Elizabeth+G+SFLOM

= What is Electricity and How Can it be Used for a Search for Life on Mars? = ====Electricity caused by the attraction and repulsion of negatively and positively charged particles. There are three different types of electricity: static, current, and discharge. Static electricity is electricity that gathers in one place; it doesn’t flow or move. A balloon that has been rubbed on hair sticks to a wall because of static electricity. The balloon particles and hair particles create an electrical charge which allows it to stick to the wall. The wall, which was neutral before, becomes slightly charged and its particles are attracted to the balloon's particles. Electricity that flows orderly from one place to another is called electric current. In order for an electric current to happen, there must be a circuit, or a closed path for an electric current to flow through. An example is a LED light attached to a battery by two wires. Electric discharge is an out of control, rapid movement of charge from one place to another. Lightning is a good example of this type of electricity because it is a large electrical discharge that happens between clouds and the surface of Earth.====

====Electricity can be utilized in many ways on a search for life on Mars. One way it can be used is to power up the rocket. Many parts of the rocket need electricity to function, like the engines. Without them, the rocket couldn't take off into space. Radios need electricity so they can be used to communicate with people back on Earth. The navigational system needs electricity to control the flight of the rocket. Additionally, rovers require electricity to move around Mars. They have solar panels that are used to generate electricity to the robot by converting it from sunlight into electricity. Pictures of Mars from the rover are sent to Earth because of electricity. Electricity also powers everything on Earth that is monitoring or controlling the spaceship.====

= What is Magnetism and How Can it be Used for a Search for Life on Mars? = ====Magnetism is caused by the orientation of electrons (which way they are spinning around the nucleus). Magnets can repel or attract other magnets as well as objects made out of iron and steel. Paper clips and nails are some of the things magnets attract. On the ends of each magnet are poles, one north and one south. Like poles repel while opposite poles attract. The north pole of the needle of a compass points towards the North Pole so actually, the "north pole" is a south pole. Magnetic fields, which are caused by the movement of electrons around an atom, surround all magnets. The magnetic force that causes magnets to repel and attract other magnets is applied through this field. The field is the strongest nearest to the magnetic poles and the weakest away from them. A generator uses a magnetic field to turn motion into electrical energy. The wire is bent into a loop and the power sources provide the kinetic energy to spin the wire loop. Every half turn, the current changes direction and causes the current to change from positive to negative.==== ==== ==== ====On a Search for Life on Mars, magnetism has many practical uses. First, it could be used as a generator to power the rocket that travels to Mars. Additionally, it can fuel the rover needed to take pictures and collect data to send back to the scientist overseeing the mission. The rover and anyone else embarking on the mission would need to navigate their surrounding easily. That is why a compass would be useful to them. Once the rover or person finishes exploring Mars and needs to return to the rocket, it would be necessary for them to have a compass that directs it back to the rocket. Magnetism could also be used for transportation. If a magnet was underneath a vehicle, it would make it hover above it and leave Mar's surface untouched.====

= Our Universe as We Know It =

__ From Big Bang to Galaxies __
==== 15 billion years ago, our universe started when it exploded out of nothing; today, this event is known as the Big Bang. The universe was extremely hot in the beginning. Matter was created when the universe increased from the size of an atom to the size of Earth. At this stage, the universe was a mixture of radiant energy and particles like quarks and antiquarks. It was increasing steadily and its temperature was dropping slowly. Before the universe was a tenth of a millisecond old, protons and neutrons were forming and the radiation caused matter and antimatter particles. When matter and antimatter collided, they created energy. Likewise, when energy collided, they created matter and antimatter. After one second, the universe was mostly composed of radiant energy and particles such as electrons. When the temperature dropped to 300,000 degrees Kelvin 300,000 years later, electrons could start orbiting around protons and hydrogen nuclei to create atoms without being ripped apart by the heat. Two billions years after the Big Bang, galaxies begin to form when gravity caused clumps to grow and become thicker. Our galaxy formed when the universe was about 3 billion years old as a huge sphere of gas. There are three types of galaxies: elliptical, spiral, and irregular. Long before, when the galaxies were closer together, they tended to collide and merge. ====

