Tree Frog Science

Squirrel Video Parody Of Pure Epicness

2012-01-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Just click the link and watch this video, it made me laugh. It's a parody to "It Girl" in which the lyrics are "Pet Squirrel." Your life will be changed for the better:

It Girl (Parody) ->Pet Squirrel

You'll thank me later.
If you watch the email please post a comment below. :) \/

PSAT/NMSQT

2012-01-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

In a few words: it's just another standardized test that all high schoolers (here in the U.S. anyway) are expected to take.

Well, to be fair- it is preliminary to the SAT. That's what we actually have to take; the PSAT is like an appetizer for the main course which of course is the nastiest, hairy, big-bad-wolf in almost every highschoolers' encroaching future: the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

While I have not had the privilege of taking the SAT yet, it is in my future. For the next two or three years I will take the PSAT (as previously mentioned) which covers the three elementary core concepts known as: mathematics, critical reading, and writing skills.

Here is an amazing website for studying for the SAT AND PSAT: https://quickstart.collegeboard.com/posweb/login.jsp
Good luck to anyone who may end up taking it in the future.

A Poem

2011-11-19T11:12:00.000-08:00

Time

Walking backwards I can see the future.

It is clean and bright as snow.

Wishing I could see the past,

but backward's all I know.

Roundabout again I walk.

Until I reach the sun.

You may say the day is over,

but tomorrow's yet begun.

Lost in a maze of flowers,

I wish I knew a tune,

Of yet I know I still must walk,

backwards from the ruin.

Forward and back away I walk,

To the shallow moon,

The tide is ebbing like a map,

The present is abloom.

-Jesseca M. Kusher

A Scribbled Note

2011-10-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today I found a piece of paper, long forgotten in the piles of notes left over from 8th grade last year. On a slightly crumpled piece of paper I found the scribbled words done in haste,

"...(There are two ways that Maxwell's remote could have done this. The first would be if the remote fired a beam of light at the front of the TV to a panel that would in turn connect the circuit. The second would be [the cooler way] if the remote control fired a radio frequency at a panel on the TV that would do likewise and connect the circuit). A circuit is loosely defined as a path that carries electrical current."

These notes explain how Maxwell, our class mascot squirrel, could have turned on his TV. While at the time this was merely a scribbled note on a small piece of notebook paper, now it is a reminder of how great my science class was last year.

The Call of the Wild - Fight or Flight

2011-10-06T02:49:00.000-07:00

Here in Spartanburg the leaves on the trees are just starting to turn yellow around the edges. Some crisp leaves already lace our yards and driveways. Before we know it the trees will be aflame with vibrant shades of red, yellow, and gold.

As the leaves change into their new personas of warm tones and hues, we as mere mortals in comparison to these great giants, are asked by the trees to take time to walk among them and wonder aimlessly.

Personally, I find it a very meditative process. And there must be something to it because recent studies have shown that walking in nature actually improves mental memory and concentration. However, I think that these studies simply state a fact that I have thought about for quite some time now: humans' prehistoric ways of life were those that we evolved to fit, therefore the human brain functions better in that nature than it does in cities.

In other words I believe the human brain works better in survival situations in "the wild" in comparison to survival in a city. When in a stressful situation in nature I feel that the human body pushes itself beyond its normal capabilities more so than it would within the walls of a city, because humans' earliest ancestors lived in the wild and learned to survive there.

For example: if a group of hikers were out scaling a mountain and suddenly there was an earthquake which resulted in part of the mountain beginning to collapse, then the hikers' bodies would begin to pump adrenaline into their systems thus enabling their primitive instincts to go on overdrive. The hikers would automatically have a fight or flight reaction and would decide wether to stay on the mountain and "rough it out," or flee to the safety of the forest below. In the city however, when placed in a stressful situation: my theory is that the human body (while still under adrenaline) is not capable of making as quick and precise decisions that it is able to make when placed under a stressful situation outside the city walls.

In the end no mater where the human body is, it is still able to do truly amazing things when put in a stressful situation.

I suggest that you read the link that I have bolded above, because of this subject's fascinating nature.

I'm Back!!

2011-09-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

Recently after some time away from posting here on Tree Frog Science--- I'd like to point out that I am now back by popular (cough, cough Mr. Harrelson) demand. :)

Hmmmm. Now where do I begin?

As of September 14, I have given in to the horrors of social networking sites and joined Facebook. In the past I have considered social networking sites a huge waste of time because people spend too much time virtually communicating rather than communicating in "real-life." To be fair it is very easy to fall prey to social networking sites through the media and peer pressure, however it does not mean that is cannot be done. Like I said before it wasn't until earlier this month that I finally gave in.

I choose to join Facebook as an experiment. I wanted to see how long it would take for word of my joining the community to catch on. The news spread like wildfire, which truly impressed me.

Now that I have covered that small bit of news, I hope to continue posting on this blog----- next time with something more interesting.

I Won!

2011-09-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

It took me a while, but I beat the Hunger games Tribute Trials! Here's a link in case you want to give it a try: ... http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/games/index.htm

Socrates

2011-09-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

<---Socrates, the spotted cat with vivid blue eyes.

Great name huh?

Where are the Squirrels?

2011-08-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhh the sadness!

SUMMER

2011-05-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

The Last Week of School is Coming to a Close

2011-05-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

   Only a few hours left before its, "Goodbye Day School, hello summer!" Suddenly it all feels dreamlike. Yes we actually graduated last night, and yes the Yellow Briefcase is now currently sitting in a place of honor in my room. Wow. I can't believe how fast it has all happened, now I've been at the Day School for nearly a year (a school year at least) and I'm proud to say that I am part of the community.


   Today I will participate in my first field day,
   and allow me to apologize ahead of time, I am incredibly competitive. This should be fun!

No, I'm not putting off studying for world cultures...

2011-05-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

Wow: 252 facts and then 65 countries. I think I may have to try some of that coffee substance that I despise so much this evening. :)

At least I haven't waited until the last minute to study, and I have all of the flashcards sitting beside me... It's just that I would so much rather be blogging than mindlessly memorizing (incredulously interesting) facts. I'm not being sarcastic------ I really do enjoy these facts. I'm sure the feeling of relief after it's over will be overwhelmingly relaxing. I look foreword to that.

Anyway here I go. Wish me luck.

Indexed Science Notes

2011-05-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of all of the subjects I have taken notes on since the first day of school last fall. I currently have over fifteen "booklets" composed of this information. Let this offer stand into the distant future (and I may someday regret it): if any of my current classmates or any students of Mr. Harrelson in the future would like help or in depth information on any of these subject areas I would be happy to help:

Physical Science

Atoms

-Valency

-Dot diagram

-Electrons needed to be stable

-Atomic Number

-Chemical Symbol

-Neutrons

-Protons

-Electrons

-Ions

-6 types of Quarks

¤Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Charm, Strange

-Chart of relative sizes (see parts of the atom)

-We can only see about 41% of the universe

Chemical Balancing

-Start with the smallest chemical

¤Think: CHO

Forces

-Contact forces

-At a Distance Forces

-4 Forces of Nature

-Newton's 3 Forces

¤Inertia

- F=ma

¤Velocity

~ Change in Distance/Change in Time or Delta d over Delta t

¤Acceleration

~Change in Velocity/Change in Time or Delta v over Delta t

¤Measured in Neutons

-Speed=positive momentum/motion

¤ 3 ways to Accelerate:

~Change Direction

~ "Speed up" acceleration

~ "Slow down" = deceleration -acceleration (when you go around the corner of a track you accelerate)

~1 Horsepower= 764w

Energies

Solutions & MIxtures

Intro to Bonding/Earth Metal Characteristics

History of Science

-Einstein

-Newton

-Tesla

-Electromagnetism

-Olmec (1400BCE-400BCE)

-Baghdad Battery

-Xian Jiang (1031CE-1095CE)

-Peter Peregrinus (1200'sCE)

-Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1573CE)

-William Gilbert (1544-1576CE)

-Thomas Browne (1627-1691CE)

