Science Methods 1

  Week 12 Blogpost Driving Question: How can we power clocks and other devices? The big question addressed in the lab, and a description of what you did. In the lab this week, we began our discussion by observing a video titled "What's happening inside the wind-up clock?" which featured a close-up view of a clear wind-up clock, showing us how it works and what happens after the alarm goes off. I then developed my own model, trying to explain "Why does the wind-up clock turn on and stay on?" I found that the winder tightens the springs, which store the energy in the spring. Then, that energy slowly releases from the spring, transferring to the gears, which then regulate the ticks of the clock, helping the hands move as the energy is being transferred to them. I realized that all components in the wind-up clock work together to store and transfer energy throughout the clock, keeping it running until the alarm goes off. The energy is stored within the spring and is...

The big question addressed in the lab, and a description of what you did   The big question addressed in the lab today is, " How can we support play that is exciting but not dangerous?" We began the lab by discussing last week's homework assignment as a table group. Then our focus switched to energy and its lens on motion. We investigated the energy in a pendulum by playing around with the pendulum simulation. I found out the reason for the pendulum slowing down is that the gravitational potential energy is transferred to kinetic energy when it is released to swing, then once it gets back to the other side, it goes back to gravitational potential energy. This causes the pendulum to not be able to get as high as the point it was released from. The transfer of energy causes friction between the pendulum ball and the air, causing thermal energy to be produced, which the constant friction makes the pendulum ball not able to reach the previous height it was dropped from. This ...