Nikki+Blog+1

= = toc Back to Student Blogs

=Nikki's Blog=

Make sure to follow the instructions on the Student Blog Page

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:// This article is about meteor showers and shooting stars. It talks about how meteor showers are caused by comets orbiting the sun and the debris they leave behind. It turns out, that shooting stars really are only meteor showers, or "intense streaks of light". This article explains how clearly we have been wrong about our hypothesis of the "Shooting stars", even though it's a fun tradition. The Shooting stars are really just the "intense strike of light" made by a comet swimming through the stream of icy debris that orbits around the sun.

"Shooting stars" or meteor showers are related to projectiles because the motion they take in the sky when they're "falling" is a parabola. They demonstrate the curved arch that Galileo hypothesized. They take this form up in the sky as the comets are 'swimming' through the stream and coming down to earth. They will be seen as shooting stars while they're coming flying down from the sky. They take the form of a curved arched parabola when they're coming down, so that is why they are a projectile.

"2007 Meteor Showers and Viewing Tips." __StarDate Online__. 1995-2007. StarDate Online. 26 Aug 2007 <[|http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/>.]

//Comment 1: You used the 3rd person concept very well. Also, it was a very well picked article that related to our topic. You followed the guidelines and everything. You did a great job on spelling with 0 spelling errors. Very good job! -Cannon// Comment 2: Good job explaining what a "Shooting Star" //really// is. Also, good job explaining how they are projectiles. One grammar mistake: in the first paragraph, it should say //'"it turns out that shooting starts really are...."// not //"it turns out, that shooting starts really are..."// Other than that, perfect!

9/24/2007
Reflect upon the mystery density cube experiment. 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:// This was necessary because now if somebody would like to do the experiment over again they have the directions of how to do them (the experiment); knowing wheather the experiment worked or did not, figuring out what to do the same and what to change from that experiment. This experiment was mostly difficult for me because research is hard to find using a non-specific site and trying to find one on your own. It was also difficult because when we tried to find the densities sometimes they were off according to the website or our measuring, and it was difficult to match them up with the correct material. Density is important because if the density is unknown, it is harder to match the unknown substance up with a certain substance. If the density is known it is just one step (variable) closer to finding the exact substance that it could be.

//Comment 1: Nikki, Overall, your paragraph was well built. I liked how you tried to express a lot of your thoughts. The first sentence, was hard for me to read. Maybe you could replace the semi-colon with a comma and add a comma before the "and." I also totally agreed with you on all aspects of the paragraph, except that I was a tiny bit shaky on. Every step of the Scientific Method was essential to collecting and analizing the correct data. This experiment also did get a bit tricky, we had no site to find all of our information. Finnaly, for me, the part was not only that we had no direct site, It was also that objects can not only have similar densities, they can also have the same physical properties. Great Job!// -Richard

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? . //Entry:// A flame test is when there is an open flame, used in this experiment to find out what color each chemical or element creates by chaning the color of the flame. This is done by using a metal stick to put the element or chemical in the flame, by dipping the tip of the metal stick into the element or chemical and then putting that tip into the flame. This will show what color the flame is just by observing it. After doing this, wash off the metal stick using CHL and the flame. After the tip is completely washed, stick the tip of the stick into a chemical, and put it back in the flame. After doing this, observe the flame again and what color it turns. Doing the process again will reinforce what the color and element or chemical are. This relates to the use of chemicals in fireworks because when you light the fireworks using certain chemicals, it changes the color of the fire causing it to explode using the different colors. The chemicals will change the color of the flame, and since you can change the color, they use this for fireworks to get the flames flying in the air to change color.

//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: This reaction was a chemical reaction. In their reaction they created an ionic bond. An ionic bond is when a metal and a non-metal share electrons. When the sodium was dropped into the chlorine gas, it went into flames. It went into flames because of the energy traveling through their ionic bond and their electrons. The final reactant would be the sodium turning into table salt after dissolving into the chlorine gas.

//Comment 1:// This is a short paragraph with abrupt and short sentences//.// It is good though because it gets straight to the point with no fluff to get in the way. All of the sentences are correct, but you could elaborate just a bit more. Your entry doesn't have explanations of what went on, just what happened//.// I would give it a B for the content but not enough explanation to get an a. It is good overall, but could be improved upon. Joshua K.

Comment 2: I agree with josh that your paragraph could be longer and you could have described the experiment in a little more detail. You did a good job stating the conclusion that the Sodium and Chlorine combine into the NaCl or table salt. It also good that you knew that the two elements made an ionic bond together. I think it would be better if you added more detail to the descriptions of the reaction. I would give this an overall grade of a B+ because you did not include many details but you understand most of the main points. Nice work! -David M.

