Friday, June 10, 2011




Dropping Marbles -A Crater Experiment

By definition a crate is a large, bowl-shaped cavity in the ground or on the surface of a

planet or the moon caused by an explosion, the impact of a meteorite, etc. Even though this

definition slightly explains the occurrence of a meteorite, through this lab we went through

this thoroughly. We took a tub and filled with a few centimeters of flour. We then got a

meter stick and a marble. We would hold the marble up at a certain height and then drop it,

after the marble fell it would make a crater we then made recording and observations about

this. Above are graphs made out of our observations, looking at the graph now I see that our

data looks a little strange, with big drops and rises. Even though I think our data is not the

most reliable there are observations I made that are interesting. One thing I noticed during this

experiment was that the higher the marble was held, when it dropped it would actually

bounce and create a brand new crater! In conclusion, I found that what effects a crater is the

distance, speed, weight and angle that change the appearance of the crater.

Further Inquiry:

Additional tests I would like to try would be things such as, using different materials as craters

or throwing "meteorites" into different materials. This would be interesting to see how the

different materials react to each other.

Note: The graph is turned into the average of three tests.

End Of Year "Reflection"

What were some of the things that you will never forget from science class?
- Something I will never forget about science class is when we had the irradiated food debate, the reason this was the most memorable, was because I like debate and it was a interesting way to talk about a scientific topic while combining it with something I enjoyed.

What was your favorite unit?
- My favorite unit was the space unit. It was my favorite unit because space is something that interests me so being able to learn something that interests me definitely made the whole unit more enjoyable.

What was your least favorite unit?
- My least favorite unit was the waves unit, not because we didn't do anything interesting, or any good projects, it was merely because waves did not interest me as much. Since they did not interest me as much I did not really enjoy this unit.

What was your favorite project?
- My favorite project was when we had to take our house and make it earthquake proof. This was fun and influential, because in my additions or improvement to my house I had written down, survival kit or emergency kit. This was actually something we made and put in our house just in case. This project was fun because I got to draw the inside of my house.

What was your least favorite project?
- My least favorite project this year was probably when we had to make the light spectrum, this was because it was mostly just typing and printing out materials which was not very interactive.
What were some helpful things this year?
-Some helpful material this year was something is particular that stuck in my mind and it was the Prezi presentation in the beginning of the year. It was just a really well done presentation so I found that really helpful.

What are some of your goals for next year?
- Some of my goals for next year are to understand waves better, the reason is because this unit I didn't really fully understand them. Also, I want to try my hardest on a unit even if it is not as interesting as another unit, because all in all it still counts.

What are some improvements for the teaching of next years 7th graders?
- I only have one improvement and that is through this year we accomplished a lot, but it felt slightly open-ended, of next year I think there should be a big, memorable project just to either start or wrap up the year because those usually challenge the students but are really fun!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Current Events 5/25/2011


Science 7A Black Holes spin faster and faster 5/26/2011
In the U.K, two astronomers have discovered that the giant black holes in the center of the galaxies are on a average spinning faster than any black holes in history of the universe. By using radio, optical, and x-ray data. According to evidence, it is strongly believed that there is a black hole in the center of every universe. these holes are about the size or a million and a billion suns, and since they are so huge they are called, "supermassive". The the naked eye a black hole would be invisible, but when the material that get sucked into the black hole, they are heated and once they become hot they emit radiation. The radiation they emit allows the black hole to be detected to telescope. Radiation is not the only thing associated with black holes, twin jets are as well. These jets can be caused a variety of ways, yet scientists believe that a spinning "supermassive " black hole is important. Two scientists, Martinez-Sansigre and Rawlings used models, made by using many different materials, they discovered different, plausible theories. Using radios, the astronomers were able to deduce the jet's power and the spread of it, using this information they could figure out how fast the black hole was spinning. The observations from the astrologers also tell us how the spinning speed has evolved. Long ago, when the universe was smaller, the spinning rate of the black hole was low, yet now the average of a black holes spinning rate has gone up. Being the first time that the evolution of the spinning of a black hole has been constrained, this gives the impression that the black holes that fall under the very stereotypical cateogry of simply sucking things out of space actually spin slower or actually barely spin compared to black holes that merge with other black holes, which spin very fast. In conclusion, the way a black hole spins can tell you a lot about their evolution, and through tests and observations, astronomers have concluded that recently massive black holes have been springing up, and the most logical explanation is that two black holes, both of similar mass, combine to make an even faster spinning black hole.

This effects scientific knowledge, because we are adding to what we already know about our surroundings. There is so much unknown around us, and with small discoveries like these we are slowly learning more about our universe. The benefits of science in this news, would be that we have the tools to conduct these experiments. Otherwise it would be impossible to carry out these experiments. When I first heard about this happening, I didn't really expect much but I found it to be a really cool article that was very interesting.
I chose this article because I thought it fell under the category of the unit we are studying, and it would be interesting to read. What grabbed attention about this article was probably the fact it was about black holes, you don't much about that particular topic anymore. I found this article while searching for current events in science. I learnt about the evolution of black holes from this article. While reading this next I felt, intrigued, because it was liking making a new discovery.

