<![CDATA[What's going on in Mr. Solarz' Class? - 27

<![CDATA[What's going on in Mr. Solarz' Class? - 27 - Julia Z.]]>Thu, 22 May 2025 07:34:31 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Motivational Posters]]>Thu, 22 May 2014 16:20:36 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/motivational-postersManage Goals and Time

Picture from: https://img1.etsystatic.com/021/0/8114373/il_340x270.479661625_1tw7.jpg

Persist Despite Setbacks

Picture from: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CwdKOHj8egM/UffFXG2mCVI/AAAAAAAABKg/J8yZ-OgnhHM/s1600/fast-runner-clip-art-i8.JPG

]]><![CDATA[Watery Earth Lesson 5: Learning About Groundwater]]>Wed, 21 May 2014 19:34:40 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/watery-earth-lesson-5-learning-about-groundwater

Where did all the water that you poured into your cup go?
How does this model simulate what really happens to groundwater in the world? (How does water get underground? Where is water stored underground?)
Based on this experiment, what can happen to a drop of water after it falls on the ground?
Do you think humans use groundwater? If so, what do we use groundwater for?
How do humans get groundwater to the surface? Is this easy to do?
Do you think groundwater can move anywhere else? Where? How does it move?
How have your ideas about what happens to a drop of water changed since you started learning more about groundwater?

As you can see in the below drawing (click Read More), our water came to the bottom of the cup after turning an orange-ish brown.
This simulates groundwater really well. For example, the water gets into the ground when it rains, and still has to pass through many layers of different types of soil.
I think that it will be absorbed in the ground and go through the layers there. The model we used isn't the only ground with layers.
I think that humans use groundwater, but not for many things. The only example I can think of is drilled wells that allow us to get underground water.
I do not think there is any easy way to do this. In my well example, the only way water is really ever brought to the surface from the well is from a bucket dropped deep into the well and pulled up, full of water. This can get pretty tedious, at least I believe so.
I think groundwater can and does move all around the Earth. Since the Earth spins, there is always a downhill in some direction, and that would be where it would go.
It has changed my idea of the path of a drop of water when it falls in the grass or dirt, and has made me wonder more about concrete. Is it like bedrock, which no water can pass through, or more like gravel, which water can certainly go through? Does this process happen with a drop on the sidewalk, or is that something different altogether?

]]><![CDATA[Lesson 6- Pioneer Pastimes]]>Mon, 19 May 2014 17:03:14 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/lesson-6-pioneer-pastimes

                                                                                                                                                           April 27, 1849
    We have been walking through the day, and sometimes into the night, since we left our homes in Independence. That is why I gladly agreed when our wagon train suggested stopping for a few days at the most beautiful place I had ever seen. There was a spring of water, which we used for swimming and drinking. I might do the laundry here, since the young children are covered in filth, and I imagine I look quite similar. We will not get quite as close to the leisurely life we led back home as we have today until we reach Oregon's wondrous land. The group has gotten extremely close, sharing games and fun. People of every age have joined in on learning these wonderful new games.
We all loved the games, and remembered our favorites for when we next rest.
    We have been eating many foods. I much prefer the rabbit stew we enjoyed for lunch this afternoon to the badger we ate last week. Why must we eat these horrid-tasting animals? Killing them has no benefit to us, with the exceptions of a few animals that make comfortable coats and hats to gain us the money we have lost and will need. We also picked beautiful fresh berries and vegetables.
    We must still milk the cows and wash dishes.

]]><![CDATA[Watery Earth Lesson 5]]>Thu, 15 May 2014 19:16:19 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/watery-earth-lesson-5

Do people really struggle to find clean drinking water?
What percentage of water is salt and what percentage is fresh?
Of the 4 kinds of fresh water, what percentage of all freshwater does each make up?

Many millions of people have to settle for bad drinking water every day. 783 million people don't have any water at all. We are lucky enough to border Lake Michigan, so we don't suffer. There is a real problem, and we are the spoiled brats that get what everyone desires.
My guess is that 20% of all water is salt water, and 80% is fresh water.
I predict water in the air makes up 60%, ground water makes up 20%, surface water makes up 15%, and ice makes up 5% of all fresh water.

Salt Water 97.239%
Fresh Water 2.761%
Water in air 0.001%
Surface Water 0.01%
Ground Water 0.61%
Ice 2.14%

I was so surprised how much was salt water, even though I probably have it in a note somewhere. Some things never cease to amaze. I was also surprised how little water is in the air. Every day, as I look at the forecast, I see percentages in the 50%-60% range. I wonder what those numbers are out of. Or better yet, how much of the world's water is just in our local air every day.

]]><![CDATA[Lesson 5-Crossing the Kansas River]]>Thu, 15 May 2014 15:51:57 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/lesson-5-crossing-the-kansas-riverI enjoyed this Skype. Some cool things I learned were that, since beaver felt hats were so popular, famous trappers came through the Yellowstone area. It was also cool to learn about obsidian, a type of lava glass that is extremely durable. It was carved into arrowheads when found.
I also learned some cool facts about Yellowstone. For example, the hot springs colored like rainbows were interesting to find out were boiling hot and acidic. I also learned about mud pots that bubble up and makes sounds like pops. I found out, surprisingly, Yellowstone is a super volcano only 2-3 miles above a lava source, which is pretty close considering that some places are as far as 30 miles away.
I was glad to take part in this Skype because I learned a bit about the Oregon Trail and a little bit about Yellowstone that I had never learned before.

