Extracting DNA From A Kiwifruit: Biology | Science

Welcome to another post. Yesterday, we did an experiment in extracting DNA from a kiwifruit.

Aim: To extract DNA from a Kiwifruit

Equipment:

• A kiwifruit
• Knife
• Water
• Plastic sealable bag
• Plastic cup/beaker
• Coffee filter
• Bamboo skewer or spatula
• Test tube
• Dishwashing liquid
• Rubbing Alcohol

Method:

• Cut the kiwifruit into half and the skin.
• Put half of the kiwifruit into the plastic sealable bag and mush the kiwifruit. 
• Put a splash of water into the bag with a squirt of dishwashing liquid.
• Put the coffee filter on top of the plastic cup/beaker. 
• Pour the liquefied fluid on the coffee filter and collect the juice in a beaker.
• Carefully pour half a quarter of rubbing alcohol into the test tube. This will cause two different phases.
• After you see some percipitation, take the slimy wad of kiwifruit DNA. 
• There you have it! You have kiwifruit DNA.

Results:

Speeding Past the School

Aim: See how many cars are speeding past school

Method:

1. Measure distance  ...  power pole 1 ⟶ power pole 2 = 59m
2. Time how long it takes a car to travel this distance
• "flag" person indicates when car passes the pole
• "timer" person starts when the car passes power pole 1 and stops when the car passes power pole 2
• "writer" person writes down the time
3. Collect 10 times
4. Calculate speed in m/s ⟶ convert to km/hr
5. Are there any speeders?

Results:

Speed	Car 1	Car 2	Car 3	Car 4	Car 5	Car 6	Car 7	Car 8	Car 9	Car 10	Average
Time (s)	2.55	2.89	2.39	3.12	2.15	2.74	2.85	2.89	3.38	3.39	2.83
m s-1	19.6	17.3	20.9	16	23.3	18.2	17.5	17.3	14.8	14.7	17.7
km hr-1	70.6	62.3	75.2	57.6	83.8	65.5	63	62.2	53.2	52.9	63

Conclusion:

As per the speed limit of the road, we can say according to the data that the cars are above the speed limit and are travelling too fast. The scenario that was given to us was:

The principal is worried about the speed of cars travelling past the school. From the principal's office, it appears that the cars are travelling too fast.

Our task was to calculate the average speed of the vehicles passing the front of the school using a stopwatch.

From the principal's hypothesis, we can say that the principal was correct, the limit speed of the road was 50kph and the cars were travelling an average of 63kph, which is a lot. We've also seen from the results that one car was travelling around 84 kilometres per hour in a 50kph road - which is too fast.

Drivers breaking school speed limits
Credit: Stuff

Questions:

1. What was the average speed of the cars that was measured?
• 63kph
2. Should the principal be worried about speeding on the road?
• Yes - because all cars measured were travelling more than the limit
3. Outline how you could improve this investigation and make it more accurate?
• Test it on more cars - the more cars, the more accurate.
• Using:
• Radar gun
• Technology - electronic timing system
• Speed cameras
• Rubber band on road

Metals and Oxygen | Science

When a metal reacts with oxygen it produces a metal oxide.

Metal      +      Oxygen      ⇾      Metal Oxide

When a substance burns, the burning process is actually a reaction with oxygen. So when you burn something, you are adding oxygen to it.

Making a Metal Oxide

Aim: To make a metal oxide and observe the difference in properties of the product compared to the reactants.

Equipment:

1. A piece of magnesium
2. Bunsen burner
3. Safety glasses
4. Metal scissor tongs

Method:

1. Light your bunsen burner
2. Hold your piece of magnesium in the scissor tongs. Ensure you are holding onto the very tip of the magnesium.
3. Place the other end of the magnesium into the Bunsen flame (at the top of the blue flame).
4. When the magnesium begins to burn, do not look directly at it, as the light emitted can permanently damage your eyes.

