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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: Robots are just inventions, made of metal and running on electricity. They have no real thoughts, flesh, or feelings- they are all computer programs. Humans are made up of many different elements that form our bodies, and the things that maintain them. We are actually living things, that fight off sicknesses and have the will to live. Robots will eventually be able to mimic feelings and actions, but we should never program a robot that is smart enough to realize It doesn’t have to serve humans. If they are ever that advanced, it could cause huge problems for the world, and there would be a uproar between robots and humans, just like in the old movies.

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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 in it burned for 24 hours straight (you forgot and left it turned on), how many kilowatt hours would it use? Make sure to writein 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 the standerd unit of electricity in the International System of units. It is equal to one jouleper second. A jouleper second is the amount of work when a unit of electricity is passed through one ohm of resistance for one second. To find the amount of electrical power in a circuit, one would use the equation for watts. Voltage multiplied by current, or V x I = Watts.

If a lamp that used 200 watts was left on for 24 hours, it would use quite a lot of electricity. To find that amount in kilowatt hours, one would multiply the number of watts by 24 hours. So, 200 x 24 = 4800. Then, to convert it to kilowatt hours divide 4800 by 1000. The answer to the problem and the new measure of electricity is 4.8 kilowatt hours. Also, a kilowatt hour refers to a set of devices using 1000 watts for one hour.

Sources:

[|www.About.com] Wikipedia

[|www.Answers.com]

Comment 1: Overall, your entry was very good and the information was correct. However, the sentence where you stated the equation is a fragment. I would also suggest moving the last sentence to the middle of the second paragraph, because it just doesn't seem like a good conclusion. Good use of third person, and overall, great job! - Elizabeth B.

Comment 2: Your blog was good, but your first sentence of your second paragraph was a little awkward. Your last sentence in the second paragraph is out of place. maybe try putting it up where you are talking about what a watt is. Your used third person, and that was good. Good Work -TaZ k.

1/8/2008
= = = = //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.//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: From 2000- 2005 in the USA, there have been many changes in electric production for different sources. The main sources of electricity are coal, nuclear electric power,petroleum/natural gas, and hydroelectric power. For example, as seen in graph 1, coal rises steadily upward through the whole time, starting at about 1.8 trillion kilowatt hours ascending to about 2.0 kilowatt hours. Nuclear electric power and petroleum/natural gas sources stayed relatively the same, starting at about 0.7 trillion kilowatt hours and ending up at almost the same place, with petroleum/natural gas ending at roughly 0.9 and Nuclear electric power at 0.8. Hydroelectric power started at about 0.35 in 2000 and dropped about 0.1, ending at about .25. Although the other energy sources contributed to electric production, coal produced the most, ending at 2.0 kilowatt hours. Now the question is, in the future, will there be a cleaner source of energy that takes over the most popular position coal posseses now?

WORK ON A BETTER CONCLUDING SENTENCE BUT NICE WORK- JT

1/3/2008
This graph represents the increase of production of electricity from different sources as time passes. The graph shows that coal production kept climbing through the whole history of the graph, never dipping dramatically or staying relatively straight. Production rose from about 0.1 to 2.0 trillion kilowatt hours between 1950 and 2005. Hydroelectric power production stayed mostly the same, but very slowly climbing upward. From 1950-2005, production rose from about 0.1 to 0.3. Natural gas production shot upwards than slowly drifted down again. In the amount of time shown on the graph, production rose from 0.1 to about 0.75 trillion kilowatts hours. Nuclear Electric power wasn't produced at all for some time, and then slowly grew more effective and popular as technologies advanced. Between 1950 and 2005, production rose from 0.0 to about 0.7.

Coal was definitely the fastest growing electricity source in the USA. Production shot upwards very quickly, a lot more than any of the other sources ever did and is by far the most popular and easy was to make electricity. Coal was and still is very easy to acquire and therefore is the easiest and probably the most profitable way to make energy. However, it is also the "dirtiest" way to make energy, because the process creates huge amounts of CO2 and spews it out into the air. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning it is harmful to the environment if too much is released into the atmosphere. The CO2 is trapped in the Ozone and then stays there, bringing the heat closer to the earth and therefore causing global warming.

From 1972 to 1985 the leading source of electricity was of course coal, as said in the previous paragraphs. Runner-up was petroleum and natural gas. After that was hydroelectric energy and then nuclear energy. By the end of this time period, nuclear energy had almost caught up with hydroelectric energy.Coal was definetly the most popular source of electricity.

