November 25, 2008

To start off today's class we discussed our "Bell-Ringer" projects and all of our questions were answered. Dr. E, your husband is in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope he feels better soon!

Then, we did a lab called "The Tuning Fork." I enjoyed this lab because it was a good visual aid that helped me to actually see the vibrations that create sound. We dipped the ends of the tuning fork into a cup of water and found that just as the tips of the tuning fork hit the water, the water splatted out of the cup. We also touched the ends of the tuning fork to the edge of a piece of paper, and it made the paper ripple and make a "buzzing" sound. Then we touched the ends of the tuning fork to our cheeks to feel the vibrations. Finally we heald the tuning fork to a ping pong ball that was hanging on a string. The vibrations made the ping pong ball bounce.

The next part of the lab was taking a hollow tube and have one person hold the tuning fork at one end while the other person listens at the other end. You can hear a high pitched noise from the vibrations of the tuning fork.

Overall this was a great aid to help the class understand the material covered in the chapters!

Class 11/20/08

In today's class we covered what our "Bell Ringer" final projects were supposed to be about. I am really happy that we are doing another project vs. having a final test. I think projects are more beneficial because they are hands on. Finals just require memorization, and then you can for get about the information after you take the test. Then, we covered part of our reading guide, which was also helpful because I am having trouble understanding electric currents. Dr. E gave many demonstrations in class on how electrons are transfered, and it helped me to see exactly what the book is talking about. Finally, we started working on a lab called " Electroscope." We made an electroscope by using plastic tape and haning it from straws. The tape can gain or lose electrons when you stick it to a surface and rip it off. By suspending the pieces of tape on the straws and holding the balloon up to them, we could tell which pieces of tape were positively or negatively charged. We haven't had time to finish the experiment yet, but we will next class period!

November 18 2008

No Class Today.
Instead of having class today, we were to do two simulations about electric currents. The one I chose to do under the "Electricity and Magnet Simulations" tab on D2l was called "Balloons and Static Electricity." I was able to rub a balloon against a sweater containing bothe positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons. When I rubbed the balloon on the sweater, I found that all of the electrons moved onto the balloon. On the other end of the screen was a wall with positive and negative ions. After I got the ballon to contain all of the negative ions from the sweater, I moved it to the wall and it stuck to it. It stuck to the wall because all of the negative ions on the wall moved away from where the balloon was sticking.
I could not get the "Electric Circuit Construction Kit" to work on my computer, so I just decided to do another simulation from the "Electricity and Magnet Simulations" tab. I chose the simulation called "Johntravoltage." I rubbed John Travolta's foot on the carpet and watched his body fill up with electrons. If I didn't rub his foot enough, then he didnt shock the door because there wasnt enough electrons in his body. When his body filled with electrons, his finger shocked the door because the electrons transfered from his finger to the door. These simulations are helpful because they give us a visual of what the book is talking about, and it makes it easier to understand.

November 13 Class Session

We did not have class on Tuesday due to Veteran's day, so today was our first day back in class since Thursday, November 6th. In today's class time, we started over on the lab that we started last week Thursday. It was called "A Good Soxk." The main objectives for the lab were to :
- Learn how to better use and understand the Logpro Computer Device
-Determine change in temperature
- Compare the insulating properties of cotton and wool.

My group found that the bottle with the wool sock on changed less in temperature than the bottle with no sock on it. The bottle with the cotton sock on it changed less in temperature than the bottle covered with the wet cotton sock. We found that overall, the wool sock is a better insulator than the cotton sock, because it slowed down the transfer of heat better.
We can apply this lab to real life situations such as should you wear wet clothing in cold weather. The answer to this is no! You shouldn't wear wet clothing in cold weater because you will get colder faster! Overall, it was an informative lab because I learned how to run the logpro computer device better!

Class November 6th 2008

In todays class, we covered our reading guides. I enjoy doing this with Dr. E so that way I can make sure all of my answers are right before I take the quiz. We went through the reading guide really fast, so I am not exactly sure if I fully understand every concept, but we will see after I take the quiz later on tonight. We started doing a lab towards the end of class, but didn't get much time to work on it. The lab is called "A Good Sock." Next class period, we will be comparing the insulating properties of cotton and wool to see which one keeps the water in the water bottle warmer.