-Robert Boyle (1627-1691CE)

-Leyden/Leiden Jar (1700CE)

-Benjamin Franklin (1752CE)

-Aepinus (1724-1802CE)

-Volta (1745-1827CE)

-Has Christian Oersted (1777-1851CE)

-Ampere (1775-1836CE)

-Ohm's Law (1827CE)

-Michael Faraday (1791-1867CE)

-James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879CE) [Einstein's hero]

-Mendeleev (1868)

-Dates

¤1969=Gatorade invented-->Clemson switches to white jerseys for home games (1968 or '69) [this is because they discover that the white shirts reflect more of the sun's heat]

Waves= particle or duality of matter and energy

-Electromagnetic

-Mechanical

¤Transverse Wave

¤Longitudinal Waves/Compressional

-Parts of the Wave

-Newton vs. Hook

¤Newton believed light was particles, Hook believed it was waves

~Light is composed of particles AND waves

¤Slit Light Experiment

-Resonance= When the amplitude of a wave increases because another frequency or wave has

¤Think: Harmony

- 3 Ways waves interact

¤ Reflection

¤Refraction

¤Derefraction

- 4 Properties of Waves

-High and Low wavelengths

Light

-Light can not travel without medium

¤Light is electro magnetic energy

-Intensity=how much energy or brightness (a.k.a. amplitude)

-Frequency= color- perceived by humans as the color of light (a.k.a. wavelength)

-Polarization= angle of vibration (angle of the light hits you) which is not perceptible by humans under ordinary circumstances

Sound

-Travels with a medium

¤Sound is mechanical energy

Neptune/Uranus

-Messed up magnetic fields

-May have diamond seas

¤ Could have diamond icebergs

¤ May have "water" cycles like that of Earth

-Air pressure=11 million times earth

¤ 10% Carbon make-up

¤ 50 thousand degrees Centigrade

Black Holes

-Schwarzschild radius

-Cosmological Geometry

¤Time and Space are warped as if on a twisted graph

¤ Cabai Yau Manifold

- 3 dementions

-Primordial Objects

-Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Chill

-Drake's Equation

Quotes:

-"All of our science against rarity is primitive and childlike and yet it is the most precious thing we have."

-"There is nothing new to do in Physics now, all that remains is more precise measurement…"

Laws/Properties

-Columb's Law= K[(Qa*Qb)/r^2]

-Measurements

¤Centigrade- (created in?) 1940

¤Lord Kelvin

~Freezing point=273K

~Boiling= 373 K

~Absolute Zero= -273

-Ohm's Law= Volts=IR or Volts=Ampere/Current times Resistance

¤Think: Light switch

Electricity

-Induction, friction, and conduction

-Electric force= attraction or repulsion between electronically charged particles

-Electric Fields

¤Inverse Square Law

-Voltage= difference in electrical potential

-Current= rate of electrons through a given point

-Resistance= measure of the change of flow of electrons

¤Measured in Omegas

Work done this year

-Balloon Cars

-Lesson Plan/Teaching

¤"Quiz" results

-Song Remix

-Camera into Space

-Google Science Fair Project

Nuclear Fission Basics

-Enrico Ferming

-Slow Neutrons

-Bonging and Repelling Forces

-Little Boy

-Deep Thought Questions

The Ear

-Labeled Diagram

Periodic Table basics

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

MS Girls soccer won against Oakbrook Prep. today at the MRCA tournament. My one of my favorite parts of the game was when Alexa (a Day School 6th grader) made the winning penalty shot that won us the game. Overall it was an amazing, aggressive, intense game, and I am overly proud of the Griffin cheering section that showed up. :) Thanks GrifFANS!!!

More details in a minute----

Sincerely,

The Right Defensive Player

Look, My House is Flying!!!!!

2011-05-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Dolphins!

2011-05-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

Summer Draws Near...

2011-05-07T07:41:00.000-07:00

Summer Approaches...

2011-05-07T06:22:00.000-07:00

More DC photos

2011-04-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome back Griffin Science!

2011-04-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

We've missed your page off of blogger--- good to see that you're back to "normal" :D :

http://griffinscience.com/

New Discovery!!!!!---April Fools!

2011-04-01T09:14:00.001-07:00

Pictures -(again)

2011-03-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Touchdown in CA

2011-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

We are officially in California!!!! I'm really excited as one could guess. While up in the air I took a video when we flew over the grand canyon. It was great- a photographsr's dream, even though it didn't exactly look like the grand canyon from 10,000+feet. Now we are goin' down the highway from San Diego to Encintias where my grandma lives.

Oh and in case Ms. Westnestki ever reads this: I've stayed true to my word of speaking Spanish over break- just a few minutes ago I wished our bus driver a good day (formally in Spanish) and he got very enthusiastic about having a Spanish speaking passenger. I have to admit two things though:
1) it took a lot of courage to talk to him fir fear of saying something wrong
and
2) once I started talking to him in Spanish quite a few other customers meekly thanked him in Spanish as well.
I'm pretty sure I made his day. :)

Meet the Elements

2011-03-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

To quote Mr. Harrelson, "Bla bla bla."
Here is Meet the Elements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0zION8xjbM

Heres is my edited version:

Meet The Elements.egg on Aviary.

Frequencies (for the original):
98.00=G
65.41=C
103.83=Am
73.42=D
82.41=Em (technically E)

G                   C                 Am
Come on come on and meet the elements
           G               C                      Am
May I introduce you to our friends, the elements?
       D      Em               Am      C          D
Like a box of paints that are mixed to make every shade
            G                 C                    D                   G
They either combine to make a chemical compound or stand alone as they are


Neon's a gas that lights up the sign for a pizza place
The coins that you pay with are copper, nickel, and zinc
Silicon and oxygen make concrete bricks and glass
Now add some gold and silver for some pizza place class

Wavelengths:

13.890m/s=G

20.812m/s=C

aprox. 12.374=Am


18.540=D

16.518=Em (technically E)

Success from Failure...

2011-03-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

Ok so maybe the balloon launch last Friday was a complete failure on the weather-balloon-making-company's part.

I blame them.

But then again, we should have foreseen something like this happening- right?
NO, not right. Honestly science is about learning from your mistakes, that's basically what science is centered around--- just look at the scientific method! The scientific method itself is based on testing, failing, improving-as-needed, and then testing again.

Take my team's balloon car for example- it failed miserably, and yet we learned from our experience. We (a mere group of 8th graders), like all of the great scientists before us, have learned how to fail and learn form those failures.

That in itself is an accomplishment!

The fact that we have learned how to accept failure and learned how to learn from failure as mere 8th graders is a HUGE accomplishment. There are people out there in the world who have yet to learn how to accept defeat and move on from it. Imagine that! We have learned something in our 8th grade science class that many 40-year-olds have yet to discover (hence the term mid-life- crisis) in their lives: failure can benefit its victims more than success sometimes.

I believe that I have learned more from the failure on Friday than I would have learned had we succeeded perfectly in our attempt to send the CAN-tainer into space.

All thanks be to the failure of a weather-balloon-making-company somewhere out there. Next time we'll know better than to use your thin weather-balloons, and next time we'll be ready with a thicker/more durable one.

ISS Camera Location

2011-03-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

I just had some free time and wanted to get out there the fact that there was reasoning behind our decision to place the lens on the bottom of our container:

Our model would have had a camera placed like one of the main cameras on the International Space Station. Personally I think that a camera on the bottom as opposed to one horizontally is cooler, that way it captures images like that of a plane's during take-off. But that's just one person's opinion, to be fair it would be better to ask a professional's opinion. Either way our video would have captured us as we watched its launch, the void of space, and the curvature of the Earth, minus popped balloon fabric.

We Accept Our Failure...

2011-03-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mr. Harrelson for being so supportive. :) I'm just disappointed that he didn't let me know that he wanted a horizontal view. That could have been easily added! Even today in class...