Entry 2: In an experiment using Sodium and Chlorine gas a chemical reaction was formed. Sodium is a non-metal while Chlorine is a halogen and when mixed they form an ionic bond. An ionic bond is formed when a metal and a non-metal are mixed. This ionic bond was created by Sodium giving one of its electrons to Chlorine making Sodium become positive and Chlorine become negative. When they created an ionic bond the energy between them, the sodium went into flames. This reaction caused the sodium to turn into table salt.

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 topic of this trimester was either projectile motion or the chemicals. I really like to experiment with chemicals, but I think I grasped the projectile motion lesson more. I liked using the chemicals and seeing what happened when we mixed two elements. I also liked doing the different experiments. I think I excelled in the projectile motion lesson, because I grasped everything that we learned. In some of the other lessons I think that I got confused or just didn’t study the proper way. I liked the balancing act sheet and equations, once I understood how to achieve them. At first it was difficult, but I realized as long as I ask questions that I have, I will understand and be able to complete them correctly. I think I could have improved by forming a way to study that works best for me. As soon as I learn the best way to study for me, I think I will excel in more than I have this past trimester. I did like the overall trimester’s lessons, topics, and projects because I like learning new concepts. I am excited to learn more during the second trimester.

//Comment 1:// Great entry, perfect grammar and spelling! :) - Marion B

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, what kind of investigation would you carry out?

Entry: I know that electricty uses tungsten in lightbulbs. I also know that certain wires have to be constructed into one another in order to light the lighbulb. One question I have about electricity is whether the tungsten in it is the certain wire that's in it, and how it works. I also have questions about how electronics get their chips, and how they are constructed. In fourth grade, we had to make dollhouses with lightbulbs in them, so we got to experiment with electronics. I was wondering if we will be able to do any experiments in this unit as well.

Comment 1:

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: From 1949 to 2006, as seen in Graph 1, the source 'coal' has increased the most out of all the electricity sources in the US over the period of time shown in the graph. Coal has increased from 0.2 trillion kilowathours to 2.0 trillion kilowathours. This is shown in Graph 1 on the top line, and proves that it has increased the most. The other sources have only increased up to 0.6 - 0.8. These are reasons that prove that coal has improved the most and increased far beyond the other natural sources of energy for the US.

According to Graph 1, from 1949 to 2006, Petroleum and Natural Gas,

Comment 1: Nikki, The first paragraph was written completely in 3rd person, which was great. Also you referenced the graph table directly and you used direct information from the chart. All your data was correct information staight of the chart. You did have a few minor spelling and grammatical errors, but nothing huge. You followed the blog prompt well, and stayed on topic. You have all the evidence you needed for question #1. Your thoughts made a lot of sense as they were backed up by direct evidence. Your conclusions are correct. Great Job! Patrick Comment 2: Nikki, you did a wonderful job! It was written in 3rd person, referenced to the graph, and all your information was correct. You followed the intructions well and you gave all the evidence needed. Overall, great job! -Nicole :) Comment 3: "From 1949 to 2006, as seen in Graph 1, the source 'coal' has increased the most out of all the electricity sources in the US over the period of time shown in the graph. Coal has increased from 0.2 trillion kilowathours SPELLING to 2.0 trillion kilowathours SPELLING. This is shown in Graph 1 on the top line, and proves that it has increased the most. The other sources have only increased up to 0.6 - 0.8 UNITS. These are reasons that prove that coal has improved the most and increased far beyond the other natural sources of energy for the US." - Great Job- JT

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, there were four central electricity sources from 2000-2005. The sources coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Nuclear Eletric Power, and Hydroeletric Power were the only central electricity sources from 2000-2005, according to the graph. Over the course of these years, Petroleum and natural gas increased the most. This can be determined by refering to Graph 1, where it shows that petroleum and natural gas increased from about 0.5 trillion kilowatthours to about 1.7 trillion kilowatthours. It doesn't seem as if petroleum and natural gas would have increased the most with it's 2 tenths of an improvement, but comparing petroleum and natural gas to the other three central eletricity sources, they also did not have any greater effect, according to Graph 1. Coal was was the closest with it's 1 tenth of an improvement, from 1.5 trillion kilowatthours to 1.6 trillion kilowatthours. Even though Coal started out greater, it still did not improve the most according to Graph 1, over the course of 2000-2005. Nuclear Eletric Power, and Hydroeletric Power didn't change at all, according to Graph 1. This proves that from 2000-2005, Petroleum and Natural Gas increased the most.

