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8/24/2007
Find an web article from a reputable news website that contains information about any type of projectile. The article must relate to some science topic this could include something having to do with the projectile of bullets or weapons but should not focus on killing!Write a short (1 paragraph) summary of the article and then describe how anything you have learned in the past week about projectile motion might relate to it (second short paragraph). Finish with a citation to the web article. Enter all of this under "Entry" below.

//Entry// The article I found was about a new less-lethal weapon developed for the SWAT team to control riots. It shoots out air pressured projectiles filled with something called PAVA powder which causes the subject to cough and joke therefore stopping them for a moment. It can be used for the militairy, law enforment officers, and SWAT teams everywhere. It can shoot up to 100 meters for crowd control at long distances.

I think it relates to our unit because it can shoot up to 100 meters, but probably to do that you would need to adjust the angle of you shot. Thats what we have been discussing in class. We also did an experiment trying to figure out how which angle shoots the furthest distance if all of the other variables are the same.

Black, Heather. "CNN Money." __New Less-Lethal Series of Projectile Launchers for Law Enforcement and Militairy__. 30/July/2007. Cable News Network. 27 Aug 2007 <[|http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0284005.htm>.]

//Comment 1:// You did a good job talking in third person and using a scientific way of talking. You did a good job with punctuation and your spelling was great but could have been better in some areas. I am a little confused about the joke part, I think you meant choke. You also did a good job of making it a paragraph but keeping it a short paragraph.You did a fantastic job describing the information from your article. I was able to understand what the weapon was and what it did. I was also able to understand how it related to what we have been doing in class. Good job! --Sydney Comment 2:

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**9/24/2007**
Reflect upon the mystery density cube experiment. You may write in first person. Create a long paragraph addressing these questions:

1.) Was the scientific method necessary in this experiment? If not, why? If so, why? 2.) What made this experiment difficult? or was it easy? 3.) Is density very important in finding the identity of an unknown substance? . //Entry: Yes, it is important because without the scientific method the experiment would go completely wrong. If we didn’t do the observations, we would not be able to come up with a final result. It was easy because of the observations we were able to make good guesses at the end. Yes density is very important in finding the final results because no objects have the same density.//

//**Comment 1:** Good job on an overall good paragraph with just a few mistakes, Connor. The first thing is you might want to put a line in between 9/24's entry and 8/24's entry. Also you need to write a full paragraph with a topic sentence and a concluding sentence. Your paragraph was not very long, so you might want to try and add to it because you have solid details that would make a wonderful paragrah. I like your points about the need to make observations and how you said that no two objects have the same density. However, I don't agree that this experiment was easy. I thought it was rather hard because of all the hard work put into it and the densities that didn't match up completely. Also in your last sentence, between "yes" and "density", you need a comma. Great job on a good paragraph with only a few trivial mistakes. -Nicole :)//

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10/16/2007
What is a flame test in your own words? How does this relate to the use of chemicals in fireworks? Make sure to include your MLA citations you may not use Wikipedia! . //Entry: A flame test in my words is test that shows the color of any given gas. It sends electricity through the elemant making it glow because of a reaction. So far, we have only used gasses so im not sure if you can do it for solid/liquid elemants. They are used to find the identity or possible identity of an elemant. When energy is applied there might be a color that is visible to the eye. It can be useful for fireworks because when they explode in the air energy is applied. If there is an elemant in there, it will create that color and thats it why they light up the way they do. Like today, some of the colors i have seen in fireworks which makes it seem true. The final result is NaCl which is common table salt.//

//Comment 1://

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**11/1/2007**
Go to this site: [|http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=55 .]Click on "Watch the Reaction with Sodium and Chlorine" In your own words and in third person, create a blog entry describing the reaction and explaining what is happening in terms of the bonding. Write a long paragraph. Explain in detail.

