Plasticity Experiment

Today in class we did an experiment to represent Earth's mantle. We added water to cornstarch. With adding these two products together they have plasticity. It got gooey because of the plasticity. When you put pressure on the mixture it turns to a solid just like the crust and core put pressure on the mantle to make it a solid. When you let go of the mixture it is a liquid. I didn't make any mistakes while doing this experiment. From this lab I learned what plasticity is. I also learned how the Earth mantle is a solid because of the pressure put on it by the crust and core. Another thing i learned is that when you mix cornstarch and water together it is gooey from plasticity. Neither one of them have plasticity until they are mixed. All in all this was a fun experiment that i learned a lot from.

October Sky

October Sky is a inspirational movie that is based on a true story about 4 boys who built a rocket. Homer Hickam, one of the four boys, was inspired by a satellite that was launched into space in 1937. The satellite was called Sputnik and was made by the Russians. Homer goes against his dad's wishes by pursuing his dream to build this rock. His dad works in the coal mines and that is what Homer is expected to do when he is older. Homer doesn't want to work in the coal mines. Coal mining is a very dangerous job because they can collapse.Homer and his friends had to use a lot of science and math while building their rocket. It took them many tries to get the rocket to fly. They used alcohol as their fuel. The boys were arrested and than later let out because they were accused of launching a rocket that started a fire. They used math and science to figure out about how far the rocket went with the wind and force. They calculated that spot and went there and found the rocket. They proved that they weren't the cause of the fire. They entered a science fair and Homer went to demonstrate their rocket. They took first place in the science fair. Homers dad finally accepts Homer's love for science and that he won't work in the coal mines. All four boys get scholarships to go to college. Later on in Homer's like he becomes a NASA engineer. Throughout building rockets the boys had to be very careful since they were mixing chemicals. They also had to be careful about where the rocket landed so that it didn't injure anyone. October Sky is a very inspirational story. All the boys worked together and cooperated good. They all used their knowledge and put it together to build the rockets. This is an amazing story that they made the most of their life. They could have just accepted that they would be coal minor but instead they persevered until they succeeded.

Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome is a disease which you are born with an extra chromosome. There are three of the chromosome when you should only have two. Some symptoms from Down Syndrome are having a flat face with a shorter neck. A person with  Down Syndrome usually has small hands and small feet. Having Down Syndrome also causes complications internally such as loose ligaments, skeletal issues, eye problems and ear problems. Only 50% of infants born with Down Syndrome live past the age of fifty. A woman who is 25 has a 1 in 1,250 risk of having a child with this disease whereas, a woman who is 40 has a 1 in 100 chance of having a child with Down Syndrome. There is no cure for Down Syndrome but special education, speech therapy, special exercises and occupation therapy are beneficial to a person with Down Syndrome. I feel really bad for anyone who has Down Syndrome. It's sad that they have no cure for a child born with Down Syndrome. It is also really bad that only 50% of people with Down Syndrome live past the age of 50. It must also be hard because people may look at you weird because you look different. I hope in the future scientist will find a cure for children with Down Syndrome.

Click here to go to Pondering Bacon's blog

Phenylketonuria

In class we researched Genetic Disorders. I researched Phenylketonuria which is a disease where your body can't use proteins correctly. One enzyme doesn't function properly and can't separate amino acids. The body can't convert "Phe" into tyrosine. The "Phe" builds up in the blood. Some symptoms are skin rash, irritable behavior,excessive restlessness, mental retardation, seizures and autism. A person inherits Phenylketonuria from their parents. It is a recessive gene. The only treatment for this disease is having a diet low in "Phe" which is found in many proteins. People with Phenylketonuria can live normal lives as long as they are on the right diet. One in every 70 people is a carrier for Phenylketonuria. One in every 15,000-20,000 infants born in the United States have Phenylketonuria. I feel bad for anyone who has this disease because there is no treatment. They have to live with this for the rest of their life. This disease is pretty common because 1 in 70 people are carriers and they might not even know. I also feel bad for parents of the infants who are born with Phenylketonuria. They child may have autism or mental retardation from this disease. Babies should be screened when they are born to check for this disease because when it is discovered sooner it can be kept under control and not turn into mental retardation or other things. 

