creating our own fossils

working with fossils is something every kid likes to do. A fossil is a piece of physical evidence of history preserved through time. In class someday my students may want the chance to do some exploring on our own, so today we talked about a fun, cheap way for our students to do this.

In a group we decided on different ratios of sand, plaster and water to mix in order to create our own fossils. I made a fossil with sand, plaster, shells, and food coloring. I used a ratio of 40% sand and 60% plaster. I put in 45 ml of sand, and 65 ml of plaster mixed it with 70 ml of water then colored it blue for fun with food coloring.
Every kid wants the chance to dig around in the dirt and discover something awesome. I really hope that this mixture works when we compare them to other possible plaster mixtures in a few days when they have dried.


the breaking down of our fossils
what is the best fossil recipe?

when breaking apart my fossil, I found that when creating my fossils I need to make sure that my fossils sinks down a bit more from the top. It was still down enough that I had to dig it out. I think my recipe worked out really well. it was not to loose, but also not to hard to chip away at.
I started by peeling off the cup, then I took a Flathead screwdriver and started digging. It came off both in large chunks, and as a little bit of powder. I liked having the color in my mix to add just a little bit more excitement to it. I was surprised how it ended up looking when all dry, although you could easily spot the tip of the shell on the top
In my group the one who had the most sand in her mixture fell apart to quickly for it to be fun. the recipe does make a difference

The value of the stars

If you had $100 and you had to spread it out among the sun and the planets and everything else in the solar system how much would be dedicated throughout?

If I had $100 to distribute throughout the solar system it is hard to say what I would distribute where. if it is a question of how valuable each thing is to me, then the sun would receive at least $45 because it is the center and it provides warmth and light to earth. Earth I would give $35, being a human being who relies on the planet to survive. the remaining $20 would be distributed evenly between the other planets and the stars visible within our system.

If it is a question of the overall value in the solar system or the size I am unsure how much I would give to each item.

Based on the size of the solar system I would put the sun at $70 the the rest divided approximately equal



EDIT!!! the true answer is that the sun is 99.85% of the solar system I was way off

Astronomers

Henriatta Swan Levitt: who is she?

Modern Astronomer-Dates: 1868-1921

What was a big contribution she made?

-in 1912 she published her work on the fact that stars vary in their luminosity intrinsically. 

-period-luminosity relationship became important for measuring stars distance

-major contribution to the cepheid variable period-luminosity relationship

-she created the Harvard Standard- a method of measurement photographically 

-her research led to others discovering that there are other galaxies outside of our own ( Edwin Hubble)

Fun Facts

-attended Oberlin College and Radcliffe College

-she was deaf

-worked at Harvard

-she discovered over 2,400 stars

Sources: http://www.sheisanastronomer.org/index.php/history/henrietta-leavitt

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/baleav.html

A private Universe

**I am unclear what the assignment is here, and I will adjust accordingly upon clarification**

What are the reasons for the seasons?

The earth is stationed on an axis. that means that it is tilted on its side. As the earth makes it journey around the sun each year where the earth is situated determines how much sunlight reaches the earths surface. How much light it gets determines what season it is. That explains temperature change as well as the length of daylight from season to season. When the earth is tilted towards the sun it is summer, when it is winter the earth is tilted away. The hemispheres make a difference as well. generally those areas located closer to the equator do not get as much of a dramatic change because the equator stays in relatively the same distance from the sun no matter the axis tilt.

How are phases of the moon created?

The phase of the moon is affected by the moons position around the earth. the light on the moon is a reflection from the sun. That's why at different times more of the moon is visible than other times. It takes about a month for the moon to orbit around the earth.

Patterns

Sometimes its nice to give our minds a challenge. We can start to recognize patterns. Seeing patterns can sometimes lead to new discoveries as it has historically. Sometimes looking for patterns is just a fun challenge, or an enlightening experience to someone else's emotional reaction to events. In class we had a pattern of numbers to look at and it took me a long time trying to figure out what I was missing. the numbers went in succession. each row explained the row prior to it. 1- one one.next there are 2 ones so its 2 1 next 1 two and two 1's etc.  in conclusion this pattern would continue on explaining the amount of numbers on the previous row. 111211211111221312211 

Tuesday, August 30, 2016 First day of Earth Science: blog quiz corrections/ thought out answers

