Science - Volcano Project

Hi Everyone!

Recently in science, we have been learning about the Earth's structure along with the continents and tectonic plates and space. To connect what we have been learning Mr Heath (our science teacher). Decided to let us make creative projects such as making volcanos, solar systems, and so on. We were required to make 2 -3 projects. I feel like all of us had chosen to create a volcano first since we were allowed to make it erupt with elephant toothpaste. In my group, I had Hope and Megan. 

Mt Tambora Volcano

Aim: 

• To create a volcano

Equipment:

• Newspaper 

• Glue 

• Bottle

• Cardboard 

• Paint - brown, red, green, orange

• Elephant toothpaste chemicals 

• Paintbrush

• Tray/container (you can just use a large piece of cardboard for your base)

• Red Food colouring 

Method:

- Get all equipment prepared. 

- Use a bottle as the structure for the volcano.

- Paper mache the outside for a more realistic design, make sure to leave out the opening of

the bottle. (This will be the opening of the volcano)

- Use a newspaper for rocks, by scrunching them into balls.

- Paint over the paper mache and rocks to add colour to your designs, create more definitions

and details using the paint. Such as lava leaking out and so on.

- Set up the elephant toothpaste inside the bottle. 

Video of the volcano eruption:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xzIKeNojJzsikHd-kw-mP91QB41sxFc2/view?usp=sharing

Research:

Mount Tambora, also known as Mount Tambora, is a volcanic mountain located on the

The northern coast of Sumbawa Island, Indonesia. 

Mount Tambora has been recorded as the largest volcanic eruption in our history which

killed tens of thousands of people. This catastrophic eruption took place in 1815 on April 5,

this is when people first started to notice. Tremors and pyroclastic flow became more obvious

5 days later a humongous blast blew apart the mountain. Earthquakes due to tectonic plates

created many catastrophic events for the people. As this volcano is located on an island,

tsunami's were also added to the blast and the pyroclastic flows. As all these natural disasters

followed each other, it killed at least 10,000 islanders. Following that, the precious homes of

35,000 more, the death toll is more than 71,00 so it's known as the deadliest volcano.

How do volcanoes form? 

Volcanoes form when two tectonic plates crash together. Describing it more specifically it is

when two plates move under one another. So when enough magma builds up in the magma

chambers. It will eventually force its way up to the surface and erupt, this is the main reason

for volcano eruptions. 

What is the difference between lava and magma? 

Magma consists of molten rock in other words semi-liquid rock which is stored in the earth crust.

While lava is magma that reaches the Earth's surface through a volcano vent. 

Conclusion

Our volcano project was a success with the appearance and the experiment. Our goal was to make

sure our volcano looked exactly or at least similar to the photo above. As Mr Heath, our science

teacher promised a prize for whoever achieved that goal. Not only did we need to be creative

and get the appearance of our volcano outstanding. But we also needed to get our

measurements right for the experiment. Luckily our experiment came out successfully which

you can see in the video. The appearance of our volcano was definitely a success since we

came in the first place. As promised Mr Heath had given us our prize which we were happy about.

Something different I would have done would be to concentrate more colour on the elephant

toothpaste. Since our ‘so-called’ lava appeared as pink. Another that I thought about if we ever do

this again would be to create a more realistic shaped volcano. We make it looks more like a volcano

frankly speaking our sort of looked like half a black rock. As it had a more dome-shaped figure, it was

also my first time doing paper mache. Overall the procedure of creating this project was

really enjoyable and fun. 

Science - DNA Extraction Experiment

Kiwi Fruit DNA Extraction Experiment

Aim: Finding DNA in a Kiwi Fruit

Method: 

1. 
   Cut 1 kiwi fruit in half and scoop it out of the skin into a zip lock bag, add a splash of water and one small teaspoon of salt. Mush together creating a slushy solution.
2. Strain solution through a piece of cloth into a beaker. 
3. One finished squirt some dishwashing liquid in and mix thoroughly. 
4. Pour into a test tube.
5. Place the TEST TUBE into a beaker with WARM water. (Do not pour the solution into the water)
6. Leave for 10 minutes.
7. After 10 minutes pour 5mL of methylated spirits down the side of the test tube.