But it's okay, I remember once asking in class if we should cut a hole on the side so we could have a horizontal view as well, but I guess I didn't voice that loud enough. Either way it was a fantastic experience and so I would like to thank everyone for all of the hard work you have put into this project. Next time I guess we'll just have to place cameras all around the edges so as not to disappoint anyone. It's ok though, I'm sure my teammates stand beside we when I say that we will graciously accept our defeat and that next time we will just have to try harder. I wish to congratulate Anders, Collin, David, Christian, "and others who have helped them along the way (all of 2nd Period)," I solute you and your efforts to do the impossible and send a sturdy CAN-tainer into space.

So tomorrow when that CAN-tainer launches into the crystal-clear sky above I may cry, but only tears of joy for the fact that we- a simple bunch of 8th graders, their piers, and one amazing science teacher, with the support of Spartanburg Day School at our backs- have done something not many people can say they have done. We will have launched a container into the realm of space, the black void above our heads, that encircles our lives.

Not if, but when that container lands we will no doubt be among one of the first schools in the history of the world to launch a homemade container and parachute into space!

And so let me announce that I am proud of our failures, our setbacks, our accomplishments, and our discoveries; together we have learned more about ourselves, the world around us, and the space beyond our bubble-of-atmosphere than we could have ever learned divided.

It may not be my place to say this, (because it was not my container chosen) but know this: when that CAN-tainer goes up tomorrow it will be an accomplishment for all of us in the 8th grade at Spartanburg Day School- or really an accomplishment for everyone at the Day School. This is because without their support, guidance, and duck-tape we would not be standing on that field tomorrow sending our hard work and determination-to-succeed embodied in our duck-tape wrapped package into the dark void-of-space beyond the world.

Did We Fail?

2011-02-28T08:22:00.000-08:00

OK so maybe we aren't yet done with our container that we (4th period Science {especially}: -MG [A.K.A. Mg- beautification department], Eleanor [moral support/parachute person], Luke [lid and structural support], Madeline [official duct-tape-cutter], me, Christian [backup tennis-ball cutter/throwing team], Mr. Harrelson [official Tennis-ball cutter], and Elizabeth [camera lady]*) would like to send up into space. I believe that our attempt went wrong when we filled the container with stuffed (FAKE!) animals. To be specific: squirrels. Today Georgio (the Italian modeling squirrel), Connor Jr., and Reed the squirrel went up into the air in the new gym and down. They risked their padded tummies and tails to protect the Flip camera, and for that we thank them.
The only problem was that a ball of red yarn (more padding) got in the way of the Flip camera's lens so we opened the container and fixed the problem [by removing the thread]. However sometime during that transaction the camera turned off AND did not record...

*Note that Team Fluffy has joined us in our efforts.

Tuesday...

2011-02-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

Wear a blue shirt Tuesday to support the uncommon mindset of a peaceful global community!

Weather Balloon in Space!

2011-02-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

In honor of our collection of persistent 8th grade science classes, and out goal of sending a weather balloon into space I have changed the background of this blog (again.) Thanks to National Geographic, one-of-the-best-resources-on-the-web, for the awesome picture.

Pine Cones, Tennis Balls, and Clorox Wipes?

2011-02-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since it was assigned, but as for what I did Wednesday and Thursday in Science Class:

It all started with a simple dream I had Tuesday night. Looking back on it I think it had something to do with my dog and I playing fetch with pine cones that afternoon but anyway, that night I had a dream in which I was watching pine cones fall. Their odd rounded conical shaped torpedoed to the ground, yet the seeds inside stayed intact. This dream inspired me in more than one way, in one way it made me open my eyes to the facts: over the past 100 or so years scientists have turned to the natural world around them when they were stumped. It's the truth.
When the Wright brothers built their first plane they looked at how birds fly or glide through the sky. When engineers they design speedy-sports cars nowadays they look at how Cheetahs' sleek bodies move over their terrain. So with that in mind Wednesday morning I went out in my backyard and studied a few pine cones.

In case you have never seen a pine cone before, the design is simple but effective. Pine cones are basically a rounded bullet-like shape with lots of holes and crevices on the outside, like a golf ball. On one MythBusters episode they did likewise to a car:

They found that it made a minuscule difference to it's fuel efficiency, but it did make a difference. In the end they compared a golf ball to a regular rounded ball and explained the aerodynamics were different.

So based on that information what did I do Wednesday and Thursday?
Why I dimpled our container design of course!
After asking my classmates where I might find tennis balls- Mary Grace, Nora and I headed to the tennis courts where we then got on our hands and knees and (very glamorously) crawled under the bushes where we found the tennis balls.
Please allow me to explain something before I continue: we did not know that what we were doing was "wrong," by the looks of the area under the bushes (full of prickly vines and leaf debris) no one had collected the tennis balls for years. But even then we didn't take them all! We took a few, yes, but there are still countless others buried under years of decaying leaves. And as for any of the Tennis coaches who may read this in the future: you can have them back! I only used about four-or-so and most of those I used were gray from use and sun-bleaching. Feel free to take back the others that were not used.

Anyway back to business:
I chose tennis balls for the substance I would use to cover the container with for quite a few reasons. One was that tennis balls are basically invincible. (Like my classmates and I learned latter on when we tried [with no avail] to cut them open.) Another was that their rubbery shell would absorb some of the shock from our container's impact with Earth. The last was that tennis balls are simply amazing. They are the only balls that come to mind when I think of neon-colored sports gear and they are incredibly durable.
So had you been in my 4th period science class Wednesday and Thursday you would have watched this idea of mine come to life before your eyes. You would have also probably laughed as you watched 8th graders try to cut tennis balls in half with safety scissors and duct-tape them onto an barely distinguishable Clorox Wipe container.

Balloon Car!?

2011-02-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

OK, so let me be the first to admit that our creation did not work as well as we would have liked it to work. :(
Our car was originally a simple light-weight cardboard body with two CD wheels in the back and a small plastic whirly-gig I found in our basket-of-junk on our kitchen counter for a wheel in the front. It was quite light in weight because at that point we were going to attach a sail to it and have the balloon face backwards thus propelling the balloon car forward with the sail. But our plans changed... "The best laid plans of mice and men may often go arye..." Anyway that's when we decided to sling-shot it down the hall with our creation called "The Chicken." It was going to follow all of the guidelines or "rules" as far as we were concerned. You see we were not going to simply sling-shot it down the hall, beacsue that was illegal. Oh no, that was MUCH too simple. Instead we would have TWO cars, one that would end up breaking the longest distance record by hurtling down the hallway from the sling-shot's force; the other (this one balloon-powered) would pull the wooden dowel out of the way of the first race car. Then zoom- down the hallway it would go.
But as I said, "The best laid plans of mice and men may often go arye..." In other words we abandoned "The Chicken" but only after a test run that proved our theory correct; sling-shooting the car down the hallway would work ten times better than any balloon powered car, mainly because it would have a greater force if it were sling-shot. So after those joyful test runs two of our team members (cough, cough: Madeline and Christian) lost faith in our epic little car sling-shot idea. They claimed that we would "get disqualified" and "the other teams would COMPLAIN," and while they were probably right I would have liked to have heard this concern a little bit earlier. Might I add that this was literally THE AFTERNOON before the final competition, and THE DAY before it was due. (SPOILER: We partially managed in the end!) Switching to panicked- procrastinating-student mode (even though we hadn't procrastinated)we made a few major adjustments to our car that afternoon.
Our car had been light weight. Then when we decided to sling shot it, so we made it heavier. In the end when we needed a super light car, we ended up with a bulky heavy car that barely moved. :( This is what we get for changing just about everything the day before the competition.
But overall we learned from our great failure, we learned not only that a bulky little cardboard car does not do well with a paper/copper wire sail, but we also learned a bit more about the physics behind why that happens, a bit more about applying scientific method (test your hypothesis, then if it doesn't work make adjustments), and we also learned about ourselves. We learned about the ways we deal with pressure in a close deadline, and we also learned about how we react when people turn down our ideas. In the end I'm happy that we failed, because that means we have room for improvement like all of science, and that proves that we are only human.

See here for the mass, acceleration, etc. for the car.

