This Thursday we had our school science expo. The Third graders made a presentation of the ice fishing experiments, the fourth graders made their own circuit boards, the fifth graders created and raced mousetrap cars, the sixth graders put on a wax museum and dressed and informed us about a scientist, the seventh graders came up with and proved their own experiments, and the eighth graders invented their own hover crafts out of plastic, wood, and duct tape, and wow are those hover crafts fun to ride. Anyway, I’m a seventh grader so i created and proved my own experiment. My question that inspired my experiment was “How does caffeine affect your body”. After i did a little research and found an answer, I decided to test if caffeine will have the same affects on goldfish as it does humans. Here is my question, hypothesis, and procedure of my experiment….

Goldfish Experiment

Question: Will caffeine affect goldfish the same as it affects humans?

Hypothesis: I Think caffeine will have similar effects on Goldfish as it does humans.

Procedure:

Step One: Place a goldfish in a bowl with room temperature water.

Step Two: Set up a stopwatch or timer

Step Three: Drop a 100 mg caffeine pill into the fish bowl (You can crush it or cut it)

Step four: Start the timer/stopwatch, and check the fish’s breathing rate every five minutes. (Count the gill movements)

Step five: Continue checking the breathing rate every five minutes for an hour.

Step six: Once the hour has passed, place the fish into a non caffeinated bowl.

Step seven: Graph your data

LIST OF SUPPLIES:

Goldfish

Caffeine Pills

Fish Bowl

Timer /Stopwatch

 

This week in science we started our water unit. We are learning about water crisis around the world. To learn about this subject, Shane is splitting us into groups and is giving us the task of making a movie. Each group will have to make a movie about some water crisis in the world. My group,(Alison, McLean, and I) decided to make a movie about the heroic efforts of On The Ground Global. O.T.G.G. does helpful projects around the world. A couple years ago, they ran across Ethiopia to raise money to build schools! The project we are studding is the Chiapas project.

Facts

Since 2005, many self-governing communities throughout Chiapas, Mexico have teamed up with On The Ground to create clean water projects.These projects have saved women and children from countless crucial hours of back breaking work. It takes three hours to get the water they need to drink, to bathe, and to cook. That is three hours less caring for the family, and giving them an education. Children spend more time collecting water than at school.  They walk an average of 3.7 miles a day to get water for their entire families. Now it only takes 15 minutes!

TTFN (ta ta for now)

-Mady

This week The 7th grade started our science expo projects. Each of my classmates choose a topic to to an experiment on, such as  what wicks burn faster and why. I choose caffeine and how it affects your body. Caffeine can have many affects on your body, here are just a few….

The most common effect is alertness, and it is in most prescriptions to treat drowsiness. It also can cause headaches. If you don’t usually drink caffeine and you suddenly start, you may get a headache. Although if you consume caffeine normally and you suddenly stop, you may also get a headache. Caffeine can also affect the digestive system. Caffeine raises the amount of acid in your stomach, and can cause heartburn or stomach ache. Caffeine is also diuretic, so it makes you pee more than usual. If you have acid reflex or ulcers, ask your doctor if it is okay for you to drink caffeine. If you drink a large amount of caffeine, it may cause you to lose too much water and you might get dehydrated, especially if you consume it while exercising.

As I said before, we must each pick a topic and experiment on it. I choose to experiment on goldfish. My experiment shows some of the many different effects of caffeine. If you would like to here more about caffeine and see the goldfish experiment in action, come to the Pathfinder Science Expo. I promise you it will be fun!!!!!

-If you have any questions about the goldfish experiment, feel free to ask! Talk to you soon…

-Mady

(The picture is from the website www.mountainstrongdenver.com)

Location: The Pathfinder School

Time: 11 am-2 pm

Is it fun?: YES!!!!!!!!!!

The winter festival is a time for pathfinder families to get to know each other better. It is a meet and greet for the newer students and parents. First we have a HUGE potluck in the pathfinder gym, with all sorts of treats. Then you are free to go around campus and try all the different activities. We host sledding up on the big hill, and a warm bonfire outside the gym. There is smore’s outside and hot coca inside. There will also be a chance to get a tour of the school on snowshoes, and time to just play in the snow. The fifth-eighth grade have built many forts on the lower playground, and are offering a chance to go and play in them. I suggest you take a look at the forts while you still can-They are SO AWESOME! Once you are done playing outside, enjoy a cup of coco while you are touring the class rooms. Ask your child to show you some of her/his work, i promise you it will be something to look at. Sadly it will all have to end at 2 pm, but there is always next year. `If you come again, invite your friends and family to enjoy the winter festival with us, show them around, and don’t forget to tell them how amazing our school is. 😉 Talk to you next week….

-Mady

P.S. This is not from our school 😉