Heather's Blog

Science activity review

Heather Vieira,

Mitchell Holmes,

Mohammed Al Mana

Out project had a rocky start, after deciding to do an activity about insulation, we had to change topics. We lost a day worth of planning because we had to spend another day finding another activity. Mitch found an activity based around friction that looked like something we could have fun with.

The activity needed a block of wood and a duel range force sensor; we would be drag the block of wood across different surfaces in the activity to see which surface created the most friction. We acquired all of our materials and used the lab view code to track the information.

We tested the activity a few times before we presented it to the other group and had a few difficulties. The first was with the lab view code and getting it to open correctly. That was an easy fix, but we were still having a hard time finding an easy way to record the data. The lab view program transferred the data to an excel file, but we were looking for an easier way for the other group to record the data so they would spend more time on the activity then fidgeting with a computer program.

Our other main problem was that we were not getting the results that we had anticipated. We had made predictions that the carpet surface would create more friction, but the carpet was generating similar results to the table surface and wood surface.

On the day of the activity, our first problem was that the piece of wood we had been using as a surface had gone missing from the hallway so we had to make plans to do the activity with just the table surface and the carpet surface. The second problem was getting the lab view program to open. Once the program opened, our activity went much smoother.

Our group worked with the solar oven group and that worked out perfectly because once they finished demonstrating the first oven and needed the thermometer to cool down, we had plenty of time to run through our activity. The other group was great at participating and switched turns pulling the duel range force sensor across the different surfaces. But once it came time to analyze the data we ran into problems. Excel took all the data and made a list with all of it, it wasn’t separated by surface. It made it a little frustrating to make the graph with the data jumbled up which is why we had been trying to find an easier way to record the data.

Over all our activity went better then I had hoped because all the problems we encountered didn’t prevent us from doing the activity.

When I went to the museum of science I spent about 2 hours there. It wasn’t my first time there but it was my first time there as an adult. I had the chance to walk around and see some new stuff that wasn’t there when I was a kid, but I also had some flash backs to middle school when I came across familiar exhibits.

The most interesting part for me was the human body exhibit and the energy exhibit. The human body exhibit has some fun facts that I didn’t know and it was empty enough that I could do some of the activities. The energy exhibit had a lot of good information and activities about wind and sustainable energy sources.

I was disappointed when I couldn’t find any activities that are explicitly about friction. But what was most upsetting about my experience was how difficult it was to do the activities when there where so many children running around.

I sat in on a demonstration about gas, solids and liquids and like the style the girl used to explain and demonstrate what she was saying. I think that was my favorite thing at the museum that day.

1.      Title: Friction!

2.      Purpose: To measure how much friction is created when a block of wood is dragged across different surfaces.

3.      Background: Friction is wasted energy.

4.      Procedure: Hook the block of wood to the duel range force sensor. Then gently pull the utility handle. The data is collected with the nxt and sent to the computer. Where you can use the data to make a graph and visually see how much friction is created on each surface.

5. Materials:

Block of wood

Duel range force sensor

Nxt

Computer desk

Carpet/ fabric surface

wood

6.      Analysis: results

In class we created a group for the team project. We spent our class time looking through one of the web sites given to us for ideas.

https://suffolku.blackboard.com/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_8354095_1%26url%3D

After bouncing idea back and forth for a while we found and experiment called a good sock. The experiment is about finding what cloth can best insulate a bottle of water. We’ve taken that idea and changed it a little bit. We want to do a similar experiment using different types of cloth that you would normally find around your own house. We have not specified what cloth we will be using yet but we are going to use those cloths in our experiment to see what types can keep a higher temperature of the hot water inside of bottles.

Our brief outline.

Team Project outline

1. Title:
2. Purpose: To find out what fabrics make better insulation.
3. Background: discovering what household fabrics can be best used as insulation.
4. Procedure:
   1. Set up: 4 water bottles. 3 different socks. Thermometer. Hot water. Timer
   2. Wrap 3 different socks around 3 of the water bottles
   3. Pour hot water into water bottles and then use the thermometer to find how hot it is.
   4. A few minutes later check the temperature again. (repeat a few times)
   5. Determine what fabrics held the heat in the bottles the longest.
   6. Data:
   7. Analysis:

The India Point nuclear power plant in NY could be shut down, this could be a good thing, but it could also be a bad thing. Many people fear having a nuclear power plant so close to them. It is understandable considering past problems with other nuclear power plants. But the power plant had received safety awards for regulations.

