Mikaela

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= ﻿Entry #1: 3/24/11- Electronics and Computers = = ﻿﻿An analog signal changes smoothly. The difference between an analog signal and a digital signal is that the digital signal varies in jumps and is vary rocky change. In electronic devices, you need semi-conductors because electronic devices are made from them. They let some electrons to flow through and do not let them go through the surface of the object. If it were a TV for example, it would let the pixels create the image, and not let them escape onto me and you. Diodes allow a current to pass through one way. Transistors are used as electric switches. Finally, Integrated circuits contain Diodes and Transistors and use them for electronic devices. = If you were to travel to Mars, you would need a spacecraft. This would take you there. For the spaceship, you will need rockets to power the ship. Without the rockets, you could not go anywhere. Then, you would need space suits. This is so that you can breathe in a non-oxygen area. If you did not have these suits, you would die. You would also need a navigator, so that you won’t end up in another galaxy. A pilot’s quarter is necessary. This would hold the steering equipment and many other crazy buttons that each performs different tasks.

Ms. Mc: Well done on the first paragraph. You were to describe what electronics you would use in paragraph two though. 8/10

= Entry #2: ﻿4/4/11- Rocket Simulation = Directions to start simulation: media type="custom" key="8956104"
 * 1) Make sure volume is ON
 * 2) Press green flag
 * 3) Watch

= Entry #3: 4/5/11- Rockets, A Brief History =

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In this article, we learned many things about rockets. No one is aware when the first real rocket was created, or by who. The chinese made gunpowder to make explosions at celebrations. Then they started experimenting with tubes that they would fill with gunpowder. After many attempts a true rocket was born. This was the first RECORDED rocket in history. The Chinese first used it in 1232, when they were at war with the Mongols. It made the Mongols fearful, and they retreated. In 1898, a Russian school teacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky had an idea of using these rockets for space exploration. He is the reason we have done all this research of outer space, that an American was the first to set foot on the moon, and he is the reason that we are trying to go to Mars. =====

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Many other countries have tried to create a similar rocket, with no success. During World War 2, Germany created a rocket. However, it was too late for it to change the outcome of the war. Then, the Soviet Union created a satellite that could orbited the Earth. The world was stunned that the Soviet Union accomplished this. The US decided to have its turn in the fun. We created a satellite that orbited Earth. The rocket evolved from a simple firework, to a giant machine, capable of going to the MOON! =====

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Ms. Mc. - Good general summary. One correction though -- many countries (Russia, China, and the European Space Agency) all have created many modern rockets. Please be sure to label your drawings/pictures in the future with a Fig. # and title. 12/15=====

= ﻿Entry #4: My Rocket =

[[image:My_rocket_is_awesome!.JPG caption="Figure 1: My Rocket"]]
====The nose cone of the rocket helps guide the rockets path and airflow. The body tube is what holds the recovery system and everything else inside the rocket. When our rockets were launched, as soon as the rocket reached its apogee the recovery system opened. The recovery system slowed the rocket down on its flight back on the ground. The launch lug is was is used to make sure that the nose cone guides the rocket in a straight line. The fins on the sides of the rocket also help guide the rocket. If one of the fins fell off then the rockets path would change to the left or right. The motor mount is to keep the rocket's motor intact and in the same place. Finally, is the rocket motor. The rocket motor has gun-powder and is what lets the rocket lift off. ==== ====//Ms. Mc: Good overall. You forgot the recovery wadding (-2) and didn't indicate which parts were inside the rocket (-1/2). Good explanation of the other parts. 17.5/20 //====

=Entry #5: 4/17/11- Rocket Launch =

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The rocket was creaed and launched. The purpose was to see if the rockets mass affected its apogee. It was made so that the gunpowder would explode the parachute and make it drop the ‘rover’. When the rocket was on the launch pad, there was a force of gravity and a force of air resistance. Then, it went up with the force of the engine, and there was air resistance and gravity that worked against it. It was hypothesized that the higher the mass, the lower the rocket will fly in the air because the more weight, the heavier the object. ======

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In Figure 1, there was an outlier. This outlier was most likely due to error that entered into the experiment. One of the ways error might have entered is human error. The apogee was measured using angle guns. The people that used the guns could have been off with the measurements. Another way was the way the fins were placed. One of the fins could have been a little off and it would have made a huge difference in the apogee. The most mass in a rocket was 46.9 grams. The least mass of a rocket was 41.5 grams. The lowest rocket went 62 meters in the air while the highest went 119 meters. There was no relationship in the mass or height. The hypothesis was not confirmed. This is because, it was said that the higher the mass, the lower the rocket will fly in the air. In Figure 1, the rocket with the least mass went almost the lowest in the air. The rocket that went the highest had a mass that was in the middle of all of the other rockets. ======

[[image:mkd_rocketgraph.JPG width="361" height="186"]]
Entry #6: 4/23/11- Crash Course What is a Quark? What types of quarks are there? - A quark is any group of elementary particles. It was said to be formed during the Big Bang as seen in Figure 1. The different types of quarks are up, down, top, bottom, charm and strange. What is a galaxy? How do they form? - A galaxy is any large collection of stars that can be recognized. Large gas clouds formed smaller gas clouds which created galaxies. As seen in Figure 2- our sun is in the bottom half of the galaxy.

//Ms. Mc: Good answers and pictures. The titles for your captions should be at least 3 words and more descriptive. (-1/2). 9.5/10//

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Our robot was to follow a blue line. After it followed the line, it was to drive in two circles. My robot followed these instructions. =====