Audrey


 * 3/24/2011, Entry #1 **

** ﻿An Exploration of Electronic Devices **

Electronic devices must be able to store a lot of information while at the same time being able to produce sound, light, heat, etc. Analog signals are signals which occur within a specific electrical device. I say specific because there are some electrical devices that use digital signals instead of analog signals. Analog signals change the electric current in a way that the current smoothly increases or decreases. Digital signals are the same as analog signals except for the fact that they change in jumps instead of smooth transitions. Semiconductors on the periodic table are referred to as metalloids. These metalloids are useful in electronic devices because their conductivity can be controlled by the use of adding impurities. A diode is useful because it only allows current to pass through it in one direction, a diode can also convert an alternating current into a direct current. Transistors intensify the electric signals within an electrical device. Transistors are can also block an electrical current (therefore it can be used as an on and off switch). Integrated circuits contain many components such as diodes, transistors and other solid-state components. Integrated circuits are made up of a single semiconductor and can be extremely small.

When traveling to Mars in search of life, electronic devices must be used to ensure success. In fact NASA //has// sent electronic devices to Mars to search of life. These devices are the Mars Rovers. The Mars Rovers are electronic devices themselves, which proves that electronic devices are important when searching for life on Mars. The Mars Rovers are robots which can send photographs back to Earth from Mars, be controlled from earth, and process information way beyond your tablet’s hard drive. The Mars Rover contains millions of diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits. Electronic devices are definitely important when on a space mission to find life on Mars.

//Ms. Mc: Very good overview of electronics and some good ideas of how the rovers use electronic devices. A few more specific examples would have strengthened your second paragraph (i.e., launch systems, navigations systems, communication systems, etc. for the rocket itself). 9/10 //

**4/5/2011, Entry #2**


 * History of Rockets **

Rockets are not just new inventions, the history of rockets date back to around 100 B.C. A Greek named Hero of Alexandra created the first rocket-resembling invention known as the Hero Engine. The Hero engine started with a large kettle full of water over a fire. Held above the kettle with pipes was an empty metal sphere that had two L-shaped pipes connected to it. (See Figure 1 below). The way it worked was the steam from the boiling water traveled through the pipes and out of the L-shaped pipes on the sphere, causing the sphere to rotate. Another early representation of a fascination with rockets was the Chinese in the first century. First the Chinese filled bamboo tubes with gunpowder and through them into fire for celebrations. Some of the bamboo tubes did not explode but were launched from the fire. Realizing this, the Chinese attached bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder to arrows and later realized that if they lit the gunpowder the arrow could fire itself. The Chinese later learned to put the rocket on a stick to guide it. This is considered to be the first true rocket. Date?  In 1898 and Russian schoolteacher known as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was the first to speak the idea of space travel by rockets. He also said that liquid propellant were better for rockets. He is now known as the Father of Modern Astronautics. On March 16, 1926, Robert H. Goddard successfully used a liquid propellant to fly a rocket for the first time in history. He also proved that using liquid propellants made the rocket go faster and travel farther. After this discovery, Goddard created a gyroscope system as well as developing more space inside of a rocket to hold scientific instruments. He also installed recovery system so the rocket could land. For this, Goddard is considered the Father of Modern Rocketry.

In the early 20th century, people became more interested in rockets and small societies started popping up everywhere. The societies created rockets of their own and Verien Fur Raumschiffart (a German society), also known as the Society for Space Travel, created the V-2 rocket. The rocket had a great thrust caused by a mixture of liquid oxygen and alcohol which burned. The Germans used this rocket to attack London in WWII. The V-2 also created large explosion that destroyed things as big as whole city blocks. When the United States realized the potential of having the rocket as a military weapon they began experimenting. Not long after the Soviet Union launched the first earth-orbiting satellite (named Sputnik I) the US created NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) which was formed to explore space peacefully for the benefit of the human race (See NASA logo below). Today rockets are not only launched to the moon but carry people and are even traveling to M ars with robots in search of life.

//Ms. Mc: Excellent summary of the history of rocketry and great drawings! 15/15//


 * 4/4/2011, ****Entry #3 **

**The Stages of a Rocket when Flying on a Mission to Mars **

media type="custom" key="8965014"

Instructions:
 * Click the red stop sign to stop the program.
 * Turn on your volume.
 * Click the green flag to restart the program.


 * <span style="background: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">4/13/2011, Entry #4 **

**﻿﻿ Rocket Parts **

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<span style="font-family: calibri,Size; font-size: 16px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The many parts of a rocket help to control and aid the rocket during its flight. The nose cone on a rocket slices through air and helps to avoid air resistance. The body tube of a rocket also prevents air resistance from slowing the rocket down and provides a space for the rocket motor, recovery wadding, motor mount, and recovery system. The launch lug on the rocket is used only in the beginning of the rocket’s flight because a guiding stick is stuck through it to guide the rocket at the lift-off. The fins of a rocket balance the rocket in air and help to make the rocket fly straight. Inside of the rocket there is a recovery system, recovery wadding, a motor mount, and a rocket motor. The recovery system blows the nose cone off and releases a parachute so the rocket can land safely. The recovery wadding is placed between the rocket motor and the recovery system to prevent the recovery system from getting hot or catching fire while the motor is running. The motor mount holds the motor in place and the rocket motor has gunpowder which projects the rocket into the air.