Corrosion | Science

Welcome to another post on my blog. For science, we've moved on from the Acids and Bases chapter to the next chapter, Metallurgy. Metallurgy is the process that is used for the extraction of metals in their pure form. Yesterday, we started off with an experiment about corrosion. Corrosion reacts with the environment and eats away the layer which corrodes the metal. When metals are exposed to the environment, they can eat away, break down. This process is called corrosion. Rust is the term used to describe the corrosion of iron.

Corrosion

In this experiment, we are investigating rusting and preventing rusting.

Aim: To investigate the factors that cause rusting and techniques that may prevent rusting in iron

Hypothesis:

• A  =  A bit of rust
• B  =  Rust, but more than A
• C  =  Lots of rust
• D  =  The nail won't rust because the oil has protected the nail
• E  =  The nail won't rust because the nail is protected by the bung
• F  =  The vaseline is going to protect the nail from rusting by giving it a coating
• G  =  Like the vaseline, the nail polish has coated the nail, so it's not going to rust
• H  =  The zinc might protect the nail, but I'm not sure

Equipment:

1. 8 Test Tubes
2. Large beaker
3. 8 iron nails
4. Tap water
5. Salt
6. Boiled water
7. Oil
8. Calcium Chloride (CaCl)
9. Bung
10. Vaseline gel
11. Nail polish
12. Zinc pallets (Zn)

Method:

1. Label the eight test tubes, from A - H and place them into the beaker.
2. Put an iron nail in each beaker.
3. Test tube contents:
• A  =  Nail
• B  =  Nail + Water
• C  =  Nail + Salt water
• D  =  Nail + Boiled water + oil
• E  =  Nail + CaCl + bung
• F  =  Nail + Vaseline + water
• G =  Nail + Paint/Nail polish + water
• H =  Nail + Zn + water
• Fill the water in the test tube at the same amount (less than half)
4. Leave the test tubes undisturbed for at least three days.

1. A  =  Nail
• Control - normal condition - comparing to other test tubes
2. C  =  Nail + Salt water
• It rusts the iron nail quicker. 
3. E  =  Nail + CaCl + bung
• Drys the air which is trapped in the test tube

Acids and Bases | Science

Welcome to another post on my blog. Today, I finished the final blog post for the Acids and Bases topic in Science. We had to choose four abilities that we could answer for the Acid and Bases topic. Here is the presentation.

Making Salts II | Science

Welcome to another post on my blog. Today, we did an experiment about making salts, again. 

Aim: To produce copper sulfate salt by reacting copper oxide with an acid.

Equipment:

1. Copper oxide powder
2. (0.5 mol L^-1 sulfuric acid
3. 50 mL measuring cylinder
4. 2 100 mL beakers
5. Element (hot plate)
6. Heatproof mat
7. Funnel
8. Filter paper
9. Thermometer
10. Spatula
11. Evaporating basin
12. Stirring rod

Method:

1. Add 20 mL of sulfuric acid to a 100 mL beaker. Heat the acid using the element (hot plate) until it reaches 70°C. Turn off the element.
2. Once heated, use a spatula to add pea-sized portions of copper oxide to the beaker. Stir the mixture for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat step 2 until no more will disolve. Allow the beaker to cool.
4. Fold the filter paper and place it in the funnel. Place the filter funnel into the second beaker.
5. Make sure the beaker is cool enough to hold at the top. The contents should still be hot. You may need your teacher to complete this step.
6. Gently swirl the contents of the beaker to mix, and then pour into the filter paper in the funnel. Allow to filter through.
7. Rinse the beaker you used to heat to mixture previously, and place it back on top of your tripod filed with 50-60 mL of water.
8. Place the evaporating basin on top of the beaker and carefully pour some of the solution from the beaker into the evapourating basin.
9. Gently heat the beaker until the solution in the evapourating basin has reduced by half.
10. Leave the evaporating basin to cool. Once cool, move the evaporating basin to a warm place where it will not be disturbed (i.e. a window-still) and observe over the next few days. Blue copper sulfate crystals should form.

