After what seems like the longest section ever, we've finally made it to Section 3/4! While I pat myself on the back, feel free to scroll down to see what we have done so far in this long-awaited section. If you really want to, you can even scroll down to see what we've done in Section 2 and Section 1. Only if you want to. But it is highly recommended. Just saying.
When looking for another video to give a review on, I stumbled upon this one. I really wanted to learn about this because I was always confused on how leap days and leap years worked. I would see on different social media sites what day it would be if we didn't have any leap days or years. It was always something crazy, like it being July when in reality we were still in winter months. I always wondered how we figured that out, and why. In this video, I learned that the amount of days that the Earth revolves around the sun is not easily divisible. There isn't an even amount. Neil said that it would take about 365.25 days. That being said, the small margin could become a very big problem if we ignore it. This is why, every four years (.25 x 4), we have a full extra day in the year. He talks about how we take that day on the fourth year and give it to the neediest month. This would be February. Then he goes on to recount that it isn't perfectly 365.25 days, it's a little less. This means that every time we put in an extra day, we are over-compensating, and in return, every 100 years you need to take out the leap year that would have been there. But by taking out that extra day, it over-compensates in the other direction. This means that every 400 years, you need to put in the leap day. This all came to fruition in 1582, which I though was super interesting. I was really interested in learning about this because I have a friend who was born on a leap day in 2000, which was a year that should not have had a leap day, but ended up having one because it was divisible by 400 years. So close. Learning about this was really interesting and I actually found out a lot about this topic. It kind of reminded me of math, which was kind of weird, but I guess that math and science go hand in hand. As most people know, I absolutely loved reading and watching The Martian earlier this semester. When trying to come up with some extra points on my blog, I searched up some cool science videos. I stumbled upon this one. I loved listening to Neil's interview that we were showed a couple months back, so I thought, why not mix both together. Upon watching this clip, I found it very humorous. The person narrating is not Neil, but he does include clips of him throughout the video. I was very interested in what he had to say, because I am by no means a science-y person. Throughout reading the book, I was very intrigued and curious. The questions I was asking myself mostly revolved around how realistic this book actually is. Coming from a knows-nothing-about-Mars point of view, it all seemed perfect. But knowing what I know from the many months of chemistry I've endured made me question it a lot. Although this video is very humorous, I actually learned a lot about the science behind a potential trip to Mars. I learned that there hasn't actually been and man missions there, which I was super surprised about. I had assumed that there was, but it was nice learning about anyways. I even learned about botany, and what botanists do. I enjoyed it. Wow! This semester has gone by super fast! I remember the first day of Chem class, and squinting up at the table of elements. My eyes hurt so much that day, and the week to follow. The lights in Andrew's class were really hard to adjust to. I remember walking into the class on my birthday, and Andrew showing us how to create a hydrogen balloon, and letting me pop it with fire. I remember all of the little labs we did in the beginning, and having to reflect on my blog for the first time. I remember getting to pick my cubby, the first one near the door. I remember building the balsa rocket for the first time, and having fun shaping the design, and building the little sugar motors. I remember when we finally convinced Andrew that the classroom was better darker, and I could never forget walking into class late, and all the lights being shut off. Andrew was often later than me, so I would have to settle using my phone's flashlight to see the way to my seat. I remember all of the times that kids in my class were sent to the trashcan or outside to eat. (':
Anyways, not that this semester is over, I'm excited to fully reflect on the class. Looking back at my blog, I could say that I've really grown in my reflecting skills. Before Chemistry, I would settle with a paragraph or if I was feeling ambitious, two, when reflecting on projects. You can really see my growth throughout this semester. Before, I wasn't interested in anything that we had to do, but now, I'm engaged. I learned that in order for me to be engaged in something, I have to be able to choose the things I'm doing. If I was forced to participate in a lab I didn't want to do, or a conversation I didn't want to hear, then I shut down. I HATE being forced into doing things. Times I found myself in this situation have included every single morning talk that we've ever had. Once, the morning talk lasted until 9:30. Our school starts at 8:40. That's almost an hour! I loved being able to choose what I wanted to do. Independent labs were my thing. I loved how I got to drive my curiosity. The rocket project was a super long project, and if you want to see my reflection and thoughts on that, you can check that out below. Besides the rocket project, I would say we got more choice on other matters. Sometimes I found that we didn't really get enough time to pursue these other options. Whether this was because time in class was cut short because of the morning talks or the period changing, it still sucked. Another thing I found was that the points were