Wind Racers

Introduction
This week we are making wind racers or land yachts in groups. I am in a group with Wajihah and Tyra. We will be researching, designing and creating a sail for our wind racers. After we have completed that we will test how well our design works with a leaf blower, then make some adjustments to make it better. Eventually when the whole class is ready we will race them against each other.

Day 1
Today we are researching different types of sails that we think can work. We got suck between a pirate ship sail or a yacht. We are going to test the yacht sail first, then we will test the pirate ship sail next. We have started to make the yacht sail with newspaper.

Day 2
Today we were given our wind racers and the pole we are using to hole our sails. Some groups are using a metal rod from a retort stand, but most are going with bamboo. We are making pirate sails and putting the yacht sail idea aside for the moment. We are working on the structural support of the sail.

Day 3
Today we finished making the structural support for the sail. We used popsicle sticks, bamboo skewers and electrical tape. After that we attached the sail to the support. We also started making another sail by  attaching another mast to the wind racer with hot glue.

Day 4
Today we had about half an hour to make last minute adjustments. We added two new triangle sails to the back of the masts. Then we got to test them for the first time with the leaf blower. The first thing I noticed was unlike most of the other sails we had a big gap between the bottom of the sail and the top of our wind racer meaning that it would move for a long time as we lifted the leaf blower up to hit the sails.

Day 5
Today we are making some adjustments to make our sails better. We added small sails to where there is a gap between the bottom of the sail and the top of our wind racer. In the test our sails went the furthest distance out of the whole class. We retested our sails with the leaf blower. We decided to remove one of our main sails. Tomorrow will be the final race to see who has the best sail.

Day 6
Today was the final race. The whole class went outside to test our wind races. While the rest of the classes modifications helped them improve their distance, ours didn't. The modifications that we made halved the distance our wind races were able to go. After every group had gone multiple times we went back inside to deconstruct our sails and selvage what equipment we could. We took so long that another group had to help deconstruct.

Conclusion
If we were able to do this again we would not have made the last adjustments that we made to the second big sail, but I would defiantly do this again if I had the chance.

Acid Rain

In science we are looking at acid rain. Acid rain is formed when fossil fuels are burned releasing carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. They then mix with the water droplets making it more acidic then normal.

Equipment
Petri dish, blue litmus paper, bromothymol blue, universal indicator, leaf, apple piece, weigh boat, Calcium Carbonate, dropper,

Method

1. set up petri dish
2. Add one spatula of sodium sulfate to weight boat
3. Add 5 drops of sulfuric acid and quickly put lid on.
4. Watch and take photos

Observation

The blue litmus paper started changing first. It slowly faded from blue to red. The bromothymol blue started to change next going from blue to yellow to dark green. The universal indicator changed to a light red. The apple piece, leaf and Calcium Carbonate didn't have a noticeable change.

Neutralisation

Today in science we are doing a neutralisation experiment. We have been looking at what an universal indicator, base and acid is, and what is the pH scale.  An universal indicator is a dye that shows the pH level and if it is a base or acid by changing colour. The pH scale goes from 1-14. A neutral is a 7 which is shown as green, acids range from 6-1 and are red. Bases range from 8-14 and are blue. Acids and bases are opposites of each other so when they combine the neutralise each other. Acids are sour and will corrode metal and other things. Bases are commonly used in cleaning products like oven cleaners.

Aim
To observe a neutral reaction

Equipment
Test tube, test tube rack, sodium carbonate, Hydrochloric acid, dropper, universal indicator solution

Method

1. Add 2mL(2cm) of NaCH into a test tube
2. 2 drops of universal indicator
3. Add drops of HCl until you get a neutral green.

Observation

It was very easy to add to much HCl turning the solution red instead of green for neutral meaning we had to add even more NaCH to try and balance it out again. That also happened when we where trying to weaken the NaCH for a lighter blue for the rainbow.

Medical Science

Bones
Bones protect our organs and provide suture and shape that the other cells of our body attached to.

Muscles
Muscles move parts of the body by pulling on bones. Muscles are attached to the bone by tendons. Muscles work in pairs called antagonistic muscles giving us more control over our bodies and our movements. Antagonistic muscles are on both sides of a joint of example your biceps and triceps, as our biceps on the top of our arm contract the triceps relax moving the arm up slowly. Then to move your arm back down your biceps relax then your triceps contract.

Blood
There are four composts in your blood, Red blood cells, white blood cells, Platelets and Plasma. White blood cells fight infections. Plates make blood clots when you cut your skin.

Joints
There are two types of joints in our bodies, ball and socket joint and hinge joint. An example of a ball and socket joint in the shoulder, and a hinge joint is your elbow joint. The difference between the two is that the hinge joint can only move in one direction while a ball and socket joint can move in most directions.

The make up of a joint -
At the end of each end of a bone there is a tough, smooth stuff called cartilage. Cartilage stoppes the bones from wearing away. Ligament hold the two bones in place. Synovial fluid keeps it slippery and is held in by synovial membrane.