Discussion: 

DNA is found in cells, but starting from the cell, inside you would find a nucleus and inside the nucleus, you will locate 46 chromosomes and in those chromosomes. You will finally discover the DNA, and sections of the DNA are made of genes. 

DNA is made up of nucleotides these "building blocks" are made up of three components - phosphate, sugar, and base. The structure is described as a double helix or in a less professional term, it would be described as a twisted ladder. 

Conclusion: 

As displayed in the results our experiment did work the bottom was the kiwi fruit solution, the middle was the DNA molecules. The top was the methylated spirits, so we were able to result with a success. Although one thing that I would do different would be to add less water, so maybe that would alter how much DNA we extracted? 

Science - Wind Racer

Aim: To make the most efficient wind racer which would either go the furthest or looks the most creative. 

Method: 

• Gather all your equipment
• Set up your trolley and your bamboo stick, by placing the stick in the hole. 
• Cut a plastic bag into a partially large rectangle a size that would suit the stick. 
• Repeat with newspaper or paper. 
• Tape your first rectangle to the rod.
• Repeat with your other material. 
• After use sticks to create a structure for the sail, we used skewers but you can use another material. - Since we used a whole newspaper page, we stuck 2 skewers together from the ends. Making it longer. 
• Stick one pair at the top and another one at the bottom
• Depending on the size of your sail and rod place one or two pairs in the middle too. 
• After, make sure everything is secure by using tape in places that are weak. 
• Finally, decorate to make the appearance look more appealing. 

Equipment: 

Newspaper, plastic bag, tape, trolley, bamboo/metal rod, skewers.

Results: 

(Ours didn't look this way and were also provided with a trolley and rod, so ours were definitely bigger.)

Discussion: 

As the wind racer was under unbalanced forces, it was able to accelerate as we blew wind towards the sail. It was able to thrust/go forward, but before that while, a wind racer was staying stationary. This meant that it was under balanced forces, meaning the net forces were even. Friction was applied to the wheels of the wind racer; one of the reasons for it slowing down. Another obvious reason is that the wind wasn't able to reach the sail anymore. Which is a requirement for a sailboat or car. The last reason is that it wasn't in a great place as it drove right into the bark falling over. 

Conclusion: 

Our wind racer project was a success while racing with other groups of wind racers. From what I recall ours came second. But I know we would've ćame first if had putten it in a different position. Away from any disruptions, some improvisions I would have made would be, making the sail more creative. But not only that I found that we should've made our sail more stable by possibly. Sticking sticks to the base and string the sail to the sticks, would make sure the sail. Wouldn't spin around (which is what ours did), and another tip for me would be to make a better. Sail structure so it could catch more wind, but not too weak or too much, which would make it act as a parachute. If it did react like then it wouldn't go as fast as the sail would just hold the wind - slowing it down. 

But overall I really enjoyed this activity and it was great for everyone to contribute in teams. Not only was it fun but it was able to actively teach us about forces, which could make things easier for our tests. 

Science - Making a Metal Oxide Test

Hi everyone!

This is my second blog post for science, I had recently posted one about testing hydrogen gases. It should be right under this post, I hope you learn something from my blog post and try it out. 

Aim: 

To make a metal oxide and observe the difference in properties of the product compared to the reactants. 

Equipment:

A piece of magnesium, bunsen burner, safety glasses, metal scissor tongs.

Method:

1. Get yourself prepared in the meantime you can light your bunsen burner, but make sure the flame is orange. 

2. Once you are ready turn the flame blue. 

3. Hold your piece of magnesium in the scissor tongs. Ensure you are holding onto the very tip of your magnesium. 

4. Place the other end of the magnesium in the bunsen flame. (The bolder and stronger flame).

5. When the magnesium begins to burn do not look directly at it, as the light emitted can permanently damage your eyes. 

Results:

It resulted in a very bright white light, similar to the light of a light bulb. 

Discussion:

When we lit the magnesium it took a while for it to actually start on fire, but when it did we only noticed it. Catch on fire and burn, after a few seconds it started to light up with a very bright light. We all thought it was really cool we got to do it twice. 

