Science InThe RealWorld a blog space by Tori Wade...
Week 22 (June 2nd)-
Weekly Topic- Progeria
Progeria is one of the weirdest diseases of all time. It is a disease where a childs body has a fast forward affect and ages quicker than usual. This disease can cause premature balding, heart disease, thinning bones and arthritis. It is caused by a small defect in the childs genetic code. However, this causes the child to die around the age of 13. But, it is extremly rare and only about 50 people in the world have it.
Week 21 (May 17th)-
Weekly Topic- Cavities
In dentistry, cavities are a very common subject. So I decided that to go over them.
Cavaties are a kind of disease where bacteria break down tissues on your teeth causing tooth decay. This can lead to tooth loss, infection and if it goes to far, death. That is why it is important to brush your teeth because cavities can also cause a lot of pain.
Week 20 (May 10th)-
Weekly Topic- Pollution
Pollution has been a national topic for years now, so I decided I would go over it.
Pollution is when our world becomes dirty. Whether its the air, the water or just the sidewalk you walk on. It is caused by humans and hurts animals and the environment. Pollution is also a cause of global warming. Global warming happens when bad gasses trap heat and light from the sun in the Earth's atmosphere. This increases the temperature which affects our world slowly but dramatically.
Week 19 May 3rd)-
Weekly Topic- Shooting Stars
I am basically running out of ideas for weekly blogs. So today I am just going to talk about shooting stars.
Shooting stars are a great thing to see. Often people make wishes upon them. However, shooting stars aren't really stars. They are actually small pieces of rock that fall from space and hit Earth's atmoshpere. The reason why you can see it is because as it falls, friction causes the rock to heat up, catch on fire and make light. Shooting stars are also called meteors.
Week 18 (April 26th)-
Weekly Topic- Clouds
This week I am going to talk about why clouds are white. It is very similar to why skies are blue. See, the water droplets that are in clouds scatter the different colors in a wave length. These colors combine to make the color white. Clouds will appear dark or gray when eiether they are in another clouds shadow or the top of a cloud casts a shadow upon its own base.
Week 17 (April 19th)-
Weekly Topic- Pollination
Pollination is something you see almost everyday. Atleast, in the spring time. Pollination is the process of pollen from one flower being transfered to another flowers stigma. This causes fertalization which is how other flowers are made. Sometimes, flowers need help getting pollen transfered. Insects and such are what help them, like bees.
Week 16 (April 13th)-
Weekly Topic-Hiccups
This week I would like to discus hiccups and why they happen. Everyone knows when they have the hiccups. They do tricks like hold their breath, have someone scare them, or drink a ton of water to get rid of them. Well the hiccups happen because when your diaphragram (which is what helps you pull air in your lungs), get irritated. This could happen either from eating too fast or too much. Well, when its irritated it pushes up in a jerky way which is what we know as a hiccup.
Week 15 (April 8th)-
Weekly Topic- Dead People
So this week, I decided to talk about what happens when a living organism or a person dies. Well, when a person dies, obviously your cells die and your body stops working. Your muscles relax and blood stops being pumped to your heart. Since our bodies are covered with bacteria, there isn't anything to fight them so the bacteria takes over and your body starts to rot. Eventually the bacteria eats your body until you are just skeletal remains.
Static electricity can be something you see everyday. When you rub a balloon on someones head, when your socks stick together in the dryer etc. The way it works is when electrical charges inside an atom become unbalanced. Or it can happen when various portions of electrical charges present in particles seperate. Well, when these two particles seperate or 'repel' it can usually cause a spark which is what we see when static electricity happens.
Week 13 (March 22nd)-
Weekly Topic- Popcorn
Popcorn is a great snack. However, I have always wanted to know how exactly is all works. Well, here is how.
When a kernel heats up, the kernel expands. When the percentage of moisture that is inside the kernel becomes just right, the kernel will pop. When the pressure inside the hard shell gets high enough, the kernel explodes. Well, it doesn't exactly "explode" but it expands into the white fluffy food we eat.
