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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 News Times, located in Danbury put out an article called //Adrenalin has millions rushing to play paintball//. This article has to deal with the sport and projectile of paintball. Paintball has been widely played, but is just now making a comeback as more people try out the shooting sport. Many say that the sport is a good way to wipe away stress. Yet at the same time as relieving stress, the paintballs can inflict huge welts and bruises on you, but this doesn’t stop most people from paintballing.

Paintballing requires shooting at a target. The paint balls are shot of a gun (projectile) and require a lot of skill to shoot your target. Projectile motion from a gun is the same as the little dart guns we experimented with in class. We realized the angle, velocity, wind resistance, and gravity had an effect on where the dart, or in this case, paintballs go. If you wanted to hit your target exactly, then you would have to factor in all of these variables. The gravity and wind resistance would probably be the same for everyone on the field. The velocity would depend on the type of gun you got. The angle you could change around, and you have to find the right angle to make the paintball go the farthest. We did the same thing, except in an experiment, and we recorded our data.

Brian Koonz. http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1186569725&source=tabbox; news times live. Copyright- 2006. Last reached 8-27-07

//Comment 1:// This was a good choice for your topic, and you made many interesting connections. However, your article had a few spelling mistakes and your evidence contradicted your opinion. You also have a few sentences that are slightly lengthy. if you have a long thought, it would be better if you used commas to separate it. also, you should remove all unnecessary information. Otherwise, this was a magnificent article. Jackson Comment 2:

9/24/07
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?

The scientific method was used in the density cube experiment. This was necessary because it helped us to find the answer in an organized and reasonable way. Creating a hypothesis, writing down our materials and methods, and finding qualitative and quantitative was a clear way for us to display our data. The charts and graphs helped us keep track of our data, research, and what we had left to do. The experiment itself was difficult for my group. We knew from our research what all but 3 of the cubes were. The three cubes were hard to figure out because the densities were similar, and the color was exactly the same. The experiment over all was easy. The density was easy to find, and the choices given were easy to narrow down. Density is probably the most important part of finding the identity of an unknown object. The color can be the same, and the weight can be the same throughout different objects, but the density will be different for every object. If you are trying to find what two things are, and they’re both the same color, then an easy way to do it is by density. Density doesn’t change like weight does. Density is mass and volume. Mass never changes, because it is the amount of particles in something, and as long as u have the same amount of something, then the volume never changes. The density is very reliable. That is the experiment we did with density and cubes.

//comment 1:// You're essay is really good, its better than mine. To do better you could indent on the paragraph, you could also say more about how you could find the density using volume and mass. But overall its great! ~Neal //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 take an element or compound and test it with flame. You might take a liquid and hold it over a flame, or you might take a gas and hold it over a flame. Either way, you are testing for the reaction of the element or compound to the flame/ heat. The purpose of this experiment is to find out what reaction the element has from the flame. For instance does it change the color of the flame? Does the color of the element or compound change? A flame test is not only used in the middle school lab. It is also used for other things, such as fireworks. Flame test are used in fireworks to figure out what colors the fireworks will be. Since we know fireworks are flames that are shot into the sky, we just have to figure out how to make them colors. To figure out how to make the colors of the flames the scientists take elements and put them to a flame. This shows them how the flame will react to the elements, and shows them what colors the elements produce when held up to a flame. 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:// In the reaction of sodium and Chlorine, the sodium goes up in flames. A beaker and a solid piece of sodium is used in this reaction. It is exothermic because the fire gives out heat. When the sodium enters the chlorine the bonding occurs. The sodium loses an electron to each of the chlorine atoms. When the electrons bond onto the chlorine atoms it creates energy. The energy is what causes the sodium to flame. The ionic bond formed in this experiment is a chemical reaction. The outcome of this reaction is table salt.

//Comment 1:// Jen did a great job of describing the expermient and the outcome. Jen did a good observation of how the atoms bond together. Jen also did a great job with spelling and grammar. Jen shows that she thourougly understands the experiment and how andy why the sodium block bursts into flames.I would give you an A+ Great Job Jen! -Kjersti K.

Comment 2: This is a great response, it covers all the topics the prompt states and it is free of spelling mistakes. It shows that you understand what was being done in the demonstration.

