Many people believe that Science is just another subject, but do not see the importance of it. However, we have to admit that the fact that we have computers and lights are due to the presence of this subject Science.
Science has many different topics and is related to many different subjects. Topics like importance of units, difference between mass and density, scientific method, photosynthesis, etc, are basic topics. Though basic, their importance in the Science world is of utmost importance.
Units. When people talk about them, they are only referred to as Mathematics Topic. However, units has all the relations to science. For example, without units, we would not know the exact ratio proportions. This is crictical for compounds as they would only react in at exact ratio.
Mass and Density are commonly referred to as the same. However, this is not the case. Mass is a fundamental measure of the amount of matter in the object but Density is Mass divided by Volume. An item may have a huge mass but small density or even a small mass but huge density. They are inter-related, but not at all the same. These are just one of the many misunderstandings in science.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Reflection on my Term Grades
Personally, I feel very surprised for my Term 1 grades. I did not expect to get 36.5/40, the second in class. However, I am quite sad because I lost 2 marks in my MCQ because of careless mistakes. I did not read the question carefully. Nevertheless, I was very pleased with my results. The bonus question at the back proved to be useful for me because I got 2 extra marks from it. However because of this test, I became arrogant because I did not study much.
As I have explained earlier, I was arrogant for this test. I did not really study and merely flipped some pages in the textbook and notes. Hence, I had made a major mistake in my Section B and got 26.5/40 overall. I did not know how to phrase my answers because of 2 reasons, firstly I lacked the content to phrase my answer because I did not study, and secondly I did not know which words to choose for the phrasing of my answers, leading to a poorly phrased answer and hence I lost many marks for that simple mistake. I regretted my decision not to study and hence I studied harder for Term 3 Test.
The Term 3 Test was rather easier, and I had scored better for it too. However I am still studying for my EOYs, because it is 70% of the total grade. This 70% would be the major bulk and the marks, and I would be studying very hard for it
As I have explained earlier, I was arrogant for this test. I did not really study and merely flipped some pages in the textbook and notes. Hence, I had made a major mistake in my Section B and got 26.5/40 overall. I did not know how to phrase my answers because of 2 reasons, firstly I lacked the content to phrase my answer because I did not study, and secondly I did not know which words to choose for the phrasing of my answers, leading to a poorly phrased answer and hence I lost many marks for that simple mistake. I regretted my decision not to study and hence I studied harder for Term 3 Test.
The Term 3 Test was rather easier, and I had scored better for it too. However I am still studying for my EOYs, because it is 70% of the total grade. This 70% would be the major bulk and the marks, and I would be studying very hard for it
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Plant Pigments
Plant Pigments
As we all know, Plants have pigments in them. However, many people do not know what these pigments are, their purpose, and even their names. Firstly, I would start my point of by saying that there are 3 main types of pigments in a plant, Chlorophylls, Carotenoids and Phycobilins.
Chlorophylls
Chlorophyll is a green pigment that conhtains a ring molecule known as the porphyrin ring. This is the sole molecule that allows the Chlorophyll pigment to trap sunlight. As the molecule allows electrons to move freely within it, it can either lose or gain electrons easily, and hence it is able to gain the energized electrons from the sun's rays and use it for photosynthesis.
Chlorophyll is often found in leaves, stems and even sepals of the flower. It is stored in the chloroplast of the cell. In total, there are three types of chlorophylls: Chlorophyll "a", Chlorophyll "b" and Chlorophyll "c". All plants that photosynthesize have Chlorophyll "a". Chlorophyll "b" is found only in green algae and in plants. Chlorophyll "c" is found in photosynthetic kind of organisms in aquatic organisms.
Carotenoids
Carotenoid is a red, orange or yellow pigment. It includes the familiar compound carotene, which gives carrots their colour. Carotenoid contains two six-carbon rings connected by a chain of carbon atoms. Hence, they do not dissolve in water and they must be attached to membranes. Carotenoids only can assist in photosynthesis as they can only pass the energy from the trapped sunlight to the chlorophyll pigments. There are 2 types of Carotenoids: Carotenes and Xanthophylls.
Phycobilins
Phycobilins are soluble in water. This special pigment is only found in the Rhodophyta or single cell bacteria, Cyanobacteria. There are 2 types of this pigment: phycocyanin, a bluish pigment found in Cyanobacteria and phycoerythrin, a reddish pigment found in Rhodophyta. Phycobilins are useful for soaking up light energy and even fluoresce at a particular wavelength. This makes it useful for research.
Credits: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2003/thoga3n/public_html/plantpig.html#Phycobilins
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/pigments.html
As we all know, Plants have pigments in them. However, many people do not know what these pigments are, their purpose, and even their names. Firstly, I would start my point of by saying that there are 3 main types of pigments in a plant, Chlorophylls, Carotenoids and Phycobilins.
Chlorophylls
Chlorophyll is a green pigment that conhtains a ring molecule known as the porphyrin ring. This is the sole molecule that allows the Chlorophyll pigment to trap sunlight. As the molecule allows electrons to move freely within it, it can either lose or gain electrons easily, and hence it is able to gain the energized electrons from the sun's rays and use it for photosynthesis.
Chlorophyll is often found in leaves, stems and even sepals of the flower. It is stored in the chloroplast of the cell. In total, there are three types of chlorophylls: Chlorophyll "a", Chlorophyll "b" and Chlorophyll "c". All plants that photosynthesize have Chlorophyll "a". Chlorophyll "b" is found only in green algae and in plants. Chlorophyll "c" is found in photosynthetic kind of organisms in aquatic organisms.
Carotenoids
Carotenoid is a red, orange or yellow pigment. It includes the familiar compound carotene, which gives carrots their colour. Carotenoid contains two six-carbon rings connected by a chain of carbon atoms. Hence, they do not dissolve in water and they must be attached to membranes. Carotenoids only can assist in photosynthesis as they can only pass the energy from the trapped sunlight to the chlorophyll pigments. There are 2 types of Carotenoids: Carotenes and Xanthophylls.
Phycobilins
Phycobilins are soluble in water. This special pigment is only found in the Rhodophyta or single cell bacteria, Cyanobacteria. There are 2 types of this pigment: phycocyanin, a bluish pigment found in Cyanobacteria and phycoerythrin, a reddish pigment found in Rhodophyta. Phycobilins are useful for soaking up light energy and even fluoresce at a particular wavelength. This makes it useful for research.
Credits: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2003/thoga3n/public_html/plantpig.html#Phycobilins
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/pigments.html
Friday, September 10, 2010
Acidity and Alkalinity in the Human Body
Acidity and Alkalinity
Acidity and Alkalinity are measured on the pH scale from 0-14, where 0 is extremely acidic, 14 is extremely alkaline and with 7 being neutral. pH is the measure of hydrogen ion concentration, the simplest element. One number drop from the pH scale means it is 10 times more acidic. For example, if Sample A has the pH value of 4, Sample B has the pH value of 3 and Sample C has the pH value of 2, Sample C is 10 times more acidic than Sample B and 100 times more acidic than Sample A.
Why is this important to us?
Acidity and Alkalinity affects our health. Most plants and fishes thrive in waters of pH value 6.6-7.4. This could be a basic rule for humans as viruses, germs, parasites,etc thrive better in an acidic system. For the human body to be in a healthy state, a delicate and precise blood pH value of 7.365, which is slighty alkaline, is maintained.
How does Acidity affect our bodies?
Generally, the more acidic your body is, the more serious the diseases you have. The degree of acidity affects the prevention capabilities of the human body. Hence, the more acidic the body is, the harder it is to prevent and fight diseases. Acidic systems also cannot use calcium effectively, hence causes the weakening of our bones. Acidic systems cannot maintain proper oxygen levels, causing diseases like cancer to thrive in this oxygen poor environment. Acidic blood also cannot be circulated properly, causing the heart to work harder and hence causing heart problems. Lastly, Acidic systems affects the digestive and the lymphatic systems.
Sources:
http://www.theherbalinsider.com/archives/57
http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/foods.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwph,alk.htm
Acidity and Alkalinity are measured on the pH scale from 0-14, where 0 is extremely acidic, 14 is extremely alkaline and with 7 being neutral. pH is the measure of hydrogen ion concentration, the simplest element. One number drop from the pH scale means it is 10 times more acidic. For example, if Sample A has the pH value of 4, Sample B has the pH value of 3 and Sample C has the pH value of 2, Sample C is 10 times more acidic than Sample B and 100 times more acidic than Sample A.
Why is this important to us?
Acidity and Alkalinity affects our health. Most plants and fishes thrive in waters of pH value 6.6-7.4. This could be a basic rule for humans as viruses, germs, parasites,etc thrive better in an acidic system. For the human body to be in a healthy state, a delicate and precise blood pH value of 7.365, which is slighty alkaline, is maintained.
How does Acidity affect our bodies?
Generally, the more acidic your body is, the more serious the diseases you have. The degree of acidity affects the prevention capabilities of the human body. Hence, the more acidic the body is, the harder it is to prevent and fight diseases. Acidic systems also cannot use calcium effectively, hence causes the weakening of our bones. Acidic systems cannot maintain proper oxygen levels, causing diseases like cancer to thrive in this oxygen poor environment. Acidic blood also cannot be circulated properly, causing the heart to work harder and hence causing heart problems. Lastly, Acidic systems affects the digestive and the lymphatic systems.
Sources:
http://www.theherbalinsider.com/archives/57
http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/foods.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwph,alk.htm
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Eclipse
On the recent Eclipses at July 11, it was amazing too see the Sun being blocked out by the moon. This would be because the moon and the sun are in a direct alignment to the Earth. This is a very rare phenomenon that happens around 4 times every year. In my powerpoint slide I would be talking more about it.Here is the link to my powerpoint: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/54383666/Eclipses
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Welcome to My Science E-portfolio
Hello Mr Low, welcome to my science e-portfolio.
In my science e-portfolio you would find the 5 blog posts, all on a different topic. I would be giving a brief explanation on the topic and a more in-depth explanation. I will also be attaching my research to the post.
In my science e-portfolio you would find the 5 blog posts, all on a different topic. I would be giving a brief explanation on the topic and a more in-depth explanation. I will also be attaching my research to the post.
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