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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 projectile motion of a skaters jump depends on air resistance and the center of mass. The trajectory of an object is affected by the acceleration of gravity and air resistance. In speed skating and ski jumping the air resistance is very important. Figure skaters are usually not moving fast enough for air resistance to affect their jumps. The center of mass is the point where the skater’s mass is concentrated. The center of mass is affected by gravity only. The hips of a figure skater can be used as a representation of the center of mass. The center of mass is not visually observed. It resides in the trunk region.

We have been learning about how different variables affect the height and length of a parabola. The angle, gravity, wind, and velocity all affect the path of the projectile motion. The air resistance of a skaters jump is the same thing as the wind resistance of a parabola.

"The Biomechanics of skating." __Physics and Biomechanics__. 04/1998. Montana State University-Bozeman. 24 Aug 2007 &lt;[|http://btc.montana.edu/olympics/physbio/biomechanics/pm01.html&gt;.]

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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 is not necessary. It can come in handy to organize things. The materials and methods are not necessary at all times. They help organize things. This experiment could be done by making a guess on what the cubes were, finding data, and researching what the different properties of possible identities for the cubes. This experiment was very difficult. The analysis was difficult because the densities in our data and the researched densities did not always match. Some of the times we had to make a guess on what the identity of the cube was, for instance, the density of cube #1 is 7.8g and the closest researched density is 7.5g, you would have to assume that cube number one was 7.5g. The Qualitative data is also a big part in finding the identity of the cubes. If a cubes density does not match any of the researched densities, then look at the color, opacity etc… The density is sometimes important in finding the identity of an unknown substance. The density and color are the two main things in finding the identity of an unknown substance. When researching possible identities it is always a good idea to find the density and the color incase the densities do not match.//

//Comment 1:// Good job- I little unclear sometimes though. For instance, when you say //the materials and methods are not necessary at all times//, it sounds like you mean you don’t need materials, but you do. I think what you meant was that the step involving determining what materials you will need and what method you will follow was unnecessary, but it did help you organize the experiment better. Also, later on you say //density and color are the two main things in finding the density of an unknown substance//. //Things// is a bad word to use here- try using words like //aspects// or //properties//. Also, density is measured in g/cc, not g, and qualitative is not a proper noun. Other than that, good job answering all the questions. -Katie 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 burn a substance to find out what it is. Every element emits a different color. This relates to the use of fireworks, when you want a firework to look a certain color, you have to add a certain element that when burned emits the color you want the firefork to be, This is helpful if you have shaped charge fireworks. You can make those fire work stars look like rainbows by putting the elements of different colors into different shaped charges. This will create a nice croqd pleasing effect. Gondhia, Reema. "The Composition of Fireworks." __The Chemistry of Fireworks__. 16 Oct 2007 &lt;[|http://www.chemsoc.org/ExemplarChem/entries/2004/icl_Gondhia/composition.html&gt;.]

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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 element Sodium is a silver-colered metal, while Chlorine is a green colored toxic gas. When the Sodium is dropped into the Chlorine, the Sodium reacts with the Chlorine. When the sodium atoms contact the chlorine, an ionic reaction occurs in which each sodium atom loses one electron to each chlorine atom. This electron transfer realeases energy. The resulting compound is held together by electrical charges. The charge of the Sodium atoms are positive because it gave away electrons. The Chlorine atoms gain two electrons each so that means that they are negative. The compound formed by Sodium and Chlorine is NaCl.The ionic compound formed by this reaction is a hard, white solid called sodium chloride. It is also known as table salt.

//Comment 1:// Positive: Very well written paragraph, great length. Good information, great job overall! Negative: You answered the question, but had a lot of useless information. It would also sound better if you had a beginning and ending sentence. -Courtney K.

