What makes up atoms?

Although I cannot see you

I know that you are there

The protons, neutrons, and electrons 

That flow everywhere 

First we'll look at protons 

There is a lot to learn

Not only do they weigh one gram 

But the atomic number they earn

Because they have a positive charge

They make a big impact 

Hopefully these atoms will all stay in tact 

Now we'll move to Neutrons and

As the name will tell 

Neutrons have a neutral charge 

Which treat that atom well

From there we'll discover electrons

Which flow outside in rings

These rings they call orbitals

Are quite interesting things

They come in S,D,P's and F's 

Depending on how many 

Electrons you can find in each 

Which usually.... is plenty

So now you know your particles

Hopefully I helped your studies

Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons 

They'll end up your best buddies

Solar Energy

As of now, solar energy has not yet reached the power potential we feel it can in the future. Using solar panels can be extremely expensive. Solar energy also raises the question of what to do on cloudy days, but using solar energy one has the ability to store energy for later use. Despite these issues, if we were to have a "solar revolution", on the brightest of sunny days, we could produce as much as 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the earths surface.

A photovoltaic cell or PV cell, is one cell of a solar panel that as the name implies, converts light (photo) into electricity (voltaic). PV cells are most commonly made out of silicon but can be made of any semiconductors. A semiconductor is any material that can generate energy through light. PV cells work when light strikes the cell, a small portion of it is absorbed within the semiconductor. The energy from the light to the semiconductor hits a chain of electrons and pushes one out, causing a constant flow of electrons.  PV cells also have an energy field that forces the pushed electrons a certain direction. This flow of electrons is called an Electric Current and can be used to power appliances such as calculators, cell phones, etc.

Although solar energy can be extremely expensive, I think it is worth the cost to learn more about this amazing source of energy. If we were able to generate as much power as the sun can, we could save so much money on gas bills but as of now, buying gas is much less expensive and much more reliable. If we continue to learn about what solar energy can do, however, we may be able to determine a more dependable way in which to use solar energy. As of now, it is only really available for small appliances, some houses who are willing to spend the money, and in the desert where the sun seems always to be shining.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/solar-energy/index.html

Nuclear Reactor Risk

Part One
1. Three Nuclear power plants that are placed in dangerous areas are China, Afghanistan, and Mexico. They are all very close to the red areas covering fault lines, and this could cause many problems for the citizens of these areas if an earthquake or natural disaster were to occur.
2. The plant designer obviously did not understand the extremity and danger of the risk of potential earthquakes and tsunamis. With the crisis in Japan, if the plant designers were worried about the health of the people they would most likely move the power plants in dangerous areas.
Part Two
1. I would have to say the fire risk would be the most dangerous issue related to nuclear power plants. The Callaway Plant in Fulton, Missouri is one of 47 plants in the U.S. that have this problem. If an earthquake were to occur, these plants would be much more dangerous because not only would they be releasing extremely dangerous gases but it would also fuel a fire which could destroy neighboring towns and cities.
2. The Humbolt Bay Unit in Eureka California is basically right next to multiple earthquakes. Judging by what happened in Japan, I think it is important that this plant is shut down as it is obviously an extremely dangerous place for a plant to be, as earthquakes are common there. I think this reactor is most dangerous because it is so close to many earthquakes that have already happened.

Biofuels Summary

Biomass is one renewable energy source that can be converted directly into fuel applicable for transportation, called biofuels. Ethanol and Biodiesel are the most common biofuels. Ethanol can be made from both fermentation and gasification. The process of fermenting ethanol is very similar to that of beer brewing, and even though ethanol is first and foremost an alcohol, fuel ethanol is modified to make it undrinkable. It is mostly made of starches and sugars as of now, but scientists are now developing a source of ethanol made of cellulose and helicellulose, which make up the majority of plant cell walls. Gasification involves using high temperatures and low oxygen levels to convert biomass into gas, which can then be chemically converted into ethanol and other fuels. Biodiesel is made from combining alcohol with vegetable oil, animal fat, or recycled cooking oil. Scientists are also developing fuels from microscopic algae as they produce more biomass than terrestrial plants.

Biofuel Article Link

Cetyl Alcohol Lab

For a period of about 4 minutes the temperature of the Cetyl Alcohol remained at 50 degrees Celsius. At first we were extremely confused and weren't sure if we had done something wrong. We then realized that the Cetyl Alcohol was changing phases and that was why there was no change in temperature.

The first thing we did was place a beaker with 400mL of water on a hot plate until it heated to 70 degrees Celsius.

After it was fully heated, we placed the test tube filled with cetyl alcohol into the beaker. From then on, we measured the temperature every 30 seconds until it reached 60 degrees Celsius.

Once the cetyl alcohol test tube reached 60 degrees Celsius, we placed it in an ice bath until it reached the starting temperature once again, 30 degrees Celsius.

The Data Conclusion:

In the cetyl alcohol lab, we accidentally started off with some errors. When the beaker of water reached 70 degrees Celsius, we didn't realize we were supposed to take it off the hot plate, and therefore, we kept on heating the water as we put the Cetyl Alcohol test tube in the hot water. We then took the beaker off the hot plate after we realized our mistake and started measuring the temperature with the beaker at around 80 degrees Celsius and the Cetyl Alcohol at about 30 degrees Celsius. After 9 minutes and 30 seconds, when the Cetyl Alcohol solution reached 60 degrees Celsius, we took the test tube of Cetyl Alcohol and put it into the ice water bath. We then let the temperature cool from 60 degrees Celsius until it reached 30 degrees Celsius after about 9 minutes. What we noticed about the test tube of Cetyl Alcohol while it was on the hot plate was it started melting. Because of the series of about 4 minutes of 50 degrees Celsius, we determined that must be a phase change and as it was going from solid to liquid we considered it melting. Then, when we took it off the hot plate and placed it into the iced water beaker, it there was another plateau as it froze at about 37 degrees Celsius. 

