Today you began to understand more about how the sun works, and how humans use the sun's rays to create energy. Though your journey is just beginning, you already know more about solar energy than you think!
Today's activities were varied, and each group participated in a different experience. Some of you learned how Helium and Hydrogen (the elements that make up the sun) interact to create heat. Others learned how to convert the sun's rays into heat energy with a magnifying glass. Still others worked on a timeline that chronicles the ways in which humans have used and benefitted from solar energy since the ancient times. But no matter which experience your group was part of, you were learning important things about solar energy!
Based on your experiences today, respond to this blog with some of the information you have learned. Use the following questions to guide your response. Be sure to answer each question completely.
What are some things you understand so far about solar energy?
What are some questions you still might have?
What are some connections have you made?
As we move through this unit on solar energy, we will be using your understandings, questions, and connections to guide us!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
In Masters we learned a lot about solar energy. There were three different station and each group got to go to two. I went to one with Ms. Betts and Ms. Hiss. In these stations we learned a lot about solar energy, its strength, and its uses. With Ms. Betts we burned a hole through paper with a magnifying glass. We learned that black paper works better than white because it absorbes more heat. I connected this with the fact that all of the solar power panels that i've seen driving in the valley were black or dark colors. This experiment really allowed me to understand the power of the sun. If the sun is 93 million miles away and it can burn a hole in paper, and since we as humans have enough knowledge, i realized how we are able to harness the suns energy and convert it into energy we can use (electricity). In Ms. Hiss' Class we talked more about solar power and learned about the elements that make heat. I am looking forward to our next MASTERS session
Solar power is energy from the sun. Without solar power, all life on earth would end because sola energy gives the light to plants. In turn, plants turn the light into food and nutrients through photosinthesis. Us humans and animals then use the plants to support our daily life and provide us with food.
Solar power can be used in many different ways. One way to see solar energy is to hold a maginying glass to focs on a peice of paper. Before long your result should be a small burn or flame in your paper, as we expirienced with Ms. Hiss.
Other, considerably easier, ways of using solar energy is through solar panels. solar panels are made up of a combination of magnifying glasses and fluid filled pipes. Solar pannels areusually backed with galss that is specially made to focus the power of the sun to the pipes behind it. When the light hits the pipes, it heats, heating the special fluid inside. The heat produced in the pipes is then used to activate any thing that the solar panels are being used for, an example is a solar car.
we have leared a lot about solar energey in MASTERS class and not in it. we did the experiment that we put baking soda and oil in a bag. i did something like this when i made a volcano and it was so cool. i have also seen yeast exspoled when hannah kofman group in science in 4th grade and they did somthing wrong and it when every were. It happened because when to things like that are mixed together it exploeds.
In M.A.S.T.E.R.S. I learned about solar energy. In the first part I was with Ms. Hiss where I learned about Helium and Hydrogen. We mixed baking soda and vinegar in a bag, making it explode. In the second part I went with Ms. Betts and burned paper with the help of the sun and a magnifying glass. I connected this experience with the volcano project the 6th graders and I did. When we mixed vinegar and baking soda in the bag it exploded, just like how mixing those ingredients made the volcano erupt. I can't wait to learn more about solar energy at the next M.A.S.T.E.R.S. class.
Solar cars have several similarities to the every day car. They have a motor, wheels, seats, steering wheel, brakes and more. Also, they require some kind of fuel and in this case, it’s the sun, which is why it’s called the solar car. The sun cannot power the car directly, some conversion must happen between the sun and the wheels. This is the same with your everyday automobile. The explosion of the fossil fuel in the motor gives power to the wheels. For the solar car, the sun’s energy is converted to electricity with the help of the solar cells. The electricity is used to power the electric motor which turns the wheels. It is very important for the car to be very efficient since its power source is the sun and it may not be present all the time. For that reason, solar cars are built with an aerodynamic shape to reduce wind friction and are made very light. When there is excess energy supplied by the sun it is stored in batteries for cloudy days or night. To increase the efficiency even more, the motor can operate as a generator. Instead of using only the brakes to stop, some of that energy coming from the motor (generator) can be stored in the batteries. In general, a solar car is 5 meters long 2 meters wide. It can seat one or two people, depending on the design. It is very low to the ground and can go as fast as a small automobile.
In masters i really learned w/ Miss Hiss a lot about chemical reactions and all about electrons and how they move. And then w/ Miss Betts i learned how to burn paper w/ a magnifine glass. I was a really cool class.
Post a Comment