__ The Milky Way Galaxy __
==== The Milk Way consists of numerous bright stars and clouds of opaque dust. There is a flat disk of stars 100,000 years across and 1,000-2,000 light years thick, cut across by a thin layer of gas and dust in the middle. The large, flattened nucleus is 20,000 light years across. Halfway out from the galactic center, the Sun lies in the disk. Globular star clusters are scattered in a spherical shape, as far as 130,000 light years from the galaxy. Looking down on the galaxy, four spiral arms from the bulge spin around. They are composed of young blue stars as well as pink colored clouds of glowing hydrogen gas. In contrast to the stars from the arms, the stars in the nucleus are old and mainly red and orange. They are squeezed in thousands of times closer than the stars in the galaxy nearest to the Sun. In the center of the bulge, a.k.a. the central 15 light years, is where the nucleus of the galaxy is. It's most likely that it's an enormous black hole encircled by a ring of gas clouds and a disk of dust. Each star and gas cloud is in its own orbit in the galaxy. The four spiral arms are where matter piles up temporarily, not structures turning with the galaxy. It takes the Sun 250,000,000 years to rotate around once at a speed of 50 kilometers per second. Our galaxy tells us that it is bordered by a massive invisible corona by the way it rotates. It contains ten times more material that our eyes can perceive as stars, gas, and dust. Our eyes deceive us for the galaxy may be five times bigger than it appears. ====

__ Lives of the Stars __
==== Stars are formed in cold, dark clouds of gas and dust in space. Cores are created when the blast waves from exploding stars ripples through the gas. Each core gradually shrinks each time gravity pulls it together while rotating at the same time. The energy of the falling gas heats the center of the core which results a proto-star being created. It is surrounded by an area free of gas although a large cloud of cold and dust is still around the new star. The temperature at the center is hot enough for nuclear reactions to begin. As it spins, the star flattens into a disk and gas streams out from its poles. The wind of gas from the star clears the cloud of dust and the star's changes come to a halt. The transformation of hydrogen gas into helium is in order to provide the star with nuclear energy. A star's mass determines its size, color, and mass. The smaller the star is, the less it weights and the dimmer it shines.. About five billion years ago, the Sun formed as a stable yellow star. In another five billion years, the sun will start to run out of hydrogen as a nuclear fuel. For the next billion years, the Sun's outside layers will expand until it has doubled in size and its hue will darken to an orange. In the following billion years, the Sun will grow 100 times larger than now and become a 1,000 times brighter. The Sun will start to spew out large amounts of material and become larger, brighter, and redder than ever. It will pulsate slowly in and out and its surface will eventually extend as far as the orbit of the Earth. It will keep losing material until it has lost almost half its original mass. The last layer around the innermost core is flung off as a glowing shell to create a planetary nebula. It exposes the core of the Sun which has shrunk to be about the same size as the Earth. This core is now a white dwarf star, which cools down and fades over a long period of time. Larger stars die differently. First, they expand, cools, and turn yellow. They expand in and out for a month and are unstable. Eventually, these star become red super and create core of iron 1,000 km wide has been created. The core will collapses in under a tenth of a second until it is less than 50 km wide and part of this core travels through a shock wave that blows the star apart, producing a supernova explosion. ====

__ The Sun __
==== The Sun is the nearest star to our planet. It is 76% hydrogen while the rest is helium. During a total eclipse, we see that the corona, the Sun's outermost layer, encircles the yellow disk of the photosphere. The temperature in the gas of the corona is millions of degrees. Between the photosphere and the corona, the chromosphere is visible as a layer of red flames. In the Sun's core, the temperature is 15 million degrees and the gas is 20 times denser than iron. Hydrogen nuclei and single protons crash into each other and create nuclei of helium. Every second, 4 million tons of hydrogen vanishes to generate the Sun's energy, which radiates outward from its core. In the layers below the photosphere, billowing rolls of hot gas rise to the surface, then fall again as they cool. The Sun's surface is covered in hot gas bubbling up to create a pattern called granulation. Jets of incandescent gas called spicules shoot up like flames. Sun spots appear in pairs or groups in disturbed regions. They look dark because they are much cooler than their surroundings. Huge prominences that are larger than the Earth, can erupt from active areas on the Sun. Solar flares are the most intense bursts of energy. They can blast atomic particles as far as the Earth. The Earth's magnetic field channels particles towards the North and South Poles. These particles crash into the upper atmosphere and causing them to glow with the aurora. The Sun's magnetic field is about five times stronger than the Earth's. Sun spots and many other solar occurrences are controlled by the Sun's magnetism. The Sun spins about once a month but its rate varies with latitude. Each magnetic field line is tied into the fabric of the Sun so as the Sun turns, the field gets wound up and distorted. Sun spots form where the field loops out of the surface of the Sun. This irregular pattern breaks down and a new field is created. This process takes about is 11 years. Some spots appear very close to the Sun's equator and there are few of them there. Individual spots last a few weeks maximum. The overall number of spots and the places they appear both change as the cycle progresses. After a few years, the number of spots appearing reaches its pinnacle and declines until the whole natural cycles repeats itself. ====

__ The History of the Solar System __
==== The Sun formed when gravity pulled together a cloud of gas and dust. This rotating sphere collapsed to a thin disk with the proto-sun at the center about 4 1/2 billion years ago. In the disk, solid material began to collect into larger particles. These particles amassed into clumps a few kilometers wide known as planetesimals. Farthest from the Sun where it was the coldest, icy planetesimals survived. While in the warmer region nearest to the Sun, these planetesimals are composed of rock and metal. Planetesimals were first very closely packed. Over time, some collided gently enough to combine into larger objects. Others collided so fast that they were broken up again. Four very large masses formed in what is now the outer solar system. These became the giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Moons condescended out of the disks they developed. The gravitational pull of each of these planets was great enough to attract and obtain a thick atmosphere of gas from the surrounding nebula as they each had about ten times the Earth's mass. There were too many collisions in the inner solar system for large planets to form. Eventually, the four terrestrial planets emerged: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These planets' surfaces were heated by constant bombardment and inside them, radioactivity also produced heat. The metal in the molten planets sank to the middle while the lighter rock rose to the surface which then cooled off and solidified. The moon most likely created in a collision between the newly formed Earth and another planet about the size of Mars. For a million years, the surface of the Moon and all the other rocky moons and planets were created by heavy bombardment. Most planetesimals had eventually been destroyed in collisions, ejected to the remote outer solar system, or settled into the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A few became the moons of planets while icy planetesimals from the outer solar system become comets if they reach the area surrounding the Sun. Rings around the larger planets were the result of planetesimals and being torn apart by gravity when they got too close. Venus, Earth and Mars acquired their atmospheres later than the rest of the planets perhaps from the gasses blown out of volcanoes. On Earth, oxygen was produced by plants breaking down carbon dioxide. Today, large rocks crashing down from space are less common than in the early Solar System. ====

= Rockets throughout History = ====From gunpowder fueled devices to large vehicles that can explore outer space, rockets have evolved greatly and changed humanity for the better. The earliest machine to utilize the main principles used in rocket flight was an aeolipile. Created by Greek inventor Hero, the device was a sphere mounted on top of a water kettle that used steam as a propulsive gas. A fire lit below the kettle transformed the water to steam which traveled through the pipes to the sphere. The thrust that caused it to spin was because of the two L-shaped tubes on each side of the sphere that allowed the gas to escape.====

====The Chinese had a big part in the development of rockets. Gunpowder created from saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal dust was placed in bamboo tubes and thrown into fires during religious festivals. It is thought that some of these tubes didn't explode and were propelled by the gases and sparks produced by the burning gunpowder out of the fires. The Chinese started experimenting with these tubes, attaching them to arrows and launching them from bows. They soon discovered that the gunpowder tubes could launch themselves by the power produced from the escaping gas. In their war against the invading Mongols, they attacked them with burning arrows, a simple form of a solid-propellant rocket. A tube that was capped at one end contained gunpowder while the other end was left open. The tube was attached to a long stick and when the powder was ignited, the quick burning of the powder produced fire, smoke, and gas. This escaped through the open end and produced a thrust. The stick helped to keep the rocket headed in one direction as it flew through the air.====

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====Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, called the father of modern astronautics, was the individual that proposed the idea of space exploration by rocket. He also suggested the use of liquid propellants for rockets to attain a greater range. Another statement of Tsiolkovsky's was that the speed and range of a rocket was only restrained by the exhaust velocity of escaping gases. His brilliants ideas, research, and great vision all contributed to modern rocketry.====

====An American named Robert Goddard was the man who turned Tsiolkovsky's visions into reality. He was convinced that a rocket could be better propelled by liquid fuel. Until then, no one had ever built a successful liquid-propellant rocket, as it was more difficult than building a solid-propellant rocket. Fuel, oxygen tanks, turbines, and combustion chambers were essential for that type of rocket. On March 16, 1928, Goddard achieved the first successful flight with a liquid-propellant rocket. This gasoline rocket was the start of a new era in rocketry.====

====Many other rockets were developed during the 20th century such as the V-2 rocket. Invented by a German society for space travel called Verein fur Raumschiffahrt, this rocket was used against London during WWII. Its great thrust was caused by the burning of a mixture of liquid oxygen and alcohol at a rate of one ton every seven seconds. Though destructive, this rocket was invented too late in the war to change its outcome.==== ====The realization of rocketry as a potential military weapon created a need for a U.S. space program. The United States was competing against the Soviet Union to create long range intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as Earth-orbiting satellites. Standing for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the purpose of NASA was for it to serve as a civilian organization with the objective of peaceful exploration of space to benefit all of humankind. Through rocketry, that is exactly what NASA has done. Rockets have made a great impact in the world as it helps us understand and explore the universe we inhabit.====

= The Flight of the Alpha Rocket Skill Level One =





====During our Search for Life on Mars unit, we have discussed and learned about the importance of rockets on missions in our Solar System. Having a rocket whose mass isn't too big but can reach great heights is essential to scientists everywhere. The purpose of this experiment was to determine how mass affects the maximum altitude of a rocket.====

====Nine rockets were used in this experiment, all painted uniquely and with various quantities of paint. This was a significant factor as the rockets had to weigh different amounts for the experiment to be successful. This was the variable in the experiment. Each rocket was propelled into the air on a launch pad by pushing two buttons at the same time. Using a trundle wheel to calculate the distance, two individuals were stationed 100 meters away from the liftoff. The angle was recorded with angle guns by holding the trigger and releasing when a puff of smoke flew out of the rockets signaling the opening of the parachute. Both people 100 meters away recorded an angle for an average altitude angle. The rockets were then retrieved and their altitudes were found by multiplying 100, the distance from the launching of the rocket, by the tangent, which was the angle recorded. It looks like this: 100 * tan (angle).====

====The results of the experiment show a clear pattern. The greater the mass of the rocket, the lower its altitude. For example, a rocket with a mass of 47.8 grams reached an altitude of 44.5 meters while a rocket weighing 44.9 grams went 100.0 meters.====

====My hypothesis about this experiment was correct as I said that the heavier a rocket was, the lower its pinnacle. Throughout this experiment, this concept was proven true as rockets with a greater mass had a lower altitude than those with lower masses.====

====Our rocket's flight had some difficulties at first, but ultimately was successful. During liftoff, it took many tries to get the rocket up in the air. There was a complication that had to do with our ignition not burning so it was changed. After this change, our rocket was propelled quite high into the air. I lost sight of it for a while before it came into view again when the parachute opened. Its altitude, 91.6 meters, was greater than most of the heights our peers' rockets reached. Upon further examination, I found that part of the rocket's parachute was slightly burned. The next time the rocket is launched next time, I can make sure before hand that the recovery wadding is tightly scrunched into the ball so it won't run into any additional impediments.====

= Mars Rover Drop Vehicle =

==== Our Mars Rover Drop Vehicle was not a complex vehicle. It was a cup covered in bubble wrap connected to a parachute with string. The purpose of the parachute was to slow down the device and by doing so, decrease the force of impact. We used bubble wrap so that the egg would fit snugly into the cup and it would provide cushioning when the vehicle was dropped. ====

==== The egg vehicle safely landed the egg without a crack onto the pavement when it was thrown. The throw was far so it stayed in the air longer. This reduced the impact of the throw, making it smaller than it would have been it we had just dropped it rather than thrown it. ====

==== Although our egg vehicle was successful, there were still some problems. The parachute that we fashioned onto the vehicle didn't work quite as well as we had hoped. It didn't maximize the flight time at all. ====

==== Like everything, there is always room for improvement. In this case, we need to find a way to add more air resistance to our vehicle so it lands less forcefully and safely. In the future, instead of cutting our plastic bag and creating a parachute, we should just attach it to the basket holding the egg. Additionally, attaching plastic bags to the bottom would act as a thruster, increasing the time it stays in the air. ====

==== A plentiful amount of different materials is a key factor in inventing an effective egg vehicle. We should be able to have a greater quantity of string available to us as well as more bubble wrap, one or two more sheets. Newspaper is a material that should be included as it is used for wrapping breakable objects and could be utilized quite well in the drop. ====

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= Robots throughout the Ages =

====Robots have been around longer than you may have thought. One of the earlier predecessors of robots dates back to the 4th century BC. A Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum created a mechanical bird propelled by steam called "The Pigeon." A few decades later, Greek philosopher Aristotle concluded that automatons could abolish slavery and bring human equality. The Greeks weren't the only ones who thought about robots. Around 1495, Leonardo Da Vinci sketched the first recorded design for a humanoid robot. During the 1700's, some of the most famous robots of the period were invented by Jacques de Vaucanson. His most renowned invention was "The Digesting Duck." It was a mechanical duck he created in 1737 that could flap its wings and even swallow food. Nikola Tesla made robot history as well. Tesla created the first remote-controlled vehicle in 1899.====

====Robots have a place in modern society too. One of the numerous ways robots make our lives easier is by assisting us in surgeries. Surgeries require steady hands and human hands are only nimble to an extent. Some advantages of using robots in surgery is that minimum damage and less scarring would occur and there would be faster recovery periods. Robots lend a helping hand to the people protecting us too. SWAT robots shield SWAT teams from armed adversaries. They allow the teams to shoot their attackers without getting shot themselves. Robots can be used recreationally too. Producers use robots in movie for special effects as people, animals, etc. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a 40 ft long robot dragon that was used. Robots are not only used by adults; children use them too. A robot has been created for children with autism. The robot shown in figure 9 was designed to help autistic children develop their communication and learning skills. Research has shown that children with autism trust technology in areas of social interaction.====

[[image:ca-science7/eag_robothelpingchildren.jpg width="407" height="266" caption="Figure 9: This is the robot that develops autistic children's communication and learning skills."]]
= Programming Robots =

==== For a robot to complete an action, it, or specifically its motor, must be programmed. There is a spectrum of movements robot can perform. They can do simple movements, such as moving forward or reversing, or they can do more complex actions, including point turns (90 degree turns in place) and curve turns (90 degree turns) Some other movements include acceleration and driving in a square. The robot can also be programmed to perform other actions that don't move it such as use display, which a picture is put on the screen of the robot, and play sound. Everything comes with its own challenges. Sometimes, the wheels of the robot may be crooked so the robot drives forward at angle instead of straight. The robot not being programmed correctly proves to be a problem. Another difficulty is when you have to program the robot to go up to a certain point and the distance you programmed it to go doesn't match the distance it needs to go. ==== ==== A sensor is a device that senses its surrounding through different senses, including sight, touch, and sound. There are a couple of different types we have worked with, including a light sensor, a touch sensor, a sound sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor, as seen in figure 11. Each sensor I have worked with helps my robot in some way. If a robot is a task and can't travel on a certain surface, the light sensor helps it. When pointed at the ground, light sensors tell a robot what surface it should not travel on by recording the percentage of light on the surface it can travel on and the surface it can't. This is only possible if the two surfaces are different colors because the robot has to be programmed to know that a surface with a certain percentage of light cannot be traveled on. Ultrasonic sensors send out waves to determine whether there is an object blocking its path so it can it successfully perform the task assigned to it. Sound sensors help a robot because the robot can be programmed to do an action when it hears a sound. Touch sensors help a robot sense where objects are so if it need to perform an action with that certain object, it knows where it is. ====

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= How Can Minerals and Rocks be Identified? = ====There are numerous different physical properties minerals can be distinguished by. Because minerals come in various different shapes, sizes, and color, scientists cannot use only one property to determine its identity. Two properties scientists use that go hand-in-hand are color and luster. In order to identify a mineral with these properties, you would have to observe the appearance of each sample and compare it to a list of observations of other minerals. Hardness is another property that can be utilized. An unknown material has to be scratch against a known material for its hardness to be identified. The material that is harder will leave a mark on the surface of the other. A streak test is another tool geologist use. When scratched against another surface, a mineral will leave the color of the mineral in its powder form. Each mineral's streak color varies as some minerals may have a streak color different from the outer color while others may have ones similar to it. Scientist use magnetism by hovering a magnet over minerals to see whether they have magnetic properties. Since a small percentage of minerals are magnetic, there is only a small number of minerals a magnetic mineral could be. In addition, the way light is refracted through a mineral may give some clue to what it is. To do this test, the mineral has to be placed onto black text on a white sheet of paper; for example, a textbook would work. Because some of them fluoresce, or absorb UV light and re-emit visible light, shining UV lights on minerals can help to identify a mineral. Not all minerals do this, which is why fluorescence is used to identify minerals. Some minerals react when they come in contact with common chemicals. When a strong acid is placed onto a mineral containing carbonate, bubbles will appear. The acid test gives us an idea of what the mineral might be because we know it contains carbonate. Learning the content of the mineral makes it that much easier to identify because only some minerals contain carbonate.====



====NASA has sent a rover called Curiosity, which is currently travelling to Mars, to perform geology experiments on Mars. It does so by first drilling into the surface of Mars to collect powder from the rocks. This substance is then transported into two large chemistry laboratories inside the rover that is used for analyzing. These laboratories can uniquely determine its mineralogy, what minerals and chemical elements are present inside of it. The rover is similar to a geologist in a laboratory; it is the next best thing to sending a human astronaut to Mars. All this information is a crucial part of learning whether Mars was a habitable environment. The scientists have planned for the rover to explore Gale Crater and observe its rocks and minerals. If they were ever rivers on Mars, these rocks and minerals in Gale Crater could tell us many things about Mars. The rocks and mineral do suggest that they could have potentially been under water, which we associate with habitability.====