Comment 1: Nikki, well done but some of your facts are not the best written. Like were you say that Nuclear Ele**C**tric power and HydroeleCtric power did not improve, maybe you should have written about what they did do instead. One other thing that I would recomend is that you type your blog in word because you made plenty of spelling mistakes. Some of your sentences I had to read a couple of times because they were not clear. I would re-read your blog to make sure that every sentance is clear and makes sense. Great job on backing up your data and referring back to the graph. Other than those little points of revision, you did a great and wonderful job!!! -Alex M

Comment 2:

Re-Entry: As seen in Graph 1, there were four central electricity sources from 2000-2005. The sources coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Nuclear Electric Power, and Hydroelectric Power were the only central electricity sources from 2000-2005, according to the graph DELETE ACCORDING TO THE GRAPH. Over the course of these years, Petroleum and natural gas increased the most. This can be determined by referring to Graph 1, where it shows that petroleum and natural gas increased from about 0.5 trillion kilowatt-hours to about 1.7 trillion kilowatt-hours. It doesn't seem as if petroleum and natural gas would have increased the most with it's 2 tenths of an improvement, but comparing petroleum and natural gas to the other three central electricity sources, they also did not have any greater effect, according to Graph 1 CONFUSING. Coal was the closest with it's 1 tenth of UNIT ?an improvement, from 1.5 trillion kilowatt-hours to 1.6 trillion kilowatt-hours. Even though Coal started out greater, it still did not improve the most according to Graph 1, over the course of 2000-2005 DATA. Nuclear Electric Power, and Hydroelectric Power stayed the same throughout 2000-2005, according to Graph 1 DATA. These two sources may have increased slightly, but certainly not as much as Petroleum and Natural Gas, or even Coal. This proves that from 2000-2005, Petroleum and Natural Gas increased the most. KEEP WORKING ON YOUR SW- JT

//Thanks for the help, Alex!//

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 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 microscopic measurement of power. P = I x V is the proper equation in order to calculate power. If a 200 watt light bulb burned for 24 hours, it would have 4.8 kilowatt hours. This is because in order to calculate power in kilowatts, the watt (200 watts) is multiplied by the time (24 hours). Then this is divided by 1000. An example of this is 200 watts x 24 hours = 4800. Then divide 4800 by 1000 and therefore the solution to this equation is 4.8 kilowatts.

Comment 1: NIkki, you did a great job with your blog entry. One thing that i do not think is correct is that a watt is microscpic. I am not sure that this is the correct information. Your information is very good along with your spelling. One thing that i would do better is to explain why you you divided by 1000. Other wise you are a awsome blog writer! -Alex M.

Comment 2: Nikki this is great! You explained in detailed and explained why you did each step. You wrote in 3rd person and have great gammar. I don't know what you could improve on because your blog was great I thought. Great Job, keep up the good work. - Caroline H

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: This trimester in science 7, we got to research both acid/base experiments, and electricity/electronics circuits. I enjoyed working with the electronics because my father works with electronics every day as an engineer and it was exciting for me to be introduced to something he has passion for. I also liked working with them because it was stimulating experimenting with electronics and electricity. Another unit I liked experimenting with was the acid and base unit. This is because I enjoyed learning about new substances and being taught about what acids and bases are safe to combine. The electronics and electricity unit was difficult but made much more sense once asking for help. I would like to improve upon time management for next trimester, because I feel that this would be a helpful skill when it comes to assessments and homework assignments.

Comment 1: Nikki, great blog, first of all! I really enjoy being in class with you because you bring fun and humor to class among many other things. Last year we didn't have any classes together so this was really fun. I love being in class with you and I hope we get to work together next trimester. Great job! -Nicole A.

Comment 2:

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: A robot could never truly be a human being because human beings breathe air and have creativity. Without creativity, nothing/nobody else can be a person. A person cannot be a robot because robots are made to be perfect. A human cannot be perfect because humans are not made to accomplish everything perfectly; and robots are. I wouldn't like to have many robots because robots would replace human beings and therefore do all of the work. This would create problems because in order to keep a growing society, people need to do work. Otherwise, people have lost dignity and pride in knowing they have earned what they deserve. This also leads people to only depend on others (robots). Without having to do work on their own, people feel they don't have to do anything, therefore lose the ability and knowledge of how to accomplish simple tasks. This could also possibly make people feel like they're better than they are if they don't have to do the work. This is why there should not be many robots in this society.

Comment 1:

Comment 2: