My Favorite Peer Projects

Peer Projects

    One of the peer projects that I really enjoyed a lot was the one over Dark Matter by Hannah Morgan. I really enjoyed it since dark matter is one of the topics I constantly hear being brought up in any sci-fi related works. The term had always been familiar to me but I was never sure as to what it really was. From the project I learned that dark matter is defined as a type of hypothetical matter that cannot be seen with telescopes, but that makes up most of the matter in the universe. I also learned that there are about 3 different types of dark matter classifications Cold, meaning the particles move relatively slow, Hot, meaning that its is relatively fast moving particles, and warm meaning that it is neither hot nor cold. Another Peer project that I really enjoyed was the one about the unique properties of space by Calvin Vu. In that project I learned some of the basic properties in space and how it differentiates from Earth such as how there is no sound in space, how you couldn't light a match or start a fire, and how the infinitely expanding universe will probably continue to do so forever. Finally the last peer project that I really enjoyed learning from was the Theorized Forms of life by Neil Tyler. In that project I learned that any form of extraterrestrial life out there in the universe would probably be non-carbon based. I also learned that one of the reasons why life is able to exist on Earth is due to the dependence on biochemical cycles such as that of the water cycle and the carbon cycle. 

Earth Day

       Earth Day

           What is Earth day? It is an event in which it gets celebrated every April 22. During this event people cut back on their regular routine for the sake of environmental protection. The first ever Earth day started back in 1970, proposed in San Francisco, Earth day is now being celebrated around the world. An estimated total of 192 different countries are amused to partake in the world holiday. Earth day is an important event because unlike any other festivity earth day helps us become aware for the future. Generally speaking most people like to watch less TV or turn off the ac when the are not home to conserve energy. Some people like to go around and spread the message of earth to their community and take action cleaning up the environment and even replacing old light bulbs for energy efficient ones. some cool facts about earth day is that Gaylord Nelson actually founded Earth Day while he was working as a US senator. Some big changes its caused around the world was on Earth Day 2012, when more than 100,000 people rode bikes in China to reduce CO2 emissions. Finally one other meaningful year for earth day was 2011, when a total of 28 million trees were planted in Afghanistan alone. 

Nebulae

Nebulae

If you are here on this page then you are going to learn a little thing about my Earth and Space science project for this quarter. So what in the world is a Nebula? The word itself comes from the Latin language meaning "cloud".  Well Nebulae are these beautiful gigantic clouds that float around our universe like gigantic cluster of fog. The way that Nebulae are formed is when the various matter and particles that exist within the universe, also known as interstellar medium, their equilibrium breaks.This is due to a gravitational collapse which in turn causes the matter to slowly attract towards each other and clump up into what later becomes a Nebula. When this material collapses under its own weight many things form out of its own weight it can even form stars within the center. One of the reasons why we can see these beautiful clouds of dust is because of the ultraviolet radiation they emit when they concentrate on one spot. As these wavelengths hit earth they allow us to detect the Nebula that emits it from the dark and distant space. A Nebula is primarily made out of dust, hydrogen, helium and other different ionized gases.

Peer Projects

Peer Projects

        There were a lot really cool peer projects in my opinion this 9 weeks. Maybe its because I really do enjoy the incredible topic of space which I always find to be really interesting. One of these projects that I was really curious with was "The Moon Landing Conspiracy". Not because I believe in the conspiracy per say, but because it was a bunch of ideas and theories that I found really peculiar. The motive behind why for some crazy reason the moon landing would be a sham did seem correct, to beet the Soviets in the Space Race. Although this can be discredited as it can serve to show why the landing sites would be real, to beat the Soviets in the Space Race. So even though it is incredibly unlikely to have been a sham, seeing alleged evidence like the supposed "C Rock" that I had never heard off was pretty interesting. Another project I found really interesting was "Miranda: Uranus Moon" which is about a planetary moon that is in my opinion just absolutely insane. So its starts off with the cool story of being named after Shakespeare work of "The Tempest" as it was first discovered in 1948. But there's plenty of objects out in space with stories like that. What is really interesting is the very Surface of the moon itself.  It has some of the weirdest solid structure I have ever seen on a moon. Like is these massive Ice rifts in the middle of nowhere and has these super odd race track-like marks on the edge of it. Making a topographic map of this would be insane.  And finally the last project that I found interesting was Solar Superstorms. The realization that we could get hit with one really struck hard.

