Space

Keplers 3 laws of planetary motion include the law of Ellipses, the Law of Equal Areas, the law of Equal Harmonies.The law of Ellipses explains that planets are orbiting the sun in a path described as an Ellipse. The Law of Equal areas refers to the description to the speed at which any given planet will move while orbiting the sun. Lastly the Law of Equal Harmonies is the comparison of one planet’s orbital period and radius of orbit to those of another.

Newtons 3 laws of motion are very simple to explain. The first law is an object at rest will stay at rest while and object in motion will stay in motion at the same speed and same direction until stopped by an unbalanced force. For example a ball rolling North at 5 mph will continue to go North at that speed until it is stopped by an unbalanced force such as a wall or because of friction. The second law is that the net force of an object is the acceleration and mass of the object multiplied. If the mass of an object is 5 kg and the acceleration is 4m/s/s then the net force is 20N. N standing for newtons. The last law is that if one object exerts a force on another object, that second object has the same exertion. An example is if two people hold hands and lean backwards in opposite directions, then neither will fall over because the same force is being exerted from each person.

The solar nebula theory is the belief that our solar system was created from the collapse of a cloud of gas and dust (a nebula) about 4.6 billion years ago. The nebula begins to collapse when the gravitational forces trying to collapse it overcome the gas pressure trying to expand it. The nebula’s slow spinning becomes faster and faster as it collapses, creating a flattened circular shape with a spherical bulge in the middle. Instabilities in the collapsing, rotating cause local regions within the cloud to contract gravitationally. These local regions become the sun and the planets. This theory is also what we believe created gravity.“Gravity is a natural phenomenon by which all physical bodies attract each other. It is most commonly recognized and experienced as the agent that gives weight to physical objects, and causes physical objects to fall toward the ground when dropped from a height.”

Bottle Insulation Project

     Our most recent assignment was to insulate a bottle. The bottle had to be easy to transport, durable, and maintain the temperature of the water for thirty minutes. It could be up to five inches wide and ten inches long, could only be assembled using tape and scissors, and had to remain intact after being dropped from thirty inches.
     We started by brainstorming ideas. Each person in our group (there were four of us) came up with three ideas. After listening to each idea, we came up with a design based on the twelve ideas.
      Our final design started with wrapping the bottle in foil-face insulation, then wrapping the foil-face in some sort of green squishy insulation (I'm not sure what it's called). The foil-face and green squishy tube was then inserted into a rectangular cardboard box, and the spaces were filled with cellulose. The cap consisted of a piece of foil-face with a hole in the middle

     The next day we had to test our insulation. We put a cold water bottle inside, put a probe in the water, and took the temperature every two minutes for thirty minutes using the LabQuest 2. Our final increase in temperature was 1.3 degrees Celsius, which is pretty good!

Field Trip To Otter Brook

       Last Thursday, May 8, block 1 and block 2 science classes went to Otter Brook Farm to observe a house. The point of the field trip was based off of our new unit about Heat Transfer. At the house there were 14 stations. Each station had a different activity for us to do whether it was using an infrared camera, little smoke machines, or just using our hands to find places where cold air was coming in. 

       While performing these activities, we had a packet with questions for each station that we had to answer. Some of them required us to come up with an opinion while others required basic math. The stations were outside, inside, on the main floor and in the upstairs. We would remain at our station until one of the adults told us to switch.

        Over all the field trip was not boring at all! When we got back to school this week, we took what we had learned and applied it to our most recent project; The Bottle Insulation Project.

This picture (credit to Bridget Grady) shows not only a crack in the foundation but also some sort of wire fencing that is allowing heat to escape and cold air to come in.

Earth's History

The earth is about 4.6 billion years old. Since then many things have happened, including 5 extinctions, an explosion of life, and evolution within life. The first explosion of life, known as the Cambrian explosion, happened around 544 million years ago. Life was restricted to the ocean until it adapted to land 410 million years ago. One of the more major parts of its history was Pangea. Pangea was when all of today's continents were together as one continent 285 million years ago. Since then earth's tectonic plates have moved to their current positions. One of the later events was the widening variety of dinosaurs, mammals and birds. All of these events, and more, including the extinction of most of those dinosaurs, mammals, and birds, happened in the Cenozoic era, which we're currently in.

In our science class we had to do a scale timeline of Earths history. We decided to do the scale by a clock. Each hour represents 383,333,333 million years. Each section is a different color and although that we out the green section on the wrong side it is to scale. 

What is Nuclear Fusion?

     What is Nuclear Fusion? Nuclear Fusion is when 2 atoms of an element, hydrogen, crash together and create a larger atom, which creates energy.
     Last night's homework was to read the article "A Star In A Bottle" by Raffi Khatchadourian. After reading the first part of the article, we had to summarize it; in about ten years, the most complex machine ever built, ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), will be turned on. The machine will fuse two carbon isotopes (Deterium and Tritium) to create Helium. The Helium will have an extra neutron, which will be shot out from the element, and be used as energy.
      In class we watched a TED talk video about Nuclear Fusion. In the TED talk, physicist Stephen Crowley talks about the future of energy, fusion. He talks about how fusion is the only way to produce energy without releasing more carbon into the air. Five years from when the talk was presented (which was in 2009) we would be having energy problems, which we are. ITER's carbon-free energy is hoped to help with many of these problems, which is why Crowley says that the sooner ITER is running, the better. ITER is estimated to be up and running in the 2030's.

Nuclear Fusion: Is it the answer?

