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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://

By the position of where the BB landed, the police where able to find where the BB was shot, from a car a couple of yards away. ||  || Boomgaard, Joe. "Vandals with BB guns shoot up windows near Pentwater." __Ludington Daily News__. N/A. Ludington Daily News. 24 Aug 2007 <[|http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=37294>.]
 * **Vandals with BB guns shoot up windows near Pentwater** ||
 * This shows the science of parabolic motion and projectiles because of what was used in the shooting. In a household near Pentwater, a man was astonished while watching T.V. by the sound of his window breaking. Later, when he called the police, officials were stunned when they found a BB pellet near the window. The police were able to find the exact position of where the BB came from by the hole in the window and were the BB landed. Later, law enforcement got calls from multiple other shooting with the same outcome.

//Comment 1:// You did a good job explaining the article in details. Except there is only 1 paragraph and your entry is not signed or in italics. Also, in the 4th sentence you wrote where instead of were. I think that you could have added more than one sentence about how your arcticle relates to projectile motion. Overall you did well! -Rabiya S. Comment 2:

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 used during this experiment. The format the experiment told us to write in was the same steps as in the scientific method. The experiment also told us to have a hypothesis about which block was made up of each material. This experiment was not hard, because a lot of it was inferring which object was made up of what material. The density is important to identify what a cube is made of because the higher density means a heavier object.

//Comment 1:// //Ian, this is a great entry and it explains a lot about the use of scientific method in your experiment. You included information telling if the experiment was hard or not, and about the density being important. You also did a good job explaining things clearly and in detail. I think that you could add more information explaining why the experiment was hard and more about the density being important. You could do this by describing how the density is unique to each cube and how the density would help identify the cube. Good job!!!! -Rabiya S.// 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 a test to see the number of ions in a compound, mixture, or element. The color of the flame can determine the properties of a specific element or thing because the color changes with the different element. The flame test is a good way to ditermine what type of metal you have if you do not know.

Clark, Jim. "flame tests." __flame tests__. 17/10/2007. 17 Oct 2007 <[|http://www.chemguide.co.uk/inorganic/group1/flametests.html>.]

//Comment 1://

Comment 2:

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 with sodium and chlorine, the sodium was dropped in the chlorine. When the sodium hits the chlorine, a ionic reaction takes place. For every sodium atom that makes contact with the chlorine, the sodium loses an electron to the chlorine. The sodium becomes the cation and the chlorine becomes the anaion, meaning the sodium is positive and the chlorine in a negative atom. This new bond in held by electrical charges. After the charges have been made, the new product is table salt.

-Ian

//Comment 1:// Ian you did a good job! You used terms that helped describe the reaction, but I think that you could do some qualitative analysis. This paragraph sounds very smart and scientific. You do have some grammatical errors because I don’t think you have checked over it properly. Overall, you did a good job and you get an A. -Rabiya S.

Comment 2: In this paragraph, there are a few spelling errors. It says "this new bond in held by electrical charges." The in should actually be is. Also, the paragraph is a little short. The detail is okay, but could be more thorough. The grammer is correct and it is explaining the imformation needed. I would rate this an A-.

-David J.

Rewrites entry. In the reaction with the sodium and the chlorine, the sodium was dropped in the chlorine. When the sodium came into contact with the chlorine, an ionic bond takes place. For every sodium atom that touches a chlorine atom, the sodium lose an electron to the chlorine and becomes a cation. The chlorine gains an electron from the sodium and becomes an anaion. This bond between the two is held by electrical charges and causes a violent reaction. The new product between the two is now common 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:// I enjoyed many things about science this trimester. I mainly enjoyed the experiments, podcasts, and the projectile motion. The snakes were very cool and interesting. I think I did good in the experiments and graphing the things we discovered on excel and stuff. I think I could have been more through with my chats and screen casts.

//Comment 1: Ian did a good job in science this year. He was consistent with his keeping track of notes and other helpful things. He did good by staying on task during experiments, although I think he could have budgeted his time on long term assignments. If I had to grade him I would give him a B+ - A-. Grant C//

Comment 2:

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 only a little about how electricity works and things about it. I know electricity was found by a man named Thomas Edison. Electricity works from an electrical current that comes from an energy source. This then travels through a wire and into the blub. The electrical current has a reaction with a piece of metal inside the bulb, usually Tungsten or sometimes Xenon, to create a light. Often you have to change or adjust a bulb because the metal “wire” inside gets burn out or something like that. I would like to know more about how Thomas Edison tested electricity and the names and parts of the things on the inside of the bulb. I think it would be cool to take apart my desktop computer or my Xbox to see how electricity goes through the machines to power them.

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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 kilowatt hours.

Entry:

1. Coal has been being increased the most over this time period. Between 1950 and 2005, coal use has constanly risen. There are small dip and rises, but it mostly has been going strait. Other sources of power have mainly stayed strait. I think coal is used the most often because we have found it being the most effective.

