所有类别 - What's going on in Mr. Solarz' Class?

The Museum of Science and Industry

6/1/2015

Watery Earth Lesson 1 - My Water Story

6/1/2015

                        My Water Story

                                                            By: Kendall F.

    One day, while I was in California, we went to the beach. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny. From the moment I stepped onto the damp sand, I knew that this was going to be the best part of the trip. I did forget that the Pacific Ocean was a body of saltwater, though, so I raced into the water, dove under, and came up with a bitter sting in my nose and eyes. I blinked rapidly to release the burning in my eyes.
    After I finally got the water out, I went back out onto the sand and got a boogie board. I used my hands to paddle out farther into the cool blue ocean. I spotted my dad and uncle, talking while waves crashed over their heads. Then I saw another boogie board rider gliding to shore, and knew that it must be my cousin. I waited, waited, waited, until I saw the perfect wave. It was rolling towards me, its tips foamy. I knew that it wouldn’t slow down until it reached the shore. I hopped up onto my board and jumped. I landed on top of the wave, and it started to carry my board and I to the bronze colored sand.
    As I reached the end of the water, my cousin shouted,“Great job, Kendall!”
    I smiled and jumped off of my board into the shallow water. It was refreshing to dip my head into the crisp water on this bright, sunny day.
    I was elated that I was able to get the perfect wave and got that awful taste of salt water out of my mouth and nose. Now I know to be prepared next time I go to the beach.

Oregon Trail Reflection

5/28/2015

Our Oregon Trail has been an amazing journey! We have gone through so much on this trek across the United States. When we first started, we had beginner's luck and got a big sack of gold. It's too bad that the man holding it got squished by our time machine. Ouch! We met a nice man named James McVee, who asked us why we were headed out west. We wanted to find rich soil, cheap land, nice weather, higher pay, and a new life. After that, we looked at old maps and documents to see what the best route west was. We chose the wonderful Oregon Trail. We used some of our money to buy supplies for the trip like food, clothes, oxen, and wagons. We chose Conestoga wagons, but they were too heavy for the oxen to pull. A prairie schooner wagon salesman bought our wagons for $30 each, then we got 6 prairie schooners. They were much lighter and easier to pull. We played lots of games on the trail, like foot races, button whizzers, hoop, stick pull, cat's cradle, bucket brigade, bear climb, and jumping at the mark. They were fun ways to pass time on the trail. At night, we would sometimes have campfires and sings songs like Buffalo Gal and Grandpa had a Grandpa. All the fun ended when we got blisters. We decided to treat them by soaking them in clean, warm water, and poke at the base with a sterilized needle to drain out the liquid inside.

Watery Earth Lesson 9 - Finding Bodies of Water on Maps

5/27/2015

Reflection Questions:

What bodies of surface water did you find while examining the three maps?
Were there any types of surface water on the Arlington Heights map that you weren’t able to find on the Illinois map? If so, why?
Were there any types of surface water on the Illinois map that you couldn’t find on the United States map? If so, why?
What are some names of the bodies of water in Illinois and Arlington Heights? What bodies of water did you identify?

Answers:

We found oceans, lakes, rivers, straits, bays, inlets, seas, and sounds. Some of them were found more than others, likes lakes and rivers. It was hard to find reservoirs on the maps.
There were not any types of surface water that we found on the Arlington Heights map the weren't on the Illinois map except for really small lakes, like the Arlington Heights Golf Club Lake and Twin Lakes. They were too small to be seen on a larger map.
We found Calumet Lake, but it was a small lake. The United States map only shows large bodies of water.
We found Calumet Lake, Chicago River, and Lake Michigan.

Streganona

5/25/2015

I was not here for this assignment.

Watery Earth Lesson 8 - Bodies of Water: Estuaries

5/5/2015

The Phantom Tollbooth

5/1/2015

What kind of person is Milo?
Do you think Milo is a good student? Why or why not?
Why do you think Milo acts the way he does?
Would Milo be someone you would want to be friends with? Why or why not?
Describe a time when you felt grump and disinterested like Milo.

