Biology Unit - In Class Experience

Our second unit in Science class was biology. In this unit, I learned about how cells divide, what happens when cell division goes wrong, and about organ systems such as the respiratory and circulatory system. Also during the unit I participated in various tasks such as dissecting frogs, and making a video project on mitosis.

During the biology unit, the event that I enjoyed the most was the frog dissections. During frog dissections, I was given the opportunity to cut up a dead frog and study its internal organs. I was able to take a close look at the frog’s stomach, heart, liver and its exterior features. Although some people were very scared of the whole frog dissection, I was ready to get my hands dirty. Also, I never really “respected” the frogs. I was as inhumane as I could be. I took pliers and ripped out the frogs eyes. Also I ripped off its limbs and completely skinned it. I was quite satisfied with the experience of the dissection because I got to have fun and learn about the organ systems of a frog at the same time.

The topic I found the least interesting in this unit was the lesson on cancer. It wasn’t that I disliked the topic; it was just that the lesson seemed dragged on. The lesson took upwards of 45 minutes when only a few concepts were explained. I felt that the number of slides in the PowerPoint lesson by reducing the number of times things were repeated. All that was in the lesson was what cancer is, what the different types of tumors, carcinogens, and how to prevent cancer. All of this could have easily been summed up in ten to fifteen slides but it was but the presentation ended up at almost thirty.  

I wish the grade 10 curriculum included more body systems. For example, I would have really liked to learn about how the nervous system works. I don’t know much about it but it seems like one of the coolest systems in our body, and I would have really liked to learn about it this year. Also, I think the grade 10 biology curriculum should include more time to study the parts of cells. I found that the parts of cells (i.e. Golgi bodies, mitochondria etc.) were not talked about very much in lessons, and I had to refer to a small section of the textbook to remember what they do. Unfortunately for me, I forgot about them in the textbook, and since it isn’t in the PowerPoints, I forgot to study them. If I fail my biology test, that is probably the reason.

I think the other students in my class also share the same interests as me, for the most part. During the frog dissection, most of the class was really into it; they really wanted to chop up the frog and others stayed away from it, watching from a distance. I think that groups for the dissection should have been made with an equal amount of people who wanted to participate and not participate in the dissection. That way, the people not participating had less people to watch the process around. For example, in my group two others and I participated in the dissection, and we had one onlooker. The onlooker must have found it difficult to see around three people since all sides of the table were covered. If groups were custom designed to have an equal number of participants and onlookers, I think it would be easier for everyone to enjoy the experience.

The one thing I absolutely hated about the biology unit was that it was all mere memorization. In the seven biology PowerPoints there were well over 150 slides. This would not be too much of a problem, but unfortunately the subject of Biology makes you memorize everything. If you have a good photographic memory, you’ve gotten yourself a 100 in biology. In chemistry, I didn’t really have to study, I knew the concepts and I could use my head from there. That is why I like Math, Chemistry and Physics. I memorize a few things and just think from there on out. I don’t have to memorize hundreds of slides of information. For example, in math class this year when I learned about quadratic equations, I never memorized the equation. I just derived the entire quadratic equation on the back of my test. I hate memorizing, thinking is much more practical. I don’t have to study as much, I can be lazy, and who doesn’t like being lazy? 

Chris Hadfield - Canadian Scientist

In 1992, Chris Hadfield became one of the four people who were accepted by the Canadian Space Agency selected from over 5300 candidates. Since then he was the first Canadian to conduct a spacewalk, flown two space shuttle missions and is currently the commander of the International Space Station.

As of now, Chris Hadfield is the commander of the International Space Station. Chris Hadfield's qualifications include two previous space shuttle missions as a Mission Specialist I both on STS-74 and STS-100. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College. In addition, he is a former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, flying the CF-116 and the CF-18 aircraft in his service time. Moreover, Chris Hadfield has flown over seventy different types of aircraft in his lifetime.

I am interested in Chris Hadfield for many reasons, one of them being that the both of us share a common interest in aviation. Flying various aircraft has always been a goal in my life, and Chris Hadfield has not only flown his own light aircraft, he has flown large fighter jets, and spacecraft. Hadfield also interests me because he motivates me that I can pretty much do whatever I set my mind to. When he applied to the Canadian Space Agency in 1992, his chances of getting in were almost non-existent. The Canadian Space Agency was accepting four people out of a whopping five thousand three hundred thirty that applied. Chris Hadfield has also done the one thing that every kid dreams about at least once in his lifetime, going to outer space. When I was a little kid I always imagined that I would go to space someday. I don’t know exactly why this thought appears in the head of kids all over the world. Maybe it’s just because some kids want the opportunity to feel prolonged weightlessness, chase balls of water all around the place, or just see first-hand what lies beyond the compounds of planet Earth. My point is Chris Hadfield has done what kids all around the world dream of, he has been on two space shuttle missions and participated in space walks.

Chris Hadfield participates in many projects on NASA missions. Although not doing much research, Chris Hadfield has helped the world of science move on. For instance, on his second space shuttle mission, STS-100, he helped assemble the Canadarm2. The Canadarm2 performs various tasks in space that would be impossible by man power alone. It can life heavy parts and place them very accurately exactly where they need to go. It also helps move supplies and equipment around the International Space Station. Without Canadarm2 large maintenance jobs on the International Space Station would be nearly impossible. In addition, Chris Hadfield helped deliver many parts to the Russian Mir Space Station on his first space shuttle mission STS-74.

Even though the technology that Chris Hadfield helped install in space will be outdated and replaced by larger more versatile machines, Chris Hadfield will always be remembered as the astronaut that could accomplish anything. Starting out in the air force, he had almost no chance of landing his job at the Canadian Space Agency, but today, he is commanding the International Space Station. 

Electrical Engineer - Science Related Career

One science related career I have always been interested in is the Electrical Engineer. The main tasks of electrical engineers are to design, build and test electrical systems.

In Secondary School, aspiring electrical engineers should focus on taking subjects such as mathematics, science and technical studies. A sample timetable for a grade 12 student trying to get into a post-secondary electrical engineering program would be the following; English (mandatory), Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Advanced Functions, Calculus and Vectors, Data Management and Computer Science. Students should make sure to take U and M level courses. The University of Waterloo states that they accept admissions for the electrical engineering program from students who have an average in the high 80’s and above. (Waterloo Electrical Engineering Information Page)

Electrical Engineers require a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a similar subject, although Graduate degree or Doctorate degrees are required for several senior level positions. There is an abundance of Universities offering programs in electrical engineering all over Canada. In just Ontario, twelve Universities offer this program. The best place to study electrical engineering in Canada is simply up to personal preference. Some people may prefer other one school over the other for various reasons like commute, price to live on campus etc. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter about what University you attend. As long as the program has been approved, and you receive your degree, you are considered qualified for the job. However, having the name of a prestigious University versus one that is not well known on your resume is always nice.

Some of the more known Universities that offer this program are the University of Waterloo, and the University of Western Ontario. The University of Waterloo is known for their co-op program. Students who decide to enroll in Waterloo’s co-op program spend five years obtaining their degrees instead of four, but get the experience of multiple co-op placements. I have met many Waterloo graduates who claim that they were able to pay their entire tuition and books off with just the money they earned from their co-op, which is a very good thing. University is very expensive, and leaves many people drowned neck deep in debt. The University of Western Ontario also has a co-op program for its students, although not as extensive as the one at Waterloo. Western is also quite old, being established in 1878. This means that their libraries are quite established and finding some academic journals on a topic you need may be easier than doing so at a newer institute.

The career of an electrical engineer interests me in many ways. Firstly, I like working with electrical circuits and troubleshooting them when they don’t quite work out. Being a member on a FIRST Robotics team and working very closely with our robots electrical system has given me a lot of experience on this topic. I also like the pay that this job offers. According to CareerCruising, electrical engineers get paid anywhere from 45 to 150 + thousand dollars a year, with the average being around 70 000. I like this because it offers me just enough money so I can enjoy my life, yet doesn’t provide me so much money that I spend it like a maniac and accumulate piles of debt. Another thing I like about this career is the working conditions. I’ve always wanted to work most of my time in the office for a normal forty hour work week. I have never wanted to work out in the field, or in a noisy and dirty environment. Additionally, I like how much the career is dependent on technology such as Computer Aided Design. 

Back to the Future

The Back to the Future trilogy of movies featured a modified DeLorean vehicle that was capable of time travel once it hit the speed of eighty eight miles per hour. The vehicle is powered by plutonium but later, when Marty McFly doesn’t bring spare plutonium with him when he time travels, the DeLorean is powered by a lightning bold containing 1.21 Gigawatts of power.

Currently, we all know that time travel doesn’t exist, but a few questions about time travel and the science behind “Back to the Future” movies still persist. Firstly, is it possible to generate 1.21 Gigawatts of power? Also, is time travel even possible, and if it were, what would happen to our planet?

