Chemistry using Magnesium and oxygen

Today we made a new substance from Mg and O2. We burnt magnesium ribbon in a bunsen to turn it into a powder. This powder was a compound meaning it is a solid substance made of more than 1 element and it is chemically connected together, the elements in the compound is made up of only one 1 type of atom.

It started out as a strip of silver/grey magnesium and quickly catches on fire forming a greyish smoke as I held it over the flame( a colourless gas called oxygen). As I took the magnesium off the flame I saw a bright spark of white as the hard ribbon turns into the white/grey powder called magnesium oxide. This process is irreversible, meaning that once it turns into a powder you can not turn it back to a magnesium strip.

The formula :Mg + 02 = MgO

In the process 02 in the formula means oxygen times two. Meaning that the Mg loses 2 electrons and the oxygen gains 2, forming an octet(an outer shell of eight valence electrons).

Robotics With Ms Chowfin

My robotics journey in Ms Chowfin's class has been about discovering the three robots edison, ozobot and the sphero. We also had to research about space to create a mars lander that will connect to one of these robots that we can successfully move around. This project evolved from one simple idea, then it gradually turned into a final design. 

We also researched about mars to help us find out what materials to use for the lander. Here are some facts about mars that we had to keep in mind when designing the lander.

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and is part of a group rocky planets. Mars also has a nickname called ‘the red planet’ , this is because of the high levels of oxidized iron. It has four seasons which are summer, fall, winter and spring, spring being he longest.Making a mars lander you have to think about the terrain and what materials to use. Using a telescope humans have discovered that there are a variety of rock types. Some common ones are meteorites, basalts, sedimentary sandstone and mud stone. Another factor is the sandstone dunes and high atmospheric pressure meaning that using tyres wont work. This raised an idea of using tracks which with make it easier to go around and over obstacles. Also to have more visibility we have put a 4x4 light bar on the front. Everything is powered by nuclear batteries.

Also we had to pick one robot to base our lander of off. We chose the edison after having a go with the selection of three robots because we can connect lego to it making it easy to build off of. Here is a little bit about the robots we were discovering.

Sphero-There are two versions of the sphero:sphero SPRK and sphero mini.Also available when you get this robot are plenty of different programming and moving and controlling websites and apps. For example Sphero Draw N’ Drive, Sphero Tippsy and Sphero Exile. The robot changes colours and moves with speed across a flat surface. We found moving the sphero was an easy task because of the controls.

Edison-The Edison robot is a robot that is able to be programmed using Ed blocks. This is a very intelligent robot as it can respond to light and sound and is also able to avoid obstacles. You can also program the Edison to follow lines around a surface. Programming the Edison using Ed blocks was hard as we could not figure it out, but then we started to understand the app and it got easier. We did find it cool how you can attach lego to the robot.

Ozobot- This robot is programmed to follow lines. Using a pen you let your imagination run wild and make thick lines over a sheet of paper.Laying the robot down on the lines it will follow them .This is 1 inch in height and is a lot of fun. The only down fall on this one was that we found if you cross the lines over each other it becomes a bit confusing as to where it should go. This also happened when the lines were not thick enough.

Our design process

We first came up with an initial design. Some key elements of this were the tracks as they are durable an able to go on varies terrains. We also had a lot of cameras to capture details of the planet as well as a light bar for extra visibility. 

 

We soon made some alterations as this was difficult to achieve with lego.Going from this we changed the shape to more like a car as it was easier to accomplish. We also got rid of the basket on top as it had no use. The amount of cameras changed as well because we came up with a rotisserie camera which can scan 360 degrees.We also icluded a drill in the back with a camera to dig and find out what is under the surface.

Our hypothesis

Our prototype has this shape partly because it was easier to make out of lego. And also we wanted to cameras to be undercover to protect them from the red dust and weather.

Our Robot design has this shape because… - Our prototype has this shape partly because it was easier to make out of lego. And also we wanted to cameras to be undercover to protect them from the red dust and weather.

