Giant Beaver's Bleeting

During the Earth’s history there were many ice- ages, and the last one lasted between 70,000 to 10,000 years ago. During that period many of the today’s animals had their huge versions, which looked more or less the same, but they often had a different anatomy.  One of such examples is a giant beaver, which lived in North America and got extinct 10,000 years ago. Unlike today’s beavers the giant beaver had an extra cavity in its head, spreading from the front to the back of their skull. After examining giant beaver’s skull, using CT scan (X-ray images taken from many different sides of an object to create a 3-D image) scientists came to the conclusion that this special cavity’s purpose was to produce sound in order to provide a way of communication between the beavers. One of the scientists blew a note in the cavity and described the sound as a bleating, although the exact sound cannot be produced because the soft tissues were missing. Scientist said that this type of skull cavity is unique to giant beavers.

Measuring Rabbit population

In class we did this lab which was about counting the rabbit population over a period of five years but not real five years.

Dreams Measured for the First Time

Dreams Measured for the First Time

 Have you ever wondered what happens in our brains while we are dreaming?  How the images and feelings that we experience when we dream shape in our heads remains a mystery. Well, scientist now can measure our dream content. In Germany, scientists from Max Planck Institute have now succeeded:  the brain activity during dreaming could be analyzed. They found the way how the brain activity can be measured when dreaming. They chose lucid dreamers, who can dream voluntarily and are aware of what they are dreaming, and are even able to change the content of their dreams. They were asked to "dream" that they were repeatedly clenching first their right fist and then their left one for ten seconds. This was a sign of what do they dream. Methods like magnetic resonance imaging allowed scientists to picture and recognize the precise location of brain activity during sleep.  This enabled the scientists to measure the beginning of the REM sleep - a phase in which we dream the most intensively - with the help of  electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures brains electromagnetic waves. The movement during a dream, controlled by the sensorimotor cortex of the brain, which is responsible for the performance of actions, matched the one observed during a real movement in a state of awareness. Even if the lucid dreamer just imagines the hand movement while awake, the sensorimotor cortex reacts in a similar way. The matching of the brain activity measured during dreaming and the aware action shows that dream content can be measured.  Obviously, our dreams are not just a 'sleep cinema' in which we merely watch an event passively, but involve activity in the areas of the brain that are related to the dream content.

Refection about the Movie about Dirt

In science class my class and I have watched a movie about soil. The movie has explained how soil contains today much more toxins than before because of pollution. Soil contains all of the kingdoms (Animal, plant, fungus, Protists, and Bacteria) which means that soil is very valuable and productive. Soil has been used other 3000 years for a variety of things like building houses or pottery. Soil is the main material for agriculture and planting. Slowly the soil is been even more polluted which the underground waters take to the closest body of water and pollute it again with the same toxins and poisons. Thus, many species of fish has died because of this pollution , but only jellyfish can survive living in these conditions. The movie is explaining he idea that soil is being lost because of not paying attention. On the other hand, they did not explain the other idea they have leaned too much on one idea and have neglected the idea of why are polluting the soil why. The movie did not explain this idea. In my opinion we are polluting soil because we are not even paying attention let alone undertake something for the soil which is the chemical of life.

Hot Chilly Pepers can Help to Prevent Allergies!

The study, which appears in the August 2011 scientists ,have found out that hot chili peppers, which are known for their spiciness and about "tearing out" people, have came up that on a contrary hot chili peppers can help with allergic symptoms like: a stuffed nose, tiered and red eyes, and choking.   Scientists say that hot chilly peppers clear mostly all of the parts when having allergies. How do hot chilly peppers clear out parts of our body that are endangered by allergies? Well this is a good question. Hot chilly peppers with their strong smell clear and mostly disinfect the nose and lungs. In order to disinfect the lungs by the hot chilly peppers is a bit disturbing. Hot chilly peppers have to have their strong smell and taste in order to disinfect the body parts. To disinfect the lungs and esophagus you would have to swallow a piece of the chilly peppers. On the other hand, for the nose you would have to smell the piece for a while.

