Barbie Bungee Jumping Task

Introduction
In the last few weeks of school we are working on a task called Barbie Bungee Jumping. In this task we are seeing how much rubber bands are needed from a certain amount of height, and coming up with a conclusion. Then in one of the last few classes she will tell us to throw the barbie off a certain height, and we need to adapt to it. My group consists of three other people: Will, Lauren, and Ian. I believe we all have strengths that when combined will be really good.

What we did
We started out by finding the height of the desk and seeing if one or two rubber bands would work. Only one rubber band worked, so then we tried to make it higher. Then, we found out the height of a math book and see if there are any changes to the results, there wasn't. Then we added two books, three books, etc. Each book was a small amount which will be a good thing once we come up with our equation. We ended up finding a difference between when the rubber bands would touch and tried to come up with a solution, though I don't believe we have.

Consistencies
We tried each of the stages multiple times to ensure we have an accurate results. To be consistent we have decided to keep the barbie doll's hand down. This is because we don't want to take any chances with it touching the ground. Furthermore, when making a table we did not count the rubber band tied around the doll's feet because we didn't believe it contributed a great amount, plus we need to be repetitive.

What we found
We have found out that even an inch of extra inch will make a difference. Between book 7 and 6 there are a few inches different, yet the three rubber bands work on book 7, while it doesn't work on Book 6. Book 6 was the point where the switch off between two rubber bands, to three. Our next step is to see when one rubber band doesn't work. We also found out that working together is much better, since I believe that in the beginning of the class we weren't communicating. Furthermore when we came up with what we were going to do we got a lot of work done.

What we will do 
Though we worked slowly, I believe we did achieve a lot, and we did find out a lot of things in our research. I believe that for the next class we should begin testing out our theories with larger heights rather than a few feet. We have not found a pattern yet, so we must try to look at our data and analyze it. Also, we should construct a graph with all of our findings and see if there are any patterns. Additionally, I do believe we should also try to come up with a formula because it would help us immensely.

This video is one of our trials in slow motion. As you can see the barbie hit the floor, which means that the amount of rubber bands was more than needed. 

These two pictures represent how we organized our data as well as what we did last class. 

Differences in Colonies

Thesis

There are many things that differentiate countries from each other: climate, economy basis, location. There is only one main difference between the Northern, Middle and Southern colonies that effected their society as a whole: the colonists' goals and motivation. This is because the beliefs each of the colonists had influenced the way they lived and the conflicts they got into.


Northern Colonies

The Northern Colonies, made up of hard working Puritans, came for religious freedom from England. Coming with families, the Puritans were there to settle. They not only wanted to settle there permanently, but they wanted to come to build a model society or The City Upon a Hill. This was because England would have to look up to see their colony. Furthermore, because they wanted to establish a model society they built an education system. They made education accessible to all so everyone would be 'equal'. On the other hand, because they wanted to build a model society they had strict standards. If anyone was to do something delinquent, they would banish them immediately. Since they had a strict way of life they did not tolerate Indians. They ran into many problems with the Pequot Natives which even caused one of the largest wars between colonists and Indians: the Pequot War. Overall, their behavior and beliefs caused many improvements and deteriorations to their society


Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies, made up of open minded Quakers, came for religious tolerance. William Penn, who was banished, established Pennsylvania as a place we're anyone was free to have faith.  Quakers believed anyone could reach God which caused a lot of problems between Puritans, who believed certain individuals were able to reach God. Furthermore, Quakers believed everyone was equal, including the Indians that they ran into. Because William Penn believed in buying rather than taking, he created a treaty between the colonists and the Indians. In this treaty he gave some wilderness land to the Indians - land that was an owed debt from King Charles II. Because of their open minded beliefs, they created a safe haven to many Quakers who had problems with church before.


Southern Colonies

The Southern Colonies, made up of young single men, came for because of economic motivation. They came for Gold that was supposedly in the New World. They originally came to the New world because they were the second sons of rich families, where the first son received the large sum of money instead. When they heard about the Gold filled new world they couldn't resist. Because they lacked many skills, they had many problems with starvation, and even had a 'Starving Period'. They did not want to put effort into creating a society because they believed they would be in the New World for a short period of time. Also because they did not want to work, they hired Indentured Servants who were promised land after years of work. After they were done with their work they would receive their land, except outside of the city walls where the Indians lived. The Indentured did not believe this was fair because they gave years of their life for this moment, and they were only lied too, which then caused Bacon's Rebellion. After the rebellion, they then shipped slaves from Africa to do labor instead. After many years of living in the colony, they then realized that tobacco was an easily grown plant, therefore basing their economy on that. Powhatan, the local Indians there, did not like that colonists were on the land. Also since the colonists viewed the Powhatan as heathens they did not want the Natives on their land. This created many different violent wars between the Powhatan and the Colonists. Overall this colony was successful in terms of their agriculture, except their discouragement did not benefit them.

China - BRICS Project

Introduction

China is one of the most populated countries in the world. It is home to almost 1.3 billion people in the world. More than this, China is the most polluted country in the world. It is dangerous for people to be breathing the amount of carbon dioxide in China's air. Furthermore, China is consumes the most coal (for energy use) in the world. There is a definite link between this two points and I believe that if China can reduce its coal intake, then the pollution will reduce as well.  

Present

Based on many different sources, I have come to a conclusion that China has a problem right now, and they must work fast to fix it. At the moment, about 85% of energy in China is non-renewable which is a large problem. About 95% of that 85% is coal consumption. Coal is a nonrenewable source meaning that in a hundred years it will no longer be there. Moreover, China is the largest consumer of energy and emitter of greenhouse gases. The reduction of coal use may be the answer to reducing this pollution in China. In fact 58% of its energy is being used on heating/cooling their homes, while there can be different alternatives. Furthermore only 600 TWh of the entire 3464 TWh used, is renewable which is a dilemma. The largest non renewable source being used is Hydropower with 585 TWh. Though this is a small number compared to the large picture it does show improvement in trying to fix their energy consumption problem.

