Intro to Machines

Machines: the basics

A FORCE is a push or a pull that can cause and object to move or change direction. We measure force in NEWTONS (N), which tells us how much effort is being applied in a specific direction.

One example of a force is GRAVITY, which pulls us towards Earth. Gravity is a force that attracts all objects with MASS (i.e.everything!). Our mass is simply how much matter (stuff) we are made of and can be measured in KILOGRAMS (kg). This never changes, unless you add bits on or take them off.

Gravity gives us WEIGHT, which is measured in N or kg. On Earth, our mass and our weight are the same. However, if we go somewhere where gravity is different, our mass stays the same but our weight changes. The same things happens if you put an object in water - the mass doesn’t change, but the upwards force of the water makes the object seem lighter.

a. How many kilograms (kg) are equal to one Newton (N) on Earth?

100 grams are 1 Newton, so 1kg is 10 N.

To make an object move, we must apply a force. We call this EFFORT.

b. What unit do we use to measure effort?

Newtons, maybe?

Sometimes, the effort required to carry out a task is too much - but because we are human geniuses, we can use machines to help us.

c. In what three ways can machines change a force?

- Change the size of a force, e.g - car jack.

- Change the direction, e.g - curtain cord.

- Change the speed, e.g - eggbeater.

d. There are three main types of machines:

- Simple machines, which do one thing, such as levers, inclined planes, wheels or gears.

- Complex machines, which has 2 or more simple machines, like a bike.

- Engines, or powered machines, like cars.

My reflection on the Ecology unit (with great news!)

1. Short Reflection on the Ecology unit

Before I let you read this, I got great news; I'm back in action! Mr. T had some more blog stuff till the end of the semester, so that's great!

- What did you enjoy about the unit?

I enjoyed blogging about some questions, 'cause it's really FUN! Some kids don't think so, but I love this kind of stuff!

- What do feel proud of achieving?

I achieved a lot of good blog comments (sometimes not, some little kids commented on my post with MY name! Freaks...). I also achieved a good score in the test & overall results.

- What activities helped you learn the most? What about the least?

The blog stuff, and the Ecology song. Man, I love the tune, but the lyrics are okay. Ecology is scientific study~...

- How do you plant to improve your learning in future?

I'll maybe take some notes (sometimes, that's not so easy...) and revise some stuff. Oh yeah, I'll ask if I'm not sure about stuff, or find out.

Worm & Anti-worm Tanks

One of the projects that some groups did other than the decomposition chambers are the worm and anti-worm tanks. This was also to see which tank would rot faster.
This is the Worm tank (the tank with the earthworms):














And this is the Anti-worm tank:














The differences that can be easily seen are that the layers of the worm tank are more shallow than the anti-worm tank, as well as the anti-worm tank decomposing more slower than the worm tank. This is the result I expected, because worms are a decomposer themselves, and with the extra decomposers, the worm tank rots more faster than the anti-worm tank.

This is the result:

Worm tank before - Total = 15cm; leaf layer = 25cm; compost layer = 17cm; soil layer = 5cm.

Worm tank after - Total = 15cm; leaf layer = 15m; compost layer = 9.5 cm; soil layer = 5.3cm.

Anti-worm before: Total = 26cm; leaf layer = 26cm; compost layer = 19cm; soil layer = 5cm.

Anti-worm after: Total = 19cm; leaf layer = 19cm; compost layer = 15cm; soil layer = 5cm.

Or, if you’re more visual, here are the results as a graph:

The reason why the soil layer in the worm tank has increased is because of the worms; worm poo is like good quality soil. The anti-worm tank doesn't have any worms, so the soil layer didn't increase. Worms eat compost more better than leaves, so that's why the leaf layer didn't decrease and only the compost layer decreased and the soil layer increased (because of the poo). Leaves are big, so they're a bit too hard to digest (even worms & bacteria are picky sometimes). Even if there aren't any decomposers seen, there are still some bacteria which can help in the decomposition process, so that's why the anti-worm tanks have decreased layers too, but not as much as worms.

This is my last science post for Riolu's blog world, I guess. T.T so sad...

The Food Pyramid (Biomass Pyramid)

A biomass pyramid is another way to show which organism eats what. So it's kind of like a food web, but a biomass pyramid shows the energy flow too (I'll explain how this works).
A biomass pyramid looks like a pyramid for a start (or a triangle at least) and is divided into the amount of consumers (e.g. 4 for a chimpanzee's biomass pyramid; Fruits- insects- chimps- leopards). The layer at the very bottom is mainly the producers (plants). The reason why the layers get smaller as it goes to the top, is because of the amount of population of an organism needed to sustain the amount of energy for the organism (predator) above. E.g. 2 chimps are needed to feed 1 crocodile.

Food web

Today, I'm going to tell you about this food web.

The producers of this food web are plants; they can produce their own food. The first-order consumers are nematodes, fungi and bacteria. The high-order consumers are birds, animals and arthropods. The decomposers are bacteria and fungi. After an organism dies, they rot and gets, well, decomposed by the decomposers (i.e. fungi & bacteria). The 2 spieces which compete each other for food are birds and animals (maybe). The 2 spieces which doesn't have a preadator are birds and animals.

That was Part A, so I wasn't finished yet. This is Part B:

If the foxes disappeared, then the rabbits will over-populate and the grass might be extinct. If the predaceous insects disappeared, then the toads will all die out or have to eat something else. If the spiders disappeared, then the predaceous insects' population will stay the same because the spider isn't the only preadator of the predaceous insect. If the foxes & snakes disappeared, then nothing will happen to the hawks & owls because nothing's connected to them & the foxes (maybe). The population of the foxes will decrease if the population of the hawks & owls increases because the hawks & owls eat the same types of food as the foxes. The 2 speices which compete with each other for food are foxes & hawks. 2 of the first-order consumers are rabbits and seed eating birds. 2 of the preadators are spiders and toads.

My Project

In our school, we have a new project on Ecology. Ecology is all about food chains and how things survive as you know... My group has this great project and it is about a decomposition chamber and how it decomposes (rots)!! Isn't it fun?? It basically looks like a Cola bottle without the top and has dirty stuff in it. But it's not. At the bottom layer, there is sand and over that is a layer of soil (dirt). Then there's another layer of organic material and another layer of inorganic material. And there's another layer of organic material on top and another of inorganic and it finishes off with a layer of organic material.

Welcome to my blog!

Hi, I'm Riolu, and I live in Alaska. I have a twin brother whose a cyborg called Lucario. He was in a space shuttle crash so he had to have 300 operations and got turned into a cyborg. I still love him though. Yes, I am gay, so what? Never mind... Have a nice day, visitors.
P.S., did I mention that I almost won the Nobel prize for curing cancer? Never mind... it was unsuccessful anyway. The patient I experimented on had his head exploded so I got kicked out of the place.
P.P.S., I also had a little sister called Phione, but she got strangled by my pet dragon Aipom. That was sweet... I hated her so much, even as soon as I was born (or maybe when she was). I love Aipom too because he killed my sister and burned the corpse so my mom couldn't find out. And you wouldn't want to see my mom angry, 'cause she's really SCARY!!!