//Entry: In the reaction of sodium and chlorine, the sodium is dropped into the chlorine. What happens is that an ionic bond is being created. One of the electrons from sodium is being moved to the atom of chlorine to create ions. Then the chlorine turns negative because it has an extra electron. The sodium is becoming positive because it is getting rid of the negatively charged electron. This creates a reaction because of the electrons becoming ions and becoming positive and negative.//

//Comment 1: Well, Connor, overall good job! You could have expanded and made it longer. Also, it was not a proper paragraph because it didn't really have a topic or concluding sentence. But, all the information seemed correct. There were several awkward sentences, but considering that we didn't have long to do these, that's understandable. All of the spelling seems correct. I think you have a pretty good grasp on the bonding stuff, but, again, you could have made it longer. I would give you an A- because your length and writing could have been worked on some, but your information was correct.// -Nicole A. :) Comment 2:

Revised Entry://In the reaction of sodium and chlorine, the sodium is dropped into the chlorine. What happens is that an ionic bond is being created. One of the electrons from sodium is being moved to the atom of chlorine to create ions. Then the chlorine turns negative because it has an extra electron. The sodium is becoming positive because it is getting rid of the negatively charged electron. This creates a reaction because of the electrons becoming ions and becoming positive and negative.

-//

**11/08/2007**
What was your favorite project, experiment or topic this trimester and why? (projectile motion, density cube experiment, podcasts, chemical reactions, flame tests, etc.) You can also comment about the snakes. What do you think that you excelled at this trimester? How could you have improved your performance in Science 7? (Make sure to check your spelling and grammar).

//Entry: My favorite experiment was probably a tie between both the chemical reactions, and the flame tests. I liked them both because we got to actually experiment with chemicals and that is what I’ve always really wanted to do in science. Normally last year we wouldn’t really use any chemicals it would all just be density and regular objects but to be able to do something more interactive made it exciting. The flame tests were fun because we got to put different chemicals into a flame to find a certain color. The chemical reactions were fun because you never knew what was going to happen and there was always a chance of danger which was exciting. I probably could’ve improved on doing more studying when homework was assigned in the book and looked more deeply for it then guessing. I did well when I needed to learn the periodic table because I spent a lot of time studying and I made a good grade on it. Science this trimester was good but it could’ve been better.

Comment 1:// There should not be a comma in the first sentence between reactions and and. Other than that, it was Perfect. - David M.

Comment 2: You were an excellent motivational influence to my science


 * 12/18/2007**

Our next unit is about electricity and electronics. In first person write a long paragraph about what you know about electricity and what questions you might like to have answered in our electricity unit. If you could investigate any subject area related to energy in the home, electricity, electronics, computers, etc. what would you like to research or investigate?

Entry: I don’t know much about electricity but I do know that it travels in currents and can be used for many different things such as computers, radios, TVs, and sometimes even cars. Sometimes it can be transported through batteries that have acids in them to create the electricity. I would just like to learn more about the travelling of electricity and what it truly is instead of just saying it’s what powers a light bulb. To me, it seems interesting about all the things it can do, how it gets to places, and how it runs through your body without killing you. If there was a subject area I would like research and investigate it would be about computers and all the parts of them and how electricity has to do with it besides just being able to turn it on and off.

Comment 1: Well written! I do not see a problem with your opinion or the way you have written it.

Well done! -Cannon

Comment 2:

1/3/2008
Our next unit is about electricity and electronics. Observe the following graph, Graph 1 and write an analytical paragraph describing what it means. Make sure to address what trends are observed; how things change over time, etc. Write at least five sentences for the following questions. Write in third person. Directly cite data and identify the graph (1). 1.) Which electricity source in the US has increased the greatest amount over the time period shown in the graph? 2.) Which of the sources listed below directly contribute to global warming? Provide evidence and explain using the Internet (MLA citation). 3.) Describe the overall trends from 1972 to 1985 regarding the US's sources of electricity. [|This graph can also be seen at this LINK.]

Entry: Graph 1 (above) shows the power sources being used in the United States from 1950 to 2005. Trends that are noticed are ones that hydroelectric stayed the same amount of kilowatthours for the while time just increasing and decreasing a very small amount. In Graph 1, Coal continuously rose with few decreases while rising from 0.1 trillion kilowatthours to over 2.0 kilowatthours. In second place behind coal for the most was natural gas and nuclear electric power. The sources that directly contribute to global warming are all except hydroelectric power. They all gave off carbon dioxide when burned, coal being the most by giving of 1.7 times as much per unit as natural gas. Coal accounts for 93 percent of the emissions from the electricity utility industry. These gasses go into the air and are held in the by the ozone. That’s called the greenhouse effect and that is warming up the earth and creating global warming. The trends of Graph 1 are ones such as coal, continuously rising at a steady pace while the other sources stay at a continuous level by 0.5 trillion Killowatthours. Natural gas is the only other sources that had a went up then down. Hydroelectric power stayed the same, just growing at a about 0.1 trillion kilowatt hours. Nuclear Electric power also grew by a total of 0.5 trillion killowatthours. That is all the trends that I noticed in that time period.

