Whitney Vesey

Cell Project link

For my cell project, i am going to compare the cell to a car.

Cell Membrane- door

Nucleous-engine

DNA-horsepower or manual transmission or automatic

Nuclear envelope- hood

Vacuole- trunk (all storage compartments)

vesicals-wires

mitochondria-fuel injector

cytoskeleton- chasey

cytoplasm- frame, bolts

Flagemlum- wheels

peroxisomes- fuel filter

Cell Tests

On November 9th, our class resumed studying and taking tests about the cell and the organelles within it. Once we pass the test on cells (70% or above), we can move on to the next subject. This enables everyone to move at our own pace. A useful thing I learned how to do was tell the difference between the Golgi body and the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum. Also, it is good to know the difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Eukaryotes have a nucleus, while prokaryotes do not. Another useful thing to know is that plant cells do not have centrioles, flagellum, or lysosomes, while animal cells do.

Blog

Right now in science we are learning about cells, and today we took a poll. The poll was taken online gave us the % of how many of us knew the answer to the questions. One thing we learned today was that a nucleolus produces ribosomes. Another thing we learned was that Lysosomes contain digestive enzymes that can destroy viruses and dissolve improper/non-working organelles in animal cells. "Suicide Sacs" is another name for these because they they kill parts of the cell. The Rough Er passes proteins in trapped Vesicles to the Golgi Complex. One way to remember this is: change the "s" in Vesicles to an "h" so that the words looks like vehicles. That way you can think of it as vehicles transporting something.

Cell Videos

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Today, Mrs. Sorensen passed out an article to our table group so we could read it, find things we didn't already know, and look them up. Then the groups wrote down facts about the articles and any additional information that we wanted to share in front of the class. We were graded on what we learned and everyone must speak about something whether it was facts or just your opinion about the article. She said make sure you know what you are talking about because, she will ask follow up questions to make sure you fully understand. The groups who didn't present their article today must go tomorrow.

Class, October 24, 2011

Today, we talked about pollution and the different types of it. We learned that toxic pollutants are like paint and battery acid that aren't properly disposed of. We learned about sediment and how if too much is in the water, that the water becomes turbid and the light can't reach the plants at the bottom of the water, causing algae to form and vegetation to die. We also learned about natural pollutants like manure and excessive nitrogen. A big part this pollution is golf courses. They use all the chemicals they can to keep their greens green. The last one is bacterial pollution. The main cause of this is farming. Manure runs off of fields and out of coops and such and can run into rivers and streams.

Having class with Mrs. Sorensen has given us the opportunity to think outside the normal classroom project cliche of powerpoints or research papers, and create more extravagant projects. We have been given the chance to make; videos, newscasts, cartoons, comic strips, etc. Anything we can think up (that she approves) is within the guidelines of this project. The project is on water quality in Iowa, and its a great project to do because its fun to make, fun to present, and i have learned a lot from it.

Wednesday, October 19th

Today we went over the assignment from out of the book. It was a short day today, so that's all we did.

Wednesday October 12, 2011

Today was the big Science test over metric system, scientific method, states of matter, change of states, water cycle and water quality measurements. Mrs. Sorensen was gone the past two days and Mama Lester was our substitute (Mr. Lester's Mom). She handed out all different tests to everyone. If you were gone today, i think it is best to go to quia.com and study the study guide that Mrs. Sorensen has provided for you. It will tell you the ones you got wrong, how many, overall view, and percentage. You then can apply that to the test and it will help you!

Tuesday, October 11th

Today in science we went over a paper version of the science quiz that we are going to take tomorrow. It was a little confusing because a lot of the pages were in the wrong place. The quiz was stapled in a jumbled fashion. There were some spelling errors but not enough to distract you from the questions.
The review was over the scientific method, phase changes, the water cycle, acids/bases, and the metric system. The substitute teacher gave us all the right answers at the end of class so that we could have a study for the test tomorrow. I figure that if you study the review for a little while tonight you're going to do very well on the quiz.

In case you forget the study review quiz is at http://www.quia.com/.

Trying to log on to the Computers

Today in Science class the Science Masters went to the library, and it was full of course. We're supose to take some tests on computers, but it took forever just to log on. So long that most of us couldn't even start the test. The test was covering: the metric system, scientific method, states of matter, change of states, water cycle, and water quality measurements. And that is what happend today in science class.