Summarized:
We started out with the brilliant idea of "sling-shotting" out car across the room with our creation that we (Luke, Madeline, Christian, and I) pet named "The Chicken." Anyway we ended up not using the chicken, and instead we created a car with a sail.

Here you can see a me as Hermione, a blurry Mary Grace, an angry Grey and an equally awkward overly-happy Landon along with "Newton's Apple" our final car that moved a pathetic 1 and a half meters.

Blue Shirt Day?!

2011-01-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

As of a few minutes ago when I got an email from a certain Ashley H. stating that Febuary 22 is blue shirt day. I don't honestly know whether or not to be celebratory towards this new event, for it may be a simple act from all of those color-blue-lovers who think that blue is better than the color green. In that sense I feel I should tell you to wear the color green instead and see which side has the most support. But then again this could be not an act of vengeance or spite against the color green, but more importantly an act of unification. And who couldn't do with a bit more unity in their life? So I say we should do it. Why not? How much more effort does it take to put on a blue shirt rather than a red, green or yellow one? None! If you are going to put on a shirt anyway, why not put on a blue shirt Febuary 22? Anyway, my overall point is that I think that maybe this Ashley H. character was on to something. We could all use a day set aside as a day of unity and support for one another. I'm going to wear a blue shirt on Febuary 22, are you?

Let's Fold Cranes

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

The story of a thousand cranes is an ancient Japanese story about a magical emperor who's people were sick. The people came to him to seek wellness so he in turn said to them, "Fold a thousand cranes and the Gods will grant you a wish." The people did as he said and wished to be well again, and like he said the Gods granted their wish and made them well again.
Another is the story of Sadako Sasaki who lived in Hiroshima, Japan. When she was only two years old her mother and grandmother were with her in their kitchen when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. Her grandmother passed away from Leukemia, and about ten years later Sadako was diagnosed with Leukemia as well. Her time in the hospital was long, so her best friend told her the story of the emperor and taught her how to fold a paper crane. Sadako folded 644 cranes before she passed away, and her classmates folded the rest for her.
These stories may be sad, but that is not the reason why they are told. They are told because they give a fire like tool that envelopes the reader in warmth. It gives you hope. Hope is like an eternal flame that never goes out. It is passed down from generation to generation in thoughts, prayers and stories like these.
This week one of my best friends, Meredith Boyce, was a victim to something beyond our control; she had a seizure. This is a horrible event, that I doubt any of us could have foreseen, foretold or prevented. Meredith is now at MUSC in Charleston where she is in good hands. But while she is in good hands that gives us no reason to continue on like this has not happened, and we won't. Meredith is in the backs of our minds where ever we go, with every step we take our hope burns within us. We are like a giant flaming 8th grade! We can't help but think of Meredith and so we cast our light of hope out across the state to our classmate and friend who needs every bit of hope we can rally.
These stories show us that hope can go a long way and can be exhibited in many forms. Meredith deserves our hope and our support every waking moment, so I challenge you. All of you 8th graders, and any other griffins or friends alike, to take a stand and join me in folding a thousand cranes to send to Meredith to remind her that even though we are not physically with her, we are with her in spirit.

Snow Man/Thing/Creature Competition

2011-01-13T14:28:00.000-08:00

Ok so after literally hours of working on it, here is my submission. I'm sorry If it is a little late, by we were having computer issues.

It is a griffin, Traistanoucus,surrounded by a snow fort. The snow fort was composed mainly of ice layers that we shoveled off the top surface of the snow in our yard. Creating this piece was incredibly difficult, from the cold to ice as a building block in place of snow and little brothers who can be difficult I'm happy that it is completed.

Special thanks to Logan and Ian who helped me in the beginning, and to my dad who took the picture in the end.

My yard...

2011-01-10T06:04:00.000-08:00

The soccer goal was the only thing not covered!
The poor bushes!
Above is a sky-light that has become a snow-light.
Ah, the falling flakes.
My yard through the window early this morning.

Possible humanitas project...

2010-12-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.charitywater.org/whywater/ <---Check it out :), while it may not directly affect our community, it is a huge ordeal in the global one.

Atoms Throughout the Ages

2010-12-12T11:51:00.001-08:00

I posted this picture back in September, and now I am about to finish what I started.

Jesseca M. Kusher

Teacher S. Harrelson

4^th Period Science

12 December 2010

The Atom Models Throughout the Ages

Since the beginning of time mankind has always questioned the world and its surroundings. It has questioned everything from lightning to nanotechnology, and because of these questions mankind has evolved to become an incredibly intelligent species. Yet we still have flaws in our answers, and we probably will always question the answers we have. This process of question asking can be considered one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments; the scientific method. Through the scientific method mankind has come far. One example of how the scientific method has helped scientists throughout the ages achieve greatness is the way the model of the atom has adapted and changed with the input and thought of many generations.

Back many centuries ago, before the scientific method was created a single man broke the status quo and strayed from the path of mythology; Democritus. Democritus lived around 430 B.C.E. and was the first person to think theoretically about the scientific qualities of life and nature without attributing them to a mythical being or phenomenon. Democritus went along to create a name for one of the smallest building blocks of matter. Democritus decided to call the smallest form of building block to be called an atom because atomos meant uncuttable in Greek. So at this point the scientific method had reached no farther than the hypothesis stage, and the atomic model had gotten no further than a name; but as the scientific method grew and more steps were added so did the atomic model.

Centuries later the scientific method stood steady as a rock. One by one scientists took their spot in the limelight with their new atom models. First John Dalton took the stage, and with him he brought a pool-ball-like model. Next came J.J. Thomson in 1897 with a muffin-like-model where positive and negatively charged particles where like berries inside of a muffin; thus thoroughly scattered. Latter on in 1911 Ernest Rutherford claimed his five-minutes-of-fame with his creation of the “peach pit” model in which the center was positively charged and the “flesh” surrounding it was negatively charged. Only two years later in 1913 Niels Bohr took the stage with a model unlike all of the ones previous, an onion model. His model had a nucleus like Ernest Rutherford’s model, but it also had little particles called electrons that orbited the nucleus in orbitals. Soon afterwards in 1932 James Chadwick built on to the onion model to conclude that it was made up of tiny particles called protons and neutrons. Finally after centuries of hard work the atom model stands on stage with Erwin Schrodinger who still stands there with his “cotton candy” model where the electrons orbit the nucleus in a strange cloud where they are constantly popping in and out of existence.

After having had changed for centuries now, twenty years from now another scientist will take the stage. The model of the atom has been evolving for centuries now, and it is not done yet. With the production of new technology and the work of many scientists the model of the atom we have now will someday be looked back upon in the same way we see Dalton’s now. The people of the future will look back at it and think, “What were they thinking?” The people will laugh at our basic scientific understanding of the world and its surroundings. A least our generation of scientists will not be the first or last to be replaced upon the stage of science by another more intellectually evolved thinker than ourselves.

Overall mankind and its model of the atom have come far. It still has a long way to go, but mankind has come far. Imagine that only a few centuries ago lighting was attributed to Zeus, a Greek god. Now science has traveled from pure speculations to speculations with data created via experimentation. From the beginning of time mankind has questioned life, and now some answers unfold themselves, now the model of the atom looks like a lump of cotton candy; whether this is the truly idealistic model of an atom or not only time can tell. Time and the scientific method will help yet another generation of scientists achieve greatness.

How do we know about electrons if they are so tiny?

2010-12-12T07:36:00.001-08:00

First of all that's a great question. How do we know about electrons if they are so tiny and small? We had to have discovered them at some point in history in order to know about them now; but when? And how? What experiments were tested to come to the conclusion that there are many little negatively charged particles buzzing around an atom?

To explain this simply, we know about electrons because of protons.