Comment 2: Positive: Great job! You explained everything well, and didn't leave any important information out. Negative: Sodium and chlorine don't need to be capitilied. Also, you repeat yourself sometimes, or say things that are irrelavent. - Katie

Entry 2: The element sodium is a silver-colored metal, while chlorine is a green colored toxic gas. When the sodium is dropped into the chlorine, the sodium gets lit on fire. The electron transfer releases energy. The resulting compound is held together by an Ionic bond. The charge of sodium is positive because it gave away electrons. The chlorine atoms gain two electrons each, so that means that their charge is negative. The compound formed from sodium and chlorine is NaCl (sodium chloride). The compound formed by this is a hard, white solid. It is also known as 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 chemical reactions experiment. I liked this because we got to light different chemicals on fire. The snakes are awesome. I am really glad that we have snakes in our science class. I think that I excelled in the projectile motion experiment because I enjoyed shooting things across the room. I think that if I put a little more effort into my lab reports I would have done a little better this trimester.

//Comment 1:// Nupur always has a lot to contribute to the discussion in science. She was willing to help out if anybody didn't understand, and to accept help if she didn't understand. Her comments were always productive during chats, and she did very well this trimester.

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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: Electricity is used in many things that we use in our houses. It is used in light bulbs, computers, and machines. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. Benjamin Franklin invented electricity. Lightning is a source of electricity. Electricity sometimes shocks people. HOW DOES ELECTRICITY WORK? WHAT CAUSES ELECTRICITY TO STOP WORKING? WHO INVENTED ELECTRONICS? HOW EARLY IN HISTORY WAS ELECTRICITY INVENTED?

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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: 1) Graph 1 shows that from 1950-2005 there has been a steady increase in the use of coal as an electricity source. It rose from about 0.2 trillion kilwatthours to roughly 2 trillion kilowatthours. Throughout the 55 years that coal has been steadily increasing, there have been a couple of slight drops and raises in the use of coal. For instance in 2000 more coal was being used than in 2001, in 1958 less coal was being used than in 1955. From roughly 1970-2005 the use of coal increased significantly.

2) Out of the sources listed in Graph 1, Coal contributes the most to Global warming. Coal is a part of greenhouse gas. When coal is burned it realeses about 1.7 times as much carbon per unit of energy. Greenhouse Gas is the number one thing to cause Global Warming. When Greenhouse gas is burned it releases coal.

3)Graph 1 shows that the sources shown above all have some ups and downs from 1972-1985. Coal has a pretty steady increase with a few drops in usage and a few increases in the amount of coal being used up as a source of electricity. From 1972-1985 Petroleum and Natural Gas stays up around 0.5 trillion kilowatthours, much more than earlier and later years. Nuclear Electric Power has a steady increase from 1972-1985. From 1972-1985, Hydroelectric power stayed around 0.3 trillion kilowatthours.

Juarez, Michael. "The Causes of Global Warming." __EcoBridge__. 5 Jan 2008 &lt;[|http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm&gt;.]
 * Citations for Question #1:**

Comment 1: Your entry was well written and stayed on topic. You correctly referenced the graph, and stated clearly the facts that needed to be said to answer the question. However, you did capitalize some things that should not have been capitalized. Overall, this was a very precisely written entry. Good job! ~CK

Comment 2: Good job referencing the graph in your answer! You stayed in third person, your informations was accurtate, and you answered the questions completely. I thought that a few parts of your entry were unclear; for instance, when you say that 'the sources shown above all have the same ups and downs from 1982-1985,' do you mean that every electricity source had the same trends during that period? Because that is not true, as your next sentences prove. Other than that one sentence, its very clear and understandable. Good job! ~Katie

Re-Entry:

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 kilowatthours 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 sources of electricity production in the US from 2000-2005. These sources were hydroelectric power, nuclear electric power, petroleum/natural gas, and coal. From 2000-2005, the US needed more and more production electricity from these combined resources. The best example of this is that during the 5 years, Petroleum and Natural Gas increased from roughly 0.6 trillion kilowatthours to approximately 1.0 trillion kilowatthours. During this same time period there was a slight increase in Nuclear Electric Power from roughly 0.7 trillion kilowatthours to approximately 0.8 trillion kilowatthours.There was also a slight increase in Hydroelectric power sources from about 0.2 trillion kilowatthours to about 0.3 trillion kilowatthours. Finally, Coal showed the greatest amount of fluctuation during this time period staying about the same from 2000-2003 at 0.8 trillion kilowatthours but then increasing to 0.9 kilowatthours by 2005. Although more and more amounts of resources were needed to produce electricity during this time period, Petroleum and Natural Gas electricity sources has the greatest increase in use.

