MAGS Science Blog

The Science Week Quiz
Get your answers to Mr Young by the end of Science Week (Friday 19 August) for a chance to win.
1. Although it is still debated, but largely recognized, the word ‘chemistry’ comes from an Egyptian word meaning
what?
2. Which metal is the most expensive and also the rarest.
3. What is the most common metal in the Earth’s crust?
4. What are the only two non-white metals?
5. What chemical causes the burning sensation we get from chilli peppers?
6. Where is 20% of Earth’s oxygen produced?
7. Dynamite contains which everyday food substance as an ingredient.
8. What is the rarest element on Earth at approximately only 28 grams in the Earth’s entire crust?
9. Three of the five states of matter are; Gases, Liquids, Solids. What are the other two?
10. What is the only letter not appearing on the Periodic Table?
11. Which New Zealand chemist won a Nobel Prize in chemistry, for his work on the model for an atom?
12. Which metal has the highest melting point?
13. What is the most abundant element in the universe and what is the most abundant element in the earth’s atmosphere,
crust, and oceans (combined)?
14. At room temperature, there are only two liquid elements. What are they?
15. At age 25, which Australian is the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel prize for science?
16. What is dihydrogen monoxide?
17. What is the difference between carbon -12 and carbon -14?
18. What are the 5 chemical elements named after planets (including a dwarf one)?
19. Which elements meanings are “evil spirit” and “one stone” in German?
20. Which scientist has won a Nobel prize for both Chemistry and Physics?

On Wednesday the 18th August, the Weather Channel attempted to enter the Guinness Book of Records by conducting the biggest every interactive weather observation.
Moama Grammar agreed to be a part of the action, and we (and other schools around Australia) had to record the temperature outside at 12pm.
On Wednesday it was particularly cold, wet and windy, however 8L took out thermometers, and recorded the temperature at a range of different locations around the school. In Maths class, after many calculations, they found the average temperature at Moama Grammar at 12pm on Wednesday the 18th of August to be 7oC (to the nearest degree!). Below is the image of the SmartBoard that the students used to record their temperatures in the different areas of the school.

This was submitted to the weatherchannel.com.au/bigreport, to be part of an attempt to break the world record for the most weather observations simultaneously. The findings were broadcasted on the Weather Channel at 6pm Wednesday evening.
The findings can be viewed at www.weatherchannel.com.au
We are proud to announce that we were part of a world record on this day, with the average temperature of 7oC at Moama Grammar proudly on display during the broadcast!

Thanks to Mr Young and 8L for helping this project go ahead, and lets hope the average temperature increases a bit as we head into spring!!!

Mr. Snow

Biodiversity research quiz. Answers to Mr Young by next Friday 27th August and the winners and answers will be the published in the blog after the comp. Great prizes up for grabs, so get cracking.

Research Question:
1. What is biodiversity?
2. How many levels are there of biodiversity?
3. A microbe is described as an anaerobic hyperthermophile. What does this mean?
4. The three main aims of conservation are?
5. An organism that obtains its food be reducing the fitness of a living host is known as?
6. The eggs of fishes are collectively called.
7. What is the scientific name for plants which produce flowers?
8. Name the type of system that has no biodiversity, no natural recycling and extinction of many species.
9. The main gas responsible for the brown haze in winter is?
10. The use of biological agents, such as bacteria or plants to remove or neutralise pollutants is called?
11. TURE or FALSE: In NSW 86 out of 130 mammal species are under threat of extinction?
12. WHO AM I? It is said that I inspired the helicopter. My tiny feet are poorly developed, but I am the only Ave that can fly backwards.
13. Why does biodiversity increase as you get closer to the equator
14. Why is Australia the only continent in the world to have monotreme’s?
15. In cells what type of plant would you find cell walls but no chloroplasts?
16. What do lepidopterists study?
17. Bactrian and the Dromedary are types of what?
18. How do drought tolerant trees reduce water loss in Australia?
19. The Mesozoic Era is the era in which dinosaur lived. It started 230 million years ago with the Triassic Period and finished 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period. What was the period in between called?
20. The third largest rock cave is found in China. What is its name, who discovered this cave and when?

On Tuesday 10th of August around 4pm a severe storm hit our school. Some of the staff and students witnessed wild weather that included a tornado that passed within 100 or so metres.  There was heavy, intense, hail that can be seen on the ground in the video. The wild weather also brought down trees and tore the roof off a home in Lignum Lane.

National Science Week 2010 is fast approaching. This year theme is “Australian Biodiversity” and there are many activities for students to get involved, including “The Big Report” ,”the Big Sleep Survey” and well as lots of activities ran locally here at school.

Our school has registered with over 260 other schools across the country to help it break the Guinness World Record® for the world’s largest interactive weather report.  Student from across Australia will measure the temperature in their school at midday AEST on August 18 (School sports day). This information will become part of The Big Report, which will be broadcast on The Weather Channel at 6pm AEST that evening. So those with pay TV make sure you look out for us. For more info head to: http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/bigreport

Did you get a good night’s sleep last night? Or did your partner’s snoring wake you? Maybe you spent hours on the internet instead of sleeping… or kept your iPhone under your pillow, just in case. Whatever your sleep habits, Australian sleep scientists want to know about you!  The scientists at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research have been studying sleep for many years. They want to find out more about Australians’ sleep patterns by getting people to complete their online survey. There is a iPad up for grabs for those who get involved.  The survey is already up and running and results so far included:

• 6 hours – the average night’s sleep
• 35% of Australians nap each day
• 55% of us go to bed with a mobile
• 65% of us catch up on sleep on the weekend

For more info or to complete the survey head to : http://www.sleepsurvey.net.au/

Locally at MAGS, to help celebrate the week, the science faculty with be having many activities during the week to allow students get involved including Quizes, Science Shows, Visits by Scientist and The Science Amazing Race. There will we be many prizes up for grabs kindly donated by locally business so make sure you get involved.

