Moon Phases Lab

I followed these directions to do a lab about moon phases.
Reflect about the various ways we explored the phases of the moon to help us to understand how they occur. 
We explored the phases of the moon in two different ways: we used our own, physical model, and we used the simulator. I think that the physical model was better, because I made it myself and it was easier for me to understand. 
 When investigating the simulation, the moon clock, and/or the model, what did you notice about the phases of the moon? Why do we see different parts of the moon each night?
From a top down view, the moon is always illuminated on the same side. However, the moon moves around the earth, so it appears that sometimes one side is illuminated and sometimes the other is illuminated.
How well did making a model help you understand the phases of the moon? What are some disadvantages of using models?
I think that the model helped because I was involved in each step of making it, so I knew exactly how it worked. It was also simple to understand. However, one disadvantage of the simplicity is that it wasn't complex enough to cover all possible situations. 
Scientists are thinking all the time about how they can make models of objects that are too small or too large to see: Can you think of another way to make a model to represent the various phases of the moon?
It's hard to think of another model. Maybe a laser and tiny matte white marbles would work.
What is a lunar month?
A lunar month is the time it takes for the moon to make one complete circle around the moon. It takes 29.5 days.

What I Want to Learn this Unit

I'm not so sure exactly what I want to learn this unit. Here's a list that I brainstormed:

• I want to learn about black holes
• I want to learn about various NASA programs
• I want to learn about how far we could get using the fastest modern rockets
• I wonder if there would be any other way to get things into space besides using rockets.

Reasons for the Seasons Lab

Guiding Question: How does the tilt of Earth's axis affect the light received by Earth as it revolves around the sun.
Hypothesis: I think that the tilt of the Earth determines the amount of light received by earth.When it is tilted to the left, and the sun is on the right, the southern hemisphere is gets more light, which means that it is summer in the southern hemisphere.

1. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which areas on Earth get the most concentrated light? Which areas get the most  concentrated light when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere?
When it is winter in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere gets the most concentrated light. When it is summer in the northern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere gets the most concentrated light.
2. Compare your observations of how the light hits the area halfway between the equator and the North Pole during winter and during summer.
When it is winter in the area halfway between the north pole and the equator, it is dark there and little light falls on it. When it is summer there, lots of light falls on it.
3. If the squares projected on the ball from the acetate become larger, what can you infer about the amount of heat disturbed in each square?
If that happened, there would be more total heat in each square.
4.  According to your observations, which areas on Earth are consistently coolest? Which areas are consistently warmest? Why?
The north and south poles are the coolest areas. The equator is a warmer area.
5. What time of year will the toothpick's shadow be the longest? When will the shadow be shortest?
The shadow is longest spring and fall. The shadow is shortest during summer.
6. How are the amounts of heat and light received in a square related to the angle of the sun's rays?
The more directly the light/heat hits the square, the more intense the heat/light are. For example, if the light/heat hit Earth directly level, at 180 degrees, it will be warmer than if it hits the Earth at 45 degrees.
7. Use your observations of an Earth-sun model to write an explanation of what causes seasons.
The seasons exist because of the Earth's tilt. The tilt remains the same as the Earth moves around the Sun, so during some parts of the year, more light shines on the top of the Earth (northern hemisphere) and more light shines on the bottom of the Earth (southern hemisphere) during other parts of the year. 


Conclusion
My partner and I both had problems understanding the instructions for this lab, but we did eventually figure it out. We found out that seasons depended on the position of the earth's tilt in relation to the earth. The earth's tilt doesn't change as it moves around the sun, so when the earth is in certain positions, some areas of the earth get more sun than others, and it is summer there. This is essentially the same as my hypothesis, so I was correct.

Unit Reflection: Waves All Around Us

Our wave unit is done, and as usual, I need to write a unit reflection.
I'm supposed to create bubbl.us mind map, which I'm not good at. I did my best, and I think that this one isn't as much of a failure as some of my previous attempts have been.

Click on the image to make it larger.

Our unit question was "How does the use and study of waves affect societal well-being?". Just like any other unit question, the question is very broad and difficult to answer in a short sentence. (I'm sure whoever thought of this question did that intentionally!) My answer is:
The use and study of waves affect societal well being in a variety of ways. The study of seismic waves can help scientists detect earthquakes before they happen and make sure that people who live in the area where the earthquake will hit evacuate before the earthquake. This affects societal well-being because it can prevent the death of millions of people. A similar use of the study of seismic waves is to detect tsunamis. The study of sound waves can also help engineers design and plan roads and buildings so that noise pollution is not a problem. For example, the engineers would need to know how sound bounces off surfaces so that they know what kind of sound barrier to put by a highway, and where to put it. The way that this affects societal well-being is that it can help prevent noise pollution, which is a problem in many large cities. An additional use for the study of waves is study of how gamma rays affect people's health. Scientists study that to learn whether the irradiation of food is safe or not. To conclude, the study of waves is very beneficial to society because it can eliminate problems and even save lives.

(Within my answer, I embedded some links to my related blog posts if you want more information about each topic.)

I had a couple more questions to answer:
What did you learn during the unit?  (Looking at the picture you drew-how has your knowledge changed?)  
For those of you who don't know, at the beginning of the unit our teacher, Mrs. M, put on music and told us to draw whatever we thought of related to waves. I scanned in my picture so you can see it. It's not very good, but then again, I'm not much of an artist.

Again, click to make it larger.

During this unit I learned many things. I learned about different types of waves, and which types require mediums. I learned how the Doppler effect works, and how X-Rays can see bones. One big thing that I learned is that studying waves actually helps the world and saves lives, and waves aren't just "some sort of science thing". In my drawing, I was thinking of waves only as a scientific part of our lives. I wasn't thinking of waves as earthquakes and food irradiation, both of which are things that can change lives for the better or the worse.

What did you like? 
I thought that devising my own lab involving waves was fun, because it allowed more creativity than a lab where I am told what to do and how to do it.
What would you change or add for next year's grade 7 students? 

I think that it would have been fun to do a lab involving electromagnetic waves, but that might require special equipment to do. It could be something simple, like learning how WiFi works, and testing the range of the school's WiFi, and finding out what frequency it is on. (Hint: 2.4 gigahertz!)