Class Novermber 4th

In today's class, we talked about specific heat, and thermal energy. I found Dr. E's lecture to actually be interesting because it was a topic I could understand and relate to. We learned that thermal energy is the total of all the kinetic and potential energy of all of the particals in a substance. (more mass = more heat)(as kinetic energy increases- speed increases)(as potential energy increases-separation increases). We also learned that heat is the flow of thermal energy from one object to another. Heat always flows from warm to less warm objects. I learned that when talking in scientific terms, one is never to say "colder." One is to say "less warm." Then we talked about the rate of cooling. The rate of cooling of an object- whether by conduction, convection, or radiation- is approximately proportional to the temperature difference between the object and its surroundings. Rate of cooling is also known as Newton's law of cooling. An example of this is holding an ice cube in your hand. After a while, the ice cube will melt because the heat from your hand transfers to the ice cube, while the coldness of the ice cube transfers to your hand, in turn cooling down your hand. Another example is holding a cup of coffee in your hand. The cup of coffee will eventually cool off while your hand will get very hot because the cup of coffee is warmer than the temperature of your hand. Overall, an interesting and informative class session!

Class 10/30/08

In today's class, the rest of the class presented their lesson plans. My group presented our lesson plan today and I think we did a good job. The other groups also did great. I learned a lot through everyone's lesson plans and I now have many good ideas for science lesson plans for my classroom. I also now understand how important safety is, especially in an elementary classroom. You have to be very specific with your students in what they can and can not do, because it is your responsibility to keep them safe during each experiment.

Class 10/28/08

In today's class, we started presenting our lesson plans to the class. We got through about four experiments, and I found them all to be very interesting and grade-level appropriate. My group has gotten together a couple of times to work on our experiment out of class. I think we are well prepared for our presentation on thursday. I am happy we did these lesson projects instead of a midterm test because it is more beneficial, we learn more, and we take away many experiments we can do with our students some day!

Class 10/23/08

In today's class, we covered density, pressure, and force. Dr. E gave an example of airplane wings. She said that velocity above the wings is slower and velocity underneath the wings is higher. We also talked alot about density today. Density= mass/volume. Dr. E gave a great example of density by describing clay. If you break a little piece of clay off a big block of clay, it is still the same density, it just has less volume. We also learned that lead is one of the most dense substances. Next, We did a mini-lab to find out how to put the most pressure on a sheet of paper using your body. Our group found out that if you stand on one leg on your tip-toes, you will apply the most pressure to the sheet of paper (16.129 lbs of presure per square inch). A practical example of pressure is massage therapy. If a massage therapist uses her whole hand on your back, it will not apply as much pressure as if she were to use her elbow or her thumbs. Overall, I learned alot about pressure and density in today class session.

Class 10/21/08

The first topic of today's class was buoyancy effects. We watched a simulation that had a weight hanging from a scale. Below that was a beaker of water on a scale. The weight hanging from the scale weighed 10 grams, and the beaker of water on the scale weighed 200 grams. We lowered the weight into the beaker of water. As the weight lowered into the water, the scale holding the weight got less, and the scale holding the beaker weighed more. This is due to the amount of water that was being displaced as the weight went into the beaker. Finally, the weight sunk to the bottom of the beaker and the scale on top held no weight, but the scale holding the beaker weighed 210 grams. This was a very interesting simulation.
Then we did a short lab about force. We put a ping pong ball in a class with a funnel. We blew on the opposite end of the funnel from us and the egg jumped into the cup that was right next to it. We determined that the egg jumped out of the first glass because of the air pressure we excerted upon it. The air travels underneath the egg causing it to pop up and jump into the other glass. We determined that you cannot place the glasses very far apart for the ping pong ball to jump into it. The farther apart the glasses, the harder you have to blow. We also determined that if you blow on the near side of the egg, the egg pops up and down but doesnt switch cups. This is because the force is at equilibrium. In conclusion, the force is in direct proportion to the length.
After the lab, our groups got together to finish outlining our midterm projects. Our group is meeting later on this week to test our project.

Class: 10/16/08

In today's class we covered the guidelines for our midterm project. We also used the class period to figure out what we wanted our lesson to be. We were required to outline our lesson plan that we will be teaching for the midterm project. I am in a group with Jessica Anderson and Dani Balahmann. We chose to do a 4th grade project about conductors and insulators. We are using styrofoam cups, soup cans, plastic cups, and dry ice. We will be placing small amounts of dry ice in each container. We will wait for approximately 5 minutes and then observe how much melting happened in each cup. The cup with the most melting will be the best conductor (the metal soup can). The cup with the least melting will be the best insulator (the styrofoam cup). We will also be focusing on the saftey precautions we will have to take because we will be working with dry ice and the sharp edges of a soup can. I am excited about this project because it will be much more fun and informative than taking a midterm exam.

