Alyssa B's- Blog on Science Methods

The big question addressed in the lab:  What type of data do we have that supports that climate change is happening? A description of what you did in the lab:  In the provided data, we have graphs showing that temperature, precipitation, snowfall, habitat, and frost are changing drastically. Our question is why is the fall average precipitation decreasing when the precipitation in the rest of the seasons is increasing? From the data, we were able to find out more about what we can expect from climate change. Over the past century, Iowa’s average number of hot days has increased and is projected to be 85 days between 2070-2099. According to Osaka Prefecture University, the heat is causing the cherry blossom peak bloom day to be about a month earlier. The annual state-wide average number of frost-free days is also something that is increasing. Between 1950 and 2005, it increased from about 158 days to about 172 days. As far as precipitation goes, the total annual state-wide average preci

The big question: How do we know the Goldfinch is in danger in Iowa?  A description of what you did in the lab.  At first in the lab, we discussed climate change and its main effects. We did a jambord and discussed it with our classmates. Then we moved on to researching different websites about precipitation and temperature. While we were researching these things we thought about the big question. Some ideas we came up with are that they are in danger because their food supply would go down, their habitat would be affected, and their ability to fly would decrease due to the rain.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. N/A Test  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: -What did you learn? I learned the acronym LOWER Near water which stands for Latitude, Ocean currents, Wind and air masses, Elevation, Relief (aka topography), Near water.  -What was most helpful? I think the most helpful in this article was the reminder of what Iowa's climate is. Whi

The big question addressed in the lab:  Observations of sand and what they came from What we did in the lab:  In the lab, we looked at 11 different sands. As we looked at each sample of sand we took observations of them. We noticed if they were smooth or jagged, the color of them, the size, etc. After we observed all of them we then tried to determine where the sand came from water, wind, glacier, or volcanic. Something else we did was discuss the law of superposition. This is a principle that geologists go by to determine the age of the rock layers. The oldest layer is the bottom and the youngest is the top.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture:  In Thursday's lecture, we did a lab on buoyancy. We learned that an IPA and a Diet Coke floated. Our initial reasoning is that it does not have sugar and sugar is heavy. We learned about Archimedes and his principle. We looked at the displacement of water. First, we looked at how much the water rose with different

The big question/idea: Rocks and their formation Description of what you did in the lab:  In the lab, we used starbursts to create different types of rock formations. We had a small torch which we used to melt some of the starbursts together and then placed them in cold water to cool it to create an igneous rock. We also smushed some together without heat to create sedimentary rock. The last kind of rock formation we made was a metamorphic rock which used some heat (not enough to melt) and then used pressure.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. We learned about plate tectonics. They are located in the Earth's mantle. There is a thicker plate which is the continental and a thinner plate that is known as the oceanic plate which is denser also. When they collide with each other the oceanic plate goes under the continental plate and forms a trench. If a continental hits a continental mountains are formed. We also learned about the rock cycle. There are three k

  What did you do in the lab today? In lab we discussed geological time and when things came about in the earth such as land animals, plants, and dinosaurs. We got to explore a website called Earthviewer which shows different events that happened throughout time. After we explored we made a timeline in the classroom. Seeing how close together some things are compared to when the Big Bang happened was crazy. The extinction of dinosaurs and the beginning of human life were centimeters away on the scale of time. What was the big question? What is geological time and how does it work?  What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion? N/A we had a test Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading:       What did you learn?       I learned about the continental drift. While I do know what it is I did not know much about it so I learned that the continents drifted due to the plate tectonics theory.        What was most helpful?       The most helpful part of the textbook was the key takeawa

 Lab Notes:  Origin of the Universe   Scientists believe the universe is 13.7 billion years old   Before this there was nothing   Big bang theory – there was no bang because there was no light   Light came into existence 300,000 years later   Created gravity, heat, light   We do not know for sure and will never know – we will have the best theory   Theory that is damn near proven but never true   Small particles come together which led to stars and then galaxies and then us   Lifecycle of stars   In order to get light nuclear fusion needs to happen   Atoms come together to burn   You need a lot of atoms to get a star   https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1N_RsLWHDZki6GBpVk1CK1nqDpsncfjiizCP9SeV1I2U/edit#slide=id.p1   Galaxies   Consists of stars, planets, and vast clouds of gas and dust, bond together by gravity   Oldest galaxies formed when our universe was only 1 billion years old   Our galaxy will eventually collide with andromeda galaxy   Milky way is 100,00 light years b