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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://

An article on the internet was about Russians building a water cannon. The article states that being hit by the water cannon has about the same impact as a beanbag round. The water cannon immobilizes the person who was shot by it, but is harmless. This is because it is far less likely that broken ribs and puncture wounds are to occur with blasts of water. The article is also about how lethal weapons have been the same for a long time, but non-lethal weaponry has improved greatly. Various improvements in non-lethal weaponry that the article talks about are sound wave guns, flashlights, radio wave weapons, and beanbags. The article relates to what the science class has been studying because the class was studying projectile motion. It was studied that the velocity of a projectile is the same at the beginning and end of its parabola. The projectile slows down at the peak of its parabola. Then the projectile speeds back up as it arcs towards the ground. So, if the projectile hits with the same impact as a beanbag round, it must have been released with the same force and have the same velocity.

Citation: O'Brien, Terrence. "Russians build the Ultimate Squirt Gun." __Switched__. 03 Aug 2007. Blogsmith. 26 Aug 2007 <[|http://www.switched.com/2007/08/23/russians-build-the-ultimate-squirt-gun/>.]

//Comment 1: This is well written, with vocabulary that is understood. It is in third person and relates to what we have been studing in class. There are very few spelling and grammar mistakes.Overall a great article. Ian H.//

Comment 2: You have good paragraphs with good information. The article you found didn't really relate to what we're been learning in class, though. Great job overall! -Courtney K.

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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:// The scientific method was necessary in this experiment because we had to create our hypothesis, then research to see if our hypothesis was correct or not. Then we would give our definite answer. Those steps follow the scientific method exactly. This experiment was fairly easy, if c, make sure that you have the density. Then, when you are researching the substance, make sure that you find the density online. Once you have those, it is best to just compare those two, and make sure that you have the right substance. This shows that finding the density is very important in the process of finding the identity of an unknown substance because many substances look and feel fairly similar, but they may have completely different densities. For example, pine and oak are both woods, so they look similar and have similar textures, but their densities are about 2 g/cc different. This proves that knowing the density was very important in this experiment.

//Comment 1:// The paragraph was well written. The examples were well thought through and demenstrated the main idea well. There was a good use of vocabulary in the paragraph. The explanation about density was the best part of the pararaph, it was well written and got the point across. The reason for having a scientific method was not completely clear, though. All in all it was a good paragraph that was well written. -Adam

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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 a liquid element or compound is put on a wire or piece of metal and is put into a flame. This can be used for deciding what an element or compound is based on what colors the flame produces above the area that the wire is. This is related to fireworks because of the way that they are made colorful. When making fireworks colorful, incandescence and luminescence are important. Incandescence is the light produced from the heat and luminescence is the light produced from a source other than heat. The lights that incandescence and luminescence produce can be colored using elements or compounds. For example, a mixture of strontium and copper compounds causes fireworks to turn purple.

Citation: Helmenstine, Anne Marie. "Chemistry of Firework Colors." About: Chemistry__. 2007. About, Inc.. 16 Oct 2007 <[|http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa062701a.htm>.]

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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:// The sodium is dropped into the chlorine, and the atoms bond. When the sodium atom bonds with the chlorine atom, they create fire. It is an ionic bond that is created. The sodium ignites as soon as it hits the gas. This is an exothermic chemical reaction. Since it is a chemical reaction, something different than what was put into it was produced. The result of this reaction is table salt, or NaCl.

//Comment 1:// This is a really good blog Bailey. But you need to cite your sources. Very discriptive and I can picture it in my head. Over all great job. ~ Jason .F

//Comment 2: I liked it but you didn't tell which element was non-metal or which one was metal since it was an ionic bond. You might also put more details in the bonding and what happens to the electrons. The spelling was good i don't think you had any spelling errors. I think this deserves an A. -John S.//

=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 project this trimester was the projectile motion project. I liked how we shot the nerf guns, and I thought that was really fun. The snakes are really interesting, and I even got to hold them once. I was very scared of snakes before I had the experience of holding one. I think I excelled at working together to get things done this trimester. I could have improved my performance by taking better notes when doing an experiment.

Comment 1: great job bailey! i really enjoyed having you in my class this year. You have contributed a lot to our class, and i like how you ask questions. I enjoyed sitting next to you this trimester, and working on the projects together. Science has been really fun this trimester, and i really enjoyed having you as my science partner! user:Jennifer_A Jen K.

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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 know a little about electricity, but I learned about it a long time ago. Because of that, I do not remember much. I know about circuits and how the electric current goes through the wires. I also know about LED lights and some things about circuit breakers. I do not understand how lightbulbs and electrical outlets work. If I could investigate and subject area related to energy in the home, I would research I would research how electrical outlets work. This unit will be very exciting because I will learn a lot.

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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. graph 1 [|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 kilowatthours.

