In my science class we had an interesting experiment. We are learning about the Earth. Our teacher wanted us to learn more about the mantel. She explained to us that the mantel is a solid but acts as a liquid. Many of us were confused. How could a solid be a liquid? Well we conducted this experiment. First you will need the following materials: half a cup of cornstarch, half a cup of water, a spoon, and two beakers. Next pour the water into the cornstarch. Take the spoon and mix the water and cornstarch together. You will realize that the mixture will become harder and harder to stir. After mixing take your hand and take a good amount of the mixture. If you let it be the mixture will melt in your hand and start to drip down. But, if you touch it, it will suddenly become hard. This is a good example of what happens in the mantel. Plasticity is the term that explains this experiment. The mantel has this specific property. As a result the crust can float on the mantel. I learned a lot about the Earth and this experiment was fun!!!
In my class we watched an amazing movie known as "October Sky". It is about a young boy known as Homer Hickam who watches one night as the Soviet satellite Sputnik zoomed across the night sky in his hometown of Coalwood, Virginia. He becomes inspired by the Sputnik and soon begins to build rockets with his friends Quentin Wilson, O'Dell Carroll, and Roy Lee. But, Homer's father dislikes the rocket building because he hopes for Homer to become a coal mine worker. Determined to win the science fair Homer ignores his father's remarks and soon the "Rocket Boys" start to build rockets. When they begin to launch rockets at their launch site at Cape Coalwood they were soon accused of starting a forest fire. Homer soon had to stop building and launching rockets which depressed him deeply. Homer's father soon gets into a coal mine accident and Homer takes over because Jim, Homer's brother received a college scholarship. Homer soon proves that they did not cause the forest fire after his father gets better. The fire was caused by a flare that was shot from a nearby airport. Soon the "Rocket Boys" enter the science fair which they won. When Homer also wins the nationals he is overwhelmed by college scholarships. When he arrives back to town he is a hero. He shows the medal to his teacher who supported him throughout the entire event, Ms. Riley, who was diagnosed with cancer. They then launch their final rocket which Homer's dad attended and launched. Homer and the other boys graduated from college. Homer's father died due to Black Lung Disease and Ms. Riley died due to cancer. This movie had many connections to Earth Science. For example, Homer's father worked in the coal mines which are located underground. Homer Hickam's story proves that you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it.
Color Blindness is a genetic disorder that affects 8% of men and .5% of women in U.S. Color blindness affects humans when the subject is unable to see shades of colors. Color blindness is not fatal so the mortality rate is zero. Color blindness can disable many people. Colors are used everyday and when someone cannot see the correct colors life can be difficult for them. There are no treatment to the disorder. But anyone with the disorder can get special glasses that allow them to see the correct colors. I believe that color blindness can make a persons life very difficult. I hope that in the future there will be a treatment for color blindness.
Duchene muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder that affects muscles. It was first discovered by a French neurologist named Guillanme Benjamin Amand Duchenne in the 1860s. The symptoms are unusual walking or running at around the age of 3. There are also generalized weaknesses and muscles wasting first affecting hips, pelvis, thigh, and shoulders. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the disorder. But patients can take physical therapy so they can remain fit. Most kids with the disorder die with it before their thirties. About 1 out of 3600 male infants have the disorder and mostly males get the disorder. Duchene muscular dystrophy is caused by missing genes that are needed to make proteins in order to build and maintain healthy muscles. To develop new treatments researchers have to learn more about what causes this disorder. I believe that this disorder can be treated. In the future we can find a cure and save many lives.
Scientists believe that the western conifer-seed bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis, has infrared radiation that comes out of it. The bugs navigate this thermoscape using infrared receptors to locate the seed-bearing cones they feed on. Scientists at the Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and several colleagues discovered that the bugs were often attracted to warm objects in poeple homes. To find out more, the team measured the teamperature from different pine trees. Cones were as many as 27 degrees Fahrenheit warmer then needles and emitted stronger infrared radiation. Then, theseted the ability of the bugs by offering them a strong or weak infrared source. The insects overwhelmingly chose the strong radiation. Scientists believe that some plants use radiation to advertise pollinators to come to them. I believe that this discovery is important because if we learn more about infrared the more we can use it.
In South Brunswick a new, unique, facility was just finished on Docks Corner Road. The 583,376 square foot warehouse distribution facility was designed "green" in order to save money and energy. "It’s a special building that’s just waiting for a tenant to move in,"said Jason Goldman, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey Inc. Features include a high-solar reflectance white roof system so it can generate solar energy, a lighting package which is 30 percent more efficient than standard lighting systems and potable water reduction of up to 40 percent. The company ensures that the building is 17 more percent energy efficient. The building is one of three facilities in the state which pursued the LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Mr. Goldman says that it is not an ideal time, but nobody would have predicted this 24 months ago! I believe that this building could lead to many other contractors to design and build "green" buildings. If everyone has a building that is energy efficient then those people would save money and help the environment.
