My Roller Coaster Website

The Leaning Tower of Terror

Roller Coasters

In class, we are building roller coasters. Some of this has to do with kinetic and potential energy. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. Potential energy is the energy of position. Roller coasters also deal with Newton's laws of motion. His first law states that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Newton's second law explains how force, mass, and acceleration are related. The third law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Some new facts I learned from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion were that Newton gave credit to Galileo for his first law. I also learned that another name for his third law is law of reciprocal actions, and that inertia was described in the third century BC by the Chinese philosopher Mo Tzu.

I think that building roller coasters is fun and educational at the same time. It is also challenging because it's tricky when the marble doesn't make it through. I think that energy and Newton's laws apply a lot to what we're doing.

Minor Earthquake in Morris County

Scientists reported an earthquake in Morris County, NJ on Monday night. Fortunately it was minor; just a 3.0 magnitude one. Lauren Roman, a victim of the earthquake, said, "It just started like vibrating, the whole house was vibrating." Seismologists say that tremors like this one occur about once every five years. One seismologist, Leonardo Seeber, said that, "There might be aftershocks in the next several days." Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

I was kind of shocked to hear about this earthquake, especially since we don't get many around here. We were pretty lucky to not experience it. I was surprised to learn that the largest quake ever in our area was a 5.0 in 1884. I'm just glad that nobody got hurt. To learn more go to http://www.wpix.com/landing/?blockID=203648&feedID=1404

Solar Eclipse in the Indian Ocean

This coming Monday, an annular solar eclipse will occur. But you can only see it if you travel to the Indian Ocean. An annular eclipse happens when the Moon does not completely cover the Sun's surface, resulting in a ring-like crown of solar light. There will only be one of these amazing events this year. The next annular eclipse won't be until January 15, 2010.

Wow! This sounds really interesting to watch, but unfortunately I'm not traveling to the Indian Ocean any time soon. I hope one will eventually occur near New Jersey. For more information, go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090123/sc_afp/spaceastronomyeclipseasiaafrica;_ylt=Ar0SXzZxmPnf5N3Ehv6pvx2HgsgF

Our First Black President!

Article #1) This article from http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.inauguration/index.html was about the inauguration of our first black president, Barack Obama. It talked about the huge crowds that gathered by the National Mall, and Obama's touching speech. Then it went on to say how he said good-bye to Bush and about the lunch-in. Later, he rode in a car down Pennsylvania Avenue in a parade to the White House. That night Obama attended ten balls with his family.

I think it's great to have the first black president. I bet lots of blacks around the country are celebrating. I absolutely loved Obama's speech. It sounded like he knew just what to do. A quote from his speech that was in the article is "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious, and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met." I love this quote because it gives a positive vibe. I am now a big fan of Obama, and I believe he is the solution to America's problems.

Article #2) This article from http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/inauguration.balls/index.html?iref=newssearch was about the ten different balls that Obama and his family attended. Each one had a different name. A few were the Neighborhood Ball, Home State Ball, Youth Inaugural Ball and Commander-in-Chief Ball. The article also said who was at each ball and who sponsored it.

I would love to attend a ball with Obama! But going to ten sounds a little tiring and boring. A question I have is who sang at the balls besides the Neighborhood Ball? A quote that Obama said in the article is "First of all, how good-looking is my wife?" Speaking of Michelle, I loved her dress! I hope Obama had fun and is ready to be president!

More About Waves

In science class, we are learning about waves. The basic properties of waves are amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and speed. Amplitude is the maximum distance that the particles of the medium carrying the wave move away from their rest positions. Wavelength is the distance between two corresponding parts of a wave. Frequency is the number of complete waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time. It is measured in units called hertz. Speed is how far the wave travels in a given length of time. The high part of a wave is called the crest, and the low part is called the trough. A new fact that I learned from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waves, is that all waves experience reflection, refraction, diffraction, interference, dispersion, and rectilinear propagation. I also learned that a standing or stationary wave is a wave that remains in a constant position.

I think that learning about all kinds of waves is fun because there are so many kinds of waves. There are transverse, electromagnetic, seismic, and gravitational waves. I hope to learn even more over the next few days.

More About Symbiosis

Symbiosis is a relationship between two organisms where one organism lives on, near, or inside the other, and where one of them benefits. There are three types of symbiotec relationships- mutualism (both organisms benefit), commensalism (one benefits and the other is not harmed), and parasitism (one benefits and the other is harmed). An example of mutualism is a clownfish and a sea anemone. An example of commensalism is lichen on a tree. An example of parasitism is fleas on a dog. Some new facts I learned from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiosis, were that the term "symbiosis" was first used by German mycologist Heinrich Anton de Bary in 1879. He defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms." I also learned that the evolution of all eukaryotes (plants, animals, fungi, and protists) is believed to have resulted from a symbiosis between various sorts of bacteria.

I think that symbiotec relationships are very important in the field of ecology. It's also interesting to learn what type of relationship various animals have with each other.