Forces and Motion – Wind racers

Hello everyone, today we had to create a blog post explaining our experiment that my class and I did yesterday.

Aim: Create the land yacht which travels the greatest distance in the shortest time.

Equipment: 

  • x2 bamboo sticks
  • As many newspapers as one needs.
  • Tape
  • String
  • Small trolley
  • Cardboard
  • Skewers

Method:

  • Me and my group started off by combining the bamboo sticks and the small trolley, we did this by placing one of the bamboo sticks up-right onto the trolley frame, and placing the other bamboo stick side-ways in the middle of the up-right one.
  • We made sure to secure the sticks with tape but the string works too. And also we secured the up-right stick with tape as well.
  • Then my group taped the paper onto the frame, the result should look like a sail, like the ones on a pirate boat.
  • Now my group didn’t use the rest of the stuff, so that’s it. (However we decorated it kinda).

Results:

(The video)

Discussion:

Our wind racer didn’t go that far, but it didn’t come last at least, and my group (Haylee, Emily, and I, also partly Rayan because he helped) had a great time making it and we can take our results from this time to take into consideration for next time (if there is a next time). it made 4.5 meters at a time of 5.37 seconds.

and we can find out the speed by using the formula:

Speed = distance / time

4.5/5.35
=0.83km an hour

In my opinion it was a great activity to showcase the different forces and I would do it again.

What are the forces acting on your wind racer?:

The forces in a wind racer include: Friction (Slows the wind racer down), Weight (The weight of the wind racer), Thrust (a force that pushes an object—in this case the wind racer— forward,  by pushing against a fluid like air or water), Support (The support from the sail).

Are they balanced/unbalanced?:

The forces were unbalanced, if they were balanced then the wind racer would not move when the wind blows it.

What is net force and how does this relate to the forces acting on your wind racer?:

For a wind racer, the net force is the result of the wind pushing it forward, balanced against forces like friction and air resistance working against its motion.

What are the strength of forces acting on it at different stages?:

When the wind racer is closer to the leaf blower the main forces that are being used are thrust and support, when it gets further away from it However the main forces are friction and weight.

How do the forces acting on the wind racer affect the motion of the wind racer at different points?:

The friction from the weight made the wind racer slow down, however the leaf blower created thrust and gave the support a big push, positively effecting the wind racer and making it move.

Why do you think results may vary in the class?

In my opinion everyone had a different result because  they used different methods to build their wind racers, also I think the way they used the leaf blower also effected it because the closer the leaf blower was, the harder the thrust was, but because of this the wind racer had a chance of falling over.

Conclusion:

How was your wind racer successful/unsuccessful and why?:

As I said, our wind racer wasn’t that successful, but I think the reason why is because we didn’t tape the sticks together properly and it flopped over, but that’s partly Rayans fault because he accidentally pulled the stick out from the trolley.

How could you improve it?:

Adding a stronger base by securing it with tape, also Rayan could’ve standed a bit further back so the force of the leaf blowers force was smaller.

 

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship

  • Playing fair
  • Respecting others
  • Showing grace in both victory and defeat

Why sportsmanship matters

  • Builds respect and trust
  • makes the game better

 

 

Basketball – Fair Play on the Court

How did players in the video show sportsmanship during intense moments?

It helps make the game more enjoyable for everyone.

What role does communication play in basketball teamwork?

It helps them better at communicating with their team and builds trust.

Why is respecting your opponent important in basketball?

Because it makes the game better and also makes sure there aren’t fights.

Describe a situation where a basketball player showed integrity.

How can celebrating fairly encourage a better game environment?

Less toxic.

What would you do if a player from the other team fell?

Help them up.

How did players in the video react to mistakes by teammates?

by helping.

What does it mean to be a “good sport” in basketball?

playing nice.

Why is self-control important when emotions run high in a game?

How can basketball teach you to be a better team player?

you learn teamwork

Paper planes (Y10)

Hello guys, today, my class and I had to create paper planes and fly it in a competition to see how far they would go. Mine did really bad, and I wasn’t impressed with it because it flipped too many times and the forces were quite unbalanced. However it was quite fun and I had a good time making it and flying it. I was a bit confused since this is usually a year 7-8 experiment, but I’d rather do this instead of our typical work.

What was the purpose of the activity?

To observe the planes and to understand how they fly.

What design did you use for your plane? Did you find something on the internet, or create your own?

I made mine by using an a4 paper, and folding it multiple times until it resembled a plane.

Here is a picture of me and my friends planes (mine is in the middle):

How does a paper plane fly?

As the plane moves forward, the wings cut through the air to generate a tiny amount of lift. As the air quickly flows over and under the paper plane’s wing, a tiny vacuum is formed over the top of the wing to hold the plane aloft. As the forward motion decreases, the airflow over the paper wing slows and the lift is reduced.

gravity, thrust, lift, and drag is what makes a paper plane fly through the air.

good bye yall 

 

Neurodiversity

Hello everyone, today we learned about Neurodiversity.

Neurodiversity is differences in a persons brain and it affects the traits of the person and behaviour. These people might struggle with things you think are easy, so don’t tease or make fun of anyone, be kind and understanding. We all have the power to make a positive difference and help someone in a rough patch.

goodbye

DNA Extraction

hello everyone, yesterday in science our class had the task of extracting DNA from a banana. so today we had to make a blog post to explain what happened during the events.