Conclusion:

Our experiment did work, and it looked really interesting. I was honestly just wondering why it creates a bright light. Instead of catching on fire and burning out, but I did question. Thinking what if we did a bigger piece of metal if we did the light will most likely blind us, or dame our eyes severely. 

Science - Testing for Hydrogen Gas Experiment

Hi everyone!

Hope you've had a wonderful school holiday, this may be a late greeting it is already into week 2 of term 2. This is my first science blogpost for term two and I will be writing about an experiment we had done in the last lesson. 

Testing for Hydrogen Gas

Aim: To show that hydrogen gas is produced when a metal reacts with acid. 

Equipment: 

A test tube, a boiling tube, bunsen burner/lighter, wooden splint, a bottle of acid, a piece of metal, safety glasses. 

Method: 

1. Light your bunsen burner

2. Add your sample of metal to your test tube. Add 2 ml of acid.

3. Carefully invert the boiling tube above the test tube containing the metal and acid.

4. Hold the test tubes together for a few minutes, allowing time for the inverted boiling tube to fill with gas. 

5. When the tube is full, your lab partner should light a wooden splint. 

6. Carefully, but quickly, tilt the boiling tube full of gas upward and insert the burning splint into the mouth of the test tube. 

Our way: 

1. Get all your equipment ready, like your test tubes, wooden splint, lighter, and safety goggles.

2. Fill your smaller test tube with 2 ml of acid (depending on how strong the acid is the louder the pop.)

3. Place your piece of metal into the acid, and quickly put the bigger tube over the tube containing the acid. Seal the gap by making sure you're holding the tubes together tightly. 

4. Wait for around 30 seconds at the minimum it can go higher. 

5. After make sure your partner has the wooden splint lit on fire. 

6. Take off the bigger test tube, and quickly place the lit wooden splint into the big test tube. 

Results:

There was big high pitch ¨pop¨ noise. Which honestly gave me a fright. 

Discussion:

The purpose of our experiment, just as the title mentions we were testing for hydrogen gases. Before putting the fire in, the acid and the metal were sorts of bubbling and I could see the metal slowly dissolving. While my team member was holding the two tubes together she mentioned that it was getting really warm. This also made me wonder how but it has must've been caused by the reactions. As soon as we put the fire in the "invisible" gas it created a pretty high pitch pop noise. It also made the gas a bit more visible and it didn't really smell pleasant, but that's all that happened. 

Conclusion:

The first time we tried to do the experiment it didn't make a pop noise because the acid was too weak. So we ended up using a stronger acid which resulted in the high pitch pop sound, which was better. The sound it made sounded like a sneaker squeaking on a court, and the room was filled with this noise. If I could carry on the experiment I would want to see if the pop would louder. If I used a stronger acid or used a different type of metal, the metal we used was magnesium. 

10 Science - Making Indicators

Hi!

For todayś blog post, I will be writing about my second blogpost for science, well technically third. Explaining once again our blogging system for science, we need to create two blog postś. Regarding two science experiments out of 5, in my last blog post, I had chosen ´testing pH´. 

For today I will be writing about my experiment of when we created indicators an indicator is mainly a chemical that indicates whether something is an acid or a base. We made most of our indicators using naturals ingredients. 

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Aim: To make acid-base indicators using everyday substances. 

Equipment:

• Red Cabbage
• Tea
• Beetroot (juice)
• Turmeric 
• Cranberry Juice
• Water 
• Alcohol
• Beakers
• Tripod
• Bunsen Burner
• Gauze Mat 

( As we didn't have gas in our science lab we substituted the tripod, bunsen burner, and gauze mat. By heating the water in a kettle instead, it did the same thing as it would´ve with those three pieces of equipment.)

Method:

Task 1:

For the cabbage:

Cut or dice the cabbage and cut enough to fill a beaker, and pour boiling hot water into the beaker till just above the cabbage. Or you could just add normal temperature water into the beaker reaching just over the cabbage. Put over a bunsen burner and wait for ten minutes till the water is a vibrant and bold violet. The same method would be with boiling water from a kettle. You then need to filter out the water by separate the cabbage and the water into another beaker you will only be needing the water. You can do this by using a funnel which is what we did. Or just possibly use a strainer for it to be more efficient. 