What Scientific Activities have I did this Summer

During this Summer I was the whole time in Monte Negro. Up in the mountains where there is a lot of rocks i got an idea to start making a little wall of stone. However, to support that big stone wall or just a stone on top of a stone, there has to be either cement or concrete. This was a lot of fun for me, mixing water sand and cement which is almost as like cemestry. to get this hard and supporting substance you have to mix thse 3 substances which are water and cement  and sand. This typeof a substance is a conpund substance which mean that 2 or more elements give one more element which is the third one. How does this form? Easily, the molecules in the whole 3 substances integrate and form the thirs compound substance this is how it works. But if there is any element from these 3 missing then it wont make the concrete nor it will be supportful nor it wont be a conpund substance but it will be just a mixed substance. After wards I used the cement to stick the stones on top of each other, and it will last who knows up to when.

Goals For this Year in Science

I am back from my holydays and now I am 7th  grade. Now I have to make new goals for this year. My goals in science class this year are:

1. To be better in physics this year.
2. To be even more better in tests and earn even better grades.
3. And to study more and better for tests and to be more efficient more while doing tthis year.

Today we have done an interesting experiment. Measuring the movement of the balls made out of different materials powered by human breath. We used a Styrofoam ball, a big marble, a small marble, a ping pong ball, a golf ball and a tennis ball. For blowing, we used a straw and we blew with our normal breath, with a middle strength breath, and with a hard breath. We taped a ruler on a desk so we can measure the length of every ball's movement. Here are the results: with a normal breath the shortest length was traveled by tennis ball; with a normal breath the longest length was traveled by ping pong ball; the tennis ball traveled the shortest distance when powered by middle breath; the ping pong ball traveled the longest powered by the middle strength breath; the hard strength breath moved the tennis ball for the shortest length and ping pong ball for the longest length; normal breath didn't even move tennis and golf ball. What we have learned is that movement of an object is always related to its mass and the amount of energy - force needed to create its movement.

KWL Forces and Motions

In science class we have began a new unit which is called forces and motions. I don't know much about forces and motions, in second grade I have learned about gravity which is a force on planet Earth how it pulls everything to the earths surface. but  since then and on haven't learned much about gravity so I'm looking forward to learn more about forces and motion. I have also some specific questions about this unit like what is motion? How does motion effect people? How many forces are? How many motions there are? What is effected by forces and motions?

How Valuble is a Rock

During the past 2 and  a half months my class and I have studied the inner earth, concectoon currents, trocks and minerals, and earths crust. The last sections of this unit that we have studied was rocks and minerals. For this section we beggined with minerals, my class and I have made a crystal garden indevidually and "planted" crystals in our "garden". Afterwards we have reaserched more about minerals and rocks, we have reaserched how does a mineral form what are its charecteristics. I have learned that a mineral is a naturally occuring solid which its charecteristics are: it needs to have clevage, color, luster, chemical formuls, streak, and transperency; for minerals you could use also SNIFC which stands for
Solid
Naturally occuring
Inorganic
Fixed composition
Crystalinized structure.
During this section of our MYP program we have discussed some questions like who owns the sea, who owns the seas and the minerals in the sea
My group have disscussed and we have came to a conclusion that everybody owns the seas but nobody owns the sea, why. Because enybody can just come and claim the sea for his self. our group propozal was


The Oceans are for everyone and the main minerals from the Oceans are


salt. Any country that is neighbored by the sea should get a profit

from it. But also, every country has to have some sort of resource and


not everyone needs to have water even thought its essential. Trading

is the main point that will give these countries their water and they

can benefit from, other natural resources and trade those. In our

opinion, there should be mining happening because it is one of the

jobs that keeps humans alive and like there is the: if you kill one

tree you seed 2 more, and if u mine a place, you have to plant other

trees and once you finish mining you have to bri9ng the place to the

original look. Bring the animals in and make sure everything is the

same as before.
 
 
Thus we need to share the oceans and seas and the goods in it.
Here are some questions that we got for the end of this unit exploration
What have you learned that will help you give your thoughts to this question?

