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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:// //In this article it is about a WW2 submarine that went down off the coast of one of Alaska’s islands. The submarine USS Grunion had been missing for 65 years. All of the 69 crew and along with one billings radio operator. The submarine was hit by a top secret Japanese projectile. The projectile that hit the submarine was a flat nosed torpedo. The last radio transmission that the USS Grunion sent, said “there is heavy Japanese activity in the area.”// //I learned that the projectile follows a trail called a proabbula when it is shot. The projectile will go further the closer the angel is to 45o. Also that the velocity and weight of the projectile affects how far the projectile will go. The if the projectile spins in a circle like a football it will go farther and faster due to less wind resistance.//

THACKERAY, LORNA. "News." __Lost WWII submarine found in Bering Sea__. 8/24/2007 . The Billings Gazette. 26 Aug 2007 <[|http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/08/24/news/local/18-sub.txt>.] -Nathan

//Comment 1:// //Good job with your first paragraph! Be more careful with grammar and spelling though. You made several spelling errors such as volocity instead of velocity and cricle instead of circle. You also made several grammatical errors such as "The if the" and "In this article it is about." Remember to use complete sentences as well. Your second paragraph was a bit confusing and a little short. To improve your second paragraph, I would tie your sentences together more. That way the paragraph will flow. Most importantly make sure you NEVER put your last name when you sign your entry, instead just put Nathan N.// -Julia W. Comment 2:

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:// No, the scientific method in this experiment was not necessary. It was not necessary because to find the density of some object you just multiple the L * W * H and you get the volume which you divide by the mass. The only thing that made this experiment difficult was that once we found the density's we had to find out what the object was made out of. This was very difficult due to the color was somewhat worn down to the point that it had turn blackish after being light brown. Also it was hard to find what it was made out of because the density was the only thing that could rule out some of the hypothesized things. Yes, the density is very important in finding the identity of an unknown substance. If you do not know the density of the object your better off not even bothering finding what it might be. -Nathan

//Comment 1: I thought that your points were well tought out and true. I noticed a few typos in the document. When you said// //"It was not necessary because to find the density of some object you just multiple the L * W * H and you get the volume which you divide by the mass," you should change multiple to multiply. Also, at the end you should add a comma after object, otherwise it sounds improper. Other than that, it is a good blog entry. Just be sure to explain why the scientific method is unimportant in more thorough detail. IT was a good blog. -David J.// Comment 2:

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 is when you put a chemical on a rod and heat it open by putting it in the hottest part of the flame (the clear or white). Then you check to see what color the flame turns when it is heated up. This may relate to fireworks because fireworks, when shot off are red, blue, white, green, and yellow. That maybe be caused because of the element is heated up and it explodes. -Nathan

//Comment 1://

Comment 2:

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:// The Sodium or Na was dropped into the beaker of Chlorine or Cl gas. This gas is a very toxic gas and can kill people if not carefully used. The Sodium violently caught on fire and turned into little pellets known as Table Salt or NaCl. The elements Sodium and Chlorine bonded together to form NaCl other wise known as Table Salt. This reaction is very violent and and that is why the Sodium catches on fire. The electronic bond can't be broken very easily. -Nathan

//Comment 1: You had a good grammar and spelling on this blog. But you could make a bit longer and then talking about why the reaction is violent and how it turns into table salt.//

Comment 2:

Entry: 2 The Sodium or Na was dropped into the beaker of Chlorine or Cl gas. This gas is a very toxic gas and can kill people if not carefully used. The Sodium violently caught on fire and turned into little pellets known as Table Salt or NaCl. The elements Sodium and Chlorine bonded together to form NaCl other wise known as Table Salt. This reaction is very violent because the Na and Cl are charged differently and when they bond, they make heat. That is why the Sodium catches on fire. The electronic bond can't be broken very easily.

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 the chemical reactions experiment. This was my favorite experiment because I liked the burning and the bright lights and watching the reactions of different chemicals. The snakes, well I really don't know much about them other than there names, Peppermint and Diablo and that the female is orange and the male is a-sorta brown and gray color. Also I think having snakes in the class room is pretty cool. I excelled in my in science in general. I could have improved my performance by studying more and probably looking over my notes some more. ~Nathan

//Comment 1:// Nathan I think you did well this year and I agree you probably should have studied more but I also think you need to specify what you excelled in. If you can that would be better. However, everything else was good. I appreciate how you are enthusiastic about science and it's experiments. -Clayton

Comment 2:

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: My questions about electricity I would like to have answered include, When you are sitting next to a electrical outlet and you don't get electrocuted why is that?, How is lighting made? and so many more. If i could investigate a area of energy I would investigate Nuclear energy. -Nathan

Comment 1:

Comment 2:

1/3/2008
Our next unit is about electricity and electronics. Observe the following graph, Graph 1. Write at least five sentences for each of 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.]

Here is an example statement: "Graph 1 shows that from 1960-1965 there was a steady increase in the use of coal as a source of electricity. It rose from roughly 0.2 trillion killwatthours to 0.5 kilowatt hours.

Entry: In this graph it shows that the use of coal has increased the most over the last 55 years. Hydroelectric power has decreased the most due to the lack of water supply and droughts throughout the US. Nuclear electric is the newest power source starting in the late 1950's. Natural gas has its points in time when it is used and it has many up and down moments through the years.

The source that is directly linked to global warming is every one of the power sources except for Hydroelectric power. All of them except for Hydroelectric power are linked to global warming because they produce Carbon dioxide. In other words they burn fuel to emit energy and that releases the Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. Hydroelectric power on the other hand dose not releases carbon dioxide because it does not burn anything.

