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

Physics and so much more...

On Monday it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day so we didn't have school. The fact that we had a four day week instead of a five day week made the week go so much faster.

On Tuesday we started a new unit which was Physics. When reviewing notes we learned basic vocabulary terms used in Physics. I learned the difference between scalar and vector quantities.While reviewing  my notes, I learned that vector quantities cannot be added to scalar quantities and can be abbreviated with an arrow over  the first letter. For example -> for acceleration.
                                                             a

On Wednesday we started a new lab. This lab taught us about distance and displacement; two terms we also learned on Tuesday. In this lab we used something living that was very squirmy and slimy. Can you guess what it was? It was a SUPER WORM!!! The super worm wasn't really a worm it was beetle larva. To begin the lab we separated our large sheet of paper into three parts. Two parts for the graph and one part to track the worms course. We set our timer for one minute and every ten seconds we marked the  spot where the worm was. We drew a dot in the center of the page to track the distance and displacement from that point. Then we put our super worm on the dot and then started the timer. Our worm squirmed around a lot making it hard to figure out where he was going. I thought watching a worm move around was a lot more fun way of learning distance and displacement.

On Thursday we worked on our lab questions. The rest of the day, the entire Science Olympiad team went to Panera Bread to have lunch and study for our events. I can definitely say I got a a lot done on Picture This. I think I spent around three hours practicing and drawing scientific terms. We got more words in four minutes than we had in the past. We got about ten words in the past but after we practiced for a while we got about twelve words per minute which is not a lot but shows progression.

On Friday we finished our lab. This lab helped me understand some terms I did not understand such as, acceleration and velocity.  On thing I can improve on this week is remembering to print out the notes and remembering to tweet. I hope next week feels as short as this week did.

For Science Olympiad I not only worked on Picture This, but on Sunday afternoon Emma and I met at school with our coaches.  We both broke two of our bridges each and spent about an hour working on Science Olympiad.



For this week's link is all about caring for super worms. https://www.wardsci.com/www.wardsci.com/images/Superworms.pdf

Review Week

On Monday we reviewed for our midterms that we will take next week. This week we reviewed each section day by day. On Monday we reviewed chapter one, the scientific method. We did this by reading cards that were placed around the room. We were then given a worksheet to put the answers to the questions that were on the cards. This was definitely a review for me it helped me remember some things I had forgotten overtime such as independent and dependent variables.

On Tuesday we did another activity to help us review for our midterms. With a partner we answered questions on flash cards about Unit 2. Doing this with a partner really helped because the material I didn't know they helped me understand and I helped them understand what they didn't know as well. After we completed the questions we compared our answers as a class.

On Wednesday we played a "minute to win it" science review game. It was all fun and games until I got cookie dust in my eye. There were two teams. Each team had to answer science review questions to get the chance for one team mate to try a minute to win game. My question was, "what is the top number in an element box?". I guessed atomic mass but the correct answer was atomic number. Now I know what questions I should study for the midterm. My favorite minute to win it game we played was where you had to put a cookie on your face and get it to your mouth without touching it. Unfortunately, my cookie rolled on the floor.

On Thursday we played a review game where we had to answer a series of questions in groups. We answered questions on the periodic table and atoms and elements. The questions were on slides and each slide had a different question This review game definitely helped me remember some of the material I had forgotten over winter break. The questions were put into categories. Each category corresponded with the material that we had covered. I think our team did well we got second place and got only one or two questions wrong. My favorite round was the bonus round. We had to guess characters from movies and our team got everyone right!

On Friday we did the same review game but with a different topic. We reviewed chemical bonding. I had some trouble with some material but after I knew the answers,  it all came back to me. Labeling what type of bond it was by looking at a diagram was also kind of hard. I did not do as well as I hoped but that just leaves lots of room for improvement.

For Science Olympiad this week I met for Picture This for about an  hour. We reviewed Life and Earth science in guided study. I think we are getting a lot faster and interpreting each others drawings allot better.

One thing I can improve on this week is writing down the questions or topics I don't understand and reviewing them for homework. This will make it allot easier when it is time to take the test.
The following link provides very useful tips on how to properly prepare for a chemistry exam.

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/examtips.shtml

Answering Questions with Partners

 

Doing Review Questions

The Week Before Winter Break

On Monday we started our lab. This lab taught us about how temperature and size can affect the reaction rate. In the first experiment our group did, we tested both zinc and zinc powder to see if the size of the  particles would affect the time it took for each reaction. We poured hydrochloric acid into the test tubes that contained the zinc. The zinc powder reacted almost instantly but the zinc solid slowly bubbled. After the zinc powder reaction it left a grey precipitate. This reaction showed that the size of the particle does affect the reaction speed. While we were doing our experiment two other groups did another experiment to see if temperature affects the rate of reaction speed of their experiment.  We then shared our results between the groups. They tested what kind of water would melt the ice the quickest. They found that the hot water melted the water the fastest. After we shared our data we then had to answer questions that applied to both sets of data.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I wasn't here for science class because I was sick. I am so bummed that I missed school because being sick is no fun.