//<span style="font-family: calibri,Size; font-size: 16px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Ms. Mc: Excellent labels and description of what each part does! 20/20 //

**<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">4/18/2011, Entry #5 **

** Rocket Launch Lab Analysis and Write-Up **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The purpose of the experiment was to launch a rocket and determine how the mass of the rocket affects its apogee. When the rocket was launched, the thrust of the motor overcame inertia and gravity; this is called lift-off. Lift-off starts the upward motion of the rocket making it able to reach the apogee. During powered flight, air resistance started to act on the rocket but the force of the motor was greater than air resistance and gravity (which had both increased in force). Powered flight is the most important stage for the height of the apogee because powered flight causes the rocket to accelerate upwards faster and higher. When the rocket started to coast, the forces acting on the rocket were air resistance and gravity, the motor was not running but due to inertia the rocket continued its path upward, yet still slowing down and allowing gravity to pull more on it which eventually lead to the apogee. When the rocket reached its apogee the force of gravity overcame inertia and the rocket started to descend towards the ground; because of these stages it was hypothesized that if the rocket had too much or too little mass then the rocket would reach a smaller apogee. This was hypothesized because if the rocket had too much mass then the motor would not be able to cause the rocket to lift-off due to gravity and the low amount of thrust or fuel able to accelerate the rocket as high. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">After the experiment was conducted the results were recorded (refer graph 1 below). The mass was the independent variable in the experiment and ranged from 42.8g to 48.7g. The masses of the rockets (in grams) were as following; 42.8g, 42.9g, 43.6g, 43.9g, 44.1g, 46.1g, and 48.7g. The range of the height of the apogee of the rockets ranged from 71m to 135m. The height of the apogee in meters was; 71m, 74m, 81m, 84m, 87m, 104m, 135m. As shown in the graph below, it was determined that there was a direct relationship between the data; not including the outliers of 135m and 84m which happened to be the lightest and heaviest rockets as well. The hypothesis was not confirmed because the heaviest rocket (mass of 48.7g) did not have the lowest apogee as was thought. The flight of the rockets may have been disturbed by the weather on the day the rockets were launched; the wind could have blown the rockets a certain way to the point where they did not reach their maximum apogee. As well as the fact that the masses of the rocket varied little, could have affected the accuracy of the data. Another way the data may not be completely correct is because of the variation in the people who used the angle guns; no two rockets had the same measurer. Therefore the results of the experiment may not be completely correct. <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; tab-stops: 256.5pt; tabstops: 256.5pt;">


 * 4/25/2011, Entry #6 **

** Galaxies and Moons ** <span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: 16px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; overflow: hidden; tab-stops: 256.5pt; tabstops: 256.5pt;">What is a galaxy? How do they form?

Galaxies started to form 2 billion years after the Big Bang. The universe had cooled enough to let the atom form and gravity collapsed that matter together to create the galaxy. A galaxy is made up of a large group of stars, gas, and dust. The stars, gas, and dust create a shape; a spiral, an elliptical, or an irregular. These are the groups in which galaxies are categorized. The Earth is within the Milky Way Galaxy (see Figure 4 for image of the Milky Way Galaxy), which is a spiral galaxy.



How did our moon come to revolve around Earth?

The Moon came to be when a planet the size of Mars collided with the Earth. The collision caused a large portion of the Earth to dislodge itself, but because the mass and the gravitational pull the Earth still had on it were larger than its own, it started to orbit around the Earth. See Figure 5 for image of the Earth’s moon.



Ms. Mc: Good answers, pictures, and captions! If you say something occurs after something else, you need to give the date for when the first thing occurred (i.e., When did the Big Bang occur?). -1/2. 9.5/10


 * 5/5/2011, Entry #8**

In challenge 3 the robot is designed to drive on the table and stop before it falls off of the table. This is an example of what a Mars Rover might to before it falls in a hole on Mars. Another example of what this may be an example of is the Mars Rover finding an element on the ground such as salt with the color detector. The rover will start moving when “go” is said and will stop when it detects the difference in color between the blue tape and the tabletop, then it will say “watch out”. Block 1 – A “wait for” or time block that tells the robot to use the sound sensor in port 2 to detect a sound over a volume of 60 and trigger Block 2. Block 2 – A move block which tells the robot to use its servomotors C and B to move forwards at a speed of 75 for an unlimited amount of time. Block 3 – Another “wait for” or time block which tells the robot to use the light sensor in port 3 to detect a shade of 43 and trigger Block 4. Block 4 – Another move block that tells the robot to stop moving using its C and B servomotors. Block 5 – A sound block which tells the robot to play the sound file titled “watch out” at a volume of 75 once.
 * What the Blocks are and What They do in Challenge 3 **