Grade 9

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Currents from the Kitchen

Results

Potato –  0.4 volts

Apple – 0.3 volts

Lemon – 0.3 volts

For the lemon we found that putting it upside down was a more effective way of measuring the voltage.

Additional observations

We found that putting the nail and the copper strip closer together made the measurements more effective in each fruit/vegetable.

Explanations

The potato ended up having the highest voltage which was surprising because I expected the lemon to have the highest voltage, the lemon has the most electrolytes, but the potato ended up having the highest voltage. The reasoning towards why the potato had the highest voltage is unknown.

Questions

What is causing the flow of electrons?

The closed circuit with the fruit creating the voltage causes the flow of electrons.

What are independent, dependent, and controlled variables in this experiment?

Measuring the voltage, the fruit and the copper strip and the nail.

How can we modify our experiment to improve our results?

Use a bigger variety of fruits and vegetables.

What are sources of error or uncertainty in our experiment?

If the ripeness of the fruit and vegetables were different it could’ve impacted the outcome.

How can I use this in my every day life?

If I lived in a rural area and we had a lot of fruit and no power we could use this experiment for power.

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Currents from the Kitchen – Prelab

Prelab

Purpose: Which fruit will produce the highest electric voltage?

Hypothesis: A lemon will produce the highest electric voltage, the citric acid in the lemon produces the electricity.

Materials: 1 voltmeter, 2 wires, 1 nail, 1 copper strip, at least three fruit/ vegetables.

Procedure: Set up the volt meter, connect the two wires to a nail and a copper strip then putting it in the fruit and measuring the voltage.

Reasoning: To see what fruit produces the most electricity.

 

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Fictional Science Safety Story

Map of room

Story

It was around 12:30pm, we were just ready for a lab to see how long it takes to boil cold water and room temperature water to see which one boils the fastest. We were using 2 250ml beakers 1 full of cold water and the other filled with room temperature water, a Bunsen burner for heating up the water, a tripod stand for putting the beakers above the flame, forceps to hold the beaker, a wire rack so that the glass doesn’t get full exposure to the heat and a sparker to light the Bunsen burner. I started the lab by filling up the beakers with water, then I put the Bunsen burner down next to the gas valve and connected it, I wasn’t really sure how to connect it to the gas valve but I’m pretty sure I got it. After that I placed the tripod over the Bunsen burner with the wire rack on top, then I placed the first beaker which is full of cold water on top of the wire rack.

I commenced with lighting the Bunsen burner with the sparker after turning the gas valve half way as the teacher instructed. I then waited for the water to boil while timing it and then I wrote down the time after it boiled. While I was taking the beaker off the rack I noticed that there was a bottle of acetone with the lid off sitting on the counter near the Bunsen burner and it seems to have the symbols that mean corrosive and flammable, while I took the time to read the symbols on the acetone I loosened up on the boiling water clenched in the forceps and I dropped it on the table which cut and burnt my hand so I immediately put my hand under cold water and then told the teacher, but while I went over to tell the teacher I hadn’t realized that the Bunsen burner got knocked over and it ripped the connecter to the gas valve out and the acetone also fell over which was lit on fire. The whole table was on fire and that wasn’t the worst thing to happen, the gas valve wasn’t turned off so the gas slowly filling up the room ignited and everyone was burnt to a crisp.

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Reproduction Comparison Post

The Similarities and Differences between Mitosis and Meiosis

In meiosis there is a process called crossing over where part of each chromosome are taken and swapped to each other, in mitosis this process is not used. In mitosis by the end of the process there is two identical cells, but at the end of meiosis there is 4 genetically different cells.

There are quite a lot of similarities between mitosis and meiosis, in fact more there are more similarities than differences. Almost everything except for “crossing over” and that there are four genetically different cells by the end of the process there is almost no difference.

The Pros and Cons of Asexual and Sexual Reproduction

The cons of asexual reproduction is that every generation will be exactly the same, there wont be any evolution so the same conflicts will occur over and over again. Sexual reproduction changes each generation to make them better and better to overcome conflicts and keep reproducing.

The pros of asexual reproduction is that there only needs to be one organism, which means its very easy for the organism to reproduce, in sexual reproduction there needs to be two organisms and its a little harder for it to occur.

 

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Asexual Reproduction Superheroes

Overview

Spore formation is the form of asexual reproduction I’ve chosen for my superhero. Spore formation is where a single celled organism creates a new organism within itself when it becomes weak or in danger. The spores are created by the single celled organism but only one spore can be created per cell, the spores also have much resistance to certain weather conditions or environments.

Superpowers

Fungus Man is able to always get out of any situation by exploding its head and releasing spores, the spores can then rest until the coast is clear then, they can grow through stages of mitosis, they become gametophytes, then they become gametes, and then fuse into zygotes, then they go back to a fully grown organism which carries all the spores ready to reproduce once again. This is like cloning but better because the spores have invincibility during their resting stages.

Things I could’ve put on the picture

In the picture I would’ve liked to show the spores bursting out of the sporangia but Fungus Man doesn’t need to do that unless he’s in danger. I would’ve also liked to add the cycle of how a spore reproduces but I provided a description on that. The most I could do was show the neutral state of Fungus Man which is what he would want to be in all the time.

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DEFINE, DISCOVER, DREAM, DELIVER, and DEBRIEF

Define: I have been given the task of finding a creative solution to climate change and I have chosen to find a solution to a factor of climate change which is air pollution.

Discover: In 1948 there was a lethal haze that killed over 40 people and 14,000 people experienced respiratory or cardiovascular problems. After that, scientists started researching about how air pollution can effect health, then, Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments which evolved into bigger resolutions towards air pollution such as geothermal energy.

https://www.epa.gov/air-research/history-air-pollution

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960148108004291#:~:text=Geothermal%20energy%2C%20one%20of%20the,4%5D%2C%20%5B5%5D.

Dream: A couple solutions to air pollution proceed, Solar energy, Electric cars, Recycling, Wind energy and Geothermal energy. Geothermal energy being the most important out of all the examples.

Deliver: I think that the best solution to climate change is geothermal energy, it is proven to be the most effective and renewable out of most other options for renewable energy. Geothermal energy takes hot water heated by the earth’s core that is stored in the earth’s crust that can be seen coming out of geysers and is turned into vapour then goes through a turbine which powers a generator which creates electricity. Geothermal energy is both efficient and clean, there’s no harmful by product and the bi product that is accumulated can be reused and sold.

Debrief: I think that I did well at finding the information necessary, I also think I did well at providing a good presentation, but I think I could’ve been more creative which is something that I lack.