Friday, April 20, 2012

EM FORCES GOALS


Okaaay, HELLO PEOPLE! (:
As we are finishing the chapter, we got a new assessment: 

WRITE A BLOGPOST EXPLAINING THE GOALS FROM 9 TO 21! 
This chapter was quite difficult for me, but I will try my best to explain them! (;So, here we gooooo! :D

EM9. I can describe the properties and interactions of magnets.

First, the definition of MAGNETS: magnet is any material that attracts iron and materials that contain iron and other materials. Also, they are not new things! They existed even more than 2000 years ago. People living in the ancient Greet city of Magnesia, which is Turkey these days, found an unusual kind of rock! and the rock contained a mineral called magnetite. As you can see, the word 'magnetite' and 'magnet' are both from the name 'Magnesia'.

Here are some properties of Magnet.
1. Magnets attract iron and materials that contain iron. 
2. Magnets attract or repel other magnets.
3. One part of a magnet will always point north when allowed to swing freely.
Properties of magnets #1


Properties of magnets #2
And further explain for property #2, Magnetic poles that are unlike attract each other, and magnetic poles that are alike repel each other. 


Properties of magnets #3

EM10. I can describe how the magnetic domains are arranged in a magnetic/non-magnetic material.

So, what is 'Magnetic Domain'? Is is a grouping of atoms that have their magnetic fields aligned. Also, the domain acts like a bar magnet with a north and south pole.
However, the direction in which the domains point determines if the material is magnetized or not magnetized. Okay, this picture will help you with understanding.

*Magnetized : pointing the same direction
*Not magnetized: pointing random directions
In a magnetized material, all or most of the magnetic domains are arranged in the same direction.
In other words, we can say that the magnetic fields of the domains are aligned!


EM11. I can explain the connection between electricity and magnetism (electromagnetism).

Okay! now the connection between electricity and magnetism! which is......... ELECTROMAGNETISM!
electromagnetism is the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
hmm, hard to understand? then lets say, 'wherever there is electricity, there is magnetism.' An electric current produces a magnetic field! (:


EM12. I can outline the difference between DC/AC current and its uses
Direct Current Alternating Current
Now, what is DC and AC? hmm well, DC is Direct Current, and AC is Alternating Current.
so, what's the difference between two of them?
The charges may move (or flow) in one direction only, or they may alternate directions in an induced current. The direction depends on direction of wire or magnets moving.
DC (Direct current): charges that flow in one direction only
AC (Alternating current): charges that move back and forth, can be easily raised or lowed.

EM13. I can explain why the Earth behaves like a magnet and the consequences of it.


The Earth has a magnetic field surrounding it and two magnetic poles, just like a bar magnet.
and this explains why a compass works! (: compass is a device that has a magnetized needle that spins freely. The needle of compass usually points north. The earth has magnetic properties, and they are important to some animals, because some animals, like birds and turtles can feel the earth's magnetic field, being contributed in their navigation during the migration.

EM14. I can explain the importance of grounding wires and using fuses/circuit breakers.

The grounding wires are very important for our safety, because they actually keep the electricity from the actual wire so we don't get shocked. They block the way of electricity so the electricity can't reach to our hands. Also, the fuses and circuit breakers do the same thing, helping us to use electricity safely, like blocking the electricity when the amount of it goes too high.

EM15. I can explain how an electromagnet works and cite applications for them.

An electromagnet is A magnet, but it is different from other magnets because it is caused by electricity. If there is a conductor, and the electric current produces the magnetic field which makes the conductor having a magnetic properties. And the examples of the electromagnet is a lifting magnet, which makes our life easier because we can lift super heavy metal without much force, and also the train that flies with magnetism.

EM16. I can explain how a simple motor works (parts and function).


There are some names of the part of the simple motor, and here are the explanation about how they works. (:

