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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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Name:___________________________________Hour:____________________________________

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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YourClaim:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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YourEvidence:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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YourReasoning:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Onceyourargumentiswritten,areyouabletoanswerthefollowingquestions?

• Whydoesyourevidencesupportyourclaim?• Whydidyoudecidetousethatevidence?Whyisyour

evidenceimportant?• Howdoyouknowyouranalysisofthedataisfreefromerrors?

• Howdidyouanalyzeorinterpretyourdata?Whydidyoudecidetodoitthatway?

• Howdoesyourjustificationofyourevidencefitwithacceptedscientificideas?

• Whydidyourejectanotherclaim?

Name:___________________________________Hour:____________________________________

ReferenceInformation:

Table1–InformationaboutVirusesandotherobjectsfoundonEarth.

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