Beam,+Megan

Harry Potter: I thought that this article was very good. The first thing that I found was that there are real ways to perform the spells that are cast in the Harry Potter movies. Before, I just thought that they were all computer generated and that you could never do them in real life. The second thing that I found interesting was that if you knew how, you could actually "perform" the spells yourself. If you had the supplies, and the knowledge of how to make a blue fire, you could do it right in your own home. You could do a lot of other spells too. I think that it is so cool, that you could use chemistry to do some of the same things that they do in the Harry Potter movies. The last thing that i found interesting is that you could make a crystal ball out of a plastic cup, fleece fabric,detergent solution,dry ice, and water. When you watch a movie you think that you could never do that and now you can. It seems simple now, where as in the movies it seems intense and difficult. You can just use supplies that you have at home. I thought this article was very interesting and fun to read.

Megan,

Well done! It looks like you got quite a lot of interesting info out of this article. 5 stars! MW

Redefining the Kilogram

I thought this article was interesting. I never knew that they had to have a standard kilogram.I think that the most valuable point is that SI units like the kilogram must maintain their weights because other SI units are based on them. One thing that I found interesting is that a BIPM committee recommended that the kilogram be redefined because it has lost weight. The next thing that I found interesting is that to make a standard prototype, Scientists must study the physical constants of the universe. The last thing that I found intersting is that this job sounds so complex but yet there are only a handful of meterologists that work to perfect the kilogram. Making a standard kilogram is very important to the world, and I had never even heard of it before.

Megan, Another great post! You picked out some good stuff! 5 big stars! MW

Crude Oil

I thought that the video was very different. I think that the most valuable point is that you can separate the hydro-carbons by distillation. I think that one interesting thing from the video is that when the hydro-carbons are separated they are all different colors. One color can be light yellow and one color can be a dark brown or black. Another thing that I found interesting is that crude oil is found in the center of the Earth. I never knew that before. The next thing that I found interesting is that the crude oil can be used to form medals that make laptop cases, etc. I thought that the video was very interesting and I learned about. Before, I didn't know anything at all about crude oil.

Megan, Good post overall but laptop cases are made of plastic not metal! 5 stars. MW

Motion Detectors This aricle taught me a lot about motion detectors that I never knew before. However, one thing I did know is that some motion detectors pick up on light and when you walk across a driveway they will sense you and the light will shine down on you. A second thing that I knew was that humans are warm blooded and they naturally have a temperature of 39degrees celcius. Another thing that I knew was that the eye is a photo sensor that sees things through waves. The eye cannot pick up on all frequencies but the waves send the eye messages that go to the brain and cause vision. One thing that I didn't know is that there are three different types of motion detectors that all pick up on the motion in different ways. The ways are a beam of light being broken by an object, signals bouncing off objects, and monitored the infrared light being given off by warm blooded animals. The next thing that I learned is that bats can actually determine what kind off moth they are about to eat by listening to there wing pattern. This keeps them from eating poision. Another thing I learned is that rattlesnakes can see their prey without their prey being able to see them. That is a very useful technique. Overall, I learned a lot of interesting motion detector techniques in this article.

Megan, Wow you did learn alot from this article! 5 stars! BTW Normal body temperature is 37oC. 39oC is a fever. MW

Where Do Elements Come From?

Elements form when 2 protons and 2 neutrons band together to form a nucleus. When 2 nuclei fuse, they form another element and so on and so forth. This is called nucleosynthesis.

Megan, 32 words. 4 stars. MW

SUGAR AS AN EXPLOSIVE

I found this article very interesting. I love sugar and I never thought that it could be dangerous. I thought the worst thing sugar could do to you was play a part in diabetes. One thing I found interesting is that sugar played a part in an explosion that started a fire that lasted for hours. I also can’t believe that 13 people died and 40 were injured as a result of the fire. The next thing that I found interesting is that sugar is grounded up into smaller particles, than it started out as. The granulated sugar particles are 570 to 635 micrometers. That is tiny. Also, powdered sugar is 60 meters. One thing that I found relevant to class is that when a marshmallow is roasted and starts to burn, it is combustion. This is relevant because we just leaned about combustion last chapter. The chemical reaction(C12H22O11+12O2 yields to form 12CO2+11H2O) is also relevant to class.

Megan, OK. I think you have the powdered sugar measurement wrong. 60 m is pretty big. :) 5 stars. MW

Helium Balloons

I learned a lot of important facts, while reading this article. The most important part of this article is that there are buoyant forces on every object that acts on every object in the room. The buoyant force lifts about 0.0028 pounds for every liter of air the objects displaces. The next important point, is that there are slightly more air molecules per second hitting the bottom of an object and pushing it upward, than downward. There are also molecules hitting the sides of the object, but they equal out. The last important point, is that the buoyant forces that are acting upward on an object is equal to the weight of the fluid being displaced. Before reading this article, I have never heard of buoyant forces, so I learned a lot.

Megan, Looks like you did learn quite a bit! Good job. 5 stars. MW