This Week In Science #15

This week in science what I did was my group and I redid the marshmallow challenge.  We had two opportunities to try to make our marshmallow sculpture the highest. This week I also made a tenth grade introduction video where I talked about my relationship with science and if it changed over the year. I also talked about how I expected tenth grade to go for me.

Diamond is drawing out ideas of what she think will work.

Chantel and Kaitlyn are working together to see if their idea will work.

Chantel is working to make the tower more efficient.

This year in science my ability to work in groups has expanded. The marshmallow challenge the first time was difficult because we did not each other. Our skills to communicate was lacking skills because even though we did not know each other we could have communicated better. The second time it wasn't as nerve wrecking but it still was very difficult. We had a little more experience working together because of this class and others. It was our tallest marshmallow challenge tower. I think that is because we weren't as shy so everyone put their ideas together. Lastly, at the end we had a few difficulties. It was our shortest marshmallow challenge. Everyone was participating and giving their opinions on what they thought would work. I think that, that caused our marshmallow tower to be short. Everyone was giving their ideas which made it a indecisive battle to see whose idea would be used. Personally I think it is easy to work in groups but in occasion it is also difficult to speak up when someone else has different ideas that they think will work. Throughout the year my communication skills have changed for the
 better. You do not to feel like you shouldn't share your ideas. Even though I do not find it difficult to work in groups I did not like working in groups because I think that I work better alone.

This Week In Science - 10th Grade Intro Video

I am Elizabeth and I am a current 9th grader which means in a few months I will be in 10th grade. I enjoy art, reading, and writing. School wise I have always been a fanatic of english because I like to read but science is a subject I enjoy. I still haven’t gotten to a point where it fascinates me completely which is where I would like to be because science is everyday life. I think I have grown in science this year because I have gotten better with skills such as communication because of the group work we did throughout the year. What I liked about science this year was everything. It was delightful to do all the different projects.The project I liked the most learning about the spiders environment and the necessities it had in order to survive. I was thrilled to put the tank together because it was fun but most of all because it taught me many new things about spiders. I didn’t struggle with anything this year because I found most of it exciting which made it easier for me to learn. I think next year will go as nicely as this year because I am  open-minded to new things.

This Week In Science #14

This week in science what I did was make a Marine Digital Food Chain. I think that is was very easy because during class I got a clear understanding. David did a lesson about Biodiversity. Toward the end of the week we made a presentation about overconsumption with our group. Each group got a certain topic like, natural gas, hydropower, petroleum, wind basics, solar basics, or coal basics. We had to answer some questions like whether or not the resources were renewable or nonrenewable. I think that my group did pretty well but we could have done better. I think part of it was due to not having time to rehearse. We were disorganized in who got to speak and not.

This week in science I learned about what is biodiversity. Biodiversity means the "variety of life." Bio meaning life and diversity meaning variety. My group worked on hydropower and we learned some new interesting facts. I found out that hydropower is nonrenewable. Hydropower produces the most electricity in the United States. Also hydropower relies on the water cycle and it makes sense because of the name hydropower. Hydro means water.

Marine Digital Food Chains

 

This Week In Science #13

In our tank there is a plant. It is somewhat alive. If we were too seal the tank and removed the plant the spiders are more likely to die than survive. I think that the plant is helpful because it helps complete the cycle of photosynthesis. If there were no plants in the tank the spiders would die because there would be no oxygen. There would be too much carbon dioxide because the spiders would keep producing CO2 without any plants taking it in. 

This Week in Science #12

This week in science we made a small booklet were we could keep track of any new information regarding our spider and new vocabulary terms. Our spider did not make a spider web so we rearranged some things. We took off the top part of the cave we made with the rocks. We also added more spiders. Now we have three spiders in our tank. We sealed our tanks but before we sealed them we added some food for them, fruit flies. It was very interesting to see how the spider wrapped the fruit flies.

This week in science I learned new vocabulary terms like commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, and etc. Commensalism means when only one organism is affected and the other is not. Mutualism is when the organism's benefit from association. Parasitism is when the parasite benefits from the association but the other organism is harmed.

This Week In Science #11

This week in science we shared our knowledge on what words like plant cell, photosynthesis, water cycle, carbon cycle, and produce meant. We brainstormed ideas for our design for the tank. On Tuesday we went to the park to gather materials we thought would be necessary for our spiders cage. Later on both Zayra and I researched about what else we could put in our tank for the spiders chances of surviving higher. We modified it by adding additional things like water and a cave since the spider likes the dark.

This week in science I learned new vocabulary that can be useful for our cellar spider project. I also learned about a spiders environment. When we went to the park I learned what things where needs and where crucial for the spiders survival. At first I did not know much when I went to the park. I just knew some basic things for something to survive. On Wednesday I researched about what the spiders ate, the different sizes of the spider depending on the sex of it, and the type of environment a cellar spider live in.

