Lab Reports: States of Matter

      This week we did four labs to help us understand chemical and physical changes. In  the first lab we did, we observed a lighted candle. Before the candle was lit, we looked at the physical properties of the candle. It was white, hard, and spiral. After the candle was lit, we looked at the physical and chemical properties. The physical properties were that the wick on the candle was burned, and the top of the candle was smooth where the wax had melted. The chemical properties were the fire that was burning, and the smoke that the fire created. From this lab I learned that physical properties are easier to determine because you can always see them unlike chemical properties.

        In the second lab that we did, we also lit a candle. Fire can't burn without oxygen, so we made a mixture where the gas that came from it was carbon dioxide. The mixture had vinegar and baking soda in it. We then poured the gas over the flame, and the fire went out. I learned from this lab that this reaction was chemical because the gas it what put the fire out. 

        In the third lab we did, we had a small marshmallow, a large marshmallow, and a Bunsen burner. We ripped the small marshmallow in half, (which was a physical change) and then ate it. It tasted sweet, and really sugary. Then we put the large marshmallow on a skewer, and turned the Bunsen burner on. We burned a part of the marshmallow, and then ate it. It didn't taste as sweet as before, and it tasted ashy and gross. When we burned the marshmallow, it was a chemical change because the fire was gas, and it burned the marshmallow. The marshmallow was a solid, because it had a definite shape, and the molecules were packed closely together. I learned from this lab that after we burned the marshmallow, it didn't taste good because the sugar was gone.  

 The fourth and final lab that we did included sugar cubes, a glass of water, a test tube, and a Bunsen burner.  We crushed up two of the sugar cubes, and then put them in the glass of water. We stirred the mixture until the sugar dissolved. At his point, we couldn't see actual grains of sugar, but the water was still a little foggy, so we knew the sugar was still present. I also knew the sugar was still present because when I drank the water, it tasted very sweet. After that, we cut up two sugar cubes, so they could fit in the beaker. After putting on our safety googles, we turned on the Bunsen burner, and put the test tube with the sugar in it ove the flame. The sugar quickly melted, and then turend brown. Then, it turned black and started rising to the top. We removed the test tube from the flame, and then we waited for it to cool. After it was cool, the test tube was broken, and we tasted the substance inside of it. It did not taste sugary, but like the marshmallow, it tasted burnt, and ashy. I learned form this lab that the sugar wasn't there anymore because the substance had melted into carbon. These labs showed me how the physical and chemical changes occur in real life.

Pictures from:

http://psdho.me/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/burning-candle-with-fire-psd-full.jpg 

http://thenaturalidea.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Vinegar-1.jpg

http://mariasmovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/homemade-marshmallow.jpg

http://www.daviddarling.info/images/Bunsen_burner.jpg

http://0.tqn.com/d/chemistry/1/0/k/c/sugarcubes.jpg

Seperating Mixtures Procedure

1. By looking at the cup, identify the two toothpicks and remove them.
2. By using the magnet, run it up and down the sides of the cup to remove all of the magnetic iron pieces.
3. Put the filter paper in the funnel, and the funnel in the beaker. Then put the water in the funnel, over the filter paper, and remove the funnel after the water is filtered.
4. Plug in the hot plate, and put the beaker on the hot plate. Wait for all of the water to evaporate, and then plug in the hot plate. In the beaker, all that's left should be salt.
5. In the cup, there should be a clear glass rock. Remove it, and all that's left in the cup should be sand and pebbles.

Extra Credit

        The quote: “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom” means that if you get a good education you can do almost anything. If you don't go to or don't finish school, it can really impact your future. In order to get a good well-paying job, you have to have a college or at least a high school degree. When you get older and want to go to college, you have to do well in high school and even middle school before they decide to grant your application. That's why it is important to do well in school.


The quote is by George Washington Carver.

Frog Dissection

       In my science class, we finished the body systems unit, and to end it, we dissected frogs. When we got our frogs, we put on our gloves, and safety goggles and took out the dissecting tools. We used the scissors to cut through the layer of skin, and then the muscle underneath it. We pinned that back, and then looked inside the frog. We saw alot of eggs, which looked like small black beads. When I saw the eggs, I knew that our frog was female. We then had to remove all the eggs to see the other organs. After we did that, I had to break the frogs chest bones to see the heart. The heart in our frog was small, and red with a white film over it. Directly under the heart is the liver, which looked like a large brown three leaf clover.  Under the liver were the lungs and the gallbladder. The lungs were red and shriveled up, and the gallblader was dark green and small. It was next to the left lung. Below the liver was the stomach. The stomach took up most of the inside of the frog, and was a peach color. We cut out the stomach to see if there was anything in it, but there wasn't so we can assume our frog didn't eat before it died. Our frog also didn't have any fat bodies, so it probably just got out of hibernation before it died. On the sides of the frog, under where the eggs used to be were the ovaries. They were peach in color, and looked like ramen noodles packed closeley together. Connecting to the end of the stomach was the small intestine, which was slightly covered with a green substance that looked like swamp muck. The large intestine connected to the end of the small intestine, and ended at the cloaca which is like the anus.

           This dissection showed me that our body's organ systems aren't all seperate.In the frog, every body part was connected to something else. It also really made me see how similar a human body is to a frog's body. The dissection showed me that if you're missing one organ sytem, you're body won't run properly.

The pictures are from:
http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/378478/530wm/Z7000880-Female_Bullfrog-SPL.jpg
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_557/1290002082nQ7D1d.jpg
http://myclipsblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/see-through-frogs.jpg?w=570

Nervous system posters

Hunger Games Trailer!!!!!!!

Digestion Lab

In science class, we did a lab that helped us understand how digestion works. We had four test tubes labled A, B, C, and D. We put three pieces of cut up egg white in each test tube.  In test tube A, we put in 10 mL of meat tenderizer (A.k.a pepsin) and there was no immediate reaction. In test tube B we put in 5 ml of pepsin, and 5 mL of water and again, we didn't see an immediate reaction. In test tube C, we put in 10 mL of hydrochloric acid, and we could see the liquid bubbling, and small holes already forming in the egg white. In test tube D, we put 5mL of pepsin, and 5 mL of hydrochloric acid, we also didn't see an immediate reaction. We used strips of blue litmus paper to see how acidic the solution was. In test tube A, our litmus paper stayed blue. In test tube B, it stayed blue, but was wet. In test tube C, our litmus paper turned an orange/pink color, because it was acidic, and in test tube D, it also turned orande/pink because it was acidic. The next day, we looked at our test tubes again, and there were some major diffrences. In test tube A, the egg white was almost all disintegrated, but in test tube B, there wasn't a reaction. In test tube C, the eggwhite was almost all gone because the acid had broken it down, but in test tube D, there wasn't a reaction. We used the litmus paper again, and the paper stayed blue for test tubes A and B.  The litmus paper turned orange/pink again for test tube C , but not for test tube D. The first day the litmus paper changed but now it didn't because the acid probably wasn't there anymore. This lab was a good way to show how the digestive system worked, because the hydrochloric acid in our stomachs works the same way.