 First, the electrons from the negative side of the battery, (we can also say that it's voltage source) come out and flow split ring commutator, and then go through the armature, follows the armature and come out from the other side of the commutator, and go back in to the battery.
The armature, which is going to rotate and move since the commutator is attatched to the battery, and the electrons have the flow, so which will try to align to the magnet.
EM17. I can describe how a generator and a transformer work.
An electric generator, which is a divice that transforms mechanical energy to electrical energy. And there are AC generator, and DC generator, but there are no big difference exept that AC generator has the slip ring, instead of commutator. Also, in a generator, the armature rotates when a current in induced. The current leaves the generator through the brushes, and the crank is used to rotate the armature. Finally, the split ring is attached to the ends of the armature.EM18. I can explain the importance of transformers to power grids.
Before explaining this goal, there is a formula that we have to know, which is 'Power = Voltage x Current' , and this formula explains us that the current to be sent efficiently the voltage has to be very high because the lower the current is the less energy lost because when the current increases the temperature also increases.EM19. I can explain methods of power production and distribution.
Power distribution and production comes in many ways, power plants, wind energy, water, steam, fossil fuels and solar energy and etc. The energy that comes to our homes comes from a generator that generates power, and the way it generates power is that it usually has a turbine that rotates and makes the generator work, the way this turbine turns is or by burns something, or weather, or wind, or steam. When the turbine rotates the generator works and transforms mechanical energy into electrical energy.EM20. I can describe the differences of 110v/220v and main advantages and disadvantages of each.
The disadvantages of the 110v is that we need more current because we decreased the voltage, which means that we need more conductor. However, the advantage of the 220v is that we don't need to use bunch of conductors because we already have high voltage and the current is decreased.
EM21. I can describe the advantages and disadvantages of electrical energy.
Electric energy is green, and clean so we don't pollute and it's very fast. However the disadvantage of the electric energy is that it's not safe because it might cause a fire because of using it too much, or a shock, which might cause death.




Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Vacation is OVER! back to school... D:

Our first mission for the E-Portfolio, BLOG POST! for this semester was to write about our first two weeks at school! (: From this semester, we've started to learn about electricity, which is really interesting, and have some funny experiments! Also, we learned about eight goals, which was on our awesome green&blue paper and also yellow goal sheet. 

However, before all of these, on the very first day, we watched a video on Youtube, and it was about Yoda (the...small green creature...) and .....  the Star-wars guy(I don't know his name but.. yeah). 
This is the video we watched. 



We discussed after watching this video (and Yoda was so cute! xD) what can be the lesson from this video. And Mrs. Silva gave us some awesome lessons, and also Yoda and our classmates did, :P .. that we have to do our best, and try try try A LOT and to NEVER GIVE UP! (: At the beginning of last semester, we watched a video of a doctor, who tried many times and finally approved his goal. And also this semester, we had the same message to never forget, during the whole year, furthermore, our life. 

___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.

Anyways, back to the story about what we did... We did some experience related to magnetic, to understand the general idea of the magnetism. And this is really similar to what we did. 



We made this Electromagnet with battery, nail, wire, tape, and some paper clips. 
The wire and battery connected make an electric current pass around the nail and changed the nail's properties. I worked with Bruno A. and Luciana. I put the wire around the nail to make the spiral shape, and while I was doing it, Bruno and Luci took the cover off of the wire, so that we and connect the wire to the battery. Super faster than other groups, our electromagnet worked for the first group. However, to improve the electromagnet, we've put some tape to hold the wire still, but it makes the situation worse. It was working when we were holding the wire by ourselves, but it suddenly didn't work when we putted the tape around the nail and the battery. 

But not only for that problem, I think the way how we rolled the wire around the nail was the problem also. At first, it was really tight, but from third, and fourth time, the wire around the nail was kind of loose than before. I think that is one of the cause of the fail. And also I thought about how did it work, and after learning 8 topics, (I will talk about it very soon), I knew that it attracts the paper clips because the current flowing through the battery also moves through the wire, since they are connected. 

___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.


And also we learned the 8 goals from the yellow Goal sheet, which is...

EM1. I can explain how electric charges interact.
EM2. I can give examples of how charges can be transferred between materials and explain them.
EM3. I can explain how an electric current is produced.
EM4. I can compare conductors with insulators.
EM5. I can explain how resistance affects current.
EM6. I can use Ohm's law to calculate resistance, current or voltage.
EM7. I can build series and parallel circuits and describe its parts.
EM8. I can explain the relationship between power, voltage and current.

And every each group got one topic to present, and our group; Bruno A., Luciana, got the goal number 3. We looked at the book and searched some, but only thing there was the information saying that "the electric current is a continuous flow of the electrons", so we decided to make an poster about the electrons moving around the wire and make the presentation mostly about the movement of the current. 
this is our poster! 

we tried to explain how the electrons move in the wire,(which is a current), with the arrows that shows the direction of the movement! (:

and I will briefly explain about the goals ↓

EM1. I can explain how electric charges interact.
Unlike poles - attract
Like poles - repel

EM2. I can give examples of how charges can be transferred between materials and explain them.
Material steal the electrons from one another!
however, not every materials have ability to steal electrons from one another..
3 types to charge the object: Charging by... 
1. Friction : by rubbing
2. Conduction : by touching
3. Induction : by second object that creates an electric field.

