9/29/15
Am I the only one that doesn't understand how people find out all of these things about stars? Like how do people know the temperature of the star that's light-years away?! How do people know the chemical makeups of the stars?! One thing I can never understand either is constellations. I don't even know where the big or little dipper is!!! I admire people who can point out 15 different constellations! I guess people way back then had an awesome imagination because if you look up photos of constellations, they connect the stars into this Greek God looking person. I don't see how they can make out those fancy looking people from a couple dots in the sky! I probably sound like a blonde bimbo that does't understand anything about stars. But hey at least I'm honest about it!!
This website and this website helped me understand parts about stars! Highly recommend the read!
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Radioactive Decay Lab
9/29/15
Last Friday, we didn't have a pennies lab, for it was a work day. Here comes Monday, and I'm ready to take the pre-lab questions about the pennies lab. Well Mrs. Frankenburg said we're doing a different lab. I about had a heart attack. I kept thinking to myself "Did I not get a Schoology message?! Oh God, I'm going to fail this quiz! I didn't even print off the lab worksheet!!" Everyone else in the room was panicking just as I was! But to my relief, Mrs. Frankenburg said there was no quiz to go with it and she had extra copies of the lab printed off for us. We had to get a large piece of paper and cut it up into 567 little squares for the procedure. That took a long time to do! The rest of the class period in fact! My lab partner fortunately picked paper that had symmetrical squares on it, for it made cutting up everything so much quicker! The pieces of paper were meant to represent the atoms. You would take the cut up squares into a cup, mix them around, and dump them onto a table. You would then separate the squares from the ones with the colored side showing and the ones with the white side showing. It was super tedious work counting all of those squares!!! The colored side would represent the atoms decayed and the white side would represent the still radioactive squares. You would repeat the process about 6 times, for it got easier each time to count all of the radioactive squares since the amount of them got smaller. In all, despite all the counting, it was a fun lab because I'm a visual learner and I need to do activities to help me understand and remember concepts. So even though half-lives still confuse me, I understood it better than I did before.
I found this website helpful in understanding the concept of half lives!
I highly recommend that you watch THIS video about half-lives!!!! It helps TONS!!
Last Friday, we didn't have a pennies lab, for it was a work day. Here comes Monday, and I'm ready to take the pre-lab questions about the pennies lab. Well Mrs. Frankenburg said we're doing a different lab. I about had a heart attack. I kept thinking to myself "Did I not get a Schoology message?! Oh God, I'm going to fail this quiz! I didn't even print off the lab worksheet!!" Everyone else in the room was panicking just as I was! But to my relief, Mrs. Frankenburg said there was no quiz to go with it and she had extra copies of the lab printed off for us. We had to get a large piece of paper and cut it up into 567 little squares for the procedure. That took a long time to do! The rest of the class period in fact! My lab partner fortunately picked paper that had symmetrical squares on it, for it made cutting up everything so much quicker! The pieces of paper were meant to represent the atoms. You would take the cut up squares into a cup, mix them around, and dump them onto a table. You would then separate the squares from the ones with the colored side showing and the ones with the white side showing. It was super tedious work counting all of those squares!!! The colored side would represent the atoms decayed and the white side would represent the still radioactive squares. You would repeat the process about 6 times, for it got easier each time to count all of the radioactive squares since the amount of them got smaller. In all, despite all the counting, it was a fun lab because I'm a visual learner and I need to do activities to help me understand and remember concepts. So even though half-lives still confuse me, I understood it better than I did before.
I found this website helpful in understanding the concept of half lives!
I highly recommend that you watch THIS video about half-lives!!!! It helps TONS!!