Why do you think the Area of Interaction of the unit was: Environments. Does it fit? Explain.
It fits because we have learned about properties of earth like minerals and gems mining and plate tectonics and convection currents all these things and topics fit this area of interaction

How do you feel you did during this unit and the activities you took part in?
During this unit i was very interested in to this unit and i was very active


Did you learn any new skills or knowledge that you did not know before?
During this unit i learned a great deal and i learned how to study and how to disscuss in groups calmly
What did you find interesting?
much information and ineresting information


What was your favorite and/or least favorite part?
testing and writting blogposts
What would you add or change about this unit for next year's grade 6
students
i would decrease the number vof blogposts for writing and make more disussions

Ocean minerals disscution

On Friday my class got a new assignment to discuss our blog post about "Who Ones the Ocean Minerals". There were 4 groups; the members of my group were Alex, Maryam, Alfie, and me. In my opinion the best arguments were Alfie’s and mine. Basically, we said that the oceans belong to everyone, but they don’t belong to anyone, meaning that everybody should share the sea on the other hand it won’t be fair that anyone claimed the sea by themselves; that coastal countries find a way to share ocean minerals with land locked countries through trade or some kind of exchange so anyone have access to ocean minerals; that in case of poor coastal country neighboring with a rich land locked country they should kind of compromise and offer each other hand in form of technology from one side and access to the ocean from the other side; unfortunately we didn’t even mention a case of poor land locked country which kind of doesn’t have a solution. We also talked about how important ocean minerals are, for example salt as the most important ocean mineral and is essential for human survival. We also mentioned other minerals especially crude oil which lead us to the topic of pollution as every exploitation of the ocean bed inevitably leads to pollution, therefore who ever exploit the ocean must take responsibility to protect the eco system that has been disturbed by exploitation.

Minerals in Serbia

Minerals in Serbia
Mining in Serbia dated for centuries; it has been started under the rule of Nemanjic kings in 13th century when they invited miners from other countries to establish mines in Serbia.
There are lots of different minerals in Serbia such as Iron, Chrome, Manganese, Molybdenum, Cobalt, Cadmium, Copper, Antimony, Lead, Zinc, coal, crude oil, limestone, quarts and even some Gold and Silver..
However, there is no abundance of any of these minerals although all of them are mined and exploited. The biggest mines in Serbia are: Rudnik, Kopaonik, Bor, Majdanpek, Trepča, Kolubara, and Kostolac. Unfortunately, being a country in transition between socialism and capitalism, Serbia has either solved most of its mines or they operate with losses.

Minerals in Serbia

In Serbia there is a big variety of minerals like: copper, zinc, aluminum, iron, antimony, etc.
Unfortunately Serbia is a developing country; therefore neighbor rich counties have bought some Serbian mines or mineral factories in Serbia. However, Serbia is slowly but surely developing. The minerals in Serbia are the most being mined from the ground and then separated from other ores and alloys which were stuck together in the dirt. These minerals are needed in Serbia a great deal, like aluminum is needed to make, aluminum foil, telephones, and etc. On the other hand these minerals are not really expensive in Serbia only it depends on how much mineral weight are you taking but if you’re just taking on a kilogram it won’t be very expensive for example, a kilo of aluminum in Serbia costs around 1000-2000 dinars. Most of the Serbian mines are located in Sumadija, the south and central part of Serbia. On the other hand in Vojvodina the northern part of Serbia there is also mines, but not as much as in Sumadija. Also Serbia is a great producer of limestone which the biggest mine of limestone in Serbia is located in Zlatibor. From my point of view minerals in Serbia will make a large difference in economical standards a great deal.

Oceans' Riches

Answeres

A1. On one hand oceans and everything in them should equally belong to a mankind. However, it is not a case coastal countries obviously have more rights to exploit the oceans then the land locked ones. Also rich countries have technology to exploit oceans unlike the poor ones. Of course certain laws have been established which regulate ocean exploitations. For example coastal countries have a right to consider 22.2 kilometers from the coast as their territorial waters. Also, coastal counties have the right to exploit the oceans 322 km of the shore (EEZ or exclusive  economic zones).

