Newton's Laws of Motion

Class Response- Science

3 interesting facts:

1.) There are three laws of motion

2.) The first law of motion states that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

The second law of motion states that force is mass times acceleration.

The third law of motion states that for every action there an equal and an opposite reaction.

3.) Friction brings an object to rest

2 facts learned from another source:

1.) Newtons second law is the most important of the three because it explains how velocities change when force is applied.

2.) The First law of motion was recognized as Galileo's concept of inertia.

My Opinion:

I think that Newton's laws are extremely important because they help us understand the concept of what happens when motion and force and friction are all applied.  We need to know this because if we become engineers we need to know about friction and force.  Also, this information was very helpful and the basis of being able to build our roller coasters.

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newton3laws.html

My Roller Coaster Website

Downtown Tunnel

Zimbabwean Opposition Figure to BE Tried for Terrorism

Social Studies Current Events

international news

In this article a man named Roy Bennett was put in jail because he was suspected to have illegal firearms and he was planning to use them to harm the country.  In the article it says "he should be tried on terrorism charges and remain in prison for at least the next three weeks." He was supposed to be sworn in wednesday as deputy agricultural minister in the new power sharing government of the opposition.  He is having a very high-profile case and his charges are very serious.  This is all going on in Zimbabwe and Johannesburg.  My opinion is that this is very serious and anything having to do with terrorism is as well.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/world/africa/19simbabwe.html?ref=world

radio waves

3 interesting facts:

1.)  radio waves are electromagnetic waves propagated by an antenna

2.) when you listen to the radio  the stations like 94.5 it really means that you're listening on an fm signal of 94.5 megahertz

3.) radio waves are used for the radio, television, and telephones

2 things that i have learned from another source:

1.) Megahertz means  millions of cycles per second, so if the station is at 91.5 megahertz that means the frequency is 91,500,000 cycles per second

2.) When your listening to the radio and the station is Fm it's measured in megahertz, and when you're listening to Am it's measured in kilohertz.

My opinion:  I think that this information is pretty interesting because radio waves are the reason we can watch television or listen to music on the radio.  Also, radio waves are the reason we can talk on the telephone.  Life would be really different if we couldn't go home after school and watch t.v. or call our friends on the phone whenever we want.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/radio-spectrum.htm

N.J. School Report Card results show high failure rates for middle schoolers

Social Studies blog 2- State News

This article discusses a new test that most middle schoolers are failing.  In the article, it is stated that, ".. huge numbers of middle school students are failing rigorous new tests designed to prepare them for the next level.  Fifth and six graders are taking the test and around forty percent of sixth graders and  over seventy percent of fifth graders are failing in language arts.  It is stated that all this started when "Corzine announced an ambitious agenda last year for making the state's high schools more rigorous.."  It is also stated that New Jersey changed the rules in the middle and got lower scores, while, there was progress in the classrooms.  My opinion on this is that if the test is not preparing the students for high school any more than previous tests they should not continue using it.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/tough_new_state_tests_spur_hig.html