Chad's 8th grade page

Documented learning

2009-05-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

We have learned about many subjects in earth science and i have a favorite part of each subject.

~In astronomy my favorite part was learning about gravity and motion. this was my favorite part of astronomy because it has a lot to do with are everyday life.Gravity is the motion that holds you on to something or in other words attracts things together.

~This year we also studied Earths atmosphere. I liked learning about the different layers of the atmosphere. The first layer is the Troposphere inside of which weather occurs. The second layer is the Stratosphere the layer that jets fly through. This layer absorbs harmful rays from the sun because of the ozone layer that is located at the bottom. Next is the Mesosphere the layer that burns any meteor or rock fragments coming to Earth. The fourth layer is the Thermosphere, the layer that space shuttles orbit in and auroras occur. Last is the Exosphere the layer where the atmosphere goes into space.

~In geology my favorite part was the rock cycle. It was awesome how all rock is each type of rock at some point. From being metamorphic rock deep under ground to being a sedimentary rock compacted to the surface.

~My favorite thing that we learned about weathering and erosion was learning about the different types of weather fronts. In this we had to learn about the four different types of fronts. While learning this i learned that a front can occur when something happens to other fronts. Weather and erosion was an cool topic but not the best this year.

~In the Earths waters I enjoyed the activity on the computer where we learned the cycle water goes through. After learning about the water cycle we had to answer questions about it on our blog. I enjoyed this because it was fun and we got to apply what we learned in our blog.

Where Does Water Come From

2009-04-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

where does Colorado springs water come from?
75% of water that supplys Colorado springs is snow melt coming down in streams and rivers to the turquoise lake then goes through ortero pipeline making its way to homesteak pipeline then going to the water treatment plant then to the citizens. the other 25% comes from surface and groundwater such as these examples of are surface and ground water

Surface Water

Pikes Peak Northern and Southern Slopes
Cheyenne Creeks
Fountain Creek
Peakview Reservoir in Monument
Northfield Watershed

Ground Water

Arapahoe (4 wells)
Denver (1 well)
Laramie-Fox Hills (1 well)
Widefield (4 wells

Water Cycle

2009-04-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Q. What is the water cycle?

A. The water cycle is the continuous movement of water which it moves through the environment.

Q. Does the water cycle have a beginning or end?

A. No the water cycle does not have a beginning or a end because it is continuous and never stops.

Q. Starting with a puddle on a sunny day, describe how water might move through the water cycle and eventually fall back as rain.

A. The puddle will soon evaporate into the air, then it will turn into condensation, and soon become heavy enough to come down as precipitation then will go into runoffs and underground water that will soon be going into rivers lakes and the ocean.

Solar Power

2009-04-22T07:46:00.000-07:00

Annonated Bigliography

2009-04-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Solar Works
www.crystalbay.net/solarvillage/questions
On this website i found many facts and answers to my question "how efficient is solar power". This website was very essential to my research and that things i found. this website was the one i used the most.
Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213172955.htm
This website had lots of facts on solar power. It also had lots of history on solar power. This website also had lots of dates and numerical facts. This was a very helpful website.
The Green Blog
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2008/07/mit_team_increases_efficiency_of_solar_panels.html
This website had lots of facts but not all of them were about solar power. On this website it talked about going green and that is what solar power is. that is why this website helped me doing my research.
Powered by Solar Panels
http://poweredbysolarpanels.com/solar-panel-efficiency/
this website has helped me drastically in my project. this website gave me lots of information on solar power and solar energy panels. this website has been very helpful.

Solar Power

2009-04-21T07:45:00.001-07:00

Solar Energy

2009-04-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

Q.What, specifically about your topic, are you going to research?
A.i will be researching "how efficient is solar power?"
Q.What conclusions did you come to? What do you recommend average citizens do to make a difference?
A.I have found out that solar energy is most efficient when it is placed at a southern sun exposure but it can be less efficient when things such as shad by anything as little as a leave to as big as a whole tree. As result of shad affecting the solar panels loose debris can also affect it so it works to its fullest ability. Although the efficiency of the solar power should not run out or start to work worse if you keep them clean and out of shad.
http://www.crystalbay.net/solarvillage/questions.html
http://poweredbysolarpanels.com/solar-panel-efficiency/
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2008/07/mit_team_increases_efficiency_of_solar_panels.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080213172955.htm

Q.What would happen if, worst-case scenario, nobody listened to your recommendations?
A. If nobody uses solar power it could take effect on earth with global warming because it slows down global warming. if no one uses it it could also effect people by making them rely on on the traditional methods of producing power instead alternate source which is solar power.

