Plan of Action

Now with your research out the way, it time to plan out your experiment, yea!!!

How to do this???? You have your problem statement, it time for you to make an educated guess or hypothesis. This is based off of your research and prior knowledge. Here are some examples of problem statements and the hypotheses(plural form) to go with them.

• What is the best way to grow plants in my house?
o Hypothesis: The best way to grow plants in my house would be near my bedroom window with plenty of water and plant food.

• How can I have a more “awake” morning?
o Hypothesis: I can have a more “awake” morning by eating a healthy breakfast before I come to school.

• How can I effectively get rid of odors in my house?
o Hypothesis: I can effectively get rid of odors in my house by spraying Lysol near the areas with the most odor.

Now you/parnter enter your information from your Hypothesis and POA worksheet.

So what do We need to know?

Now, you have your problem statement , it’s time to get background information on your problem statement. Here are some examples of areas of research with example problem statements.

• What is the best way to grow plants in my house?
o Area to research: Plants/how they grow what do they need to grow.

• How can I have a more “awake” morning?
o Area to research: Sleep in humans, the reasons why we sleep

• How can I effectively get rid of odors in my house?
o Area to research: Odors and their causes

Write what areas of research will you/partner will be exploring?

So what's the problem again?

Using your Problem Statement worksheet, write in your problem and then your problem statement.

Also using your homework (or in class), write three reasons why you are working independently or with the partner you chose.

Yeahhhh!!!!! Science Fair!!!!!

Science Fair (yeaaa!!)

Review Science Fair topic sheet and blog to this question...

“What do all of these Science Fair topics have in common? What is the main goal of all these topics?”

Answer by using one of the Science Fair topic as an example to support your inference.

Quote to remember by...

This week's blog is very simple. Look at last week's blog "Words are powerful" and pick a qoute that best represents peace and briefly explain why you choose this quote in complete sentences. The quotes will be used for the flowering pots for our project "Plants for Peace." You may add a different quote if you can find a better one.

Words are powerful...

What do we remember the most about famous people after they have passed away? Their words and their actions. We remember Malcolm X for his words about black equality and the protests/marches he led to support these words. Dr. King was remembered for his sermons on non-violence and led marches around the country in the same way. We can also remember loved ones that have passed away and we still remember their words of wisdom, too.

This week's blog is very simple, write a inspirational quote about peace. You may use the Internet to search, use one of your own or from a loved one. Be sure to write down the name of whom the quote is coming from, so they can be properly recognized for their words.

These quotes will be used in our Science Fair project, Plants for Peace.

It's what you do that counts...

We all know someone who has passed away suddenly due to the violence in our neighborhood. Our Science Fair Project is geared toward those who have passed away, and to also raise awareness of a need to stop the violence around us (See blog entry "This is for the neighborhood"). Some were innocents, and other were part of the problem. But what about the ones that died and was part of the violence, should they be honored, too?

So, what do you think? Should we gear our project towards the innocents, the ones not involved in the violence or to everyone, regardless of the background of the indivdual that was killed? Is there another way of addressing this problem?

This is for the neighborhood...

Read this objective for our major Science fair project:

Objective: SWBAT create a memorial site for all of this year’s victims of violence through acquiring a greenspace from the city, schedule days for clean up, research appropriate plant life for the greenspace, prepare soil for research plants, and planning a celebration for the opening of this memorial site.

SO...what do U think? Is this a good idea? Is there another way of presenting this project? Where should we start first?

This is a all-out bulliten!!!!

The purpose of Science is to aid and improve the lives of mankind. SO, this year's Science Fair will have a theme, a problem that is immediate threat to our community. Lack of new parks and greenspaces (areas with trees and plants), illegal dumping in abandon lots, garbage littering our streets, violence, abandon pets, lack of street cleaning, housing, access to the Internet, all of these and more are issues that affect us in one way or the other.

SO, what do you think? What are some problems our community is facing that our Science Fair can help develop a solution? Identify the problem and how we can as a Science class can solve it. IT'S OUR COMMUNITY AND WE HAVE THE SOLUTIONS!!!!

It's in the water...

