Ava

3/23/11, Entry #1

** Electrical Devices on the Mission to Mars **
Electrical devices deal with many things, one of them being signals. There are two different types of signals, analog and digital. Analog signals are signals that vary smoothly in time. For example on a clock, the hand smoothly goes from second to second. However, a digital signal does not vary smoothly in time, and instead it changes in jumps. An example is a digital clock that just shows the minutes jumping, and not all the seconds. Signals are used in the electronic device, but what is the device actually made up of? The answer is semiconductors, which are elements that conduct electricity better than nonmetals, but worse than metals. However, they can do something neither of the other two can. Their electrical conductivity can be controlled by added impurities, which is when you add another element to the semiconductor. Diodes, transistors and integrated circuits are also used in electronic devices. Diodes are solid-states components that only allow the electricity to flow way. Transistors are other solid-state components, but they are used to make the signals bigger in an electronic device. Lastly, integrated circuits put both together in tightly packed interconnected solid-state components. They can contain millions of diodes and transistors because they are made of a semiconductor material. So now when you turn on your TV you will know more about what is going on in the inside instead of the outside.

Electrical devices are going to be very helpful on The Mission to Mars. One of the reasons is that they are more precise and careful than humans. Because we are not perfect, we have room for careless error, where a machine does not. There cannot be any mistakes on Mars, or in the space ships, because we want the mission to run smoothly and safely. Electronic devices can also be a lot smaller, but still hold large amounts of data. This will be useful if we need to send something in a small crack or somewhere where a human cannot reach. They can also be controlled easily from a great distance (from mars to earth, due to good programming. All in all, they will be very beneficial to The Mission to Mars, and we will use them a lot.

Lydia- This is very well written. You explained in a lot of detail exactly what the signals are, and semiconductors. You linked it together very well and created a nice, informative paragraph. For the Mission to Mars paragraph, you could have had a little bit of information from your first paragraph such as including the signals and how digital or analog signals would be helpful in a trip to Mars. Your second paragraph is very well written and you have great ideas. Keep up the good work!

//Ms Mc: Great oveview of the functions of electronic components. I like the idease you presented in your second paragraph, however, some specific examles of electronic devices we could use on our mission such as computer, guidance systems, communication systems, cameras, etc. would have been helpful. 9/10//

**3/29/11, Entry #2 **

= **A History of Rockets ** = = The first principle of rocketry (an aeolipile) was invented by the Greek Inventor, Hero of Alexandra in 100 B.C. From there, the Chinese built a simple form of gunpowder that they put in bamboo tubes to fire during religious festivals. However, it is thought that the tubes, instead of exploding, shot out of the fire, being propelled by the burning gunpowder. The Chinese then started experimenting with the gunpowder-filled tubes, to make a gunpowder-fueled arrow. The gunpowder would be attached to the arrow, and then the arrow would be shot from a bow. They soon realized that the arrows could be shot solely from the gunpowder, creating the first rocket. =



= The first use of true rockets was in 1232 during the battle of Kai-Keng, where the Chinese used them against the Mongols. The Mongols then produced their own, which may have led to the spread of rockets in Europe. In 1898, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a Russian school teacher, had the idea of using rockets for space travel. He also suggested the use of liquid propellants in a rocket to get a bigger range. For this, he has been named the Father of Modern Astronautics. Then, in the early 20th century, the American Robert H. Goddard conducted experiments in rocketry, eventually achieving the first successful flight with liquid-propelled jet on March 16, 1926. Even though it rose only 12.5 meters, traveled 56 meters, and stayed in the air for 2.5 seconds, it was an amazing feat. For this he was named Father of Modern Rocketry. =

= Other countries were also becoming interested in rockets, especially Germany, who used them in World War II. They were very strong weapons that could destroy a whole city block in one hit. Luckily, they came too late in the war to be used often. Moving away from the military use of them, the idea of putting them into space was becoming a reality. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched an Earth-orbiting artificial satellite up into space. Sputnik sent radio signals and made the US think that it wouldn't be long until the Russians could develop a satellite that could intercept radio signals. The US quickly followed by launching Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. In October of that year, the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) was also created. After that, many people and machines were launched into space to discover more about our amazing universe. =



//Ms. Mc: Good, concise summary of the history of rocketry. It would have been good to mention the contributions of the father of aeronautics and the father of modern rocketry. I like how your diagrams help illustrate some of your main points. Good work! 14/15//

Instructions:

 * 1) ====Turn on your volume to hear sounds in the program.====
 * 2) ====Click the green flag to begin the program.====
 * 3) ====Click the red button to stop the program.====
 * 4) ====Enjoy!====

**4/12/11, Entry #4 **

** Rocket with Labeled Parts ** ** There are many different pieces that go into a model rocket so it can fly, and each piece has a different purpose. The first is the **** Nose Cone ****, **** which ** makes the rocket more streamlined because it has good aerodynamics. Next is the ** Body Tube ****, **** which is th ** e main part of the rocket that makes up most of the structural design. The ** Recovery System **** is the ** parachute that is released to get the rocket to land safely. The ** Recovery Wadding ** protects the Recovery System from any hot gas that occurs during lift off. Also the ** Fins ** keep the rocket flying straight. The ** Launch Lug ** guides the rocket off of the launch pad. Last, but not least, is the ** Rocket Motor ** that provides the thrust to get the engine off of the ground. All of the parts are very important in the model rocket. //Ms. Mc: Good explanation and labelled photo. You forgot the motor mount (-2). Also, the body tube isn't inside. (-1/2). Don't forget to include a figure #. 17.5/20 //.