To explain not-so-simply:

Ever since J.J. Thomson's model of the atom back in 1897, probably even before that, scientists have known that atoms have to be composed of negatively and positively charged particles. In Thomson's model the particles were scattered throughout the atom's mass in a random order like berries in a berry muffin. Later on Rutherford speculated that the nucleus of an atom is positively charged (and he remains to be proven wrong) while the matter surrounding the center is negatively charged. While he was correct in both cases he was still missing the vital fact that the negative matter surrounding the center is moving. The particles surrounding the nucleus are electrons. Electrons pop in and out of the shells that they orbit inside of around the nucleus at random. One minute they are there, the next they could be across the universe for all we know. (That just shows you haw limited our knowledge of the universe is.) Anyway after Niels Bohr James Chadwick changed the atom model forever with his amazing addition; the the neutron.

So by knowing that the nucleus is positively charged and by knowing that atoms are normally neutrally charged we must conclude that a particle such as the electron must exist in order to balance out the electromagnetic charge.

Veggies Galore!

2010-11-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Okay so it may have been a while since Mr. Harrelson announced it, but he's gone vegetarian! In honor of this monumental event "Tree Frog Science" has a new Veggie background for a whole week!

:D Always eat your vegi-tab-le-s.

2010-11-17T16:28:00.000-08:00

Objective 1: Temperature, Thermal Energy and Heat

1. What are the three common temperature scales? Kelvin, Celsius (Centigrade), and Fahrenheit

. 2. How is the thermal energy related to temperature and heat? Thermal energy is the movement of the particles in a substance, temperature is the measure of heat and heat is the transferring of energy from one substance to another by conduction, radiation, and convection.

3. What does having a high specific heat mean? It is the amount of heat that it takes to raise a certain amount of the given substance's temperature by one degree.

4. Why does an ice cube melt in your hand? Your hand transfer's some of it's heat onto/into the ice cube, so it melts.

5. Why do some materials get hot more quickly than othe

rs? Because some substance's specific heat is lower or higher than others.

Objective 2: Scales

1. How do thermometers measure temperature? This liquid inside of a thermometer is colored alcohol (but it used to be mercury) and it is contained within a glass cylindrical tube. When it get heated up, both mercury and alcohol expand. Because of this the liquid in the cylindrical chamber must rise upwards. That is how a thermometer works. Click here for further info.

2. How are the three temperature scales alike? How are they different? To be honest this question confused me. I think Madeline answered it amazingly when she said: The three temperature scales, Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin, are similar because they all measure temperature. However they are different. Fahrenheit has the freezing po

int of 32 degrees and the boiling point of 212 degrees. It is also used by the US and many other amazing, prosperous countries. (Please take this time to note any and all sarcasm) Celsius has a freezing of 0 degrees and a boiling point of 100 degrees. It is used by any country in the world that is not called Jamaica, Belize, Palau, USA, or Liberia. Therefore it is used by Canada. Kelvin is used to measure massive amounts of heat or very cold temperatures. The freezing point is 253 degrees and the boiling point is 353 degrees.

Thank you Madeline! :)

3. Convert 5.0 C to Fahrenheit. 41 ^o Fahrenheit.

4. The surface temperature on the planet Venus can reach 860 F. Convert this temperature to degrees Celsius. 460^o C.

5. How much heat is required to raise the temp

erature of 5 kg’s of water by 10 K? 209,000 J.

Objective 3: The Transfer of Heat

1. What are the three forms of heat transfer? conduction, radiation, and convection

2. In what direction does heat move? up 3. How are conductors and insulators different?
Conductors

transfers thermal energy well
is a metal like silver and stainless steel
is cold to the touch
ionicly bonded

Insulators

doesn't transfer thermal energy well
is covalently bonded

4. Would a copper pipe work better as a conductor or insulator?

Why do you think so? A conductor because it is a metal like silver and stainless steel, it is cold to the touch, and ionicly bonded.

5. Suppose you are camping on a mountain, and the air temperature is very cold. How would you keep warm? Would you build a fire or set up a tent? Write an explanation for each action you would take. Tell whether conduction, convection or radiation is involved with each heat transfer.

Suppose you are Harry Potter, Ron Weasly or Hermione Granger, and you are out and about looking for Horcruxes along the countryside and forests of Great Brittan and it's surrounding land. At the same time you are running away from Death Eaters in a magical tent. One day you are camped in Scotland (I know it's a while away from your destination, but deal with it, you have a wand) and it is COLD. So cold that you can remember a simple spell to clean the earwax from your purple-with-frostbite ears. :) So you have to act like a Muggle and somehow get on to the internet where you find a website (or blog such as this one) where an 8th grade science teacher has asked his American students a simple question:
The air temperature is very cold, how would you keep warm?
Then you read the student's answer, "First I would create a shelter to protect me from the cold, this would be conduction energy because the tent and it's blankets within would transfer their heat to me without moving. Then I would light a fire (outside the tent) this would be an example of radiation because the fire would be radiating heat by means on electro-magnetic energy. Then I would get up and do a few jumping jacks to get my blood pumping and heat me up furthermore. This would be an example of convection because I'd be moving around." Then you would close the internet page and chuckle about the Muggle's small viewpoint on the world, you'd then set up your tent, light a fire with your wand, do a few jumping jacks; then finally remember the spell that removes earwax. Then you would sit down in your magical tent and sigh, silently thanking the 8th grader and her science teacher.

Objective 4: Thermal Energy and Matter

1. What causes matter to change state? Matter changes it's state when put under a certain amount of heat (specific heat), or a certain amount of heat is released.

2. What happens to a substance as thermal energy increases? It's temperature increases, possibly resulting in the matter changing states.

3. Why does the temperature of matter remain the s

ame while the matter changes state? Ok so from what I understand the temperature of a given piece of matter stays the same in a state change because the energy that would regularly change the temperature is then being used to convert the given matter's state. Now I'm going to try to give you an analogy that makes sense. So say that I decide to run a 5k. (Ha ha I'm putting those Xcountry skills to the test!) While running that 5k I get very tired, when normally at that point in the day I'm energetic and cheerful. This is like the bit about state change a temperature because I'm using the energy that would normally keep me at a normal state to do something that physically (and mentally) pushes my body.
Now please don't ask me how I made that connection or analogy, I have no clue.

4. What causes a solid to melt? A solid melts because

it has reached its specific heat. For ice that is 2,060J.

5. Why should you poke holes in a potato before baking it? Because a baked potato is like a sack of water, when put in the microwave the water vaporizes and expands. If you did not poke holes in your potato before you put in in the microwave it would explode because of the pressure built up inside of the potato under the radiation of the microwave.

Objective 5: Using Heat http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=about_forms_of_energy-forms <---Awesome helpful website, and it's .gov!!!!!! :D

<---1. How do heat engines use thermal energy? Well from my limited knowledge of engines the thermal energy is what powers the engine. No joke. You'd think that there was more to it (and their probably is) but what basically happens is: the pistons move form each other's force of upward movement. The pistons themselves are thrust upwards by the mini- explosions that gasoline makes when ignited beneath the engine.

2. How are internal combustion engines different from external combustion engines? How are they similar? Ok I'm going to be entirely honest: engines confuse me. With all of their valves and pistons and other stuff with names I forget. I'm also a very visual person, so it helps for me to see diagrams, and so far I've found one helpful diagram on the web. I'm sorry I'm rambling, but here's my best answer:

Two examples of interior and exterior combustion engines are a car and (steam) train. Inside a car you have and internal engine where the heat source is inside the machine. In a train you have the exact opposite kind of engine where the heat source is outside the machine. (Those are their differences.) Now their similarities are

A) they are both engines

and B) they both have a heat source that generates their energy.

3. Why do you think modern cars use internal rather than external combustion engines? If a car had an exterior combustion engine you'd have to shovel coal into it on your way to work every morning.

4. What changes of state occur in the refrigerant of a refrigerator? Firstly I think it is necessary to define the word refrigerant. The word refrigerant loosely defined as a liquid commonly used in cooling systems to keep them cool. The refrigerant inside a refrigerator moves in a cycle in which it evaporates into a gas, and then it condenses into a liquid.

5. If the compressor in a refrigerator stopped working, how would its failure affect the heat transfer cycle? Suddenly the cycle would be only in a gaseous state, which would stop it from cooling off the fridge's inside.