The trends of the graph from 1972-1985 shows much of up and down in the use of different energy's. Coal during this time period went up remarkably. Natural Gas has gone down from 0.5 killwatthours to 0.3. Hydroelectric power has gone stayed the same until 1984 when it starts to decease, not by much though. Nuclear electric power has gone up dramatically from 1972-1985 almost 0.5 killwatthours. -Nathan

Comment 1: Instead of saying the graph, you should refer to the graph directly by saying graph 1. You should try to improve the grammar, but overall you answered the question completely and with accurate data. -Elizabeth B.

Comment 2: "The trends of the graph from 1972-1985 shows much of up and down in the use of different energy's EXAMPLE?. Coal during this time period went up remarkably DATA. Natural Gas has gone down from 0.5 killwatthours to 0.3UNITS. Hydroelectric power has gone stayed the same until 1984 when it starts to decease, not by much though DATA, HOW MUCH. Nuclear electric power has gone up dramatically from 1972-1985 almost 0.5 killwatthours. CONCLUDING SENTENCE- OVERALL TRENDS."

Re-Entry:

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 kilowatt hours to roughly 1.5 trillion kilowatt hours. During this same time period hydroelectric sources remained approximately the same at 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours. There was a slight increase in nuclear electric power sources from 0.1 trillion kilowatt hours to 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours 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 kilowatt hours but then deceasing to 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours 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: In the graph above (graph 1) there are four different sources (Hydroelectric power, Nuclear Electric Power, Petroleum and Natural gas, and Coal) of electricity during the years 2000-2005. Between the years 2000-2005 Coal had its peek of use, almost 2.1 trillion kilowatt hours in the year 2004. Petroleum and Natural Gas was tied with Nuclear power at 0.7- 0.8 trillion kilowatt hours until 2003 when Petroleum and Natural Gas toped Nuclear power, in 2005 Petroleum and Natural Gas ended at about 0.9 trillion kilowatt hours. Nuclear power still going at a steady increase from 2000 from 0.6 - 0.7 trillion kilowatt hours ending out with 0.7 trillion kilowatt hours. Hydroelectric power decreased its use in 2000-2001 from 0.4 - 0.2 trillion kilowatt hours, in 2002-2005 it has increased to about 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours. The use of electricity in the US has not increased so much in 2000-2005 as it did in 1972-1985. -Nathan

Comment 1: You did a good job overall, Nathan. You answer the prompt correctly, and you follow all of the guidelines. The only thing I would suggest is to make sure you check over your work, because I saw lots of spelling mistakes and grammar errors. Also some of your sentences did not make sense and I had to read over some of them. Anyways, you did great. I give you an A-. -Ian B.

Comment 2: Good job Nathan. You did good but you need to work on spelling and grammar. Otherwise good job. -Thomas

Re-Entry: In the graph above (graph 1), there are four different sources (Hydroelectric power, Nuclear Electric Power, Petroleum and Natural gas, and Coal) of electricity during the years 2000-2005. Between the years, 2000-2005 Coal had its peak of use, almost 2.1 trillion kilowatt-hours in the year 2004. Petroleum and Natural Gas was tied with Nuclear power at 0.7- 0.8 trillion kilowatt-hours until 2003 when Petroleum and Natural Gas toped Nuclear power, in 2005 Petroleum and Natural Gas ended at about 0.9 trillion kilowatt-hours. (RUN-ON SENTENCE) Nuclear power still going at a steady increase from 2000 from 0.6 - 0.7 trillion kilowatt-hours ending out with 0.7 trillion kilowatt-hours. Hydroelectric power decreased its use in 2000-2001 from 0.4 - 0.2 trillion kilowatt-hours, in 2002-2005 it has increased to about 0.3 trillion kilowatt-hours. The use of electricity in the US has not increased so much in 2000-2005 as it did in 1972-1985. ELABORATE ON WHAT WAS THE MAIN CONTRIBUTOR IN THIS FINAL SENTENCE. - JT -Nathan Part 2

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 light bulb 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 the measure of energy threw a closed circuit. To calculate the electrical power Amps is multiplied by Volts to calculate the Watts, the electrical power. To calculate the amount of watts 24*200 was entered on a calculator and it showed get 4800 watts. After that 4800 is divided by 100 and you get 4.8 kilowatt hours. -Nathan

Comment 1: Nathan good job on explaining the amount of watts, however a watt is a measure of electricity over time. Also watcht the spelling in the first sentence. Good math on the multiplication, although I thiknk at the end of the blog you should maybe include some facts about the watt, or something besides just the problem. Overall a good blog entry that shows the facts, but try and include a little more length next time.

Comment 2: Nathan i really enjoy your opening sentence i congratulate you on that. Another thing i liked is you went straight to the point and explained it throughly. Some things yuo might want to improve on is grammar because you said "entered on a calculator and it showed get 4800 watts" that sentence was akward but otherwise great job Nathan!

-Imraan

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 the electricity part of the trimester when we experimented with light bulbs and circuit. I need to imporve my grade in this class for next trimester I probably need to study more. The snakes have gotten bigger since we first got them in the first trimester. I am actually holding Diablo right now. He is very soft and likes the heat from my computer.

Comment 1: You did a very good job this year. You also helped your groups, including me, with the circuit and stuff. Great job. You also have a few grammar errors, but good job. -Ian

Comment 2: