Weekly Blog 01/26

Surprise: I was surprised that our second guess on the unknown crystal was right. I was surprised when we were doing the last curious crystals experiment and looked at the crystals to see which one is the unknown crystal.

Summary: This week all that we worked on is our Matter background research.We also worked on atomic research this week. The matter that matters background research is where we do research and then we do a document. The atomic research is similar except that we have to research on different stuff and do a different sheet. We also saw which the unknown crystal is.

Backward looking: I only knew a little bit on the topic. For example my friends dad showed us a little bit in 3rd grade he showed up and taught us some stuff about atoms but I forgot the stuff by this time. I did not know anything besides what he taught us. I did not get it back then so I practically knew nothing.

Inward looking: My goal this week is to stay on time with everyone else. I sort of made my goal because I turned everything in on time but some of it was not finished. My goal changed to that I would like to finish everything on time because we had to turn it in ahead of time. My changed goal I think got met.

Outward looking: My work worked the same as others but our grade could have been different and our thinking of things. I think that they were similar for the most part but it was slightly different for some people and really different for some people. For example, people probably got 100 and were not the only one but if you have a 0 you might be on your own.

Forward looking: If I had to redo the work then I would change the pace on when I get things done because I just barely turned it in on time or I turned it in late. For example, my Bird Brain reading and quizzes: I did some of them but the last one I got late. I would also change that I had to redo the quiz on the "If you were made of legos".

Weekly Blog 01/26

Surprise: I was surprised when we were doing the curious crystals water experiment. I was surprised that we changed our minds on what we thought the unknown crystal is. We at first thought that it is sugar but now we think that it is salt. I would have sugar be my second guess but I am 99% sure that it is salt.

Summarize: This week we did some curious crystals experiments to see what the unknown crystal is and so far we think that it is salt but we used to think that it is sugar. We had proof that it could be sugar but we have proof that it is salt. During the experiments we used sugar, salt, MSG, epsom salt, and last we used the unknown crystal.

Backward looking: I recognized the crystals that we were using and their names except for MSG. I have done nothing like this and I loved it. We think that the unknown crystal is salt but our second guess is sugar. I did not really do any experiments at my old school so I never have done anything like this. 

Inward looking: I felt good about my work this week. Most of the week I liked but there were a couple of downsides. For example the good was that we got to do experiments. The bad was the we had a substitute instead of our fun amazing teacher that is normally there. I also liked that the experiments were trying to find out what something is, and it is still a mystery.

Outward looking: All of our work was similar because we all did the same experiments but we thought that the unknown crystals were different things. We all had similar results but it was sort of different because we all noticed different things. The people at my table thought that the unknown crystal is sugar but now we think that it is salt.

Forward looking: If I had to redo the work I would change the speed that we took to do all of the work. I would want our hypothesis to be what we think now. I would change that we did not finish the work that we had to do with the substitute. I would keep that we did the experiments right and had a good time this week.

Weekly Blog 01/16

Surprise: I was surprised when we were doing an experiment with M&M's and colored corn syrup! I was surprised that the colors overlapped and did not mix. It was also surprising because some people including me thought that it would just mix. I learned that the M&M's do not mix and have their own area that will not let them mix unless you shake it.

Summary: What we did this week is some mysterious M&M's experiments.  Some examples are that we added some sugar to water, we used colored corn syrup and experimented with hot, room tempature, and cold water. There are a lot of things that I did not expect. I think that after the experiments it was explainable that the results were what they were because we knew why it happened after we saw it happen.

Backward looking: I have gotten better at not messing up and not really having to rush as much as last week to turn in my paper. I think that another way that I improved is that I do not have to ask my team what to do. I have been better on thinking of a hypothesis and what we will keep the same. For example the last time I was cleaning I spilled water on accident but I have improved on being more careful.

Inward looking: I feel good about my work this week because it was all fun and I think that I got a good grade on my papers. I found it satisfying that we got to do so many experiments.  For example the corn syrup experiment was fun so that was satisfying.  I did not like to have to fill out the slip of what we thought was gonna happen and what did happen (I don't like to be wrong). It also took a lot of time to do the writing. 

Outward looking: I found our work different from some and similar to some. Some people got different color M&M's so we had different results but ours were similar to the people that got the same color. The corn syrup experiment was similar to a lot of peoples because we all had the same colors of corn syrup. One of the experiments were sugar water, normal and a different amount of sugar and one of the teams did it wrong so that is an example of different work. 

Forward looking: I would like to improve on how fast I get ready to do the experiment. I would also like to improve on writing the papers and not rushing like normal. Another improvement would be on drawing the picture of the experiment better. The last thing that I would like to improve on is  writing notes as quickly as everyone else because then I do not have to ask what to write. 

Weekly Blog 01/09

Surprise- What surprised me was that the green M&M melted the fastest because a lot of people thought that the red M&M was going to dissolve the fastest.

Summary- This week we did two experiments with M&M's. For example we saw what would happen if you put an M&M in the water and seeing if the color of the M&M changed and how fast it melted. We also had to do notes on the scientific method and this was useful because we had to write a hypothesis, observations, and more from the scientific method. I thought that the red would melt the fastest because I saw the first experiment from a different table and it looked like the red melted quickly.

Backward looking- I have never done experiments like that and I thought that it was fun and fascinating. I also think that it is educational and that we should do experiments more often. I have done science experiments in my old school but nothing this fun at the same time as being educational.  For example at my old school we did an electrical experiment about circuits and a water cycle experiment, but nothing fun like this. At my old school we didn't do really any fun experiments so this is totally new to me.

Inward looking- I liked this week because we got to do two experiments that are educational and fun. I disliked how we had to write notes on the scientific method but it was for our education. I liked how we got to do a race and I also liked to see all the pretty colors dissolving into the water. I disliked how we had homework about the experiment and school work. I disliked that I spilt water and the people at my table got mad at me for it.

Outward looking-I did the same experiment as everyone in my class but we got all different results so that was a bit confusing. All I can think of was that it didn't matter what color it was but how much coating was on the candy. Also I think that the amount of water might affect it. The last thing that I can think of is the time.

Forward looking- I would like to improve on being more careful (not spilling) and to understand more about the experiments we are working on and why we all may get different results. I would also like to improve on writing more than just waiting till the end of class. I would also like to improve on my writing skills for writing fast and neatly at the same time. The last thing I would like to improve on is dropping it more together.