Class 10/14/08

In class today, we went over the midterm project again. We were informed that on Thursday we will be having a "work day," where we can work with our partners to develop an outline of our project idea. I think the midterm project will be fun and very beneficial. After the presentations, we will have plenty of lesson plans to take with us as we continue throughout or teaching careers. After discussing the midterm project, we finished going over the reading guide for chapters 3, 4, and 5. This is also helpful because then we know if we have the write answers for when we take the quiz. I just finished the quiz and thought that the reading guide helped to some extent. I think the book is more helpful when taking the quiz; however, the reading guide has questions similar to that on the quiz, they are just worded differently.

Kepler's Laws: Simulation

Today we did not have our Physical Science class. Instead, we were required to play around with a simulation about Kepler's Laws. Kepler's Laws descirbe the motion of planets in the solar system. Kepler's astronomical laws include:
The first law says:"The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci."
The second law says:"A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time."
The third law says: "The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the cubes of the axes of the orbits. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler's_laws_of_planetary_motion

I found the Kepler simulation very hard to understand. Reading this information on wikipedia helped me to somewhat understand what was going on. The simulation shows you how the planets orbit the sun. Overall I was very confused and didn't understand the simulation! Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

Class 10/7/08

Today in class we covered the midterm project. I think it should be a good experience for everyone because we will get a feel for what it is like to teach a lesson. It will also help us think about coordinating a lesson plan to an appropriate grade level. I think it is great that we are supposed to teach about safety precautions, because that is very important when it comes to science and labs. We also went over our reading guides for chapters 3,4 and 5. I had a couple of questions that I didn't get, but we will finish going over the guide on Tuesday next week before the quiz. It was helpful to go over the questions just to make sure we have the right answers, so that we do well on the quiz.

Class 10/2/08

Today was our first day back in class for about a week. After answering more D2L questions, we discussed projectile motion. Dr. E showed us a cannon simulation from the internet. We shot the cannon at a 90 degree angle, only to find that the cannon shot straight up and came back down due to the forces of gravity. Then we shot the cannon at a 75 degree angle. Its path was in the shape of a parabola (parabolic path). Dr. E explained that the virtical direction is by acceleration due to gravity. The horizontal direction of motion is constant. Next, we tested a 45 degree angle, only to find that this shoots the cannon ball the farthest distance in the x direction (horizontally). After the simulation, we made paper airplanes in order to find out which design had the longest hang time. Our group found that the flatter the airplane was, the longer the hang time. Our airplane was pretty flat, and it seemed to float in the air. Our other designs, that were not as flat, seemed to take a nose dive as soon as they took off. Overall, class today was a good learning experience, althought I did not understand the inverse square law we talked about at the begining of class.

Roshashana Online Assignment

We did not have class again today, but we were required to do an online assignment. The Roshashana online assignment involoved hanging different sizes of weights on springs that are hanging from a wall. It was interesting because we had a ruler we could move around to meausre how far the springs went down after hanging the different sized weights on them. You could also adjust the time. By adjusting the time to 1/4 time, the springs moved down slower. By adjusting the time to 1/16 time, the springs moved down even slower than before.
You can also adjust the friction. When there is no friction, the springs keep bouncing up and down when you hang a weight on them. When there is alot of friction it barely bounces at all. By adjusting the softness of the springs, you can see how different sized springs are affected by the weights. By making the spring really hard (or thick), it is not affected much by even the heaviest weights, and barely even moves when you hang the smallest weight on it.
You can also show the engergy of each of the three springs on a chart. I hung a different sized weight on each of the springs and showed a chart of all three of them. The total energy is higher when you hang a heavier weight on the springs. The lighter the weight, the less the total energy. My favorite part of the Roshashana assignment was seeing how the weights would affect the springs on Earth, the Moon, Jupiter, and Planet x. For example, if you were to hang a weight on a spring on the moon, the spring barely moves even after hanging the most heavy weight on it. This is due to the lack a gravity on the moon. Overall, I enjoyed the Roshashana Online Assignment.

Web Seminar 9/25/08

We did not have physical science class today. Instead we were required to watch a web seminar put on by NSTA. I was not that excited about the web seminar, because I did not know anything about astronomy, but it actually ended up being interesting and very beneficial. I was new to elluminate, but it is actually really cool how you can talk to people from all over the country. Learning how to use elluminate was the most beneficial part of the web seminar, for me, because I needed to learn how to use it for my Basic Skills in Technology (TET200) course. Some of the things I learned from the web seminar included:
-The most common element found in stars is Hydrogen.
-A star is born in the Orion Nebula.
-Stars die by explosion, producing black holes.
-I also got good ideas on how to teach my future students about astronomy!
I really liked Robert; he was very helpful in teaching us how to navigate through elluminate. I also thought it was cool how he could poll the audience and then put all the results together into a chart.
Overall, I enjoyed the astronomy seminar more than I thought I would. I have one more science class to take for my major, and it just might be astronomy!

