Spectacular Space Adventures with Becca

What is physical science and why does it Matter? Recently, I had read chapters 16, 17, and 18 in our Learning to Teach Science: a discovery approach, by     Donald DeRosa and Joesph Abruscato. These chapters went into detail about the world of physical science. Physical science covers the areas of chemistry, physics, and engineering. Chemistry explores the would of chemical reactions, atoms, and molecules. Physics explores the laws of motion, the forces of matter, and the behavior of energy. Engineering uses the theories and knowledge of both chemistry and physics to invent new things to improve people’s lives. At the basis of all physical sciences is matter. Matter makes up everything in the universe and it can never be created or destroyed, only change forms.  Matter can be found in three states, solid, liquid, or gas. All three forms matter have volume and density. Liquids and solids have a defined volume and liquids take the volume of the container it is in. All forms of matter

 Biology has always been one of my favorite science classes! I always loved learning about the cells and how our bodies keep us alive. Think about what makes you alive, you eat, you sleep, you breathe. All living things around you carry out the same functions. The full requirements of all living thing include being made of cells, using energy that is self-produced or acquired, ridding themselves of waste, being able to reproduce, having inherent traits from the parents, responding to stimuli, maintaining an internal balance, and possessing the ability to adapt to the environment. Every living thing is made up of cells, extremely small gelatinous specs that are living themselves. Cells are made up of organelles that help them to function. There are the mitochondria which are the powerhouses of the cell which create the energy the cell needs to function. Then you have the nucleus that is the brain of the cell, it controls all other organelles and contains the organism's DNA. Then th

An Apple a Day Keeps the Dr. Away , but What Keeps the Apple from Turning Brown ? What causes apples to turn brown? Apples turn brown when they are cut or bruised because their plant tissue becomes exposed to the air. When this happens an enzyme that is found in apple tissue, called polyphenol oxidase, reacts to the oxygen in the air and oxidizes the phenolic compounds to o-quinones. The o-quinones are what create the brown color by forming amino acids ( McLandsborough, 2017 ). The amount of polyphenol oxidase varies from fruit to fruit. The type of apple, as well as the maturity of the apple, make a difference in the amount of this enzyme the fruit has. Growing conditions can also affect the amount of this enzyme an apple contains. The lower the level of polyphenol oxidase, the less likely the apple is to brown after being cut. Similarly, potatoes contain an enzyme called catechol which reacts with the oxygen in the air to turn the flesh of the potato brown as well. With both

Poverty in Schools? A few weeks ago, I had attended a poverty simulation at our school. This was a very eye-opening experience that I will never forget. In the simulation, everyone that came in was assigned a role to play. A person could have been made a father, a mother, a child, or even a grandparent. I was a ten-year-old boy living in a family with a mother who had a job, a father who was recently unemployed, a sixteen-year-old sister who was pregnant, and an eight-year-old little brother that I was meant to babysit during the day. There were a few other families set up similarly to ours and many others with unique situations. The key to the simulation was to stay as true to your role as possible. I found this really hard to do because I wanted to help my family figure out how to get us money and food to survive. Some of the rules to the simulation was that to go anywhere you had to bring a transportation pass, you had to go to work if you had a job, the kids had to go to school, a

Recently, I had read an article on the website newsela.com  called " Astronaut Links up with Kids to Share his Love of Science ," by  Marylou Tousignant. The astronaut featured in the article is named, Randy Bresnik . He is an American living on the International Space Station about 250 miles  above the Earth along with two other Americans and three other astronauts from around the globe. He had started his six-month mission aboard the Space Station in July of 2017. He will be returning to the Earth in just two months. In the meantime, the video calls the Smithsonian to talk to hundreds of children and answer any questions they may have about astronauts. When he calls into the Smithsonian he does about a 30-minute show showing off all of the exciting aspects of his job to entice children to develop a love for math, science, and technology. He the children the freeze-dried food he eats and how any liquids that get loose bubble up and float around the cabin. Aside from food,

Earth Science!   Eath Science was one of my favorite sciences to take in high school. I had a 100 in that class for pretty much the whole year. Some of my favorite things to do in Earth science were learning about the different rocks and mineral because we got to do fun hands-on learning with them, and weather. I remember watching a video about Hurricane Katrina and while it was very devastating and sad to watch, the videos from inside the eye were wild as this destructive storm was completely stopped for a short period of time. Over the weekend, I had read chapters 10, 11, and 12 in our textbook Teaching Children Science: A discover approach , by Donald Derosa and Joseph Abruscato, which all pertained to Earth Science. Reading through the chapters brought back many memories. I read about things like the layers of the Earth including the mantel, which is just below the crust where earthquake waves move the fastest, and the core where hot molten metal with a strong gravitational pull l