Week of September 21, 2009

This week i learned that light goes out in many different directions from one point on a light bulb. Also, our class experimented and learned about how we can see things like markers. We learned to design our own experiments and come up with expected outcomes of the experiment. We did an experiment with a candle and saw the flame upside down on a screen. We made hypothesis', experiments, expected outcomes, and came up with a good idea of how that happened. We also learned about the parts of a lightbulb. And lastly we answered questions about what we thought was challenging and what we understood about light.

I learned all the ideas that i learned by drawing diagrams of what i am thinking and then trying to explain it in words from there. I also made hypothesis' and tested them with experiment that either proved or disproved them. I did the experiments multiple times and recorded all different kinds of observations. If the results of the experiments were questionable i improved the experiment and tried it again.

It is good to know these ideas so you can measure distances. It can help out in many jobs like a pilot, a lighthouse worker,scientist, a military soldier, or someone in the navy, a sailor,or captain of a boat and many other jobs. it is also good to know these things so you can keep improving your experiments and building on what you know. I will help you solve problems that you may be faced with.

September 14-18

This week in science class i learned lots of new ideas. I learned about different kinds of variables (independent which you can change and dependent which happens as a result of independent.) We played mastermind which was a really fun game where you have to guess the pattern of pegs by choosing a set and looking at the black and white pegs on the side. We learned about assumptions and initial observations too. We learned a ton about light also. We learned that light travels in rays and we can see its path when we sprinkle flour because the light bounces off the particles and into our eyes. And that there is a certain degree of darkness that our eyes will never adjust too. We made hypothesis' and tested them by crawling under desks, where no light could come in, and trying to read signs. Towards the end of the week we started to work with light bulbs and experimented with how light travels from the bulb.

We learned these ideas by making hypothesis' of what we think is the reason for whatever is going on. Then we came up with an experiment that either proved or disproved or hypothesis. Then we made conclusions about what happened and if our hypothesis' was right. We also drew ray diagrams to better express our ideas and thoughts. (Basically we used the process on the chart by the door when you first enter the classroom. )

It is important to know these ideas because they can come in handy in the future. These ideas can help you out in many different careers. Some jobs you may need to know this information for is an astronomer, people in the military or marines, sailor, or someone who works at a lighthouse. I think in general it is good for everyone to learn these ideas so they can know what is going on around them and how things work. It is important for everyone, no matter what career, to learn about their environment and there surroundings, you never know when this knowledge can come in handy. Plus, you can never know too much!