Objective 6: In Hot Water Lab----- See more in class tomorrow. (And in my lab notebook.)

Goal: Build a containter for a 355 mL aluminum can that keeps water hot.

Your container must: - minimize the loss of thermal energy from the hot water - be built from materials approved by Mr H - have insulation no thicker than 3 cm. - not use electricity or heating chemicals (hand warmers, etc)

With a group of classmates or yourself, brainstorm different materials that prevent heat loss. Write a plan for how you will test these materials. Include a list of things you will test when doing your tests. Test out your ideas to determine the best insulating materials. Keep a log of your results in your lab notebook. Then bring the device to class!

2010-11-10T09:49:00.000-08:00

Objective 1: Measuring Matter

1. Why is mass more useful than weight for measuring matter? In my opinion mass is more useful than weight for measuring matter because you can exactly weigh a gas, but you can determine it's mass from the container it is in.

2. A plastic box is 15.3 cm long, 9.0 cm wide and 4.5 cm high. What is the volume? Include units. It is 619.65 cm^3

3. What is the unit of measurement for density? Density can be written as g/cm^3.

4. Please write the formula for finding density. Density is equal to M/V = Mass/Volume = g/cm^3.

5. What is the formula for finding volume? Volume's formula is lwh or in other words length times width times height.

Objective 2: Changes in Matter

1. What is the main difference between a physical change and a chemical change? To quote Wikipedia, "A physical change is any change not involving a change in the substance's chemical identity." So in other words the substance simply changes in something like mass or weight.
A chemical change is just about the exact opposite. In a chemical change you are dealing with chemical energy, which includes handling the bonds between atoms.

I hope that covers the basics for that question.

2. What are the four ways that chemical changes can occur? They can occur in a precipitate experiment, when the color changes, the smell changes and when the temperature changes.

3. What is the Law of Conservation of Mass? Who created the law? To quote Yahoo Answers "Mass cannot be created or destroyed." And it was created by the great Lavoisier. (I'm sorry I keep quoting sites and people, but sometimes it's hard to put these answers in a phrase of words that makes sense!)

4. How are temperature and thermal energy different? From what I've read here on the wonderful yet horrible internet the main difference is best expressed with two diagrams:

Hope you can read that! :)

5. Please give an example of an exothermic reaction and an endothermic reaction. Exothermic reactions are reactions that emit heat, while endothermic emit the opposite; cold particles. One example of an exothermic reaction is the digestive system; examples of an endothermic reactions are the hot/cold packs that just about everyone used at one in our life to treat a sports injury or pain.

Objective 3: Energy and Matter

1. What are some of the forms of energy related to changes in matter? Chemical and thermal are two. Chemical = the changing of an object's molecular structure, thus its matter changes while thermal energy could result in something such as ice cream literally changing states of matter.

2. A rolling bowling ball has kinetic energy. (As well as potential and a few others such as thermal [if it is rolling in the sun].)

3. A bowling ball sitting still has (mainly) potential energy.

4. What is electromagnetic energy? Electromagnetic energy is energy of radiation. "When Maxwell’s TV is on it emits low levels of radiation or electromagnetic energy. Electromagnetic energy is basically defined as one of the four “fundamental interactions of nature” to quote Wikipedia. Electromagnetic energy is the energy of radiation, and deals with electric and magnetic fields. Electromagnetic energy is the energy that holds the very bonds inside of atoms together. Without it Maxwell would cease to exist." (Taken from my test question from this week.)

5. What is the energy of electrons moving from one place to another? Please give an example. The energy of traveling electrons is electricity! When Maxwell turns on the TV he is presenting an example of electrical energy. (Taken from my test question from this week.)

Objective 4: State Changes

1. How does the thermal energy of particles at a warmer temperature compare to the thermal energy of particles at a cooler temperature? On a warm day the thermal energy from the sun heats the air particles and makes the them become very hyper, while when it is a cool day the particles are slower because they have less thermal energy generated by the sun. Note that thermal energy is measured (like temperature) in the average.

2. Why does ice cream melt on a warm summer day? Ice cream melts on a warm summer day because: solidified ice cream matter absorbs some of the air's thermal energy and its particles become a bit more "hyper." This causes the state of matter to change from a solid to a liquid in the heat, and if you observed it long enough as a puddle on the sidewalk, you'd see that it would then vaporize and become a gas.

3. What does the melting point of particles have to do with vibrating particles? Particles vibrate and are "hyper" when they have melted and then vaporized, becoming gases.

4. When does condensation occur? Condensation occurs when the air particles on the outside of a glass are cooler than the substance within the glass (or vice versa); this creates water droplets to form on the outside of the glass.

5. Sublimation results under which conditions? If the triple point pressure is higher than atmospheric, then it is solid ---> gas. If the triple poiint pressure is less than atmospheric

pressure, then the reaction is solid ---> liquid ---> gas.

Objective 5: Boyle’s Law (Click Here for More Info)

1. What relationship is described by Boyle’s Law? Boyle's law states that when pressure increases, volume decreases; when volume increases pressure decreases. I look at it like a giant see-saw, with P on one side and V on the other. When one goes up in the air the other has no choice but to fall to earth. This law is called an inverse relationship.

2. Why do scientists only HALF fill high-altitude balloons? Scientists fill atomospheric balloons only half way because when they go farther up in the atomosphere the presure on the inside of the ballon increases. If scientists were to fill them up all the way- they'd pop before they gathered any information.

See my Friday the 12th test for further details on why they expand.

3. What is the formula for Boyle’s Law? Boyle's formula is: PV=K.

4. How does Boyle’s Law apply to physicians? One example of this applying to physicians is when they take blood pressure. We've all had them do it to us once or twice - so we all know what happens. They put a cuff on your arm and squeeze the pump- expanding the volume of the cuff and applying a greater amount of presure to your arm. So as the volume of the cuff goes up the amount of preasure on your arm goes up and vice versa.

5. SCUBA divers rely on Boyle’s Law for what purposes? As SACUBA divers (like my dad!) go father under water the amount of preasure on them increases. It is important for them to have commpressed air tanks because of this. The deeper they go the less "air" there is in their tanks. This is important because if they do not regulate and watch their "presure dials" carefully they could drown.

Objective 6: Charles’ Law (Click Here for More Info)

1. What is Charles’ Law? Charle's law states that when volume goes down, temperature goes down and the other way around.

2. As the temperature of a gas increases, the gas molecules move more quickly.

3. Who was the first person to fly in a hydrogen balloon? J.A.C. Charles of course.

4. What happened to Charles’ balloon after his first flight in 1783? When Charles's first hydrogen balloon took flight it stayed up in the air for about an hour- then landed about 15 miles from Paris where a group of terrified peasants attacked it. :D Isn't that a bit odd? They thought it was some kind of evil demon! Latter on King Louis XVI had to create a decree that explained to the peasants what the balloons were and NOT TO ATTACK THEM.

5. What factor is kept unchanged when demonstrating Charles’ Law? In Charles's law pressure must remain constant.

www.worldofteaching.com/powerpoints/chemistry/Charles_%20Law.ppt

Mg's and Jesseca's EPIC Precipitate Experiment Part II

2010-10-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here is part II to the Epic Precipitate experiment between Copper Sulfate and Sodium Hydroxide vs Silver Nitrate and Sodium Hydroxide...

You are about to see the observation/experiment segments of this experiment. I'm sorry If it's a bit out of order but in Part III you will get to learn about our hypothesis and other info I left out in parts I and II. So here it is:

Below is the Silver Nitrate and Sodium Hydroxide Precipitate experiment about a minute after it was stirred. You can see that the Silver Nitrate dissolved and how it looks to be nothing but harmless water. But also note that drinking it could result in a severe belly ache- and most likely worse consequences.

To the right you can see the beginning of the Copper Sulfate and Sodium Hydroxide experiment. Look at the odd bubbles at the bottom of the test tube!

Here's Mr. Harrelson "stirring" the Copper Sulfate and Sodium Hydroxide experiment.

