Introduction to Chemistry

The Nucleus

More educational videos on atoms for kids at NeoK12  

9-year old Caine Monroy builds cardboard arcade

The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin

 

As a "man of science," Franklin is best known for his experiments with electricity, but his lifelong curiosity also led him to explore an amazing range of scientific topics. From the common cold to ocean currents, from medicine to music, and from agriculture to the aurora borealis, he believed that human logic could unlock the mysteries of the natural world. More interested in practical applications than in theory, Franklin put his ideas to work through such useful inventions as a smokeless fireplace, bifocal glasses, and the lightning rod.
 If anyone knew how to enjoy life, it was Ben Franklin. He was fascinated with everything, and he was driven to share that fascination with others. One of the reasons we know so much about Franklin today is because he wrote about what he thought and how he lived. And he wrote volumes! He penned letters, journals, essays, books, newspaper articles, ballads, almanacs, and a celebrated autobiography.Ben Franklin believed that people volunteering together in a spirit of cooperation could accomplish great things. 
Driven by a strong sense of civic duty, he involved himself in his community and his nation. Always mindful of the “greater good,” Franklin helped establish or improve institutions such as circulating libraries, public hospitals, mutual insurance companies, volunteer fire departments, agricultural colleges, and intellectual societies.
The civic virtue that Benjamin Franklin brought to his entrepreneurship and invention has overshadowed the remarkable wisdom of this investment sage. Perhaps because it is so simple that it seems unremarkable, this wisdom goes virtually unheralded among his other grand accomplishments.

A summary of our water filter

The fifth grade classes learned about city water treatment and some of the challenges that are faced by a municipality. We discussed various sources of water pollution and techniques that water treatment facilities use to aerate the water supply. Aeration is important to introduce because it is a naturally occurring process which releases carbon dioxide from a polluted body of water. Our classes formed teams of engineers to create the best filtration system for their water samples. All teams were given a jar sample of polluted water, a strainer, a mesh screen, a coffee filter, a sample of sand, a sample of gravel. Teams poured the water throuh their various filters and monitored the change in color of the sample.

Giza, The Pyramids, The Eight Feats of Engineering

How to write a scientific Report

 

         

Why do we write research reports?

You did an experiment or study for your science class, and now you have to write it up for your teacher to review. You feel that you understood the background sufficiently, designed and completed the study effectively, obtained useful data, and can use those data to draw conclusions about a scientific process or principle. But how exactly do you write all that? What is your teacher expecting to see?

To take some of the guesswork out of answering these questions, try to think beyond the classroom setting. In fact, you and your teacher are both part of a scientific community, and the people who participate in this community tend to share the same values. As long as you understand and respect these values, your writing will likely meet the expectations of your audience—including your teacher.

So why are you writing this research report? The practical answer is “Because the teacher assigned it,” but that’s classroom thinking. Generally speaking, people investigating some scientific hypothesis have a responsibility to the rest of the scientific world to report their findings, particularly if these findings add to or contradict previous ideas. As you can probably imagine, people reading such reports have two primary goals:

• They want to gather the information presented.
• They want to know that the findings are legitimate.

Your job as a writer, then, is to fulfill these two goals.

How do I do that?

Good question. You’re probably familiar with the basic format scientists have designed for research reports:

• Introduction
• Methods and Materials
• Results
• Discussion

This format, sometimes called “IMRAD,” may take slightly different shapes depending on the discipline or audience; some ask you to include an abstract or separate section for the hypothesis, or call the Discussion section “Conclusions,” or change the order of the sections (some professional and academic journals require the Methods section to appear last). Overall, however, the IMRAD format was devised to represent a textual version of the scientific method.

The scientific method, you’ll probably recall, involves developing a hypothesis, testing it, and deciding whether your findings support the hypothesis. In essence, the format for a research report in the sciences mirrors the scientific method but fleshes out the process a little. Below, you’ll find a table that shows how each written section fits into the scientific method and what additional information it offers the reader.http://pulpbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/lab-report-title-page.jpg

Zone 6 Planting Calendar