Lily's Science Methods 2 Blog

Geocentrism–the theory that Earth is at the center of the solar system, and the Sun and other planets revolve around it Heliocentrism–the theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe and Earth orbits the Sun. Equinoxes (which sounds like the word equal) marks the day in which all of Earth receives an equal amount of sunlight–12 hours. This equal amount of sunlight occurs when the Equator is directly in line with the Sun.  The Spring Equinox happens around March 20th and the Autumn Equinox happens around September 23rd each year. Solstices mark the days of the year in which a hemisphere receives the least amount of sunlight (aka the shortest day of the year) and the most amount of sunlight (aka the longest day of the year). These days occur when one of the tropic lines is directly in line with the Sun. Winter Solstice= Day with LEAST amount of sunshine Summer Solstice= Day with MOST amount of sunshine Eclipses: when light is blocked. There are two types of eclipse that ...

-This week's lab involved making ramps to see how fast we could get a ball to roll down it. My group began with the Control to make sure we had something to refer back to once we started changing our variables. I will attach our data below, but out of all of the things we changed, the only thing that made it go faster was the angle of the ramp and the size of the ball. We found that the higher the angle of the ramp, the faster it went. We also found that the marble rolled the fastest out of all of the balls.  But why is this? What theory makes this work?  Newton's 1st Law of Motion                                                                                                     ...

Modern Turbines vs Windmills -Both harness kinetic energy in the wind to do work -Windmills convert wind energy into torque for pumping water or grinding flour. -Modern wind turbines spin a generator to produce electricity. This requires less torque and shaft speed.  How a Wind Turbine Works -Wind turbines convert kinetic energy from the blowing  wind into electricity  -The wind pushes the blades of the turbine to rotate around a central hub  -This rotation turns a generator that produces electricity -The faster the generator spins the more electricity it produces Why do Modern Wind Turbines use 3 Blades? We looked into this and originally we thought more blades would mean more electricity but that isn't true. For example, if we used 4 blades, it is much more expensive to make and it doesn't make it any more efficient. It still produces the same amount of energy as 3 blades. Removing a blade and only having 2 brought many other risks. The blades would spin much faste...

5 Essential Features of Inquiry -      Learners are engaged by scientifically oriented questions. -      Learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations that address scientifically oriented questions. -      Learners formulate explanations from evidence to address scientifically oriented questions. -      Learners evaluate t heir explanations in light of alternative explanations, particularly those reflecting a scientific understanding -      Learners communicate and justify their proposed e xplanations . For this lab, we played with wires, batteries, and small light bulbs. It was my favorite one we've done so far! I learned that a battery can light the bulb if a wire is touching both the positive and negative ends of the battery and the side of the bottom of the metal part of the lightbulb. We also talked about the insulators and conductors in a wire. Materials with hi...

Energy in a Pendulum - In a simple pendulum with no friction, mechanical energy is conserved.  - Total mechanical energy is a combination of kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy.  - As the pendulum swings back and forth, it is a constant exchange from kinetic energy and potential energy. It has the most kinetic energy when it is hanging straight up and down. When it starts to swing, it has the most potential energy when it is at its highest points.  Lab For this lab, we experimented with pendulums to see what would affect the pendulum's swing. We tested the length of the string, weight at the end of the pendulum, angle of release, and pendulum design. Surprisingly, the only thing that affected the pendulum's swing was the length of the string.  Phet Simulator This is a tool we used to show our findings with technology. 

 1. What are some Real-Life applications of magnetism?             Refrigerators, Computers, Compasses, Northern Lights, Medical Equipment Magnet Lab 1. Ted began with a formative assessment to see what we knew about magnets before we started. The question was what would a magnet interact with? Many of us knew that metals were the answer, but we didn't know what metals specifically. 2. Our lab was set up with a mysterious hovering paperclip. There was a ruler with a large magnet taped to it. Then there was a paperclip that was somehow hovering just beside the magnet, but not actually touching it. The paperclip was attached to a piece of string that was also taped to the table.  3. Our investigation was putting different objects between the paperclip and the magnet to see if they would disrupt the magnetic field. Here are our results: Cardboard: No, does not interact with magnetic field Copper: No, does not interact with magnetic field Lead: N...