Comment 1: You did a great job in where the evidence came from and what year they were in. Something you could have improved upon is writing more detailed sentences and meaningful sentences. Your last sentence was "That is all the trends that I noticed in that time period." You could have put a sentence or two more describing other trends. -Cannon

Comment 2: Connor- You did an okay job on your blog entry. In the last sentence, you used the word “I.” You did a good job referencing the graph. You might want to improve your data referencing by saying the time period. You did a good job following the prompt and answering the question. Your thoughts and conclusions about the data make sense. You might want to get rid of the word “a” in sentence two and three. Otherwise, good job! - Sarah

Comment 3: Good job but you need to expand more upon your thinking and remember to write in third person- no "I's. Describe all of the trends. - JT

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1/8/2008
Please read the paragraph below about energy use to create electricity from 1972-1985 in the US. Observe that the graph is referred to, there is an introductory statement, supporting statements are backed up with data, and that their is a concluding sentence. This would have been a well written paragraph for question 3 in our previous blog entry.

"As seen in Graph 1, there were four sources of electricity production in the US from 1972-1985. These sources were coal, petroleum/natural gas, nuclear electric power, and hydroelectric power. From 1972-1985, the US needed greater and greater production of electricity from these combined resources. This best example of this is that during these years, coal increased from 0.5 trillion kilowatthours to roughly 1.5 trillion kilowatthours. During this same time period hydroelectric sources remained approximately the same at 0.3 trillion kilowatthours. There was a slight increase in nuclear electric power sources from 0.1 trillion kilowatthours to 0.3 trillion kilowatthours during this same time period. Finally, petroleum and natural gas showed the greatest amount of fluctuation during this time period staying about the same from 1972-1980 at 0.4 trillion kilowatthours but then deceasing to 0.3 trillion kilowattthours by 1985. Thus, although greater and greater amounts of resources were needed to produce electricity during this time period, coal accounted for the greatest increase in use." - JT

//**Using the above paragraph as a model, describe the changes in electricity production sources from 2000-2005. Make sure that you reference the graph (Graph 1). Make sure all statements are backed up with data. Make sure you have an introductory sentence and a concluding sentence that provide an overall summary/statement.**//

Entry: As seen in graph 1, during the time period of 2000 to 2005 coal was at its highest point of 2 trillion killowatthours. The other 3 sources of electricity weren't able to come close to the amount that coal was being used.The closest source behind it was natural gas and petroleum which was still 1.5 trillion killowatthours behind coal. This showed a steady demand of coal for power in the US in this period of time. Nucleur electric power came in third during 2005 with 0.4 trillion killowatthours which was the highest it reached during this time. It stayed at a slight increase for the 2000 to 2005 section of Graph 1 but never became very high. In the very last, as depicted by Graph 1, is hydroelectric power which was only about 0.2 trillion killowatthours. This showed that the demand of hydroelectric power was not very high at all.

Comment 1: In the fifth sentance of your entry you mispell the word nuclear. Besides that the grammer is fine. You referenced the graph which is good. Also you had data for everything that you talked about which is good too. Good job talking about the high demand of coal during 2000-2005, and the not high demand of hydro electric power, but you might want to mention the overall tendencies during this stretch of 5 years. There are not alot of things that i see you need to change. Nice job! ;)

-Eric

Comment 2:

Re-Entry: As seen in gGraph 1, during the time period of 2000 to 2005 coal was at its highest point of 2 trillion killowatthours. This was actually a time where all of the four sources reached an all time high. The other 3 sources of electricity weren't able to come close to the amount that coal was being used.The closest source behind it was natural gas and petroleum which was still 1.5 trillion killowatthours behind coalDATA. This showed a steady demand of coal for power in the US in this period of timePROOF. Nuclear electric power came in third during 2005 with 0.4 trillion killowatthours which was the highest it reached during this time. It stayed at a slight increase for the 2000 to 2005 section of Graph 1 but never became very highPROOF. In the very last, as depicted by Graph 1, is hydroelectric power which was only about 0.2 trillion killowatthours but was still able to reach its highest amount of all time. This showed that the demand of hydroelectric power was not very high at all.WORK ON IMPROVING YOUR FINAL SENTENCE. - jt

2/05/2008
What is a watt? How do you calculate the amount of electrical power that is used in a circuit? Finally, if a lamp with a 200 watt lightbulb burned for 24 hours straight (you forgot and left it turned on), how many kilowatt hours would it use? Make sure to write in complete sentences and in third person. Explain how you calculated the amount of kilowatt hours that would be used in the question above.