Q.What would happen if, best-case scenario, everybody listened to your recommendations?
A.If many people used solar power it would not be efficient because people would not have to rely on trditional methods of produseing power and it would also slow down global warming.

Penny Experiment

2009-04-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

My prediction was off by 3 drops because I predicted 5 and it took 8 drops. As I did this experiment i put drops of water on a penny one at a time. I did this till the penny was full of water to where it overflowed at 8 drops of water. But at the result of the experiment being 8 drops I was not shocked by my prediction of 5 drops.

Water in Hawaii

2009-03-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

Journal entry 10
While in Hawaii i have learned many things. One thing that i have learned about is water. Hawaii is known for their volcano's but the water is really important also. The water in Hawaii is known for their big waves that lots of people come to surf on. A main reason people come to surf their is because they are known for the biggest wave known called Jaws that occurs once a year in a certain place. This wave is created by the reef on the ocean floor and what happens with the water on the island. On the island their are many waterfalls rivers and streams that shape the island.The water in Hawaii is clear and clean. Around all the waterfalls rivers and streams there are amazing rain forests.

Exploring Earthquakes

2009-01-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Earthquakes tend to happen along plate tectonics in the world.

Earthquakes happen here because a earthquake is the plate tectonics moving.

This area is called the ring of fire.

The closest earthquake to Manitou is in ute pass. the details of this earthquake is there was a small chain of three earthquakes.people are able to feel this earthquake from ute pass. it acured with a magnittude of 3.1.

On Friday January 16th at 3:09pm there was a earthquake in Tennessee. The depth of the earthquake was 8.5km . the magnitude of it was 2.8. Earthquakes are perty common in this area.

To protect yourself from earthquakes you should drop, cover, and hold. You could also make your house safer by making improvements to it.

Fronts

2008-12-05T07:54:00.000-08:00

Cold Front- A cold front occurs when cold air moves in it takes the warm air up and forms clouds once the clouds reach 100% humidity its precipitates
Warm Front-A warm front is where warm air comes in and takes up most of the cold air as it dose this it forms a cloud that then precipitates
Stationary Front-A stationary front is where warm and cold air meet and form a cloud in the middle then it precipitates
Occluded Front-This is when there are 2 areas of cool air with warm air in the middle then the warm air gos over the cool air
Which type of front occurred this week to bring the cold weather and then snow? A Occluded front

Sailing With The Winds

2008-11-20T07:19:00.000-08:00

Trip Itinerary and approximate latitude: Havana, Cuba 25 degrees north. London, England 57 degrees north.
Travel time:9 days
Direction traveling:NE
Were you successful? Yes
How many attempts? 3
How were you successful? by using the prevailing westerlies to move faster
What winds did you take advantage of or compete with during your travel?Prevailing westerlies

Trip Itinerary and approximate latitude: San Francisco, United States
Travel time:13 days
Direction traveling:SW
Were you successful? Yes
How many attempts? 1
How were you successful? by using the trade winds to get to the doldrums to travel faster
What winds did you take advantage of or compete with during your travel?Trade winds, and the doldrums

Trip Itinerary and approximate latitude: Lima, Peru 13 degrees south. Cape Town, South Africa
Travel time:15 days
Direction traveling:NE
Were you successful? Yes
How many attempts? 3
How were you successful? by using the prevailing westerlies to move faster then cut up when you get close to the docking place
What winds did you take advantage of or compete with during your travel?prevailing westerlies

Atmospheric Factors Affecting Earth

2008-11-17T21:42:00.000-08:00

My paper is linked above.

