Category: Science

Capstone: Choosing a Main Question and Sub Questions

Home / Capstone / Capstone: Choosing a Main Question and Sub Questions
by rpalaniappan24

After choosing to topic I had to choose my main inquiry question and six sub questions.

First I had to choose my main inquiry question. That was a big process. I had two questions in mind then I choose my favorite one. That was all at home. Then at school we got two sheets of paper. Both papers were for the main inquiry question. So I did one so I started my sub questions. But while I was working on my sub questions, that was when I knew what my main inquiry question was supposed to be. It is “how are cocoa beans produced, how does the production affect the taste of chocolate, and what are the health benefits of chocolate?” That is my main inquiry question and I am so proud of it.

After that I had to do my sub questions. The sub questions were the hardest because there are so many of them. Like I said I did my sub questions while I did my main inquiry question. For the sub questions, I knew I wanted to do, where do cocoa beans grow. Then I wanted to do one more about cocoa beans. I needed to think over it a few times and then I chose, how are cocoa beans harvested. Then I wanted to do two health benefit questions. These questions weren’t hard for me to think about. I chose, does the cocoa bean itself have any health benefits, then I chose for my second one about health benefits, what are the health benefits of milk and dark chocolate individually. Then finally, since I also mentioned taste in my main inquiry question, I did my last two about taste. Those were the hardest ones. They were hard because I needed to think about what I didn’t know. I finally chose, what impact does chocolate percentage have on the flavor, then for my final one I chose after a long process of hard thinking and many, many iterations I decided to go with, what affects on the flavor of chocolate does the production of chocolate have.

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I am really proud of myself, and all of my questions. I feel confident in them and I am sure that this will be a great project, with great questions.

 

Stop Motion Immigration: Struggles and Problem Solving

Home / Science / Stop Motion Immigration: Struggles and Problem Solving
by rpalaniappan24

The project isn’t all that easy. One way it isn’t is that there were a bunch of problems and we had to solve them so we could go on. There were a lot of struggles and a lot of arguing and a lot of problem solving and working together. We really had to work as a team during this project.

As I said there were a lot of struggles and problem solving times. Some examples for struggles are not agreeing, fighting over jobs, how fast our filming goes, and who gets what part. One person would get upset and then the other two try to persuade this one that we all should stay with what were good at. Some examples of problem solving strategies are grabbing a drink of water, talking it out, and arguing for what you want.

Those problems and strategies actually happened and worked. Our group disagrees but when we work it out we are a great team.

Capstone: Choosing A Topic

Home / Capstone / Capstone: Choosing A Topic
by rpalaniappan24

So we just started our big capstone project! Capstone is a big end of the year project which each person chooses their own topic to study about for six weeks. During those six weeks we will do a lot of research. We will do an interview and a site visit. When the whole project is done and we have our presentation all set up we set up somewhere in our school and all classes come around and look at our hard work.

For a good amount of the year I knew I was gonna do something chocolate. It seemed like a great topic (for me). My teacher, Ms. Boyer, had us do some different sheets and packets to work on finding our narrow topic. We did a whole packet on what we would do if… we also did a sheet putting our general topic in the middle and expanding out on different areas of the topic. For example, chocolate in the middle and economics, geography, culture, art, etc. on the outside. On those examples we would write questions and pick something like that.

After I did that I saw the science area of chocolate. That really interested me. But I wasn’t sure if that was too big. Then I talked to Ms. Boyer and I realized that if I do smaller sub-questions then I could do that whole topic. And that is what I chose.

That was my whole process of choosing a topic. Even though I thought I wanted to do chocolate in general I found a cooler and narrower topic, the science of chocolate. And that is how I chose the science of chocolate.

I am so excited and stay posted for more posts about capstone. There will be many different posts. Yay!

The Engergy in Everything

Home / Science / The Engergy in Everything
by rpalaniappan24

So what different kinds of energy did we use in our Rube Goldberg? Lana and I used potential energy and kinetic energy. Potential energy is when an object sits still. Kinetic energy is when an object is in motion. When one object has kinetic energy is can pass that energy onto another object that it knocks into.

Everything has energy in it. Even if you don’t realize it. And even you have energy in yourself. There are a lot of different kinds of energy. When the two of us started our Rube Goldberg the whole projects had potential energy but once one of us used some energy to start the Rube Goldberg, there was a whole contraption of energy. We put kinetic energy on the object that had potential energy. That kinetic energy tranfered into mechanical energy because work had been done. After that whole energy swap the Rube Goldberg had a big chane reaction.