Week 12 (March 15th)-
Weekly Topic- Cats
Cats have to do with science in a lot of ways, the main thing is that they are a part of the diversity of life. They come from a family called felidae or felines. I am going to focus on how they see in the dark.
Well, over time cats have become great hunters and have evolved. To see in the dark, they use a special layer of cells at the back of their retinas. This is called tapetum ludicum. In the dark (not complete darkness), cats eyes collect what light there is and give their retina a second chance to absorb every photon, this is why they can't see in complete darkness.
Every living thing has energy. Well, this is how people get their energy.
First, it all starts out with the sun. The sun gets its energy from its core. Then, the plants takes in the sunlight and go through photosynthesis. That energy then gets transfered to animals when the animals eat the plants. When we eat those animals, it gives us energy. That is how we are able to have energy.
Week 10 (March 1st)-
Weekly Topic-Extinction
Yesterday I watched a movie with dinosaurs in it. It made me think about extinction and why it happens.
First off, extinction is when an entire species dies. There are about 1 billion species that have lived on earth that are now gone. There are a few ways extinction can happen. Mass exctinction is when all the species dissapear in a small amount of time. Scientists think this happens because of things like major climate change. There is also something called evolutionary pressure. This is when the species loses its resources and eventually goes extinct. Today, extinction is happening quicker and quicker. The only way to help that is to put less pressure on the enviornment.
Week 9 (February 21st)-
Weekly Topic-Genetics
A lot of people have probably been told that they have their mom's nose or dad's eyes. Well these characteristics are a factor of heredity, which are the passing down of physical traits from parent to child. These traits are carried in our genes. You get your genes from your parents who got their's from their parents. If you're wondering why you have brown eyes like your mom and not blue eyes like your dad it's because brown eyes are a dominant trait and blue eyes are recessive. However, genes don't determine everything about yourself.
Week 8 (February 17th)-
Weekly Topic- water left in cars
So I have been hearing something about how it is unsafe to drink water that has been left in the car for a good amount of time. Apparently, if you leave you're bottled water in the car when it is hot outside, the bottle releases toxins that make your water bad to drink. Well as of 2009 this has been said to be just a urban legand. Even though a car can get hot when the windows are closed, it is defiantly not hot enought to make molecure changes in plastic bottles. People may think this because when plastic is burned it can create dioxin and other bad things.
Week 7 (February 8th)-
This week's topic is going to be about Silly Putty.
Lots of people love Silly Putty. What most people don't know is what its made of, and why it works. Well first, it was discvored by James Wright. He was working on a rubber substiture for General Electric but, when the mixture of silicone oil and boric acid didn't work as a substitute it did become a "solid liquid" that could be stretched, molded and bounced. Today, Silly Putty is used for many more things too.
Week 6 (February 1st)-
The topic for this week will be about rainbows.
In Washington rain is always expected. To me, the only good part about the rain is that afterwards you can see a rainbow. Well, I am here to explain how rainbows work.
Rainbows are a lot more simpe than they seem. It happens when light from the sun filters through little droplets of water in the air. The drops of water work like a prism. Different colors of light bend at different angels as they pass through the water droplets which is how the colors seperate making a curve shaped rainbow.
Week 5 (January 25th)-
This week I will be talking about mixtures.
Earlier today I was making macaroni for my little sister. I realized that what I was doing was science. By mixing the milk, cheese packet and noodles I was creating a mixture. Mixtures are made from molecules that are mixed together and can be seperated.
There are two types of mixtures, solutions and mixtures. This example is a solution.
Another thing about mixtures...
When working with mixtures there are a variety of ways to seperate them.
-Decantation (for example, letting the sand in a mixture of water and sand settle, and then draining off the water)
-Filtering
-Evaporation
Week 4 (January 19th)-
This weeks science blog topic will be about penmanship.
