Oil! Oil! Oil!

Have you ever wondered how you get oil? Are you yearning to find out how much money you can make if you become a geologist? Well, today in science class we learned about the process of getting oil. In order to determine whether a part of land is able to drill for oil successfully, it needs to fulfill the following three conditional requirements: source, reservoir, and trap. Source means that the land is deep and old enough for it to have formed oil. A reservoir is the container like area under the ground that stores the oil. The trap, is the hard rock that is used as a lid to keep the oil in the reservoir. Each student drew three maps noting where the source, reservoir, and trap was located. The idea was that when these three maps were overlapped, we would see where we would drill for oil. The teachers filled pans with gravel and occasionally a "reservoir" (cup) of "oil" (syrup). We had five chances to drill for oil and see if we found any. However, it was not that simple. Every time we moved to a new location and drilled a centimeter we lost thousands of dollars! In order to show us the economic portion of the lesson, we were able to calculate the money we made from oil and subtract the money we spent drilling. My group found 3 oil spots, two measuring 1.5 square kilometers and one measuring 2.5 kilometers squared. After filling in all the given formulas, I calculated that my group made approximately 49.2 million dollars! Although that is a lot of money, if this was in the real world, the government would deduct certain amounts and the company would have to pay all the employees their deserved salary. Then, after deducting these and other amounts of money, I could enjoy the amount of money. This class activity was extremely fun and hands on! I learned a lot from this lesson, as you can see above. I would definitely enjoy doing another activity similar to this in the future.

Oil! Oil! Oil!

Educational AND Fun? Not so impossible!

Recently, in Science class, we have been making kites and decorating the outsides with weather symbols. This not only foreshadowed the upcoming unit on wind energy, but it also helped us learn the basis of weather. Not only was it informational, but it was extremely fun at the same time! We got to be creative with the designs of our kites, and everything was done from the regular diamond shape to a kite shaped like a sheep! Being able to relax during this activity was needed because we enjoyed learning about what we were working on. All of our kites are finished, hyped up and ready to fly! Separate from our actual kite, we were required to write a paragraph on why we think kites fly. I wrote that it was the speed and direction of the wind, and the actual shape and weight of the kite that enables a piece of paper to suddenly become an airplane. All of our kite theories will be put to the test when we take a field trip outside and fly our kites! We will be able to discern which of our hypothesis' were correct, and which of ours needed more guidance. Plus, thanks to this past week in science class, we have been learning a lot more than previously on how the wind is measured and recorded (knots). Hopefully, we will be able to put all of our new wind knowledge together in order to achieve the common goal that everyone has in mind: THE HIGHEST FLYING KITE!!! (I'm already crossing my fingers!)

Cell Phones (S.S. paragraph)

The advancement in society that I feel has made the biggest impact on society is the discovery of cell phones. These remarkable devices allow anyone to contact anyone around the world in a matter of seconds. Helping with emergencies, cell phones reassure parents that their child will always have a way to contact them if need be. Also, some cell phones contain tracking devices so that you can find the child if they get lost or lose their phone. Cell phones overall help people around the world directly communicate with each other without needing to be plugged in to a wall. In fact, these phones can be brought across the world to another country and will still be able to be used. Cell phones provide unlimited communication and protection for people at a fairly low price. We grew up in the cell phone generation, but how do you think the elder generations survived without even knowing they existed?

Build Your Own Atom

Recently, in Science class, we have been learning about protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons and neutrons make up the inside of the nucleus, and the electrons are on the outside orbiting around the nucleus. The electrons are also a lot smaller than protons and neutrons. Since we have also been learning about elements on the periodic table, we used both of those skills to create our own element atom using two spheres and different color beads and marbles. The blue marbles were the protons, the white marbles were the neutrons, and the green beads were the electrons. To start building the element, we found the atomic number on the periodic table. This showed us how many protons (or blue marbles) to put into the nucleus (or the inner sphere). Then, we subtracted that number from the atomic mass, which is the total number of atoms inside the nucleus. Doing this gave us the number of neutrons (or white marbles) that belong inside the nucleus. Then, since the element has to have a neutral balance, and the electrons have a negative charge, the number of electrons would balance out the protons. This gave us the number of electrons to put in the outer sphere, which is the same amount as the protons. Then we weighed our elements and recorded our data. I feel that this was a really fun and hands-on way to learn about the making of an element. It also helped us remember the vocabulary, and how to use a periodic table. This is definitely an activity that everyone would enjoy doing again, and it helps drill the information into our head.

to build your own atom go to... http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es0501/es0501page04.cfm

Overweight or Unpopular State?

Many people think that who you are in high school or middle school has nothing to do with who you will become in the future. In a recent study on more than 4,000 girls around the age of 15, this was proved untrue. When weighing the girls over a two year time period, it seemed that their view of their social status affected their weight gain. Those who thought they were extremely unpopular gained more weight than the girls who considered their social status as more popular. The study shows that those who are low in social self-esteem are 69 percent more likely to gain an excess of 11 or more pounds in two years. Though the girls who thought they were more popular did gain excess weight, it was a lot less- only about 6 pounds at the most. None of these girls' were out of the category considered normal weight for their ages, however, people are starting to find out new ways to prevent obesity in teens and boost their self-confidence. Who are they relying on to stop this small but important dilemma? Teachers? Principals? Nurses? Peers? Nope...parents! Parents and influential adults in their lives will impact their view on themselves and their social standings. This may not necessarily be true with all teens, but take some time to view your opinion on yourself. Look in the mirror. (Go ahead, look! I won't go anywhere!) And tell yourself how amazing you are. Because everyone is beautiful..it just depends on if we all see it. But remember, that if you don't see your inner beauty, their may be some health effects that affect your outer beauty!

article from:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/07/diet.popularityweight.ap/index.html