Weather it is possible to generate upwards of 1.21 Gigawatts of power from a lightning bolt is currently uncertain. Through research, I have found that some people agree that it is, while some others say that it is not.  For analysis purposes, let us assume that a lightning bolt can produce at least 1.21 Gigawatts. If we set up a test mimicking exactly how the bolt of lightning got to the DeLorean in the movie, will it be possible that our vehicle will receive 1.21 Gigawatts of power? The full effect of the lightning bolt is only sustained upon impact. In the movie, the bolt of lightning hits the clock tower and then travels down a bunch of cable before coming in contact with the DeLorean. The entire process takes about four seconds in the movie. It is unclear to me exactly how much the power of the lightning bolt would dissipate over this amount of time, but it would be safe to say that a bolt of lightning must be able to provide well over 1.21 Gigawatts of power if it were to propel Marty McFly back to the future. Even though it may be impossible for a bolt of lightning to produce 1.21 Gigawatts, the Hoover dam can create much more energy than what is needed for the DeLorean to travel in time. The Hoover dam can produce 48 Gigawatt hours of energy per day. If we could make a machine capable of time traveling that required 1.21 Gigawatts of power, and we found a way to store up at least that much from the Hoover dam, we could potentially time travel.

So is time travel possible? Well, some physicists say it is. In fact, time travel into the future is happening all the time. Einstein’s theory of relativity can help explain this. “The faster an object moves relative to another object, the slower it experiences time. “ For instance, GPS satellites orbit the earth at a speed of 14 000 kilometers per hour. Since they travel so quickly, the clocks of GPS satellites move ahead seven microseconds of Earths clocks every day. This practically means that these satellites are “time traveling” at a rate of seven microseconds every day.

This news isn’t quite the same for time travel to the past. Quantum mechanical experiments that have been carried out showed that “time lines remain self-consistent.” These experiments were "the moral equivalent of sending a photon a few billionths of a second backwards in time and having it try to kill its former self.” Unfortunately, the photons could never kill themselves; they couldn’t interfere with their former selves. If this is true, it means that if you were to go back in time, you would not be able to change the past. Time travel to the past has stumped scientists ever since it was proposed as an idea, and we have made pretty much no progress towards being able to do so. It seems like time travel to the past is highly improbable.

Even if time travel to the past was possible and we could change our previous actions, what would happen to this world? In Back to the Future, Marty’s mom in the 50’s falls in love with him, and doesn’t meet her actual husband. This means that Marty doesn’t exist, and he starts to disappear. Imagine if this were to happen in real life, all it took was the mistake of one time traveller to make you disappear. If anyone could just travel to the past, it could cause major problems for this world. Imagine every time something goes wrong, someone hops in a time machine and decides to go back in time to fix the issue. If this was to happen, and the time traveller was to interfere with their former self, it could cause a large issue. If someone were to go into the past and interfere with your parents meeting each other, you would disappear and never know why. Instead of straight up killing people, murderers could use this strategy to make it harder for the detectives to figure out who the killer is. Hence, I think travel into the past is a really bad idea. I don’t want to suddenly disappear one day, and never know why. 

Planets Capable of Sustaining Life

For hundreds of years, mankind has posed some questions that have yet to be answered. One of the more popular of these is “are we alone?”  Every day it seems like some lunatic is reporting a UFO sighting. To this day, some people believe that there is life on Mars and on other planets out further in space. It seems kind of scary that our planet Earth is the only planet on which there is life. Unfortunately, it will take hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of years before we are finally able to conclude weather we are alone in this universe or not. In 1977, the Voyager spacecraft was launched by NASA to areas beyond our solar system. It carries an audio recording with the voices of humans in over 50 languages. This is used to alert alien creatures of our existence, if we find them and they exist of course.

Recently, the Kepler space program has found three “Super Earth Size planets” that may be capable of sustaining life. These planets orbit their stars at a distance at which it is possible for water to exist. The planets under investigation are Kepler 62e, Kepler 62f and Kepler 69c. Since these planets are located 1200 light years away from us, it will be a very long time before we figure out if these planets really have the ability to sustain life.

After reading this article, I am left wondering about the possibilities of there really being life outside of planet earth. What would be the chances that it actually exists, and if it does exist, what are the chances that we will actually find it? Our Universe is constantly expanding, and there many planets that we do not yet know about. What is the possibility that we humans will find and study every solar system out there looking for life? When you think about it, finding every solar system let alone planet is almost impossible, for today’s technology. We will only have to hope that future advances in technology will help us find planets with the potential for life.

Some research has shown that these chances of finding life on other planets may be higher than we expect it to be. According to this article, planets orbiting red dwarfs may be capable of sustaining life. Red dwarfs make up eighty percent of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The only problem with this theory is that Red Dwarfs are small, and dim. Their habitable zone is also very small, less than the distance between our sun and Mercury. Although this may seem like a concern, the European Space Agency conducted a test with 102 red dwarfs, and the results showed that 41 percent of them could contain planets in their habitable zone.

There is another problem with the habitable zone of red dwarfs. The planets are so close to the stars that the radiation outputted to the planets would be quite high. Planets in that area would have to have a magnetic field around them to stop the high level of radiation. This may make it seem like it is difficult for life on planets around red dwarfs, but just because us humans cannot tolerate high levels of radiation doesn't mean that other creatures cannot. Life living on planets that orbit red dwarfs may be able to survive large amounts of radiation without effect.

All of this makes me wonder, is it possible that life exists outside of our planet? There are thousands of planets out there in our ever expanding universe, and there are new ones being created right now. Sometimes I wonder which is the better question to ask, “What are the chances of there being life outside of planet Earth?” or “What are the chances that planet Earth is the only planet capable of sustaining life?”  

Original Article

FIRST Robotics Competition

 The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international event  that takes place from early January to late April every year. The purpose of the program is to get high school students interested in careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).  On the day of the kickoff, usually at the end of Winter Break, every team is given a game with specific tasks that their robot must be able to accomplish. From that point on, every FRC team all over the world has six weeks to prototype, design, build, program and test their robot. This year, the game was Ultimate Ascent. Robots had to be designed to pick up Frisbees, either from the floor or a feeder station at one end of the field, and shoot them into goals of varying heights. As a secondary task, robots would climb a pyramid at the end of the match for bonus points.

After the six week “build season” is over, competition begins. Over 2000 teams compete at various regionals held in the United States, Canada and even Israel, with the winners qualifying for the World Championships held in St. Louis, Missouri. Even though there is a large emphasis on winning the regional, FIRST has many other awards for things such as safety, community outreach and gracious professionalism.

With over 2000 teams competing, there is no doubt that robots vary greatly in design. This year, some robots had the ability to pick Frisbees off of the floor; others had the ability to climb to the top of the pyramid. A variety of robots were able to shoot Frisbees into the goals from the other side of the field. This allowed for robots to collaborate during matches, and employ strategies that complement the other robots on their alliance. Here is an example of one of the more impressive robots this year. 

One of the teams regularly competing in FIRST is Team 1325 – Inverse Paradox from Gordon 

Graydon Memorial Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. They have been competing since 2004 and have won many awards in that time, such as the Autodesk Visualization Award. This year, their robot Schmetterling has won the Greater Toronto East Regional and been a semi-finalist at the Greater Toronto West Regional. Schmetterling was designed to accomplish the simple tasks of Ultimate Ascent and do them effectively. Schmetterling is capable of scoring Frisbees in the autonomous period of the game, obtaining Frisbees from the feeder station and scoring them, and hanging on the bottom rung of the pyramid at the end of the match. The robot was also designed with a powerful drivetrain with very low ground clearance so that it was easier for them to push other robots around the field, essentially playing defense.

To most people, the FIRST robotics program may seem like a haven for the nerds of the world, which is true. This program gives students the opportunity to perform various tasks that they may not have been able to do until post-secondary education or their careers. It is exactly like professional sports, except for one factor. Every student on a FIRST robotics team has the ability to become a professional; there are jobs out there, in science, engineering and mathematics out there for all of these students to pursue.

In my opinion, the FIRST Robotics Program is one of the best extra-curricular activities any student can take part in. It teaches students how to use skills they learn in their Math and Science classes and apply them in the real world. It also helps students build their leadership and cooperation abilities. The FIRST Robotics Program is so successful that it has become part of the high school curriculum in Michigan. Some high schools even have multiple teams in them. 

Huffington Post Article about Competitive Robotics

Combustion In Class Lesson - Science Journal Entry Four

A couple of days ago, we learned about single displacement, double displacement, and combustion in Mr. Hill’s science class. I thought this was one of the coolest science lessons I've had this year. Single and double displacement is cool in the way that they work, but the real star of the show is combustion. Combustion is when an element or compound mixes with oxygen gas to create a reaction. Part of our combustion lesson was Mr. Hill lighting his hands on fire, which is one of the most awesome things I've seen a teacher do, probably next to Mrs. Kapasi eating a candle.

The most interesting thing about the topic of combustion is that elements can explode when combined with oxygen gas. Who doesn't like explosions? I also found it interesting that the chemical reactions can take place so quickly. When we were discussing combustion in class before we did any experiments, I thought that the chemical reactions would take quite a while to complete. When I saw the fire rising to the roof after the lighter was held to it was quite amazing. I couldn't believe how fast the reaction could take place, and how quickly the cloud dissipated off of the ceiling.

The entire lesson on displacement and combustion was very interesting. The only part I did not like was pressing  Ctrl and = all the time to add in subscripts and state symbols.

I would like to learn more about how exactly the chemicals in combustion reactions break down into the reactants. I would like to learn how this process occurs because sometimes when looking at the chemical formula, I wonder “How did this turn into that?”

I think that other students also share the same interests and disinterests that I had with the lesson. Everyone, even the people who don’t pay very much attention in class was attentive during the lesson. I guess people like seeing things blow up. I really like the Grade 10 Science Curriculum so far. I don’t think any changes need to be made to the curriculum itself to make it more interesting for the students. I believe it is the way that the teacher handles the class that makes the students pay more attention. I think that having more experiments, like the ones we had on that day would make the other students much more excited for science class.

As an addition to the previous question, I think that we should learn more about chemical reactions in this course. In grade 10, I believe we only cover synthesis, decomposition, single/double displacement and combustion. I would really like to learn more about the other types of chemical reactions as well. I know that that dives into the Grade 11 curriculum, but I would rather learn about all of that stuff in Grade 10, and then build on concepts in Grade 11. I also do not like how easy the Ontario curriculum (not just the science curriculum, but every other subject) became much easier in 2007. The marks were low, so Ontario decided to make the whole curriculum easier. This may lead to better marks, but I don’t like how this forces us to delay learning about some cool scientific concepts, and elements from other classes that we will have to wait until our senior grades to learn about. I think the best thing for the science curriculum in Grade 10 is to make it a transition into the Grade 11 Sciences. That is to say, teach the concepts of Grade 11 Chemistry in Grade 10, but simplify it. Then, build on it in Grade 11. I think this would be a good idea to help student success, and to let students decide which sciences they would be interested in taking in their senior years. 

How do Owl's Rotate Their Heads So Far Without Snapping Their Necks - Science Journal Entry Three

Since the eyes of an owl do not move, owls are restricted to tunnel vision unless they can rotate their heads. Owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees, or three quarters of the way around, which no other bird, or human can do. Scientists have been wondering what allows the owls to be able to accomplish this feat for years. By studying dead owls, researchers have finally come to some conclusions on why owls are able to turn their heads so far. Firstly, the holes in the owl’s vertebrae are 10 times larger than the vertebral artery that is threaded through it. This may allow for extra “wiggle room” for the owl to move their heads. Also, the vertebral artery for owls enter the base of the neck a bit higher than in other birds, giving them extra room to move their heads. Secondly, the owls have expandable jaw arteries. The arteries for most animals get smaller as their distance gets further away from the source of blood, but the owl has three arteries in its jaw, allowing for ample blood flow to the owls head when it is rotated, blocking fresh blood from the owls heart to flow to its head. Finally, owls have some of their arteries in their brains “linked by a tiny channel.” This provides another route for the blood to flow into the owl’s head if one of the arteries is blocked.

I chose this article because I wanted to know more about how owls can move their necks so much without breaking their heads off. Owls can rotate their heads from 180 to 270 degrees depending on the kind of the owl. Currently, most human beings can only rotate their heads 90 degrees. Of course, there will be a couple of outliers who can somehow turn their necks further than normal humans. This property of owls makes them quite interesting to me. Unfortunately, owls have tunnel vision, and cannot see around them without having to move their head around. This could be one of the reasons that owls learned the skill of owls turning their heads 270 degrees.

This information seems to be scientifically correct. From the diagrams in the article, it looks like the biological facts about the owl that are described in the text are all correct. It is interesting how only a larger hole can lead to the owls head turning 180 degrees more than the average human head. I always thought that the owl’s larger range of head motion was due to some kind of increased elasticity around the neck.

One question I have after reading this article is; how quickly would it take humans to adapt to new circumstances? If I took a group of people and told them to do something for long enough, how long would it take for them to adapt so that that action becomes second nature? Does the human body adapt only for major changes or can it also make minute adjustments depending on factors such as living environment, quality of life etc. Also, I wonder what would happen if I tried to turn my head more than 90 degrees every day. If I do it for long enough, could I potentially be able to turn my head more than 90 degrees. If I keep at this every day, would the next generation of humans related to me be able to do this too? 

Original Article