Photochemical Smog

2008-11-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

Photochemical smog is a brown haze that happens to develop in sunny cities. this smog is produced by the sunlight hitting pollutants. These chemicals can form to a brownish ozone that settles in the troposphere. For many reasons you here that it does noy matter because ozone blocks ultra violet light and protects living things. Ozone can also be bad for people wen it is as low as the troposphere because it can irritate the eyes, throat, and lungs. to solve this problem people need to start to bun less and less coal and wood.

Earth's Atmosphere

2008-10-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

Earth's atmosphere makes it very diffrent from the moon and other planets that do not have a atmosphere. See the moon does not have a atmosphere so every meteor going towards it hits it. How ever earth's atmosphere burns up the meteoroids as they pass threw it. Earth's atmosphere also is made up of many gases that are important to us liveing so all the planets without a atmosphere most likely will not be able to have liveing things on it. That is why earths atmosphere makes earth so unique.

Rockets

2008-10-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Space Exploration

2008-10-01T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Science Of Rockets

Since the 1950's we have used atlas rockets to launch probes and satellites into space

Today we have created new versions 58 meters tall with 3 stages

First stage is called atlas

Second stage is called centaur

Third stage is called payload

The Space Program

NASA began in 1958

In 1958 NASA did a project to see if people could survive in space

Then NASA did a project called gemini useing a spacecraft built for two

NASA also did a prject called apollo 13 witch put astroauts on the moon

Apollo 13

Launched on April 11 1976

Two days into flight oxygen tank blew up

It failed but it landed safely in the Pacific Ocean

Going Back To The Moon

Three uncrewed space crafts have landed on the moon

Both passed through information on the moon

Exploring Space Today

A small robot called a personal satellite assistant is used

Programed to regularly conduct maintenence check-ups

Has a video phone

Using Space Science on Earth

Less than 1% of U. S. budget is spent on the space program

Some people disagree with funding the space program

The space program supports many jobs

This inspires people to explore the unknown

Presintation

2008-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Gizmo:Seasons: Earth, Moon, Sun

2008-09-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

All in all there are two factors that cause the seasons. First the axis of earth is is tilted. Second the revolution of earth on its orbit is another reason. The reasons those two things make are summer, winter, fall, and spring. those are two reasons for the seasons.

Rotation and Revolution

2008-09-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

Get a Voki now!

perspective

2008-09-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

The book Zoom is about changing your prospective every picture. In every picture your prospective changes and you think that its a different thing. As it gets father you have a different prospective. This has to do with prospective because every picture you have a different point of view of whats happening. That's about the book zoom that has a bunch to do with prospective.

There are many ways prospective can help you with something like it is. For example when u look at a chiwawa frombehind it looks like a rat. But when you look at it from in front it looks like a chiwawa. Many things help you alter your perspective. Such as changing your point of view or getting farther away.

In science people could gather data many ways. But people that would like to gather information from up close are usually studying small things. They could also be gathering information on something and want to get lots of details. With astronomy it would be important to be aware of prospective because something could look like something and it wont be exactly be what it looks. All in all prospective is something you could use all the time and be aware of.

Enigma Box

2008-08-29T07:32:00.001-07:00

Scientists use many skills to learn about something in the natural world. One skill they use is observing by using one or more of their scenes to gather information. They also use classifying by putting stuff in groups that have similar features. By guessing what is going to happen in the future by knowledge is predicting. Also by making a interpretation with observations they also make inferences. I used all of those great features to figure out what was going on in the enigma box.
The enigma box is a mystery but i observed it closely. We kept putting more water in and nothing happened. Until we put in 470 ml then boom. Water came out the yube on the bottom. How come the water came out all the sudden?
Well i beleive i can answer that question. I think that there is a slanted wall inside and once you get enough water it spills over. When it spills over it gos out tube in the bottom. Thats how i think it works. But is that really how it works?
No that is not how the enigma box works, there were many guesses on how it works. But all of them were wrong and now im going to really tell u how it works. There is a twisted tube in the box. When you pour water in the box the tube fills up to where the water level is. Once the water gets to the highest point of the tube the water comes out the other end of the tube. That is how the enigma box works.