 A2
The richness of the ocean floors, it's mineral deposits including oil and natural gas, is a permanent issue in last few decades. Although UN tried to convince the men kind that oceans belong to everyone it seems that rich coastal countries will get the most from the oceans. I really don't know what could be said that wold reassure developing countries and made them think hey would get the rights and opportunities to exploit the oceans

A3 Looking at the world map it is clear that many many many countries have their shores on Atlantic and Pacific ocean because the continents of North and South America, part of Europe, West coast of Africa, west coast of Asia, and Australia are bordered by either Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. Therefore it's logical that all of those countries should have equal rights to exploit the oceans. On the over had as the oceans do not really belong to anyone or any country, the land locked countries have the right to exploit the oceans' riches. Another problem is sharing. Rich countries which can afford to exploit the oceans are not keen to share the riches with anyone  on a contrary they are trying to grab more then it even belongs to them and they are even ready to start the wars over the oceans' riches. Therefore developing countries would probably stay deprived of those riches, and the rich would become rich and the poor would become poorer yet.

Mineral Lab Report

Lab Report
This lab was to see does the weight of a mineral affect the density of it
My class and I had to pair up or be in groups, I was in the group with Miona and Sofia. Procedure was First to get all of the materials which were a balance scale, 3 different types of rocks, a graduate cylinder filled with water up to 150 milliliters. That is the volume of the mineral. After that we divided the mass by the volume to get the density. And then we do the same thing for every other big and small mineral.

Materials:
Balance scale
Graduate cylinder (filled with water)
3 different types of minerals
Procedure:
Measure each mineral and record its weight
Dip the mineral in the graduate cylinder which is filled with water up to 150 mm
Record for how much did the mineral rose up the water in the graduate cylinder
Observe does the weight affect the density of a mineral
Divide the centimeters of the rose water
Procedure:
First we need to measure the weight of the mineral on a balance scale to figure out the mass of the mineral. afterward we need to fill a graduated cylinder with water up to 150ml. subsequently we put the mineral in side and see up to where the water rises, that is the volume of the mineral. following that we divided the mass by the volume to get the density. And then we do the same thing for every other big and small mineral.



Hypothesis:
Q: Does the weight of a mineral its density
A: Yes, if the mineral is heavy the more is the density with it.
Controlled, Manipulated, Responding Variable
While testing and observing the minerals we have learned that there are controlled, manipulated, and responding variables’, the controlled variable is the one that could be controlled in other words means that the substance did not change and was controlled, manipulated variable is the variable which could be changed in other words the substance can or could be changed, and the responding variable is when it is changed the change can make another substance so it can respond. In this case we observed 3 minerals which were pyrite, sulfur, and azurite.
• Controlled (the same): water
• Manipulated (change): samples (Sulfur, Pyrite and Azurite)
• Responding: Density

Procedure:

First we had to weight the mineral and see what was its weight, afterwards we have put the mineral in the graduate cylinder which was filled with water up to 150 milliliters, when we would drop the mineral in the graduate cylinder we would see for how much did the water raise up.

The data table
Mineral Size Mass Volume Density
Sulfur big 28 180 1.55
Sulfur small 14.3 160 0.09
pyrite Big 41.5 165 0.25
pyrite Small 29.7 160 0.18
Azurite Big 60.6 170 0.36
Azurite Small 0.71 150 0.0047



Graph

Data Analysis
As I can see from my graph, that the weight does effect the density of a rock. In my graph it indicates that the lighter the mineral the less it roses up water, I also notice that sulfur lifted the water surface, and with the purpose of pyrite and azurite are pretty much the same. In weight the heaviest of most was azurite which was 41.5, the second was sulfur which was 31.3, and the lightest was pyrite which was 16.6. From this lab I have learned that just how much mass does the mineral have it means that its density will be as its mass.Sulfurs density was 2.07 g/cm3 density was (Electron Density)=4.84 gm/cc note. and Azurite density was Average = 3.83

Further inquiry
While doing this lab we had made some errors, like: we had a hard time getting all of our materials, and getting along in the group, and measuring the minerals correctly. If I was to do this lab again I would improve in these three areas along with my group. We have afterwards excelled in cooperation in our group, which we collected information together and did our jobs in the group.
Conclusion:
From this lab I can conclude that if a mineral has a large weight (much mass) its density will be also high. From this lab I have learned a lot of things but this one was the main one. I also learned how to measure the density of a mineral, which is you need to have a graduate cylinder filled up with water up to 150 ml and drop the mineral inside of the graduate cylinder and see for how much did the water surface raise. up the more it rose up that’s the more it has mass inside it. So I think I have learned from this lab a great deal.
Luka Ilic 6b
3/18/2011