EM3. I can explain how an electric current is produced.
Electric current is the continuous flow of electric charges through the material. 
Unit for the electric current is A, which is called ampere

EM4. I can compare conductors with insulators.
conductors :
 -transfer electric charge well.
-A conductor's electron is bound loosely and are able to move throughout the conductor.
insulators :
- an insulator doesn't transfer electric charge well.
- They are used to stop the flow of charges.

EM5. I can explain how resistance affects current.
Resistance ↑ ... Current ↓
Factors that determine resistance :
-material of the wire (if the meterial is like iron, the resistance decreases, but if it's like wood, the resistance increases.)
-the length of the wire (if the length of the wire increase, the resistacne decrease. if the length of the wire decrease, the resistance increase.)
-the diameter of the wire (if the diameter of the wire decrease, the resistance increase. if the diameter of the wire increase, the resistance decrease.)
-temperature (if the temperature increase, the resistance decrease. if the temperature decrease, the resistance increase.)

EM6. I can use Ohm's law to calculate resistance, current or voltage.
R = V / C

EM7. I can build series and parallel circuits and describe its parts.
Series circuit : only one path
Parallel circuit: : several paths
+ need Energy source, resistor, and switch to make a circuit.

EM8. I can explain the relationship between power, voltage and current.
Power = Voltage x Current
If the voltage and current increase, power also increases.


___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.___.


And also, we had a PROJECT to make an simple motor. 
I researched on the internet (Google, Youtube, and even in Korean portal site..) and found some of the easiest simple motors. And I found really interesting video with the title "World simplest Motor" (video down there..! :D )and I thought that it would be great.




 However some of my friends who already did this experiment before told me that it has low possibility to move it. So I decided to do the motor which was really understandable to me. And then........ I DID IT! (:  
It worked easily, and I think it's because I made the copper wire very light and exactly circular. 

So, this is the video of my motor, and me (: haha 

As you can see at 00:10, this motor is only moving when the wire is connected to the battery. At 00:10, I made the wire NOT connected to the battery, and you can see that the movement of the copper wire, which was moving continuously just stopped :D 
and I'm not sure why the motor spinned, but I think it's because the magnet under the copper wire had a magnetic field, and that affected the wire, because of the character that positive and negative charge attracts each other. 


self reflection : it was quite hard to make a motor, because sometimes it didn't work, and also the wire on the other wire was keep falling down, so I couldn't make the wire stay on the top of it, so it was one of the difficulties. However, I think that i could do it because my friend and mom helped me with making the motor, and they told me the skills to be more successful. (;

+
If you want to make the motor, don't worry about failing, and just try it! (: 
It's worthy to do it for understanding the motor, and as we talked about UP THERE....


YODA: NEVER GIVE UP! 

Monday, February 13, 2012

QUIZ! (:



Guys! Try this quiz, and I will send you the score! (:
hope you guys enjoy it.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Cell Project!

The things that we are doing as the cell project is called ZOINK
we make the product which can be used for student's class as a textbook, game, and so on.
and I decided to make the COMIC BOOKS! :D
but however, it's not only making the products, but it also has to include the things were on the white paper.
so it was kind of hard to make sure that all the information that we need are on the product.
and I decided to divide the comic books in different chapters, so that I can include all the information.

First I did was to make the plan. I wrote what am I going to draw, and I chose the character. 
The main character ; BOY GIRL and a ROBOT called CELLO.
and then, I tried to put the information on it. 

after doing them all, I was sure what I was going to draw, How, and Where. haha (:

I started to draw the boxes for the comics, and drew the draft with pencil first. 
after making the drafts, I traced them with black pen, and colored them all.
the most hard part was drawing and coloring part. 

also, I uploaded the video which has almost same information as this post, and was the part of the assignment.





and I took some of the pictures to make it sure, but the camera is not working so I will post it ASAP (:

the self evaluation for this project... is
umm well, I think I was kind of lazy when I got the project and didn't started when I had plenty of time.
I started the project when the due date was coming, and this is the thing that I regret most with this project.
I thought that drawing comicbooks won't take that long time, and I just... kind of ignored it.
even I had some class times to do, I didn't use that time properly.
If I have any projects from now on, I will do it and start it as soon as possible, and not put them at the side.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Egg Lab

