Dolphins

This past week I went on a class trip down to Corpus Christi. My class first went to an aquarium. There we got to see many different animals including dolphins. Dolphins are interesting because they are one of the smartest animals in the world. Dolphins also have quite a few of traits that match up with humans. Dolphins are mammals, have teeth, are warm-blooded, and even have a four-chambered heart. Dolphins belong to the group called cetaceans. Dolphins can even communicate with each other. They each have their own unique whistle that can help dolphins differentiate each other from one another. Also dolphins do have the ability to see, hear, taste, and feel but they cannot smell. Dolphins use echolocation which is the method of using sound waves to find things such as food or other dolphins. Dolphin sizes vary greatly. Full grown bottlenose dolphins can be 8-9 feet long while killer whales can grow to be over 20 feet long (and yes, killer whales are a type of dolphin). There are many different types of dolphins and they are all fascinating. Dolphins have always been one of my favorite animals. They are very friendly but at the same time are more dangerous than sharks and most other oceanic animals. I hope that dolphins have always been an interesting animal to all of you guys as well. 

Learn more about dolphins: http://teacher.scholastic.com/dolphin/about3.htm

Acids and Bases

Acids and bases play a huge role in the world of chemistry. Acids are in a lot of foods while bases can be found in cleaning solutions and antacids.  An acid is a substance that releases hydrogen ions when it is dissolved in water. A base is a substance that releases hydroxide ions when it is dissolved. Acids and bases need to be balanced to protect our health as well as the environment. Water is the perfect balance of acids and bases. When acids and bases react with each other they create water in a process called neutralization. (H+OH=H2O) Neutralization is just a process in which something is neutralized. 

Acids in foods are a lot weaker than acids used in a science lab. One way to tell if a substance is an acid or a base is to mix the substance with something that would change color when reacting with an acid/base. One example is litmus. Blue litmus would turn red in an acid and red litmus would turn blue in a base. When some acids react with bases, they make not only water but salt as well (but you have to have a balanced amount). It's amazing that if you mix two substances that could literally dissolve you, you end up with a perfectly safe swimming pool.

Source Credit: http://www.climatechangematters.net.au/LOTS/Chem/sub/acids/acids.htm

Photo Credit: http://www.flammablestorage.co.uk/acid.html

Bonding

Why do elements bond with each other? 

In ionic bonding one element's atom shares its outer layer electrons in order to fill in another element's atom's outer layer.

It looks something like this:

In covalent bonds atoms share there electrons with other atoms. The outer layer electrons fit on both atom's outer layers in order to fill them up.

It looks something like this:

To find out more about bonding and chemistry in general and see these pictures along with other examples go to 

http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/faculty/michael.gregory/files/bio%20101/bio%20101%20lectures/chemistry/chemistr.htm

Compounds

Everyone knows that water is H2O, but what exactly does that mean? H2O is a compound. A compound is a group of two or more elements bonded together. Compounds are everywhere. Things that you use everyday are compounds that you didn't even know about. NaCl is a compound called sodium chloride or salt. CH3COOH is the formula for a compound known as vinegar. Compounds are interesting things. It is cool how elements can chemically bonded to create a completely new thing that is completely different than what you started with. 

To learn more about compounds:

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/atom_compounds.html

Plasma

Many people know of plasma as the fourth state of matter. Plasma is a lot like a gas but plasma is actually made up of negatively and positively charged particles. Because of this, plasma is strongly influenced by electric and magnetic fields. Here on earth, there isn't much natural plasma. However, man made plasma is all around us. Have you ever seen a fluorescent light bulb? A florescent light bulb is a long tube with gas inside of it. When the light is turned on, electricity flows through the tube and charges the gas. The electricity actually converts the gas to a glowing plasma that can be used as light. This same process happens in neon signs. Different gasses display different colors when they are converted to plasma. Now what about natural plasma that isn't commonly found on earth. Did you know that about 99% of the visible universe is plasma. A star is a huge ball of gasses that are at a really high temperature. The high temperature charges the atoms in a star and converts the gasses to plasma. Plasma is a really cool thing that is not as common on earth as the other states of matter. 

Learn more about plasma:

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_plasma.html

http://pluto.space.swri.edu/image/glossary/plasma2.html

That Sinking Feeling

Everybody knows that ships are supposed to float. Objects float because their weight is less than the buoyant force. A buoyant force is an upward force exerted by liquid on an object. If in object's weight is greater than the buoyant force, the object sinks. A chunk of steel would normally sink but a ship floats even though it is made with steel. That is because the ship has a lot of air in it and the weight of the air and the steel averaged out is less than the buoyant force which means the ship will float. If ships are supposed to float, why would they sink? Ships and many other objects sink because water is leaking into them. If water leaks into something, that object gets heavier and its weight could overcome the buoyant force. In a ship, water can leak into the bilge area which is the lowest point on the ship. Because water can leak into the bilge area, most ships have bilge pumps which pump the water out of the ship. There are a few different ways that a ship can sink and many steps to take to stay safe.

Check out http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/sinking-ship1.htm

for more information on what to do on a sinking ship.

Polar Vortex

A polar vortex is a large cyclone near either of the poles. It can also be called a polar cyclone, a polar low, or a circumpolar whirl. Polar vortexes are located from the middle of the troposphere to the stratosphere. Polar vortexes hover over the poles year-round and are strongest in the winter. An individual vortex can last for more than a month! Recently a polar vortex breakdown has occurred and caused polar vortexes to move down south from the North Pole. This is why it is so cold outside right now. Whenever a polar vortex breakdown happens, we get very cold temperatures. A polar vortex breakdown can happen a few times a year but it affects different places. I think polar vortexes are really cool...literally.