Earth and Environmental Blog Week 7

Monday or October 12, 2015 C.E.: 

Today our grass seeds germinated. Two controls germinated and one iron germinated. The control grasses both grew higher than the Iron bottle. We also conducted a quick experiment in which someone in our group blew bubbles using a straw in a solution. We called it the Carbon Breath Test. The solution consisted of a pH indicator called Bromothymol Blue. As someone in the group blew into the solution, the Carbon Dioxide in their breath formed an acid, which I think was Carbolic acid. After blowing into the solution for a couple minutes, the pH indicator changed from blue to green, and eventually yellow.

Tuesday or October 13, 2015 C.E.: 

The plants that have survived are growing considerably. The second Iron bottle has germinated, and the two controls are getting bigger than ever. We also started a new lab called the Carbon Cycle Lab. This lab will be similar to the Carbon Breath Test, but we will be adding an aquatic plant. We will be putting an aquatic plant in similar solutions that have and haven't been blown into. We will also put them in the light and dark closet. We will see how the plants' environments affect what chemical processes the plants will undergo. The plants may change the Carbolic acid present, and thus color of the Brymothymol Blue.

Wednesday or October 14, 2015 C.E.: 

We saw the results of the Carbon Cycle Lab today. I thought it was really cool. We saw how the plants in the dark environment only underwent Cellular Respiration, which adds Carbon Dioxide to the environment. As a result of this, all of the Dark plants' containers had green (acidic) solution in them. The light plants were able to undergo Photosynthesis, which takes Carbon Dioxide from the environment. This made the solution more blue, as the plant caused it to become neutral or basic. After this, we started an excel graph for the growth data of our plants in the bottle graph.  

Thursday or October 15, 2015 C.E.: 

Today we reviewed for our Unit 3 test tomorrow. We split up into partners and I was with Ben. We took sheets of questions that could be on the tests. Each sheet had six questions on it. We then wrote those answers on a paper, and checked them with Mrs.Giacomelli. We also collected additional data for our plants. In the end of the class period we also did a brain dump. We were in groups and wrote everything we knew about the unit on a large piece of paper. I wrote about available renewable resources.

The Unit 3 Brain Dump!

Friday or October 16, 2015 C.E.: 

Today we took our Unit 3 Earth Systems test. I reviewed in class and at home really well, and I am pretty confident that I did well on it. It had questions from the entire unit including questions about the spheres of the Earth and the cycles. There were also plenty of Renewable and Nonrenewable energy sources questions, as well as some vocabulary. The test was a great end to the week.
Summary: This week was a really fun week. The labs we did were really interesting, and the reviewing in class was really productive. I need to remain more focused while doing homework, but I have made good progress.