We see because light brightens things. true: however the process of sight is far more complicated than that.  false what we are actually seeing is the reflection of the light.  The Moon goes around the earth in a single day. false it takes almost a month for the moon to get around the earth. 28 days to be exact The amount of daylight increases each day of summer. the amount time we have daylight does increase until we hit the summer solstice in which the days start to get shorter again.  half of the earth is always lit up People cannot see planets with the naked eye. this is false: for example we can see Mars from earth, and other planets we need assistance  People can see the Great Wall of China with the naked eye from space. I have heard that this is a true fact. I think this would be a very exciting event if you were out there to look down at our home.  false according to the astronauts you cannot Astrology (the position of the planets and constellations) gives us insight to people mannerisms. this is false, but sometimes due to a psychological thought that these positions effect your personality it may give an insight into peoples mannerisms because of a self-fulfilling prophecy The Sun will never burn out. this is false, the sun is a star and eventually all stars die, however it may be a very long time in the future.  The Universe is a static. I  do not know what this means static means it does not move- so this is false  because the universe does move If a crystal can scratch glass it is a definitely a diamond. this is false. there are multiple rocks and minerals out there that you can test what type of mineral they are by whether or not they can scratch glass. it means its harder than glass Diamonds are expensive because the extreme rarity of them. diamonds are not extremely rare, in fact they are rather popular, however retailers have placed a high value on them.  Soil must have always been in its present form. soil has changed over time, you can see this based on the levels that are present from varying time periods on earth.

Earth’s gravitational attraction is drastically reduced on mountain tops.  false. this depends on he level the mountain tops are at.  Continents are constant and do not move. the land may shift depending on tectonic plates, but overall they stay within the same region. The Earth is between 6-20 thousand years old. this is a highly debated topic, and I am unsure the exact date of planet earth the earth is about 5,000 years old Dinosaurs and cavemen lived at the same time. false Rain comes from clouds sweating. I would not call it "sweating" but yes, the clouds collect a certain amount of moisture in the atmosphere until they get to heavy relative humidity Frontal rain is caused by "cooling by contact" between fronts. I do not know weather patterns. air masses do not mix, they run into one another- one would go up- the other would go down.  All rivers flow "down" from north to south false rivers flow from high elevation to low elevation Ground water typically occurs from basin, lakes, and fast-flowing streams. true. no groundwater is sort of a sponge like action- not just a pit of water.  Salt added to water does not change the weight of the water. no the H2O does not change,  but it would change how much it weighs on a scale.

First day of Earth Science: blog quiz

We see because light brightens things. true: however the process of sight is far more complicated than that.  The Moon goes around the earth in a single day. false it takes almost a month for the moon to get around the earth.  The amount of daylight increases each day of summer. the amount time we have daylight does increase until we hit the summer solstice in which the days start to get shorter again.  People cannot see planets with the naked eye. this is false: for example we can see Mars from earth, and other planets we need assistance  People can see the Great Wall of China with the naked eye from space. I have heard that this is a true fact. I think this would be a very exciting event if you were out there to look down at our home.  Astrology (the position of the planets and constellations) gives us insight to people mannerisms. this is false, but sometimes due to a psychological thought that these positions effect your personality it may give an insight into peoples mannerisms because of a self-fulfilling prophecy The Sun will never burn out. this is false, the sun is a star and eventually all stars die, however it may be a very long time in the future.  The Universe is a static. I  do not know what this means If a crystal can scratch glass it is a definitely a diamond. this is false. there are multiple rocks and minerals out there that you can test what type of mineral they are by whether or not they can scratch glass.  Diamonds are expensive because the extreme rarity of them. diamonds are not extremely rare, in fact they are rather popular, however retailers have placed a high value on them.  Soil must have always been in its present form. soil has changed over time, you can see this based on the levels that are present from varying time periods on earth.

Earth’s gravitational attraction is drastically reduced on mountain tops.  false. this depends on he level the mountain tops are at.  Continents are constant and do not move. the land may shift depending on tectonic plates, but overall they stay within the same region. The Earth is between 6-20 thousand years old. this is a highly debated topic, and I am unsure the exact date of planet earth Dinosaurs and cavemen lived at the same time. false Rain comes from clouds sweating. I would not call it "sweating" but yes, the clouds collect a certain amount of moisture in the atmosphere until they get to heavy Frontal rain is caused by "cooling by contact" between fronts. I do not know weather patterns.  All rivers flow "down" from north to south false Ground water typically occurs from basin, lakes, and fast-flowing streams. true Salt added to water does not change the weight of the water. no the H2O does not change,  but it would change how much it weighs on a scale.