Introduction
We did the experiment at school during the science class. This experiment was related to the osmosis. We were learning about the osmosis and the transportation. Osmosis is the net movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane driven by a difference in solute concentrations on the two sides of the membrane. Our purpose by doing this experiment was observing the egg in two different solutions, and find out how did the solutions affected to the egg. And not only observing it, but also compare the result with our prediction that we did before the experiment.
Materials needed
  • 2 fresh eggs in their shells
  • 2 plastic cups
  • 100ml graduated cylinder
  • Balance
  • Water
  • Ruler and string
  • Vinegar
  • Possible solutions : corn syrup, alcohol, distilled water, salty water(10% and 20%), tap water
Things that we need to prepare for the experiment

 Before the experiment, we should prepare the shell removed egg. Ms. Silva prepared it for us, and the egg was in the water for 2 days. (9/13-9/14) While waiting for the shell removing, we predicted about the result of the experience. Our group selected alcohol, and salty water(20%). I said that the both of the egg will be bigger, because I thought that the concentration inside the egg would be lower than the outside (solution).


What did we do for three days?

First day (9/15/2011)
After removing the egg shell completely, we rinsed the egg with water carefully, and started the lab. We dried the egg with paper towel after washing it. We recorded the appearance, mass, and circumference of the eggs in the data table. After measuring all the datas, we put them in to the plastic cup with same amount of solution. Both eggs looked yellowish. The alcohol egg was bigger than the salty water egg. The circumference difference was more than 2cm, and the mass was also 15g bigger than the salty water egg. However, while other groups were putting 80ml of solution, our groups egg was too big so we've put 75ml each in the cup to do the experiment. We left the eggs for one days and checked it tomorrow. 
(Our group didn't covered the top of the cups, so that solutions have might vaporized)

Second day (16/9/2011)
We did the same thing that we did on first day, pick up the egg from the solution, check the mass, circumference, and the amount of solution left in the plastic cup. The result from second day was kind of different with my prediction. I thought the both eggs would be bigger. However, the egg which was in the alcohol became smaller and the both eggs' size became same. But the amount of the solution left seems not right. Because if the water in the egg white from the alcohol egg came out to the alcohol, the amount of solution left should be more than 75ml. So I guessed that the amount of the alcohol decreased (little bit) because the alcohol vaporized. The amount of solution left in salty water(20%)'s cup was less than the alcohol. It decreased a lot because the water moved into the egg. When we observed the eggs' appearance, the alcohol egg became smaller, and the color of the egg changed into white. But, the salty water egg was still yellowish, but with more darker yellow, and the egg became bigger. 


Third day (9/19/2011)
Of course, we did the same thing at the beginning of the third day, checking the mass, circumference, and the amount of solution left. (: It didn't take that long because we became professional (??haha..) during two previous days. I expected bigger differences, because the time passed a lot. But the amount of solution left of the alcohol didn't decreased a lot. I think there were no  more water to come out from the egg, and some that decreased was vaporized. The change in salty water was not really different with the alcohol. It didn't decreased much, and I think it's the same reason with the alcohol egg's, because the concentration of inside egg, and the solution became same, so there were keeping the same concentration. ( it didn't stopped the osmosis! never!) Also, the alcohol egg became even smaller than the second day and whiter. And the salty water egg became bigger, and limpid, so that we could see through the egg. 


*************************************************************************************************************
Here are my data table and the graphs. This will help you guys to see the changes between the two eggs. THE RED LINE IS SALTY WATER EGG, AND THE BLUE LINE IS ALCOHOL EGG.
*All the datas are calculated to the average rate.*




PICTURES :D

This is the picture of the eggs after we finished the lab. We cut them and see what happened inside the egg. 
the salty water egg has more water inside, and the alcohol egg just looked like a boiled egg. The egg changed into solid. (WOW!) 

Conclusion
First, the result of the experience was very interesting. Different with my prediction, the egg with the alcohol became smaller, and the egg with salty water became bigger. Based on the data that we collected, we can easily notice that alcohol egg decreased with everything, mass; from 74.2g to 64.1g, circumference; from 16.5cm to 14.8cm, and amount of solution left; from 77.5 to 50.5. We can guess that the water inside the egg came out from the egg and moved to the water outside. So it should be increased the amount of solution. However, since alcohol vaporize easily, we can say that the alcohol disappeared. 

While the alcohol egg was getting smaller, the salty water (20%) egg's mass and circumference became bigger, which was same as my prediction, mass; from 66.7g to 77.3g, and circumference; from 15.3cm to 16.8cm. However, the amount of solution decreased, from 77.5ml to 57ml. Different with the alcohol egg, this time the water from the outside of the egg moved into the egg, because of the osmosis. And the point, that I learned from it is that it didn't stop transporting, but keeping the same concentration by giving and taking the same amount of water.