For the tea:

Once again boil water using a kettle or a bunsen burner make sure the beaker has 100ml of water.  Add three tea bags so it's very strong, this will be resulting in the color of the water is dark brown nearly black. After it has reached that color, remove the tea bags, and set the beaker aside.  

For the cranberry juice:

Pour 100ml of cranberry juice into a beaker and set aside 

For the beetroot juice or beetroot. 

If you have beetroot juice it would be an easier method, as you would only be needing to add 100ml of beetroot juice into a beaker. Which is the method we used, so it made things a lot easier for us. But if you just have beetroot as in the vegetable you will need to dice it and doing the same thing as the cabbage. Either boil it with water in a beaker over a bunsen burner for about ten minutes. Or just simply add boiling water to a beaker with the beetroot. You will then need to filter or separate the water. Make sure the water is a very vibrant and bold violet color before separating. When you are filtering out the water pour it into another beaker to up around 100ml. 

For the turmeric and alcohol:

Mix 1 teaspoon of turmeric in 100ml of alcohol in a beaker and set aside. 

Task 2:

1. You now have five beakers, each containing a different indicator. 
2. Using a pipette, place a few drops of any of the indicators that you have created onto 2 dimples on the spotting tile. 
3. Add a few drops of HCI (Acid) to one dimple and a few drops of NaOH (Alkali) to the other dimple. 
4. Record the changes into the table provided in the Scipad. 
5. Clean the pipette and repeat for the Beetroot, Tea, Cranberry, and Turmeric indicators. 

Results: 

Indicator	Color in HCI (acid)	Color in NaOH (alkali)
Cranberry	Pink	Green
Beetroot	Red	Yellow
Turmeric	Yellow	Orange
Cabbage	Pink	Green
Tea	Orange	Brown

Discussion:

When we were making the indicators we had to compromise with some of the things as we didn't have any gas in the science lab we were in. The results from the experiment were all staying within the acidic range. On the pH scale, but this was because we used substances that had acidic properties. Some of the results were pretty unexpected for example the cranberry, the color when we added alkali. Using natural ingredients was an interesting way to create indicators. This also shows that in possibly any substance it could be an acid or base just by telling from a pH scale. 

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed this experiment it was interesting and a unique way to create indicators. It was also entertaining to see what color the indicators would turn out as. Once again, the experiment showed that see whether a substance is an acid or base by using an indicator. 

10 Science - Testing pH

Hello Everyone! 

Today for my blog I will be writing about my first experiment out of 5. Today's experiment was about testing the pH scale. 

We are required to make two blog posts of two experiments out of the five, as regards our grade. 

Please give me feedback by commenting :)

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Aim:

To test the pH of a range of household chemicals. 

Equipment: 

• Variety of household chemicals.
• Spotting tile
• Red litmus paper
• Blue litmus paper
• Universal indicator solution
• Safety glasses
• Pipette

Method:

1. Add a few drops of each chemical to a spot on your spotting line. If a substance is solid or powdered you will need to mix it with a few drops of water before testing. 
2. Test the chemical with both litmus paper.
3. Test each chemical with a few drops of universal indicator. 

As you can see from this example indicator shows the colors of the rainbow, a universal indicator. Indicates whether something is strongly acidic or has a strong base. Red shows that it is a strong acid and violet shows that it is a strong base. Green usually indicates that it is neutral which would be equivalent to water. 

Results:

Chemical being tested	Colour in blue litmus	Colour in red litmus	Colour in the universal indicator
Spray & Wipe	Violet	Blue	Light blue
Fabric softener	Orange	Red	Light orange
Floor Cleaner	Violet	Violet	Yellow
Vinegar	Red	Orange	Orange

Spray & wipe - Base - Because the litmus paper and indicator had turned blue.

Fabric softener - Acid - Because the litmus paper and indicator stayed around 1-4 on the pH scale. 

Floor cleaner - Base - The litmus paper had turned blue, judging by the result I can only tell from the litmus paper. As the indicator turned a completely different color, possibly from mixing in with the chemical color. 

