Refugee Inquiry

What you have been learning about?
In Social Studies, we have been working on our Refugee Inquiry. The country I chose to research about is Syria.
What you found interesting?
Something I found interesting is 60% of Syrian refugees are children.

Acid Rain

How is acid rain formed? When fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are burned, it releases carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. These acids dissolve in the water in the clouds and make the rainwater more acidic than normal. The acidic water vapour condenses and falls to Earth as acid rain.

How is it affecting coral reefs? It kills aquatic organisms and damages the coral reefs. It also makes the water acidic.

 How can we prevent it? A great way to prevent acid rain is to produce energy without using fossil fuels. We can do this by using renewable sources such as solar and wind power.

- walk or bike if the destination is closed by

- turn of appliances when you're not using them

Crystals

Yesterday, we did an experiment in science. Our task was to form crystals by using copper oxide with an acid.
Aim: To produce copper sulfate salt by reacting copper oxide with an acid.
Equipment: Copper oxide powder, dilute sulfuric acid, 50 mL measuring cylinder, two 100 mL beakers, bunsen burner, tripod, gauze mat, funnel, filter paper, thermometer, spatula, evaporating basin and stirring rod.
Method
1. Add 20 mL of sulfuric acid to a 100mL beaker. Heat the acid until it reachers 70℃. Turn off your bunsen burner.
2. Once heated, use a spatula to add pea-sized portions of copper oxide to the beaker. Stir the mixture for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat step 2 until no more will dissolve. Allow the beaker to cool.
4. Fold the filter paper and place it in the funnel. Place the filter funnel into the second beaker.

5. Make sure the beaker is cool enough to hold at the top. The contents should still be hot. You may need your teacher to complete this step.
6. Gently swirl the contents of the beaker to mix, and then pour into the filter paper in the funnel. Allow to filter through.
7. Rinse the beaker you used to heat the mixture previously, and place it back on top of your tripod filled with 50-60mL of water.
8. Place the evaporating basin on top of the beaker and carefully pour some of the solution from the beaker into the evaporating basin.
9. Gently heat the beaker until the solution in the evaporating basin has reduced by half.
10. Leave the evaporating basin to cool. Once cool, move the evaporating basin to a warm place where it will not be disturbed (i.e a window-sill) and observe over the next few days. Blue copper sulfate crystals should form.

What salt are the crystals? Copper sulfate
Chemical reaction: Copper oxide + sulfuric acid ➝ copper sulfate + water

SEXXY Paragraph

In English, we have been working on SEXXY Paragraph and the different film techniques. Our task was to write a SEXXY Paragraph about how the technique is effectively used. The technique we wrote about is two-shot.
My group: Me, Shawn and Cole.

S: In this scene, the director used two-shot to show the intense emotions of both characters.

E: We see this when Sergeant Bormann held a weapon against Geel piet’s neck as we see the fear in his eyes.
X: The purpose of this two-shot is to help us see Geel’s Piet emotion as he was getting chocked by a baton. The purpose of this was to also see the guard’s anger as he was determined to kill Geel Piet.
X: This made the audience feel miserable for Geel Piet.
Y: This aspect can be seen later in the movie as to how the guards treat the black people.

Experiments

This week in science we have been doing experiments based on base and acids.

Making Indicators

Aim: To make an acid-base indicator using everyday substances.
Equipment: Beetroot, turmeric, cranberry Juice, beaker, water, tripod, bunsen burner, gauze mat, HCI
NaOH

For beetroot: Chop the beetroot into small pieces. Place the beetroot in a beaker and add water to cover the beetroot. Boil over a bunsen burner for at least the minutes for the colour to leach out of the beetroot.
For cranberry juice: Pour into a beaker and leave to one side.
For turmeric: Mix 1 teaspoon turmeric in 100 mL cup of alcohol. Place in a small beaker and leave to one side. 

Method
1. You now have five beakers, each containing a different indicator.
2. Using a pipette, place a 5 mL of the cabbage indicator into two test tubes.
3. Add 5mL of HCI(acid) to one test tube and 5mL of NaOH(alkali) to the other test tube.
4. Record the colour change.
5. Clean the test tubes and repeat for the beetroot, cranberry and turmeric indicator.

Neutralisation
Aim: To observe a neutralisation reaction


Equipment
Test Tube
Test tube rack
Sodium Carbonate (base)
Hydrochloric acid (acid)
Universal indicator solution

Method

1. Add approximately 1-2mL of Sodium Carbonate and place the test tube into the test tube rack. Add 3-5 drops of Universal indicator solution.
2. Using a dropper bottle, add HCI drop by drop. Be careful because adding even a small amount of extra acid can mean you'll miss the neutralisation point.