Roller Coaster Madness!!!

For the past week in Science, we have been working on building roller-coasters or skate-parks out of certain materials given, such as paper tubes, tape, straws, and paper cups. My group is creating a roller-coaster. The requirements are to have four hills and bends. We are doing this project to put Newton's laws to the test. By looking at the speed of the marble, we can figure out the highest points of kinetic and potential energy. For example, our highest point of potential energy, or energy that will be used for kinetic energy, is at the very beginning of the ride because it will be pushed down the ride, but it hasn't been yet. Our highest point of kinetic energy was in the middle of one of our fastest hills because it had the highest speed and the most energy.When I went online to find more information on Newton's Laws, I realized that all three are on seperate topics, but they relate in a certain way. They all relate to the world around us and they teach us about speed and velocity. I feel that this project is a fun and efficient way to have us learn about physics and Newton's Laws.
info found from: http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/02144/basics/newton.htm

Toy Cars Can Go Far!!

This week we have been working on the formulas of speed, and how they apply to real life. The last few days, we have been racing toy wind-up cars to calculate the average of their speed. All we had to do was divide the distance the car traveled by how many seconds it took to get there. For example, if it traveled 200 centimeters in 4 seconds, the speed would be 50 centimeters per second. We would do this in three trials, and in order to find the average speed, we added all of the distances and the speeds together and divided them. After that, we compared the speeds to different cars, and what effected the speed. My group found out that the farther back you pull the car, the farther forward it will go. Also, by applying a forced push to the car it makes the speed excel. Previously, we were also learning about the formula of velocity which I found out more information on the website ahead. Over all, I thought that having a hands on activity like the toy cars was a great way to learn and study speed formulas. I feel that we should do more activities like this one in the future.

I found info on speed and velocity formulas on... http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/CLASS/1DKin/U1L1d.html

Healty Food- Making its Way into Our Schools

We have been starting to notice it all over our cafeteria. Fat free ice cream. Vegetable pizza. 100-calorie Oreo cookies. Some of the food tastes good, but some we think is just going way too far. In an article I read on CNN, it talked about how healthier food and drinks are slowly taking over our school lunches. They have begun this process after the fact that 12 million kids between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight. If they can change the way Americans eat in the school systems, maybe they can change the way Americans eat all the time. During this past January, Bravo! Brands Inc. started selling a 150-calorie, 8-ounce bottle of flavored milk in about 8,000 schools across the country. Some flavors of this new health-efficient drink are Starburst, or Milkyway. They are also going to start selling low-fat smoothies and yogurt in school cafeterias. In order to be able to sell in schools, company spokesman Charles Nicolas said, "Pepsi is reformulating its popular Doritos, Cheetos and Quaker products for the 2007-2008 school year..." This is proving that many main companies want to play a role in making America a healthier country. I think that all food industries should work their way into making their products- and the world- healthier for the new generations.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet.fitness/04/13/schools.healthy.foods.reut/index.html

Lent Give-Aways & Their Result

What are you giving up for Lent? Chocolate? Candy? Soda? Surprisingly many kids have decided to give up all social networks such as AOL Instant Messenger, and any other form of e-mail or online chat. Most of these teens have said that it has been extremely difficult to stay away that long. Giving up these sites has helped many focus while doing homework and realize how much they relied on computers. MySpace alone attracted 64.4 million different visitors in just the month of February! This shows that this generation is way too attached to online chatting. ONe doctor even said, "this behavior results in a lack of sleep, missed meals, poor hygiene and, in some extreme situations, seizures." As you can see, this small habit can result into much more serious issues. Therefore, limiting online time is beneficial because it helps us realize how much more important school work is and human interaction instead of online chats. "People are realizing that reality involves people, not pixels." I feel that this will result in a better society, where it is not overpowered by technology. Although I am writing this on the computer as we speak, lessening online availability will improve the society, along with our own health.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/03/29/no.facebook.lent/index.html

Hi everybody! Testing this week! AHHHHHHHHHHH :) To all my "eighvies" GOOD LUCK!
hahahhahaha

Class Response: Gregor Mendel: Genetics

All throughout the unit of Genetics, we have been learning about the miraculous works of Gregor Mendel. Was he just an ordinary guy who had a random craving for peas? No! He worked with pea plants to discover heredity. In class we learned that he was a monk who was educated by the University of Virginia. Throughout his lifetime (1822-1884) he developed the method of cross-polinization. He performed his arts in a monestary garden on his campus that soon became his home away from home. We also learned that he was called the "Father of Genetics" due to his extreme discoveries and his notes that were useful to the scientists to come. Having done a whole chart about Mendel, we can just about say that we are experts. But, for more information, i went onto a website full of Gregor's achievements. It told me that he tested on 28,000 pea plants. He found out two laws, His first law was that each gene has two alleles: one from each parent. The second was that it is a random assortment of chromosomes that lead to many different alleles. The website also contained this famous quote, "The value of utility of any experiment are determined by the fitness of the material to the purpose for which it is used." This website contained lots of extra information that I can add to my notes on this famous scientist Gregor Mendel. I feel that if Mendel hadn't been so successful in his studies, we would not have such advanced theories about genetics. How would we ever know the probability of a gene that our children will have? We wouldn't if it wasn't for Gregor Mendel!

info found at:http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118084/History/Mendel.htm

Class Response: Genetics Assessment: Therapeutic Cloning

Imagine being sick in a hospital bed, not knowing what is wrong with you, not even knowing if you'll live through the next minute. Then, the doctors mention therapeutic cloning as your only chance to survive, with the small catch; this would be a test run meaning that this is not gauranteed to work. Would you take the risk? I know I would! My Genetics Assessment question was why we should support therapeutic cloning, and what the many benefits are. This was a very interesting topic to research because I feel that I agreed with the point of view I was placed on. I found out that therapeutic cloning and stem cell research are ways to clone cells and organs in the human body to use as a disease treatment. Cloning would easily help all humans with diseases because it would enable us to clone organs to use as donors, which would eliminate the problem of waiting for a donor. This would ensure us that it is the same DNA as the reciever, and it will be the right size. Also, by cloning stem cells, it lets us multiply them into different types of cells (nerve, brain, blood, etc.). Also, by cloning, we can test new treatments on them without hurting anyone. As long as we keep it for medical reasons, I am 100% behind therapeutic cloning. I feel that it will save millions of lives, while enhancing medical science all together.
some info found from: http://www.religioustolerance.org/clo_ther.htm
(others from my assessment notes)