Entry: A watt is a measure of electrical power. To calculate the amount of electrical power (watts), you would multiply the voltage of a circuit with the current of the circuit. To find the amount of kilowatt-hours one would first multiply the number of hours and the amount of voltage together. That is the amount of watt hours but to find kilowatt-hours, one would have to divide that number by 1000 to find the kilowatt-hours. In this equation, one would multiply 24 times 200 to get 4800 watt hours. Next, to find the amount of kilowatt-hours, one would then multiply it by 1000 to get the final answer of 4.8 killo-watthours.

Comment 1: It is a good paragraph, that explains what everything is and how to do it. You also could combine some of your thoughts. The only spelling error is the last word in the paragraph, where you have two L's in Kilo-watthours. Other than that a very good job. -Eric S.

Comment 2: Pretty good job. You have a good length, and pretty good information, but some things are wrong. A kilowatthour is spelled with one l. Also, to get the watthours, you should have multiplied the **power** of the circuit by the # of hours instead of multiplying the voltage by the # of hours. Also, you are supposed to divide 4800 by 1000, not multiply. All in all, it was pretty good, but you just had little mistakes. :) - Joshua Kennedy

2/28/2008
This trimester we started by finishing up our chemistry unit by doing an acid/base experiment. After this, we started our electricity/electronics unit in which we first made basic series and parallel circuits with buzzers, speakers, motors, and lights. We applied ohm's law to these experiments. Following this, we started working on the Radioshack Electronics Kits where we made complex circuits that had a variety of functions- blinking LEDs, screeching speakers, analog to digital converters, etc. The technology we used this trimester included the pH probes that we connected to our computers to get the pH of household chemicals, using the wiki to create an class test review sheet, the Radioshack Electronic Kits, and creating collaborative lab reports in the wiki for our electronics unit (instead of a formal lab report).

//__In this blog prompt, please write a paragraph long entry (5-6 sentences with a intro and concluding sentence) that addresses what you enjoyed during this trimester and what you have learned. You can also comment on what you would like to improve upon for next trimester or what was difficult for you. Feel free to comment on our snakes- Peppermint and Diablo if you would like to as well as the technology that you enjoyed this trimester. Please check your spelling and grammar as this blog entry may appear in your end of trimester comment. You may want to write it in Microsoft Word to check the spelling, etc. and then copy it in the blog.__//

Entry:During this trimester, I enjoyed many of our different experiments. My favorite was probably our most recent RadioShack lab. I enjoyed it because it was very interactive and you were able to create different things just by inserting wires, resistors, capacitors, and other things into the bread board. My next favorite was probably getting to play with the snakes and getting to hold them. This was fun because we actually got to have a unique class pet that most classes won’t have even if they do get a pet. It was also very interesting to see how fast they grew from just little 5 inch babies to being 10 inches by the end of trimester. Lastly, my 3rd favorite thing was the pH because we then got to do testing as well. We used the pH sensor and red and blue litmus paper to determine the acidity and how basic a chemical or drink was. It was very revealing how acidic some things you drink are and how dangerous some chemicals like liquid plumber are. These were the things that I enjoyed for this trimester and I hope we can continue to do these things in the following trimester

Comment 1: Bravo, Connor! You have excelled exceedingly in class and I cannot be more proud of you! You did a great job with all the small things and great things in science class. I can’t wait until next trimester. Have a good one ;-). -Cannon

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4/22/2008
 Go to: [|The Tech Museum: Robotics]. Spend 10 minutes browsing the information and museum. Answer the following blog prompt in complete sentences and in third person. Create a full paragraph. If in the future machines have the ability to reason, be self-aware and have feelings, then what makes a human being a human being, and a robot a robot? Explain. Are there any kind of robots that shouldn't be created? Or that you wouldn't want to see created? Why?

Entry: I think the difference is that we can make our own decisions and create new things. So basically we will have creativity and just be able to make more instead of just the basic functions of life. I would not want to a see a robot that could make new things because that could lead to the things that happened in I-Robot even if that is a fictional future movie. It is possible for that to happen even if it does seem ridiculous. It is basically a virus on a computer, but a computer can’t walk around and control things like a human being robot can.

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