 

                        Forms of energy

Finally Finished

Home / Science / Finally Finished
by rpalaniappan24

We succeeded and now it was time to make the movie. We used the app iMovie for our finished product. We put our two designs, materials used, two fails, our success, and an explanation of our project into the video. After we added all of the media we added in some different transitions. We also wrote words in the video so our viewers can know what is going on in the movie. Lana and I kept on repeating and repeating the movie until we liked what we were seeing. The two of us were going back and forth between our teacher’s YouTube page and our movie to see if we should add something more to our video. Once the movie part was finish it was time to enable the music. We were hesitant if we should have the music while we were speaking because we didn’t want our voices to not be heard. But we went with it anyway. The two of us were so proud of our whole project once we were done. I will never forget this project. It was so fun. I couldn’t believe my when I saw the whole project done. When you have seen your whole Rube Goldberg project finished you feel amazed. It is like saying WOW! You feel so proud.

 

 

 

Success!

Home / Science / Success!
by rpalaniappan24

“It is Wednesday January 25th, 2017 Rube Goldberg work in progress take 55.” Those are the exact words that I said. We really wanted this to be the one so badly. If it was a fail we would be devastated but we tried again. We had to set everything back up. Then, we had to say again, “today is ______________ Rube Goldberg work in progress take__.” We said that over and over again until our 55th try. That was the last time we had to say it. Success! We were having a dance party. Screaming with enjoyment Lana and I were ecstatic. We have been waiting for that very moment. I don’t think that I will ever forget that very moment. It was so surprising when we got it in. We didn’t expect it.

Setting Up The Steps

Home / Science / Setting Up The Steps
by rpalaniappan24

Once we had our first sketch done it was time to set everything up. While we were setting up the steps, Lana and I were questioning ourselves, do we actually think that this will work? So, we edited it a little bit. We took out some steps and added in some more. It was sure a process. We only set up our first sketch so we don’t know how many more times we will have to reset it. Also after every try we have to set it up again. We did a lot of editing and revising in our first day.

It is time consuming when you set your design up over and over again. It is also extremely stressful. When you think, this will be it, our Rube Goldberg will be successful. Guess what, it is super annoying when it isn’t successful. We would always go a little wild when our Rube Goldberg didn’t work that time. But we set it back up as a team and hope that this sketch will be the one. And we will never give up until we get it right.

 

                     Our Rube Goldberg Set Up

Expert Lecture 6: What Is Genetics?

Home / Expert Lecture Series / Expert Lecture 6: What Is Genetics?
by rpalaniappan24

You might be asking yourself what is genetics. Genetics is your history and your family. When you map out someone’s genetics you pretty much map out their family tree/history. You can do people, book characters, movie characters, etc. Mrs. Hopkins came into our class and she is learning how to be a genetics counselor. She explained to us what she does. She helps women that are pregnant to see if the baby will be healthy and she helps people with cancer to know if it is severe or not. Mrs. Hopkins goes into the patients history and ancestry to learn more about the client.

In class Mrs. Hopkins did two stories. We did Star Wars, Luke Skywalker’s life, and Harry Potter’s life. They were interesting to learn how to make. If you know The Harry Potter series well you can look at this example. This is Harry Potter’s genetics:

Harry Potter’s Genetics

Sketching The Steps

Home / Science / Sketching The Steps
by rpalaniappan24

Today was the day that Lana and I got our first sketch done. It is due on Wednesday and today is Monday. I am so glad that we got it over with. But, it was also really exciting to have it down. Each step took a lot of thought. We had to make sure that we both liked the idea and that it might work out. If you ever make a Rube Goldberg don’t get stressed because it all takes time. Also, your first sketch most likely won’t be your last sketch. And that is the thing with sketches. They might work and might not. Each sketch has different parts to it that makes it unique in it’s own way.

Our sketch took a lot of time. We had to constantly ask ourselves, what can go next and how will we incorporate it? What are the different levels? How much force will one object put on the next one? Those are all questions that you should ask yourself when you make a Rube Goldberg. There are a lot more questions that you can also come up with when you make your own Rube Goldberg. You can use ramps and different objects to help you have different levels. You can also have steps and make objects drop. Those are some helpful steps that I recommend using.

Here is an example of a Rube. Goldberg sketch:

    My First Sketch

Tinkering With Toys

Home / Science / Tinkering With Toys
by rpalaniappan24

Once me and Lana got our bright idea for our Rube Goldberg we wanted to tinker with the materials that we would be using for our final project. We went down into her basement and took out the materials. We started putting one thing on top of the other, and started to build onto our first “contraption”. We started to reciognise what might work and what might not work. The tests that worked we have to keep in mind because those details could go into our final creation. There are a lot of different steps in tinkering that we must pay attention to because those steps can come in handy when we are working on our final project. Lana and I worked with dominoes and different wooden blocks. We might use the same materials and different materials for our project. Tinkering around is a big part when you are making because when you tinker you come up with a ton of brilliant ideas.

We also played with iMovies to help us when we make our final movie. When we finish the project we have to make a movie that reviews our whole process. The imovie will have our words, photos, and videos.

I am super psyched about this project!