 

Website Evaluation

One website that I spend a decent amount of time on is Facebook. Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg and there are many places throughout the website where you can find his name and contact him. Also, on the front page of Facebook, it claims, "It's free and always will be". Despite the advertisements, Facebook is not making any money off the people who register. Finally, Facebook is updated and improved very frequently so the most recent copyright date was in fact in 2011. Overall, as a social-networking site, Facebook comes out on top.

As well as Facebook, I spend a lot of time on music blogs such as Camelback, Good Music All Day, and This Song is Sick. All three are very good websites and my favorite is most likely This Song is Sick. Not only does it provide me with cool, new, free music, but it also is updated daily, isn't making money off my use, and there are ways to contact all the different people who add songs and videos so if you need to contact anyone you are able to.

Bottled Water Web Site Evaluation

Best Website: http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/qbw.asp
         NRDC stands for National Resource Defense Council. The information on the website showed both the pros and cons of the plastic water bottle controversy. Also, it gave information on the President of the organization and gave multiple ways to contact and give feedback on the website. It also answered a ton of the commonly asked questions about the subject.

Worst Website: http://www.tappening.com/
         Tappening.com was the worst website because it provided no information about the makers of the site. Although the information did seem somewhat reliable, It was very biased towards the pro tap water side of the controversy. It also had lots of advertising for certain things such as message in a bottle, movies, and a book.

Final Question:
        I have always been very against pollution and littering and especially after reading these articles my dislike of the water bottle industries has increased. According to NRDC, "About 22 percent of the brands we tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits." I also learned that some websites can tell you where the water in water bottles come from. I got most of my information from NRDC.

College

After going through the college process with my older brother, I know how stressful it can be, but in the end when he was accepted into every college he applied to, I knew that working hard to get into college, although annoying, is the best choice in the end. A few things that I think will help me get into college are my grades, my dedication to soccer, and the different things I have experienced that many kids my age have most likely not.

Ever since I was young, I've always been really focused on getting good grades and have always been my own worst critic. I despise getting bad grades on tests, quizzes, homework, etc. and for this reason, I always work my hardest to get things done, which has brought my grades to all A's and B's. I have also been playing soccer since I was about 4 years old. I have always been on the most competitive teams in the state including Beachside Premier, Yankee United F.C. and Greenwich Highschool JV and Varsity. Dedication to soccer includes practice and games all year from fall to winter to spring to summer. It never lets up. Tournaments and games include driving or flying up to 4 hours away and to practice for Yankee I put away about 4 hours of time to take a 45 minute train ride there and back, and a 2 hour practice. Finally, some experiences I've had are going to Brazil for an international soccer tournament, and this summer hopefully working as an LT (leadership training) at Camp Lake Hubert in Brainard, Minnesota, a camp I attended for 5 years starting at 9 years old.

POGILS

The part about POGILS that I find most useful is that instead of relying on our teacher to teach us, we learn together as a group and end up teaching ourselves. This helps us to work out our own problems and develops our problem solving skills as well as forces us to interact with our group mates to find the answers. The one thing I do not find useful is the random groups because I truly think people are less likely to work together if they are not friends or don't really know the other people in their group.

One thing I would do to improve these lessons is have different groups work on a portion of the packet together and then as a whole class have each different group teach the other groups what they learned. I think this would bring the class back together and having students teach everyone may make the topics clearer.

AVID Article Reflection

The AVID weekly article "Reaching for the Stars" not only talks about the Astronomy departments in the U.S., but also the general idea of changing the lives of others. The students working in the astronomy departments and doing jobs that they could have forgone and made much more money, are changing our lives every day. With the help of them, we have been able to learn about distant galaxies and discover the possibility of life on other planets.

The Hubble Telescope is one of the most important aspects of scientific research of all time. There is nothing more advanced than such a machine orbiting earth with the ability to capture light images of planets and stars across the universe. Without a machine as influential to scientists throughout the world, we would have no idea what is out in space, and no way of finding out.

The last time I can remember changing the live of someone else was when I worked with the GHS soccer team at the Westchester Triathlon. The race benefits cancer research and is a huge donor to this cause. My team and I were at the bottom of a huge hill called "Claire's Climb" that is one of the greatest obstacles of the course. Claire's Climb was part of the biking section and it honestly seemed to go on forever. We stood to the side of the hills with cowbells cheering for over 2000 bike riders. All the riders were so thankful of people cheering them on I really felt like I was making each and every one of their days. The hill was truly a huge obstacle and with our help there was not one rider who did not make it. The last rider was far behind everyone else and we made a tunnel for her to ride through and cheered her all the way up the hill as we ran after her. I don't think I have ever seen someone smile so big. She was obviously having a difficult time and we made the time much easier for her.

Without the same numbers of science graduates in the U.S., we may fall behind in the field. We will not have the same effect on the world as we have now with the Hubble Telescope. If the second Hubble is revoked, we may never know what is out there, and average people would never be able to get pictures of our universe as we can now. This would be a huge dilemma for many learning astronomy.