In the world our natural resources for energy are running out. Soon we won't have enough oil, or gas to create energy. So what we want to know is, "Is Nuclear Fusion the way to go?"
       After watching a TED talk in class and reading the article "A STAR IN A BOTTLE", we learned how fast our natural resources are going. And that one of the best ways to get 30,000,000 years of lasting energy is to use Nuclear Fusion. We, (Gwen and I) believe that Nuclear Fusion is the way to go. There is already a plan to create a very complex machine called ITER. ITER stands for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. ITER is planned to be switched on in about a decade. It would create energy that is Carbon free, pollution free, and have very little radioactive waste. Although the project is so expensive it needs its own currency, if it solved the worlds energy problems it would be worth it. So for us yes, we do believe that Nuclear Fusion is the way to go.

Example of ITER
 Example of ITER. Digital image. Iter. NA, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

Murder Lab

Who did it?

A forensics lab

Yesterday at 3 AM, at Mike's Awesome Bakery in Francestown, NH the baker arrived to find his assistant baker dead: lying in a pool of blood.  The victim's body was covered in a white powder.  

In an attempt to find the source of the white powder, investigators collect multiple samples from the bakery (baking soda, flour, baking powder, powdered milk, cornstarch).

Investigators are in the process of interviewing employees of the bakery to narrow their field of suspects.  They are also gathering clothing samples from employees to find a match for the white powder.

The investigators need your help.  They need you to write a lab procedure to help them identify the powder covering the body.

MATERIALS AT YOUR DISPOSAL

- baking soda

- baking powder

- flour

- cornstarch

- vinegar

- iodine solution

- universal indicator

- water

- lab materials (beakers, stirrers, pipettes, etc.)

-safety goggles

Objective: To find out which white powder was covering the body

Procedure: detailed step by step:

1. Put on safety goggles
2. Gather small amounts of each powder and liquid
3. Pour each powder into it’s column on the grid
4. Add a few drops of water to the first pile
5. Record the results
6. Add water to the rest of the powder in the row labeled water
7. Record results for each powder
8. Repeat steps 1-5 for each liquid
9. Take pictures and record results
10. Rinse grid

Analysis: (data)

Test Solutions	Baking Soda	Baking Powder	Flour	Cornstarch	Unknown
Water	Water stayed on top. Physical Change	Fizzy. Chemical Change	Nothing. Physical Change	Hard Goo. Physical Change	Fizzy. Chemical Change
Vinegar	Fizzed. Chemical Change	Lightly Fizzed. Chemical Change	Nothing. Physical Change	Absorbed Vinegar. Physical Change	Lightly Fizzed. Chemical Change
Iodine	Nothing. Physical Change	Turned purple and fizzed. Chemical Change	Repelled and turned grayish purple. Chemical Change	Turned Purple. Chemical Change	Turned purple and fizzed. Chemical Change
Indicator	Fizzed and turned green Chemical Change	Fizzed and turned orange/red/yellow Chemical change	Turned red Physical Change	Turned red Physical Change	Fizzed and turned orange/red/yellow Chemical change

Conclusion:

What powder should the investigators be looking for when they examine the suspects clothing.  How do you know?  How confident are you in your results and why?

The investigators should be looking for Baking Powder when they examine the suspects clothing. We know this because did a lab to see how certain powders (baking soda, baking powder, flour, cornstarch, and the unknown powder) reacted with other liquids (water, vinegar, iodine, and universal indicator). After the lab we concluded that the unknown powder is indeed baking powder. We are confident because none of the other powders reacted the same to the liquids like the baking powder and unknown powder did.

Lab Design Sheet: Gummy Bears in Soda

Question to be answered:      

If we put one gummy bear in coke and one in ginger ale, will the coke have a different affect on the gummy bears than the ginger ale?                                

Prior Knowledge:

The acid in coke eats away at  particles

Hypothesis:Prediction (If …we do X…then…Y will happen…)

If we put on gummy bear in coke and one in ginger ale, then the one in coke will deteriorate faster than the one in ginger ale

Hypothesis:Rationale (…because…)

Because of the acid in coke

Independent (Manipulated) variable/cause (what will you determine?):

Sodas

Dependent (Responding) variable / effect (what will you find out?):

Gummy Bears

Constants (what will you keep the same?):

Time, Cups, Gummy Bears

Equipment:

Cups, Coca-cola, Ginger Ale, Gummy Bears, Sharpie

Procedure:

1) Label both cups with the types of soda

2) Pour coke in one cup and ginger ale in the other (same amount in both)

3) Put one red gummy in each cup

4) Wait 4 days

5) Pour out soda and examine gummy bears

ANALYSIS: (Summarize what happened; staple graphs, etc. to this sheet)

  When we drained the soda out of the cups we found that both gummy bears had increased in size. But the one that was in coke, was originally red, was black and starting to deteriorate on the outside. The one that was in the ginger ale was slightly bigger in size and a slight peachy color on the outside while the middle was still red.

CONCLUSION: (What is the scientific explanation for these results?  Use relevant vocabulary terms.)

Our original question was “will coke deteriorate a gummy bear faster than ginger ale?” We then changed it around a bit to see if the different sodas would affect the gummy bears differently. Our hypothesis was If we put one gummy bear in coke and one in ginger ale, then the one in coke will deteriorate while the one in ginger ale enlarges. After the experiment we found that both gummy bears had increased in size, but the coke had turned the gummy bear black and started to deteriorate it. We believe this happened due to the fact that there is a certain acid used in coke that eats away other things such as rust, and even our insides if drinken alot. So in conclusion our hypothesis was correct, coke does eat away at a gummy bear faster than ginger ale.