I got my information from:

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/
http://www.noah-health.org/en/genetic/
http://www.genome.gov/10001204

Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the complete range of electromagnetic waves placed in order of increasing frequency. Radio waves, microwaves, radar, infrared rays, thermogram, visible light, ultraviolet rays, x-rays and gamma rays are all a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves with the longer wavelengths and lowest frequency's. Microwaves are radio waves with the shortest wavelength and highest frequency. Radar is the system that uses reflected radio waves to detect objects and measure their distance and speed. Infrared rays are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths shorter than those of radio waves. Thermogram is an image that shows regions of different temperatures in different colors. Visible light is electromagnetic waves that you can see. Ultraviolet rays are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths just shorter than those of visible light. X-rays are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths just shorter than those of ultraviolet rays. Gamma rays are electromagnetic waves with the shortest wavelengths and highest frequency. One type of visible light is a lamp. Microwaves are used in space to learn about the structure of galaxy's. Hot gases in the universe give out x-rays.

I got my information from:

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html

I got my picture from:

http://mail.jsd.k12.ca.us/bf/bflibrary/images/electromagnetic-spectrum.jpg

Building my Rollercoaster.

My Roller Coaster Website

Spinecracker

SOCIAL STUDIES- helicopter crash

All eighteen people survived the helicopter crash. There was a helicopter crash today near Scotland. There were 16 passengers and two crew people. Everyone survived by being recued by either a boat or another helicopter which was in the area.
The helicopter crashed off the coast of Scotland. The helicopter fell 120 miles east of Aberdeen while heading to an offshore platform where they were going to land. Everyone was recovered from the water and they believe that there was no severe injuries. People who were aboard the helicopter were rescued from the water either by another helicopter or by boat. The helicopter was heading for a platform which was home to many offshore oil rigs. The crash happened at 6:43 p.m. (1:43 p.m. Eastern time) today. This helicopter is used to bring people to and from oil platforms in the North Sea. This helicopter is called the Super Puma and is reported to have good safety records. The weather was good except there was a little bit of fog. All passengers survived.
The Super Puma helicopter went down around 125 miles east of Aberdeen in Scotland at around 6.40pm today. Three people were recuded from another helicopter while the other fifteen were brought to safty by a platform lifeboat. There were a few minor injuries but not major injuries. There were sixteen passengers and two crew members. The helicopter crashed into the water. The weather was okay but there was darkness and many clouds. The people aboard the helicopter were very thankful for the resuers.

I got my information from:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/18/uk.helicopter/index.html

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090218/tuk-all-18-survive-helicopter-crash-6323e80.html

Mount Redoubt

Mount Redoubt in Alaska is expected to erupt very soon. They expect based on the past behavior of this volcano that this activity is going to culminate in an eruption. The activity includes small earthquakes and continuous volcanic tremor. On Sunday scientist raised the alert status to "watch level." "Watch level" means that the volcano has reached certain heights where it is supposed to erupt. The volcano shouldn't cause severe damage to anyone. Falling ash is a problem though, people should wear a mask to protect themselves from it. Mount Redoubt last erupted about 20 years ago in December 1989 and it lasted until April 1990. Geologist expect this time to be a similar or smaller than the one in 1989.


I got my information from:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/01/29/alaska.volcano/index.html

Earthquake-SOCIAL STUDIES

A small earthquake hit Northern New Jersey on Monday February 2nd 2009. The earthquake struck a few miles away from Morristown. An earthquake with a magnitude of 2 hit Phillipsburg, New Jersey on July 28. A magnitude of 2.6 earthquake hit Sussex County, New Jersey on Feb. 17, 2006, and another earthquake, with a magnitude of 2.1 hit Morris County on Dec. 10, 2005

The earthquake hit Northern New Jersey at around 10:30 monday night. The earthquake had a magnitude of 3.0. The earthquake did not cause much damage and no one was reported injured. A earthquake which has a magnitude of 3.0 is rather large for New Jersey. Many people described that the earthquake felt like a bomb or a very loud thump. Someone working at a Exxon station in Rockaway, New Jersey said that the earthquake felt like it lasted two to three seconds.

The earthquake which was a magnitude of 3.0 hit at 10:34. Some had feared that a plane of truck had crashed. Dover, Wharton, Denville, Randolph, Mine Hill and the Rockaways in Morris County were hit with the earthquake the worst. The earthquake was about two miles underground. "For New Jersey or the Northeast, a 3.0 is fairly big." This earthquake is big for New Jersey but in California this would be nothing to them."But in California, it would be nothing, just a small event," The average earthquake is five to six miles under ground. Since Monday's earthquake was only two miles underground it resulted in more shaking and had more people feel it. If it was deeper than it might not have been noticed. Earthquakes are most common in highlands region in the state's northwest corner.