Friday, September 25, 2015
Radioactive Decay Lecture
9/25/15
Yesterday we had a lecture in chemistry class about radioactive decay. I have never been very good at half-lives or anything like that. I just don't know why I haven't clicked on the subject. However yesterday was all about alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay. At first I was confused, but then I completely understood everything about the decay. Have you ever had that click moment? That moment where in just one second, the entire world comes together and you understand anything and everything! After that click moment, I felt like an expert about alpha decay, beta decay, and gamma decay! Alpha decay is when the atomic mass decreases by 4, and the atomic number decreases by 2. Beta is where the atomic mass stays the same, and the atomic number increases by 1. Gamma decay is where everything stays the same, for gamma always accompanies beta or alpha decay!
Here is more information about Alpha Decay ,Beta Decay , and Gamma Decay.
Yesterday we had a lecture in chemistry class about radioactive decay. I have never been very good at half-lives or anything like that. I just don't know why I haven't clicked on the subject. However yesterday was all about alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay. At first I was confused, but then I completely understood everything about the decay. Have you ever had that click moment? That moment where in just one second, the entire world comes together and you understand anything and everything! After that click moment, I felt like an expert about alpha decay, beta decay, and gamma decay! Alpha decay is when the atomic mass decreases by 4, and the atomic number decreases by 2. Beta is where the atomic mass stays the same, and the atomic number increases by 1. Gamma decay is where everything stays the same, for gamma always accompanies beta or alpha decay!
Here is more information about Alpha Decay ,Beta Decay , and Gamma Decay.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Beanium Lab
9/23/15
Yesterday on a beautiful Tuesday morning, I walked into first hour chemistry ready and prepped to take the pre-lab question test. I had studied all night the lab procedure and post lab questions. I was fully prepared for this quiz! So once the bell rang, Mrs. Frankenburg asked the class to pick a number between 1-5. The class agreed on number 3. After that the pre-lab question came up on the smart board, for it was about finding the average atomic mass of three isotopes. I was relieved to be able to know exactly how to do this type of problem. Once I got the answer correct, I was able to go into the back of the room to conduct the experiment with my lab partner. Mrs. Frankenburg told us to pick the bag with the smallest amount of beans, for it helped so much in the long run with conducting the lab quicker. So the first thing we did was separate the beans by their color and counted each of them, for later we took the masses of all the different types of beans using a scale. We then figured out the average atomic masses of the beans. In all, the experiment was actually pretty fun!!!! Plus my lab partner and I kept flaunting about how cute the mini red solo cups were!
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Atomic Structure Activity
9/20/15
On Wednesday in class, we did this lab where you had to guess what shape was inside the container by guessing where this little metal ball hit on the sides of the unknown shape. A couple of the shapes were easy like a circle, a triangle, or a square. However, some of the other shapes were impossible to guess. The activity was super fun! My partner would put the container next to her ear and swish the ball around to guess where it hit to guess the shape inside. It was as if she was a shape whisperer! In a way I can see how this activity can relate to the atomic structure because it was all a guessing game. No one knew the absolute truth of the structure inside an atom. I can see how it was frustrating for the early scientist in atomic structure because you couldn't figure out the structure unless you looked inside.
On Wednesday in class, we did this lab where you had to guess what shape was inside the container by guessing where this little metal ball hit on the sides of the unknown shape. A couple of the shapes were easy like a circle, a triangle, or a square. However, some of the other shapes were impossible to guess. The activity was super fun! My partner would put the container next to her ear and swish the ball around to guess where it hit to guess the shape inside. It was as if she was a shape whisperer! In a way I can see how this activity can relate to the atomic structure because it was all a guessing game. No one knew the absolute truth of the structure inside an atom. I can see how it was frustrating for the early scientist in atomic structure because you couldn't figure out the structure unless you looked inside.
Friday, September 18, 2015
Pretest Blessing
9/18/15
I walked into my 1st hour chemistry class on Tuesday morning to notice the desks are all in testing mode, for the desks were all facing towards one wall. At first I was a little confused, but then I remembered we were taking a pretest about our next unit about atomic structure and radioactivity. So I took the pretest and let's just say I did not feel like the smartest person in the world! I felt like I knew absolutely nothing! I knew one question out of thirty, and that was all! So yes, I feel like pretests make me feel stupid, but in a way I still like them. Pretests give you an insight into what the next unit will be about and what war you're about to go into with your bright and shining armor on while riding a beautiful black stallion horse! Pretests suck to take because of how dumb you feel taking them, but in the end you feel so proud of yourself at the end of the unit because you went from knowing absolutely nothing to knowing everything your heart desires about the unit! That's why I think it's worth the pain and suffering of taking the pretest in the end because in the end it'll be beneficial to you.
