Simple Science Ideas

Nelson Mandela decided it wasn't right that rights had been taken away from his tribe along with others who called their home South Africa. Why was he less capable than anyone else to take part in the government of his nation. Thus he began a life long journey dedicated to closing the gap of human rights that existed in South Africa.

Wangari Maathai, born in Nyeri, Kenya, became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. After earning this degree she returned to her community with the idea that forests were a necessary and relied upon natural resource and began planting trees with local communities. Her ideas spread throught Africa and many countries now participate in "Green Belt Movement" activities.

Muhammad Yunus provided micro-loans to basketweavers in Bangladesh from his personal funds on terms that they were able to hold themselves to. Thus allowing them to purchase equipment to build their bussiness and escape from poverty.

As you are brainstorming topic ideas for your science fair project I encourage you to follow in the footsteps of these Nobel Peace Laureates. Identify a simple problem, use the scientific method to quantify the problem and possible solutions. The best projects are origional and simple.

Wangari Maathai accepted the award indicating her intent was to teach people how to identify a problem, analyze the possible causes, decide on possible solutions and decide on one. This is the process science fair projects are intended to teach. Take a look around you and identify an issue in your community and consider what you can do to remidy the issue.

" I have always believed that solutions to most of our problems must come from us."
Wangari Maathai

The Full Lecture can be read here.

Science Fair

Science Fair is off to a great start. The 6th Graders are especially enthusiastic to investigate their questions. We are going step by step to develop stellar science fair projects that each student will be able to present with pride. Our school fair is set to occur during Catholic Schools Week in February. All students will present their projects for judging during the day. In the evening parents will be invited to see the great work the students completed.

On February 11th there will be a Catholic Schools Fair where the top three projects from each grade will have the opportunity to present for the next level of judging. It is a great honor to be invited to participate in this fair and a great opportunity for the students to showcase their abilities to the wider community.

I am looking forward to seeing the students progress through this process.

Clouds Today

I couldn't help but notice the clouds this afternoon while I was standing next the pool coaching swim team. We read in class that contrails, the clouds formed by airplanes disturbing the air, under the right conditions, can turn into large stratus clouds. I watched it before my eyes this afternoon. There were many persistent contrails, over time some of them were getting wider and becoming stratus clouds. Some cumulus clouds were also beginning to form. It must have been just the right conditions for clouds to form and expand. I wonder how often the conditions are right for contrails to expand into stratus clouds.

Energy

The 8th grade is researching different forms of energy and learning about renewable sources and non-renewable sources of energy. Each student has chosen a different source of energy to study and create a poster about. These posters will be shared with the class and hung in the lab and classroom. With the current focus on using renewable sources of energy it will be interesting to see the pros and cons the students discover for each energy source.

Fast Plants

The 7th grade has begun an investigation modeling Mendel's pea plant experiments. They are growing heterozygous plants with the scientific name Brassica rapa. These plants are being followed through their life cycle, documenting growth, flowering, pollination and seed development. Then the next generation of seeds will be planted and followed to determine the frequency of the traits being studied. In this instance the traits are Non-Purple stem vs. Purple stem and Hairy stems vs. Hairless stems.

When we are not taking measurements and observations for this lab we will be continuing our study of cell division by looking at the discovery of DNA as well as the structure of this molecule.

Our First Observation

Our first observation was posted online today so we can compare it with the satellite data. We ended up with a perfect match in altitude, cloud type, opacity and percent cloud cover. We have great observers!

S'COOL

S'COOL, standing for Student's Cloud Observations On-Line is a unique program with the goal of motivating students to participate in science inquiry. The sixth graders learn how to identify the clouds and determine their height, opacity and estimate the percent coverage. These observations are critical to NASA's Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project. The CERES project has satellite instruments on three satellites, TERRA, AQUA and TRMM (TRMM is no longer functioning). These instruments have gaps in their ability to accurately determine the type of cloud in the sky. They also have been shown to confuse clear sky when it is over a body of water. To determine the extent of what the satellite misses or misreads the student observations are used. The satellite has been shown to miss thin, high level clouds. Snow covered surfaces have also confused the satellite. The student observations are avaliable online once they are processed by NASA. Satellite images from the day of observation are also online.

Here at St. Jude's we are taking this opportunity to practice our data gathering skills as well as use our cloud knowledge for scientific research. Over 25,000 students have participated so far, we are happy to join the ranks of the cloud observing students. The students are very excited to help out scientists! We even studied contrails, clouds created by airplanes disturbing the air, so we could make extra comments about these man made clouds. Radiation from the sun bounces off clouds and is sent out of the atmosphere, rather than absorbed as heat. Some scientists believe contrails may be changing how much radiation is received by the earth. This may have an impact on global climate. Scientists are looking to students to observe and record contrail sightings to help determine how much of an impact they have. While we make our cloud observations we are also recording data on the number and type of contrails we see.

We have our work set out for us so far. Our first observations were recorded today. Next week we should be able to see the satellite images that were taken during our observation. We may even start to notice some cloud trends. So far the sixth graders made the observation that the sky was clear when the cold front moved in, compared to the large low hanging cumulus clouds which were present prior to the cold front. What great observers!