The Water Cycle

In class we did an activity which represented the water cycle. In this cycle, water is transferred into many different reservoirs, but overall it maintains balanced. In the first round we had a few students holding a cup walking around. They were the clouds. Then about fifteen people walked around with spoons and their job was to take a spoon out of the reservoir and empty it into a cloud (cup). This showed evaporation. The reservoirs were places like the ocean, plants and animals, aquifer, and many more. In the second round, there were people walking around with spoons, cups, and bigger cups. The bigger cups were in charge of taking water out of the ocean and aquifer and filling it up in the smaller reservoirs like agriculture. This represented the human impact on it. In the last round everything remained the same except for the blue dye that was added to some cups. The blue dye represented the pollution from factories and humans. As the water was recycled throughout the blue dye spread everywhere. Overall, the rain cycle was balanced because there was an equal everywhere.

Why kites fly

Everyone knows that in order for a kite to fly you need wind. But what type of wind is needed? Well, a once in a while breeze can help a kite fly. These winds are called local winds. Local winds occur in a small area and change direction very often. Global winds take place in a large area and are usually very strong. Local winds may arise from a sea breeze which is common during the day. The sea breeze is cool air being pushed upon warm land from a body of water. The best place to fly a kite is at the beach during the day because that is when a sea breeze is most common. A land breeze is the complete opposite and occurs at night. Local winds are caused by uneven heating of the Earth's surface by the Sun. Also, by convection currents. Winds help us understand weather better because of the Polar Easterlies. The Polar Easterlies are the cold but weak winds that change the weather in the U.S. My kite did not fly very much because there wasn't any wind. Although, if I went to the beach to fly my kite there would be a better chance of it flying. Besides that I wouldn't have changed anything about my kite.

Social Studies Technology advancements

I think that the biggest advancements in technology since thrity years ago is the cellphone. Thirty years ago phones were connected with a wire to the wall. Now, phones are cordless. Many people today have cellphones, even kids. Having a cellphone helps parents keep tabs on their kid. Also, if someone is in trouble or is hurt they can get the help they need in seconds. Cellphones help keep everyone safe and allow people to talk on the phone if they are just bored. Cellphones allow you to talk to anyone where ever you are. Without cellphones life would be very difficult. If you didn't have a cellphone and you were in an unknown place, there would be very limited options. Cellphones are one of the best resources that technology has advanced in.

Social Studies Technology advancements

This comet is acting unusual

Most comets are small, not that bright, and don't last that long. Although, in less then 24 hours, Comet 17P/Holmes 400,000 times brighter than any other comet before! This big ball of dust and ice could be seen without a telescope for many weeks.It is normal for comets to become brighter when they are revolving close to the Sun. When the comet is near the Sun, the ice on it melts and the Sun's rays reflect its light on the dust part. The Holmes comet was as far as the Earth was to the sun and it never got much heat. When the comet was in orbit, it was not next to the sun. It was five months past the closest location. Scientists explain this for happening because the outer layer disintegrated. Then, the Sun reflected its rays on the halo of dust. This may have been seen five months after its closest point because it was probably soaking up the Sun's rays before. A discovery like this one was discovered in 1892 by an English astronomer. Holmes was a bright comet at one point but then it disappeared. Scientists lost track of it and now it has resurfaced. This whole cycle could happen again but scientists are keeping a close watch on it now.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20071128/Note3.asp

Queen Hatshepsut

A 3,500 year old corpse has now surfaced in Egypt. It has been identified as the most 'powerful queen' in Egypt: Queen Hatshepsut. Scientists are taking it slow to confirm that this is the Pharaoh indeed. They are still analyzing DNA and also, trying to figure out what caused her death like they did with King Tut. This mummy is put in the Egyptian museum's royal mummy room. They have been able to identify that this is the body of Queen Hatshepsut . The information that they have concluded so far has been based on the CT scans that they did. The scans showed many similarities with the mummy and pictures like a tooth gap. Some assumptions were based on her genetic makeup. Her royal relatives had a skin disease which she also had. They compared her to her grandmother. The scientists in Egypt are trying their best to prove with DNA samples that this is indeed is Hatshepsut. Scientists are using her relatives, CT scans, and DNA results to make this decision final.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/12/24/mummies.dna.ap/index.html

Frog dissection

Dissecting a frog is very fun and interesting unless you get a girl like my group did. Our frog had a big tummy at first and when we cut it open we saw why. The frog had two handfuls of eggs in it. They were small black beads each with a dot in them. So before we got to look at any organs we had to empty all the eggs out. After we finished removing the eggs I saw corkscrew type organs, long stringy organs, and big round organs. I saw the stomach, heart, lungs, and intestines. The heart had a thin sac around it which we tried to remove. Then we took out the intestines and attempted to measure it. It was 28cm long. As we were exploring through the frog in the back we located the kidneys. They looked exactly like miniature kidney beans. On the sides of the frog there were a lot of stringy looking organs that were orange. Those were the frogs body fats. After we were done exploring its body we tried opening its mouth. It was hard to do but we got a glimpse of its tounge and teeth. Overall, the frog dissection was cool.