Wednesday Oct. 5th

Today we watched Mythbusters. There were two myths that they were trying to solve. One was the Mentos Diet Coke explosion, and the other was whether or not a postage stamp could crash a helicopter. On the Diet Coke explosion they figured out that some of the ingredients in Diet Coke can help the Mento react better. The three ingredients are Caffine, Preservatives, and Aspartame. The mentos have two ingredients also that help make the reaction better, called gum arabic, and gelatin. The myth was busted because no one had explained what made the explosion happen. They tried to make a lot of different rockets using the Diet Coke and Mentos. They then have a contest to see who can have the highest launch from the Diet Coke bottle The postage stamp started out with the gang using remote control helicopters first to see if the stamp will make the helicopter crash. They found out that it doesn't affect it at all. On the small one the myth was busted. It would have had to been 8,000 pounds more than a stamp to crash the helicopter. This myth was busted.

Tuesday, October 4th

Today in science class we went over pH. We completed a chart on the pH of different substances using a Gizmo. Also, we decided whether or not they were acidic, alkaline, or neutral. Some examples are coffee, shampoo, ocean water, distilled water, and oven cleaner. Most products turned out to be acidic but there were several alkaline products. There were very few neutral products due to the fact that they had to have a pH level of exactly 7. Alkaline was anything above 7 and acidic was anything under 7 so they would obviously have a higher frequency than nuetral.

Testing pH Levels

Today in science we had to bring in three liquids, two liquids of choice and water.  We tested their pH levels with pH paper strips.  We had to test 15 liquids total in class.  After we collected the ph levels for all the 15 liquids.  We tested the ph levels on the probe with the same liquids and compared the ph levels to the ones we found with the ph paper strips.  For example I tested whey with the pH strip and got 6.  When I tested the whey with the probe I got about 6.

River formations- First we poored water into the tubs with the substinces. We then watched for changes of the surfice. Before doing this we made our hypothosis. We thought that if we poored water at the top end of the tub the water would sink and flow through the bottum instead of making a river like formation. We were right, the water flowed to the bottom of the tub.

Acids and Bases

On Friday September 30th we discussed acids and bases in our science class. This stemmed from some online research we did about water sources containing information about the acidity of water. We started off talking about the pH scale; a scale that ranges from 0 to 14 and measures how acidic or basic a substance is. Substances that measure from 0 to 7 are acids, and substances that measure from 7 to 14 are bases. Anything with a measure of 7 exactly is completely neutral. The only substance known to be completely neutral is pure water. For acids, as the number gets smaller the substance gets stronger. So a 1 or a 2 would be a strong acid. Bases go the opposite direction, meaning that and 13 or 14 would be a strong base. The closer to 7 a substance is, the weaker it is.
pH itself means the power of hydrogen. All of the substances on the pH scale contain small particles called ions. Acids contain hydrogen ions, and bases contain hydroxyl ions. When written as a chemical substance, an acid will have the letter H in front of it, and a base will have the letters OH at the end. When pure water is written out, it appears as HOH, a neutral substance.
Some unique characteristics of acids include that they are corrosive and sour to taste. Acids do not burn things they touch, they corrode them away. If you have ever spilled an acid on clothing, it disappears not by burning, but by corrosion. Acids are also sour. Things like lemon juice and orange juice that have sour tastes are acidic. Though it may not seem this way, milk is a very weak acid.
Bases also have distinct characteristics. A base is slippery, bitter to taste, and causes burns. Some substances that are bases include ammonia water, milk of magnesia, and cleaning supplies. If you were to taste a basic substance, it would be more bitter than an acid. Lastly, a base does not wear things away like acids do, but burns them away. If you spilled a base on clothing, it would most likely soak through the fabric and cause severe skin burns. Bases are usually thought of as safer than acids, but both can be extremely dangerous.
Cleaning supplies(drain cleaners, rust/lime cleaners, etc.) are very strong and dangerous bases, which is why you see them handled with gloves. Soda pop and some juices are strong acids along with chemicals and stomach acids. Coca-Cola breaks down some things the acids in your stomach can't even break down! Strong acids and strong bases should be handled with care.

