Thursday, May 19, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Toyota Prius, another hybrid car, is one of the best cars in the world for the environment. The fuel efficiency is phenomenal, making this car one of the best. On many websites, this car is proved to be one of the best cars for the environment because of its facts and statistics. Fuel efficiency is very essential to our world. The Toyota Prius runs at 57 miles per gallon. This fuel efficiency is terrific. The average miles per gallon for people driving cars in the United States is just under 25 miles per gallon at the current moment. That makes the Toyota Prius's fuel efficiency more that twice as good than the average car. Fuel efficiency is important to the environment because the car doesn't consume a lot of gas. Gas is very dangerous to the environment, as it is the leading cause for air pollution. With the Toyota Prius's outstanding fuel efficiency, the rate of air pollution will significantly drop. Not only is fuel efficiency important for the environment, as it is very economical. Drivers won't have to pay for gas nearly as often as they would with another car, which could save them thousands of dollars every year. For these reasons, the outstanding fuel efficiency of the Toyota Prius is very important to the world.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
In the lab, Soaring Straws, we focused mainly on two kinds of energy: gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy. The gravitational potential energy was when the straws went to its maximum height and stayed there for the short time span that it was up there. The elastic potential energy in the lab is the amount of stretch that the rubber band gets pulled back before launching the straws. The gravitational potential energy and the elastic potential energy are related in two ways. The first way is that the gravitational potential energy and the elastic potential energy are both variables in the lab. The responding variable is the component of the experiment that is affected and changes according to the manipulated variable. The manipulated variable is the component that can be adjusted by us. Whoever is conducting the lab or experiment controls the manipulated variable. In this case, we controlled the amount of stretch, making the elastic potential energy the manipulated variable. Also, the height that the straws went responded differently according to the manipulated variable. That made the gravitational potential energy the responding variable. The second way that the gravitational potential energy is related to the elastic potential energy is that they are both forms of potential energy. This means the energy is still, but has the capability to move. My partner and I conducted the experiment nine trials in all, but three trials at each amount of stretch. Our first amount of stretch was eight centimeters, and the average height that the rocket went at eight centimeters of stretching back was two and a half meters. The second amount of stretch was seven centimeters, and the third amount of stretch was six centimeters. Both of these stretches got the height of the straws to go up three meters each time. The amount of stretch here was the manipulated variable and the height was the responding variable. As you can see, we controlled the amount of stretch and the height that the straws went up responded to the amount of stretch.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
In science class, we did a lab called toothpick fish. There were different colored toothpicks to represent each fish allele (green, yellow, and red). The green alleles were dominant to all of the other alleles. The yellow alleles were recessive to the green alleles and incompletely dominant to the red alleles. The red alleles were recessive to the green alleles as well and incompletely dominant to the yellow alleles. The genotype for a green fish was GG, Gr, and Gb. For a red fish the genotype was rr. The yy genotype was for a yellow fish and the genotype for an orange fish was yr.
The first generation of my fish consisted of seven green fish, no red fish, one yellow fish, and four orange fish. This means that about 58% of fish were green, 0% of the fish were red, 8% of the fish were yellow, and about 33% of the fish were orange. However, all yellow fish are eaten up quickly and unable to survive. That meant that the one yellow offspring died. In the second generation, there were 7 green fish, one red fish, and 3 orange fish. In other terms, about 64% of the second generation were green fish, 9% were red fish, and about 27% were orange fish. Then came the third generation; six or 55% of the fish were green, 9% or one fish was red, 9% or one fish was yellow, and about 27% of the fish, or three fish were orange. Because there was another yellow fish, that fish died. In the fourth and final generation, 6 or 60% of the fish were green, 1 or 10% of the fish were red, and 3 or 30% of the fish were orange. Unfortunately though, all the green fish are eaten because of an environmental disaster. In the end, there were four fish remaining: one red and three orange. This was the data analysis of my toothpick lab.
This not only happens in labs, but in our environment. In an ecosystem, there are fish. They are eaten by their predators. However, sometimes there are large breakouts in which many fish are eaten more rapidly than usual. For example, one of the large breakouts could be an increasing population of sharks. These sharks would then eat many fish, and the fish would start dying at a faster pace, which would significantly decrease the fish population. This community of fish would be a lot less than what it was before. There are many scenarios like this that occur once in a while. This proves that fish population alters in our environment, as well ecosystems and environments around the world.
Monday, January 31, 2011
In science class, we are learning about punnett squares. Punnett squares are grids that have the combination from specific alleles from the parents of the offspring to find the gene of the offspring. The parents alleles' are multiplied together to form a punnett square and predict the outcome of the gene of the offspring. Punnett squares are very resourceful. Scientists and doctors use these punnett squares frequently to figure out the probable outcomes of the F1 generation. Then when the F1 generation is crossed with another parent, the F2 generation gets the combination of the alleles from the parents.
In punnett squares, more specifically monohybrid punnett squares, the alleles for each parent are multiplied to find the outcome of the gene for the offspring. We call this the phenotype. The phenotype is the physical characteristics of the offspring. For example, if the dominant allele is brown eyes and the recessive allele is blue eyes, and the parents have the alleles Bb and bb. The phenotype of the offspring would be 50% brown eyes and 50% blue eyes. Then, there is the genotype. The genotype is the genetic characteristics. In this case, the genotype for the offspring would be 50% Bb, or heterozygous, and 50% bb, or homozygous recessive. These are the basics about punnett squares but feel free to learn more about them.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The new Honda Civic Hybrid is an excellent car. It is known for its price; however, it is more known for its amazing techniques to cooperate with the environment. The all new 2011 Honda Civic Hybrid is going to be one of the greatest cars in the current era for many reasons. Very few cars will be able to compete with the statistics and reviews of this car!