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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 and could include the projectile of bullets but no 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 trajectory of a golf ball into the ocean was stopped when the government stopped the dumping of plastic or those little golf balls. Then a simulator was developed that simulated the **trajectory** perfectly. The first simulator was sold to __Princess Cruises__. The result is that waterborne golf is a great hit.

Projectile movement is affected by 3 variables. The first is **velocity** and this the force with which it is thrown. Then you have **air resistance**. This is the amount of resistance that is acting against the ball. Finally is **angle**. This is the degree that it is thrown at. It affects height and distance. This refers to class by the use of angles and velocity to make an scientific environment. Citation: [|http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/business/21golf.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1187928000&en=92b5f8634f0e511c&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin] Golf a Hit on Cruise Ships //Comment 1: Patrick, you used alot of great vocabulary in the second paragraph but it was hard to understand how the vocabulary related to the article because you did elaborate on the first paragraph (the summary of the article). Also use the citation machine for a proper citation. Good Job with the vocabulary though!// Marion B. Comment 2: Make sure to follow the instructions on the Student Blog Page //Entry//

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:// The scientific method is absolutely necessary. You have to first take observations. I observed that there was many textures and weights. You then research and we found the densities. Followed by our hypothesis which was that 1 was aluminum, 2 was etc. We then skirted the experiment, but partially did it. We then communicated our ideas on the Blog. The experiment was easy as long as you followed the instructions. Then we found the density which is so important. Many resources just have density so you HAVE to have the density. Patrick Comment 1: Patrick, I like your writing style, but you are writing in first person. This is science class. Write in 3rd person. Your writing is excellent though. I agree with you in everything. Your explaination was excellent, and it looks like your experiment was great as well. Your writing has been proofread and the grammar is good and the puncuation and spelling are excellent. Josh

**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:// Is a test to visually determine the amount of ionic salt on an unknown metal. You burn the unknown metal over an open flame. You find this out by judging the color of the flame. The colors vary depending on the metal and the amount of ionic salt. There can be miscalculations though. This happens when the metal is not clean. Fireworks use flame tests to change the color of the explosion.

Citations: Helmenstine, Anne Marie. "Qualative Anaylsis - Flame Test." __About.com__. 2007. About Inc. 17 Oct 2007 <[|http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa110401a.htm>.]

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. A chunk of sodium metal is above a beaker of highly toxic chlorine gas. The sodium is released and falls into the chlorine gas. The sodium starts to heat up (exothermic reaction). The sodium then catches fire. This is the negative atoms bonding with the positive ones. This is showing bonds with the chlorine atoms. This is an Ionic bond. Chlorine gives away an atom to Sodium in the process. The bonding causes the creation of a new compound, NaCl or table salt.

//Comment 1://The information in the blog above was all correct. The length is a little too short but has some pretty good information. I think you could have explained more about what was happening in the experiment rather than telling us what you do in the experiment. One thing that would improve your blog entry is explaining more why it forms an ionic bond or why the Chlorine gives an atom to Sodium and not Chlorine giving an atom to Sodium. I would give this blog entry a B because you have good information but you could just explain more in depth what you think. Overall, the blog is good. - Caroline H

Comment 2: All of your spelling is correct. The only obvious grammar error is that the some of the sentences aren't complete. I think you could have gone into more detail when you talked about the bonding, for example you could have explained if the atom becomes negativly or positivly charged. Explain more about the bonding. I would give this a B, because of the length. You did good on when you explained that it was an exothermic reaction. - Adrienne B.-K

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 in science was the chemical labs project were we tested different chemicals. We burned sodium, copper chloride, and magnesium. I really excelled in the making of tables and filling them out. We did this a lot in the chem lab. I could have improved upon the group activities as some of the groups I was in were not very organized.

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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: How you can trap electrons has always fascinated me. If you can trap energy from nature itself. I would like to investigate some way to trap lightning or any other type of electoral energy that is found in the world around us or even inside us.

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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 three 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 the increase and decrease in the output of different sources of electricity in a 55 year time period. This shows how the contry has been changing and adapting to using new sources of electrical power. It also shows how some sources constantly rose while others shifted around. This graph demonstrates those shifts. It also shows coal on an increase while hydroelectric output stays low.

Coal increased the most power output over time in the USA. From 1980 to 2000 the coal electric output was very high. It increased rapidly over the time. This has a very good contrast with hydro electricity which grew very lttle. The increase is approximately 1.0 kilowatts of power. Coal and fossil fuels and natural gases also directly contributes to global warming. Human activities such as burning coal and oil is a direct contributor. This prodcues greenhouse gases such as CO2, which affects the ozon layer. When this happens it causes the increase in UV and the melting of the poles. The increase is growing at a astounding rate and the burning of fossil fuels is a direct contributor.