Reflection on Rocks and Minerals

In the new unit on rocks and minerals I have learned a lot of interesting things which I didn't know before. For example I did not that all the rocks on this planet have been formed in three ways and could be divided in to just three groups: sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks, and metamorphic rocks.I also learned that the rocks are formed through rock cycle which consists of three phases, which are: melting,crystallization, sedimentation. Unlike rocks all minerals have a crystal structure and definite chemical composition. This was also a new information for me. The most fascinating information I have learned is that all crystals grow which we actually have learned before when we did our growing crystals project but then I didn't understand that the same process occurs in nature and in the whole universe. We have also learned that rocks can not be minerals But they are made of minerals.The most precious minerals is an diamond which is one of the rarest and the hardest substances on earth. There are many different minerals and stones on this planet but some of the most interesting are: marble,granite, and limestone and amethyst, quartz, and diamond. Marble is a beautiful, relatively soft whitish yellowish rock which is used for sculpting, building, and house furnishing. The most famous sculptures have been done in marble. Granite, on the other hand, is a very hard rock and it is used for building, and making any hard surfaces. Limestone is the most common rock on the surface on the earth although it is relatively soft it can be also used for building. It porous and may contain a lot of water. Amethyst is a purple mineral which belongs to a group of semi-precious gems. Quartz is the most common mineral on our planet, and it is has been used in many different branches of industry. Diamond, as I have said before,a diamond is a mineral which is one of the hardest, the rarest, and the most precious substances on Earth.

Reflection on Volcano Project

Reflection
I think that I had done a great job, but I always need to improve. In this case I need to improve on my power-point presentation and in writing the presentation. My oral presentation was excellent from my point of view, I have spoke clearly, I have not stood in one spot I have walked (made a few steps) and I have made eye contact with the audience. My presentation missed some images I had only one image of Mount Saint Helen volcano ( which was my volcano topic). So if I had a chance to do this project again I would add more images or visuals and I would change my sentence structure on the power-point and I missed a bibliography, so these are the things I would add to my power-point presentation. In the other case of which grade should I get, I would give myself a 5/6, Because all of these reasons I have said, and why should not I get a 6/6 is because I have not added the bibliography and not many images. I have learned that there are many types of volcanoes stratovolcano, cinder cone, and shield volcano. I have learned much about volcanoes, like that there is a ring of fire and about how does a volcano work. Volcanoes can affect people around it in a positive way and negative way. The negative way is that eruptions can affect people, on the other hand it affects by giving fertile soil. Volcanoes affect the world same as it affects the people near it but maybe in a less strong and severe way.

Planting Crystals Day 3

Today was the last time we will make a blog post about my crystal garden.
In my crystal garden many things have happened since when i have planted them, like that my crystals have grown in a big form. I have obsereved the crystals from planting to now, which is two weeks. The crystals best grown in an cup which was filled with water, therefore the crystals grew perfeclty in it, but there were some places where crystals grew almost no crystals. My worst place in my garden was on soli, I have planted crystals on bare soil, but non grew, so i have put sand on one part of my garden where then i have planted crystals on the sand where the crystals grew good. I have used all of the solutions including: Salt solution, sugar solution, Borax, and MAP. The best crystals grew of salt solution, which grew in a cup filled with water. On the other hand the most difficult crystals have grown on bare soil which there solution was borax they didnt even grow on the soil, but when I have put sand on the soil and poured again the solution it grew quite well.
Conclusion: So as I can see, This project went successful but if I had again a chance to do this project I would choose carefuly places where to plant crystals.

Day Three in the Crystal garden

On day three there were no significant changes in my crystal garden; everything stayed the same since 10 days ago. Yet,there were some little changes like: the salt crystals grew a little bit more and the borax crystals grew a little bit more as well. All in all, crystal growing was a success but not to the extant I was hoping for. Crystals didn't grow well because the growing surface was not good enough. I planted crystals on a different surfaces such as: stone, soil, and plants. The crystals which were planted on plants grew the best; the least crystals grew on soil. To conclude, this project went quite well, but there are always some things to improve or work on more. I needed to create my garden in a better way, by placing materials which would trigger crystals growth in a more efficient way. One of my peers, whose name is Stefan, had used trees made out of sponge, which had soaked most of the formula that he had sprinkled in his garden, therefore his crystals became the best in the class.