Vinegar - Acid - Because the litmus paper and indicator stayed around 1-4 on the pH scale.

The test of testing the pH scale was to show us how acidic or how much alkali was in the chemicals. As you can see from this table I have shown the results of the experiment. Some of the chemicals depending on their pH scale benefits their cleaning product. 

For example the spray & wipe itś pH scale is base because itś number and colors stay within 8 - 14 or blue to violet. This connects to my recent work from learning about acids and bases. Is that when a base comes in contact with grease or oil it produces a soap that can clean the oil. Since a spray and wipe chemical is usually used to clean that type of particular mess. 

The litmus paper was the thing that mainly showed us whether the chemical was acidic or a base. These papers can only turn red or blue which is a straightforward method. Otherwise, the universal indicator specifically shows us the color it is giving us an idea of the results. 

Here is a photo I had taken of the results: 

(It seems to be a bit blurry)

The results from the experiment weren't what I was expecting, I mean it is an experiment. The colors were all different and depended on whether the chemical has a strong acid or base. Honestly judging by the results it seemed like they were funny enough evenly distributed. The universal indicator is very intriguing and I am still wondering how it detects whether it has a strong base or strong acid. I also wonder how we humans had come to the statement that these colors meant these things. But science is there to provide us a reason or to answer the questions ´why´ or ´how´. 

10 Science - Atom crafty project

Hello everyone!

This blog post will be my first science blog post for this year!

Aim: To make a model atom

Recently in our science lesson, we have been focusing on atomic science as our first topic for science. This means we have been learning about atoms, we also have been doing activities. For us to learn the periodic table as it relates to atoms, the reason for this is because...

If you haven't seen a periodic table before here is what one looks like:

I don't know if you can adequately see but in each box or square, there is a letter(s) that represents an element. There are also two numbers in each square, there is one in the top left corner and one under the letter(s). The smaller number which is usually at the top is the atomic number. Which is the number of protons and electrons. The number under the letter(s) is the atomic mass which is the size of the elements. The neutron in an element is the results you get from minusing the atomic number from the mass. 

Wondering how this relates to atoms? Well as I made the words 'protons and electrons' the reason for that. Is because an atom is made of electrons, protons, and neutrons. The structure of an atom is where the protons and neutrons are in the core. Which is called the nucleus and on the outside there are electrons whizzing around.

Now talking about our atom project - 

We needed to create our very own atom using the following supplies - 

• Paper
• Big/small beads
• String
• Blue Tack
• Tape
• Scissors

I will not tell you the instructions but I will explain what each of the supplies was used for. So I guess I am practically still telling you the instruction partly. 

We first needed to pick an element from Hydrogen to Neon, and I chose oxygen. 

For the beads, we stuck the number of beads we needed together using blue tack creating a sphere. The beads needed to be two different colors representing the protons and neutrons. The resulting sphere would be representing the nucleus.

We then needed to cut out two rings in the paper using the scissors, I did this by folding my paper in half vertically; so the long way. I used a pencil to sketch out semi-circles and cut them out. I needed about 2 rings a small one and a bigger one. The rings represented the shell of the atom, the could possibly be 2 - 3 shells on an atom. Everyone needed only two rings as we only needed to pick an element between Hydrogen and Neon. 

Between hydrogen and neon, the number of electrons didn't go past 10, this is because in the shell. The first layer can only fit 2 electrons and both the 2 and 3 shells can only fit 8 electrons. 

After that on the rings, we needed to draw on the appropriate amount of sots/circles to represent the number of electrons. 

We used a string to connect the nucleus and electron shells, and on top, we needed to create a label saying the element and the atomic number, and atomic mass.  

Here is what mine ended up looking like:

It worked nicely with me, I enjoyed doing it as I like to do crafty things. I'm glad Mr. Heath my science teacher decided to mix something creative in our work. Still making it informative and creative. This was also a great way for us to remember our work or test our knowledge about atomic science. 

Here are 2 facts about atomic science!

• Everything is made out of atoms.
• There are three parts to an atom: protons have a positive electrical charge which is found together with neutrons in the nucleus. Around the outside in the shells, that is where the electrons are found which hold negative electrical charges.