This Week in Science #10

In science we went out to the schools community in groups and surveyed people about whether they cared and what they did to help the environment. They were numerous amount of answers. Some people seemed to care and some just didn't care at all. The most recent thing we did was put together our t-shirt design for Human Impact. Our design had to send a message about abusing energy and short and to the point. This task was harder than it seemed. There were many great ideas being thrown but we had to choose one.

For the last few weeks in science I have learned mostly about the environment. We learned about how all the humans that are living on this earth impact our own environment. Most of the impacts we cause are not positive. We pollute our own neighborhoods with litter, harmful gases, and other types of pollution. I learned how to care more for the environment through several information sources, one being the survey. The people I surveyed cared and I thought I should care more.

Watt's the problem?

This picture shows that New York City is very bright due to the overuse of light in places like Times Square. NYC uses to much light in comparison to other places in the United States.

On Our Radar: Alien Plants in Antartica

The article is informing us about what scientist have found while in Antartica. The scientist have found alien plants and tiny plants. They think that those things while spread as the climate gets warmer. Alien plants already grow on the fast-warming Antarctic Peninsula but will spread more as said before when the climate increases. The article also states "Google drew 30 percent of the energy it consumed last year from renewable sources, virtually all of it from wind, up from 19 percent a year earlier. But of the $917 million that the company has invested in renewable energy projects, about two-thirds — is channeled to solar power. " I think that it will be difficult for the plants to establish them help due to it being covered with ice. 

Tidal Power Rolls In

Tidal Power Rolls In

          In the intriguing article it informs us about wind turbines and it's affect on our environment. The main point of this article was to tell us about the consequences of wind turbines. They back up their information by citing and links. The author was arguing that the new installation being made underwater are not harmful. It says that these turbines will be a benefit to us all and that there shouldn't be any concerns with this because it is fish friendly."In fact, while conducting a two-year study of the impacts of the tidal turbines on a surprising abundance of East River fish, analysts did not see a single instance of a fish being struck by a rotating blade." The investigators of the turbines found that the number of fish in the water did not decrease. They noted that large fish would simply avoid the rotating blades. 

I think that this article is interesting because it is probably still a topic that is being disputed. I am not very informed on the topic yet but based on the article it does not see very harmful though further investigation would be have to be done on my behalf. I still would like to know if it has any other effects to our community and not just to the fish. I would like to know if it has effects like sickness, or simply pollution. 

This Week in Science #9

This week in science I dissected a cricket and a skate. Both dissection were sickening yet incredibly fun. I learned a lot about those animals during the dissection. I think that this was something we benefited from and learned a lot from. I would to for there to be more hands-on extreme experiments like this.

This week in science we learned a lot about dissection. IWe learned new terms that would help us during the dissection. For example, ventral, dorsal, proximal, and distal. My parenter, Alexa, and I learned about the parts of the skate. We found organs such as the liver. I think this is an experience I will never forgot.

This Week in Science #8

My partner and I dissected a cricket. We thought about whether to cut it from a dorsal or ventral view. We decided to put it on the ventral view since we thought it would be easier too. Once it was on a ventral view we cut it from the anterior to the posterior. The giant cricket has specific features that help it survive in its environment. The crickets special features are because of adaption. Animals have special features that relate to their environment. Those features help the animal obtain food, and survive in the type of weather there is. The cricket has features like their long legs that help it jump for one place to another quicker.

During this dissection I observed very interesting things. Inside of a cricket it was completely different. The  I learned about the crickets physical features like his antennas, forelegs, hind-legs, and etc. I learned new vocabulary words that are relevant to dissection. Words such as dorsal view, ventral view, proximal, distal, anterior, and posterior. I learned how to use utensils to cut a cricket. 

This Week in Science #7

1. This week in science what I did was make a video with my group. We each put our work to make our video.  I made slide about the vegetation in the Epipelagic Zone. I also did a slide about the secondary consumers in the ocean like the octopus. I drew a before picture of the ocean.  It had drawings of all the animals in the ocean by layer. Lastly I drew a picture of my animal I created. It was called the octosoa and it was an after picture of the octopus. The ocean dried out because of global warming. The octopus evolved because of their new environment. The got new features like their claws and a sponge like skin that absorbed and stored water to keep itself moist. 

2. What I learned this week in science is that the epipelagic zone is the only water zone that has plants. That it because that layer is the only layer that has direct sunlight. Some of the plants in the epipelagic zone are algae, phytoplankton, and seaweed. I learned about the landforms of the epipelagic zone. I saw the ocean currents of the ocean. I learned about the different animals that are in each zone. I learned about primary consumers, like the shark, and secondary consumers, like the whale, and the octopus.