Forces 2/11

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Forces can change the speed of something, the direction it is moving in, or its shape. A force can be a push or pull on an object. For example when you push a door open, you need to apply force to the door. In addition when you pull open a drawer, you need to apply force to the drawer. Balanced forces is when two forces acting on an object are equal in size but act in opposite directions. For example if the force of a rope is pulling a crate up and the weight of the crate is pulling the crate down at the same force, this is a balanced force. Unbalanced force is when two forces acting on an object are not equal in size. For instance, when someone is pushing a table with more force than the person who is pushing the table in the opposite direction. When two or more forces are acting on an object at once, the result is the combination of forces or combining forces. When two forces are acting in the same direction, the net force is the sum of the two individual forces and the object will move in the direction of the forces applied. When two unequal forces are acting in opposite directions, the net force is the difference between the two individual forces and the object will move in the direction applied by the larger force. Finally, when two equal forces are acting in opposite directions, the forces cancel each other out and the object will not move.

S&EP - SP1: Asking questions and defining problems

I formulate testable questions when I read over the "Forces" document that I was assigned to complete. On this document, there were questions that I needed to answer about forces. I established what is already known about forces by answering the questions that I knew the answer to. Once I found the answer to each question, I wrote the answer. I determine what questions have yet to be answered when I went over the document and figured out what questions I hadn't answered yet. I read over these unanswered questions and did my best to find information in order to answer them. I defined constraints and specifications for a solution as I realized that certain questions on this document required information that wasn't stated in the provided videos or articles. These certain questions needed to be answered with my own knowledge on the topic.

Newton's Laws of Motion 2/4/18

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Isaac Newton has created three laws to explain how forces make objects go in motion. Newton’s first law is known as the law of Inertia. This laws states that moving objects don’t spontaneously speed up, slow down, or change direction. An example of Newton’s first law is that if a bicycle is at rest, without force it is going to stay at rest. Newton’s second law states that force is the product of mass multiplied by acceleration. A more in depth definition of Newton's second law is in order to cause an object to accelerate, a force needs to be applied that is proportionate or larger than the mass of the object. This law also explains that the more force applied, the quicker the object accelerates. In addition the more mass there is in an object, the more force you need to apply in order to accelerate the object. An example of Newton’s second law is that if a bicycle is carrying a large amount of mass, the person pedaling will need to apply a large amount of force in order to make the bicycle accelerate. Newton’s third law is explained as, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. An example of Newton’s third law is the action is when you drop a bouncy ball and it creates a downward force hitting the ground. The reaction is when the floor reacts by pushing the ball the same force but upward, causing the bouncy ball to bounce back up.

S&EP - SP3: Planning and carrying out investigations

I identified questions to be investigated when I asked how each short lab represented each of Isaac Newton's three laws of motion. For the second lab that tested Newton's second law for motion, I identified my variables and controls. The controlled variable were the length of the track, the height of the ramp, and the starting positions of each marble. The manipulated variables were the mass of the marbles. There was one smaller marble and one larger marble that would be tested. I designed and performed experiments to test my hypotheses for the second lab that represented Newton's second law. I thought that when we released the smaller marble with less mass down the ramp, it wouldn't make the larger marble go in motion when they came in contact, and proved the opposite. The smaller marble did make the larger marble move, however the acceleration was very slow because it wasn't enough force.

Acceleration 1/21/18

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Acceleration is the increase in the rate of speed of an object's motion. In physics, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity of an object per unit time. Acceleration measured two changes, the change in position of an object and the change in velocity of an object. An example of acceleration is when an object speeds up. To find the acceleration of an object's motion you need to follow a certain formula. The formula for acceleration is velocity divided time or more specifically the difference between the velocity final and velocity initial, divided by time. If the acceleration you have found is a negative acceleration as the numbers turn out to be negative, then this is called a deceleration. You will usually have a deceleration when the velocity final is smaller than the velocity initial so when you subtract and divide, the numbers are negative. An example of deceleration in an object is when an object slows down. Once you have found the acceleration with this formula, the units for acceleration is m/s^2 which is the measurement unit per second squared.