Observations:

This was a fun After It took around 10 minutes to fill a 20 mL of sulfuric acid from the filter paper.

Making Salts | Science

Welcome to another post on my blog. Last week, in Science, I completed an experiment which was about making salts. Using acid and base, we made salt which was a really fun experiment.

© Getty Images

Aim: To produce sodium chloride salt by carrying out a neutralisation reaction

Equipment:

1. 50ml and 200ml beakers
2. HCl (Hydrochloric acid)
3. NaOH (Sodium chloride)
4. 25ml measuring cylinder
5. A glass string rod
6. Spotting tile
7. Pipette
8. Universal indicator solution
9. Element (Hot plate)
10. Heatproof mat

Caution: Safety Glasses, Corrosive, Irritant

Method:

1. Using the measuring cylinder, measure 10ml of HCl and pour it into the 50ml beaker.
2. Add a few drops of NaOH at a time while stirring with the glass rod. 
3. Every 10-15 drops, stop adding the NaOH and use the pipette to transfer a drop of the solution to the spotting tile. Test its pH using the Universal indicator.
4. Keep adding NaOH and test the solution by repeating step 3. As you get closer to netural you may need to test the solution after every drop.
5. After reaching neutral (green), then put the beaker on top of an element at a high temperature. 
6. Leave the element on until the liquid has been evaporated and leaves salt. 

Observations:

Write the word equation for this reaction: HCl + NaOH ⇾ NaCl + water

Hydrochloric acid + Sodium hydroxide ⇾ Sodium chloride + water

Making Indicators | Science

Welcome to another post on my blog. This week, in Chemistry, we started with a new topic, Acids and Bases. After learning about acids, bases, pH scale and indicators, we conducted an experiment about making indicators that are used in everyday substances.

Aim: To make acid-base indicators using everyday substances. 

Equipment:

• Red cabbage
• Large beaker
• Small beaker
• Cloth
• Water
• Glass stirring rod
• Element
• Heatproof mat
• 5 Test tubes
• Test tube rack
• 3ml Pipette
• Hydrochloric acid (HCl)
• Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)

Method:

• Chop the cabbage into small pieces until you have enough to fill half a beaker.
• Place the chopped cabbage in a large beaker and add water to cover the cabbage.
• Boil over an element until the water starts boiling and bubbling.
• When the water starts bubbling a lot, turn off the element and leave the large beaker to cool on top of the element.
• Once the beaker has stopped bubbling, using a cloth, place the large beaker on the heatproof mat from the element.
• Using a glass stirring rod, tip the liquid into the small beaker leaving the red cabbage in the big beaker. 
• Put 5ml drops of hydrochloric acid into one test tube and 5ml of sodium hydroxide to the other test tube. 
• Using a pipette, place 5ml of the cabbage indicator into two test tubes.
• Record and observe the colour change.

Physical or Chemical Change | Chemistry

Aim: Exploring if it is a chemical or physical change.

Hypothesis: It's going to melt - Chemical change

Equipment:

1. Sample of ZnO (Zinc Oxide)
2. Heat source - Hot plate
3. Scales
4. Heatproof container - evaporating dish
5. Tongs
6. Heatproof mat

Method:

1. Get a sample of ZnO (Zinc Oxide) in an evaporating dish
2. Weigh the ZnO and container - record weight
3. Heat container and ZnO on a hot plate
4. Observe any changes - use a phone for before & after photos (could be video)
5. Take off heat and put on a heat proof mat
6. Let cool - observe - photos
7. Re weigh 

Results:

Before the experiment, we weighed the ZnO in a heat container, weighed 57g, then I put the ZnO and container on the hot plate. Then, I observed what changes occurred when the ZnO was heating up. After a few minutes, the ZnO slightly changed colour to a light yellow colour.

After the Zinc Oxide changed colour, I put the heat container on the heat proof mat and let it cool down. It took around 5 minutes to cool down. 