I walked into my 1st hour chemistry class on Tuesday morning to notice the desks are all in testing mode, for the desks were all facing towards one wall. At first I was a little confused, but then I remembered we were taking a pretest about our next unit about atomic structure and radioactivity. So I took the pretest and let's just say I did not feel like the smartest person in the world! I felt like I knew absolutely nothing! I knew one question out of thirty, and that was all! So yes, I feel like pretests make me feel stupid, but in a way I still like them. Pretests give you an insight into what the next unit will be about and what war you're about to go into with your bright and shining armor on while riding a beautiful black stallion horse! Pretests suck to take because of how dumb you feel taking them, but in the end you feel so proud of yourself at the end of the unit because you went from knowing absolutely nothing to knowing everything your heart desires about the unit! That's why I think it's worth the pain and suffering of taking the pretest in the end because in the end it'll be beneficial to you.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Blog Reflection of Frontier Chemistry Project #2
9/14/15
In all honesty, I kinda loved this project. I think it's so cool how you can see these plants everyday and not think of them, and then one day you're learning all about how these plants can help cure diarrhea, a bee sting, or poison ivy. These boring looking plants that look like weeds are actually very useful out in the wild. If you think about it, these plants were what the natives used as their medicine, for they didn't go and take a Tylenol when their head hurt. No, the natives went out in the wild and searched for that plant to help them with their headaches. This project took tons of work and research, but in the end it was all worth it. Now I know all these different types of plants and their uses and where their found. It may just be me, but I think that's kinda awesome!
In all honesty, I kinda loved this project. I think it's so cool how you can see these plants everyday and not think of them, and then one day you're learning all about how these plants can help cure diarrhea, a bee sting, or poison ivy. These boring looking plants that look like weeds are actually very useful out in the wild. If you think about it, these plants were what the natives used as their medicine, for they didn't go and take a Tylenol when their head hurt. No, the natives went out in the wild and searched for that plant to help them with their headaches. This project took tons of work and research, but in the end it was all worth it. Now I know all these different types of plants and their uses and where their found. It may just be me, but I think that's kinda awesome!
Blog Reflection of Frontier Chemistry Project #1
9/11/15
Yesterday I was running out with my friends for cross country practice on a trail. I had just finished up my Frontier Chemistry Project the previous night, for I have basically memorized all the plants of what they look like, their uses, how they are prepared, and where they are found. So while I was out on my run, I started seeing some of the plants from my project, for I started chanting out to my friends saying, "THAT'S A QUEEN ANNE'S LACE!! You can use that for cleansing out your stomach since it's a diuretic! You can also use it as an antioxidant for your skin and to fight infection! It's found in tall grass prairies!" Both of my friends were laughing at me and telling me how much of a nerd I was. My other friend was like, "Brianna, when I start flying, that's when I'll care!" It was super funny!
Yesterday I was running out with my friends for cross country practice on a trail. I had just finished up my Frontier Chemistry Project the previous night, for I have basically memorized all the plants of what they look like, their uses, how they are prepared, and where they are found. So while I was out on my run, I started seeing some of the plants from my project, for I started chanting out to my friends saying, "THAT'S A QUEEN ANNE'S LACE!! You can use that for cleansing out your stomach since it's a diuretic! You can also use it as an antioxidant for your skin and to fight infection! It's found in tall grass prairies!" Both of my friends were laughing at me and telling me how much of a nerd I was. My other friend was like, "Brianna, when I start flying, that's when I'll care!" It was super funny!
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