Just recently I was looking through some letters and noticed how many different types of handwriting there are. Some are messy. Some are neat. Why?
The structure of your hand and the way you handle a writing utencil have a lot to do with your penmanship. Sometimes the way the pencil is structured can affect the way you write. However, there has been some say that your handwriting can tell a person about your personality. That doesn't mean that good handwriting means you are a good person, but maybe the way you curve your letters or slant your words can tell someone what you are like.
Week 3 (January 13th)-
My next "Science In The Real World Blog" for the week is going to be about rain.
Well, this week it has been raining a lot. Most people don't like the rain but what we have to realize is how important it is. First, let's talk about where it comes from.
Rain happens during the water cycle. The water cycle consits of four main parts, evaporation, condensation, precipitaion and collection. The precipitaion part is also called rain. The rain is very important for many reasons.
-To keep the water cycle going
-Rain waters the plants so they can grow
-Rain prevents us from having a drought
Week 2 (January 4th)-
My "Science In The Real World Blog" for this week is going to be about dreams.
First off, dreams are visual stimulations we experience when we sleep. Usually, dreams have bits and peices of events from our memories. Or they can just be plain weird.
Just recently, I had a very weird dream.. It made me think, how do dreams work?
Well, apparently this is a topic that scientists have been researching for a while and they don't know exactly why we have dreams. The two theories that scientists seem to toss around is:
1. The idea that dreams are only physiological stimulations.
2. The idea that dreams are physiologically necessary.
Week 1 (December 12th)-
For my first "Science In The Real World Blog" I am going to talk about friction.
Today, I was wearing socks and went into the kitchen. I usually get bored and slide across the floor with my socks until I realized what I was doing was an example of friction. I know this because when I pushed myself across the floor causing acceleration I was sliding. This is sliding friction. Since the floor is smooth is caused me to slide easily for a fair amount of time. That was my science is the real world experience.
a blog space by Tori Wade...
Week 22 (June 2nd)-
Weekly Topic- Progeria
Progeria is one of the weirdest diseases of all time. It is a disease where a childs body has a fast forward affect and ages quicker than usual. This disease can cause premature balding, heart disease, thinning bones and arthritis. It is caused by a small defect in the childs genetic code. However, this causes the child to die around the age of 13. But, it is extremly rare and only about 50 people in the world have it.
Week 21 (May 17th)-
Weekly Topic- Cavities
In dentistry, cavities are a very common subject. So I decided that to go over them.
Cavaties are a kind of disease where bacteria break down tissues on your teeth causing tooth decay. This can lead to tooth loss, infection and if it goes to far, death. That is why it is important to brush your teeth because cavities can also cause a lot of pain.
Week 20 (May 10th)-
Weekly Topic- Pollution
Pollution has been a national topic for years now, so I decided I would go over it.
Pollution is when our world becomes dirty. Whether its the air, the water or just the sidewalk you walk on. It is caused by humans and hurts animals and the environment. Pollution is also a cause of global warming. Global warming happens when bad gasses trap heat and light from the sun in the Earth's atmosphere. This increases the temperature which affects our world slowly but dramatically.
Week 19 May 3rd)-
Weekly Topic- Shooting Stars
I am basically running out of ideas for weekly blogs. So today I am just going to talk about shooting stars.
Shooting stars are a great thing to see. Often people make wishes upon them. However, shooting stars aren't really stars. They are actually small pieces of rock that fall from space and hit Earth's atmoshpere. The reason why you can see it is because as it falls, friction causes the rock to heat up, catch on fire and make light. Shooting stars are also called meteors.
Week 18 (April 26th)-
Weekly Topic- Clouds
This week I am going to talk about why clouds are white. It is very similar to why skies are blue. See, the water droplets that are in clouds scatter the different colors in a wave length. These colors combine to make the color white. Clouds will appear dark or gray when eiether they are in another clouds shadow or the top of a cloud casts a shadow upon its own base.
