Category Archives: Science

Finishing the Rube Goldberg plan

This time Barbara, Hana and I (Caitlyn couldn’t come) were at my house. We were finishing the plan that was due on Wednesday. We thought we would use train tracks after the plastic.

Then we were stuck. We couldn’t think of anything and were getting a little stressed. After a lot of stressful thinking we thought of maybe doing toilet paper but that wouldn’t be strong enough to push the cup of candy plus we wouldn’t have enough steps. So we thought and pondered.

Since we were having a sleepover Hana had her wash bags. Suddenly we realized. What if we used bottles to knock over the toilet paper which knocks over another bottle which hits a cup of candy that makes the candy go into a trick or treating basket?

Perfect, we had come up with an 8 step plan.

Here is our sketch:

Second and third Rube Goldberg meeting

For our second and third meetings we had taped down the structure and we decided to work on our plan. We drew out everything we had already done. Then we tried to think of some ideas for the plan.

While we were thinking Caitlyn, Barbara and I thought of maybe doing a zip-line from one part of the wall to another. The more we thought about, the more reasons not to it came up. How would we attach it to the wall without peeling the paint with tape, how would the marble get onto and of the zip-line and  more.

We tested the marble run a few times and then it broke. We had to tape all of it back together witch wasted quite a lot of time. The dominoes we had last time didn’t really work on the carpet so we moved the whole thing on to a cardboard box. We added that to are sketch as well.  After the two meetings we hadn’t accomplished much, but we had many more days until the project was due.

Rocket Presentation Reflection

On November 30th my class had a rocket presentation. We launched rockets and then made a slide show about it. We shared that with parents and that is what I am reflecting about. I was in Rockets Inc and also did an additional presentation before about access information. In my group I had Kevin, Dani and Ben.

There were 5 different rocket launching groups. Rockets Inc, Radical Rockets, Rocket Crushers, Flying Savages and Rampaging Rockets. I am reflecting on the first half of the presentation that included Rocket Inc, Radical Rockets and Rocket Crushers.

First I should tell you about the process before the presentation. First we made a inspiration board to inspire us. We did research, added quotes, pictures and just things we thought would help us on our journey.

Next we had to design our first out of 3 rockets. My group decided to use a skinny body. We also decided to put a styrofoam cone and a paper cone on top of each other to make a nose cone. Then we cut triangle shapes in paper and hot glued them and the nose cone to the body to make a rocket. We did that 3 times for each rocket sometimes adding to it and sometimes taking away. Our first rocket went the highest, second the lowest and third in between.

Next we did a slideshow. We worked hard making the slideshow and rehearsing it, day after day we practiced until it was practically perfect.

Now it was time for the presentation.When we did our presentation, we had our parents there and everybody was pretty nervous. I presented the overview and it was nerve wracking  but fun. Next we were on to the rocket groups. My group went first. We did ok! A bit shaky but ok! We stumbled a little but the audience clapped when we had finished and my group was happy.

We waited a bit while the other groups in my half presented and then our teacher Mrs Edwards gave a speech and we went on with our day.It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget.

 

Wetlands ecosystem

Wetlands Ecosystem

Wetlands are places with a lot of water. Wetlands stop floods happening because they collect water.I learned really interesting facts while reserching and I hope you do too.

Producers:

Producers are living things that produce their own food from the sun. They are plants, including algae, duckweed, grass, bushes, trees, waterlilies and more. Some producers float on water and others are rooted to the ground. Some trees are more than half underwater. Plants can grow in salt and fresh water, so in every kind of wetland!

Consumers:

Consumers are living things that consume other consumers or producers. There are many different types of consumers in wetlands. Here are a few — crocodiles, hippos, frogs, lizards, turtles, alligators, snakes, ducks, geese, swans and mice. Herons, storks, cranes, caimans, iguanas, geckos, manatees and salamanders are other consumers.

Decomposers:

Decomposers are sometimes referred to as the clean-up crew. This is because they decompose dead animals. If we didn’t have decomposers there would be more dead animals than water in a wetland! Decomposers in a wetland are usually fungus and bacteria. You can’t see decomposing happening but over time things grow smaller and smaller until they disappear.

Location:

Wetlands are usually in places with soil covered with water. Wetlands are in every continent except Antarctica! Louisiana has lots of wetland. Unfortunately most got destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi also has lots of wetlands because of its conditions. Sub-tropical wetlands are the most common.

Things Unique:

Wetland animals have to adapt to their wetlands climate. Some wetlands are quite humid and other are quite cold depending on where on earth they are. There are many different types of wetlands including bogs, swamps, fens and marshes. These wetlands are quite different in wetness and weather.

How we are affecting wetlands:

We are affecting wetlands a lot. One example is we pollute. Lots of stuff we just throw in the garbage gets thrown into wetlands. The animals in wetlands eat that garbage and die. We also are not caring about wetlands. wetlands are getting smaller and smaller because of farming practices, and people not caring about wetlands and using them to make cities.

We can help by trying to recycle. We can also compost food and try to not use plastic bags which kill a lot of animals. We can use brown paper bags and reusable bags and also try to help by forming groups to help or writing letters.

I hope you enjoyed my entry. Maybe you could help out by creating a group in your town or using brown paper bags. Help out with wetlands!