Plasticity Lab Conclusion

In science class, we did a plasticity lab with water and corn starch.

Our hypothesis was that the substance, after we mixed the water and corn starch, would be a thick liquid. The data, though, showed something truly amazing. When we held the substance in our open hands, it started to slip in between our fingers, but when we made a fist with the substance in our hands and moved it around, it became solid. When we left our hands open, it went back to a liquid. This happened because the substance had the property of plasticity. Some variables that could have affected the results of the lab were how much water or corn starch we added. If we added too much water, the substance would have been very chalky and probably would not have flowed as well. If we added too much water, the substance would have been too watery and it probably would not have been able to become a solid. We were able to control the experiment because we added the amount of corn starch proportionate to the amount of water in the pan. The substance that resulted from mixing the water and corn starch had the same property as the mantle, which is made of magma. When the magma is under pressure, which it is, it stays as a solid. When it comes out of the crust as lava, it becomes a liquid. This lab taught me how the Earth's interior works.

October Sky

In school, we saw the movie "October Sky" as a character education movie. The movie was about 4 young boys who want to build a mini rocket. After many attempts and failures, they finally succeed. Soon, the whole town gets to know about it and they gather around as the boys launch rocket after rocket. Later, the police arrest the boys saying that they started a forest fire nearby. After their parents get the kids out of jail, they prove that they didn't start that forest fire, using mathematical equations to determine where it landed. The four boys showed perseverence because even though they had to go through all that trouble and failed so many times, they finally finished their rockets and got scholarships after winning in a major national science fair. They also showed cooperation because they were very different and they still worked together to build those rockets.

Response Blog to Darknightxv1

Recently (about 5 minutes ago) I read Darknightxv1's blog on duchene muscular dystrophy, another genetic disorder. This one affects the muscles, and it is caused because of missing genes that are needed to make proteins, which are needed to build and maintain healthy muscles. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this disorder, either. The male population is more vulnerable to it. This disorder makes me feel that I am very lucky not to have this disorder, because if I had it, I would not be able to play baseball, my favorite thing to do. It also makes me feel sad and bad for the unfortunate people who have this genetic disorder.

Cri-du-chat Syndrome

Cri-du-chat syndrome is a genetic disorder that was discovered in 1963. Symptoms of this syndrome include a downward slant to the eyes, mental retardation, slow or incomplete development of motor skills, low birth weight and slow growth, partial webbing of fusing of the fingers or toes, a small head and a small jaw, wide-set eyes, and only one line on the palm. Complications of this syndrome include inability to care for oneself and the inability to function in society. Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment for this disorder, but genetic counseling is recommended for parents of children with cri-du-chat. THis syndrome occurs in about 1 in every 20,000 to 50,000 newborns, and it is slightly more common in the female population, which means that females are more vulnerable to cri-du-chat. Cri-du-chat-syndrome happens when there is a deletion of the short arm (p) in Chromosome 5, which occurs at random event during the formation of reproductive cells (sperm and eggs). So far, scientists are still looking to understand this syndrome more so that they can develop new treatments, but they are, as of now, unsuccessful. It is very sad that such a disease even exists. If possible, scientists should try harder and the government should spend more money on research for this disease, for if they find a cure, that will be one of the best things the government and the scientific society could do for the public.