Nicolas Reed Science Blog

Summary:        For the Charity Fair project what we had to do was choose a charity that we would like to raise money for and research. Then create a product in which you will use to raise money, then create a cost and profit document for you product. An additional thing you had to do revolving around your product was find the carbon footprint of your product and show that in an interactive map. For your charity you had to find and create a document about your charities statistics (how much money the charity raised basically) and create an ignite presentation about your charity. What I learned from this project is that in order to really persuade an audience with an ignite, you really have to have very compelling images. Images that mean something and have a story behind each image. You also should sound like what you are saying for your ignite is something that you have never said before, this will help make your presentation feel fresh, unique, and different. Ano...

Is Ecotourism Helping or Hurting our National Parks?              Have you ever thought about how ecotourism positively and negatively hurts national parks? Ecotourism is supposed to be a very good thing for us (humans) and wildlife. But currently, this is not the case. Ecotourism is actually hurting our national parks and also the animals and wildlife that lie within them. Ecotourism is hurting our national parks through changing their mindset and making them think more about the money that they will make rather than the animals they are supposed to protect. National parks are making these animals habituated or not "wild" and are putting these animals through conditions that are irregular. Furthermore, this is happening today and has become a huge problem the United States needs to face.        One reason/way ecotourism is hurting our national parks is by ecotourism affecting how they (national parks) see ecotourism. ...

Summary: Link      This week in science we learned about ecotourism in national parks, and because of this, I now know a lot of things about national parks because of what I learned based on my research. What I now know about ecotourism in national parks is things about why Ecotourism is helping and hurting our national parks. Ecotourism is helping our national parks by preserving and protecting lots of wildlife (land and animals) while still allowing many, many people. Also by ecotourism providing income and promoting national conservation. One last reason ecotourism helps our national parks is by boosting our economy and providing many new jobs for people (more than 200,000 jobs are created because of ecotourism). One way ecotourism hurts our national parks is by sometimes not keeping the wildlife, well, "wild" and by getting the animals close to humans and not allowing the animals to be in their regular, "wild" state. Another way ecotourism hurts our nati...

Summary:       This week in science we learned about the carbon footprint of the product we are creating for Charity Fair 2017. What I now know is what the total amount of CO 2 we produced from the creation of our product. I now know how much CO 2  was  produced by each of our materials. For example, I know that in total the felt produced 428.615 of CO 2 /kg. I also now know the types of vehicles used to ship materials and how much grams of CO 2 per kilogram each produces. The types of vehicles used to ship materials/products are planes, trains, trucks, and cars. And the amount of CO 2  each produces is for a plane it produces 0.8g of CO 2  per mile, a train produces is 0.1g of CO 2  per mile, a truck produces 0.17g of CO 2  per mile, and lastly a car produces 0.41g of CO 2  per mile. I also now know how much grams of CO 2 the materials my group used to create our product created. The raw materials used to create our product cr...

Summary:      For this project what we had to do with a group was think of a substance that could possibly spill and contaminate the ground and make a story about how that spill occurred. You then had to present that story in a news article and create an infographic based on a harmful chemical within the substance chosen. You lastly had to create a lab report based on an experiment you did to try and neutralize the substance chosen, you then had to create a newscast based on everything just said before this. The product I chose was Coke, and the harmful ingredient within coke is phosphoric acid. What I now know because of what I learned throughout this project are info on Coke & phosphoric acid, how to create a lab report, what can happen in a neutralizing experiment, and much more. What I know about Coke is that in a glass (250 ml) of Coke their is about 43 mg of phosphoric acid and in a can of Coke (12 oz) their is about 39 grams of sugar. What I know about phosp...

The Question I got Wrong Was: Reactions that involve burning are classified as I originally answered decomposition, the correct answer was actually exothermic. I realize now that exothermic is the better answer and was the correct answer. This is because exothermic reactions release heat causing its environment to get warmer. This creates a rise in the temperature which creates the burn. This means that exothermic reactions involve burning. This is why the correct answer was better than my original answer and is the best answer.

Link To Image Website Summary:      This week in science we learned about Dmitri Mendeleev (the creator of the periodic table) and the periodic table. We learned that one of the biggest reasons Dmitri Mendeleev made the periodic table was because he wanted to put it into a science textbook and by making it into a table it would fit into the textbook. We learned that for periodic table instead of saying row and column we say period(for row) and family (for column). We also learned that about a pattern that the periodic table has which is that with each period there is one more energy level for electrons. Also that elements in the same family have similar chemical reactions. We also learned about what the periodic table consists of and the families within it. The periodic table consists of metalloids, metals, and nonmetals. The families are the Alkali Metals (Family 1), Alkaline Earth Metals (Family 2) Transition Metals (families in the middle), Boron Fa...

Summary: Link      This week in science I learned more about chemistry, coke, and mainly about the very dangerous chemical within coke known as phosphoric acid. What I now know about chemistry is that the reactants in a chemical reaction have different chemical properties than the products. I also now know that. I also learned that the best  way for you to know if a chemical reaction occurs is when their is a formation of a new substance. What I know about coke is that coke itself may not be super dangerous, but their is chemicals inside of it that are dangerous (phosphoric acid). What I now know about phosphoric acid is that phosphoric acid has a chemical formula of H 3 PO 4.  Also that Phosphoric acid’s flammability is 0 and that it can be used for many things such as cleaning products, dairy products, and fertilizers. I also know the dangers of phosphoric acid contact, such as inhalation, skin and eye contact, ingestion, and other possible health effe...