After 5 minutes, we see that the Zinc Oxide's colour changed back to white which meant that it is a Physical change. 

Conclusion

According to the results, my hypothesis was incorrect and it actually changed colour.

Speed of Light | Physics

Speed of Light - 300,000,000 m/s

From Cape Reinga to Bluff - 0.006 seconds 

Formula

Time Taken = Distance/Speed of Light

Bouncing Light

Aim: To investigate how light behaves when it hits a plane (flat) mirror. 

Equipment:

1. Lightbox
2. Power Supply
3. Mirror

Method:

1. Collect a ray box power supply and single-slit ray slide from your teacher, and set them up to produce a single beam of light.
2. Place a plane mirror on the diagram of the protractor.
3. Vary the angle of incidence and record the angle of reflection.

Results:

Angle of Incidence	Angle of Reflection
0°	0°
10°	20°
20°	30°
30°	40°
40°	50°
50°	60°
60°	70°
70°	70°
80°	80°

1. Complete the following sentences using the word list below.

      reflection        light        reflected        normal        same        incidence

When light hits a mirror, the angle in which it hits the _____________ as the angle at which it is _________. Scientists called this the Refletion Law. In correct scientific terms, the Reflection Law states that the angle of ________ is equal to the angle of  __________ when measures from _______.

Light Experiment | Physics

Opaque — Solid

Translucent — Foggy 

Transparent — Clear

Aim: To investigate shadows using transparent, translucent and opaque materials.

Hypothesis: All objects have no colour of shadow and light is coming from one direction.

Equipment:

1. Light Box
2. Powerpack
3. Dish
4. Beaker - 80ml and 200ml
5. Measuring Cylinder - 100ml

Method:

1. Set up the powerpack and lightbox.
2. When the light turns on, take the opaque, translucent, and transparent items in front of the lightbox one at a time and observe - light, shadow, edges, direction, colour.

Findings:

Material	Comments:
Translucent:	1. Are they blurred/clear edges?      a. Blurred edges 2. What direction is the light source coming from?      a. Straight 3. Do some of the objects let more light shine through than others? How can you tell?     a. Can't see the light enough - foggy, blurred  4. Are the shadows the same or different?      a. Same 5. Do the shadows have colour?      a. No
Transparent:	1. Are they blurred/clear edges?      a. Clear edges 2. What direction is the light source coming from?     a. Straight  3. Do some of the objects let more light shine through than others? How can you tell?     a. Can see light through  4. Are the shadows the same or different?     a. Different - varieties of density  5. Do the shadows have colour?      a. No
Opaque:	1. Are they blurred/clear edges?      a. Slightly blurred 2. What direction is the light source coming from?     a. Straight  3. Do some of the objects let more light shine through than others? How can you tell?     a. From the other side of the dish 4. Are the shadows the same or different?    a. Same  5. Do the shadows have colour?     a. No

What is Sound? - Extra for Experts | Physics

 

Extra for Experts: Research and then write in you own words how do we hear sound? How do sound waves get from our ear to our brain?

How do we hear sound?

Sound waves travel into the ear canal until they reach the eardrum. The eardrum passes the vibrations through the middle ear bones into the inner ear.

How do sound waves get from our ear to our brain?

Sound transfers into the ear canal and causes the eardrum to move

The eardrum will vibrate with vibrates with the different sounds

These sound vibrations make their way through the ossicles to the cochlea

Sound vibrations make the fluid in the cochlea travel like ocean waves

Movement of fluid in turn makes the hair cells The auditory nerve picks up any neural signals created by the hair cells. Hair cells at one end of the cochlea transfer low pitch sound information and hair cells at the opposite end transfer high pitch sound information.

The auditory nerve moves signals to the brain where they are then translated into recognizable and meaningful sounds. It is the brain that “hears”.