Hot spring

Beaver felt Hat

Obsidian Arrowheads

]]><![CDATA[Lesson 3 - What Pioneers Took with them on the Oregon Trail]]>Mon, 12 May 2014 19:31:40 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/lesson-3-what-pioneers-took-with-them-on-the-oregon-trail Our wagons are called prairie schooners. They are like small boats on wheels. We have decided to buy 6 of them. Unfortunately, that practically ruined our budget, so we had to cut our list a lot. I do like the wagons, though. They look like beautiful carriages made for a king and queen. We have loaded them all with our supplies, and are ready to leave for Oregon. I hope we can make the 2,000 mile walk. I am pretty nervous because I have heard about these horrible problems people have encountered. I wish for smooth riding all the way to Oregon, although with 2,000 miles of room for error, it is highly unlikely my wish will become the truth. If only there was a faster way to transport us all across this tedious, lng trail. I so want to enjoy it, but I cannot rest my horrible thoughts of death or other problems just as dangerous.
There are 70 wagons in our wagon train, and I wonder how many were quite that large. I was shocked to find I could count the large amount of wagons before me and my friends.

Our Solvr page
Our Google Doc

]]><![CDATA[Watery Earth Lesson 4.3 - Finding Surface Water]]>Thu, 08 May 2014 19:17:40 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/watery-earth-lesson-43-finding-surface-water1

U.S. Surface Water

Illinois Surface Water

Arlington Heights Surface Water

Reflection:

What bodies of surface water did you find while examining the three maps?
Were there any types of surface water on the Arlington Heights map that you weren’t able to find on the Illinois map? If so, why?
Were there any types of surface water on the Illinois map that you couldn’t find on the United States map? If so, why?
What are some names of the bodies of water in Illinois and Arlington Heights? What bodies of water did you identify?

Answers:

I found a lot of lakes and rivers. I also found some straits, channels, and more than enough reservoirs and bays!
There were some bodies of water I couldn't find on the Illinois map in the Arlington Heights map. Most of them were small lakes, some too small to have their name on the map!
I couldn't find any straits, bays, or even reservoirs! I think this is because we don't border the type of water bays are found against (ocean), and since we have so much water on Illinois' borders, we don't need reservoirs to give us fresh water. As for the straits, I think that it has something to do with the shape of the water and land around it, much like a bay or peninsula.
I identified some bodies of water I did and din't know about. Some of these include the Mississippi River, Lake Michigan, the Illinois River, Lake Arlington, and Lake Louise.

]]><![CDATA[Richard Chapman Skype]]>Thu, 08 May 2014 17:00:22 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/richard-chapman-skypeI was pretty surprised to find out all the differences between wolves and coyotes, especially that from a wolf's front foot to their shoulder to their hip and down forms a square, but that on a coyote is a rectangle (see pictures below).

Wolf

http://www.natgeocreative.com/comp/MI/001/1300827.jpg

Coyote

http://wfld.images.worldnow.com/images/24329408_SA.jpg

Some other things I was surprised to learn were that when the wolves were killed, the coyote's population exploded. I didn't realize how important wolves were to keeping coyotes in check. Another interesting thing was that they accept even elderly and sick, and I think that causes more people to die of unsanitary conditions than any other situation. It was also surprising to me that the wagons rode side by side on the trail. You'd think, with such deep tracks, they followed right behind each other. Did you know, back in the day, bug spray was buffalo and bear fat?
Also, I was really surprised to discover that a dog has a disease that can infect wolves and coyotes! Wow!

]]><![CDATA[Science Fair]]>Thu, 08 May 2014 16:29:49 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/science-fairScience Fair Presentation-First Draft

I'm glad I recorded my presentation on video before the Science Fair because:

I knew what to start with, and I also knew what didn't work as well to begin with.
I learned what parts of my board I could exclude (politely) from my presentation, and how I could share everything without taking many minutes.

Science Fair Presentation-Improved Version

By the end of the Science Fair, my presentation was much better because:

I told it to so many people, and started realizing what to change.
I got familiar with my information. This helped me to share more in less time.
I started seeing the purpose in all parts of the poster. By the end, a creative piece of foam turned into a crucial point in my presentation.
Some of my visitors commented on my project and taught me more. I even used one comment to answer some people's questions!

Overall, I think that the Science Fair was a valuable experience because I learned some things after my learning. I showed it to a lot of people, and some of them could even teach me things.

I definitely made some mistakes along the way, but I learned from them. Here are some examples. In my experiment, I only did one trial per brand. I couldn't learn from this now, but in the future I could. Another thing I made a mistake on was that I forgot to share all of my brands and my complete results. I did, however, add this into my presentation.

If I were give the chance to do anything differently, I would do more trials. It is way more valuable to have exact results over many trials. I might like to retry the experiment with multiple trials.

]]><![CDATA[1 - Arriving in Independence, Missouri in 1843]]>Tue, 06 May 2014 15:47:55 GMThttps://psolarz.weebly.com/27---julia-z/1-arriving-in-independence-missouri-in-1843    When James McVee asked us why we were moving west, I told him that we are excited to go to Oregon because of the inexpensive, lush farmland, and to find new jobs to support our families. I also said that we wanted to find a little bit more room than we had in the overcrowded cities we were leaving behind, and the nicer weather we had heard of played a big role, too.
    I also told him about all the things I had heard about others moving to the gold in California, and that many wanted to become rich there from the precious metal. Also, many were talking about the horrors of being forced into the west.
    I introduced myself as Zeynep, and told him not only about the harsh conditions my crops suffered, but also about how my job had become unnecessary in the wave of time, and how I needed the beautiful crops expected from Oregon to make a living and survive.
    I continued to talk to him about how excited I was to get beautiful farmland and live in happiness for many years to come, and to meet people there and along the way with rough pasts and bright futures just like me. I also mentioned how I would fit in so much better in the wonderful life I had planned.

The Oregon Trail (click image to go to the source)

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