S&EP - SP3: Planning and carrying out investigations

I identified questions to be investigated when I asked what the velocity of the hot wheels car would be at 1 seconds, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, and 4 seconds. I asked these questions when the height of the hot wheels ramp was at one book, two books, and three books. I identified my manipulated variables which were the height of the hot wheels ramp. We changed this variable by adding more books under the ramp to make the ramp steeper. The controlled variables of this experiment were the same hot wheels car, the same ramp, the same timer, and the same units of time and measurement. I designed and performed experiments to test my hypotheses. I thought that the hot wheels would have a larger acceleration when the hot wheels ramp was steeper, and proved this by testing and finding the acceleration of the hot wheels velocity when going down ramps with different heights. These heights include one book, two books, and three books. I decided to collect the measurement of the hot wheels car at 1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, and 4 seconds, this is the position of the car at different times. I chose to collect this data so I could calculate the velocity of the hot wheels car and eventually the acceleration.

Speed and Velocity - 1/14

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Speed is the rate at which an object covers distance. Velocity is the rate of the distance traveled by an object per unit time in a particular direction. The difference between speed and velocity is that speed has doesn't require direction while velocity is speed with a given direction. This is why speed is a scalar quantity and velocity is a vector quantity. An example of speed is "the car traveled 25 m per second". In addition, an example of velocity is "the car traveled 25 m per second east". Since both speed and velocity require the rate at which an object covers distance per unit time, they share the same formula. The formula to calculate for speed and velocity is speed or velocity = d/t. D/t stands for distance divided by time. So in order to find the speed or velocity of an object's movement, you need information on the total distance traveled by the object and the amount of time it took the object to travel that distance. The unit for speed is usually m/s or meters per second and the unit for velocity is usually m/s direction. Speed and velocity can be graphed on a position vs. time graph.

S&EP - SP1: Asking questions and defining problems

I formulate testable questions when I read over the questions on the "Speed and Velocity" document that was assigned. I needed to answer these questions about speed and velocity in order to complete this document. To answer these questions, I needed to read the correlating article and research the information. I established what is already known about speed and velocity when I answered the questions and typed them down on the document. I determine what questions have yet to be answered when I looked at the remaining questions I still haven't answered or when I looked at the questions that I couldn't find the information for. I defined constraints and specifications for a solution as I realized that I couldn't calculate and solve for speed or velocity without knowing information about the distance and time of the object's movement. I needed to know the total distance the object traveled and the amount of time it took for the object to travel this distance. The reason I needed this information is because the formula for speed or velocity is distance/time.

Project Blog: Charity Fair - 12/17

Summary

Charity Fair is the most complex project of the year because it stretches out to every class. Students had to complete tasks and learn new skills in each class, that relates to their product or charity. In social studies, students researched and learned information about the organization they support. Including the charity's mission, story, and how many they have affected on their journey. In math class, students learned the profit they would make by selling their product, the price of their product, and how much it would cost to produce their product. In addition, students learned the charity statistics, such as how much money the charity makes per year and what percentage goes to the cause. In science, students learned the mode of transportation to ship each material that contributes to the creation of the product. In engineering, students learned how to create an instructable and backboard for the project. Lastly in language arts, students learned how to put together an ignite presentation to efficiently advertise their charity in exactly 2 minutes.

Backward-Looking

During this year's annual Charity Fair, students were put into groups of 2 to 3 among the peers in their class. The priority of Charity Fair is to find a charity or organization that you truly care about and sell products to raise money for that charity. To find the ideal charity, each group had to research the different organizations that supports their topic in social studies. Based on observing the charity's ratings and mission, students were able to make a decision about what charity best suites their outlook. This leads to the final choice of the certain charity the group is willing to support/advertise throughout this project. Next, groups had to decide what product they are going to sell in order to raise money for charity. This product has to have some correlation to the group's charity. Once the product is approved, students had to create a Cost & Profit and Statistics document in math class. In addition, students created a google map in science alongside a Carbon Footprint document. Meanwhile in engineering, students had to make an online instructable that would be pasted on a backboard that is also created in that class. To finish it of, students created a quick ignite presentation containing only photos, to influence students/teachers to vote for their charity.

