Car Project

In science class we completed a task called Gravity Powered Wheeled Vehicle Project. In the project we were required to build a car out of house hold materials, not including Styrofoam or Lego's, Kinex, pinewood derby cars or kits that have been purchased. Some rules that were given were that the car must be gravity powered ONLY. The car must have three or more wheels, no less. It should be decorated, must have a body, and should be sturdy. Also each student was allowed a parent, sibling, teacher etc. to help out.

In my Project I used four whiffle balls as wheels. A Special K bar box as the body, skewers to connect the wheels and the body, and medical tape to keep the whiffle balls on the skewers. To decorate my car I wrapped the body in colorful wrapping paper.

I thought this task was fun because we were forced to think outside of the box. Each car looked very different from every other. As well, each car used unique items to complete the vehicle. Therefore i enjoyed this task.

Self-Compassion: The Most Important Life Skill?

Self-Compassion is the best skill to use when dealing with a situation like a chid with autism for example. It is also the most important life skill, therefore everyone should be putting self-compasssion into effect. For children with autism self-compassion works much better then self-esteem, self-esteem in fact is distracting humans today from self-compassion. Self-compassion is not only motivating and comforting but it may uproot previous paradigms which have focused, to a fault, on building self-esteem. Self-esteem is a measure of yourself against others, meanwhile, self-compassion is relating to yourself. Accordingly, one should use self-compassion before self-esteem due to proven facts of better outcomes. I defiantly agree with this aspect, for the reason that it makes more sense to me. As well as, self-esteem deals with too much comparing with other while self-compassion lets you focus on yourself which is the task at hand.

article written by: Robin Nixon

information from: http://www.livescience.com/14165-parenting-compassion-life-skills.html

Toothpick Fish Lab

The known knowledge of genetics describes the outcomes of the fish in the pond. In this case there was more green fish than yellow, red or orange. This occurred because, green is dominant while yellow and red are recessive and are incompletely dominant of each other, which is why there is orange. For example, there was usually six or seven green fish, while the amount of orange, yellow and red fish were four or less. Also, the orange fish had a higher amount then yellow or red fish for the reason that it is more likely to have two different alleles than two of the same. Therefore, those are the reasons that the fish were the colors they were.

Environments have very big impacts on the animals in them. These can be good or bad. For example, that could mean there is less of a species or it could mean having more prey to hunt. The effects can change though. For instance, an environment can effect one animal, or type of animal and then later stop effecting that animal and start with another.

In this lab the fish that were strongly effected were the green and yellow fish. This occurred because in the beginning of the lab the yellow fish got eaten because they stood out, from their color. Later, the green fish's population decreased, for the reason that they get eaten because they aren't camouflage. Therefore, those species had less and less. However, if you were to change this lab, I suggest changing the colors of the fish. The outcome would change because they would be hidden more or less.

Secret of the Sea Horse: How Creature Got its Curve

Sea Horses don't have that curve in them for no reason. Although it does look cool. Researches discovered that the wavy shape evolved to help capture prey. This curve makes the creature very different then its relatives the pipefish. With this curve in the body it gives the sea horse an advantage to capture its prey, more so then if it was straight-bodied. Having the curve suggests an easier ability to move forward, as well as an advance in the length it can go in one motion. In my opinion this discovery is very interesting and makes a lot of sense. Having the curve would help creatures out more than without, and having the curve gives them an advantage to be taken for granted.

I got my information from: http://www.livescience.com/animals/seahorse-shape-helps-capture-prey-110125.html

Why You Should Hold A Grudge Against Your Spouse

Many people take the easy way out and just forget their spouses mistakes, move on from them, put them in the past. But is that always the right way to handle things? Sometimes saying "its okay honey" may give your partner the idea its okay to do it again. Therefore, past mistakes will reoccur over time. So holding a grudge against something you don't feel is right makes more sense and will lead to less problems in the future then just forgiving right away. Study's show that marriages who are very forgiving of there spouse tend to fight more then others who don't let their partner off the hook as easy for the reason that the behaviors of the unforgiving spouse will be better because they want to be forgiven. Scientists also found that couples who are more forgiving have troubles with their spouses behavior the next day, twice as much as couples who hold the grudge. This isn't saying to never forgive your spouse, just sometimes being tougher on your loved one will benefit in the long run. In my opinion being less forgiving will lead to fewer problems based on research results.

I got my information from: http://www.livescience.com/culture/forgiveness-bad-for-relationships-110107.html

Commensalism

This picture shows commensalism because the sun is beaming down on the plant giving it sunlight, which helps the organism survive. Without the sunlight the plant would die. So one of the species is benefitting while the other is neither benefitting nor being harmed.

Biotic Limiting Factor

This is a biotic limiting factor because this plant gives the butterfly in the picture a source of food. Also this butterfly is a factor because it gives food to another source. Although, these flowers are a factor to more then just this butterfly. So the flower and butterfly in this picture are both biotic limiting factors.