Current Events in FE8A

In these last few weeks we have been using Pythagorean theorem in math and in science we've been building electric cars, some worked better than others. Also we have got a new project with Foster money incorporated in to it.

In math, the basis of the Pythagorean theorem is: a²+b²=c², which says that a squared plus b squared is equal to c squared. In this case a, b, and c are all variables of side lengths, if you don't have c you can use the theorem to find it.
An example would be:
From here we would do:
a²+b²=c²
(5cm)²+(10cm)²=c²
25cm²+100cm²=c²
125cm²=c²
√125cm²=√c²
11.180339887498948482045868343656cm= c
11.18cm =c
Also remember to show all of the decimals shown on the screen then round.

In science we have a new project to create a machine that will draw ground water, represented by a 250g weight, from the ground and pull it up and down as many times possible in 2 minutes. The width of the hole is 10cm and the depth is 74cm. In this project we use our Foster money to buy supplies such as motors ($3000). This is going to be expensive.

Eric out

Math and Science.

So... Hey.

I haven't blogged in a while again... silly me. Life has been so busy lately! I'm trying though. So here I am sitting on the computer typing up a super cool blog that basically no one but Julia (haha) is going to read. Whatever. Here goes...

Last week/I think it was two weeks ago I talked about the Pythagorean Theorem that we are learning about in Math. Since then, we have basically just been practising using the theorem to solve word problems. Here is an example of a (simple) word problem:

Julia is making a birthday card for yours truly out of a piece of construction paper. The paper measured 30cm by 20cm. She decided to be unique and cut the paper in half and then staple the two pieces together. She decided to be even more unique and cut the paper in half along the diagonal, instead of right down the middle. How long would the diagonal cut be?

Well, first we need to draw a diagram.

->The image button works today! :)

Now I realize that it's a bad image, but just use your imagination.

Now, we list our givens and required.

a=20cm

b=30cm

c=?

And then the formula.

a2+b2 = c2 (<-once again, that means a squared plus b squared equals c squared)

Now, we solve.

(20cm)2+(30cm)2 = c2

400cm2+900cm2 = c2

1300cm2 = c2

square root of 1300cm2 = square root of c2

36.0555128cm = c

36.06 = c

The diagonal cut would be 36.06cm long.

It is all pretty straight forward once you get the hang of it.

In Science, we had our car race yesterday. And, I'm proud to announce, my group won! Our car was kept simple. Here is a diagram of what our car looked like:

We just had two gears, one master and one slave, so that no speed was lost due to friction. Our wheels were made out of Styrofoam balls, so they were all the same size and shape and they didn't wobble from side to side. And, our car was just the coolest in general. So it won. And you're jealous.

Well I'm going to go now...

Bye!

Until next... time...

-K

Aren't worms simply delightful?

Like the title? It does bring back some vaguely familiar memories during science class. Oh, yes...it's coming to me now...wait for it...we talked about worms during our science class!!!!!! GAK!!!!!!! Even though this topic wasn't the most important part of science class, that knowledge will stick to me like gum on a shoe. So, I'll spare you five minutes of screaming and hyperventilating to discuss the parts of science class that are not as gory. Starting with the science quiz! Eek! That did not go over too well. Let's review, shall we? Class Fe7B was asked to list the environmental form and describe how energy is passed throughout it. Here's the form.Sun - Producers - Herbivore - Carnivore - Carnivore- Scavengers - Decomposers(Herbivores, Carnivores, and Carnivores are all consumers)
1. Sun-The sun produces sunbeams that provide energy for plants

2. Producers- Plants take in carbon dioxide, water and energy from the sun--plants give off oxygen and food. This process is called Photosynthesis.

3. Herbivore- These "vegetarians" consume the sugars produced by the plants which give them energy.

4. Carnivore- These "meat eaters" consume the smaller animals providing them with energy as well.

5. Carnivore- These other "meat eaters" are largest of the animals and consume the smaller carnivores to provide themselves with energy as well.

6. Scavengers- These animals find animals when they are abiotic and feed themselves on whatever is left. ( I know, I know, it does sound a bit gross)

7. Decomposer- The remaining parts (ew) decompose into the ground to produce rich soil for new plants to grow.

**Sorry if the diagram is kinda scary.

***I do not know what each animal is

**** The black box like creature is not a cow. It is a black box like creature.

Okay. As for math, we are doing geometry. Right now, we have learned how to draw 3-D boxes with 1 and 2 vantage points. Here are the instructions to drawing a 3-D box with only one vantage point. Next week, I'll give the instructions to drawing a 3-D box with 2 vantage points.

1. Draw a 2-D square or rectangle above or below the vantage point. It can be any size.

2. Draw a line connecting each of the edges of the square to the vantage point. Only 3 edges will be connected. One of the edges can only be connected by running a line through the square. You do not want that.

***Your drawing should look like this:

3. Connect these lines by drawing another perfectly vertical line parallel to the left side of your square. You decide how near or close you want to place this line.