It was approximately 0.25 kilowatts of energy produced by natural gas and petroleum and coal and nuclear electrics. There was also some of hydroelectric power. The use of nuclear energy and hydroelectric energy rose while the use of natural gas fell. This helps but coal usage still continues to increase. The power increase is dwarfed by the use of coal however which at the time had 0.7 to 1.0.

Citations: Robinson, Thomas. "Global Warming and Climate Change." __U.S. Global Change Research Information Office__. 2006. U.S. Global Change Research Information Office. 4 Jan 2008 <[|http://www.gcrio.org/gwcc/part1.html>.]

Comment 1: You wrote your last paragraph well, and gave good overall information. It was in 3rd person and had five sentences, but you didn't refer to the graph. I think you could elaborate more on your fourth sentence where it says 'this helps but', I think you could tell what exactly is 'this' refering to. You wrote it well, and used good english. Although, I feel like you could have a better conclusion sentence, to sum up the entire three paragraphs. Overall, your third paragraph was written well, and served the purpose. -Nikki

Comment 2: Patrick, You had good information but you did not refer back to Graph 1. You wrote 5 sentences and wrote in 3rd person but you did not describe the trends of Petroleum and Natural Gas, hydro- electric, and Nuclear electric power. This means you did not thoroughly answer the question. You need to describe the trends of the sources of energy instead of stating how much total energy was produced. Also restate the question in your entry. Your grammar and English was efficient, good job in this area! -Marion

Comment 3: "REFERENCE THE GRAPH It was approximately 0.25 kilowattHOURS of energy produced by natural gas and petroleum and coal and nuclear electrics. There was also some of hydroelectric power HOW MUCH AND HOW DID IT CHANGE. The use of nuclear energy and hydroelectric energy rose while the use of natural gas fell PROVIDE DATA. This helps but coal usage still continues to increase DATA. The power increase is dwarfed by the use of coal however which at the time had 0.7 to 1.0 UNITS. cONCLUDING SENTENCE ABOUT OVERALL TRENDS." - 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.

Entry: As seen in Graph 1, there were 4 major producers of electricity in the 1950 to 2005 range. These were coal, petroleum and natural gas, hydroelectric power, and nuclear power. In 1985 3 of these sources all produced the same electrical outpot, approximatley 0.25 trillion kilowatt-hours. Two of them, nuclear electric power and hydroelectric power, increased in power output while the third, Natural gas and petroleum, decreased. As in Graph 1 in 2000, hydroelectric stayed in the 0.25 units range or electrical output. There was also an increase in nuclear and natural gas power. The increase came to and stopped at 0.5 trillion kilowatt-hours in 2000. These were dwarfed however by the fourth, coal, which had the most a 2.0 kilo-watt increase and and was the steadiest in electrical output.

Comment: "As seen in Graph 1, there was WERE 4 major producers of electricity in the 1950 to 2005 range. These were coal, petroleum and natural gas, Hydroelectric power WHY IS THIS CAPITALIZED?, and nuclear power. In 1985 3 of these sources came to a balance of electrical out put, approximatley 0.25 trillion kilowatt-hours I AM NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN HERE. 2 WRITE OUT THE NUMBER of them, nuclear electric power and hydroelectric power, increased in power output while the third, Natural gas and petroleum, decreased. In 2000 DATA, hydroelectric sayed SP in the 0.25 UNITS range or SP output. There was also an increase in nuclear and natural gas power. The increase balanced out and 0.5 trillion kilowatt-hours POORLY WORDED. These were dwarfed however by the fourth, coal, which had the most constant and greatest growth in electrical output DATA."

2/5/2008
 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: Watt is an electrical term meaning power. It is equal to one joule of power. If a 200 watt bulb burned for 24 hours then it would cost 48 cents, or 2 cents an hour which is the current rate for electricity. Therefore if you divide 48 by 10 you get 4.8 kilowatthours which is the answer for the problem. From there you have the amount of power in the circuit. The circuit would use 4.8 kilowatt hours. You find this by multiplying the watt usage by the number of hours.

Comment 1: the blog is all accurate besides the circuit answer, it would be 4.8 kilowatthours and 4800 watt hours. //Aaron Rushin//

Comment 2: Patrick try to explain the equation of power = V x I, this has nothing to do with Ohm's law. Re-write explaining your means to calculate power usage in kilowatt hours.

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 done a LOT of stuff. I we did things from chemistry to electronics. Through these things my favorite experiment was the acid/base experiement. I really enjoyed watching something with no obvious reaction, exlpode or bubble. It was really fun, while our snakes, Diablo and Peppermint, were a great controbution to the class. I would like to work on grasping concepts quicker, and working on circuits. Also building the Missing Pulse Circuit on our OWN, was a huge acomplishment.

Comment 1: G//ood entry, but is there anything to work on next trimester?-Aaron//

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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: The line between the 2 different beings will blur. Evil and strong military robots should not be created. Also ugly ones that show all human faults. These would demoralize humans.

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