Catapults and more

On Monday we had time in class to print notes and finish vocab. After that we reviewed notes. At our tables we then did an activity where we tried to balance a soda can on its side by pouring just the right amount of water into it. It took some groups longer than others. It took our group very long but when it worked it felt so good.

On Tuesday we learned about projectile motion. We watched a video on the punkin chunkin event. The punkin chunkin event is an event where teams launch pumpkins from their highly engineered catapults across a field. I am glad I am not a pumpkin being launched a mile across a field. We then went over our  next lab. This week we will be building a catapult to learn about projectile motion. We were put into groups and began to brainstorm ideas on building a catapult. Our group found an idea online that looked like it would work. It was a fairly simple design made out of pencils and a tissue box.  

On Wednesday we actually started constructing our catapult.  To build our catapult we used our box and pencils to act as the base. We used rubber bands to bond the pencils together. Then we glued a cap to the top of the pencils. We poked holes in the sides of the box so we could slide the pencils through. We need to create tension so we used a rubber band to pull the pencils back. We needed something for the rubber band to latch on to. At first we tried gluing a wooden stick to the middle of the box but it proved no match to the rubber band. After that we tried  gluing a wooden spool in the center to hold the rubber band. Once again the rubber band won. We finally came to the conclusion to use a clothes pin to pull back the rubber band and create tension.

On Thursday we worked on our catapults. By this point our catapults were almost done. While working on our catapult we found that the pencil design was not working. The rubber bands that held together the pencils were very flimsy and very inaccurate. We replaced the pencils with a spoon and it worked a lot better. We still used the rubber bands to pull back the spoon and create tension which created a very powerful catapult. This worked a lot better but we needed to use more glue for the spoon because every time we launched it it would break off. We also had to cut out a panel off the box because it was limiting the catapult's movement.

On Friday we did the last finishing touches on our catapult. We made sure that everything was working well. After that we started to test our catapult. I thought our catapult had distance but not accuracy. To help make our catapult have more accuracy we took off the rubber band. This allowed us to have more control on to where it was going to land. When we needed distance we put the rubber band on. We fired marker caps, wooden spools, and marshmallows to test our catapult. I hope our catapult does well in the competition.

This week I learned that group work is possible if work is distributed evenly among the group and if you have a good team.
One thing I can improve on is being a better listener when my coach is instructing me. It is very hard when the coach is my dad! I will definitely try to do better.
For Science Olympiad this week I spent about 2 hours on the bottle rocket, picture this, and the bridge.

For this weeks link it is a video and website. of what punkin chunkin really is.
         http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/punkin-chunkin/

                                                                       

Bowling for Forces

On Monday we started our bowling for forces lab. This lab taught us about Newton's Second Law. Newton's Second Law talks about how acceleration of an object depends on the net force. We tested this by rolling different size balls.  For each ball we rolled, we rolled it fast for one turn then slow for another turn. We rolled each ball eight meters. We weighed each ball in kilograms so we could figure out the force by multiplying mass times acceleration. After we got our results we recorded them in our data table. Some controlled variables that we kept the same in this experiment were the timer and person who throws the ball. If we did not keep these variables the same, then the results would be less reliable. After we collected our data we filled out our data table.

On Tuesday we worked on finishing our lab. We had to use what we recorded in our experiment to find force and acceleration. To calculate acceleration you have to divide velocity by time and to find velocity you would do distance divided by time. We had to calculate both of these things plus force for all of the balls on our data table.

On Wednesday we did something very different in science class. We broke a very heavy cinder block on Mr. Adam's chest with a sledge hammer.  I know you are probably thinking how does this relate to physics. This experiment relates to physics because the force is spread out instead of the force being concentrated in one area so it didn't hurt him when it broke. I thought watching the cinder block break was a great way of teaching us physics. At first I thought he was going to get hurt and I thought this could possibly never work. So I was very happy that it did work out.

On Thursday we learned about free body diagrams. Before today i did not know what they were were. When I first heard of them I thought they would be a lot like Lewis dot structures. A free body diagram helps you visualize the different forces being applied to an object. After practicing the free body diagrams they became a lot easier.

On Friday we had time in class to work on our study guides.  I am glad that we had time in class to prepare for the test on Tuesday. I think from doing the study guide in class and checking my answers I have a better understanding of the material on the test.  I think one thing I need to improve on this week is  remembering to print the chapter notes to help me in class. I always write it on my hand to remember but it always washes off and I forget. For Science Olympiad this week I spent about 15 minutes on Wednesday after school breaking the  bridge. Also on Thursday I worked on picture this for around 10 minutes in guided study.
 For this week's link it is a better explanation from Harvard of how Mr.Adams didn't die.
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~scdiroff/lds/NewtonianMechanics/FakirPhysics/FakirPhysics.html

It's getting complicated....Physics here I come!

On Monday we finished our worm lab for about 10 minutes and reviewed notes, then we started our bubble gum lab.  For this lab we were not tied down to a lab sheet with questions and an exact procedure which was my favorite part. We had free reign to make whatever experiment we wanted to test time and speed with gum. Our group tested if time would affect Nicholas's chewing speed.  We tested it in 30 second intervals. After each interval we recorded the number of chews in that time period. Our hypothesis was that the more time would result in a lower percentage of chews.

On Tuesday we actually got to test the experiment. I thought constructing our own experiment helped me to better understand and learn the scientific method. Before doing this lab we had to follow a lab procedure but in this we didn't because we got to make up our own experiment.  In our experiment we found that it did not affect his chewing speed but it increased over time .

On Wednesday  we had our first quiz in physics. For this quiz we had to study basic physics terms such as velocity, acceleration, distance and displacement. I often got these terms confused a lot. One thing I had trouble on during the quiz was applying what I knew to the questions. I knew what the terms meant I just didn't know how to apply them. I feel like if I had read the questions more carefully then I would have been more clear of what the question was asking a lot better. I can definitely improve on this for the next quiz.

On Thursday since it was our first quiz in physics we reviewed for most of the class on Thursday. Most of the topics I missed on the quiz were scalar and vector related. One thing I can improve on this week is learning the vector and scalar definitions and relearning the units so I can do better on my next test.

On Friday we did an activity where we went around the room to each table and did a different activity regarding physics. Before that activity we tried to balance a penny on a card that sat on our finger and if you pulled the card out from under the penny at just the right time the penny would sit on your finger. This works because you are moving the card not the penny. I know it's hard to believe but try it you will be surprised.

Next week we will start Newton's laws so the activities we did were mostly based around that. I didn't get to do all of the activities but I got to do most of them.  For Science Olympiad this week I spent about an hour building and testing  two more bridges.  We learned from breaking the bridges that the "new" design we had tried out had not been working because it broke almost instantly when the sand was being poured.
This week I can definitely say there is a lot of things I need to improve on but I have also learned a lot.

For this week's link it is all about Newton's Laws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn34mnnDnKU