2. Global warm is cuased by greenhouse gases getting trapped in the atmosphere. Sources of energy like coal that burn off excess gases are also cuasing and promoting global warming. Other things like petrolium and nuclear gases also cuases it. The only way to not cuase global warming is by using sources of energy that do not burn off gases. Hydroelectric power is an example because it uses water to power something. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

3. Between 1972 and 1985 there has not been much of a rise for electric use. Acually, there really isn't a big change through the entier graph. We have been mainly focused on using coal or other gases. These are the specific gases that are contributing to the global warming effect. We can stop this by using more electric power and less gas powered sources of energy.

Comment 1: Ian your information is excellent I like the fact that your explaining everyone of your answers throughly. I understand everything perfectly. The only thing that I did not like was your grammer and choice of words. I did not like how you said has been going straight. I think you could have chose better wording for some of your sentences. If I was grading i would give you a A+. Excellent work Ian.

Comment 2: Ian, good job describing the graph and summing up the main idea. There are a few spelling errors, so to prevent them in the future, it would be helpful to type up the blog entry in Microsoft Word because it has spell check. Then you can paste it into the blog. You used specific language and referenced to the question, like "Between 1972 and 1985," but you didn't make reference to "Graph 1." To make your statements more clear, you could explain exactly how much the electricity sources increased or decreased. I think that the last sentence of the 3rd paragraph is irrelevant to the question because the question asks you to describe the trends. Overall, your data was clear and you answered the question correctly. Good Job!

-Emily

Comment 3:"REFERENCE THE GRAPH. Between 1972 and 1985 there has not been much of a rise for electric use WHAT!. Acually SP, there really isn't a big change through the entier SP graph WHAT! NO WAY. We THIRD PERSON have been mainly focused on using coal or other gases DATA. These are the specific gases that are contributing to the global warming effect. We 3RD PERSON can stop this by using more electric power and less gas powered sources of energy.RE-WRITE THE WHOLE PARAGRAPH." - 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: In graph 1 shown above, it shows that from 2000 to 2005 that the production has increased since the start of the graph. You can see that from the hydroelectric power line, use from that type of electricity took a dive around 2001 but came back up and pretty neutral. Nuclear electric power has also went up, stayed in a line for about a year, then went back up. Both have been pretty stable as far as not taking any major rises or falls. Therefore, electric power has been pretty neutral and there has been no really big trends in use. -Ian B.

Comment 1: Ian, it looks like you did not try to make your first blog entry better, this one makes your other blog entry look way more detailed and informative about the time. You show nothing about Coal the biggest energy suppler to the US. I think that you can do so much better than this if you only take more time to explain what has happened in the power of the US. -Nathan

Comment 2:

Re-Entry: In gGraph 1 shown above, it shows that from 2000 to 2005 that the production has increased since the start of the graph RE-WORD. You can see that from the hydroelectric power line, use from that type of electricity took a dive SW WORDING around 2001 but came back up and pretty neutral.DATA Coal has also been going at a steady streamSW, DATA, as there has only been one point were the coal use went downDATA. Nuclear electric power has also went up, stayed in a line for about a year, then went back up. Both have been pretty stable as far as not taking any major rises or falls. Therefore, electric power has been pretty neutral and there has been no really big trends in use. CONTINUE WORKING ON YOUR SCIENTIFIC WRITING AS THIS DOES NOT REFLECT MODELING FROM MY PARAGRAPH. ALSO, YOU DID NOT FOLLOW NATHAN'S FEEDBACK. - 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 energy that something uses at a certain rate. To find the amount of electrical power that it uses in a cicuit, use the equation Amps x Volts = Watts. This means that an appliance that has 4 amps and 10 total volts will get a wattage of 40 watts. This lamp in this situation would consume 4.8 kilowatt hours. You find this by multiplying 200 watts by 24 hours to get 4800 total watts used. To get the amount of kilowatt hours, divide 4800 watts by 1000 to get 4.8 kilowatt hours.

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Comment 2:

 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: I had a great time in science this year. I loved doing the Ph testing with the probes to find the Ph levels of the household chemicals. The Electronics learning lab was also fun. I enjoyed putting the wire and things in the breadboard and watching the circuits working. The snakes in the room were also cool; it was fun to take them out and play with them while we were working on blog reports. The circuits were probably my most favorite part of science. But overall I enjoyed science this trimester.

Comment 1: Good job no grammar errors and you were a great lad buddy. -Nathan

Comment 2:

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: To me, a robot and a human are very much alike and unalike. Both humans and robots can do actions that are told by the brain or the person in control. However, robots, I believe, do not have proper judgement to apply certain concepts. For example, we have feelings that cannot or will be difficult to recreated so a robot can process and proform them. We can feel sadness, happiness and other emotions that make us human, and this is something robots can't do. A robot can sense light, touch and distance, but not emotions and feelings.

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