Aim: to successfully extract DNA from a banana.

Method: 

  1. Gather all your equipment. (banana, test tube, beaker, zip lock bag, straining cloth, salt, dish-washing liquid and ethanol.)
  2. Mush some banana (no skin) in a zip lock bag with a splash of water and a small teaspoon of salt.
  3. Strain the solution through a cloth into a beaker.
  4. Add a squirt of dish-washing liquid and stir.
  5. Pour into a test tube.
  6. Place the test tube in a beaker filled with WARM water.
  7. Leave it for at least  10-mins.
  8. Slowly pour 5 Ml of ethanol down the inside of the test tube.

discussion: 

I was very fond of this experiment, I enjoyed doing the experiment with my friends and it was super interesting to see the DNA from the banana, I was honestly very shocked by this since I didn’t even know bananas had DNA. fun-fact, DNA is used for many things like helping to identify missing people, and criminals. Helping to detect diseases in a person, development of drugs and even more things.

Evidence of our work:

(the brown blob is the DNA but it came out chunky)

 

Water pong game

hello non existent audience!!, today in health class we were tasked with playing a game: water pong. it it usually a drinking game played by adults, where you would have cups in a triangle sort of formation with a drink inside (but we used water and we couldn’t drink it at all), and each team would have ping-pong balls and try and throw it into the other sides cups and if you make it in then you will get to take that cup away from them.

the types of hauora that resonate with this game are: Taha Whānau and Taha tinana because you are socialising while playing a game that requires you to throw. My Taha Whānau and Taha tinana were affected positively when taking part in this game, because I had a good time with my friends and also because we won in our match, thanks to me of course. I got really sweaty when it came down to the last cups though, the other team was really good and it was challenging.

everyone was very included, sometimes my friends didn’t want to throw the ball, so I threw it instead,  but we all had a few turns so in my overall opinion it was quite fair and everybody was included and wasn’t left out.

Social Justice = fairness, inclusiveness ,non-discrimination

Short term and Long term = short term 0-3 months, long term 3 months and more.

Pis: not sure.

Hauora blog

hello everyone, today My classmates and I had to make a blog post in order to show our understanding of hauora so here is what I had to do.(P.S this was posted a bit late because I needed more time to do this blog post):

What are the 5 areas of hauora?: 

  1. Taha tinana
  2. Taha hinengaro
  3. Taha whānau
  4. Taha wairua
  5. whenua

How can you take care of your hauora?:

  1. Stay connected to your family and friends (You can achieve this by talking to them and by taking time out of your day to hang out with them.)
  2. Don’t be so mean to yourself (don’t beat yourself up over small and petty things, try and uplift yourself by saying some words of affirmation, I don’t do this but I heard it helps some people!)
  3. Set some goals and priorities (decide what to get done now and what can wait. Learn to say “no” to new tasks if you start to feel like you’re taking on too much tasks.)
  4. Eat and drink regularly (Make sure to eat and drink, remember food and water helps us to thrive.)
  5. Have regular exercise (Even just going for a 20 minute walk around the block can help you! it also can be found relaxing to some people.)

What does an assertive person look like?:

they listen carefully and sincerely, Taking others opinions to mind while also not being shy to state their own, without interrupting people they also speak in a clear tone of voice they have good eye contact, relaxed body posture and they are very comfortable when speaking and communicating to others:

Which areas of your hauora are strong? Why?:

I personally think that my strongest area in hauora is taha whānau, I would say I am pretty good at socialising when needed and I think that I do a good job at socialising with the people I already know.

Here is a photo of Te Whare Tapa Whā:

Thank you for reading my blog post, goodbye!

 

 

 

{My hauora learning}

Hello everyone in health, me and my classmates have been learning about hauora so here are the questions/answers that my teacher wanted us to answer:

  1. What does hauora mean to me?: I didn’t really know what “Hauora” meant before this health class but now that I know what it means, I think it’s super important and meaningful.
  2. What has been my favourite activity?: My favourite activity was drawing my tree:
  3. I understand taha: I think I understand it pretty well I still get mixed up, but on a whole I can understand. I think I understand taha wairua/taha whānau the most.
  4. I am confused about taha: I am a bit confused on Taha Hinengaro/Taha Tinana but I can still understand it (To a point).
  5. I need to learn more about taha: I think I have learnt a lot so I personally don’t think I need to learn more, but I am always open to finding out more information about it.

Ok that’s it goodbye.

{Ice Melting Experiment}

Hello everyone today In science my class and I had to do an experiment that involved us melting ice cubes here is what happened:

Here is an image to show you what my class had to do (not my picture):

My prediction: I think that the ice will melt faster on the metal, not for any specific reason but I heard that bartenders use metal molds to shape the ice into different shapes and I don’t think they’d use metal if it wasn’t fast at melting the ice.

What happened?: I was right the ice cube did melt faster on the metal then it did on the plastic, I think the reason the ice melted faster on the metal then the plastic had to do with heat (or energy) because builders use metal for roofs and even though the metal is cold I think it is better at producing heat and transferring.