Examples - Osmosis/Diffusion affect living things?
I said that the osmosis and the diffusion totally affect to living things, because living things are made of cells, and in the cell, if there are too much water concentration around the cell, the cell swells up to have the same concentration as the outside by taking in water. Same as the previous one, if there are not enough water concentration around the cell, the cell shrivels up to have the same concentration as the outside by getting rid of water. Like this, osmosis helps cell to get balanced. Which makes our body balanced.


SELF EVALUATION / TEAM EVALUATION

Team) I think our team did really quick work with calculating the changes in the eggs. We didn't spend much time on them, but we did quick and correct measuring. The teamwork was really good, for example, when me and Sofia was working on getting the egg of from the cup, and washing them, Thomas got the paper towel and dried them. Also when I was measuring the circumference of the alcohol egg, other two did measure salty water egg's mass and the amount of the solution left. So I think that is why we didn't take long time to working on with measuring things, and take more time with observation the eggs, and have more deep think about it.

Self) I think I was doing well during the lab, but I was not understanding well about the osmosis IN the eggs, so it was kind of hard to work on putting them in the words. Also, the thing that I regret is, that I didn't use much class time to work on the blog post, so I was doing them at the last moment of the due date. :( I should pay attention more with working on the stuffs that I'm doing. Also I thought about the possible errors, even our group has the same result as the general results. Maybe we might lost more alcohol and salty water because we didn't cover the top of the cups. And I learned that the osmosis takes a place with two different concentrations, and it doesn't stop even the concentration become same. 

Monday, August 29, 2011

My speech for the Lifeboat Dilemma :D

Today's assignment : write my short speech on my blog! 

hahaha actually, my speech is kind of really short one, but anyway (: here we go!

SPEECH


The mitochondria, which is one of the most important part of the cell, is me!
The cell is made out of protein(The structure of cells, and the extracellular matrix in which they are embedded, is largely made of protein. [Examples: Collagens] (Plants and many microbes depend more on carbohydrates, e.g., cellulose, for support, but these are synthesized by enzymes.)), and we need energy to make protein for our cells.
Why do we need energy? RNA passes the message from the DNA, to ribosome to make the protein. during this process, we need the energy.
And 'I' make that energy to move the RNA. Not only moving RNA, I make the energy to move protein around, muscle fibers contracting around, neurons producing impulses and sending signals to other cell. 
if I didn't exist, the RNA would not move to ribosome.
if the MITOCHONDRIA didn't exist, there would be so cell.
So, if we say this in one sentence, this would be like this.
If the MITOCHONDRIA don't exist, there's no cell!
So I am sure that the cell needs me and I should not be thrown out of the boat.
I am the important part of the cell.

Monday, August 22, 2011

What kind of cell would you like to be and why?



Today my homework was to choose what do I want to be, from the cells, and write the blog post about it. When I got the homework first, I was like,
 "WHAT? DO I REALLY HAVE TO BE A CELL? WELL, I DON'T WANT TO BE A CELL T^T 
I JUST WANT TO LIVE AS A HUMAN!!!" 
.....hahaha......anyway, before I talk about the cell that I want to be, let's see how do they look like. 

(here we go :D) 
Prokaryotic cell













Pro = “before”, karyon = “nucleus”


This is the prokaryotic cell, which is, a group of organisms that lack a cell nucleus (= karyon), or any other membrane-boundorganelles. it is different with eukaryotic cells, which is my second option, because The organisms that have a cell nucleus are called eukaryotes.


So, this is the picture of the eukaryotic cells; animal eukaryotic cell and plant eukaryotic cell.


Animal Eukaryotic cell
Plant Eukaryotic cell
these two are the Eukaryotic cells. 


Eu = “true”, karyon = “nucleus”


so, what's the difference between those cells? what kind of examples does they have?


the common fact that prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have are these things.

  • they both have DNA
  • they both have ribosome
  • they both have flagella
  • they can reproduce, and also divide
  • they both have RNA and cell walls 
and so on... :D
After researching about both cells, I decided to be a Eukaryotic cell! 

These are the reason why ↓

I liked the RNA, which work as a messenger, and I thought it's really cool!!! 
And also the golgi opparatus, which do the packaging for the protein! really, it's awesome :)
I liked that eukaryotic cell (plant) has the chloroplast, which capture the light energy to conserve free energy. I think it is really cool. :D hehe