Travis Scarfo’s Goldberg Machine, designed and constructed as part of 7D’s Physics unit.  Goldberg Machines are designed to complete simple tasks in the most complicated manner imaginable.  Travis’ machine shows a wonderfully complicated series of ‘pushes, pulls & twists’ as it attempts to complete a relatively simple task, turning on the kettle.  It took Travis more than 5 hours to construct the machine ‘successfully’ – another typical (& possibly frustrating) aspect of Goldberg Machines.

Here are the answers to the science week quiz, the questions are below this post if you would like to try them first.

Answers to the questions from The Science Week research Quiz.

1. Planet Mars was name after the Roman God of War
2. The twin rovers that landed of Mars where called Spirit and Opportunity
3. Paul Scully-Power was Australia’s first astronaut and was on the space shuttle ‘Challenger’ in 1984
4. There are about 900 satellites in orbit around the earth
5. NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
6. It takes 8 minutes and 18 seconds for light to reach us from the sun
7. Neptune is now the furthest planet for the sun and is about 29 times the distance from earth to the Sun (1 astronomical unit or 1 AU)
8. 40 years ago a meteorite rained day on the nearby town of Murchison.
9. A light year is the distance light travels in a years, which is 9,461,000,000,000 kms.
10. The closest dwarf planet to the Sun is Ceres, it is between the Jupiter and Mars.
11. The closest star to our Solar system is Proxima Centauri, in the alpha centauri system. (It is the one of the pointers in the southern sky). It is 4.2 light years away.
12. The brightest star is the night sky is Sirius, it is also known colloquially as the “Dog Star”
13. Australia’s first satellite was called WRESAT and launched in 1967 from the spaceport at Woomera, South Australia.
14. The $13 million SkyMapper telescope is located at Siding Spring Observatory, near Coonabarabran NSW.
15. The universe is thought to be around 13.7 billion years
16. The only planets not to have moons are Mercury and Venus
17. The last person to set foot on the moon was Eugene Cernan He was the commander of Apollo 17
18. The drive to the moon at 100km/h would take about 160 days plus rest stops.
19. Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter and the largest moon in the Solar System.
20. The American Skylab satellite (not Russian) fell back to earth in July of 1979 near Esperance  in WA.

Next week is National Science Week (www.scienceweek.gov.au) and the theme is “Astronomy Science without Limits”.  There are some great national activities to get involved in, including the “The Big Aussie Star Hunt” (http://www.starhunt.net.au) with a $2000 prize! There is also the “UP” competition from the new movie which has many great prizes.

Locally at MAGS, to help celebrate the week, the science faculty with be having many activities during the week to allow students get involved. There will also be some great prizes to be won, kindly donated by local business Book City and Paramount Cinemas. Some of the activities include:

Daily Trivia question on the student bulletin, prizes are up for grabs so put your answers in the box in the school office and remember to put your name on it!

• Zweckies Zcience Zhow, In room 2 at Lunchtime on Thursday
• Amazing Science Race, similar to the TV show, students race around the school finding clues and completing challenges.  Wednesday Lunchtime.
• Year 7 students will be painting a scale model (60m long) of the solar system on the pathway.
• Presentations at assembly and other lunchtime activities.

To get you started with have a research quiz where you need to answer the following 20 questions. So get out your books or jump on the ‘net and get cracking. Submit your answers to Mr Young by next Wednesday and the winners and answers will be in next week’s newsletter (they will also be post here on the blog!).

There is plenty for you to get involved in, so ignite your imagination in Astronomy, Science without Limits.

Research Question:

1. What or Who was the planet Mars named after?
2. Name the twin rovers that landed on Mars in January 2004.
3. Who was Australia’s first astronaut?
4. Roughly how made satellites (natural and manmade) are in orbit around the earth?
5. What does NASA stand for?
6. How many seconds does it take sunlight to reach the Earth from the Sun?
7. Which planet is furthest from the Sun? How many times further is this than the Earth-Sun distance?
8. Almost 40 years ago a meteorite rained day on a nearby town. What is its name?
9. How far in kilometres is a light year?
10. Name the closest dwarf planet to the Sun.
11. Name the closest star to our Solar System. In light years how far away is it?
12. Name the brightest star in the sky (apart from the Sun).
13. What is the name of Australia’s first satellite?
14. Where would you find the $13 million SkyMapper telescope?
15. How old is the universe thought to be?
16. Name the planets that don’t have moons.
17. Who was the last person to set foot on the moon?
18. If you could drive to the moon at 100km/h. How long would it take?
19. What is the name of the largest Moon in the Solar system.
20. Name the Russian satellite that crashed to the ground in WA and in what year did this happen?