After you’ve written your lyrics and created your song, you’ll need to record it (using a computer and microphone or a phone), edit the audio file in Audacity or Voice Recorder to take out long pauses, etc. Then convert the file to MP3 format (this can be done easily by importing into Audacity and then […]
The Life and Times of a Star!
Today we learned about the sequence of events in the life of a star, as well as the many different types of stars. The video we watched in class: https://study.com/academy/lesson/star-formation-main-sequence-dwarf-giant-stars.html#[0:50] The assignment was to choose a type of star and to tell the story of the star’s life in a 6 (or more) panel […]
Fluffy Slime By Kari Knutson
Fluffy Slime By Kari Knutson Slime is a fluid unlike any other. Slime is a fluid that can both flow like thick liquid or be like a wet solid. The reason slime has these attributes is because it is not your everyday liquid, it is a material that scientists like to call a non-Newtonian fluid. […]
Defining Life, Solar Ovens and Tetrahedral Kites
While 5th and 8th graders tested for the Science MSP, 6th and 7th graders collected specimens outside and pondered the nature of life. We explored what makes something living – and we found that the answers can be complicated. Merely growing, reproducing, moving, consuming energy and oxygen may not constitute a living thing (think of […]
The Moon, Tides and Eclipses
This week in 7/8 STEM we continued our study of the Moon. We looked at various origin hypotheses, experimented with crater formation simulation using sand, and then we examined the Moon’s effects on tides and the Moon’s interactions with eclipses. Here are the videos we utilized:
The Physics of Bowdrill by Seamus
Matches are awesome. However, since potassium chlorate (the chemical on the top of matches) isn’t exactly readily available in the wilderness, knowing how to create a fire with physics rather than chemistry can be a valuable skill. As you most likely know, a fire requires oxygen, fuel, and heat to burn. Fuel, or dry wood, […]
The Science Of TV screens by Thales
Have you ever wondered how the television screen works — why you’re able to have a flat object produce moving pictures? Well, the answer is actually pretty interesting. The way the first TVs would work was with a cathode ray tube. A cathode ray tube is a tube that produces fluorescent images on the screen, […]
Note Taking, Phases of the Moon, Planet Distance scaling and more…
In class this week, we discussed the research showing that students who take notes by hand tend to remember and “know” the material better than students who type. See this article outlining the evidence in Scientific American. The most effective note takers utilize certain methods such as reviewing and reflecting on notes, adding color, and […]
The Chemistry and Physics of Sugar Rockets by Ben
Stump remover, powdered sugar and a little patience, that couldn’t possibly make a rocket, right? Wrong. A sugar rocket or, as it is sometimes known, a powder fuel rocket motor is a rocket using a fuel made of potassium nitrate, (aka stump remover) and plain old table sugar. The combination of the fuel (powdered sugar) […]
Kryptos by Vincent
I bet almost everyone has played some sort of puzzle game in their lifetime. Some puzzles are hard, some are easy, some you want to throw out the window, and finally are the ones you want to burn in a bonfire. Well, this puzzle is about 100 times worse than the puzzles that make you […]