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Correspondents - please email me. A change had to be made to the way blogger was working. The password had to be changed. Email and I'll explain.

FE8B Rube Goldberg

As Eric said in his blog, in FE8B we are also making a Rube Goldberg machine. Today we came up with the main plan as a class and starting next Science class we will start constructing the machine. Our plan went something like this:
1. the ball is in a car (wheel and axle) that goes down an inclined plane
2. the car hits a wedge and stops, but the momentum flings the ball out
3. there is a pulley balancing with a cup at one end and a weight at the other and the ball lands in the cup, moving the cup downwards
4. the cup lands on a 1st class lever and tips over, rolling the ball into a cup on the other end of the lever
5. the cup goes back up the pulley as it is now lighter than the weight on the other end of the pulley
6. the weight comes down and hits the end of the lever to launch the ball
7. the ball lands in a funnel and goes around and around (like a screw) and then into a tube
8. the tube shoots the ball out to hit a 3rd class lever that spins around in a circle, hitting the handle on a driver gear on its way
9. the lever comes back and hits the ball onto the gear train that would be already moving
10. the ball would ride along the gear train that looks kind of like a bike chain and gears as there is a driver gear at one end and a slave gear at the other, connected by a chain
11. the ball will have moved accross the room and into the bucket!
I know it sounds confusing, but I think we can make it work. It seems like fun, if anything.
Until next Wednesday,
- K
P.S. I just wanted to put it out there that its not supposed to SNOW in OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!! I'm not ready for Winter yet!... :(

Da word in FE8A

Halloween video
Halloween is on Friday!! Plus the class auction is on Friday there will be many great prizes that can be bought. In class we have been designing the Rube Goldberg machine which must be finished by Nov. 12. Next each person will write a research paper on a company who uses their simple machine in their manufacturing process. The groups consist of lever, wedge, screw, pulley,and a wheel and axle. Today in class we all came up with ideas and put them all together and got 1 very big and good machine. Like the bike in the picture the are many simple machines like wheel and axle for both the gears and the wheel. Plus the pedals are levers. put it all together and this machine is much faster than walking resulting in a huge mechanical advantage.

Next time Eric :p

Sample vs. Census in the Election

In FE8B Math we have been doing Data Management. We have been learning about different kinds of graphs, how to infer things from a set of data, measures of Central Tendancy (mean, median, mode), if data is biased or reliable (which I talked about in my last blog), and data collected from a sample versus a census.
I was thinking about where you would see samples instead of a census in the real world and one obvious thing came to mind - polls that were predicting the Canadian Election and the actual results. On nodice.ca (http://www.nodice.ca/elections/canada/polls.php), the last poll posted before the actual results was a sample taken from a company called "Angus Reid Strategies". Compared to election results, they were pretty close. Here are what they said (ordered Bloc Quebecios, Conservative, Green Party, Liberal, NDP):
Agus Reid Strategies: 9%, 37%, 7%, 27%, 20%
Canada: 10%, 37.6%, 6.8%, 26.2%, 18.2%
As you can see, the results are very similar. However, if you look at a sample taken from three and a half weeks ago (Sept. 25th) from the same company, the results are very different. The Liberals and NDP are tied, and the Conservatives are much higher. Therefore, some of the samples are close, but some aren't, so you have to be careful as the sample could be almost exact, or way off.
One last thought: Even the election results aren't a census. Only 59% of Canadian citizens elidgable to vote did, so therefore the results are still only a sample. I wonder how the results would change if ALL Canadians 18+ voted...
Until Next Wednesday,
-K

Just another Blog

What an exciting week!!! Learning about structures and the conditions and terms to building structures is all so fun! Just recently we have done a reading and writing quiz/test on structures. Good thing class FE7B's love and passion for science made all the work easy to handle. Just today we had to make a structure that could withstand the weight of multiple textbooks. The team with the structure that could hold the most textbooks won! Our winners held seven textbooks but the all time record for this task was about 36 textbooks! This is an equivalent to 170 pounds! The record holding structure was shell structure made up of three cylinders that were spread apart and attached by tape. The tape would help so the cylinders would not shoot outwards when pressure was applied to it. Because the cylinders were spread out, the weight would also be spread out so the force would not be as strong on the structure. Congratulations to everybody who participated!







Math class in Fe7B is just as exciting! So far in data management, we have learned about paradox data and biased graphs. Most people do not realize that we see biased graphs every single day! Even when watching t.v you can see biased graphs that company's use for advertisement. Today I found a biased graph in The Globe And Mail and here are some pictures of it so all you readers can see them too.


The graph on the left is not biased but the graph on the right is. The newspaper wanted to emphasize how Apple's iPhone has been making many sales recently.







You can see that the reason for the problem is that the scale's intervals are very far apart.

Thank you for reading! Have a fun P.A day this Friday!

stuff happening in FE8A

KEEP YOUR EARS OPEN ! The census and sample unit test will be told soon in class this week so be
sure listen well for the date. On the topic of math we are into the new unit data-management, in this
unit we will cover ways to collect, organize, and graph data. Thursday in class each student conducted a survey on a topic of their choice then toke the data and organized it into a pie-graph. In science we have been learning about simple machines like pulleys, incline plane, screw, wedge, and wheel and axle. After
learning about these machines we will construct a Rube Goldberg machine to move a golf ball across the
class room.

Eric leis -C ya.

Hello there! Sorry for my post being late!! I think the thanksgiving turkey got to my head! So far in class FE7B math we have just started a new unit of data management! Recently we have been learning about stem and leaf plots and taking collected data and putting them into graphs, comparing different graphs and what data is suitable for what graphs etc. This new unit will help us students process different information and explore different types of graphs as well. Although, this new unit may be fun, it can also be challenging so do not forget about Mr.Foster's extra help days before and after school. You can even show up just to play some mind-challenging games.





Science in FE7B is becoming more interesting by the day!! After finishing up our safety unit, we are now entering a new unit of structures! Soon all our questions about structures will be answered. So, far we have learned about the three main types of structures. Solid, Frame, and shell.

Here is an example of a solid structure:

*A dam


Here is an example of a frame structure:

* A frame of a house

Here is an example of a shell structure:

*A hot air balloon