Is Air There? Lab

In the lab, Is Air There?, I learned about air pressure. Air pressure is the pressure exerted by the atmosphere. At a lower altitude, the air pressure is higher, and at a higher altitude the air pressure is lower. In this lab, I had to tie a plastic bag around a jar and push down on the bag, as well as pull it up. The air pressure is higher inside the bag, because it is at a lower altitude, and the air is denser and warmer than outside of the bag.
If a balloon traveled up through the atmosphere, and if it started at a low altitude with high air pressure, it would shrink. However, if a balloon were at a high altitude, with low air pressure, then it would expand, because of the difference in pressure of the gas inside the balloon and the gas outside the balloon. If conditions are favorable, then it will rise more in the atmosphere and eventually burst from the heat.

Temperature Interactive Response

When I completed the temperature interactive, on http://funphysics.jpl.nasa.gov/adventures/temperature-game.html, I learned a couple of things.

C=degrees Celsius F=degrees Fahrenheit K=degrees Kelvin

Boiling Point: 100C 212F 373K
Death Valley: 56C 134F 324K
Human Body Temperature: 37C 98.6F 310K
Room Temperature: 20C 68F 293K
Freezing Point: 0C 32F 273K
Mars: -63C -81F 210K
Antarctica: -89C -128F 183K
Saturn: -145C -229F 128K
Space: -270C -454.54F 2.70K
Liquid Helium: -271C -455.76F 2.17K

Greenhouse Effect Reading Questions

1a. List three forms of radiation from the sun.
-visible light
-infrared radiation
-ultraviolet radiation

1b. Which form of radiation from the sun has the longest wavelength? The shortest wavelength?
Infrared radiation has the longest wavelengths, and ultraviolet radiation has the shortest wavelengths.

2a. What happens to most of the sunlight that reaches Earth?
Most of the sunlight that reaches the Earth is held by the atmosphere.

2b. What percentage of incoming sunlight is reflected by clouds, dust and gases in the atmosphere?
About 25% of incoming sunlight is reflected by clouds, dust, and gases in the atmosphere.

2c. Why are sunsets red?
Sunsets are red because the light from the sun passes through a greater thickness of the atmosphere than when the sun is higher in the sky. More light from the blue end of the spectrum is removed by scattering before it reaches your eyes. The remaining light contains mostly red and orange light. Therefore, sunsets look red.

3a. What happens to the energy from the sun that is absorbed by Earth's surface?
The energy from the sun that is absorbed by the Earth's surface (both land and water) is turned into heat energy and warms the Earth.

3b. How might conditions on Earth be different without the greenhouse effect?
Conditions on Earth would be different without the greenhouse effect because then there would be no solar heat, and the Earth would freeze. It would be too cold for living organisms, and we would die.

Popcorn Lab (Heat Transfer)

Radiation is the transfer of heat energy through empty space. Radiation was demonstrated in the popcorn lab, when we placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave. We put the popcorn in for 1 minute and 30 seconds, and the heat from the microwave was transferred to the popcorn kernels. The atoms in the popcorn kernels moved faster and faster, because of the heat, and therefore, they popped. In radiation, the heat transfers from warmer to cooler substances. So, the popcorn was cool, before it was in the microwave. Once the microwave was on, however, it kept getting hotter, due to the radiation.

Giant Redwood Trees Survive With Fires

Redwood trees are ancient. They carry ancient tails of turmoil. Now, however, scientists have proven that giant sequoia redwoods in California's western Sierra Nevada were ravaged with fires. This had taken place from 800 A.D. through 1300 A.D.
Scientists dated fire scars, or assigned time periods to marks made by fires, in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park. You see, one sequoia redwood can live for more that 3,000 years.
The Medieval Warm Period, from 800 to 1300 had the most fires in these years that were studied. It is not well known about the Sierra area being warm, but the slopes sure were fiery. In this situation, there is a very distinct relationship between forest fires and drought. Droughts are warm, and especially dry.
Scientist predict that climate change will make the trees live in a warm, dry environment. Also, other studies found that not enough coastal fog in California could disrupt these ancient trees.
To read more, go to:
http://www.livescience.com/environment/giant-redwood-sequoia-trees-fires-100318.html

The Civil Rights Movement With Some Math

The Civil Rights Movement can connect to math in many ways. Once the Civil Rights Act was passed, and segregation was illegal, around 35% of Southern black students attended integrated schools and 10% of the total African- American student population attended schools with whites (Grossback). However, only 5% of adult blacks were registered voters (Dunn 89). Therefore, in the summer of 1960, The Mississippi Summer Freedom Project took place. About 1,000 volunteers, mostly Northern white college students, helped educate blacks to pass literacy tests and fill out voter registration forms. By August, 1964, over 80,000 blacks were taking part in the campaign (Dunn 89, 90, 92), and then by the summer of 1967, more than 1/2 of eligible blacks were registered (Grossback). Soon after, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 6, 1968, there were riots in 46 cities. In conclusion, many aspects of the Civil Rights Movement can relate to math.

Works Cited:

Dunn, John M. The Civil Rights Movement. San Diego. Lucent Books. 1998.

Grossback, Barry and Chase C. Mooney. "Civil Rights Movement". Encyclopedia Americana. 2010. Grolier Online. 13 Jan 2010. http://go.grolier.com/

7/8 Research Task- Civil Rights Movement

For the research task of 2009-10, my topic is the Civil Rights Movement, which is best known for it's non- violent protests led by many different fathers of freedom.

You may be thinking that the Civil Rights Movement has been over-taught in our years of education. It all started in math one day when we were reading articles that provided a broad overview of all the topics. I came across a sentence in the Civil Rights article that said something like this:

"The amendment that declared equality among people was basically ignored. "

My interest was sparked. Therefore, I have decided to research the Civil Rights Movement. As I progressed into my research, and was buried deeper and deeper in facts, immersed in notes, I learned a few key things:

1. Martin Luther King wasn't the only one who devoted his life (literally) to the Civil Rights Movement.

2. White supremacists did not only include the Ku Klux Klan, but a council called the White Citizens' Council (or something like that, anyway).

3. There were many different councils that tried to promote integration and equality, like NAACP, S