Mondeling Mantle Convection Currents

In science class we had to do a lab which is called " Modeling Mantle Convection Currents". This lab was about to model the earths mantle in water and how volcanoes form and erupt. There was a lot of process to do while the lab. First we collected materials which were: Play dough, hot water, cold water, aluminum foil, rubber band, food coloring, a big bottle ( gallon bottle), and a small glass beaker. Now let me tell you the process, First we filled the Gallon with cold water, then we filled the beaker with hot water and colored the water with food coloring and closed the beaker with aluminum foil and after wards we placed the beaker in the cold water and poked 1-2 holes in the foil and green hot water started to float out from the beaker and we have also put some paper circles in the cold water which were pushed by the warm water which was coming out of the beaker. This lab was supposed to show us how underwater volcanoes work

Growing Crystals

In my garden I have two medium size plants.I sprinkled one of them with the solution prepared by my science teacher. There were three solutions: the first one was made of sugar and water, The second one was made of salt and water, and the third one was made of borax and water. I used the mix of all three of them. On the first day,in my garden very few crystals have appeared. Crystals appeared on leaves of the plant that sprinkled by the solution. The crystals were small but very nice, and surprisingly grew on a real leaf. it took 24 hours for the crystals to form, and it is predicted that crystals will continue to grow. Today I sprinkled the second plant and i will check on it tomorrow. Yesrday I have also sprinkled the soil and the plastic flowers with the same solution but i haven't noticed any changes yet. It was also interesting experimenting with the colors of our crystals by adding the food coloring.

Questions and Asweres for Dinamic Earth

Diamonds



Q. How do gems grow?

A. Diamonds grow deep within the earth at high temperatures and pressures.



Q. Where are diamonds found?

A. diamonds are found in parts of Asia in parts of Africa Australia and in North America. They are not found in Europe.



Q. How do diamonds come to the surface of the earth?

A. Diamonds are carried to the earth’s surface by a volcanic eruption in a form of a rock called cimlurit.



Rocks and Mining

Q. Where do rocks come from?

A. Rocks come from the inner earth which is from the magma. When a volcano erupts the lava that dries becomes a rock and that’s where we get rocks.

Q. What is a mine and how does it work?

A. A mine is a underground tunnels where people dig out rock, copper, diamonds, etc

Q. What do we get from mining?

A. From mining we get many helpful things like, stone, copper, diamonds, carbon, etc

Q. Why do we need mining?

A. Mining we need so we could get these elements. Some of these elements are vital for humans and also for nature. Mining gives a lot of elements for building like stone, metal titanium and coal, etc.

Q. Why are there many types of rocks and colors?

A. Because it depends on there years it depends of where are they found



Plate Tectonics

17. What are the layers of the inner earth?

1. there are five layers on Earth : the crust that’s the layer on which we live on, then comes the upper mantle which is very warm and then goes lower mantle then outer core and inner core which is the nucleus of the earth.

Q. What kind of meteorites can tell us about space?

A. There are many meteorites in the universe which can tell us what is happening in the space.

What did I Learn this Week and What Would I Like to Know

This week was a very busy week, so my class and I have studied this week about caves and the earths crust. We have watched 2 movies from the same series of Bill Nye the Science Guide. I have learned a great deal of facts and science theories, about the earths crust and about caves. I have learned that there are 4 layers on earth the first is the crust which is the layer where there is life and the layer that is the thinness in width. After the crust comes the layer called the Mantle which is a gooey warm layer where magma is formed. Next there is the layer called the liquid outer core is much more warmer then the mantle. The liquid outer core is the 3 layer. And the 4 is called solid inner core which the the warmest which is the nucleus of the earth.
About caves I have learned a big variety of facts which were very interesting to me. I have learned that caves have very little of sun shine every year therefore many bats, owls, mice, and other animals. There are other types of cave animals:there are Troglodytes which are the cave lovers like bats bears and fish. There are also troglophies are cave dwellers which live deep deep in the dark of the cave which don't have any pigment and even they don't need it like crabs, fish, lobsters, and worms.
I would like how are rocks formed and i would like to know what calcium is in the dripping water of Stalactites and stalagmites, and would like to know how is the solid inner core formed.