Revised entry: In the reaction of sodium and Chlorine, the sodium reacts very violently and goes up in flames. A beaker and a solid piece of sodium is used in this reaction. It is exothermic because the fire gives out heat. When the sodium enters the chlorine the bonding occurs. The sodium loses an electron to each of the chlorine atoms. This makes both of the atoms happy. When the electrons bond onto the chlorine atoms it creates energy. The energy is what causes the sodium to flame. The ionic bond formed in this experiment is a chemical reaction. The outcome of this reaction is 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 project this trimester was the projectile motion. I really enjoyed working with my partners and finding how far the nerf gun would shoot depending on the different variables. I found out a lot from the projectile motion experiments, and I figured out how what affect wind, gravity, density and angles had on the projectile. The snakes were interesting, and they are a great edition to our classroom. I really don't like holding them, because they are too scaly and slithery, but they are fun to look at. I think this trimester i excelled at working with others to get something done, and I learned how to write a good lab report. My performance in science 7 could have been improved by taking more notes and asking more questions. I think to fully understand the topics, and projects that we do i should ask more questions so i will completely get what we are doing.//

Comment 1: I appreciated your work in the labs, and how you would help to get things done efficiently. I enjoyed how you helped me break my 7 key off of my computer, also. I really enjoyed having you as an excellent partner doing lab work and classwork. You are an amazing friend and partner in the science room! Great job this trimester, Jen! - Bailey P.

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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:

For our next unit about electricity and electronics, I have many questions. I do not know much about electricity and electronics, except that most of our lives at Cary Academy pretty much rely on them. I also know that electricity should not mix with water. But I would really like to learn about computers and cell phones. How do computers store so much data, and how do you program them? I’d also like to know how cell phones can carry calls through the electricity wires that we see on the street. Electronics and electricity are a huge part of our world today, but we take that for granted, I think learning about electricity would be a great way to learn more about our lives, and help to not take it for granted. My house is filled with different elecronic devices that can sometimes save our lives, and i would like to learn more about them. I cant wait to do this unit.

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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. [|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:__

Coal has increased the most according to the time shown on the graph. Starting in 1950 it was around .2 trillion killwatthours and by 2005 it had risen to about over 2 trillion killwatthours. It has increase approximately 1.8 trillion killwatthours. On graph one you can see that coal is significantly higher than the other electricity sources it was being compared to. Coal is the leading source of electricity right now.

On graph one there are 4 different types of electricity being compared. Out of these four, all of them are directly contributing to global warming. Coal is probably the biggest contributor because coal plants generate a lot of CO2 which is one of the causes for global warming. Nuclear electricity is one of the better sources of electricity because it contributes very little to global warming. Petroleum and natural gasses are pretty bad. They are below coal, but they still pollute a lot. And last hydroelectric power is good a pretty good source to get electricity from. It is one electric source that doesn’t do much to the ozone layer, therefore it is a great source if you don’t want global warming. Overall they all contribute to global warming. Coal is the biggest contributor, and nuclear is the least.

"global warming-the science." global warming__. 2007. 6 Jan 2008 <[|http://www.uic.com.au/nip24.htm>.]__

According to Graph 1- from 1972- 1985 the trend of the US’ sources of electricity steadily increased for coal and nuclear electric power. The use of hydroelectric power and petroleum and natural gas each went up and down from 1972 to 1985. Petroleum and natural gas started in 1972 around .6-.7 trillion. Its demand went up and down however because it reached around .4 trillion before 1985. The demand for hydroelectric power went slowly higher until 1976 when it dropped approximately .1 trillion kilowatthours. In 1977 it makes its way up in demand and levels off until around 1981 where it starts to go up and down again. The average trend from 1972-1985 is that the demand for electricity was increasing.

Comment 1: Overall, you did an excellent job in scientific writing style. You wrote in third person, refered directly to the graph, and referenced date from the graph. My only suggestion is that sometimes you only say .# trillion, you could improve by saying trillion kilowatt-hours each time so the unit is clear. You also did great in terms of content. You followed the blog prompt and stayed on topic. You also addressed the topic, provided evidence, and it all made sense. Overall, a wonderful blog entry that stays on topic and meets all the requirements. -Elizabeth

Comment 2: Overall, it was a well written paragraph. You wrote in thrid person, refered to the graph, and had data directly from the graph. One thing that could have been better was your units though. You need to put kilowattHOURS. Your conclusion was good and you started well. The answer was true and you provided evidence. All in all, it was a very good paragraph that answers the question well.

Comment 3: I think overall you did good with keeping it in third person, and referred to the graph multiple times which is good. I think you hit most of the points, the only thing that i think you should fix is the fact that you put kilowatts instead of kilowatthours. Also you could have explained a little more on the two major sources of electricity over the years. But overall you did a great job! -Neal

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: According to Grph 1- from 2000-2005 the trend of the US’ sources of electricity steadily increased for coal, nuclear electric power and petroleum and natural gas. Coal was the best example of the steady increase because it had the highest gain and it was in the most demand from 2000-2005. Nuclear electric power stayed the same from its beginning use in 2000 of .8 to its continued rate of .8-.9 through 2005. The use of hydroelectric power and petroleum and natural gas each went up and down from the time period indicated. Petroleum and natural gas started in 2000 around .6-.7 trillion kilowatt. Its demand was steady through 2005 and it made a fairly straight line continuing with its .6-.7 trillion kilowatt demand. Hydroelectric power went up and down however, as it was the least most popular of the four types of electricity. Because of this it was around .2-.3 trillion killowatt starting in 2000. By 2001 it had gone down to around .1 trillion kilowatt. The demand for hydroelectric power went slowly higher until 2003 where it leveled off to approximately .3 trillion kilowatt.The average trend from 2000-2005 is that the demand for electricity was steadily increasing. The best example of this increase is coal, that climbed up to 2.0 trillion kilowatt at one point.