I got my information from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/nyregion/new-jersey/03njquake.html?ref=us
http://sfist.com/2009/02/03/30_earthquake_sends_nj_citizens_int.php
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/it_sounded_like_an_explosion.html

Social Studies*

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama was held in Washington D.C. on January 20th 2009. More than one million people showed up to watched President Obama be inaugurated. The number of people out numbered the crowd at Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 inauguration. The estimated number of people there on Tuesday was 1.2 million. More than 545,000 people used the train to get there making them very crowded. It was very hectic and some people didn't make it forcing them to just watch it on TV.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden and their wifes attended a church service he morning of the inauguration. Than the Obama's, and Bidens had coffee with the Bush's and Cheney's. Then they went to the capitol where the inauguration was held. Biden was sworn to vice presidency a half hour before Obama sworn to presidency. After that Obama made his speech. He went to the Capitol to sign secretary nomination certificates followed by a inaugural luncheon. The parade was held after signing the secretary nomination certificates. Later, Obama and Biden attended inaugural balls to celebrate.

I think that this day was a very special day and that it was very important in American history . This is very important since Barack Obama is the first African American president. It is amazing how many people showed up to the Inauguration of Barack Obama. This is the largest crowd and probably because it is a huge part in history that everyone will always remember.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-inaug-crowds21-2009jan21,0,3359744.story

http://www.examiner.com/x-1527-NY-Government-Examiner~y2009m1d19-Obama-and-Bidens-inauguration-day-activities

Peanut Butter Recall

Salmonella has been found in a plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Georgia. This company makes peanut butter and peanut paste. Some of the products which contains peanut butter and peanut paste are cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream. Samples of King Nut peanut butter have been tested by Connecticut and Minnesota and are positive for salmonella. On January 18th 2009 many items with peanut butter and peanut paste were recalled if they were manufactured on or after July 1st 2008. The items were recalled because of potential salmonella contamination. These products are not sold directly to consumers. Salmonella isn't affecting major brands of jarred peanut butter. The recall is still continuing and its better to stay away from peanut butter products.

I got my information from:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

I got my picture from:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

Energy!

Energy is the ability to work. There are two states of energy, kinetic energy and potential energy. Kinetic energy is energy of motion. Kinetic energy is in anything in horizontal or vertical motion. Potential energy is energy of position. Potential energy is energy stored in an object. Energy can be changed from one state to another but can not be created or destroyed by ordinary means. Some forms of Kinetic energy are electric energy, radiant energy, thermal energy, motion energy and sound energy. Some forms of potential energy are chemical energy, stored mechanical energy, nuclear energy, and gravitational energy.




I found my information from:
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/Class/energy/u5l1c.html
http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/CURR/Science/sciber00/8th/forces/sciber/potkin.htm

I got my picture from:

http://www.citruscollege.edu/pic/46/c05_05.jpg

Cashew Tree

In Brazil their is the worlds largest cashew tree. The tree is in Natal, Brazil.It is a 117 year old cashew tree.The tree covers 8500 square meters of land. This tree grows almost 80,000 fruits from November to January. This tree causes many trafic jams. This tree is eighty times the size of most cashew trees. The cashew tree is harmed by the cars which drive by it. In the ninty's the trees routes started growing onto the highway, allowing only one car to pass at a time. This is when the problem began. Specialist are afraid taht the tree may die if they try to trimm it. The tree has two genetic strange conditions that caused it to grow sideways. A normal cashew tree would grow upwards.The tree brings many tourest to the area. Their is not yet a soulution for the tree which is getting harmed by cars.

I got my information from:

http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=939109898&pl=942209997.xml&plc=942209997&launchpoint=Cover&cid=fancover&attr=default_headline&config=/config/common/fan/default.xml

http://mpelembe.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/11/21/3988643.html

Symbiotic Relationships

Symbiosis means a close relationship between two organisms in which one organism lives near on or evan inside another organism and at least one organism benefits. There could be more than two organisms in the relationship.There a three types of symbiotic relationships. They are commensalism, when one organism benefits and the other is not harmed. Mutualism is when both organisms in the relationship benefit. The last relationship is parasitism, when one organism benefits and the other is harmed. An example of commensalism is ivy and a tree. An example of mutualism is honey bees and flowers. An example of parasitism is a dog and a flea.There is a fourth symbiosis relationship called as Mimicry, which involves one species imitating another to gain the benefits enjoyed by that species.



i got my information from:

http://www.poliza.de/starship/sciencenew/symbiosis.htm

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent591k/symbiosis.html

Food Chains and Food Webs.

