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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 (not war, guns, etc.) 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:// There is an article on the ways to measure different velocity of a baseball. The way to measure the velocity is in microchip that was placed inside of a baseball. The microchip calculates the time the ball travels in a set distance, or as it is also referred to as velocity. This way was discovered by a man named Albert Diaz, a former baseball coach who has a engineering degree. Mr. Diaz made the baseball and he also made a glove that can measure the velocity of an incoming ball. The glove invention is all done by radar but the ball invention has to do with velocity.

This website relates to what we have learned in class because we have been learning a little about velocity. People who have one of these ballscould do an experiment that worked with the angle of the pitch and the force with what the ball is thrown. This is all related to our past week because of velocity and even a little bit of angle.

RICHTEL, MATT. "Littlest Of Pitchers Can Soon Clock Their Speed ." __Littlest Of Pitchers Can Soon Clock Their Speed__. April 15, 1999. The New York Times. 26 Aug 2007 <[|http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E2DB173BF936A25757C0A96F958260>.]

//Comment 1:In the second paragraph, second sentence, you dont have a space between balls and could. also explain how it it is related to angles. But you explained well about how it relted to the things we did in class. Aaron// 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:// You do have to have a scientific method in this experement because if you do not know the density of the object then you could not such up the material and have a educated guess. You have to have the observations because you need to know what the object really looks like for imformation. This experement was difficult becasue it was hard to tell some od the cubes apart. When you can hardly tell one cube from another, it gets hard to research them. It was also hard because there were so many choices to what they could be and all of them sounded resinable. Density is VERY important to finding the identity of an unknown substance because if you know the density of the one of the options and it matches the density of the cube that you have then it will be eaiser to find the identitiy.

//Comment 1: In your entry, you have used first person instead of third person. Change all the "you's" to someone or one would. An educated guess is also known as a hypothesis (line 2). Missed spelling in line 3 (od). You do not have to capitilize the word "very." Overall, there are some things that need improvment and some things that are well writen. -Cannon//

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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 is when you take a liquid, solid, or gas of an element or compound and hold it over a flame. You do this to figure out what the color or reaction the element or compound will put off.// //The purpose of this lab is not only just for the fact that it could give off nice colors, but to make different ideas that can be used a lot. One of those ideas was fireworks. With fireworks the people who make them have to test to see what color the firework is going to be so they use the flame test but with bigger flames.// helmenstine, Anne. "Qualitative Analysis - Flame Tests ." __Qualitative Analysis - chemistry flame test__. 2007. 16 Oct 2007 <[|http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa110401a.htm>.] //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: When the Sodium gets dropped into the Chlorine the Sodium immediately goes into flames. When the Sodium is dropped, it creates a bond with the Chlorine gas. This bond is called ionic. Sodium is a metal and Chlorine is a non-metal so that makes this defiantly an ionic bond. The force of the Chlorine on the Sodium creates energy which makes a flame. The final reactant is NaCl or table salt. THis is a chemical reaction.

Comment 1: Alex, your entry could be a few sentences longer because yours is about the length of a normal paragraph. You spelled definitely incorrectly and you accidentally capitalized the second letter in the word this. Your content is all correct and you did a great job mentioning that Sodium is a metal and Chlorine is non-metal so they make an ionic bond. You also stated that the final reaction is NaCl or table salt which is also good. The grade is would give this is a A- or A because besides your spelling error and its length it was great. Good work! -David M.

Comment 2: Alex, you did a great job explaining what happened on the web site. You did not spell anything wrong! Good job! You have good content that explains a lot of what happened. The one and only thing you need to approve upon is the length of your entry. I would definitely give you an A because you did a fantastic job, but the entry was short. Great job! ~Sydney R

Revised Entry: When the Sodium gets dropped into the Chlorine the Sodium immediately goes into flames. When the Sodium is dropped, it creates a bond with the Chlorine gas. This bond is called ionic. Sodium is a metal and Chlorine is a non-metal so that makes this definitely an ionic bond. 1 of the electrons in Sodium transfers to Chlorine to make Sodium a negative and Chlorine a positive.The force of the Chlorine on the Sodium creates energy which makes a flame. The final reactant is NaCl or table salt. This is a chemical reaction.

