Label Test

Astronomy Unit Project

What are you most proud about your presentation?

I am most proud of researching a relatively new topic but still finding more than enough information for our presentation.

How did you challenge yourself?

I challenged myself by picking a topic that didn't have a lot of information (compared to other topics)

What are two things you learned from your classmates’ presentation?

One thing I learned from my classmates' presentations was that a sudden change in the Earth's tilt could theoretically tear the world in half. Another thing I learned from my classmates' presentations was that we theoretically live in a 3D universe within a 4D universe.

Primate Project Presentations

One similarity I saw between my monkey and my classmate's monkey was that they had long arms and legs to enable ease for swinging from tree to tree.

One difference I saw between my monkey and my classmate's monkey is that my monkey has webbed hands and feet so it would be easier to swim, but other monkeys didn't swim.

One thing I learned was that the lion-tailed macaque is very similar to the orangutan.

Artificial Selection

     Artificial selection is when humans breed two different species of animal to create a hybrid with traits that the breeder wanted in the animal. However, the new hybrid could inherit traits that the breeder does not want. For example, in our lesson today, we tried to create the perfect dog we wanted by breeding two dogs with the preferable traits spread between them. We flipped a coin to randomly select each trait. For me and Raghav's experiment, we got mostly traits that we didn't want or need (Loud bark, below average smell, etc.). The traits can vary between each artificially selected baby, with each baby inheriting a different mix of traits from his/her mother and father. Because of this, it would take many years of trial and error to breed the perfect dog that has all the traits that you want it to have

Natural Selection

   Today in science, we simulated natural selection by imitating finches' beaks. We used a clothespin, hairpin, and chopsticks for the different beaks of each finch species, and there were different types of foods (rubber bands, paper clips, and beans) on each island (table). The purpose of this experiment was to show how a species better suited to its surroundings will be more likely to survive and evolve.

1. What role do you think natural selection plays in the evolution of finches, of man and of other organisms?

It selects the best species suited for the environment it is living in so that the species can live longer.

2. Are there other things involved in evolution?

There are a lot of other things involved in evolution. For example, the ability to escape predators, effectively hunt for prey, etc.

3. Why do you think there are so many different kinds of dogs?

I think there are so many different kinds of dogs because they used to be wolves and foxes a long time ago, but the areas where they lived, the available prey, predators, and domestication by humans made them evolve into a diverse species.

E-Column Video

Science Field Trip: Dairy Farm

This is an example of a decomposer, fungi, breaking down a dead log. Eventually, the log will fully decompose.













This is an example of commensalism where the tree is not being harmed or benefited, and the fern is being helped. The fern grows on and receives nutrients from the tree while the tree is not strangled or deprived of anything.










This is example of a plant with a disease, where the leaf has a yellow-green tone and some brown spots. The plant might not be receiving enough nutrients or sunlight, or parasites might be killing it.

The Hero In Me

If there is a place where there is a lot of pollution (and there are a lot of places like that), I would raise awareness through posting videos on the internet, making posters, etc.

Are Volcanic Eruptions Good For Society?

More disadvantages:

1. Thick ash clouds are also a danger to jet planes
2. Electricity can go out
3. The ash can activate respiratory problems
4. The ash can also make it hard or impossible to breathe

Earthquake Building Design

Group Name: The Predators:

Groups Members:

Manager - Patricia

Money Manager - Mark

Engineer - Miguel

Day 1:

Question: Explain the forces of earthquakes that affect building stability.

Answer: When two or more plates slam into each other (this kind of plate boundary is a convergent plate boundary), pressure can build up, and energy is released. The energy can be released in P-waves, which are push and pull waves, or S-waves, which are side to side waves. P-waves are stronger because they move the earth up and down, while the weaker S-waves move the earth side to side.

We plan to make a building using a foam board as the base, rollers underneath that, and the building will be made out of popsicle sticks and tape. Cross bracing will be made out of popsicle sticks and rubber bands.