Entry: 1) As seen in Graph 1, coal is the electricity source in the US that has increases the greatest amount over the time period graphed. In about 1964 coal produced about 0.5 trillion kilowatthours. That number rose to about 2 trillion kilowatthours in the year 2000. This displays a steady increase of about 1.5 trillion kilowatthours in a mere 36 years. That increase proves that coal is the leading source of electricity in the US. 2) Coal and petroleum and natural gas are the two sources in graph 1 that contribute directly to global warming. They emit carbon dioxide when they are burned. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gasses, which helps global warming. The greenhouse gasses are gasses that help trap heat and keep it in the lower atmosphere. Greenhouse gasses normally help regulate Earth’s temperature, but now they are keeping Earth’s temperatures higher than they are supposed to be. Waple, Anne. "Global Warming Frequently Asked Questions." __NOAA Satelite and Information Service__. 29 03 2007. National Oceaic and Atmospheric Administration. 6 Jan 2008 http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html#Q3. 3) From 1972 to 1985 most of the US’s sources of electricity went up, but petroleum and natural gas started decreasing around 1978. Hydroelectric power stayed about the same for all 13 years. The other two sources of electricity went almost steadily up. Coal went up by about 0.5 trillion kilowatthours. Nuclear electric power went up by a little less than coal, but still went up by about 0.5 kilowatthours.

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Re-Entry: Question 3) From 2000 to 2005, all the power sources graphed in Graph 1 all basically increased. Hydroelectric power decreased in 2001, but started increasing again in 2002. Nuclear electric power generally stayed about the same for all five years. Petroleum and natural gas rose in the five years, but in rathe last two years it started increasing more pidly. Coal was the greatest source of electricity in the United States, and in 2000, it was about 2.0 trillion kilowatthours, but then it increased. Overall, the trends from 2000 to 2005 were that all of the sources on Graph 1 increased.

Comment 1: Great job Bailey! I have a few suggestions that you might want to look at. In the first sentence you wrote that it "basically" increased... did it or did it not? You might want to specifically say what did or did not increase of the four different types of electricity. You could say 3 of the 4 increased or something like that. You also need specific evidence from the graph like hydroelectric was .7 and decreased in 2001 to .3 and increased again to .4 in 2002. Back it up with specific data. In the fourth sentence there is a spelling mistake on rather* and there is also one for rapidly*. Otherwise great job on you blog and it was very well thought through!- Jen

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Re- Re- Entry: Overall, all of the power sources LIST POWER SOURCES graphed in Graph 1 increased in the five years from 2000 to 2005. Two of the four sources graphed had an almost steady increase, whereas Nuclear electric power and Hydroelectric power stayed about the same. Hydroelectric power decreased in 2001, but started increasing again in 2002. Nuclear electric power generally stayed about the same for all five years at about 0.6 trillion kilowatthours. Petroleum and natural gas rose in first the five years, but rather in the last two years it started increasing more rapidly. Coal was the greatest source of electricity in the United States, and in 2000, it was about 2.0 trillion kilowatthours, but then it increased. Overall, the trends from 2000 to 2005 were that all of the sources on Graph 1 increased. WHAT IS THE LEADING SOURCE? OVERALL GOOD JOB- JT

_  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.
 * 2/05/2008 **

Entry: A watt is a measurement of power. To calculate the amount of electrical power in a circuit, the current and the voltage are multiplied. So, to complete the problem, 200 and 24 are multiplied together, giving 4800. Then 4800 is divided by 1000, making 4.8. That means the answer to the problem is that the lightbulb uses 4.8 kilowatthours.

Comment 1: Great job Bailey! This was a great blog entry overall! A few suggestions I have are that you should include units. Adding units will help the reader understand more, and it will let you get the reader some more information in the short paragraph that you wrote. Overall you did an amazing job and i think if someone was reading your blog with no previous knowledge of the topic. they would certainly understand it after reading your blog! Fantastic job! -Jenny

Comment 2: Great job, you did well, you wrote in third person and you seemed to understand the problem, and how to solve it. You could go into a little more depth in explaining how you found the answer. Also you could have and you could have told more on the different units such as the current and the voltage. Overall, you did an amazing job in explaining it short and simple.

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: We had a fun trimester in science class. I learned a lot about electricity and electronics in our most recent unit. I started out with very little knowledge, but now I know about LEDs, capacitors, and integrated circuits. Also, this trimester I learned about Ohm’s Law and how to calculate the voltage and resistance of a circuit. When we worked on our acid and base experiment, I learned endothermic and exothermic reactions and the pH scale. Because I am not a fan of snakes, I did not spend much time interacting with them. However, it was still fun to observe how much they grew since we first got them. Overall, this trimester in science class was filled with my having fun while learning at the same time.

Comment 1: Bailey, it has been great working with you this trimester! We were in the same groups for labs and our electronics unit, too. You have greatly contributed to the class with your questions and answers. This trimester has been a lot of fun, and it has been great to hang out with you in science! Oh and thank you for teaching me the periodic table. =] -Jen

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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: If robots will have those abilities, then the boundaries between what makes something and what makes something a robot will begin to waver. The robots will become so much like humans that it would be hard to tell the difference between a human and a robot. Human- like robots should not be made. If they were made, they would just cause complications because they would become jealous of humans, and try to take over the humans' positions in the world. Also, human qualities should not try to be mimicked by something that cannot live up to the human legacy.

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