Inward-Looking

Going into this project, I had many standards for myself as well as my group. Since I am currently in 8th grade and this is my last year of Charity Fair, I knew exactly what to expect. So I had many expectations and goals to hopefully accomplish. The first expectation was for my group to choose a charity that we really care for. The main reason for Charity Fair is to raise money for a worthy cause. It is very important that the charity you are advertising speaks volumes to you and that you are passionate about the topic. Another expectation was for my group to get work done efficiently and on time. After years of doing the same type of work for this project, we should know how the assignments are expected to be completed and what to do for them. In addition, we should know the amount of work that needs to be done for Charity Fair, therefore we should be able to split the work up equally so that it is turned in on time. The last expectation I had was for each group member to memorize their lines for the ignite presentation. At our age, we should be setting a good example to the younger students presenting. It is unprofessional to be reading from a script.

Outward-Looking

The one thing I would like people to notice or take away from my group's project is how hard we have worked on it. It has taken so much time and effort to complete each assignment for Charity Fair. There were several different tasks that needed to be done at the same time and for different classes. The amount of work for this project was overwhelming and took dedication to complete. In addition, to create the products we sold at Charity Fair, my group had to stay extra hours at each other's houses to make each item perfect. My group sold gingerbread house kits so it definitely took a while to create each component of the kit. The gingerbread was very difficult to bake because the shapes had to be cut neatly and the dough needed to be at the right thickness or else the cookies would break too easily. It took several tries to get the outcome that we wanted. The same trial and error situation happened with the icing as it needed to be the right ratio of ingredients in order to create a consistency that was strong enough to hold the house, yet would pipe with ease.

Forward-Looking

Looking at the final outcome of this year's Charity Fair, I would only like to change one thing if I had the change to do this project over again. This one change would be to create more of my group's product. In the past, it always took a good amount of time to sell all of my group's product. However this year it only took the first five minutes for my group to sell out. Once all of the products were gone, there was nothing to sell and no more money could be raised from my group's stand. This quick sell out is due to the mistake of making only ten products. Although each item was very difficult to create because of the complexity of each component put into the product, I still believe that we could have at least made a few more products. Therefore making fifteen in total. This would give others who were looking forward to our product, a chance to buy one. It would also allow my group to raise more money for the chosen charity and contribute to its donations.

Carbon Footprint 12/3

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A carbon footprint is historically defined as the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organisation, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent. A simplified definition of carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere when certain items are shipped around the world. Shipping these items helps companies gather the materials they need in order to create products that are sold in stores today. It is important for companies to know what their carbon footprint is because depending on how far the items are shipped, it could effect the environment crucially. In addition, the length of how far the items travel can determine how much money it costs to ship the items. To calculate the carbon footprint, you have to find out how far it takes each material to ship from the manufacturer's to the factory where your product is built or sold. First, you have to consider what possible mode of transport should be used to ship each material. If the manufacturer is in the same country then a truck should be used. If the manufacturer is in the same continent then a train should be used. If the manufacturer is in a different continent then an airplane should be used. Then you find out how many miles each item travels and convert those miles to the amount of CO2 that is released depending on the mode of transport.

S&EP - SP2: Developing and using models

I constructed physical, mental or conceptual models to represent and understand phenomena when I created a google map with my group to represent the location of each material needed to create our product for Charity Fair. I used models to explain and predict behaviors of systems, or test a design as I marked the locations of the manufacturers or where each material was made. Then we marked the location of the retailer or where we bought each material. Next, we connected the manufacturers to the retailer with the line tool as we decided the possible mode of transport for each material. Lastly, we found out how many miles the materials traveled and converted the amount of miles to the amount of CO2 that would be released when each material is shipped. I refined/rebuild my model as I learned that each location needed to be marked with their own individual icon.

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