I honestly had never invested much time into thinking about how a pendulum works or how it has affected the entire world until I read this article. Think of a world with no accurate way of keeping time. Appointments couldn't be specific because time wouldn't be kept to the minute. We wouldn't be able to clock in and out of work. How would MTSU schedule classes without accurate time? Life on earth would be absolutely chaotic without the pendulum. The article mentioned five investigations that couldn't be calculated without the pendulum, but there are many more investigations that couldn't take place without accurate time keeping. The pendulum really did change a lot for not only science, but also for the world over.
"The study of pendulum motion illustrates how science may be influenced by social and economic problems, and how science can in turn impact society.This mutual impact is not unusual, and is illustrated throughout historical and contemporary science and society." This quote from the article sums up how pendulum motion along with other scientific investigations can strongly impact life on earth. I may not be a scientist, and I have never had much of a cientific mind, but it amazes me how helpful science really is.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Flashlight Experiment
My group (OWLS!) was determined that a "fuzzy pathway of light" could be present under the right circumstances, so in my experiment, I was determined to prove us right. First, I chose to go outside with three flashlights. The first one I used was a $1 cheap flashlight that my parents bought me when I went to camp in middle school. It surprisingly was actually very bright. I think this may be because of the textured mirror. Next I used a very large mag-lite. This light was very dim and made it difficult to see anything further than the ground. The last light I used was a similar mag-lite with a brighter light. I tried shining all three flashlights up, down, straight, and to the side, but I never once saw a pathway of light.
From there I went back inside and tried shining it in my parents bedroom (It was the only large room not in use.). Using all three flashlights, I tried shining the lights in the dark at short and long distances and in all the directions I experimented with outside, but I still couldn't see a path of light. I did, however, see a little dust particle floating through the air when I used the bright mag-lite and made it shine upwards. I noticed that the light couldn't travel very far in my parents' room because there were too many objects that broke the pathway.
On a side note, when I was at work the other day, the sun was shining through one of the doors in the gymnasium. The gym was filled with lights from the fluorescents and the sun, but there were several dust particles visible in the pathway of light from the sun.
From these three experiments, I have come to the conclusion that:
1. A pathway of light cannot be seen in short distances or when the light is disrupted by an object.
2. The strength of the light determines whether or not there will be a pathway of light. None of my flashlights were strong enough.
3. Dust particles can be seen with the right strength of light. The sun is an extremely bright source of light, which is most likely why I could see dust particles at work!
From there I went back inside and tried shining it in my parents bedroom (It was the only large room not in use.). Using all three flashlights, I tried shining the lights in the dark at short and long distances and in all the directions I experimented with outside, but I still couldn't see a path of light. I did, however, see a little dust particle floating through the air when I used the bright mag-lite and made it shine upwards. I noticed that the light couldn't travel very far in my parents' room because there were too many objects that broke the pathway.
On a side note, when I was at work the other day, the sun was shining through one of the doors in the gymnasium. The gym was filled with lights from the fluorescents and the sun, but there were several dust particles visible in the pathway of light from the sun.
From these three experiments, I have come to the conclusion that:
1. A pathway of light cannot be seen in short distances or when the light is disrupted by an object.
2. The strength of the light determines whether or not there will be a pathway of light. None of my flashlights were strong enough.
3. Dust particles can be seen with the right strength of light. The sun is an extremely bright source of light, which is most likely why I could see dust particles at work!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Response to The Virtues of Not Knowing
I've often thought that in a perfect world, I would always have the right answer to every problem, but that wouldn't be so perfect, would it? There would be no adventure or "risks" as the excerpt says. I personally spend too much time trying to be "perfect"... the perfect student, daughter, fiancee, friend... but I have found that when I try to be perfect and answer every problem or issue the "right" way, my life is not as much fun as it could be. This article was most certainly written to benefit people like me!
I agree with the reading for many reasons. I, like many teachers and future teachers, detest standardized tests. They attempt to label a child, they pay no attention to how a student attempted to answer a question, and they put too much pressure on the student and teacher. The "right" answer on these tests may be right according to the people creating them, but what if a child sees something differently than the test makers? It doesn't matter because the child is told he or she is wrong if the answer doesn't match the key. As the text says, those tests don't really measure intelligence.
I can relate to the children who went along with Alec's answer each time. I was like that in school. I never wanted to speak up even when I knew the answer to a question. There was always that chance I would be wrong, so I stayed quiet. I hope I learn as a teacher to be accepting of all answers and to give my students time to discover for themselves what they think the "right" answer is to every question in life.
I agree with the reading for many reasons. I, like many teachers and future teachers, detest standardized tests. They attempt to label a child, they pay no attention to how a student attempted to answer a question, and they put too much pressure on the student and teacher. The "right" answer on these tests may be right according to the people creating them, but what if a child sees something differently than the test makers? It doesn't matter because the child is told he or she is wrong if the answer doesn't match the key. As the text says, those tests don't really measure intelligence.
I can relate to the children who went along with Alec's answer each time. I was like that in school. I never wanted to speak up even when I knew the answer to a question. There was always that chance I would be wrong, so I stayed quiet. I hope I learn as a teacher to be accepting of all answers and to give my students time to discover for themselves what they think the "right" answer is to every question in life.
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