Above we have Mr. Harrelson closely examining the experiment while Mary Grace and I (out of frame) have our fingers crossed that something will happen in the experiment... We are not very patient.

Above we have the Copper Sulfate and sodium Hydroxide experiment... This is a great picture because you can really see the basic 4 layers in this experiment. First there is the condensed water on the sides of the glass, then you can clearly see the Sodium Hydroxide that turned blue from the Copper Sulfate, next comes the putty-like layer where the two ingredients creates a solid- thus completing the bit of the experiment that give it the name "precipitate" experiment (see part I), and finally we can clearly see the pieces of Copper Sulfate that did not dissolve*.

Below is the Silver Nitrate and Sodium Hydroxide experiment, and while it is not visible in this picture, there were little specs odd some kind of solid forming at the bottom of the test tube. They looked like EXTREMELY fine grains of white/transparent sand.

To the right and below
are the two experiments
beside each other.

To the left you can clearly see the large amount of condensation of the Copper Sulfate and Sodium Hydroxide experiment.

And here you can see the Copper Sulfate and Sodium Hydroxide experiment from and aerial view. Doesn't I appear to be glowing? :)

*Note that we were inspired to do this experiment from this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAeOP2MfrDY&feature=related

and didn't notice that Silver Nitrate and Copper Sulfate are not normally in liquid form... So while our experiment did create solids, it was technically not two liquids creating a solid and so we failed. :( But in the process we did learn what precipitate experiments are- which is good even though (due to bad planning on our part) we did not execute the experiment properly.

The Lad Report For Mg's and my Precipitate Experiment...

2010-10-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

So for our experiment we chose to do it under the category of precipitates.

Precipitates are chemical reactions formed from two liquids taht create a solid. For our experiment we did the chemical reaction between Sodium Hydroxide and Silver Nitrate vs Sodium Hydroxide and Copper Sulfate.

We made two different observations for the two of them (that's implied, sorry if I'm redundant) and we got less-than-satisfactory-results. :(

For the first experiment, (Sodium Hydroxide and Silver Nitrate) when we appied activation energy the Sliver Nitrate desolved, created a puff of gas and turned clear.

The second experiment between Sodium Hydroxide and Copper Sulfate reulted in a concoction with a light blue color, in which part of it became a putty-like-substance.

OK... I know that there are no pictures or any more info other than the basic observation notes, but I'm too lazy to play with my camera card right now- so I'll post more in the morning! Consider this part one of the epic precipitate experiment!

DC photos--- at last!!!

2010-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

UGH. It is too early!

But we're in the bus, ready to go anyway.

Rest stop!!

Picnic pals...

Steak for only $12.99???

Hmmmmm.

First view of the Washington Monument!

The Washington Monument.

Our class in front of the Washington Monument.

Our class in front of the Einstein Memorial.

Oh no a burning building!

More photos latter.

2010-09-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Look at it! This is a rock squirel. I've named it Rockael :) If you feel so inclined here are two links for info about little guys like Raphael, opps! I mean Rockael.

1. http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=340
2. http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=MA0197

Meet the Elements

2010-09-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Check out what I found! It's an element song that doesn't make you head spin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0zION8xjbM&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Iron

2010-09-07T17:24:00.001-07:00

The Natural History Museum's Hall of Meteorites contains around 5,000 specimens of meteorites.

Meteorites contain iron.
Iron is a transition metal, and is said to be the most common element on Earth.
Iron is the 4th most common element in the Earth's crust.
Iron is the most commonly used metal.
Iron rusts.
Pure iron is softer than aluminum, yet it is commonly mixed with other metals to create steel structural supports for buildings.
Is able to conduct electricity and heat.

Get this: iron is the 6th most abundant element IN THE UNIVERSE.

Now if that doesn't make this element worthy of the title, "incredibly interesting" then allow me to elaborate...

The extensive use of iron lead to an entire era named the "Iron Age." In the Iron age the element becomes more widespread and is used too create nearly everything. (Everything from jewelry to weapons anyway.) My point is that with the use of the very common element Fe humans were able to create things differently thus civilization evolved.

Who knows?! It may be that with a sword made out of iron someone back then carved a path towards the future discovery/creation of the periodic table.

Okay so I'll admit it. That was not very interesting. Truth be told iron really isn't all that interesting. Other than the fact that iron occasionally plummets down from the sky in the form of meteors it's really boring.

Or is it?

I have to say that all of the elements on the periodic table are interesting. There is a sense of mystery behind it all. I believe only time can truly unravel some of the mysteries, for what is a solved answer if it will be proven wrong in time?

So I leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein,

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Source links:

http://www.facts-about.org.uk/science-element-iron.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron#History

http://www.bu.edu/anep/Ir.html

http://www.amnh.org/ (Note: I lost the exact link due to a computer freeze up, but it came from this website under one of its "subcategories.")

http://thinkexist.com/quotation/imagination_is_more_important_than_knowledge-for/260230.html

Really Awesome NEW Science Technology

2010-09-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

Okay so for this Labor Day weekend I went with my mom and brothers to my Grandparent's house on lake Kiowa. While my mom and I were driving home this evening,we heard this awesome interview on NPR about a ground braking new music video that uses Google Earth to take you on an interactive journey to the house you grew up in.

And yes, I said MUSIC VIDEO.

Check it out! It was breath-taking even to me who has only ever lived in two houses in total all my life. It was amazing, spectacular and just plain wicked. Try it for the house you're in now, or make your parents crowd around the computer as they watch the journey with the address of their house from their childhood. This video is awesome: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ go to it now, or miss out on an awesome experience.

Thales

2010-09-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

Who was Thales?

Thales of Miletus was an ancient philosopher who expanded the way mankind looked on the world by creating science.

What is he known for?

Thales can be called the father of science, for he was the first man to Philosophize without his theories relating back to mythology. It is said that he started the science revolution.

Where did he live?

It is said that he was born in Asia Minor, which is now Turkey.

When did he live?

Thales lived in the 620's BCE to 540's, but it is hard to say exactly.

Atom Size Notes

2010-09-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

atom= 10 to the power of -8cm.

protron (mass)= 1amu

neutron (mass)= 1amu

electron (mass)= 1/836 amu----- It would take about 2,000 electrons to equal the same size as a protron or a neutron.

amu= atomic mass unit

Atoms in the Universe

2010-09-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

There are 1000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000
atoms in the universe.

In other words 10 to the power of 80.

NOTE:
googol= 10 to the power of 100 which is as close as we really come to infinity.
Multiple googlol = googleplex.

Parts of the Atom

2010-09-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Types of Quarks

2010-09-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

Atoms Through out the ages

2010-09-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

Shroedinger vs Democritus

2010-08-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Long, long ago in ancient Ionia, Greece what is now Turkey there was a man named Democritus. Democritus lived around 430 B.C.E. Back in Ionia many of the wealthy men were philosophisers, and they did many "thought experiments" In one of those many "thought experiments" Democritus decided that matter is made up of pieces, building blocks if you will, that are so small they cannot be cut up into smaller pieces.

The word atom meaning "one of the minute indivisible particles of which according to ancient materialism the universe is composed"* comes from the word atomos meaning uncutable. Democritus was on the right track (which is amazing because this was hundreds and hundreds of years ago) but he was still not entirely accurate. You see elements had not been recognized yet, so atoms were described by what they composed. (i.e. table atom, or tree atom.)

Now let's jump to the 1920s.

Not so long ago a man named Eric Shroedinger was praised by Albert Einstein,

"... the idea of your work springs from true genius... "

Now while that quote may have been aimed towards Shroedinger's work on quantum theory (not on the atom), it was in regard to one man: Eric Shroedinger. Born in the year of 1887 in Vienna, Austria Shroedinger loved mathematics early on.

Note: Eric Shroedinger hated homework, but later went on to win a Nobel Prize.

Shroedinger emphasized the need to focus on exactly where the electrons are located rather than prior examining on how electrons move. He worked with the term superpositioning meaning you can be in multiple places at once and have more than one state at once.

