Science Week 24

Monday or February 16, 2015 A.D.:

Today we started out the week with a new unit. We started Unit 2 and did Section 1. In it we talked about gravity and the equation for weight. This is Weight = mass x acceleration of gravity (W=mg). We also learned what a projectile is and what they do. We then did a unique experiment about center of gravity. We experimented to find out how much water we needed to balance a soda can on its side. We found out that you need at least 38 milligrams, but you can use more than 150 milligrams of water. The soda can could balance on its side because we changed it's center of gravity so it could do this.


Tuesday or February 17, 2015 A.D.:

Today we started the lab we have all been waiting for!!! We started the catapult lab. We were sorted into groups and I was sorted with Varun and Maisie. Varun had a plan to begin with, which was essentially a compressed spring that when released would shoot out a projectile. We had to bring in an item each so we could start to build. I am responsible for taking the pvc pipe for the spring to reside in. I am also responsible for taking the cardboard to build the platform that ideally, will point the spring out at a 45 degree angle.

Wednesday or February 18, 2015 A.D.:
 
Today we started on our catapult. We were constantly trying to get our spring's ramp to have a 45 degree angle which was really hard. Varun brought in the spring which was very strong and big. He demonstrated how the spring would work in which he took a tube, pushed the spring inside and held it in place with a screwdriver. We tested our catapult and it went really far. We are very hopeful and optimistic for the competition next week. Next week we are going to try and aim our projectiles into a bowl and as far as we can.We think we could easily get it very far, although we will have to work on accuracy.

Thursday or February 19, 2015 A.D.:

Today was the first day of intense testing.and in the second test our spring got lost in a tree.We didn't know until Varun saw it and we had to get Mrs. Giacomelli to get it down. She got it down and we started to reassemble for test 3 when a vital cap was gone. We searched for many minutes in the freezing cold when finally we found the cap at the end of the period. The other designs look way cooler than ours because we weighed down our design with bricks which makes it look very weird. We are still optimistic about winning this.

Friday or February 20, 2015 A.D.:

Today we made further improvements while our catapult's performance has gone down. In the meantime other catapults have become better and bigger. Our angle is too shallow at about 30 degrees and our projectiles are getting as far as when you flick them with spoon. We are extremely pessemistic and have little hope of winning anything not even the "how far can you get it" competition.


Summary: Today was a week where I had to go above and beyond with creativity to build our catapult. It is also a good week to learn and to improve. I think I should improve on working more efficiently on homework.

Science Week 23

Monday or February 2, 2015 A.D.:

Today we started our bowling forces lab. In this lab Lauren, Keira, and I rolled around various round sports equipment and timed how long it went 8 meters. We rolled each ball slow one time and fast the next time. Lauren rolled every time so we could try to get the same amount of force. I was the timer and Keira was the reckless roll catcher. She made sure that we wouldn't crush the door because we got really close to doing that. Also, every time we rolled a ball we wrote down the weight in Kg of the ball and the time it rolled into a data table.

Tuesday or February 3, 2015 A.D.:

Today we finished up our rolling. We rolled a bowling ball, a softball, and a big red exercise ball. The bowling ball was extremely heavy so I am expecting to find a lot of N of force that we need to push it 8 meters when we make our calculations. We also started calculating the velocity and acceleration of the balls we rolled so we could start finding the force we needed to roll each ball. I really liked this lab. 

Wednesday or February 4, 2015 A.D.:

Today we did something I am not going to forget. Mrs. Giacomelli said she was going to smash a cinder block on Mr. Simon's belly. She was asking us how to lay the cinder block on Mr. Simon so we hurt him the least. We decided to lay the cinder block on its flat side because it must be sturdiest with its holes on top. We assumed this because when people build with cinder blocks they build the holes on top. Mrs. G then took a sledgehammer and smashed the cinder block on Mr. Simon's belly. We then had to list reasons why Mr. Simon did not have a big hole in his stomach. Three of the reasons include: The force was distributed on his body. The force was partially used to break the cinder blocks. The force wasn't even that great because cinder blocks break easily as they are not built to withstand sudden shock. We also finished our lab after this.

Mr. Simon after the experiment... HE IS ALIVE!!!!!

Thursday or February 5, 2015 A.D.:

Today we had to turn in our lab. We also talked about the different types of forces that affect an object's motion. These forces are air resistance, friction, gravity, applied force, and normal force. I learned that an example of normal force is when a pencil is on a table the table pushes up. We also used free-body diagrams and diagrammed all of the forces acting on the object. We then had to find out the net force or where and with how much force an object is moving. 

Friday or February 6, 2015 A.D.:

Today we finished our study guide for the test on Unit 1 that is coming up soon. We were able to get help from Mrs. Giacomelli which made me feel very relieved because some of the questions where pretty hard. Did you know that static friction is the force that acts upon an object that is not moving? An example of this can be seen when you cannot move a box that is on a rough surface.

Summary: This week was better week than last week, but I still need to work on making my things neater and more organized. I can do this by making my notes neater by always bringing a good, sharpened pencil. I can make my labs neater by writing on a separate sheet of paper if there is not enough room on the lab sheet itself.

Science Week 22

Monday or January 26, 2015 A.D.:

Uh Oh! We reviewed for a quiz that is coming up so I better start studying. Today we also started a lab. In this lab Ben and I formed a hypothesis and asked a question. Our question was "What is Sebastian's average chomping speed within 10 second intervals?" Our hypothesis said the following. "Sebastian will chomp at and average speed of 10 chomps per 10 second interval. Ben and I then made a data table to get ready for the chomping that will take place tomorrow.

Tuesday or January 27, 2015 A.D.:

Today we experimented for our chomping lab. I chomped very obnoxiously and counted the chomps while Ben used the stop watch. After 5 10sec. intervals my average chomping speed was 1.1chomps/second or 11chomps/10sec. I enjoyed making annoying noises while chewing that sounded similar to a pig's snort, but also like some kind of growl. I then put the data into Microsoft Office Excel. Woohoo 2007 Microsoft Office all the way!!! We then made it into a chomps vs. time graph and I added a trend line to help us make a conclusion. Our conclusion included that my chomping speed went down over time (each interval was on average a little faster than the one after it) thanks to the trend line. We also wrote how we could improve on the project and how to expand on it.

Wednesday or January 28, 2015 A.D.:

Today we had our quiz on Physics Unit 1 Section 1-2. Mrs. Giacomelli said we would need a calculator and I was really scared because I don't own one. I was really glad when I was taking the test because I only saw one square root I had to simplify and that one was a perfect square. The test was also not too hard. I hope I get an 'A'.  

 


Thursday or January 29, 2015 A.D.:

Today we were introduced into a new section Unit Section 3. We learned about Equilibrium and that an object is in this state when all the forces acting on it cancel exactly. We also discussed Inertia and how it describes most of us on Saturday mornings because an object that stays at rest wants to stay at rest or stay resting. :) We also learned that friction occurs when two objects rub and this forms heat and opposes motion. We also reviewed that Acceleration is measured in m/sec. squared and that force is measured in Newtons.

Friday or January 30, 2015 A.D.:

Today we got our tests back and I got a 90.322580645% :(. Supposedly the class average was 88% so that makes me a little happier. :) Today we also finished our Bubble gum lab and we made it nice and neat. We went over our test and looking back on it if I had done it more carefully I would be able to get another 6.451612904% on the test.

Summary: This week was a good learning experience for two reasons. The first reason was that on the test I did not do as well as I could have because I did not check over every problem carefully. The second reason is that because I was more focused in the last 2 days of the school week I was able to do more homework at school and was able to have free time at home.