Weather!

So I was sick for two days and came back to school to find we had jumped from biology to weather. One day we were taking a frog practical then a weekend and two sick days later i was learning the hydrological cycle. I'm not sure if I missed anything important like learning to tell the difference between two clouds, but I'm sure I didn't miss too much. For the start of the water cycle part of the weather unit we watched a Bill Nye video, which was educational and humorous. I didn't get much from the video because the water cycle is pretty basic. All in all, I am pretty happy about starting the weather unit.

Cnidarians

In science we are learning about animals, but this week we are focusing more on sponges and Cnidarians. Cnidarians interest me more because they don't just sit there and inhale water for food. Cnidarians use stingers to capture and poison prey. Cnidarians are either a medusa or a polyp. Polyps anchor down to a hard surface and use their stingers to capture prey that gets too close. Both have a central body cavity and expel waste through their mouth. Medusa cnidarians can move around to capture their prey with their stingers. Polyps create coral reefs which is really cool. Polyps grow hard exoskeletons that stay after they die, creating new space for new polyps to grow, and after a few generations a beautiful coral reef is born.

Food and Flavor Chemistry

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Flying Corks

To help us understand chemical reactions our science teacher set up a lab to help us understand what a chemical reaction really is. I helped set up the lab with my friends. The lab was a shooting range where we shot corks at a window. To shoot the cork we mixed baking soda and vinegar to create a chemical reaction in the test tube and the chemical reaction made carbon dioxide, the newly formed carbon dioxide created pressure in the test tube which shot the cork. Our teacher split us up into groups and together we had to shoot the corks and find the best way to shoot them. This lab was both fun and educational. I learned a lot about chemical reactions, like how new substances are formed and how much of each substance changes the reaction. The fun part was shooting the cork, however the notes and records of past shootings took a lot of writing because all the groups made twelve shots. After each shot all of the variables had to be recorded and new ideas on how to make better shots had to be made.

Liquids Like You've Never Seen Them Before

Ever wonder why certain liquids move more slowly than others? I know i did until the liquid density lab in science. In science we tested the density of liquids to see which ones would float on each other. Things that float have less density than the liquid underneath them that is why something may sink in water but float in ketchup. In this lab we worked with five different substances, none of which were water. Before this lab we learned how to measure the density of a liquid so we would be able to calculate which of the substances was more dense than the others. In order to calculate the density of a liquid you must first find out how much the container weighs once you have done that you can put the liquid in the container. Then weigh the liquid in the container then take the weight and subtract the weight of the container. However, thats just the first step to calculating density, after that you must find the volume of the liquid, and since liquids have finite volume and are the shape of it's container just find the volume of the container. Lastly, perform the formula "density=mass/volume" to find the density. Once my group did this to all five sustances we put them in our cup in order of most dense to least dense. The smell was horrific, but the learning was great. This lab was a great chance to learn about the density of liquids and get practice finding density.

Wherever you live there is always the risk of an earthquake. If you live in the city the risk of death is even higher because the building could topple over. This new method of construction makes buildings flexible so they can withstand an earthquake. This new method of construction also will save a lot of money because buildings will not be destroyed. This new system survived a simulated magnitude 7 earthquake larger than the Northridge (in the Los Angeles area) earthquake in 1994. Greg Deierlein led the project at Stanford University, and their new system is practical because it uses common construction materials and is not too costly. This new system uses flexible steel tendons that shake the building with the earthquake to prevent damage and help the building to back to its original form. It also has fuses that break during an earthquake so the building is no longer held down to it's foundation to further prevent damage. The best part is it can be installed to a preexisting building so no new buildings need to be made.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/090908-earthquake-buildings.html

The Earth's mantle-plasticity

In science class we are reviewing earth science from sixth grade. To help us understand why the earths tectonic plates are able to move on the mantle our science teacher set up an experiment. The experiment was a huge mess but now the earths mantle is easy to understand. My conclusion for the experiment was that: The mixture was a solid, it was like a rubber ball, but when pressure and heat was not applied the mixture turned into a liquid. When in liquid form the liquid felt like melted rubber. This mixture was not a liquid or a solid I believe it should have it's own group. When I pushed my finger into the mixture fast it quickly turned into a solid then back into a liquid. When i pushed my finger in slower the mixture stayed a solid longer. This mixture is similar to the earth's mantle because both have plasticity, meaning it is not a liquid nor a solid.