Credit: Union Hearing Aid Centre

What is Sound? | Physics

A. a) Define 2 different kinds of waves.

Transverse and Longitudinal

Transverse - extends across, eg. slinky, spring

Longitudinal - Going lengthwise, not across, eg. rope, car headlines

b) Define A, B, C. D, on the diagram

a. Crest

b. Wavelength

c. Amplitude

d. Trough

c) List types of waves.

B. a) Hearing sound

We can also describe sound in terms of the pitch or loudness

A. Highest Pitch

B. Loudest Pitch

C. Lowest Pitch

D. Quietist Pitch

Energy Transformation | Physics

The Law of Conservation of Energy

"Energy can't be created nor destroyed, but only change from one form into another form."

Example of Energy Transformation

• Flashlight - Battery (Chemical) ➡️ Light
• Car - Battery (Chemical) ➡️ Kinetic, Light, Sound
• Phone - Power (Chemical) + Electricity ➡️ Light, Sound, Heat and Chemical Energy
• Laptop - Power Socket + Charger ➡️ Light, Sound, Heat, and Chemical Energy
• Radio - Power Socket + Charger ➡️ Sound

Aim: To look at the energy transformation

Equipment:

1. Paper with spirals
2. String
3. Scissors
4. Bunsen Burner

Types of Energy | Making Energy

Today, in Physics, we had to create a crossword about the 8 types of energy.

Energy | Making Waves

Definition: Stored in an object. The ability to move something

Kinetic Energy - which is moving

Potential Energy - stored into the object


The phone has chemical energy which from the battery to light.


Different kinds of Energy & It's Examples

1. Light Energy
• The energy of electromagnetic waves. Found in Microwaves, x-rays and visible light
• Electrical Bulb
• Phone Light
2. Heat Energy
• Caused by the movement of particles. Found in all hot objects
• Sun
• Fire
3. Sound Energy
• Energy produced by vibrating objects. Examples are speech, ultrasound and music.
• Headphones
• Speakers
4. Chemical Potential Energy
• Energy stored in the bonds between particles. Found in substances like petrol and food
• Batteries
• Natural Gas
5. Electrical Energy
• The movement of electrically charged particles. Found in wires, generators and lighting
• Phone charger
• Car generator
6. Gravitational Potential Energy
• Energy stored in objects due to their height above the ground
• Rock
• Asteroid
7. Kinetic Energy
• Energy due to the motion of an object. Eg. Moving cars, running, swimming
• Walking
• Exercising
8. Elastic Potential Energy
• Energy stored in stretched or squashed objects. Examples are springs and rubber bands
• Slingshot
• Bungee

Bunsen Burner | Making Waves

Today, in Making Waves hurumanu. We first looked at Science Equipments, and then the Bunsen Burner. We first, we had to label the Bunsen Burner parts.

A Bunsen burner is a common piece of laboratory equipment. It is one of the most dangerous.

We had to do an experiment using a Bunsen burner.

Lighting a Bunsen Burner


Aim: To correctly light a Bunsen burner.

Equipment:

1. Bunsen burner
2. Heatproof mat
3. Lighter

Method:

1. Place the heatproof mat on your workbench.
2. Connect the Bunsen burner to the gas outlet.
3. Turn the collar so that the air hole is closed.
4. Light a lighter and hold it 2-3 cm above the nozzle of the Bunsen burner.
5. Turn the gas on at the top.

           a)     Describe the colour of the Bunsen burner. Blue -                             Extremely Hot, Orange - Hot

           b)     Is the flame producing any noise? No
           c)     Is it producing any smoke or soot? Yes, a little bit

    6. Carefully move the collar so that the air hole is now open.
           d)     Describe the colour of the Bunsen flame. Orange
           e)     Is the flame producing any noise? No
           f)     Is it producing any smoke or soot? Yes, a little bit
           g)     Is the Bunsen flame you described in a) more visible                        than the flame you described in d)?                                              No, because in a), the colour of the Bunsen burner was                     blue and orange, and when the air hole is open, it is                          orange.
           h)     If you were going to leave your Bunsen burner                                 unattended should the air be open or closed?        Justify your answer.