MindUpdates ;D

Problem|Purpose

What type of enviroment do Red Isopods prefer?

The purpose of this mini lab is to determine which enviroment red isopods to live in/on.  Either moist or dry.

Hypothesis

My hypothesis to this experiment is that I think red isopods would actually like both sides, moist and dry.  By what I know about isopods,  I think they like the moist area because, isopods are usually found under rocks, when it usually rains, water can go under the rocks and can stay there for a while, leaving the bottom of the rock moist and wet.  I also think isopods would like dry surface because under rocks, there is no sign of water unless it rains.  I know this because in my backyard, I find many isopods under rocks.

Materials

v Aluminum Bin

v Two sheets of paper towel

v A cup of water

v A cup of isopods

v Large construction papers

v One set of gloves

v Timer

v Science Journal and writing utensil

Procedure

1)    Wear both gloves.

2)    Take one towel paper, fold it and put it on one side of the aluminum bin.

3)    Take another towel paper, soak it in the cup of water and then squeeze the water out leaving the water moist.  Then fold it and put it on the other side of the aluminum bin.

4)    Put aside the water.

5)    Set the timer to one minutes, but don’t start it, yet.

6)    Carefully, drop the isopods in the MIDDLE of the aluminum bin, and then cover the alumin bin, by putting construction paper over it. Then, start the timer as soon as you carefully drop the isopods.

7)    After one minute, take the construction paper off the top of the aluminum bin and check to see where the isopods went. Record your data.

8)    Repeat steps 5-7 two  more additional times.

Assigned Questions

1. How did you use the scientific method in this lab?

I used the scientific method by observing, identifying, recording, trial-and-error and being critical.

1. What were you testing in this lab? [Independent Variable]

We were testing the isopods. The independent variable in this experiment are the isopods because we are testing the isopods to see which enviroment the isopods prefer to live in.

1. What did you measure in this lab? [Dependent Variable]

The dependent variable is the wet environment, in our case, the moist paper towel that the isopods are being tested on.

1. Did anything affect your results? [Extraneous Variable]

No, nothing affected our results.  Everything went the way we’d want it to be going.

1. Did anything remain constant (constants) in this lab?

The constants were the number of Isopods, the moist towel paper, the dry towel paper and the amount of time we had to cover the aluminum bin.

Data/Observation

Reflection

I enjoyed doing this experiment because it was actually fun experimenting on the isopods.  We were wondering, within that minute, where the isopods would go. Either on the moist side or the dry side. We were anxious to move the construction paper to see what was going on. I also enjoyed it because the isopods were actually making us confused.  At one time, the isopods liked the moist area better and another time they liked the dry area more, which was making us confused, but we came to a conclusion where we found out which enviroment isopods prefer.

What I would change about this experiment is that, we should’ve tried the experiment giving light to the Isopods, because in this experiment we covered the top of the aluminum bin so the Isopods were moving in the dark.  I wonder if the conclusion would change if there was light upon the isopods.  Would there be more on the moist side or the dry side?

Conclusion

In conclusion, my hypothesis was incorrect.  During trial one, the isopods didn’t go to the moist side, yet went to the dry side.  During trial two, there were more isopods on the moist side than the dry side. There were three red isopods on the moist side, while the remaining two were on the dry area.  And on the last trial (number three), there were less red isopods on the moist side, and more on the dry side.  According to the observation, isopods prefer the dry side more than the wet, moisty enviroment. My hypothesis was proved wrong because I thought there would be isopods on both sides.  But in my experimental observation, isopods liked the dry side better than the moist side, there wasn’t an equal amount of isopods on each side, which made my hypothesis wrong.

My Favorite Florida Thrill: Hollywood Tower of Terror

Wow! I could hear people yelling and screaming for their lives from the welcome door to line up for their turn on one of the scariest thrill rides in Orlando.  It was such a rush just listening to adults and teens yelling.  As we got closer to the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror, thick fog builded up and soon our hair looked soaked.  My brother and mom were extremely afraid, but they came along since we talked them into it.

We were soon in a haunted decorated lobby. Everything looked deserted and old.  There were spider webs everywhere on everything and dust was on all the furniture.  When we stepped inside the tower, our footprints would show because of the fake dust that covered the floor.  Finally, we were only steps away from the elevator, which was the ride.  The elevator would drop 10 stories, go back up, back down, up again, and down for the last time.

Finally! It was our turn. We sat in the second row. We started to go up and soon we stopped on the second floor, which was a surprise.  A hologram of a family of four showed up and started to talk to us and everything in the background seemed like space. There were stars everywhere; we could not even see our seats because it was covered in stars.  We went up one more floor, stopped and went straight ahead into the darkness. We heard a voice talking to us, he ended his speech saying, “This elevator will go so high, and it’ll fall into the twilight zone.”  The elevator rushed high up, two windows opened up and we saw a beautiful view of Florida, except for the fact, it felt like we were about to fall out.  We heard an evil laughter and then, “BOOM!” We dropped ten stories, it was so fast, I was not even sitting on my seat, I was in air, feeling a pressure on my thighs because the belt was pulling me back on the seat.  Lights kept flashing; we were pulled up and down four-five times.  The most amazing thing was, it all happened within two minutes and it was worth the two-hour wait.

