherDNAorRNA--Carriedinaproteinshellcalledacapsid.Someviruseshaveanadditionallayeraroundthiscoatcalledanenvelope.Theenvelopeismadeofalipid.ThreeexamplesofvirusescanbeseeninFigure1.
Whenavirusentersacell,theinformationcarriedinavirus’sgeneticmaterialenablesthevirustoforcetheinfectedcelltomakemorecopiesofthevirus.Thepoliovirus,forexample,canmakeoveronemillioncopiesofitselfinsideasinglehumanintestinalcell.Avirusisusuallyvery,verysmallcomparedtothesizeofthecellitinfects.
Virusescaninfectthecellsofplants,animals,fungi,protists,andevenprokaryotes.Anyindividualspeciesoforganismmaybeinfectedbyhundredsofdifferenttypesofviruses,whichcaninfectthatspecificspeciesalone.Therearevirusesthatinfectonlyhumans(forexample,smallpox),virusesthatinfecthumansandafewotherspecies(forexample,influenza),virusesthatinfectonlyonekindofplant(forexample,thetobaccomosaicvirus),andsomevirusesthatinfectonlyaparticularspeciesofbacteria(forexample,variousbacteriophagesthatonlyinfectE.coli).
Theseuniquetraitsofviruseshavemademanyscientistswonder:Shouldavirusbeclassifiedasalivingthing?
Developonequestionaboutavirusbeingalivingthing.Presentevidencethatanswersyourquestion.Bethoroughandthoughtfulaboutyourquestionandevidence
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Developonequestionaboutavirusnotbeingalivingthing.Presentevidencethatanswersyourquestion.Bethoroughandthoughtfulaboutyourquestionandevidence
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Adenovirus
Bacteriophage
InfluenzaVirus
Figure1.sizesvarybetween45and200nanometers(10-9meters)
Name:___________________________________Hour:____________________________________SocraticSeminar:GuidedQuestions
Directions:Usetheclasswebsitetohelpresearchthefollowingquestions(youmayuseotherwebsites)–bedetailedinyourresponses.Youwillbediscussingthesewithyourclassmatessoon.
1. Whatislife?DescribeattributesoflifethatmakeitdistinctivefromotherpartsoftheEarthsystem,suchasminerals,water,orlight.
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2. Whatisavirus,whatqualitiesdovirusespossessthatarecharacteristicsoflife(fromabovequestion),whatqualitiessetthemapartfromtheclassicdefinitionsoflife?
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3. Isavirusalivingentity?Whyorwhynot?Supportyouranswerwithideasfromthepreviousquestions.
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4. Ifyoudefineavirusasalivingentity,whatarethelimitsoflife?Howdoesavirusdie?Discusswhatqualitiesmustbepresentforsomethingtobeconsideredalive.
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5. Ifavirusisnotdefinedasliving,whatisit?Howdoesitreproduce?Howhavevirusesevolvedthroughtime?
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SocraticSeminar:Claim,Evidence,Reasoning
Directions:Basedoffofyourresearchtothequestion“Shouldvirusesbeclassifiedasalivingthing?”makeaclaimastowhatyoubelieve.Youwillthenuseevidencetobackupyourclaimandreasoningtodefendyourevidenceandbackupyourclaim.Asyouwriteyourargument,remembertodothefollowing:
• Statetheclaimyouaretryingtosupport• Includegenuineevidence(data,analysis,andinterpretation)• Provideajustificationofyourevidencethatexplainswhythe
evidenceisrelevantandwhyitprovidesadequatesupportfortheclaim.
• Organizeyourargumentinawaythataidesreadability.• Useabroadrangeofwordsincludingrelevantvocabulary.• Correctgrammar,punctuation,andspellingerrors.
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YourEvidence:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Onceyourargumentiswritten,areyouabletoanswerthefollowingquestions?
• Whydoesyourevidencesupportyourclaim?• Whydidyoudecidetousethatevidence?Whyisyour
evidenceimportant?• Howdoyouknowyouranalysisofthedataisfreefromerrors?
• Howdidyouanalyzeorinterpretyourdata?Whydidyoudecidetodoitthatway?
• Howdoesyourjustificationofyourevidencefitwithacceptedscientificideas?
• Whydidyourejectanotherclaim?
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ReferenceInformation:
Table1–InformationaboutVirusesandotherobjectsfoundonEarth.
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