Day 2

Steps:

1. Drew purple lines on the foam board so we would know where to place the popsicle sticks
2. Cut off the rounded edges of the popsicle sticks that we would stick into the base so that it would be more stable
3. Stick cut off side of popsicle stick into foam board
4. Finish frame using more popsicle sticks (not cut) and tape
5. Tape rollers on to the bottom of the four corners of the foam board
6. Reinforce frame with staples (Ms. San Jose said we couldn't do this, but she said that we could use the ones we stapled already
7. Use edges of plastic boards to strengthen popsicle sticks
8. Stick satay stick through two plastic boards and below index card on top
9. Stick satay sticks on all corners and use rubber bands to tie the two satay sticks stacked on top of each other
10. Poke satay sticks through index card and put rubber band around to act as a wall
11. Use cracked satay sticks, broken popsicle sticks, edges of plastic board, and any left over supplies as walls on every floor
12. Fold corners of index cards for walls

Day 3

Question: What are the factors that influence engineers choices for adding structures that make a building more resistant to earthquakes?

Answer: The location of the building, the materials available, and the budget.

Question: What have you learned from this assignment? How have you contributed to the overall project?

Answer: I have learned to use my time wisely and the necessary elements for building an earthquake resistant structure. I have contributed to the overall project by creating our structure.

Science Natural Disaster Questions

1. What is an earthquake?

Most earthquakes occur on plate boundaries.

2. What is the force that causes earthquakes?

Friction at the plate boundaries.

3. What causes the earth to shake during an earthquake?

Seismic waves

4. How are the earthquakes located?

Seismographs

5. How do scientists measure the size of earthquakes?

Seismogram

6. What is the difference between the Mercalli and Ritcher scales?

The Mercalli scale measures the damage done, while the Ritcher scale measures how much energy is released.

7. CHALLENGE: How can scientist tell where the earthquakes occurred?

Seismographs

8. What is the relationship between earthquakes and tsunamis?

Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes that happen under the sea.

Elodia Lab

Elodia Questions

1. What happens to the cells as the salt water flows under the cover slip?

The cell walls and membranes are not visible anymore because they are letting the salt enter.

2. Why does this happen?

Because the chloroplasts are coming together into the center of the cell and because salt is entering through the cell membrane.

3. Why didn’t the outer boundary of the cell collapse?

It didn’t collapse because the salt and water are going through the rigid cell wall, and then through the cell membrane.

4. Why do plants wilt when there is not enough water?

Because the chloroplasts in the cells need water to survive.

Locker Alarm

Water Project Blog

Here's the link to my group's Water Project blog.

The Water Crisis

1. More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water.
2. Freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the planet
3. By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in places plagued with water scarcity, with two thirds of the world's population living in water stressed regions such as a result of use, growth, and climate change

What Happened in Science Class:

     What I saw in science class (shown in the videos above) was amazing. It is sad to know that many countries with little to no access to clean drinking water have these bacteria contaminating the water they drink daily. What really surprised me in science class was how the protists looked like.

Cholera PSA

Preventing the Disease

1) I would recommend putting the patients in quarantine, so that no one else would get the disease while it is being treated.
2) The trade-offs of this decision would be that everyone in the hose would be infected, the infected patients would not get to socialise with other people, and it would be harder for doctors to treat them

Full Range PH Strips are Better

     I think PH strips are better because it is more accurate than both the PH Universal Indicator and the probe. The PH Universal Indicator is not very accurate because the colour comparison chart only ranges from 4- 11, which gives you no choice but to guess a lot. The probe is not accurate because you have to wait a while before the numbers finally stop moving. The PH strips are much more accurate because the colour comparison chart ranges from 1- 14, which results in less guessing, and therefore a higher level of accuracy.

BrainPOP: States of Matter Quiz Results

Science Reaction Times Experiment

Science Reaction Times Experiment

HYPOTHESIS: Our dominant hand will have a faster reaction time than our non-dominant hand.

     The purpose of our experiment was to test wether our dominant hand has a faster reaction time than our non-dominant hand. I think that our dominant hand would be better at reaction times that our non-dominant hand because we use our dominant hand much more than our non-dominant hand. We conducted an experiment and tested it by dropping a ruler in between your index finger and thumb and calculated how far the distance was from the zero to the highest point where we caught it. We were collecting quantitative data because we needed the measurements to test our experiment. Our conclusion is that our dominant hand has a faster reaction time than our non-dominant hand.

Pictures

 You will need a rubber band and a ruler

Put the rubber band on your fingers as seen in picture, and hold the ruler above your partner's hand as seen in the picture.

Release the ruler whenever you want. Record where the highest part of the thumb is at (Example: 15 cm).

Based on our conclusion, our dominant hand has a faster reaction time than our non-dominant hand.