One problem with shutting down the plant is how many jobs would be lost. The plant employs over 1,100 people and those people wouldn’t have jobs if the plant shut down. If the power plant is shut down, it would mean that they would need to find another way of powering NY and that could become expensive and potentially unreliable, if no other energy plant replaced the India Point power plant, NYC would suffer from rolling black outs.

By keeping the power plant operating, the use of nuclear energy can continue to power parts of NYC and NY State and could potentially power even more parts of the state. Nuclear energy is not as dangerous as it sounds. It is cheaper to use nuclear energy compared to coal, gas, or petroleum. By using nuclear energy, almost no green house gasses are emitted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Point_Energy_Center

http://www.safesecurevital.com/

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/indian_point_nuclear_power_plant_ny/index.html

Many people don’t believe that global warming is a real threat. Psychologically people don’t want to believe the negative when there are people that try to disprove it. It’s easier to believe that nothing is wrong.

I personally believe that global warming is a threat because I can physically notice it. Just this past winter didn’t feel like winter at all. There was hardly any snow and some days felt like spring in January. But there are some people who refuse to believe that global warming is a real threat. In fact some people believe that there is global cooling.

I don’t believe the global cooling findings because the studies have been done in climates that are already very cold, so a temperature change of one degree doesn’t sound like much of a difference from the normal temperature in those areas of the world.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/05/19/global-cooling-scientists-warming/

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/31/with-suns-activity-set-to-diminish-is-global-cooling-coming/

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/archives/52393

Tom Vales visited our class last week and showed us some cool ways to generate energy. He explained that he builds small engines powered by sustainable resources like hot water or light. He demonstrated his Mendocino motors work, they use cooper wires and temperature to conduct energy. He had Mendocino motors with fans attached, when he put it in hot water, the fan would start working.

He also explained that he participates in a Tesla Club that builds Tesla motors and try them out. He brought a demonstration of one of those motors as well. The Tesla motor gets plugged in and then you can see blue sparks shoot out of the top. When Mr. Vales put light bulbs near the motor, they would light up with out being plugged in.

I liked Mr. Vales presentation because it showed me a different way of thinking about sustainable energy instead of just thinking in terms of solar panels and wind turbines.

The Solyndra Corporation was granted a loan of 535 million dollars by president Barack Obama in 2009 so that the corporation could spur alternative energy growth. By doing this, the corporation would have created about 4,000 new jobs, but instead Solyndra filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy a few years later and laid off almost all if their employees.

The Solyndra Corporation received the loan so that it could open a new manufacturing facility so they could make their unique solar panels. The problem with the solar panels is that they where too expensive and they didn’t have enough people to buy them. But when the corporation filled for bankruptcy, the government wound up having to pay off the loan itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyndra_loan_controversy

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-18/news/ct-met-kass-0918-20110918_1_solyndra-loan-guarantee-obama-fundraisers-obama-white-house

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/opinion/the-phony-solyndra-scandal.html

In our most recent lab, we learned about solar energy and how it works. We used lego mindstorm software, a solar cell, a ruler to measure how far the light was from the solar cell, a flashlight and different colored light filters.

Even tough I came in part way through the lab, my group mates explained what they had been doing. The solar cell was connected to the computer and the lego mindstorm software was tracking how much energy shinning the light on the solar cell created.

The light was concentrated on the solar cell at different distances and using different colored light filters. By using the software we could determine the best way to create solar energy.

We learned that solar energy can still be created with the color filters and when the light is closest to the solar cell, more energy is created.

Fracturing refers to the process of drilling for natural gas. To make the natural gas, chemicals like water, propants and other chemical additives, the chemicals are pressurized underground within rocks and create natural gas. Fracking or hydrofracking is when that process is speeded up and mined. To get the gas from the rocks, cracks are made in to rocks that allow the gas to escape.

Even though natural gas is a great alternative to the fossil fuel we have become accustom to using, it has its dangers. On of the main concerns about creating the natural gas is contaminating water and air quality.

In Pennsylvania, water wells were tested to see if there had been methane contamination, 51 of the 60 wells that had been tested confirmed contamination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

http://airhugger.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/a-fractured-fracking-law-in-new-york/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fracking-for-natural-gas-pollutes-water-wellshttp://airhugger.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/a-fractured-fracking-law-in-new-york/