Experiment: Runoff

Hypothesis: I believe that when the lake overflows that it will runoff and form into little rivers and then runoff and make another lake.

Set up: First we put diatomaceous earth in a tub, then added water and mixed. Then we scooped out a little hole in the middle of the diatomaceous earth then put a cup in the middle of the scooped out hole then build around it and then pulled the cup out. Then we poured water to hole even with the rim.

Experiment: We poured water in slowly and it didnt do anything. Then we filled the graduated cylinder with more water and poured it at a faster pace. Then it started to see that it was overflowing and it branched off and then ran off to the outside of the of the tub.

Conclusion: Are concluuton was that if it rains a ton it will overflow and runoff into a lake, but if it doesnt rain a ton it wont overflow and make river.

science 9

Well today in 6th period science i worked on the computers and on the gizmos. the three gizmos i worked on were: density experiment: slice and dice, density via comparison, and determining density via water diplacement. at www.explorelearning.com. in my opinion the water displacement gizmo was the hardest.

diatomaceous earth with glacier expirement

I recently conducted an experiment on the affects of glacier runoff being related to erosion of earth and the creation of rivers. to test this my group members and I used a giant ice cube and a plastic tub with about a quarter inch layer of diatomaceous earth at the bottom. we hypothesized that the runoff would only create one small river. We started the experiment by propping the tub up at one end and placed the ice cube on it. we started waiting and soon enough we had runoff creating one large river down the middle, and several smaller tributaries along the way.

making rivers

we made a tiling system to prevent erosion. the tiling would prevent over flow water. the water will flow in the tile and go into a pond or a stream.

earth project

during the diotomacious earth project i learned that rivers can be formed many ways. such as glaciers, running water, or and earthquake. for the project all of the students got a bucket of diotomacious earth, and an idea. then all of us had to test our ideas with the earth.

Hunter,

Science 9 River Formation Expiraments

We tested erosion for our first river formation test. We took the sand and we piled it up on one side forming a downhill slope. Then, we took a graduated cylinder and poured water down the slope and observed that the water split off into two different streams but it didn't have enough room to join back together. I concluded that rain could possibly form a river under the correct circumstances.

We also tested the effects an earthquake would have on river formation. We used the magnets in the dieatomaceus earth and used the magnetic machine to spin the magnets and simulate what an earthquake would do. All it did was create small dips in the surface so it most likely wouldn't be able to create a stream, but it could help to start a pond or lake.

River Formation Experiment

Experiment #1: Earthquakes

Hypothesis: The earthquake with disrupt the water and send it downhill creating a river.

Test: Put a magnet spinner in dieatomaceus earth and see where the water in the earth will go. The magnet spinner simulates the vibrations of an earthquake.

Result: The spinner created a hole in the earth and created a mini lake. The simulated earthquake moved the earth out of the way but not the water creating a lake.

Conclusion: If an earthquake occurs in a saturated area than a lake will form. The rock will be pushed out of the way and water will flood into the new opening.

Experiment #2: Transportation (man-made intervention)

Hypothesis: The water will flow cleanly downhill through a provided tube, and empty out into an enclosed space.

Test: Create a downhill slope and block off the bottom, link the top to the bottom with a rubber hose, and see if the water poured into the lake at the top will flow cleanly through the hose into the lake at the bottom.

Result: The rubber hose got clogged up with the sand/dirt quickly after the water was poured into the lake at the top. It was really hard to get everything into place at the right time.



This is what happens when water is allowed
to flow freely downhill.



Conclusion:  Overall if you were to use this method of transportation for water it would not really be worth it. Water will flow downhill whenever possible but if the way get blocked by nature or by man-made interference than it will either find another way down or stay put until it is removed and it can flow down again.



This is what our earthquake simulation did.
It moved the earth out of the way and the
water filled the gap.



River Formations

We were assigned an experiment to test different ways a river is formed.

My group first tested erosion. My hypothesis was that by pouring water onto the diatomaceous earth that it would make a small river. We started by elevating the the box of diatomaceous earth and pouring water at the top of the box. The water ran down the box and made a small path about an inch wide. In conclusion my hypothesis was proven correct.