Space Travel

Space Travel

     So you kinda cant talk about the history or existence of space travel without mentioning the notorious Space Race between Russia and the United States. This race was in turn a direct result of the countries desire to show their power and superiority to see who could dominate in the Cold War. And the existence of the Space race, much like the cold war, can be traced all the way towards the end of the Second World War. Beginning with the capturing of German missile technology from both nations, who simultaneously began to develop the technology. But it wasn't until the Russians space programs success in launching of first ever satellite Sputnik that really kicked things of. With both Nations finding Space travel as a form of further competition. The NASA space program was created and was in charge of the Mercury and Gemini projects. Soon after the Apollo lunar mission's came into development. With Successful lunar landing from the Apollo 11 mission came an end to the great Space Race and lunar mission continued to occur there after with most of them having great success. But though the Space Race may have ended, the space frontier has been largely left unexplored. Its not until recent years that new missions to increase human exploration began to unravel, with the hopes of the MARS ONE mission leading to the colonization of Mars. This space mission will be one to take humans to live out the rest of their lives for the first time in a planet other than Earth.

Halley's Comet

Halley's Comet

 My third quarter project is over Halley's Comet. Halley is a comet whose orbital period generally would last between 75-76 years around the sun. It is actually the only short period comet in our solar system that humans can actually see more than once with their own naked eye in an a single lifetime! Halley's comet is made of both different ices, (such as frozen water, carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane) mixed in with some dust. As it orbits around its path it leaves a beautiful trail composed of of both those gas and dust behind. One of the coolest and most amazing things about this comet is its orbital pattern around the sun. At its closest distance to the sun, Halley's comet travels in between the orbits of mercury and Venus and at its farthest distance it travels out to reach past Pluto's orbit within its 75 years of orbit in Solar System. This in turn would then have to mean that in order to achieve does large distances in such a short amount of time it has to travel at an average speed of 70.56 km/s (254,016 km/hr). Another Interesting thing about Halley would be that it orbital rotation around the sun is highly elliptical. This comet is so historical to mankind that its even been recordings of Halley’s comet since around 240 B.C!

My 3 Favorite Peer Projects (#2)

My 3 favorite peer projects

One of my favorite projects that my peers presented was the "Spellbinding Weather Rarities" which was all about strange weather formations and how they come to be. In the presentation we saw beautiful weather sites diamond dust and learn the trick to its construction. That being a warm front pushing in humidity into a cold clear area which then forms ice crystals.I got to learn more about the awesome site of the Catatumbo in Venezuela. I love this awesome place because of how cool it looks whit all of the lighting crashing down and was so happy to see it in the project. I learned that the reason so much lightning strikes down there is because of the multiple number of warm fronts coming in and mixing with the methane gasses from the swamp and river.

Another one of my favorite projects is "Tornado Alley" which is an area within the United States that is particularly tornado prone. The area is located anywhere between the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico. I learned about how the formation of the tornadoes is similar to the physic properties that allow a an ice skater to spin around. They are generally created with the occurrence of three different elements, those elements being warm air, moist air, and instability in the atmosphere.

And finally the last peer presentation that I found to be my favorite was the “Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon” presentation. In this presentation I learned about the long skinny pillar rock formation called Hoodoos that are located in Utah. I also learned that the rock formation are made out of limestone forms from frost wedging weathering. The hoodoos area in Wyoming has over 300 freeze/thaw cycle that caused the giant 5-150 feet tall hoodoos to form.