Seawater Lab

On Monday we continued with the seawater lab. Today we tested the viscosity of corn syrup, fresh water , and seawater. To test these we put 100ml of each liquid into a graduated cylinder. Then we took round copper pellets and dropped each one into the liquid separately to perform 10 tests in all. As we dropped the pellets in, at the 70 ml mark, time was recorded from that measurement to when they hit the bottom. For the corn syrup recording data was very easy but for the water test it was very difficult to get accurate results because they moved so quickly. After all the data was collected the average was taken and the velocity was calculated.

On Tuesday we started the class by taking notes. The notes were on the different physical features that exist in both deep ocean and shallow ocean areas. To help show the correlation we drew a diagram of the different physical features such as continental slope and continental shelf. After that we continued with our seawater lab viscosity lab tests. Today we made the graphs displaying the velocity of each sample. The velocity of the corn syrup sample was much higher than the other samples because it is more viscous. The best way to display this data would be in a bar graph because the bars would easily compare the data side by side.

On Wednesday I was not at school during science class because I was attending an awards ceremony for the Azalea Festival art competition.

On Thursday we started class by taking notes. Today the notes were mainly on the different shallow and deep water environments that marine life live in. Even with modern research, scientists still do not know all the marine life that live on the deepest part of the ocean floor. A large majority of the marine life that live down there have adapted due to the harsh environments.  Most organisms living in the deep rely on a food source called marine snow which is a shower of organic matter from the shallow water. Due to the deep ocean's lack of sunlight most photosynthesizing organisms cannot live there. Instead they occupy a shallow region called the photic zone in which sunlight is easily passed through. After taking notes we worked on our lab. Today we did the last test which was to test the pH of both seawater and freshwater. My hypothesis for this test was that fresh water would be able to regulate pH more efficiently but after the data was collected it showed that my hypothesis was incorrect. After collecting the pH for both samples we put the information on a graph to show the relationship between the two samples.

On Friday we spent the class working on work we needed to finish for science. I worked on my study guide for the test next Wednesday. I knew most of the questions but some of them were very challenging. The questions were on the unit 7 oceans. Most of the new material was on the different parts of the ocean such as the photic and aphotic zone. The photic zone has access to light and can sustain phytoplankton but the aphotic zone is so deep in the ocean it has no access to light. Overall the thing that I can most improve on is studying for the test next week by doing the study guide in advance.

Quiz and Oceans

On Monday we started class by reviewing some of the notes we took last Friday and we went over some new notes learning new information about tides. Today from these notes, I learned the difference between neap tides and spring tides. Tides are a result of the gravitational pull of the Earth, Moon, and Sun on the oceans. Neap tides are tides where the amount of change from low to high is not very drastic and is a result from the Sun and Moon being a 90 degree angle. Spring tides are tides that are more drastic and are stronger. The low tides during a spring tide are very low and the high tides are very high; almost the opposite of a neap tide. After notes we continued working on our lab. Today we tested the specific gravity of our water samples. To test this we used a hydrometer which gave us our data which was then imputed into our tables. From the current data and data previously taken we were able to make a guess of what water we thought the samples were.

On Tuesday we had a visit from the Morehead Planetarium to teach us about black holes that exist in space. They set up a large dome in the cafeteria  with a projector in the center. The dome was suspended by air pumping through a vent leading from an opening. It looked like a bouncy castle that was shaped like a whale. When we entered the dome we sat on the floor and looked at the star projected on the walls of the dome in a 360 degree range. The first video that played was about black holes. Black holes have a very strong gravitational pull and defy almost every theory we know to be true. One of the main things that I did not know about black holes is that it is almost impossible to get out of them and that even light cannot escape. After the video we learned about some constellations. Before this lesson I never knew what Orion's belt actually looked like but now I do. Overall this demonstration was a good lesson of all the things about black holes that I did not know.

On Wednesday we worked on our seawater lab. Today we worked on testing the dissolved oxygen in cold and warm water for both fresh and salt. My hypothesis was that there would be more dissolved oxygen in the warm fresh water but from the data my hypothesis was disproved. The results showed that cold fresh water has the most dissolved oxygen in it. In the lab our data showed that the salt water had a higher level of dissolved oxygen but that is not what it should be. This is probably a result of our old test sample of salt water that has been sitting out for a few days.

On Thursday we reviewed for the quiz on Friday. To reinforce some of the notes, we read the textbook chapters. The textbook chapters were more detailed than the notes and helped me grasp some of the topics I did not understand. In preparation for the quiz, I retook the assessment I first took at the beginning of the unit. After reading we did a study guide worksheet. This worksheet helped test my knowledge of the concepts and how to apply them. It also did a very good job at helping me understand density of ocean water. Overall the information is very new and I will need to review a lot for the quiz.

On Friday we took our science quiz on the oceans unit. I prepared for this quiz by studying the text book questions and reviewing my notes. After taking the quiz I understood all the information I needed to study for the next test. One thing I really had to  review for the quiz was the vocab and deep ocean waves. Overall this week I need to work on studying my vocab in advance.