"Think, Then Think Again…"

Atom Model Project – Reflection

Name: Isabelle Lao                                           Date: January 28, 2010
My Atom: Helium

First, a little bit about my atom….
Number of Protons:   2

Number of Neutrons:   2

Number of Electrons:   2

Atomic Number:   2

Atomic Mass:   4

Atomic Symbol:   He

Date of Discovery:   1895

Discoverer:   Pierre Jansen &Norman Lockyer

Name Origin:   Greek

Uses:   Objects that float: balloons, blimps, etc

Appearance:   Colorless gas

* One thing I learned was
more about atoms.  I learned all about the parts of an atom and more about helium in general.
* The biggest challenge for me on this project was ….
putting holes into my protons and neutrons.  I never knew plastic could be so hard!!!  Good thing needles, scissors, and hammers were invented.

* · The easiest part was ….

my protons and neutrons.  It took less than five minutes.

* · I seeked help/advice from my parents by…

asking them to go to Jin Qiao with me to get protons and electrons in the toy shop.

A Quote your teacher…                                                                                                       Page 2

“This project is more about planning, thinking through things well, efficiency and organization – not about building or being an expert on the atom.”

What does this mean to you and how well did you execute this objective?

I think this means that this project was more about what you planned than what really happened.  I think I did pretty well in this project because I planned what I would do before I did it.  I came with all materials in the right day, executed my plan a little lower quality than I thought it would be, but still and got it done on time.

What new lessons will you consider in preparation for your next project? What will you continue to do well and what will you make an effort to change?

I think on the next project I will continue to do very well in planning and gathering materials, but will have to try and do a better job in executing my plan.

Today, when I came back from school I tried the famous Diet Coke and Mentos experiment.  I have to admit, it didn’t turn out as amazing as I expected it to be but it was still pretty cool! 

I think that it didn’t turn out as cool as it could have been because I lack the equipment and knowledge.  For one I don’t have the Mentos Geyser Tube that was created for that experiment.  Another thing that I forgot to do was to drop the Mentos all at the same time.  I dropped them in one by one and it only fizzed little by little.  I believe that if I had known that, it would have been a whole lot better.  So, lesson learned, drop all the Mentos in at the same time.

These are some pictures of me doing the experiment:

My Mistake

The Experiment

These are a couple sites that I found that might increase your knowledge in the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment.

Watch the original video from 2005

This is the video that first started the sensation.

Buy it!

This is the site where you can order the Diet Coke and Mentos tool.  It also explains to you how to do the experiment using the Mentos Geyser Tube.

Another Video

This is another video I got on google of random guys doing the experiment.

The Best Site to go

This site teaches you everything about the experiment.  From how to do it to all the most amazing videos ever.

The article I read is about how women are gaining weight by eating food that they think are low on calories but actually are very fattening.

This is a great article about what women should start and stop eating. On the side bar of this article are actually twenty links on what women should stop eating and start eating. I think that everyone (women and men) should read this article if they want to eat, live and stay healthy.

Link to the Article

Get your own Poll!

In class my teacher, Mr. Hossack, asked us (it was optional) to write a post on how many ways you can use a toothpick other than using it for your mouth. 

1.    You can use it to check if a cake is properly baked by sticking a toothpick in and out of the cake.  If it comes out clean, then you know it is done.

2.    You can use toothpicks in arts and crafts to build miniatures.

3.    You can use a toothpick to glue those hard to reach areas.

4.     You can use it to pick your nose.

5.     Create a hedgehog or porcupine figurine. 

6.      Used as an engineering/architectural projects.

7.      As a poking tool for areas you normally can’t reach.

8.      Use as legs to microwave soft foods faster.

9.      Use as an accesory for doll houses.

10.   Use them as identifying markers.

11.    Apply paint on tiny areas.

12.    Use as a temporary fix for loose hinge screws.

13.    Fix a leaky garden hose.

14.    Deter cutworms.

15.    Get rid of grease and grim in crevices and hard-to-reach areas.

16.    Mark the start of a roll of tape.

17.    Pierce link sausage with a toothpick to stabilize them while they cook.

18.     If you have the toothpick with the mint at the end you can suck on it and it becomes a lollipop.

19.     Poke the mouth of an old set of glitter paints and they won’t be jammed again.

20.     Use a toothpick for playing games like chinese numbers and other mind games. 

Most people may not know who Shigeru Miyamato is but they do use his inventions.  Shigeru Miyamoto, born November 16, 1952, is a Japanese video game designer. He created Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, F- Zero, Pikmin and Nintendogs.  He has also supervised many titles published by Nintendo on behalf of other developers, including Metrod Poid and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Worlds.  Miyamoto is a world-renowned game designer who has been called the “father of modern video games” and “the Walt Disney of electronic gaming”.