a little weird. Especially by the end of these two sections. We've kind of had to bs a lot of the stuff, and it's not really fair because no one knows how much points we really get. Other than the things mentioned above, it was a super fun class. I enjoyed it. One last sendoff: Bye! To spice up our Chemistry life, Monique and I wanted to do another lab. We had done one last section, and it had been pretty fun. We took to looking up something that cause a chemical reaction. We decided on chalk rockets. We had to make our own alka-seltzers, which was super fun. We got to use the press to make them, and we pressed the baking soda, and citric acid, etc. It was interesting actually making the alka-seltzers, because I thought we were just going to buy them and be done with it. That wasn't the case. It was nice to take the time out to see what exactly that stuff is made of, and how it actually works. We had to look up some YouTube videos to see how it chemically reacted with the acids in our stomachs. I thought that that stuff was the most interesting part. I'm really into anything medical, and the science behind it was awesome. That experience can be found in the video below. The reaction that was taking place was much like the bathbombs I made last year. If you want to check out the video on that, click on the "Freshman", "Semester 2" and "Physics" tabs above. The things that were taking place was the citric acid, etc. It was awesome to see. The actual experience of the chalk rockets was kind of difficult. Making the alka-seltzers was really fun. I'm beginning to think that I just like to use the press. We needed liquid chalk, and we were working with normal sidewalk chalk. In order to break it down even further, we had to soak and microwave them with vinegar. Andrew had told us that it would help, because it had a lot of acidity in it. Getting the chalk melted was super difficult, and smelled really bad. The kids in the fishbowl didn't appreciate it. The reaction can be found on our proposal that was approved, and it features in the video down below. It was super scary to watch the first time, because we didn't know if it would work, what would happen, or when. I liked watching it go up high, and I was surprised when it did. We lost the film canister a couple of times, which was crazy. We made our friend go get it. You can see all of the fun down below, in the video. I learned all about the reaction taking place, and it made me reflect on the things I previously learned last year with the bath bombs I made. I helped out a lot in the group that I worked with, which was just Monique. I'm really good with documenting things and making sure we can get them up on our blog. It always takes a little bit of extra work, but that's fine with me. This video was really fun to edit, because our reactions was priceless. Wow! The rocket project is finally over! Looking back on this whole semester, it didn't dawn on me just how long we were building up for the final launch day. Everything we did, from building the little balsa rockets (my hair was significantly shorter back then) to now, seems like it took place over such a long stretch of time. Oh balsa rockets, what a simple time. Looking at our final rockets, it's like we stepped into the big leagues, especially Momo and I, with our rocket which held two FULL motors with real rocket fuel. Crazy. No more little motors filled with some sugar fuel. We were using big motors with black powder. Seems extreme, but super fun.
I would say building the motors were definitely my favorite part. I had done most of the other things already last year. If you want to check out any of those videos, click on the physics tab under "Freshman". Anyways/ the motors were the only new thing that I genuinely enjoyed doing. I liked the knowledge I gained from doing that, like the comparison between the two fuels, and all the math. It was awesome seeing how you could take data from the launch, and figure out how high the motor would shoot up, and the burn time, and the estimated grams to build your rocket at. It was super interesting. I also learned a lot about myself in this project as well. It was cool to see how much I enjoyed working with the people around me to get the work done. Although you were typically working with 1-2 people in this project, you were constantly reaching out to others to ask clarifying questions and such. I learned that the people in my class were very willing to help when you were confused about something, or wanted their advice. It was nice seeing them outside of the typical setting in which we are forced to collaborate with each other. It's much nicer when it's organic, and when we have the choice to do so. I also learned I am more on the creative side than I thought. Either that or my partner just wasn't. If I could do this project again, I would want to build a more simple rocket. Although the rocket I made was super cool, I wanted to see one that worked. All in all, I kinda ending up liking it. Well, certain parts. It was really annoying how we couldn't choose to do it or not. Rockets has never been something that has interested me, yet I was forced to do it. It would be better to have a choice whether or not to do it. Monique and I were able to finish the last section a bit early, so we had the chance to begin the next phase of the rocket project a couple of days before everyone else. When coming up with the design, we wondered what kind of rocket body shape we wanted, and how we were going to make it. My eyes wandered to a rocket sitting on top of the cubbies, made of a Pringles can. After a little more discussion, we decided that this was the the body shape we wanted to follow. We took down the rocket, and studied the design. We liked the overall product, but we wanted to make a few adjustments. The rocket was never launched, so either way it would be a new testing never done before. We really wanted to improve