A large amount of pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs) including antibiotics, mood stabilizers, and sex hormones have been found in 41 million American drinking water supplies. Where you may ask, from YOU!!!! After you take a pill for a headache, muscle pain, depression, ADD, etc, the "leftover" meds are flushed out of your body (via a #1 or #2). Some of that water is treated to be consumed by us as "tap water." In the current small doses present in the water supplies there are no immediate threats to humans, but during a long time period that might be a different story. Already there has been an impact to wildlife, like instances where male fish becoming "feminized" carrying yolk proteins, a process only seen in female fish. These effects, over time and with consistent exposure, can transfer to humans, too.

So...what do you think? Is this a big enough problem, where the residue (leftovers) of prescription drugs are present in our drinking water supply, for the general public to be aware of? Or would it be simple "overreacting" and would cause alot of unnecessary worrying for the people?

In the not too distance future...

For years, experts have been saying that the world will soon run out of crude oil, the main ingredient drives most of today's machinery.

"With the rapid decline of global oil supplies, the United States is heading for an economic crash unlike anything since the 1930s. And the collapse of the dollar will affect every nation on earth."

With this happening, the threat of a '"resource war" is possible, to the scale of a "World War III". Some people say that the Iraq war now is a "resource war" and our only interest is the oil the nation possess. But there are alternatives like bio-fuel cars that run on methane, or hydrogen-cell cars that produce instead of clouds of carbon monoxide, but containers of water. These cars also have way better gas mileage than gas-burning cars, too. These new innovations in alternative fuels come at a higher price, in comparison to regular gas-burning cars. So...what do you think? Why aren't most auto-industries turning into the direction of creating cars that use "green" fuels? Would you now buy/suggest buying "green" cars knowing that this possibility exist in the "not too distance future?"

Quote taken from
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0504-06.htm

This will cost you...

In a area in the Middle East called Dubai, engineers are building man-made islands and selling them to the highest bidder, going for more than 6 million US dollars. These islands are shaped into various figures like palm trees and a map of the world. These islands, however are made of hundreds of tons of sand and rocks, which some experts say may not be able to hold up against hurricanes and tsunamis(underwater earthquakes that produce HUGE tidal waves). This is not stopping those who can afford it, where there are people on a waiting list until more island are built. If given the opportunity to own one of these islands, would you move there even with the warnings of hurricanes and tsunamis? Is this a good idea anyways, building "man-made" islands in this area? What do you think?

For more information, click here: http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/dubai/the_world_islands.php

OR

http://www.theworld.ae/

Are you going to eat that?

In China, the government has for a long time imposed a law stating families are encouraged to have one child per household, or a number of children equal to their annual(yearly) income. This law was put in place due to the fact that China's "population of 65 years olds was only 66 million in 1990, and now is expected to grow 90 million by 2000, and 167 million by 2020. The population has put a tension on the limited resources of China. Many people are moving to the cities, leaving less people to farm the land, thus having less food in total for China's people." Some experts say that the United States is heading in that direction and a "population law" would help, in especially unplanned pregnancies. What do you think? Should there be a limit in how many children a couple can have, provided they have the means to take care of them? Or is this a violation of someone's right to bear children?

info provided by: http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/kane98/kanep2/chinas1kid/dcva2.html

Green Peace

A recent scientific study is stating that in urban areas where the presence of "greenspaces" (like parks, playgrounds, fields, etc) is lacking; there are more cases of violent crimes, poverty, and a overall "bad mood" of the people living in these areas. These experts say that with more "greenspaces" available, statistics like crime and vandalism will decrease. What do you think? Do you think planting trees around neighborhoods in Boston can help, or hurt?

What would you do?

A famous company had created a new cleaning product that could get rid of virtually any type of stain, no matter what surface. This product, when introduced to the public, was a big success. After a while, reports started to come in saying that in some households, overuse of the product may cause breathing problems. The company stated in response to the reports "the reported effect of our product is only in 5% of the people that use the product." The company also said they will be marketing a "extra-strength" formula of the original version. Should the company take their product off the shelves until they know what is causing the breathing problems in "the 5%", or continue selling their product in its original formula?