Comment 1:

Comment 2:

Re-Entry: According to Graph 1- from 2000-2005 the trend of the US’ sources of electricity steadily increased for coal, nuclear electric power and petroleum and natural gas. Coal was the best example of the steady increase because it had the highest gain and it was in the most demand from 2000-2005. Nuclear electric power stayed the same from its beginning use in 2000 of .8 UNITS to its continued rate of .8-.9 UNITS through 2005. The use of hydroelectric power and petroleum and natural gas each went up and down SW from the time period indicated. Petroleum and natural gas started in 2000 around .6-.7 trillion kilowatt-hours. Its demand was steady through 2005 and it made a fairly straight line REWORD continuing with its .6-.7 trillion kilowatt-hour demand. Hydroelectric power went up and down however, as it was the least most popular of the four types of electricity. Because of this it was around .2-.3 trillion kilowatt-hours starting in 2000. By 2001 it had gone down to around .1 trillion kilowatt-hours. The demand for hydroelectric power went slowly higher until 2003 where it leveled off to approximately .3 trillion kilowatt-hours.The average trend from 2000-2005 is that the demand for electricity was steadily increasing. The best example of this increase is coal, that climbed up to 2.0 trillion kilowatt-hours at one point. PRETTY GOOD JOB, JEN. SEE MY INSERTIONS ABOVE. - JT

Comment 1: Jen ,overall great job on your blog entry. You referred to the graph, and you used good data. All of your information seems to be correct, based on the graph. You also wrote in third person, which was great. You spelled graph wrong in the beginning of the paragraph. Also, it needs to be kilowatt hours, not just kilowatt. Overall, great job jen! -Jordan

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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 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 unit of electrical power inside of a circuit. You calculate the amount of electrical power that is used in a circuit by multiplying amps (current) and volts (voltage). The outcome is watts. If you leave a 200 watt light bulb on for 24 hours without turning it off, you would be using 4.8 kilowatt hours. This is figured out by multiplying the power of the light bulb by the amount of time it ran for. Then you divide the answer of watts by 1000, to give you kilowatt hours. Kilo is 1000, so by dividing the answer by 1000 you are finding the kilowatt hours. The answer to the equation in the prompt is 4.8 kilowatt hours.

Comment 1: Great job Jen! You addressed every aspect in the prompt, which was very good. However, you did not write in scientific third-person writing. You used the word "you" four times in your eight sentences you have written. That is not third-person writing. You did a great job! ~ Bailey

Comment 2: Awesome job Jen. You wrote in third person. And you know what your talking about. But it is a bit confusing. Sill a very good job. ~ JCF.

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 we have learned a lot in science. From electricity and electronics, chemistry, and the radio shack electronics kit. My favorite part of this trimester was making the circuits using the circuit boards from the Radio Shack kit. It was a lot of fun to create the circuits because it took forever and then when you finally got all the wires right and in the right places your goal gets accomplished and the LED lights up, or the buzzer buzzes. Our group had a lot of fun working on the circuits and making a wiki on it. The snakes were also a great addition to our class and it is amazing how much they have grown since we first got them. I don’t like snakes, but it is fun to have a class pet. Overall this trimester has been a whole lot of fun and I can’t wait until next trimester!

Comment 1: You're right, Jen! This trimester was a lot of fun! And you helped make it fun, Jen! We have had a lot of fun using the Radio Shack kit, and I am very glad that you were in my group. You are always a focused member of our class that I can depend on to help me and the other members of our group get our labs done. Thank you so much for being a positive member of our class! (And I had fun teaching you the periodic table.) - Bailey

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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: Humans and robots will become very similar in the next years. There won’t be a clear distinction besides looks that could determine the difference. If robots had the ability to reason, be self-aware, and have feelings, they could pass as a human any day. I think that all robots should be created, and that there aren’t any robots that shouldn’t... unless they pose a threat to the life humans live. If you are smart enough to create a robot with human like features then that’s creativity, and shouldn’t be discouraged. If the robot created was made to hurt people, or ruin the way we live now then I think there should be different rules. Robots that are made to hurt people should be illegal, but all other robots should be allowed. Robots do things that humans don’t want, or can’t, do. It isn’t humanly possible to crawl into an active volcano because it is too hot. But robots are able to do that, and are necessary in our society.

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