Scott’s blog…

What did you like about this project?

I liked this science project much more than the previous ones. This because we were give a simple project briefcase but still had to cover quite a lot of content.

What did you not like about this project?

Overall, the project was good but i didn’t enjoy having to keep all our documents in the folder. This became very unorganized and sometimes the sheets would fall out.

Suggest 3 ideas that could improve/make this project more engaging.

I think that we should also have to come up with a strategy that will reduce greenhouse effects. This would make the project more interesting. Secondly, our final product should relate more to the information we have researched about.

Did you like the driving question? Explain why/why not.

I enjoyed this PBL project over many other projects because we had a fairly simple project breifcase. This meant that a lot of the work was marked during the process so we didn’t have to rush all our work on the last minute.

Secondly, we were provided with just enough work to complete each lesson (50minutes approx.) if we worked well. I thought this was very effective because we didn’t have to rush it too much so a lot of the information was absorbed. Some people had extra time to help others who didn’t understand and rethink about the driving question.

Lastly, the driving question had an open answer so we had some freedom to choose our answer. Although this seemed easy, we had to do lots of research to backup our final conclusion with evidence.

I think that this project was very well organized and had a good balance of homework, experiments and information that had to be covered.

In todays experiment I learnt that when two plates separate, a ridge or trench is formed. Magnetic strips are also created and illustrated as parralel lines on diagrams. The earth’s crust pulls away and a valley is made in the middle. This occurs on the oceon floor.

Today is our second lesson since our new project has started. We have started to look at colliding plates and how they react when they clooide against each other. When two tectonic plates collide, they either form a hill and both rise, or one plate will go underneath the other. This will depend on the nearby terrain, underwater ridge or mountains are formed.

Convection Currents

In todays lesson we tried to observe the convection currents in a beaker according to different temperatures. When the potassium crystals are placed in heated water they create currents and move up and odwn the beaker in a circular motion. When ice is placed on the beaker the potassium crystals stay still and don’t move whereas the hotter the temperature, the more they travel.

• How do you feel the media portrays social justice issues?

The media portrays social jstice issues by making a big headline. Thye normally only show one side of the story and use misleading titles to capture the audience’s attention

• Has it been difficult to find articles on social justice issues why/why not?

No. I find it easy to use the internet and search for information about articles a few years old.

• Do you think that the media operates from a moral framework? Give evidence by using your research.

The media operates in a moral framework by providing misleading evidence and information

Reflection Journal

1. Likes and dislikes of this project…..any suggestions on how to improve???

I think this project was fairly simple. This was good becauase i allowed us to learn the content rather than rushing to complete it.

2. What areas do you think you have improved in from project 1 to project 4?

I think i have improved in my typing skills and researching skills.

3. What further skills would you like to develop over the next few projects?

I would like to imrpove my leadership and proofreading skills so i won’t have too many spelling mistakes when i present my information. I would also help if i imrpoved my speaking and presentaion skills so that i can feel more comfortable when talking to a classroom and present my ideas.

• describe how optical fibre may be used in medical applications

Optical fibres can be used in endoscopes. These flexible tubes contain optical fibres and can be passed via the mouth in

• identify the traditional medical techniques that optical fibres might replace

• Evaluate the benefits of fibre optic technology to medicine

• Analyse why red sunsets can sometimes be more impressive when there is more dust or pollution in the air than usual.

Blue light is scattered more than other particles into the atmosphere which alters the direction of the light rays. When viewed against the dark background of space, the sky then appears blue. At sunset and sunrise the sunlight travels further and only the red and orange reaches us,

• Describe what happens inside water droplets to cause a rainbow and explain how you can tell whether a rainbow is a primary or secondary.

Small droplets of water act as a prism and refract the light that goes inside. Droplets higher in the sky refract red whereas lower skies refract blue. Green will bend lower down causing a rainbow effect. Primary rainbows start with red at the top and secondary rainbows start with red at the bottom.

• what causes long and short sightedness defect?

This is caused when the iris, lens or retina are damaged. Depending on the situation, you will either be short sighted or long sighted.

• the symptoms displayed?

Symptoms are shown and become obvious when close or far objects are blurry or hard to read. Normally at an optometrist, a sheet is shown and you will have to read the letters out loud. The letters become smaller after every row.

• propose what sort of lens may be used to correct each vision.

Concave mirrors are used to correct the short and long sightedness. The vision could be corrected depending on the thickness.

• describe how optical fibre may be used in medical applications

Optical fibres can be used in endoscopes. These flexible tubes contain optical fibres and can be passed via the mouth into the digestive system to provide doctors with images.

• identify the traditional medical techniques that optical fibres might replace

Optical fibres are becoming more popular because they replace other instruments by destroying tumors that would be impossible to get rid of inside the body.

• Evaluate the benefits of fibre optic technology to medicine
  

Optical fibres contain the ability to transmit data and communications because they are thinner, cheaper, and more durable. Nor are taey affected by electromagnetic radiation.