My second experiment we tested animals. My hypothesis was that if the animals traveled on the same path for a period of time it would form a river. To prove this we made a path that zig-zaged from the top of the diatomaceous earth box to the bottom. We poured the water at the top of the box and it ran down the path. In conclusion my hypothesis was proven correct.

River Formation Lab-Littering

Hypothesis: We believed that when the water hit the litter, the water will pick up some of the litter and carry it downstream, and then just flow around the stuff to heavy for it to carry.

Test: First we threw a bunch of random stuff on top of the sand/gravel. Then we poured some water on the top of the slope. From there we just observed what happened next.

Observations: The water picked up some trash and flowed around the rest of it.

Conclusion: The water picked up some trash and carried it down the slope. The water picked up mostly paper items and flowed around everything else.

Making Rivers

Our class got assigned to use diatomaceous earth and form rivers. To do this we first needed to form a hypothesis. One of our hypothesis was to see if we lifted up the box of diatomaceous earth and poured water on it if it would form a little stream that later turned into a river.  So to test this we patted down the diatomaceous earth and elevated one side of the box.  Next we pured water onto it to form a river.  Our conclusion was that  our hypothesis was correct and it formed and river.

We also tried to form a river with animals tracks.  Our hypothesise was to see if we made animal tracks in the diatomaceous earth and then elevate it and poured water on it if it would form a river.  So to test this we once again patted down the diatomaceous earth and pressed our fingers in it to represent animals tracks.  We then elevated it on one side and poured water on it.  Our conclusion was that it form a river very fastly.

River Formation Lab-Runoff

Runoff

Hypothesis: We believed that once the pond fills up, then the water will overflow and make a river to another basin.

Test: First we made a basin. Then we filled the basin to the brim with water. After that we slowly poured water into the basin. Finally it was time to just observe.

Observations: We filled the lake basin with water and at first the water ran off to one side. After the initial flow, the water started going off in a slightly different direction. From the second flow, a river basin type thing began to form. Then after the water filled a second lake basin, water started pouring out into yet another lake basin, again eroding out a river pathway. These last two basins were maybe by the water, the first one we made.

Conclusion: Our conclusion is that yes, once the pond is full, then the water will flow over into another basin.

Making River

In our class room we were paired up into groups. The project was to learn how rivers are formed. We exaimed diatomaceous earth, made hypothesis, and saw the results of our experiment. We came up with some solutions on how rivers could form from things that we do in our every day life or things around us. Mrs. Sorensen listed on the board a great amount of solutions. We had to pick two, one that will be easy to test and another one that might give us a little challenge. My group choose eriosons and animal tracks.

We tested the erison first.
My hypothesis was:
The water coming from a fast down motion will make a small river in the diatomaceous earth.

How we set it up: We drained out the extra water in the diatomaceous earth, patted it down(so that it is even), and leveled it up with a book. We poured in a small amount of water slowly and it created a small river the move water and faster you poured in the bigger and wider the river got.

The second one we tested was the animal tracks.
My hypothesis was:
Animals when they constantly go back and fourth to a river that their foot prints will leave tracks and the water will build up and form.

How we set up:
We sat it up just like the erioson experiment but instead of just pouring the water in right away. we used our fingers to make tracks, and slowly poured water over them. The water didn't develop in a river yet. We added more tracks closer together. We poured some more water over the new tracks and the river was created.

River Formations

We completed a recent experiment on the formation of rivers. Each group had to choose two different factors that contributed to river formation, develop a hypothesis based on each factor, and conduct an experiment for both. My group chose erosion and animals as our two factors.

For erosion, my hypothesis was, "If water passes over land repeatedly, a riverbed will form." Our independent variable was water flowing over land continuously, and our dependent variable was the land eroding away. To test this hypothesis, we used diatomaceous earth and water as our materials. The first step was to prepare the diatomaceous earth by mixing it with water and draining away any excess water. Next, we propped up the tub containing the diatomaceous earth with a book. We did this so the water would flow from the top of one side to the bottom of the other. First, we tried just pouring the water over the land once, and a small stream formed. When we poured the water over repeatedly, a larger riverbed formed. My hypothesis proved to be correct, because a river formed after water was repeatedly poured over the same piece of land.