** Rocket Launch Lab Write Up **
The purpose of the experiment was to see if there was a relationship between the mass of a model rocket and the height of its apogee. During the process of launching the rocket, there were different forces acting on it. When the rocket was on the launch pad, the force of the launch pad was pushing the rocket up, while gravity is acting downwards. The forces were equal, so the rocket was not moving. When the lift off occurred, the force of the thrust of the engine overcame the force of gravity, so the rocket lifted into the air. During the powered flight, the force of the thrust overcame the forces of air resistance and gravity that were acting downwards. In coasting, the only forces that were acting were both downwards; the force of air resistance and the force of gravity. However, the rocket continued to travel upwards due to inertia (the resistance to stop doing what the object is already doing). Lastly, during the apogee, the force of gravity and the inertia were equal for a second, so it balanced in the air. However, the force of gravity soon overcame it, pulling the rocket downwards. It was hypothesized that the more massive the rocket, the less acceleration, due to Newton's 2nd Law of F=m*a. The force would be the same because there would be no increase in the amount of gunpowder used for the liftoff. So if the rocket was more massive, the acceleration will be less, making it fly lower.



**Graph 1. The Rocket Mass In Relationship To Its Apogee ** The average mass of the model rockets was 43.7 grams. The least massive was 42.2 grams, and the most massive was 44.5 grams. The average apogee was 67 meters, the highest being 81 meters, and the lowest being 53 meters. There was a direct relationship between the mass and the apogee of the rocket. The more massive the rocket was, the higher the apogee. According to the data, the hypothesis was not confirmed. It was hypothesized that the less massive the rocket was, the higher it would fly. However, the most massive rocket (44.5 g) had the highest apogee of 81m. The least massive rocket (42.2 g) had the lowest apogee of 53 meters. There were many variables that may have affected the experiment. First off, there was not a big enough change in mass of the rockets to determine if the apogee was related to it. Also, the wind outside was different for each rocket. Lastly, the measuring with the angle guns was varied greatly, because each time it was measured with a different person.

Answers to Galaxy Questions
** What is a quark? What types of quarks are there? ** Quarks are the smaller particles that protons and neutrons are made of. There are six different types of quarks, but the two that reside in protons and neutrons are Up and Down quarks, as shown in Figure 2.



** What is a galaxy? How did they form? ** A galaxy is a collection of stars and planets. It is made up of stars, gas and dust. Galaxies formed about two million years after the Big Bang. Gravity collapsed the matter, forming the galaxies. There are different classes of galaxies, spiral (as seen in Figure 2), elliptical or irregular. In the beginning of the Universe, galaxies used to collide frequently, but now they are more spread out. However, in about 3 billion years the Milky Way (as shown in Figure 2) might collide with the galaxy Andromeda.



Ms. Mc: Good answers and pictures. What are the other 4 quarks? (-1).

**Driving Course Challenge **

** The Challenge **

The purpose of the challenge was to program blocks on the computer to make the robot drive on a tape. It was difficult to get the blocks to do what we wanted, and there was much programming, but in the end we succeeded.



** Driving Course Programming Blocks **

** Block 1: ** A movement block telling the robot to activate servomotors C and B, making the robot travel forwards at 75% power for 2.5 seconds. This command made the robot travel about 60 cm forwards.

** Block 2: ** A movement block telling the robot to activate servomotors C and B, making the robot turn to the right at 189 degrees, at 50% power. This made block made the robot turn at a 90 degree angle to the right.

** Block 3: ** A movement block telling the robot to activate servomotors C and B, making the robot drive forwards for 1.4 seconds at 75% power. This made the robot drive about 30 cm forwards.

** Block 4: ** A movement block telling the robot to activate servomotors C and B, making the robot turn 189 degrees to the left, at 50% power. This command made the robot turn a 90 degree angle to the left.

** Block 5: ** A movement block telling the robot to activate servomotors C and B, making the robot drive backwards at 75% power for a certain amount of time. This block made the robot drive backwards about 20 cm.

** Block 6: ** A movement to display block telling the robot to activate servomotors C and B, making the robot turn right 1440 degrees, at 50% power. This made the robot spin in a circle twice to the right.

** Block 7: ** A sound block making the robot play a " applause " at 75% volume. This made the robot start applauding.

** Block 8: ** A display block telling the robot to display a smiley face. This made the robot show a smiley face on its screen.

** Block 9: ** A timer block telling the robot to wait for 3 seconds. This made the robot display the smiley face for three seconds.

** Block 10: ** A display block telling the robot to reset to a blank screen. This made the screen go blank again.