Watery Earth Lesson 7 - My Water Molecule's Journey

4/30/2015

    One day, I woke up by a loud, startling noise. I looked around at all of the molecules around me, and they looked just as confused as me. I started to ask one what was happening, but suddenly everything shifted. We all came plummeting towards the ground. “Oh! I know where we are!”, one shouted. “A cumulonimbus!” I suddenly remembered being here before. Another molecule yelled, “Ahhh!” I saw the ground getting closer and closer. When we were about to hit the ground, a blinding flash shocked me. The lighting reminded me that I was in a storm. I knew that lightning was caused by the chemical reaction of electrons high up in the clouds, where I came from. “Ahh,” I said, remembering the good old days when I was up in the sky with my molecule friends, and we made up a puffy cumulus cloud.
     My daydream was suddenly cut short when I plunged into something. I opened my eyes and found that I was still around lots of other molecules, but we were rushing down a mountain. I asked someone,”Where are we?” The molecule sounded very relaxed as he responded, like he had done this a thousand times. Come to think of it, he may have done this a thousand times. He said,”We’re going down a mountain stream.” I tried to be relaxed too, so I just let myself go with the flow and stay calm in the raging waters of the river.
    Soon after I fell asleep, I woke up to find myself in a lake! “Wow,” I said, “Who knew that a lake would collect this many water molecules!” The storm finally passed and the sky was clear. I had fun playing with my friends in the big lake. A few days later, I was swept off of my feet and brought up into the sky. I was being evaporated! I saw all of my friends coming up too. When I reached the sky, I looked down and almost fainted. My friends next me saw my face and asked,” Are you afraid of heights?” I nodded and closed my eyes. She said,”Don’t worry, we will all be together very soon.” When she finished speaking, all of the molecules stuck together. We condensed into one beautiful cloud. Now that I was with all of the other molecules, I wasn’t afraid anymore! I was ready to start the water cycle again!

Watery Earth Lesson 6 - Drops of Water on Different Surfaces

4/28/2015

Surface

Water

Rocks

Plastic

Grass

Leaves

Prediction

I think the drop of water will be absorbed into the glass of water.

I think the water will bounce off the rocks and gather at the bottom of the cup.

I think the water will slide down the plastic and into the cup.

I think the water will be absorbed into the blades of grass.

I think the water will bounce off the leaves and slide down.

Actual

The water made ripples as it was absorbed into the glass of water.

Some of the water was absorbed into holes in the rocks and some bounced off the rocks.

The drops of water just bounced of the plastic and slid down it.

The water bounced off of the grass and slid down into the bottom of the cup.

The water slid down the leaves and dripped into the bottom of the glass.

Reflection

I didn't think about how the water would make ripples, but I was half correct.

Again, I was half correct with my prediction, but I didn't know about the small holes in the rocks.

My prediction was correct because the plastic repelled the water.

My prediction was wrong because the water was not absorbed by the blades of grass.

I was correct because the water just slid down the leaves and into the cup.

Reflection Questions:

Which materials surprised you the most? Why?
Which materials do you still wonder about? How do you think water will respond to that material?

Answers:

I was surprised about the grass and the rocks. I didn't know that the grass would repel the water or that the rocks had holes in them.
I wonder about mesh, because it can absorb water but it has holes. I think it would absorb the water drops. I also wonder about a stretchy material like elastic. I think it would repel the water because the stretchy part has a coating that might repel the water.

Science Fair

4/23/2015

Science Fair Presentation: First Draft

I'm glad I recorded my presentation before the Science Fair because:

I could watch my presentation over and over again to rehearse what I wanted to say
I could look at both videos that I made to see if I improved on my presentation skills
I could write down notes about the important things that I said and things I needed to improve on for the actual Science Fair

By the end of the Science Fair, my presentation was much better because:

I had rehearsed enough times to memorize my poster board, so I didn't have to look back at my board while I was talking
I also had learned the important parts of my presentation and what order to say them in

Questions:

Overall, I think that the Science Fair was a valuable experience because...
I definitely made some mistakes along the way, but I learned from them. Here are some examples...
If I were given the chance to do anything differently, I would...

Answers:
1. I think that my project had a big purpose, and I definitely learned something new. I also learned how to have good presentation skills, which everyone will need in the future.
2. I misprinted my pictures once, but I recovered by cutting them down so they fit my poster board. I also made some mistakes in my practice presentations, but I practiced a lot to make it better.
3. I would have printed more recipes because there weren't enough for everyone that came by. I would have also explained more parts of my poster, because I only found myself talking about the hypothesis, graph, data sheet, and conclusion.