Animals was the next factor we tested. My hypothesis for this experiment was, "If animals create a path to a water source, a river will form." This time, our independent variable was the ability of animal paths to create rivers, and our dependent variable was the tracks eroding and water building up to form a river. We used the same materials as before; diatomaceous earth and water. Like before, we started by preparing the diatomaceous earth and draining any water. Next, we made a small "pond" in the tub by making an indent in the diatomaceous earth and filling it with water. This was our water source. Next, we made an "animal path" to the water source. We did this by pressing our fingers and knuckles into the d. earth in the form of a path to the water source. Once we had propped up the tub again, we poured water down the path to the water source. Sure enough, the path eroded away and a river to the water source formed. As a control, we flattened out the path we had made and poured water down to the pond again. This time, a river did not form. Again the hypothesis proved to be true; if animals travel to a water source enough, a river can form.

River Formation

My group and I tested what would happen if water was put at the top of a mound and poured off. We thought it would make a river. We piled up the earth in a corner of the container. Then, we poured water on top. The water went in several places, but formed a little river formation on one side, and when we poured on more water, it turned into a definite river. We concluded that if water is put at the top of a mound, it will eventually form a river.
Next, we tested earthquakes. We poured water into an area. After that, we shook the container around. We watched what the water did, and it just dispersed. There was no actual river that formed. We concluded that an earthquake could not make rivers very well.

Runoff experiment

In our groups we tested runoff. To test runoff we first built a pond. to build the pond we put a cup down and formed the pond by useing the cup shape. The material we used to make the pond out of was dieatomaceus. When the pond was formed we put water in a beaker and started pooring water in the pond slowly. When water was at the top of the pond we kept pooring until the pond started to over flow. Our group studied where the water was going and what it was doing. We discovered that the runoff split in two and met up again at another place.

River Formations In a Box

In a group, we did a lab that observed different river formations. We decided to get creative and find a way to make an earthquake and see how that would affect the rivers. First, we pictured how the scene would go and made a hypothesis of how it would turn out. We guessed that rivers would form and stream down across the box and change directions through the process till the "earthquake" stopped. To do this experiment, we had a plastic, open, rectangular box with about a 3/4 of an inch of diatomaceous earth covering the bottom. Next, we got a small magnet and placed it in the diatomaceous earth and put a small mound of more earth on top of that. We turned a magnetic stirrer on underneath the box in the area that the magnet was buried and turned it on. The magnet stirred and made the earth shake. When we poured water on top of that, the earth sunk in and made a deep in ground pool. So when we turned the stirrer off, everything came to a standstill and the result was a deep lake that sunk in. So, in conclusion our data showed that our hypothesis was false and the earthquake did not make numerous rivers but one lake.

River Formations Experiments:)

For one of our River Formation experiments we tried the Run-Off.
Hypothesis: my group decided that we're going to make a mound from the diatamaceous earth and pour water on the top to form a river.
Our Observation:
After we built the mound in one of the 4 corners, we filled a graduated cylinder with water and poured it slowly on the top of the mound. At first the water ran down in all directions making little streams. Then, after some time, it made a pond/lake on top and a stream became a big river.
So the Run-Off was a type of river formation.

Next, we tried an Earthquake.
Hypothesis: We wanted to make a lake and fill it up with water. Then, when the water is up to the top, we would shake the box as if a earthquake was occurring, and see if a river will form that way.
Observation: When we shook the box, the water from the lake spilled out and went everywhere. The experiment didn't make a river, but ponds.

River Formation

We tested weather or not a glacier would effect river formations. We thought that the glacier would produce a lot of water from melting and form a river.We found that underneath the glacier it made little rivers that fed into a large river outside of the glacier. The water went on top of the diatomaceous earth and formed a rivine in the earth. From the smaller rivers under the glacier some fed into smaller little streams that eventually fed back into the large river. We concluded that a glacier can effect river formations by melting and eventually creating a river.

We next decided to test if an explosion would effect river formation. This proved that it could not happen when we tested it. We tried to blow into straws and see if it would explode out. All that it did was form a little bubble and then it would pop and do nothing after that. We concluded that explosions do not effect river formations in the way that we tested it.

Danny's River Fromation

We tested how erosion created rivers. Erosion did create rivers by eroding away the diatomaceous earth. The test did work.
The other one we tested was animals. We thought that the animals would create a rut and then it would rain and it would create a small river. The more it would rain then the bigger the small river would get.