Comment 1: Great job, Nupur! You spoke directly to the graph, backed up your statements with data, had both an introductory and concluding sentence, and all of the required information. There were some minor spelling errors, but besides that I don't think there is any place that you can improve. Awesome job! -Courtney K.

Comment 2: Nice blog entry! I didn't find any grammatical and only minimal spelling errors. You spoke in third person, you used info right from the graph, you referenced the graph, and backed up your statments. Great Job!! Colin

Re-Entry: As seen in Graph 1, there were four sources of electricity production in the US from 2000-2005. These sources were hydroelectric power, nuclear electric power, petroleum/natural gas, and coal. From 2000-2005, the US needed more and more electricity production from these combined resources. The best example of this is that during the 5 years, Petroleum and Natural Gas production increased from roughly 0.6 trillion kilowatthours to approximately 1.0 trillion kilowatthours. During this same time period there was a slight increase in Nuclear Electric Power from roughly 0.7 trillion kilowatthours to approximately 0.8 trillion kilowatthours.There was also a slight increase in Hydroelectric power sources from about 0.2 trillion kilowatthours to about 0.3 trillion kilowatthours. Finally, Coal showed the greatest amount of fluctuation during this time period staying about the same from 2000-2003 at 0.8 trillion kilowatthours but then increasing to 0.9 trillion kilowatthours by 2005. From 2000-2005 electricity production increased significantly. Petroleum and Natural Gas electricity sources has the greatest amount of increase in use. GOOD JOB-JT

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 measurement of Power.The formula for power is W=I*V. If a lamp with a 200 watt lightbulb burned for 24 hourse striaght, it would use 4.8 kilowatt hours. I multiplied the # of hours by the the number of watts, divided by 1000.

Comment 1: //Good entry Nupur! You answered all of the questions asked in the prompt correctly, and in a clear manner. However, it would be good to keep in mind that the formula for finding kilowatt hours may be new to some people who use this entry as a reference, so you may want to// //explain __why__ you// //use that formula. Also, you should right out the word numbers, and you spelled hours and straight wrong. Other than that, great job! ~Katie//

Comment 2: Good job. You could write out the names of the different units instead of the symbol. You spelled hours and straight wrong. You should explain the kilowatt formula and you should write and the word numbers instead of the symbol. Overall, your entry is great. ~Ruchi

Reentry: A watt is a measurement of power. The formula for power is W=I*V. If a lamp with a 200 watt lightbulb burned for 24 hours striaght, it would use 4.8 kilowatt hours. The formula for kilowatt hours is.

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: I had a great time in science with the chemistry and electricity units. My favorite part of the trimester was the The Radioshack Electronic Kits and making basic series and parallel circuits. While doing th electricity unit, I learned that you have to put the pieces of the circuit in the exact spot and in the right direction otherwise it would not work. The assesments were very hard but helped me improve my knowledge of chemistry and electricity. I think that my weekest point in Science are the assesments. I really enjoyed taking pictures of eachother during class. Some of them were really funny. I also enjoyed playing with the snakes at break and during class. Diablo and Peppermint have grown alot since we first got them. I really enjoyed watching the snakes grow. My very first reaction tp the snakes was, " EWW!!" I had a lot of fun this trimester in science. Figure 1: Peppermint going up my sleeve Figure 2: Diablo on Courtney's hand

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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 in the future machines have the ability to reason, be self-aware and have feelings, then a human being is a human being and a robot is a robot. In fact, human beings will be robots. He also believes that although current robotics is modeled on human senses, actions, and abilities, in time it will evolve beyond this framework. Others believe that although the gap between humans and robots, there will always be a gap. Humans will always have abilities like creativity and compassion that robots will never be able to have. Robots may be able to become incredible advance, but they will never be able to overthrow humans unless humans intentionally create them to do this, because robots are under human control. Therefore those ambitious scientists that are trying to create robots to be as lifelike as possible need to be wary not to create one smarter than themselves and with the ability to create other robots. I wouldn’t want to see scientists create a robot that tried to mimic human beings and their personalities and emotions because creating this could make robots eventually overthrow humans. Humans will always have human characteristics and robots will always be robots because they will not be able to have human qualities.

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