(By "you" I did not mean you as a person. I meant electrons: the extremely small, negatively charged particles that orbit an atom's nucleus. Though it would be totally awesome if you were able to be in multiple places at once!)

Under Shroedinger's use of the scientific method he changed the way we look at atoms today. He developed the brilliant atom model below via mathematics and the scientific method.

I give you a purple cotton candy model of an atom!!!

Shroedinger vs Democritus

The main difference between Scroedinger and Democritus's methods of discovery is the actual method behind each of their scientific practices. While Democritus could have sat in a comfortable armchair by the fire leisurely dreaming up particles that "could not be cut again" Shroedinger was slaving away at a chalkboard in a laboratory, doing mathematics calculations. This shows how far we have come as a scientific society, not to say that there is no imagination or leisurely thinking behind science, there is. But what I am trying to say is that we have set our standards higher, making us overall more accurate. By setting our standards higher we use and develop more modern ways of getting things done and thus our knowlage expands.

Below is the scientific method, the main difference between Shroedinger and Democritus's method. Shroedinger used it while it was long after Democritus's time.

*Taken from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atom

Researched at site: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Schrodinger.html

Notes taken in Mr. Harrelson's science class at Spartanburg Day School.

Homework 10

2010-08-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Objective 1: Understanding Solutions

1. What are the characteristics of solutions, colloids, and suspensions
In order of smallest to largest particles:

solutions- particles equally spread

colloids- larger particles; eventually settle out

suspensions- very large particles; settle out quickly

2. What happens to the particles of a solute when a solution forms? The particles are typically mixed with a solvent (solvent is normally in a larger quantity) and the particles dissolve. i.e. sugar water (sugar=solute, water=solvent [water is the universal solvent])

3. How do solutes affect the freezing point and boiling point of a solvent? Solutes lower the freezing point and raise the boiling point of a solvent.

4. Suppose you mix food coloring in water to make it blue. Have you made a solution or solution or a suspension? Explain. I am going to speculate and say that it creates a solution, because the particles are distributed equally. If they weren't equally spread out would the water be entirely blue? I hypothesize that it would not be entirely (visually, without a microscope, magnifying glass, etc.) blue.

5. What effects do solutes have on a solvent’s freezing and boiling points? Solutes lower the freezing point and raise the boiling point of a solvent.

Aren't the questions in red basically asking the same thing?

Objective 2: Concentration and Solubility

1. How is a concentration measured? With the pH scale: 2. Why is solubility useful in identifying substances? If something is soluble, it is defined as a substance that can be dissolved (i.e. sugar); also note that the word solute is very similar to the word soluble. If something is insoluble then it can not be dissolved. This is an important factor in identifying a substance because not all substances are solubles. So by using process of elimination given the information that a substance is able to dissolve scientists are one step closer to identifying the given substance. Science is mainly a process of elimination and guess-and-check.

3. What factors affect the solubility of a substance? Temperature, pressure, polarity, molecule size and activation energy.

4. How does temperature affect the solubility of most solids? Heat starts to break up the bonds in a material, thus helping soluble the given substance.

5. How can solubility help you identify a substance? If something is soluble, it is defined as a substance that can be dissolved (i.e. sugar); also note that the word solute is very similar to the word soluble. If something is insoluble then it can not be dissolved. This is an important factor in identifying a substance because not all substances are solubles. So by using process of elimination given the information that a substance is able to dissolve scientists are one step closer to identifying the given substance. Science is mainly a process of elimination and guess-and-check.

Sorry but once again, can't the two questions in red be answered together?

Objective 3: Describing Acids and Bases

1. What are four properties of acids? They conduct electricity, taste sour, it's properties neutralize when combined with a base, and liberates hydrogen when confronted with active metals. 2. What are four properties of bases? They also conduct electricity, and when confronted with acids their properties are neutralized; unlike acids: they taste bitter and feel slippery to the skin. 3. How can you use litmus paper to distinguish an acid from a base? (Neutral) litmus paper turns red if the given substance it is confronted with is acidic and blue if it is basic (a base). 4. How might you tell if a food contains an acid as one of its ingredients? You can check the label to see if it mentions an acid, or use neutral litmus paper; it will turn red if it is acidic. 5. Why is it wise to wear gloves when spreading fertilizer in a garden? Well at the moment the best reason that comes to mind is the fact that many fertilizes contain animal waste, and no one really wants that on their hands... But I don't think that relates to the subject at hand, which is acids and bases. Based on this answer from Yahoo Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/indexqid=20080508201726AAJBckx some
fertilizers contain weed killers and salts that when absorbed via skin, they can be potentiallydangerous.

Objective 4: Acids and Bases in Solution

1. Which ion is found in acids? a cation

2. Which kinds of ions do acids and bases form in water? Hydroxide atoms are formed.

3. What ions will the acid HNO3 form when dissolved in water? H+ and NO3

4. What does a substance’s pH tell you? It tells whether it is acidic or not.

5. If a solution has a pH of 6, would the solution contain more or fewer hydrogen ions (H+) than an equal volume of solution with a pH of 3? The hydrgen ions will be less because as the acidity increases, the hydroen ions increase as well. and 3 is more acidic than 6 , hence it has more hydrogen ions than 6.
Source:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080509000849AATJmpZ

Objective 5: Digestion and pH

1. What are the two parts of digestion?

2. How do those two parts differ?

3. People who have lost most of their teeth may have trouble chewing their food. How does this affect their digestive process?

4. What is the pH in your mouth? Stomach? Small intestine?

5. Why are pH variations in different parts of the digestive system important to the process of digestion?

Objective 6: Key Terms

Define:

1. Acids are particles which in a solution, have a pH less than 7, and are able to accept a pair of electrons from a base; as well as give a base a proton.

2. Neutralization is a process that happens when an acid and a base are combined, and it results in both the acid and base loosing some or all of their properties.

3. An indicator is a tool in chemistry such as litmus paper that shows whether a substance has a high concentration of a chemical or whether the chemical is present in the substance at all.

4. When something is corrosive it has the ability to destroy or erode a substance. In chemistry acids are corrosive because they basically erode active metals, thus creating hydrogen.

5. Hydroxide ions are also known as hydroxyls. Hydroxyls are negatively charged atoms create by a Hydrogen and Oxygen link/covalent bond.

Extra Credit.... Hg, the awesomest element

2010-08-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

On average there are,

Protons: 80

Neutrons: 121

electrons: 80

in a mercury atom.

Now here is the way I determined this:

Protons= atomic number

Electrons= atomic number

Neutrons (neutral charge)= rounded atomic mass - atomic number

Note that protons give off positive charge, while electrons give off negative, so there are (correct me if I'm wrong) normally equal counts of each.

So the atomic number is 80, and the atomic mass is 200.59.

201-80=121 =) all done!

My Family's Trip To Monhegean Island

2010-08-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

Every year my family and I pack our bags, and fly up north to Maine for three weeks. There, we spend our days on a little island called Monhegean. On Monheagan the islanders don't use cars. We walk everywhere.Because we go back there every year (my parents have been going for about 20 years and my great Aunt and Uncle even longer) we have acquired quite a few friends, both islanders and vacationers alike. My brother and his friend Taylor set up jobs at one of the local inns as "bell boys" earning money while caring people's luggage up to their rooms.

On Monhegean we hike, swim (in freeezing cold waters, brrrr), pick wild berries and make pie! Many plants grow wild on Monhegean such as: rubbarb, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries (the wild ones are soooo small!), blackberries, and service berries.
While on the island my brothers and I take advantage of our dad being a Marine Biologist and explore all the way from the tide pools to the cliffs, asking him many questions along the way.

Overall Monhegean is the best vacation place on Earth. It has something for everybody: views, local and famous resident artists, lobster, fresh berries, ocean, fairy house building in the Cathedral Woods (local tradition) and cute little shops such as "The Black Duck" and "The Barnacle."

I love Monhegean!!!

Psyched About Science

2010-08-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, it's me Jesseca here! And I just wanted to say...

Who is psyched about science?

I sure am!