Here is the lab report I just gave in to my teacher.

The Mystery Box .

Lab # 1

By Aniqa Chowdhury

Class of 705

Submitted to : Mrs. Lindsay

What’s in the Mystery Box ?

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Problem| Purpose

What is in the Mystery Box ?

The purpose to doing this lab, is to find out what’s inside the eight mystery boxes with only our four senses (Sight, Smell, Touch and Hear).

Hypothesis

My hypothesis is that, there’s something, an item, the size of the box, but a little smaller because the look of the box looks like it can’t have much weight in it and that there wasn’t a living thing in it, unless we would’ve heard or smelled it.

Materials

• 8 uniformed in size, closed brown boxes (6×6in)
• 4 senses [Sight, Smell, Touch & Hear]

Procedures

1. Collect Box.
2. Make a observation using sight.
3. Make a sketch and label the box.
4. Make an inference based on sight.
5. Use your 4 senses to determine what is in the box.
6. Record observations.
7. Trade boxes 7 times.
8. Repeat 5-6, 7 more times (for each box).

Diagram

Assigned Questions

1. How were you able to determine the items in the Mystery Box?

I was able to determine the items in the Mystery Box, by using my 4 senses; sight, smell, touch, and hear.  The feeling of each 8 boxes, was the same.  It felt like regular cardboard.  Except when we were shaking each box, we felt a different kind of pressure from each box.  In one of the boxes,  we shaked the box and put our hand at the bottom of the box and felt something bouncing, that is approximately the size of a handball, this made me think the item was a handball.  The smell of the box was all the same.  The boxes looked the same except where it said [1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … etc.], but it was there so we can identify the boxes.  We heard different noises coming from different boxes.

1. Did your group collectively agree on the items in each box? Why? Or why not?

Everyone in our group agreed with each other.  We all thought the same thing.  For our answer, there was a logical reason for each observation we took.

1. When trying to identify the items, did you have a point of reference? [did anything sound familiar?]

I actually know how coins sound like because, I’ve handled coins and change before so I know how coins would sound like or feel like when it was being pressured against box #7.  I also know how pencils and pens would sound like in a box because the same sound and pressure I felt from box #1 is the same sound and pressure, I got from a box of pens/pencils.  Most of my references, have to do with feeling [pressure against box] and hearing [sound when moving around].

Data/Observations

Box #1.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box, extremely light.  Something sharpish hitting against the inside of the box.

Prediction: Pens/Pencils

Box#2.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A cardboard box, heavylike, cylinder shaped container inside. (I determined there was a cylinder shaped item/container in the box because, when you shake the box, left to right, it takes more time to get to the other side, which means it’s small from the side, and when you move it north and south,  it takes less time to go from each side, meaning it’s tall from that side. It could be either, a rectangle or cylinder, but it was a rolly type noise, which means, it had to be a cylinder because, a rectangle can’t roll and a cylinder can.

Prediction: Container/Can [Cylinder shaped]

Box#3.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box.  More than one thing in the box. Light.

Prediction: Rocks/Pebbles

Box#4.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box. Item doesn’t move much, may be in a packet or so.

Prediction: Beans or rice.

Box#5.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box. Seems like a ball, because, I can feel something bouncing up and down, it’s shaped as a sphere because, it rolls extremely easily.

Prediction: Rubberball.

Box#6.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box. Seems like a cylinder shaped item (ball). Same reasons we determined a prediction for Box#2.

Prediction: Cylinder shaped item.

Box#7.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box. Light. Probably coins hitting against the box where I feel a shape of a circle [small] on the bottom of the box.

Prediction: Coins.

Box#8.

Smells like: A box.

Feels like: A box.  Might be a one-inch ball moving around.

Prediction: Golf ball or an one-inch ball.

Reflection

I enjoyed doing this experiment because I used my four senses carefully. What made it enjoyable was that I didn’t know what was in the box.  I had to think a lot, feel, and touch the box to find out clues about what was in the box.  It was like a mystery case where I had to find out what was in it, like some treasure.  Overall, this experiment was a good excersize for your senses and a good learning experience and experiment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I used my four senses to come into the solution where I observed that:

• Box #1 may have pens/pencils
• Box#2 may have Container/Can [Cylinder shaped]
• Box#3 may have Rocks/Pebbles
• Box#4 may have Beans or Rice
• Box#5 may have a Rubberball
• Box#6 may have a cylinder shaped item
• Box#7 may have Coins
• Box#8 may have a Golf ball or an one-inch ball.

Also, I proved that my hypothesis was incorrect.  I thought that EACH and EVERY box would have an item approxamately the same size and weight.  I was wrong, the boxes had different types of items that had different height, size, and weight.