On Thursday we had our test for this chapter. I did not take the test because I was absent on Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead I finished my lab. After finishing my lab I can say that it helped me study for my test. Also this lab showed me what factors can speed up  reactions.

On Friday there was no Science class. It was the last day before Christmas break. Instead, SGA had a door decorating contest. I was on the team that decorated Mrs. Puritis-Pulley's door. We decorated the door and even won first place.

This week I think I can improve on blogging daily because on my busy nights full of homework I always seem to forget. Even though this week I wasn't here for many days, I still got allot out of every day.

This weeks link is all about the stuff we did in our lab. http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_rates.html

           

pH and Acids

  On Monday we began our red cabbage lab. This lab taught us about acids and bases. We used red cabbage juice in our lab because it is a pH indicator. A pH indicator is something that  changes color depending on the pH of the liquid.  On the pH scale 1-4 is an acid 5-7 is neutral and 8-12 is a base. In our lab we had to guess the pH just by the color and then look it up online to see how far off our prediction was based on color. Usually most acids turn pink or purple and most bases turn blue or green. We put 50 mls of lemon soda, apple juice and hand sanitizer into a cup and then poured cabbage juice on top. We made sure to label each cup with a sharpie so we didn't get any mixed up. The apple juice turned red which means it is a weak acid. The hand sanitizer turned purple which means it was a strong acid.

On Tuesday we worked on our lab. We finished shampoo, conditioner, baking soda, and vinegar. We tested the baking soda in varying amounts. The test with  a higher concentration of  baking soda made the color change to more of a green color than the test with the low concentration.

On Wednesday we started a new lab. This lab involved using pH strips and litmus paper to test different liquids for acidity. We tested a vast range of household cleaning products and food items. The majority of the food items were acids and the majority of the cleaning products were bases. To test each liquid if it was a acid or a base we used litmus paper. If the blue paper turned red it was an acid but if it stayed the same it was a base.

On Thursday we finished our lab. One surprising thing I learned in this lab is that most of the food products we eat are very acidic. Acids are very corrosive.

On Friday we attempted to do an elephant tooth paste experiment. We did the elephant tooth paste in science camp and it worked very well. When we attempted to do it to again in class for some reason it didn't work. I think the catalyst in the experiment was just old. A catalyst is something that speeds up a chemical reaction. It worked but it didn't work very well. The substance very slowly pushed to the top. It was not at all like the one we did at science camp. Sometimes it is good when science experiments don't work it just leaves lots of room for improvement. This week we took notes on polar substances and non polar substances. Polar substances can only combine with polar substances. That is why water does not mix with oil. Water is polar and oil is non-polar. I can definitely improve on finishing more of my lab questions at home so in class the work is more manageable. This week I can definitely say I learned some very interesting facts about pH.


For Science Olympiad this week I worked on picture this for about 1 1/2 hours on Monday  and 15 minutes on Wednesday. We continued with our practice and discussed new techniques to win.

This link helped me understand polar and non-polar a lot better. http://www.school-for-champions.com/chemistry/polar_molecules.htm#.VI5BflWJOuZ

                                          tested substances

                                         household products tested for pH

                                          substances about to be tested for pH
                                         

Busy Week

This week in science, we did not have a lot of time for class this week because we had a field trip to Medieval Times in Myrtle Beach, SC and we had to finish an art project for Explorations. These two activities took up much of our time at school this week.

On Monday we worked on our types of chemical reactions lab from last week.  This lab taught us how to determine different chemical reactions. Some reactions we had determined were single replacement, double replacement, and synthesis. In this lab, we also had to balance equations and determine what kind of chemical reaction it was. First we finished the reactions which we did it with our our table groups. The sodium sulfite and hydrochloric acid reaction didn't smell too great. The zinc and copper sulfate reaction made the originally silver metal turn black.

On Tuesday we finished our lab. This lab helped me learn how to balance equations a lot better. I also learned how to determine which type of chemical reaction it was.

On Wednesday we took a quiz on balancing equations. With all the practice from the lab, I found the quiz to be pretty easy,  although some of the longer equations were more challenging. One rule that definitely applies when balancing equations is, practice makes perfect.

On Thursday we took a field trip to Medieval Times for Language Arts and Social Studies. I thought the show was great and the food was very tasty. My favorite part of the show was watching the knights ride their horses.

On Friday we had to finish out art work for Explorations. This took up the whole class time so we didn't have science at all that day. I think everyone's artwork turned out great. As you can tell we didn't have much time dedicated to science class this week.

For Science Olympiad we had a meeting on Wednesday afternoon. We all shared what we had done up to this point and shared our thoughts. I presented my ideas for the bridge and the bottle rocket. I thought it all went well and got some great ideas from the meeting. Also, Emma and I met on Friday afternoon for Picture This.  I can definitely say we are doing much better! I think as a team for Picture This we can improve on shortening the time it takes us to guess the answer. Hopefully at our next meeting we will guess much faster!

 The following link is a great link to use when determining different chemical reactions  http://misterguch.brinkster.net/6typesofchemicalrxn.html