Week 17 (April 19th)-
Weekly Topic- Pollination
Pollination is something you see almost everyday. Atleast, in the spring time. Pollination is the process of pollen from one flower being transfered to another flowers stigma. This causes fertalization which is how other flowers are made. Sometimes, flowers need help getting pollen transfered. Insects and such are what help them, like bees.
Week 16 (April 13th)-
Weekly Topic-Hiccups
This week I would like to discus hiccups and why they happen. Everyone knows when they have the hiccups. They do tricks like hold their breath, have someone scare them, or drink a ton of water to get rid of them. Well the hiccups happen because when your diaphragram (which is what helps you pull air in your lungs), get irritated. This could happen either from eating too fast or too much. Well, when its irritated it pushes up in a jerky way which is what we know as a hiccup.
Week 15 (April 8th)-
Weekly Topic- Dead People
So this week, I decided to talk about what happens when a living organism or a person dies. Well, when a person dies, obviously your cells die and your body stops working. Your muscles relax and blood stops being pumped to your heart. Since our bodies are covered with bacteria, there isn't anything to fight them so the bacteria takes over and your body starts to rot. Eventually the bacteria eats your body until you are just skeletal remains.
Week 14 (March 28th)-
Weekly Topic- Static Electricity
Static electricity can be something you see everyday. When you rub a balloon on someones head, when your socks stick together in the dryer etc. The way it works is when electrical charges inside an atom become unbalanced. Or it can happen when various portions of electrical charges present in particles seperate. Well, when these two particles seperate or 'repel' it can usually cause a spark which is what we see when static electricity happens.
Week 13 (March 22nd)-
Weekly Topic- Popcorn
Popcorn is a great snack. However, I have always wanted to know how exactly is all works. Well, here is how.
When a kernel heats up, the kernel expands. When the percentage of moisture that is inside the kernel becomes just right, the kernel will pop. When the pressure inside the hard shell gets high enough, the kernel explodes. Well, it doesn't exactly "explode" but it expands into the white fluffy food we eat.
Week 12 (March 15th)-
Weekly Topic- Cats
Cats have to do with science in a lot of ways, the main thing is that they are a part of the diversity of life. They come from a family called felidae or felines. I am going to focus on how they see in the dark.
Well, over time cats have become great hunters and have evolved. To see in the dark, they use a special layer of cells at the back of their retinas. This is called tapetum ludicum. In the dark (not complete darkness), cats eyes collect what light there is and give their retina a second chance to absorb every photon, this is why they can't see in complete darkness.
Week 11 (March 8th)-
Weekly Topic-Energy Conversions
Every living thing has energy. Well, this is how people get their energy.
First, it all starts out with the sun. The sun gets its energy from its core. Then, the plants takes in the sunlight and go through photosynthesis. That energy then gets transfered to animals when the animals eat the plants. When we eat those animals, it gives us energy. That is how we are able to have energy.
Week 10 (March 1st)-
Weekly Topic-Extinction
Yesterday I watched a movie with dinosaurs in it. It made me think about extinction and why it happens.
First off, extinction is when an entire species dies. There are about 1 billion species that have lived on earth that are now gone. There are a few ways extinction can happen. Mass exctinction is when all the species dissapear in a small amount of time. Scientists think this happens because of things like major climate change. There is also something called evolutionary pressure. This is when the species loses its resources and eventually goes extinct. Today, extinction is happening quicker and quicker. The only way to help that is to put less pressure on the enviornment.
Week 9 (February 21st)-
Weekly Topic-Genetics
A lot of people have probably been told that they have their mom's nose or dad's eyes. Well these characteristics are a factor of heredity, which are the passing down of physical traits from parent to child. These traits are carried in our genes. You get your genes from your parents who got their's from their parents. If you're wondering why you have brown eyes like your mom and not blue eyes like your dad it's because brown eyes are a dominant trait and blue eyes are recessive. However, genes don't determine everything about yourself.