//Comment 1: Great job on your third paragraph!!! I understand it. Maybe you can write the measurements of how much coal raised and maybe you can include the blog prompt. You wrote it in third person! You discussed about the graph. Overall you did a great job!!! I like working with you because you always contribute to any discussion! good job! ~ Jennifer N

Comment 2: Overall you did really good the third paragraph! But you schould put the blog prompt in their becuaes you might get points taken off for a silly thing so you schould change that. Also i think you schould talk more about measurements of how much coal raised and natrual gas. Ok well good job you disscued alot about the paragraph!//

COMMENT 3: "REFERENCE THE GRAPH From 1972 to 1985 the leading source of electricity was of course coal PROVIDE DATA HERE, as said in the previous paragraphs. Runner-up was petroleum and natural gas PROVIDE DATA. After that was hydroelectric energy and then nuclear energy PROVIDE DATA. By the end of this time period, nuclear energy had almost caught up with hydroelectric energy.Coal was definetly SP the most popular source of electricity. WHAT ABOUT THE OVERALL TRENDS DURING THIS TIME PERIOD + CONCLUDING SENTENCE." - PRETTY GOOD- JT

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:

In 4th grade, my class did a long unit in the subject of electricity. We did expirements with conductors and wires, along with simple circuits that prepared us with the basics we needed to know in the unit. We learned how the electricity had to travel in a circle to work, and that it could only travel through certain metals and other materials. But it didn't answer all of my questions. What exactly is electricity? How do you just plug it in to something, like a clock, and that appliance works and does a certain thing automaticly? how does it light up screens and televisions? What exactly happens when it is made? I would like to study why electricity makes things work in this unit. It would answer so many of my questions.

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).

This Trimester, I think that my favorite unit was probably chemistry, because we actually got to expirement and see what happens, instead of measuring and guessing things. It was alot more fun than cube expirement, in which we had to guess and write what we thought. The projectile motion unit expirement was sort of pointless, because we knew what was going to happen. This time, we did these expirements, learned something, //and// enjoyed ourselves. I loved that we got snakes this trimester. I have never had a class pet besides a fish, so this is pretty new to me, especially since i never had a pet at home as well. I look forward to seeing these snakes grow up and reproduce. I really enjoy holding them and playing with them. I love them to death now, even though i was sort of nervous at first! I have never toughed a snake before. They now have a soft spot in my heart. I think we improved alot in listening and focusing skills. Most people have stopped talking while the teacher is talking, and we almost always stay focused during expirements. I think if I had studied a bit more and stayed focused on what we were doing, I would have had much more success in science 7.

11/1/2007
Q: 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 this video, the sodium and the chlorine atoms are creating an Ionic bond. The Sodium atom loses one electron to the chlorine atom. The Sodium atom is in row one of the periodic table, as it has only one electron in it's outer energy level. Once it gives one electron away, both atoms are "happy," because their outer energy level is complete. Once the ionic bond is complete, the sodium atom is now positively charged, because there are more protons than electrons, and the chlorine atom is negatively charged because there are more electrons than protons. During the reaction, so much energy was released that the material reached it's flashpoint and caught on fire.

//Comment 1: Good job with your explanation of why the atoms are negative or positive. I would have included whether if it was a cation or an anion though. You did not finish your paragraph and you stopped in the middle of a sentence. You also spelled things wrong like looses instead of loses. Sodium doesn't need to be capitalized either. For your overall grade, I would give you a B. Your information was good, but you did not finish it.//

Comment 2:

Q: 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://

The flame test is used to visually determine what type of material it is based on the color the flame turns when exposed to the wire with the mystery substance on it. Every gas has its own unique color it changes when energy is run through it. Knowing this color will help you determine what element/substance it is. The use of chemicals in fireworks

[|"How Fireworks Work ." How Stuff Works. © 1998-2007. HowStuffWorks, Inc.. 17 Oct 2007 .]

9/24/2007

The scientific method is necessary in this experiment, because we followed each of the steps to find out what each cube was. We were asked which cube was which, and we researched to find what each material’s density was, along with what unknown materials looked like so we could compare them to the cubes. We constructed a hypothesis, and then set off to prove it by finding the density, mass, and volume of each cube. We looked at our charts and data and made necessary changes to what we thought the cubes were made of. Then, our work was presented to the class. What made this experiment difficult was that some of the cubes look the same, so it was hard to decide which was which. Also, all the woods were virtually the same, except for a slight difference in color from one another. The density is very important when finding the identity of the unknown object, because the density of the material is mostly unique to it, and if the density is known it would be extremely easy to find the identity with a little research.

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://Tornado Article Summery This article is about a small microburst that hit in a small city called Salem recently. A microburst is a strong blast of wind starting from a high altitude that moves downward at a fast rate. It is close to a tornado but not as strong. But they can still be dangerous.

This article relates the motion of the wind in a tornado to a projectile motion. Specifically, it says “Winds need to be blowing in a projectile motion to be a tornado, but Thursday's winds were more straight with only a slight bit of circular motion.” This relates to what we’ve been doing in class lately. It means that the winds in a tornado move up and then down, like a projectile in the air. The tornado was used as a comparison between the two- the winds in a microburst are straighter and only slight indications of circular movement are shown.

//Comment 1: You did a good job writing in third person. If you could do anything to make it better, it would be to add a little more information. It would also be better if you described more on what we have been doing with projectiles. The difference between a microburst and a tornado was pretty clear, though. -// Elizabeth B.

Comment 2: Good paragraphs, you have good information. They could be a little longer though. You have good spelling and grammar, and what you were writing was pretty clear. Great job overall! -Courtney K.