Mimmo's 6th Blog

What science ideas did you learn?

This week we learned about eyes a little bit. We dissected cow eyes. We learned about different parts of the eye and what it was used for. I don't remember many of the parts, but there was a lens and a cornea. We also learned about movement. We learned that motion is relative. We learned that things appear to move when looking at them, but who is really moving. We also talked about from what perspective is and that might change what appears to be moving. Then we talked about how direction can change depending on your position. North, south, eats and, west don't move, but right and left do. If you and your friend stand across from each other and I tell you to point to the right you will point in opposite directions.

How did you learn these ideas?

We learned about the cow eyes because Mr. Finley ordered cow eyes and we dissected them. Step by step he showed us everything we cut and explained about it. We learned about motion because Mr. Segen held a ball in front of us and we had to look at it while he walked across the ball. Then he asked us who is moving us or the ball. We told him the ball is, but that's from our perspective. To him it looked like we were moving because he was walking a long side the ball.

Why is it important to know this idea?(What real world application is there)?

It is important to know about cow eyes because one day I could be a vet and be asked to look at a cow's eye. I would go to the farm and look at the cow's eye and think back to 8th grade and remember the cornea and what it is like and how it's supposed to look. Then I would look at the cow's eye and see its cornea was scratched and then I could help the cow.

Mimmo's 5th Blog

What science ideas did you learn?

This week we learned more about wave diagrams. We learned how fast they move and why. They move fast through air because the air is not dense, but they move slower through water because it is a much denser material. The waves are close together when the are moving slow and the waves are spread apart when they are moving fast. I also learned about the normal line. The normal line is the line that is perpendicular to the surface.
We also had a "carnival" games thing where we went around to different things and did the task. There were 6 tasks that we had to complete. First we had to watch videos, solve problems, look at diagrams, and draw pictures.
Also we made rubrics. We made rubrics for wave and ray diagrams. We had to write what was expected to do to get the best score possible. I also drew examples of a good drawing, an okay one, and a bad one. After that we had to use our rubrics to grade 4 different pictures.
Finally we learned some stuff about the eye. We learned how the light bounces off the image into our and how we see it upside down. Then we learned that our brain flips the image so we see things right-side-up. This was all to prepare us for our test on Monday.

How did you learn these science ideas?

This week we based most of our hypothesises on the one video we watched with a laser going through a glass prism. We saw how the light refracted down instead of to the right. This brought us to talk about the wave diagram and to compare the ray to the wave.

Why is it important to know this idea (What real world application is there)?

It is important to know this because one day I could have a child who has a science question. That question could be about wave and ray diagrams. They could ask me which is correct. Then i would think back to 8th grade science and explain to him/her that we don't really know which is correct because we have some proof for both.

Mimmo's 4th Blog

What science ideas did you learn?

This week I learned how water refracts light and refracts objects that are in the water. We hypothesized that the water might magnify the object. Also we mainly learned about what light is made out of. We learned that light can be made of particles or waves. We don't really know which is correct, but we have support for each hypothesis. We learned if the light is made of particles then when it hits water it will turn direction to the right, but if its made of waves it will hit the water and turn down. We also learned that when the waves are far apart then they are moving fast, but if the waves are close together then it is moving slowly.

How did you learn these ideas?

We learned these ideas because we watched a video of about a laser shining through water and it refracted. We then tested this. We then hypothesized. We thought the light refracted to the right, but it doesn't it refracts down.

Why is it important to know this idea (What real world application is there)?

It is important to know this because one day I could be asked by Mr. Finley or Mr. Segen why do you think we taught you about light and how it refracts? I could answer them by saying you wanted me to have a better knowledge about light so I can use it in really life. For example I could be having a conversation about light with my firend who has Ms. Hartford and they say all light is made up of rays and then I could example to them how that is just a prediction, but it could also be made up of waves. Then I could explain to them reasons that support each hypothesis.

Mimmo"s 3rd Blog

What science ideas did you learn?

This week I learned many things. I had to do a lab report about lasers bouncing off surfaces. I learned that lasers bounce of surfaces and the same angle they hit the surface. The angle the laser hits the surface is call Angle of Incident and the angle it bounces off the surface is called Angle of Reflection. Also this week I read an article about at 12 year old boy who invent something to do with solar energy. To add, I also learned about Particle Models of Light and how then move with different kinds of light. With a laser we learned how the particles move in a straight line, which gives you the beam. With a normal light, the particles are scattered with gives you the glow in every direct. Finally, we learned about what light does when it hits water. We have a couple different hypothesis and we don't know which is correct yet. We said maybe the light hits the water and bounces everywhere, the light hits the water and scatters only through the water, or it hits the water and keeps going through the water and some of it bounces off the surface.

How did you learn these ideas?

We learn these ideas like how we always do. Mr. Finley asks us a question, we come up with a hypothesis, and then we test our hypothesis. For example with the laser. He asked us "Do lasers move in one general direction after they are reflected off a mirror?" Then we answered and aid yes, then he said if that is true then how do they travel after they reflect. They we hypothesize that maybe they reflect in the same angle they are pointed in. Finally we tested it and talked about our results.

Why is it important to know this idea (What real world application is there)?

It is important to know this idea because when I'm older I could be on a date with a girl who is really into science and she will ask me how do lasers reflect off mirrors. Then I could remember back to 8th grade science and say their Angle of Reflection is equal to their Angle of Incident. Then she will be really impressed.