Week 8 (February 17th)-
Weekly Topic- water left in cars
So I have been hearing something about how it is unsafe to drink water that has been left in the car for a good amount of time. Apparently, if you leave you're bottled water in the car when it is hot outside, the bottle releases toxins that make your water bad to drink. Well as of 2009 this has been said to be just a urban legand. Even though a car can get hot when the windows are closed, it is defiantly not hot enought to make molecure changes in plastic bottles. People may think this because when plastic is burned it can create dioxin and other bad things.
Week 7 (February 8th)-
This week's topic is going to be about Silly Putty.
Lots of people love Silly Putty. What most people don't know is what its made of, and why it works. Well first, it was discvored by James Wright. He was working on a rubber substiture for General Electric but, when the mixture of silicone oil and boric acid didn't work as a substitute it did become a "solid liquid" that could be stretched, molded and bounced. Today, Silly Putty is used for many more things too.
Week 6 (February 1st)-
The topic for this week will be about rainbows.
In Washington rain is always expected. To me, the only good part about the rain is that afterwards you can see a rainbow. Well, I am here to explain how rainbows work.
Rainbows are a lot more simpe than they seem. It happens when light from the sun filters through little droplets of water in the air. The drops of water work like a prism. Different colors of light bend at different angels as they pass through the water droplets which is how the colors seperate making a curve shaped rainbow.
Week 5 (January 25th)-
This week I will be talking about mixtures.
Earlier today I was making macaroni for my little sister. I realized that what I was doing was science. By mixing the milk, cheese packet and noodles I was creating a mixture. Mixtures are made from molecules that are mixed together and can be seperated.
There are two types of mixtures, solutions and mixtures. This example is a solution.
Another thing about mixtures...
When working with mixtures there are a variety of ways to seperate them.
-Decantation (for example, letting the sand in a mixture of water and sand settle, and then draining off the water)
-Filtering
-Evaporation
Week 4 (January 19th)-
This weeks science blog topic will be about penmanship.
Just recently I was looking through some letters and noticed how many different types of handwriting there are. Some are messy. Some are neat. Why?
The structure of your hand and the way you handle a writing utencil have a lot to do with your penmanship. Sometimes the way the pencil is structured can affect the way you write. However, there has been some say that your handwriting can tell a person about your personality. That doesn't mean that good handwriting means you are a good person, but maybe the way you curve your letters or slant your words can tell someone what you are like.
Week 3 (January 13th)-
My next "Science In The Real World Blog" for the week is going to be about rain.
Well, this week it has been raining a lot. Most people don't like the rain but what we have to realize is how important it is. First, let's talk about where it comes from.
Rain happens during the water cycle. The water cycle consits of four main parts, evaporation, condensation, precipitaion and collection. The precipitaion part is also called rain. The rain is very important for many reasons.
-To keep the water cycle going
-Rain waters the plants so they can grow
-Rain prevents us from having a drought
Week 2 (January 4th)-
My "Science In The Real World Blog" for this week is going to be about dreams.
First off, dreams are visual stimulations we experience when we sleep. Usually, dreams have bits and peices of events from our memories. Or they can just be plain weird.
Just recently, I had a very weird dream.. It made me think, how do dreams work?
Well, apparently this is a topic that scientists have been researching for a while and they don't know exactly why we have dreams. The two theories that scientists seem to toss around is:
1. The idea that dreams are only physiological stimulations.
2. The idea that dreams are physiologically necessary.
Week 1 (December 12th)-
For my first "Science In The Real World Blog" I am going to talk about friction.
Today, I was wearing socks and went into the kitchen. I usually get bored and slide across the floor with my socks until I realized what I was doing was an example of friction. I know this because when I pushed myself across the floor causing acceleration I was sliding. This is sliding friction. Since the floor is smooth is caused me to slide easily for a fair amount of time. That was my science is the real world experience.