Archive of ‘Science’ category

Me as a researcher

Through this research process not only have I learned lots of facts, I have learned a lot about myself and how I work and note-take.

I have learned a lot throughout this process, and it showed me what I am like as a learner. One big thing I realized is that I like to have everything organized. This is mostly because for me, I understand the research more if it is neat and in order. This is why I have been splitting it up by each specific website or topic. Writing down what website it comes from is important because then I can go back to that link and see if I can find more useful information. I also learned that I prefer videos instead of web sites. I think this is because I understand the information better when I’m hearing it, rather than seeing it.

    As a reader, I conclude that I don’t like reading big paragraphs or articles and I have to break the article down in sections. This is because if I read too much I get confused and will mix it up with other information about something a little different. As a writer, I learned that the easiest way for me to note-take is bullets. I like bullet notes because they are simple and quick. If the notes take too long you might leave something important out because there was so much information. If I did have to write down Lon information, usually I would break it down and use other note-taking strategies for each section. Sometimes I would have to write down everything in bullet form because there wasn’t a better way to write it down.

    I have learned as a time manager that before I start researching I have to make a plan on what I’m doing and how long I’m doing it for. Usually, I would do one source a day. I had seven sources, so this took me a week to get all of my sources done. Each source would take about 30-45 minutes, but mostly 30 minutes. I think doing one source very day meant I wouldn’t forget anything important or forget a website. Since I am done with all my seven resources, I have to start researching on extra information. I will have about the same amount of time each day answering my questions. 

    Overall, I have learned so much about myself which will be so helpful for the future in another project, because I know what I like and what works best for me

Final Reflection-Rube Goldberg

Overall Rube Goldberg was really fun. Alina and I had many ups and downs but got through it.

One of the easiest things was collaboration. We worked well together and didn’t fight much. When we did, we would stop arguing quickly. We also learned to compromise well.

The hardest thing was definitely building. We realized so many errors with our design. We had lots of problems we didn’t think we would have. Also it was hard to find the materials we needed.

I am very sad that this is over and I had such a great time!

Here is our Rube Goldberg video:

 

Testing the machine-Rube Goldberg

After multiple days of building it was time to test. Alina and I discovered lots of problems but we fixed them.

One problem was that we had trouble finding things. For example we needed 3 different sized tables. We eventually used a table, a chair and a box instead. This took us a very long time.

We didn’t record every test that we did. Sometimes one thing wouldn’t work and the next time it would. The most important was how we set it up. Everything had to be perfect in order for it to work. At the end it took us about 6 or 7 tries which is pretty good!

It was a very tough process but we still had lots of fun!

 

Designing- Rube Goldberg

Designing was pretty hard. Alina and me had to think of 8 varied steps. This was hard because we had trouble coming up with lots of steps. We did the design at Alina’s house.

For the design we spilt the task. Alina drew the design and I labeled all the parts. We did get a hole in our paper but we made another one. Alina and I worked together to make it neat and readable. I think it was a very nice design.

Our task was to lift a post it off a post it pack. It took a while to figure out what our task was. Eventually Alina came up with the idea of the post it. We both liked it and decided to use it.

Building the Machine-Rube Goldberg

Build was very hard. We learned a lot of things and information. We did end up modifying our design because of problems.

One problem we had was the car wasn’t hitting the dominoes. Our ramp was pretty wide so the car moved all over the place. With the help our mom, Alina and I found a solution. We made a narrower ramp and put books on both sides of the dominoes to make sure it would only hit the dominoes.

Something I thought would be very hard was the lever. First of all, we didn’t know where to get the lever. My dad and I did some searching and found one. When we got it was pretty small and it took some time to assemble. I thought it was to Small but it wasn’t. We did have a problem with the lever moving but we were able to fix that.

Collaboration-Rube Goldberg

Working in a partnership can be difficult at times but also nice. I think that working alone is worse.

Working alone is good because you don’t have to agree on decisions. You don’t have to compromise either. Another reason is that you can’t have a partner goofing off and not paying attention. You can only get mad at yourself for doing that. I think this is helpful because you have a say in everything you do and you can’t argue.

Working in group is good because you have  people to get ideas from. This happened to me when we were deciding what the task was. I didn’t know what to do and Alina came up with the idea to lift a post-it of a post-it pack. Another reason  is that you don’t have as much work. You divide the work between you and them.

I think me and my partner are working well together. We haven’t had big disagreement’s and we argue over little things for like one minute. Overall, our group collaboration is good.

Decision making-Rube Goldberg

We just started our Rube Goldberg a week ago. Already we have had to make decisions about our project. We had to decide things like when we would meet and where and where we would work. These are some of the decisions we made!

Since I had a partner, we got to choose which house we would build our machine in. In the end we decided my house because we had enough room in one spot to place it. We decided to it in my attic or my room because it had the most space. We also choose because we needed a place with a table.

We also had to choose where and when we were going to work on our project. Me and my partner were both free on Wednesday so we decided to work then. We also decided to alternate which house we would work at each week. When we start building we will have to start working at my every week.

I can’t wait to start building and see how our machine turns out!

Plant Experiment Reflection #2

My group’s question was: What happens if we use no fertilizer pellets? Our hypothesis was: If we do not give fertilizer pellets to the plants then it would take longer to grow and would not grow as well because the fertilizer pellets help them grow faster since it gives it food.

After two weeks my control plants have grown a lot! It grows about one to two centimeters a day. All of the quads are the color green. All of our plants are growing expect two. Those two are wilting. They are almost dead. The direction of most of our plants are standing upright. Now our plants has buds! There have been a lot of changes so far. In the beginning it was only about two or three centimeters. Now our highest plant is ten centimeters! Our control plants are doing really well.

   

For our manipulated plants we didn’t use any fertilizer pellets. After two weeks so far the manipulated plants are looking pretty well. Our tallest plant is one centimeter less than our tallest control plant. All of our plants are green. One of our plants is nine centimeters. All twelve of my plants are growing. It is also growing about one to two centimeters a day.

Based on the results our hypothesis was partly right. It was partly right because it is shorter than our control plants but it is only one centimeter shorter. I think this happened because the manipulated plant had all of the important things it needed, which were soil, air, sunlight and water. Plants in the real world get a lot of sunlight, rain and air that helps them grow. Fertilizer pellets are not that necessary.

Plant Post #1

My class has been studying plants. We had to come up with a question for an experiment. Our group was thinking, what happens if we use no fertilizer pellets? Our group came up with a hypothesis that the plant would take longer to grow and not grow as well. We thought this because fertilizer pellets give lots of nourishment to plant to help it grow quicker. We had two plants for this experiment. One control plant and one manipulated plant. For the control it has seeds, air, water, soil and fertilizer pellets to grow a perfect plant. Then the manipulated plant, for that one I’m using no fertilizer pellets.

After a week they both grew a lot! Both of the plants were green in each quad. Cell four in the control plants was four centimeters. Cell three in the manipulated plants was three centimeters. In a few days Cell two was three centimeters in the control plants. Cell two in the manipulated plants was two centimeters. So far our hypothesis is right. But it might change!