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11/08/2007
What was your favorite project, experiment or topic this trimester? (projectile motion, density cube experiment, podcasts, chemical reactions, flame tests) 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 project this trimester was the chemical reaction. This was really fun because I got to do so many different activities such as the experiments. My favorite experiment was the one that made the white flame. It was really scary, but it was fun to see it how bright the flame was. It was so bright that I had to turn away! Another fun part about this trimester was the worksheet called the Balancing Act. This was not as fun as the experiments, but still fun. To me this was fun because it was just like math and what were learning at that time in math. I really liked this kind of math but not because it is just fun to do. It was really cool to see the way that you can even out the atoms with math. One thing that really stood out to me was the snakes. I use to have a corn snake in 4th grade and I always thought that they were really cool. I think that it really amazing that we have two little snakes that we are allowed to hold all the time. It is so cool how they can hang off your arms with their strong muscles. They are so small and they are very breathtaking creatures. I think that I excelled at studying better. Last year in science I could never bring myself to sit down and study, but now I have learned that in order to succeed you must take time to sit to study. I could have improved my performance in science 7 by spending more effort on homework. I don’t take the time to proof-read my homework, but I have time to. Next trimester I will try to do better with this fault.

//Comment 1://

Comment 2: Alex, you are a wonderful part of this class. You are always willing to help me and answer any questions I have. I enjoyed working with you on the elemental mystery podcast,you added a lot to our group. Science7 would not be as fun without your positive attitude towards learning science. - Marion B

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: When I was younger I use to love electricity, but I don't really know a lot about it still. I know sort of about all those household things because I have a book on them, but I don't really know about it. I think that one of the biggest questions I have is how computers work. I am hoping that we will get to figure this out when we do this unit. Another question I have or really it is something I want to do is to build a working lightbulb. I think that this would be very fun for I have tried before but it has never worked. If I could investigate anything, it would be how those big fans make electricity because it seems to be that wind can not make electricity. I hope that I can find my answers when we get back from break.

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**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: This graph shows how much each of these sources of electricity is used from the year 1949 to 2006. The sources include coal, petroleum and natural gas, nuclear electric power, and hydroelectric power. Coal was used the most throughout this whole experiment. Nuclear electric power started out being the least used but then hydroelectric power went down to the bottom starting in year 1984. After 1984, petroleum and natural gas criss crossed with nuclear electric power for second place in the most used. The electricity source in the US has increased the greatest amount over the time period of 1949 to 2006 was coal. It went from 0.2 trillion kilowatt hours to 1.7 trillion kilowatt hours. This was shown in graph 1, By Major Sources, 1949. In 2006, coal was about 1.0 trillion kilowatt hours above the second most used source (petroleum and natural gas.). Coal increased the most because it didn’t go up and down so much as the other sources did. It stayed about level descending all the way up. The two sources that directly contribute to global warming are coal and petroleum and natural gas. This site says that coal and natural gases produce the most CO2. People want to replace these sources with electricity from nuclear sites. Global warming is caused when CO2 is burned into the air. CO2 is burned through coal, natural gas, and oil even though oil is not on graph 1. My site for this information is: McCarthy, John. "Avoiding Global Warming." __Avoiding Global Warming__. 21/12/1995. ?. 4 Jan 2008 <[|http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/avoid.html>.] From 1972 to 1985 there has been a trend for more nuclear electric energy. We have raised nuclear electric energy 0.1 to 0.4 trillion kilowatt hours. Also the trend for petroleum and natural gas has decreased from 0.6 to 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours. Coal is another one that increased in a hurry going steadily up. It went up from 0.7 to 1.4 trillion kilowatt hours.

Comment 1: Overall great blog entry. You did not say where you got the information for the data. In the praragraph you also used first person. Your information is great and it is also very accurate also was your data. You answered the question great. Great Job-Eric M

Comment 2: The entry looks like a good one. As I read, your paragraph is very short, you used first person, and the sentences you wrote short and abrupt, they were more like a list. Also, you did not have references to the graph or have a citation. You have all of the information though, so that is good. All in all, your blog entry is okay, but you should have probably compared two of the trends to one another.

Comment 3: "From 1972 to 1985 there has been a trend for more nuclear electric energy DATA?. We THIRD PERSON have raised nuclear electric energy 0.1 to 0.4 trillion kilowatt hours. Also the trend for petroleum and natural gas has decreased from 0.6 to 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours ACTUALLY DIDN'T IT VARY!. Coal is another one REWORD that increased in a hurry going steadily up. It went up from 0.7 to 1.4 trillion kilowatt hours. CONCLUDING SENTENCE SUMMING IT ALL UP. - 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: There are four different sources of electricity shown in graph 1. These sources were coal, petroleum/natural gas, nuclear electric power, and hydroelectric power. In 2000-2005, coal made a steady increase from 1.6 trillion kilowatt hours to 1.7 trillion kilowatt hours. During the same period that coal was rising, nuclear electric power was staying around 0.6 trillion kilowatt hours. Petroleum/natural gas also staying right about 0.6 trillion kilowatt hours until 2004 when it started to increase and ending at about 0.7 trillion kilowatt hours. Finally hydroelectric power stayed 0.2 trillion kilowatt hours all through 2000-2005 as seen in graph 1. The only time that it was not 0.2 trillion kilowatt hours was right at 2000 when it was 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours but then it went down as seen in graph 1. The overall trends as seen in graph 1 showed that most of the sources staying right around the same trillion kilowatt hour, except for coal who had a steady increase.

