Journal #12

Electrons

Made up of two things
Neutrons and protons
This is used to make an atom
Negativly charged
Yeah that's how they role.

But if you don't believe me,
then go and ask Mister M Chem himself.
He will tell you
Electrons made up of two
Don't forget it!

Journal # 11

Wind power energy is one of the renewable sources to coal.  But is it really worth it?  In some cases yes and in others no.  In a New York Times article it talk about how by 2030 about 20% of energy will come from wind power.  There are already some companies like Google and a New York financial firm that are supporting and donating money for wind turbines to be built.  With wind turbines there are essential two problems with this.  One problem is that wind does not blow at all times.  Another problem is that sometimes wind blows really hard but in places where it doesn't matter.  For example wind is heavy in high plains of West Texas which is hundreds of miles from big cities like Dallas and Houston.  So it would be not be very useful for wind turbines in places like that.  Also it would be difficult to build them in certain places like the ocean.  It would be hard to construct them in the Great Lakes because their waters are deep and they freeze which could be essentially bad.  Another thing that isn't good is the fact that wind power would cost 10 times more than coal, natural gas, or even onshore wind. 
One project that has already been approved in 2010 after 9 years is the Cape Wind Project.  This could supply 75% of the electricity for Cape Cod and nearby islands.  Also the Cape Wind would sell 50% of the farms power to National Grid at 18.7 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2013.  Another project that has already been taken in to consideration is the Atlantic Wind Connection.  From the help of Google and Good Energies they have each agreed to take a 37.5% of the project to in place.  Reasons for delay in this is there could be challenges that they could run into like the cost for the technology. 
In my opinion I think that the wind turbines would be useful in windy cities so we could use them there.  But in places with low winds it would be a terrible idea and a waste of money.  Before we build wind turbines we should have a full investigation to see if it's actually worth it.  Wind energy could be the next renewable resource that we see more often in the future but it shouldn't be the only on that we should rely on.

Source: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/wind-power/index.html

Journal #10

Solar power energy is one of the types of energy that we use today.  In rural Kenya they aer maing solar lanterns accessible to women.  The WEDI  is what's making this all possible.  The WEDI collects 50% of the deposit for the LED lamp and the other 50% is paid in 3 equal instalments.  Then it is deliverd to the group members and they track loans and collect the 50% down payment.

Source:
http://www.gvepinternational.org/en/business/solar-power?gclid=CPj6nvCl4qwCFUbf4AodJFXAnA

under Making solar lanterns accessible to women in rural Kenya

Journal #10

My favortie website that I like to use to look up new information is Google.  Everyone uses it but we have to be careful if the information that it is giving is true.  When I click on a url I check the bottom of the website to see if there is an About Us or Contact Us; if there not there then I move onto the next website because if the can't share that kind of informaiton then I won't use it.  Another way that I check it is check a different website and/or check a book and if it comes up again then I know that the infomation is valid because it comes up multiple times.  On my blog most of the information is true.  But I can't always be 100% sure because I am still a student and learning.  Also my blog more or less are opinions and what I think, so you can't always depend on my blog (or any) to give exact information as a book.  Although most blog most likely tell you the facts and aren't that opinionated.

Journal #8

I know that for me to get into the college of my dreams (NYU) won't be an easy task.  Having good grades and being in multiple after school activities is just the half of it.  I will also need to have good SAT scores.  In order to do this I will first of all need to study.  I won't be able to do this all on my own, so I know for a fact that I will need to get a tutor.  I will also need to make sure that I take all required classes in order to get in.  So I will make sure that I plan ahead for my remaining years in high school.

Journal #7

I find POGIL useful because when one person doesn't undestand the assignment then we ask our group memebers before asking the teahcer.  But at the same time I don't like POGIL becuase sometimes no one understands it and we have to constantly ask for help.  One way that I think that it can be improved is if at least two people in the group understands the work.  So that way they can explain it to the others and it would benefit us more.

Journal # 6

If the U.S. is the scientific light of the world and if we are so responsible for making new discoveries, then we should give out more scholarships to students that progress will in science.  Also schools should try to get students more interested in science at an early age so that they will think about making a career out of science.  But the schools have to make it pertain to the students or else we will lose interest and not care.  Show more experiments and demos, this way students will actually appreciate it and think about going into a doctoral field. 