4. Draw a horizontal line parallel to the bottom side of your box to meet the vertical line.

***Your box should look like this.

5. Erase the extra lines. Your final box should look like this:

Thanks for reading! I'll blog soon!

Pythagorean Theorem and some other stuff...

Hey everyone!

So I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while... My Easter weekend was so hectic! But still fun! Because I got candy! :)

Anyways, we started a new unit in Math about the Pythagorean Theorem. Now, I know that seems like just some long words (or at least that's what it sounded like to me at first) but it is actually a very interesting theory that is quite relevant.

The theorem has to do with right-angle triangles. Basically, what it helps you do is find the length of the hypotenuse (or side opposite the right angle) as long as you know the measures of the other two sides. The formula is a2 ('a' squared) + b2 = c2. Here is an example triangle:

...Okay never mind the "Add Image" button isn't working...

Well, let's imagine a right-angle triangle that has one side (a) of the right-angle 3cm, and the other (b) is 4cm. We want to find out what the length of the hypotenuse is. So, we use the formula.
a2 + b2 = c2
Then, we solve it - you will notice that it is the same way we would figure out the value of a variable (c) in algebra.
(3)2 + (4)2 = c2
9 + 16 = c2
25 = c2
square root of 25 = square root of c2
square root of 25 = c
5 = c
The length of the hypotenuse in this triangle is 5cm.

**This formula can only be used to find the measures of a right-angle triangle.

In Science, we started a sub-unit on electric circuits, gear trains, batteries, motors, and all that kind of stuff. At the end of the unit, we are going to build a car that we are going to race. I was planning on showing you diagrams of the circuits we have worked on, but that darn image button isn't working. Oh well, I guess I will show you next week.

So..
Until next week,
-K

Fe8a Probability Review and Science

Throughout these last few weeks we have covered all sections of probability and for Fe8a our unit test will be on the coming Tuesday and it will cover Theoretical Probability and Experimental Probability which there formulas are TP= favorable outcomes/total outcomes EP= times event occurs / tries. In my last blog I explained both of these concepts in my last blog. Now for odds for and against, odds are expressed in a ratio of part to part unlike probability which is a part to whole ratio. so the formula for odds for is favorable out comes/ total outcomes-favorable so the ratio could look like this 3:4 and remember if the odds for are 3:4 you don't have a 75% chance. You would actually have a 3/7 probability or a 42.86% chance. In odds against is the formula is Unfavorable out comes/ total outcomes-unfavorable. Also the ratio of odds for is the same as odds against but the two numbers are reversed. So in the same example the ratio would be 4:3 and you would have a 4/7 or a 57.14% chance.

Recently in science we have been looking at making water drinkable there are many different ways, some of which we can use during a black-out. The main source of water we use is our tap-water the city water and the reason for this is that it is cheap and easy to get. Also there are pump filters that have little filter membrane that only water molecules can fit through. Next UV water filters filter water with UV radiation to kill any living organisms in the water. The last resort is to boil water on a stove or open fire this water is good for 30 minutes before it needs to be boiled again.

Eric out

Odds For and Against

Hello everybody!
So today is a Friday and we don't have school today! Hurray! And then we have Easter weekend off next week so that's 3 short weeks in a row! Yay!
In case you haven't noticed, I'm quite excited about that.
And I'm also excited because my birthday is on Monday! I like my birthday! Because I get cake!

Well. That was interesting. Now I will talk about school. Like I'm supposed to.

In Math class we have our unit test on Thursday about probability. Last week I talked about Theoretical and Experimental probabilities, and Eric talked about Tree Diagrams so I'm going to talk about odds for and against an event.

So, let's say you are flipping a coin 3 times, and you want to find out the odds for getting two heads and one tails, in any order.
First, you would draw a tree diagram and list out the possible outcomes. I will skip the tree diagram part, because I would have to do that in Paint and then attach it and quite frankly I'm too lazy to do that.
Anyways, the possible outcomes are:
HHH
HHT
HTH
HTT
THH
THT
TTH
TTT
The ones in red are the favourable outcomes (two heads, one tails).

Now, odds are expressed in a part to part ratio in lowest terms.
Here is the formula.
Odds For = favourable outcomes : total outcomes - favourable
Then, we substitute in the numbers.
Odds For = 3 : 8 - 3
Odds For = 3 : 5
And we would take down to lowest terms if it was possible, but it isn't in this case.

Now we can do odds against getting more than one tail.
Here are the possible outcomes again:
HHH
HHT
HTH
HTT
THH
THT
TTH
TTT
The favourable ones are in green (more than one tail).

Here is the formula.
Odds Against = total - favourable : favourable ( <-- you will notice that it is the reverse of Odds For)
Now, we substitute in.
Odds Against = 8 - 4 : 4
Odds Against = 4 : 4
And then take it to lowest terms.
Odds Against = 1 : 1

So, that is how we figure out odds for and against an event.

Until next week,
-K