A food chain is a representation of a series of events in which food energy and matter are transferred from one organism to another. A food chain shows how living things get their energy. An example of a mixed food chain is: a seagull gets energy from a big fish, a big fish gets energy from a small fish, a small fish gets energy from a insect, a insect gets energy from a flower, and a flower is a producer. A food chain is made up of producers, consumers and decomposer's. A decomposer speeds up the process of decaying. It realises mineral salts back into the earth and it provides nutrients for plants. A food web is a diagram that consists of many overlapping food chains. Also it is a model that shows all possible feeding relationships with organisms living in a ecosystem. An example of a food web is: a human gets energy from a rabbit and carrots and a cow, a wolf gets energy from a cow and a rabbit,a rabbit gets energy from carrots and grass, a cow gets energy from grass, grass is a producer. Carrots are producers. A food web is more complicated than a food chain because its all food chains together. Most organisms depend on more than one species for food which makes the food web complicated. I think that food chain and food webs are very helpful and they help us learn how energy is pass on through out the ecosystem.

I got my information from:
http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

AND

http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/Science/sciber00/8th/energy/sciber/foodweb.htm

I got my picture from:

http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/Science/sciber00/8th/energy/sciber/foodweb.htm

Hurricane Omar

Hurricane Omar was originally a category three hurricane as it swept through Leeward Islands. Omar had winds up to 115 MPH as it was moving northeast. U.S. Virgin Islands, the islands of Vieques, Culebra, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla all had a hurricane warning. A hurricane warning is issued when there are winds up to 75 MPH or higher. When Omar started towards St. Croix ovensa, a 500,000-barrel-a-day oil refinery started to shut down equipment. They only kept the equipment to maintain power in there refinery running.Once the hurrican passes they will inspect to see if there is any damage done and than determine when they will open the refinery again. Puerto Rico is expected to get attest 20 inches of rain. These rains could produce floods and mudslides. Hurricane Omar is now down to a category 1 hurricane.


i got my information from:

Hhttp://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/weather/10/15/hurricane.omar/index.html#cnnSTCText

Math is...

Math is everything! You use math in your life daily. Sometimes you don't realize that you are using it but you are. You use math when your shopping. You have to figure out how much a item is if it is on sale for a certain percent off. Also you have to figure out the tax amount of the item your purchasing. People use math while buying a car. When you need a loan for car you have to know the interest rate and see how much you will be paying per month. There is also interest when you have money in your bank account. While your money just sits there your making more money off of it. When you go out to dinner and you give the waitress a tip you have to decide what percent of the bill you are going to give. You use percents a lot in your daily life without noticing. Many jobs use math weather your a carpenter or a accountant.

Kites

In class we made kites out of paper. My predictions were that the lighter the kite was the better it would fly. Another prediction was that if the kite was flat it would fly. I belive that kites fly better with the material there made of than making tham out of paper. Paper is too heavy, unless the wind is very strong. The stronger the wind is the better your kite will fly. When we went to fly the kites it turned out my kite didnt fly. Also, wind is a big part in flying kites and there was not that much wind the day we flew our kites. Kites fly when there is high pressure under the kite and low pressure above the kite. A kite flys in the direction that the wind is going in.




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite_flying

Water Tank
In class we did an experiment which demonstrated density. We had a tank filled with water in it. First we put a divider in the middle of the tank. One side had blue food coloring and salt. The other side had just yellow food coloring. When we took out the divider i predicted that the yellow would rise and the blue would sink. My prediction was extremely close, the yellow raised and the blue sank but there was also a green strip of water in between the two colors. The blue sank because it is more dense, food coloring and salt add density to the water. The yellow raised since it only had food coloring and it was less dense. Next we quartered the tank. We put red food coloring in the water. The red section of water contains food coloring and salt because we mixed the blue and yellow water and put some red food coloring in that. My hypothesis was that the colors would all mixed together. My hypothesis was wrong, what actually happen was that the yellow was on top than a thin line of green, next was red, than another thin shade of green and on bottom was the blue. Lastly we quartered the water tank again and salted it again. I predicted that the slimy green would sink with the blue. The slimy green went to the bottom, than it was blue than red and on top was the yellow.