In my science class we learned about Newton and his laws of motion. We learned that the first law states that a object in rest will stay in rest unless acted upon an unbalanced force and that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon an unbalanced force. One example is when you are in a car and you stop friction acts upon the tires and makes the car stop. We also learned that the second law states how acceleration, force, and mass are related. He created an equation to find the force which is measured by Newtons. The equation is F=MA. An example for this is the reason why smaller cars have a better mileage than larger cars. It takes less force to move a smaller car resulting in the consumption of less gas when in a larger car it takes more force which then uses up more gas. Finally we learned that the third law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The example for this is when a person walks the ground pushes against us with the same amount of force resulting walking. This also explains friction. Friction is the an opposite force which pushes against us. There is fluid friction, sliding friction, and rolling friction. I believe that Newton was an important man in history. Without him, we would never have known about the forces that act upon us.
On February 2nd, 2009, at about 10:34 p.m. a 3.0 earthquake occurred which startled many residents. Some thought their furnace had blown up or a truck or plane crashed. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the tremendous force that appeared throughout northern New Jersey was an earthquake. Kevin Meyer said, “The whole house went up, and there was a loud boom.” Won-Young Kim, A senior scientist with the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory said the average depth of a quake would be five or six miles. The shallowness of the quake resulted in more shaking, causing more people to feel it. Many people reported hearing an explosion or a large crash. In a couple of towns, residents went to talk to neighbors about what they heard and felt. Earthquakes occur a few times a year in New Jersey but most are not even noticed. They are common in the state’s northwest corner because there are more active faults in the area. The last earthquake reported in the state, was a magnitude of 2.1 which happened in Hunterdon in July. The largest on was in 1884 with a magnitude of 5.5 which toppled church and yanked homes from their foundations. Scientists believe a 5.5- magnitude earthquake could happen every 120 years and a 7.0-magnitude quake every 3,400 years. I believe that this earthquake opened people’s eyes. We now know that even in New Jersey we are not safe from earthquakes. They could happen anywhere at anytime. I found this article at http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/it_sounded_like_an_explosion.html
In remote Venezuela, a previously unknown catfish has been discovered. Scientists say that this species will shake the evolution tree. The new catfish has two families, Loricariidae and Astroblepidae. These fish have body armor that protects its head and tail. It also has a grasping pelvic fin that can grab vertical surfaces such as rocks. The strange fish caught the attention of the team 20 years ago. They took food samples and the fish to the Instituto de Zoologíca for identification. It took them years to pin point where the fish originated. They believe that the fishes ancestors most likely inhabited the upland Amazon streams and Orinoco river basins. Now the question is if the fish grasping pelvis and climbing behavior came from evolution or if it was independently acquired.
I believe that this is an amazing discovery. If we learn more about evolution we can learn about our own evolutionary process. We then can learn more about our ancestors and about ourselves. I found this article at http://www.livescience.com/animals/090122-climbing-catfish.html
On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama began his new presidency before an estimated 2 million people which is the biggest crowd in history, on the National Mall with sad yet very confident tones saying that under his command he will overcome its challenges and problems. It was prophesied by Martian Luther King that one day everyone of each race would come together. It made many citizens to tears. Obama’s address came before a crowd that had been getting bigger and bigger since 4 a.m. People danced, sang and waved flags as his swearing- in approached. Obama repeated the oath of office, his hand on the Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration. After swearing in and Obama’s speech was given there were celebrations around the country and even the world! "Greatness is never a given. It must be earned," he had said. Many people are very hopeful of Obama. They believe that he will be the change that they needed. "This is America happening," said Evadey Minott, a Brooklyn, New York, resident who witnessed the inauguration. The author believed that Obama’s inauguration is one of the most extraordinary moments in history. Obama has a big job ahead.
More than one million people gather in the National Mall in Washington DC, to see President Obama take the oath of office. The new leader said in his inaugural address that he would vow to begin the work of remaking America. He made a reference to the scale of his achievement at being the first black American elected to the White House. In his speech the part that stood out was, "This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed... why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath." When taking office, using his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, he his on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his inauguration in 1861. He repeated the oath of office then he became the first African American president of the United States of America. "The challenges we face are real," President Obama said. "They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. America now hopes that he can get the job done.
After reading these articles I am very proud to be living in America. Obama's story is an inspiration to others. I now know that in America if you put your mind to it anything is possible.
The overview of this story is that Obama became president of the United States of America. He gave his speech to millions of people who came to see the first black president. He is a great inspiration to others. If he could become president anyone can become anything they put their minds to. I believe that America is the place to start a new life and become someone somebody will look up to.
In the Sahara Desert, paleontologists believe that they have unearthed a new type of pterosaur, a giraffe-sized dinosaur, and a previously unknown sauropod dinosaur. The pterosaur was identified by a fragment of beak from the giant flying reptile. The sauropod, an herbivore, was represented by a long bone measuring more than a yard long, which they believe indicates an animal nearly sixty-five feet in length. Paleontologists believe that both lived almost 100 million years ago. They found the fossils southeast of Morocco, near the Algerian border, during a month long expedition. Nizar Ibrahim, a University College Dublin graduate student said that finding the two specimens in one expedition is remarkable, especially as both might well represent new species. Ibrahim will undertake an analysis of the sauropod bone, which he expects is a new species and genus of sauropod. He will also examine the pterosaur remains. The team also discovered rare dinosaur footprints, including some that record several animals walking along the same trail, as well as hundreds of dinosaur teeth, bits of giant crocodiles and some new species of fish. The fossils will return to Morocco for display after a study in Dublin. I believe this team found an amazing discovery. The more fossils we find the more we can learn about the age of the dinosaurs. I found this article at http://www.livescience.com/animals/081217-sahara-bones.html