the project before it goes on the stand the be lit. We decided on something like this: The rocket would be made of a Pringles can, with two other rocket tubes on the side. Our rocket would feature two motors, which Monique and I have never attempted before. The tubes would be made by us, so we wouldn't need any outsourced materials. The fins are ones we've tested before and like, and would be made out of balsa wood. It is one of the modifications that we wanted to make, as the other fins were basic triangles. The nose cone would be the cap from a popular drink called Neuro, and it is the perfect shape for our rocket. We might need to layer the edges in tape so it fits snugly in our rocket. To cap off the tops of our rocket tubes, we would use PVC fittings, and secure it. Inside each rocket tube, our motor will reside. Our motor will be the one we have tested in the previous section, so check that out down below. We plan to add an ejection charge at the top, so when our motor burns out, it will release the charge. We also want to add a parachute inside of it, above the motor, so when the ejection charge is released, it will come out and float safely to the ground. Between the parachute and ejection charge, a paper towel will be in place so it can push the parachute through the PVC fitting. After deciding on this design, we spent the next couple of days making sure it had all of the requirements, and that we had all of the materials. We needed to get multiple pringles cans, because the sides would get ruined, and we were afraid it would affect the performance of the rocket. We made some modifications to the other rocket that was made on the other team, and we re-used some of their parts. We were pressed for time while creating this, yet we made sure we got everything done, and that it was aesthetically pleasing. We painted our rocket gold, and it ended up being really pretty. We made our motors, and for a while we were really scared about how they turned out. It seemed like one was made pretty badly, and we weren't too sure how it turned out, but we were soon to find out. On the day that we launched, it was really overcast and windy. I wasn't sure how our rocket would hold up. Monique was really excited this day, and I was cold. We had to wait super long because Andrew didn't want to disturb the other people there who were launching rockets. We knew ours was a risk. In order for it to work, we had to make sure that both motors went off at the same time, and that everything was constructed correctly. I was super nervous. When the rocket finally launched, the launch lug ripped off immediately. It was super sad. It spun out of control really quickly, and dragged across the ground, ripping off parts really quickly. You can check out the video down below. Hey everyone! We did it! We reached Section 2! :D
Down below is what I've been getting up to in this section, and if you scroll even further, you might just find all of my work from Section 1. Happy scrolling! For this semester, we've been working on a project in all three classes. It has to do with de-stressing and ways to do so in your daily life. We've been researching all about this in Humanities, and finally the Chemistry part kicked in. In Chem, we are to build Virtual Reality Goggles that will take the users to a relaxing place. Monique and I worked together to create our own VR goggles, in between working on our rocket motors (see below for more info on that). These goggles only took us a couple days, and it was really interesting to see just how simple it was to create. We used a template that was offered to us, as we didn't want to over complicate anything. It took awhile to figure out how all of the pieces came together. It was very much a trial and error kind of thing. Luckily for us, there were a couple of groups in our class that were building their goggles around the same time as us. We used theirs as an example, and often collaborated with them as a result. Just when we had everything duct-taped, our teacher said that we had to add a second piece to the goggle part, so we didn't get the double-vision. Monique and I took apart our goggles and added the second eyewear. Weirdly, it made the vision even more blurry, so we had to mess with the distance a little bit. This messed with the overall design, because the space quickly became too small to fit a normal phone. In the end, we managed to get a product that we were fine with. As a second part of this mini-project, we were to take a panorama of a "relaxing and anti-stressful" place, and I decided to do mine in a local bookstore. I've always enjoyed the quietness of bookstores, and the endless titles and authors always brings me a sense a comfort. I hoped this would be the case with the user. I used a virtual reality app in order to create the image, and I was able to use the link and turn it into a QR code, so it could be accessible from any device. That QR code will be down below. FINAL REFLECTION: I think that this project was pretty cool. I liked how easy it was to make, and the virtual reality stuff was fun to play around with. Once Monique and I figured out to create the images, it was awesome. I really liked how we got to have some creativity with it, and I learned a lot about virtual reality in general. VR was never something I thought I would be interested in, let alone something we got to work on as a project. Overall, I think it was an awesome experience to play around with this kind of thing, because it really opened up a world that I was never really exposed to. It was also interesting to do because VR is rapidly becoming more and more popular, so it's really nice that we got to learn and explore it now. I liked working with Monique on this, and it was a nice thing to accomplish. |
Zoe Valentin"I'm gonna have to science the shit out of this." -Mark Watney (The Martian) Archives
June 2016
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