Royal Astronomical Society "Black Hole Spin Faster and Faster." Astronomy Today. 24 May 2011. Web. 29 May 2011. .

Everything about Eclipses

ABOUT ECLIPSES

What causes an eclipse to occur?
- Eclipses occur when the moon and the sun and earth are all aligned (different eclipses occur because of the different alignment), there are 2 types of eclipses, lunar and solar.

What is a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse?
- A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the shadow of the earth, making the sun and moon on opposite sides. A solar eclipse is more spectacular, and it is when the moon passes directly between the sun and the earth, blocking the sun from view.
Which type of eclipse is more common?
- A lunar eclipse is more common than a solar eclipse because with a solar eclipse the moon's shadow only covers a small portion of the earth, while the during a lunar eclipse the shadow is cast over a wider part of the earth.

What are the dangers of viewing an eclipse?
- With a lunar eclipse there are really no dangers of viewing the eclipse, yet with a solar eclipse the sun radiation can cause harm to your eyes, and can even cause partial of total blindness.
When is the next eclipse occurring?
- According to the eclipse section on the NASA site, there should not be a full solar eclipse for a while, but there are a few other happenings. June 1st there should be a partial solar eclipse, June 15th there should be a total lunar eclipse, on July 1st and November 25th there should be partial solar eclipse, and last on the site December 10th there should be a total lunar eclipse.


Wednesday, May 18, 2011


THE MOON




When investigating the simulation, the moon clock, and/or the model, what did you notice about the phases of the moon?
- The phases of the moon change depending on the position of the sun, depending on the moon. When the sunlight reaches the moon it then is reflected, making the moon appear illuminated. The parts that do not get sunlight appear as shadow and are not visible.

Why do we see different parts of the moon each night?
- As I explained above, we see different parts, because different parts of the moon's face are illuminated.

How well did making a model help you understand the phases of the moon?
- The model helped me understand the phases of the moon by labeling them and telling me the names. It helped me understand the different phases the moon goes through while getting from full moon to full moon.

What are some disadvantages of using models?
- The model doesn't really give that much of a realistic view it mainly just explains the phases of the moon but doesn't really show us how the moon makes it way around the earth, this is why I found the simulation much better because you could really visualize it.

Scientists are thinking all the time about how they can make models of objects that are too small or too large to see: Can you think of another way to make a model to represent the various phases of the moon?
- I think something that would be cool, would to have a sun, which would radiate light from a bulb in the middle. Then using a magnetic pull (just like those globes the levitate in the air using magnets) I would make it so that not only can you see the phases of the moon as it revolves around earth but you can also she how.

What causes an eclipse to occur?
- Eclipses occur when the moon and the sun and earth are all aligned, there are 2 types of eclipses, lunar and solar. A lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the shadow of the earth, making the sun and moon on opposite sides. A solar eclipse is more spectacular, and it is when the moon passes directly between the sun and the earth, blocking the sun from view.

How do the moon, sun and Earth interact to cause so many things to occur?
- Well the earth revolves around the sun, the sun being the things that gives life to our planet. The moon revolves around the earth, giving us tides and spectacular scenes, such as an eclipse. This is all interconnected into a delicate balance so that everything works to together. The sun and the earth, the earth and the moon, giving us things that we live with everyday.


What causes a tide?
- A tide occurs because of the gravitational forces and field of the earth and the sun, as well of the centrifugal force from the earth's rotating. When the placement of all the planets or celestial bodies change then so the the height of the surface. So when earth, sun and the oon are aligned water levels are pulled and then they rise.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Moon Post

What did you notice about the phases of the moon?
Why do we see different parts of the moon each night?
What is a lunar month?

  1. Something I noticed about the phases of the moon is that it changes when you are looking at it from earth to when you are looking at it from space. This is because looking at the moon from earth you can only see on side of it. So you see the shadow slowly edging from the side. The different phases of the moon are more noticeable from earth than from space, from space it all looks the same.
  2. We see different parts of the moon each night because of the fact that the moon revolves around the earth and the sunlight shines on the moon making some parts of the moon have a bigger shadow then the other part.
  3. A lunar month is the period of time between one full moon till the other.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

What do I want to know?

In this unit we are doing astronomy. In astronomy there are many different subject to cover, but some I think would be very interesting to know about include:
  1. Our Solar System - Maybe more in-depth not just what planets there are,etc.
  2. Milky Way
  3. Stars - Stages they go through, types, birth, death,etc.
  4. History of Astronomy
  5. Space Travel
There are so many other topics in astronomy but I think these are interesting topics that we should maybe take a look at.