Erica Tillotson - Elementary Science Methods Blog

The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did.  The big questions from class that we investigated today were what type of data do we have that supports that climate change is happening, what questions did you derive from the data shared, and what answers did we find using specific data. The way that we investigated this was by looking at many different graphs that were about different things pertaining to climate change. We compared all of the different graphs from the past to the present data and was able to make different conclusions about climate change.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. In Thursday's lab I learned more about the ocean currents and how it affects the temperature. The temperature of an ocean current affects the temperature of air that passes over it. I also learned that the cold bursts come from Canada and the extreme heat comes from the Gulf.  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: What did yo...

The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did. The big question that we addressed in lab was is there a chance that the goldfinch is going to go extinct. The way that we explored this was by reading and looking at the different precipitation changes in the past few decades. Climate change is impacting the precipitation and humidity and could impact the habitat and life of the goldfinch.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. We had a quiz is Thursday's lecture.  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: What did you learn? I learned that greenhouse gases like water vapor trap heat from the sun and keep it on earth, and they are the reason that the earth doesn't freeze. It is the reason that the Earth is able to regulate and keep its regulated temperature. However fossil fuels are the reason this is changing.  What was most helpful? One of the things that I found most helpful was the video explaining the greenhouse gas ef...

The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did. The big question that was addressed in lab was where do we think different sand came from based on its characteristics. The way that we addressed this was by using a microscope to list traits from eleven different samples of sand. From our observations under the microscope we had to think about and categorize if we thought the sand came from the water, wind, or glacier.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. In Thursday's lecture I learned which sodas float and which sodas sink. This related to the story that we read in class about how to test if the crown was actually pure gold or not. The way to test this is to put it in water and see how much the water rises, and how much it is displaced. Archimedes law is specific gravity is equal to weight in the air divided by the weight in the air minus the weight in the water.  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: What did you learn?...

The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did. The big question that was addressed in lab was about what are the different layers of earth, and how do plates move. We investigated this by using starbursts to model rock formations. We melted starbursts to demonstrate and see how rock formations are on Earth. We had gone over how there are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. In addition, we went over the answers to the test and about tests.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. In Thursday lecture we learned about rocks and rock formations. I learned that all rocks started as magma and and then the magma cools. When the magma cools it turns into igneous rocks. The plate boundaries can be classified as divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries.  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: What did you learn? One thing that I learned from the textbook reading was about the ring of fire. I have heard this term before...

The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did. The big question that we addressed in lab was what are the significant events in the history of the earth.We used earthviewer to explore and discover different significant events on our own and with our groups to learn about the history of the earth. One of the interesting things that I found was how late on the timeline humans appeared compared to all of the other things.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. This week we had a quiz in Thursday's lecture.  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: What did you learn? One thing that I learned from this chapter was about the snowball earth which I have never heard of before. The snowball earth is where the earth was almost all the way filled with ice and we know this because of sedimentary rocks. It was caused by a positive feedback loop which is where one specific change is going to affect the next change into a specific cycle t...

  The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did. In lab we did presentations about all of the different topics. My group had done the presentation on the origin of the earth. I had learned that black holes can grow by taking matter and small stars are more stable and big stars burn a lot faster. I also learned that there are two different pathways for stars.  A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture. I learned that light didn’t happen until about 300,000 years after the big bang which I thought was really interesting. I learned that the small star ends up turning into a white dwarf, and the big star ends up exploding and turning into a black hole. I learned that the reason that we know that the previous sun before our sun was bigger was because timewise and because it had to undergo a supernova and had to explode.  Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading: What did you learn? One thing that I learned from the press book read...