Comment 1: Excellent Blog Entry Alex, You wrote well in 3rd person, had no grammatical errors and your blog made sense. There is really not much i can critique! You made references back to Graph 1, had a strong opening and concluding sentence but you said a lot of the energy sources INCREASED, yet in your concluding sentence you said they STAYED THE SAME except for coal. You could also add in the chunk of time that you are writing about in your opening sentence. Overall you had an excellent blog with good content and observations! -marion

Comment 2:

Re-entry: There are four different sources of electricity shown in graph 1 in the years 2000-2005. These sources were coal, petroleum/natural gas, nuclear electric power, and hydroelectric power. In 2000-2005, coal made a steady increase from 1.6 trillion kilowatt hours to 1.7 trillion kilowatt hours. During the same period that coal was rising, nuclear electric power was staying around 0.6 trillion kilowatt hours. Petroleum/natural gas also staying right about 0.6 trillion kilowatt hours until 2004 when it started to increase and ending at about 0.7 trillion kilowatt hours. Finally hydroelectric power stayed 0.2 trillion kilowatt hours all through 2000-2005 as seen in graph 1. The only time that it was not 0.2 trillion kilowatt hours was right at 2000 when it was 0.3 trillion kilowatt hours but then it went down as seen in graph 1. The overall trends as seen in graph 1 showed that most of the sources only moved about 0.1 to 0.2 trillion kilowatt hour, except for coal who had a steady increase. GOOD JOB- JT

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__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 in it burned for 24 hours straight (you forgot and left it turned on), how many kilowatt hours would it use? Make sure to writein 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 unit of measurement that power is measured in. The way that you calculate power is P=IxV or Power equals current times voltage. When a lamp with a 200 watt light bulb is burned for 24 hours straight, you would use 4.8 kilowatt hours. The way that this is answer is found is the amount of watts (200) times the number of hours the light was left on (24). This comes out to 4800 watt hours. To make it kilo watt hours, you must divide 4800 by 1000 whitch gives you the final answer of 4.8 kilo watt hours. This is the way you would find out how many kilo watt hours were used when you burn a light bulb.

Comment 1: Your content is very good and you wrote it very well. You had all of the necessary information required. I looked as hard as i could and could not find much wrong with your blog entry. I liked the way you explained the equation and it was very well written. You stayed in third person and had good content. -Nikki

Comment 2: Alex, your information is correct and you also did the problem correct! You explained how to do the problem correctly. I think that by writing the problem P=IxV out like power equals current times voltage is good! Good job on your overall paragraph! -Brittany W!

 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).
 * 2/28/2008 **

//__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: This trimester of science was fun because we worked with a circuit board which was fun because I built things that were really cool. One thing that we built was a Seven-Segment Decoder-Driver. This is practically a keyboard that displays only numbers. This circuit was really complicated because it was really hard to get all the wires to get in to the small hole. I had to do the circuit by myself because my partner built it when I was not here. It was difficult to do by myself because at first it was not worked and until I found out that I was missing a wire, I was really frustrated. I also liked working with ohm’s law because it was fun to see how everything fitted together so perfectly. Seeing how much current a light bulb had was really fun, but the most fun was when I did Power= Current x Volts. This was fun because we got to see how much money it costs to run a light bulb for 24 hours. Working with household chemicals was really fun because we got to see the different pH of chemicals such as: liquid plumber, diet coke, CA water, spring water. These were so different in their pH that it was amazing. This is everything that I loved about science this trimester!

Comment 1: Alex, you are a great friend. You were always there to help me when I was struggling with things like the periodic table and finding the correct side of the LED to put in the breadboard. You added a lot to science and I think you improved so much, I know you learned alot. I enjoyed working with you on the LED flasher circuit and the buzzer one, even if we could never get them to work (we'll blame it on the batteries in the circuit board.) Thanks for always being there for me :)  -Marion

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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: Human beings will not exist anymore. Humans will become robots. They will be controlled by other people and not be able to do anything thing for them self. In the prompt, it is talking about how machines will have the ability to reason, be self-aware, and have feelings and that is basically the description of a human being. So therefore, in the future human beings will not be any different then robots. A robot that should not be created is the thinking one. This is because they will be able to think and act just the we do, using the same technique. They then would be able to take control of the world and start wars just as we do now and so the world would not be any different when there are robots.

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