Class 9/23/08

Today in class, we went over how to use D2l and how to post our web address for our blog on the wiki page. This was probably helpful for those students that are new to D2l. I have had alot of practice with it because I took an online course this summer. We also started to cover our reading guides for the prologue, chapter 1, and chapter 2. This was helpful because we could make sure we had the right answers before we sat down to take the quiz. I just finished the quiz, and I thought I should have done better. Also, I should not have taken the quiz again because I did worse the second time and the scores are averaged out.

"Graphing Your Motion" Part 2

Today we continued with the "Graphing Your Motion" lab. Part B was mostly about velocity vs. time graphs. Again, we placed masking tape on the ground at every meter mark until we reached four meters away from the Vernier Motion Detector. Then, I stood at the one meter mark until my partners pressed the collect button. I then slowly walked backwards toward the four meter mark. The graph peaked and declined. The humps on the graph were big and spread apart. The next test was the same, only faster. The second graph had a different scale, and the humps were vey small and close together. By having this knowledge, I can assume what a graph would look like if I was walking very slow, or if I were running.

"Graphing Your Motion" Lab

On Tuesday, September 16, we preformed a lab that helped us to interpret motion graphs. We used the Vernier Motion Detector to measure position, velocity, and acceleration. We positioned the motion detector on the floor and marked a four meter straight line with masking tape.

My job in the experiment was to stand on the one meter mark and slowly walk backwards to the four meter mark, while my partners controlled the motion detector to monitor my movements. After the data has been recorded, the screen shows two graphs: one documents the positon, and the other documents velocity. As I walked slowly backwards to the four meter mark, the position graph lines went from the bottom to the top of the graph. The postion graph looked like stair steps, and the velocity graph spkiked and declined rapidly.

Our next test was to start at the four meter mark and walk a little faster towards the one meter mark. This time, the graphs were backwards. The position graph lines went from top to bottom, but still looked like stair steps. The velocity graph was also reversed. Acceleration is represented in the graphs by how close the stair steps (on the position graphs) and the humps (on the velocity graph) are on the graphs. The farther apart they are separated, the slower the acceleration.

We were not able to finish our lab today, but for the most part, I learned alot about velocity, position and acceleration.

"Snowflakes"

On the first day of class, we did a snoflake lab. We were to create a snowflake with either two repeats, four repeats, six repeats, or eight repeats. Each "repeat" represents a fold in the piece of paper. The more repeats, the more difficult and complex the final product was. We were to cut any design we wanted into the folds of the paper to create our snowflakes. This lab was fun because the snowflakes we made were much more intricate than the average paper snowflake. Also, it will be a good project for us to use in our classrooms for a science class or an art project.

The Moving Man

The Moving Man simulation was very helpful in helping comprehend the correlation between acceleration, velocity, and position. I understand that velocity is the speed of the man in a particular direction. The acceleration is how fast the man is moving. I didnt know that there was such a thing as negative acceleration until I viewed the acceleration graph. After the man slowed down, the line on the graph suddenly jumped down. After the man stopped, the line on the graph evened out. This simulation was helpful because I can now predict what the graphs will look like by positioning the man and presetting the veloctiy and acceleration. I also have a better understanding of the concepts of velocity, acceleration, and position.

"The Science of a Kiss" 9/11/08

Today we discussed our lab, "The Science of a Kiss: Measurement, Mass and Energy." It was a lab involving Hershey's kisses that taught us about the Law of Conservation of Energy. There were two jars of chocolate kisses at the front of the room, one was a tall glass and the other was sphere shaped. We had to guess which glass held more kisses, or if they held the same amount. My group thought the glasses held the same amount. It turns out that the spherical glass held about 40 more kisses that the tall glass. Mrs. Ezrailson explained that the spherical glass can hold more volume. I found this lab to be easy. We learned how to calculate Graviational Potential Energy and the final velocity. We also learned how to calculate kinetic energy; however I was confused on this part of the lab. We did not go over the answers to the kinetic engergy part of the lab, so I am not quite sure if did did this portion right. Overall, the lab was interesting and pretty easy.