I can truly say that someone that always makes a difference in my life are my science teachers.  Each year since middle school my science teachers have sparked my knowledge on science.  Although I have been taking science since middle school, I think that I started taking science seriously in high school.  Last year in biology I got excited to learn something new; my favorite was learning about GMOs and how it is a very debatable topic.  That’s another thing I love about science you get to use your debating skills sometimes since not everyone in the science industry have the same viewpoint.  This year in chemistry so far I love it and I can say that this is so far the most interesting course I have taken in high school.  I get excited when I walk through the doors of chemistry because I know that it won’t be boring.

Journal #5

During this quarter I made really good progress.  I was always on time with my notebook open and ready to learn.  One thing I was good at was posting on my blog and handing in my quizlets.  So far I haven't missed a homework assignment and I don't plan on it because I want to maintain my A in this class.  One thing that I struggle with though is when we have to do quiz's on the clickers because sometimes I will click in the wrong answer and then it makes my grade lower.

Journal #4- Schools, Beware the e-book Bandwagon

In my opinion I find that switching to  online textbooks would be a terrible thing to do because it is difficult to concentrate if it is online because I will get distracted by other things. For example I will open up my Facebook or surf the web instead of reading the required. "There's always the temptation to click on a link, check email.." That is one of the downfalls about reading e-books. Another thing that makes reading e-books harder is being able to flip between a gap of pages. Also I hate the fact that sometimes it can freeze on you. If you were to lose Internet connection while using the e-book online then you would not only lose your place but unable to finish your assignments.   One thing that stuck out to me in the article is "E-readers sacrifice many of these navigational cues, and that's another reason why so many students end up frustrated with the devices." If this is true (which for me it is) then why would we want to use these device? Another thing that doesn't make sense to me at all is that in Augusta, Maine, they are planning on giving in coming kindergartners iPads. To me it makes no sense to start students at an early stage using these devices because it will make their lives a lot harder; also what if one of the kindergartners happen to drop it? At the University of Washington researchers said that students "retain and recall textual information more effectively" in textbooks, then why would they want us to switch all textbooks to ones online. In my opinion that makes absolute no sense because then grades would drop for the students that have trouble retaining information.

   Although, it does have its benefits but I don't think that online textbooks should be replaced by textbooks all together.  In general I do find that using online textbooks are beneficial because if I forget my textbook in my locker, then I have the pages at my fingertips.  Another thing that I like is that with it being online is that you can print out the pages and then write all over the pages, which is something that we can't do in the textbooks provided by the school.

Natural Hazards: Densities for Mysterious Substances

Natural Hazards: Densities for Mysterious Substances

Density Lab

In the density lab we recorded data of the mass and volume of 4 different sized cylinders of a specific material.  To measure the mass we used an electronic balance.  Then to measure the volume we used graduated cylinders and used water displacement to figure out what the volume of the material was.

Journal #3

Honey has a density 1.432 g/cm cubed, soy sauce has a density of 0.980 g/cm cubed, and olive oil has a density of 0.914 g/cm cubed. (The order of the densities goes from bottom to top) The reason the liquids separated was because after the sauce was left alone, the contents broke down and separated by the densities. Also another thing that could have contributed to this factor was because it was in the fridge which could have speeded the process of separating.



Sources:
http://www.tis-gdv.de/tis_e/ware/oele/oliven/oliven.htm
http://www.aqua-calc.com/page/density-table/substance/Soy-blank-sauce-blank-made-blank-from-blank-hydrolyzed-blank-vegetable-blank-protein
http://www.aqua-calc.com/page/density-table

Journal #2

In my opinion, I think that they have done a good job in sealing the gash in the well (from the BP oil spill).  Now that it is closed there is no more oil spilling out in the Gulf of Mexico.  Although, that still doesn't mean that all of the oil is cleaned up yet; 53 million gallons of oil still remain.  And since it is trapped in marshes it makes it harder to clean up.  So overall, I think that they have done a poor job in trying to clean up the spill because they know it is there, so why didn't they start cleaning it right away?


http://www.newsinferno.com/archive/bp-finished-cementing-well-oil-spill-cleanup-continues/

Journal # 1

There are so many things that I would like to accomplish this year academically. One thing I want to do is figure out what class excites me the most. This way I can use that class and make it my profession. Another thing I would like to accomplish is get straight A's in all my classes. I would also like to make sure that I take better notes in my classes, so that when it comes back to study for a test I am prepared for it. The last thing that I would like to do is to not be afraid to ask the teacher for help; whether it means to email my teachers or talk to them directly during, after, or before class.