Hank Sanders Hyla Woods Blog Report

Hank Sanders Hyla Woods Write-up!!

Intro:

One of the most important things that a scientist must have before he/she does anything like an experiment or a analysis is the scientific question. The scientific question is what causes the correct set of steps to take place and the follow through of the experiment. So, what was our question? What did we ask ourselves before entering Hyla woods? Our scientific question was:

What makes an ecosystem healthy?, and How can we tell if an ecosystem is healthy?

The following shows the steps that our team took to answer the question above

 

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There were three experiments that our group conducted:

1. pH of the water
2. Turbidity of the water
3. Oxidation of the water.

The pH was around 6.5, the turbidity was 26 inches and the oxidization of the water was 14 parts per million. These facts and figures showed us that this water was extremely suitable for life. The pH portrayed that the water was filled with healthy nutrients and was a healthy mix of H2O and other healthy chemicals. The Turbidity of the water told us that the water was very clear-which is helpful for aquatic life. The oxidization of the water portrayed a healthy amount of oxygen in the water.

The other experiment was more of a long term experiment. Here, we had to collect around 45 ounces of leaves. Then we put these leaves into a mesh bag. Once we labeled the bag and placed it into the water, we took a few pictures of the area so that in a few weeks we will be able to go back and take a look at what grew in the leaves. When we came back to Hyla Woods three weeks later, we saw -- three weeks later -- that although there were very few leaves remaining after a group of sticks created a rip in our bag, there was one bug. It was a mayflie.

Class ORANGE 3 had a great time in Hyla woods. Some of the highlights were (both trips highlights) :

• The comradery of the bus on the way up to the ecosystem
• The collaboration of the experimental findings
• The atmosphere of the ecosystem (i.e. the water, the trees, the smells, etc.)
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!!

Despite all the fun that we as a group had, we all experienced some challenges:

• The cold: being at Hyla Woods on the coldest day made the environment a little uncomfortable
• The water: it was super cold-making the water experiments also uncomfortable
• The utensils: our group in particular had troubles getting all of the needed materials for the experiments
• The experiments themselves: the directions were at times hard to follow forcing us to be that much more vigilant

***The process in which we conducted our experiments was also quiet interesting. (both trips -- little difference between the two findings)

For the pH, Isabella and Hank dipped the pH paper into a sample of the stream water. Then we checked the color against a color template. The color was in between 6 and 7. For the turbidity, Alex, Sujala and Nicolas took a long tube and filled it to the brim with the stream water. Then they looked through the tube to see at which height they could see the bottom of the tube-in this case they could see it at the entire 26 inches. For the oxidation of the water, Nicolas and Sujala conducted several chemical experiments on the sample stream water. They concluded that the water was 14 parts per million.

(both trips)

All the experiments led to one simple conclusion that would answer the first question of our two part scientific question: The Hyla Woods Ecosystem is a healthy ecosystem. We concluded this because:

1. The bug that were found was a mayfly. The mayfly is a very sensitive bug. If you find a sensitive bug in a ecosystem, it shows that that ecosystem is perfect for all animals
2. The pH of the creek water was close to that of 100% fresh water
3. The water had a high level of dissolved oxygen
4. The turbidity of the water was low. Animals do not like turbid water

The above facts show why, how, and what we did at Hyla Woods, the two times we visited.

Puppet Pals

Hey Everyone!
Let me tell you about a project that I have been doing.
In my latest History class, I have been working on a video about Isaac Newton and his contributions to science. My specific group within our class has been working on the overall topic of the Scientific Revolution. So I chose to do one on one of the most famous scientists of all time.
Here is the transcript:

Sir Isaac Newton PRS MP ( 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727) was an English physicist and mathematician who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution.Newton changed the way that humans today look at gravity and science. Before Isaac Newton, the world of science was run by religion. After him, the world of science was much more of a thought based world.

Isaac Newton was born in a period of time now called the scientific revolution. Before his age, the scientific world was based on theories revolving around a higher power, for example, a god. Back in that time, the church was the ruler and the pope was often times more powerful then the king. (pic of a pope)

Isaac newton seeked to change that. From a very young age, Isaac newton was enthralled with the ways of science. He, some historians say, would spend a great deal of time doing nothing but look into space and ponder the ways of the universe. He, it appears, felt that god must not be the only answer. There must be something to the starry sky other than the church. Through his laws of gravity he showed that the world is the way it is because of the fact something called science. Newton’s laws are:

I. Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

II. The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

III. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Let me tell you the story of the apple tree. A young Isaac Newton is sitting beneath an apple tree contemplating the mysterious universe. Suddenly - boink! -an apple hits him on the head. "Aha!" he shouts, or perhaps, "Eureka!" In a flash he understands that the very same force that brought the apple crashing toward the ground also keeps the moon falling toward the Earth and the Earth falling toward the sun: gravity.

Although this story is debatable whether or not it is one hundred percent fact, it is a great image of what Isaac Newton was thinking about and questioning all the time. Things that today we all take for granted was highly questioned and also very revolutionary during the time of Isaac Newton.

After the breakthrough thinking of Isaac Newton, the world shifted from a “higher power” dominated style of thinking to a much more thought provoking and science based explanation of the universe and science.

The conclusion that the "Earth circles the Sun," was reached and published by Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and Halley. This is the "heliocentric theory."

Newton played an influential role in the Heliocentric vs. Geocentric conclusion and this is just one more breakthrough that Newton contributed to the scientific world.

So, why is it called Puppet Pals? Well, the video was (duh) filmed using the app puppet pals.
Here is the video,

Enjoy!!

What are the Consequences of Technology?

Technology is something that many of us take for granted. We are living in the 21st century. This century is a very interesting time for technology, simply because there is so much of it. There are around 3 billion interent users worldwide. But what do you think would happen if we went back to the times of medieval England when the latest and greatest technology was Gutenberg's printing press? What do you think are the consequences of technology? In order to answer this question, in this essay we will be looking at three things: How has technology affected the battle front? How has technology affected politics? How has technology affected learning? Using these three examples, we will be able to get a big picture look at it's consequences.