Predictions for 2050
I believe in 2050, China can and will change their ways. Though they are the number one CO2 emitters, they are building the largest renewable energy system in the world which in 2013 stood at over 1 trillion kilowatts per hour. If they can build these types of outstanding contraptions today, imagine how much they could have set up by 2050. Furthermore based on the World Electricity Outlook, I can see a 30 percent decrease in coal consumption from 2008 to 2035. Following this pattern could lead to large changes in their energy consumption. In conclusion, I believe that by 2050 China will till be working its way out of the crisis but it will be in a far better position than it is in today.

My Proposal 
There are many alternative renewable sources for China to use. For example, China can use more of their hydroelectric energy that they have the privilege of having. China has already created the Three Gorges Dam which is one of the biggest dams in the world that gives that a lot of energy. Moreover, China is bordering water on their right side which is a perfect opportunity to harness that potential energy.  Water is reliable and always there, so its a perfect source. Another alternative is Solar Energy. In fact, in 2013 China was the number one leading installer of solar panels. Additionally, China can also use wind power, such as windmills, to get their energy. China is the number one user of wind energy, which already benefits them if they increase the amount of wind energy they use. Finally, China can use biomass to harness energy. Currently, China is using only 5% of its potential biomass use. China has many areas with a lot of vegetation, and if they can use that vegetation to support and benefit them, it will really help them in the future. If they can harness all of that energy then they will be in a very good position. In conclusion, I believe China can use its hydroelectric, solar, wind, and biomass energy sources that they have.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I believe China isn't in a good position now, but based on different sources I have realized that they are trying to change this. Instead of increasing their coal amount, they are using more renewable sources of energy that are reliable and don't destroy the environment, which is perfect. Hopefully in the future, China can improve their habits and become energy-aware.

United States - Energy Project (Not BRICS)

In the present

Based on reliable sources I have come to a conclusion that the United States has to change their ways because if they do not, large consequences will come. For example, on Global Electricity Outlook, the non-renewable sources of energy make up more than 90% of the energy use. According to eia.gov, in 2014 the United States has used 57906 Trillion BTu (British thermal unit, equivalent to 1055 joules) which is a large amount. In 2013, 1000 Trillion BTu less was used. A year before, a thousand less. Though not all of this energy is from non-renewable sources, it's still important not to use an excess amount of energy.

Predictions for 2050

Based on what I have seen from different sources, I came to a conclusion that we are reducing our coal use and trying to find more renewable sources of energy. Therefore in the future, I believe that coal, natural gas, and nuclear power will no longer be our primary source of energy, though I do believe it will continue for many years until people realize it is a hazard. In the future, the United States will instead try to increase their use of wind energy. Just from 2008 to 2035 the wind power raised 459 TWh, which means that by 2050 there will be a huge difference. Furthermore, I do believe that solar use will increase in the future because between 2008 to 2035, it increased almost 100 TWh more which is impressive. In conclusion, I believe that in the future, the United Sattes will reduce their coal, nuclear, and natural gas consumption and begin using more reliable renewable sources.

My proposal

Just by looking at the different sources, I can see that the United States is working to improve their energy use. Our society is based on energy and technology, but if we can reduce that amount before it becomes a problem, it will be much better than worrying about it in the future. Based on many sources, I have come to a conclusion that, yes, we are using more renewable sources, except our energy consumption is increasing each year. This will be a problem when our renewable energy can no longer support our energy amount. If we begin reducing our amount now, it won't be a problem in the future. I believe the United States should reduce the energy consumption.

Stacking Cups

Stacking Cups - Act 1 from Mr.Stadel on Vimeo.


For this activity we had to figure out many things.

Questions

When does the white cup pass the blue? When are both the blue and white cups equal? What is an equation for this scenario?

What We Did

My group and I tried many methods but we almost immediately found out how to do it. We needed to multiply the amount of cups to the excess amount that would be left on each of the cups, subtracted by one. This is because on the first cup the amount of excess was already included in the height, therefore it was unnecessary to add it in. For the white cup (which has a smaller height) we were given the dimensions 9.2 for the height. The excess amount of 'cup' would be 1.3. For the blue cup the height was 12.1 while the excess amount was .8.

Formula 

The equation that we came up with was R(N-1)+H.

R = Rim
N = Number of cups
H = Height

Conclusion

After we came up with the equation, everything else became simple. We began guessing and checking and we finally came up to a conclusion. The cups will become equal at 7 cups each. The white cup will then pass the blue cup at 8 cups.

Pocahontas Interpretation

which is the most accurate portrayal of Pocahontas in your opinion?  Why did you choose this work?  How did the OVPL process enable you to come to this conclusion?

I believe the most accurate portrayal of Pocahontas was the engraving made my Robert Vaughan in 1624. This is because this engraved stone was made 17 years after the event took place. This engraving was the first made representation of the event between Pocahontas and John Smith that took place, which is important to keep in mind. Furthermore, the purpose of the engraving was to be a part of Generall Historie which was a book written by John Smith. Moreover, the engraving was based on his writings. This source is a secondary source, since it was made 17 years later, but I would consider it a reliable source since this was the first visible evidence of the event happening, so it wasn't based on someone else's painting. In the picture, Pocahontas looked like young girl, and looked like she wore traditional clothing. Furthermore, the Natives in the background do look native, as opposed to other sources where they look more European. By looking at other sources, I can tell that this one would probably be the most reliable. It was closest to the real event, it was the first representation, and it was based on John Smith's writings (a primary source).