     The First Question I Got Wrong Was: Copper (Cu) reacts with oxygen (O) to form copper oxide (CuO). The properties of CuO are  most likely I originally answered  similar to both copper and oxygen. The correct answer was actually  different from copper or oxygen. This is a better answer because of the fact that copper oxide is a totally different type of substance from copper and oxygen. So it makes sense how it wouldn't have similar properties to both copper and oxygen. This is why the correct answer is the better answer.       The Second Question I Got Wrong Was: Which of the following is the best evidence for a chemical reaction? I originally answered  gas bubbles. The correct answer was actually  formation of a new substance. This is a better answer because of the fact that the question asked which was the best. Technically all can signify a chemical reaction, but formation of a new substance truly shows and i...

Summary:      This week in science we learned about acids, bases, and neutrals. What I now know about acids are that they are sour, are corrosive metals, and they turn litmus paper red. I know if a substance is an acid if it is rated on the pH scale from 0-6. I also now know that in order to know what type of the three a substance is you should use the pH scale. The pH scale measures how basic or acidic a substance is. Examples of acids are orange juice, lemon juice. a carbonated drink, and vinegar. As you can see from the examples I gave that acids are sour. What I now know about neutrals are how you know if a substance is a neutral, and how you know is if the substance is rated 7 on the pH scale. Examples of neutrals are all types of salt and water. What I now know about bases are that they feel slippery, and they turn litmus paper blue. I know if a substance is a base if the substance is rated from 8-14 on the pH scale. Examples of bases are windex, deter...

Summary:      This week in science what we learned about was types of chemical reactions. What I now know is each type of reaction and what each is. The reactions I learned about and now know are synthesis, decomposition, single displacement, double displacement, endothermic, and exothermic reactions. I know that a synthesis reaction is when two or more element or compounds combine to form a more complex compound. I know that a decomposition reaction is when a single compound breaks down into its component parts or simpler compounds. I know that a single displacement reaction is when a more active element takes the place of another element in a compound and sets the less active one free. I know that a single displacement is when the anions and cations of two different molecules switch places, forming two entirely different compounds. Since ions are involved, it is sometimes called ionic. I know that an exothermic reaction is when the reaction releases energy. In exoth...

Summary:      This week in science we learned about chemical reactions and how to represent what happens in a chemical reaction through using a chemical equation. We learned that in a chemical reaction atoms are not destroyed or created, they are just rearranged to make something new. We also learned what each part of a chemical reaction represents. For example, we learned that the (+) symbol represents that there is a new molecule and that letters S, G, and L represent what state the molecule is in. So if you see an S that represents a solid state, a G is a gas state, and L is a liquid state. Another important symbol we learned about was the arrow symbol, the arrow symbol represents the direction of the chemical reaction. Another thing we learned about was what a balanced chemical equation and reaction is. An example of a balanced chemical reaction is fire, an example of a not so balanced chemical reaction is an explosion. What we learned about balancing chemical eq...

Summary: Covalent Bonds Link      This week in science what I learned about was how to count atoms, phase changes with states of matter, and covalent bonds with atoms. What I learned about counting atoms was what all the types of numbers (in terms of what they mean and do not actual numbers) and what they mean. The first type of number I learned was the subscript, now the subscript represents how many of the element before the subject has in the molecule. The next type of number I learned was the subscript after the parenthesis, this number represents that all the amounts of each element in the parenthesis is actually whatever the answer is to multiplying each element's amount of atoms by the number after the parenthesis. For example, if you have Zn(MnO4)2 (both numbers represent subscript) this means that you have 1 Zinc atom, 2 Manganese atoms (1 x 2) and 8 oxygen atoms (4 x 2). The last type of number I learned about was the coefficient. The coefficient is the...

Our Project Summary:      This week in science we have just finished our periodic table project. What we had to do for this project was with a team (of 3-4 people) you must create a periodic table of any subject (we chose all-time basketball players) and make it have all the components that the real periodic table has (atomic mass, atomic number, families and family names, periods, element name and symbol, and even more). The biggest thing I learned from this project is that periodic tables have to be clear and easy to understand for it to be amazing. I also learned that in order to make everything about it understandable you do need to show and have the key components that I mentioned above. Another thing I learned was that you need to accommodate and change the way the periodic table was built based on the subject you are doing. I learned that some things in the periodic table just don't make any sense for you particular subject. For example, basketball players ...

     Summary: Link      This week in science we learned more about the periodic table and other topics we could make a periodic table out of. We learned that the key components in the periodic table are that the things being shown ( such as mass, atomic number, etc) must be clear and understandable. Also that all periodic tables should have a mass, atomic number, organized periods and families, and a name for each family. Another thing we learned is that you can make a periodic table for any topic. For example, you could do a periodic table of candy, basketball players, army tanks, all of these things have been done. What I learned from these things is that you need to think very hard and investigate, research, and find all pieces of information possible in order to make your own periodic table. The last thing I learned is that a good periodic table can be looked at and be seen as something that is understandable. Right when looking at the real perio...