I think that this article is written for people who surf the internet and want to learn about the origin of popular video games.  It takes a creative mind like Mr. Miyamoto to understand what games are exciting for kids like me.  I’m sure he has put in a lot of hard work and time to bring challenging  and entertaining games to video gamers around the world.  He has also inspired other people to continue bringing new games that challenge the minds of today’s kids and adults, too.

For more information go on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Miyamoto

Have you ever wondered how the soda we drink today called Coke was invented and its history?  Well now you can find out how in this interesting post that is definitely worth- reading.

In May, 1886, Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. John Pemberton made the Coca Cola formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard. The name was a suggestion given by John Pemberton’s bookkeeper Frank Robinson.

Being a bookkeeper, Frank Robinson also had excellent penmanship. It was he who first scripted “Coca Cola” into the flowing letters which has become the famous logo of today.

The soft drink was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886.

About nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day. Sales for that first year added up to a total of about $50. The funny thing was that it cost John Pemberton over $70 in expenses, so the first year of sales were a loss.

In 1887, another Atlanta pharmacist and businessman, Asa Candler bought the formula for Coca Cola from inventor John Pemberton for $2,300. By the late 1890s, Coca Cola was one of America’s most popular fountain drinks, largely due to Candler’s aggressive marketing of the product. With Asa Candler, now at the helm, the Coca Cola Company increased syrup sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900.

And that’s how Coca Cola the yummy drink is where it is today.

At school, we are learning about space.  Part of this unit in science includes writing a poem about the night sky.  Mine is a short haiku one.  A haiku poem means the first line is five syllables long, the second line is seven syllables long and the last line is five syllables long.  There are also other kinds of poems besides haiku like limerick, sonnets, ballads, carpe diem and more but I chose haiku.  I hope you like it!!! If you see something that I could do better on or I did good on please comment.  Here’s my poem:

The Dark Night Sky 

Dark eyes wide open,

Waiting for the world to rise,

But never seeing…

-Isabelle Lao

Gravity is very important in our lives that if we didn’t have it, our life wouldn’t be the same at all.  In this post I’m going to tell you something about gravity.

Gravity is what holds us down.   Without gravity  I doubt I would even be able to type up  this post because I would float around everywhere even my computer.  Gravity involves all of us and almost anything sticking on the Earth’s surface. It involves us because it is the thing that keeps everything from flying into the air.  The only thing that will float are helium filled balloons because helium is lighter than air.  The person who we should all thank for this is Isaac Newton for the law of universal gravitation.  Some people don’t get what the difference is between gravity and gravitation so I’ll tell you.  Gravitation is a general term describing the phenomenon responsible for keeping the Earth and the other planets in their orbits around the Sun; for keeping the moon in its orbit around the Earth; for the formation of tides; for convection (by which hot fluids rise); for heating the interiors of forming stars and planets to very high temperatures; and for various other phenomena that we observe. “Gravity”, on the other hand, is described as the theoretical force responsible for the apparent attraction between a mass and the Earth.  

And that’s mainly everything about gravity.  (My source is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity)

“Jasmine and Mark were making iced tea…Mack stirred his mixture and it all dissolved.  Jasmine stirred hers, and it didn’t all dissolve”.

Q: Would Mack’s suggestion to add more water work? Explain your answer.

A: Mack’s suggestion to add more water would work because the water would give the iced tea powder more room to dissolve in.  But the problem with that would be if she put too much water that also wouldn’t be okay because then the iced tea would taste too watery.  So she could add more iced tea powder to the solution until she gets it perfect.

Q: What could Jasmine do to make the powder dissolve?

A: She could get a coffee filter and another cup and put the coffee filter over the cup.  Then you pour the solution through the coffee filter and she may or may not throw out the extra iced tea powder on the coffee filter.

The other day Mr. Williams came into our class to increase our knowledge about alkaline metals. He had a jar of alkaline metals and told us that it was very dangerous. He dissected a piece so tiny it was smaller than a piece of rice. He told one of my classmates to get a little bit of water on the lid he gave her. She came back spilling almost half the water on the lid but Mr.Williams said it was okay. The minute he dropped the alkaline metal into the water I wanted to remember the moment forever. Red lights swooshed before our eyes around the lid and you could hear loads and loads of popping sounds. Then suddenly mini fireworks went up into the sky, it was so cool!!! When it was done he told us now we could try a bigger piece so we used the same process but this time it was two times bigger. The moment he put it into the lid of water red lights started swirling around the lid but this time faster and bigger. When the mini fireworks went up I felt like it was Chinese New Year. When one of the mini fireworks fell down it blew a hole in the rug. I had a great time and learned a lot with that incredible experience.