Our Robot will navigate the terrain with these features because- Using lights will give us extra visibility. Also we have decided to use tracks because they are durable and have no air in them unlike tyres(which wont work on mars because of pressure).

Our data capturing tools are these because ( think of your first goal)- We have a rotisserie camera on top to video and take photos, as well as on inside at the very front. Also we decided to attach a big land drill on the back so we are able to discover what is under the surface of mars. So we are able to see where we are drilling there is also a camera attached to the drill.

We will navigate this from earth using programming on computers. 

Overall we worked well as a group and created a durable design to navigate mars.

Maths- Pie Chart

This week in maths we have been focusing on different ways to present data. In this activity I asked my class what there favourite brand of clothing was out of 5 options. I presented my data in a pie graph.

I served 25 students and the favourite brand is Nike as it has 9 people. Puma and Adidas are the least favourite both on three. Converse and the other option are also even on 5 as they are both on 20%.
If you add all the percentages they equal 100%.

Wearable arts 2017

For wearable arts this year Finlay and I created a Chinese dragon. Our inspiration this year was on festivals. Every group chose a festival and created a costume inspired by it. My group created a Chinese new year festival traditional dragon because we loved that it was colourful and they dress in some amazing costumes. This was made in two parts, the tail and the head.

 The head is formed from paper mache that covered some chicken wire. That then connected the the jaw that was made from a structure of cardboard then layers of paper mache to form the shape we wanted. After that we painted it red, orange and yellow as the main colours.

Tail is a structure made from wire and bent pipe. The pipe was bet to the shape of the tail then the wire was threaded through drilled holes and shaped into half circle to drape the sheet through. We hot glued spikes on the pipe made from cardboard then draped the sheet over everything and cut slits for the spikes. We painted scales on the sheet that were red, orange and yellow to match the head. We then made the end of the tail and attached it to the spikes.


think the head turned out the best as it has detail and is made out off alot of recycled items and we like our colour scheme.Next time we will start it earlier so we weren't rushing towards the end. Also we would work more on the sheet and do finer details.

Weekly Reflection

MATHS

For maths this week we carried on with completing tasks to do with probability. Heres my probability work book I completed.


READING

For reading the set of instructions we had to follow was to make an origami dog. Heres mine...

Weekly reflection T2

MATHS

For the start of this term we all completed a probability task made on google slide. Helping us to work out the questions was a maths site called mathoplis. This site gives useful information about the maths topic and then you can challenge your self and answer a few questions.

Heres the slide we completed...

READING 

Also in reading we followed a set of instructions to make an origami heart. Heres my finished creation and the instructions I followed.

Hanmer Camp 2017

Last week rm 17 and 18 went on camp! We had an amazing time participating in orienteering, mountain biking, tree climbing, mission impossible, town study and the hot pools.

My favourite activities were tree climbing and going to the hot pools.

The tree climbing activity was amazing. The challenge was to get as high up the tree as you could before getting belayed down by your class mates.I was pleased with myself because I was one of 5 people to make it to the top. It was an awesome feeling looking down at everyone from the highest point in the tree. Being harnessed  up you had to trust your classmates on keeping the rope tight. It was a challenge at the start to trust your buddy but everyone managed to climb the tree. Here is the start of the tree we were climbing

The hot pools were also one of my favourite because it was get to warm up after the cold day of activities.

Going down the super bowl was an awesome feeling every time. The gust of fresh air as you came out the tunnel gave me so much ad reline. Relaxing in the hot pools was a great way to end the day too.

Also we all walked up Conical hill. The view was amazing at the top!When you reached the look out you could see most of Hanmer and the farmlands just out of the town. Also you see the mountains behind you with logging tracks heading up the hills .

Heres a pick of me and my friends at the top and the amazing view...

Overall camp was sooo much fun. I learnt so many things while I was in Hanmer too.

If you want to see a video Miss Hines made on our experience here's the link...

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