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EAS 10600 #M Group E
Hi Students from EAS 106 #M, this is Group 5. You will be discussing here for the rest of the semester!
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Lab 2: Scientific Method
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Posted by Francesca Lingo on February 8, 2021 at 5:39 pmOver the next 1-2 days, take some time to observe your surroundings (home, nearby park, street, etc.) and make note of anything that stands out. Keep in mind that your observations are not limited to what you can see and may include smells, sounds, tastes, and touch or feeling (hot/cold, soft/hard, etc). Do you see anything that you can\’t immediately explain, something that causes you to pause and ask, \”I wonder why….?\”
For the purpose of this discussion, we will work together to solve this \”problem\” using the scientific method. Your goal is to find a solution that will stand up to the review of your peers.
- Describe your observation. Provide sufficient detail (or photos if needed) so that others in the discussion can visualize the problem you see.
- Ask a question about your observation for which you do not know the answer. This question will usually include the words \”how\” or \”why\”. Note that if you have trouble forming an initial question, you might want to consider a different observation.
- With your question in mind, make 2-3 additional observations that you believe will help you answer the question.
- Go ahead and try to answer your question. The answer is your hypothesis and it should come in the form of a confident statement, then you should justify your statement with your observations.
When you have completed these steps, write a paragraph to summarize your \”research\” and post your research to the discussion board. You should use formal language and grammar (no text-message speak), and the paragraph should clearly explain identify: 1) Your research question, 2) your observations 3) your hypothesis, and 4) how you tested your hypothesis, 5) your results and conclusions.
After you have submitted your post, return to the discussion board, and review the \”problems\” that your classmates have solved. Post a reply to a minimum of 2 different problems that were \”solved\” by your classmates. In your reply, consider the following:
Do you agree with the author\’s conclusions? If so, explain what evidence you found to be the most compelling or conclusive. If not, explain why you are not convinced and suggest some additional observations or tests that could be used to address any lingering questions and reach a more defensible conclusion.
Based on the author\’s initial results, what are some new questions that you might ask?
Due Dates
Etiquette
When posting replies, please be considerate of your peers. The discussion is intended to promote a collaborative learning environment, so be careful of your tone and refrain from inappropriate language or personal attacks. You may challenge others if the intent is to facilitate growth, but do not demand, harass, or embarrass. Encourage others to develop and share their ideas.
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A week ago, the weather forecast predicted an incoming snowstorm and it did occur. The day that the snow fell, it felt really soft, enough for children to play with and not get hurt. However, I noticed that a couple days later, after all the snow settled and piled up along the sidewalks, the snow was not as soft anymore. It became hard and it wasn’t as malleable compared to the first snowfall.
My question is why does soft, fluffy snow turn into hard snow as the days pass?
Other observations I’ve noticed were that when snow initially falls, it’s really light. Enough for the wind to carry it off it’s surface. After 3 or more days, the snow becomes really compact and piles up on each other, sort of forming a rock like structure. Especially since people plow the snow to the side of the sidewalks so all the snow that was accumulated becomes piles on piles of snow. My hypothesis is that the initial fluffy snow turns into hard snow because of the amount of air in the snow gradually leaves the snow particles after a couple days. When snow initially falls, there is a lot of air inside the snowflakes making it fluffy and easy to handle. But the air slowly leaves the snowflakes causing the snow to become really hard and compact. Compact snow is dense, meaning that there is minimal air inside. If I had to create an (imperfect) analogy, I would say that it’s sort of like brown sugar. When you sift brown sugar, it’s really light and you can blow it away really easily. However, when you begin to pack the brown sugar into the cup, you’re squeezing all the air that’s inside and making the brown sugar in the cup to become really packed and compact. In conclusion, the reason that soft snow becomes hard is due to the amount of air that are inside the snow particles.
Hi Jonathan, I was curious about this as well! Reading your conclusion, I would agree with you as well that bigger piles of snow are more difficult to melt, even if the outside temperature is above freezing point. I consider the dense piles of snow to be the pretty conclusive evidence that those would talk much longer to melt compared to just a thin layer of snow. Due to the dense snow, the insides or the center of these snow piles are not basking in the sun only the snow that are on top of the piles. I would also be curious as to how long it would take for one pile of snow to melt even halfway because it’s been a week since the last snowstorm and there are still piles of snow on the sidewalks.
I went to the store to do some grocery shopping and two days later as I was going to make some veggie stew, I realized that my eggplant and mushrooms had developed some green mold on them which hasn’t happened before. Why did my mushrooms and eggplant develop green mold after two days of being purchased? Looking through my fridge I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary since the rest of my veggies were completely fine; while looking through my fridge I realized that I didn’t feel cold; my arms, face, and hands were not cold. Not feeling cold should be more apparent during the winter because my heater is on, the change in ambient temperature is drastic from being in the living room to roaming inside the fridge, not feeling cold is significant. If I don’t feel cold while roaming through my fridge and my veggies have developed mold after two days of being purchased, then my fridge’s cooling fan is not working. the argument of me purchasing old veggies without knowing, can also be made. That would explain why they developed mold so quickly. To test the capabilities of the fan, I melted some butter in a small bowl, then put it back in the fridge to see how long it’ll take to solidify. It took 1 hour to completely solidify. I didn’t know how long it should take for butter to completely solidify in the fridge; a simple google search fixed that and the total time should be around 30 minutes. Therefore, based on the melted butter, my molded veggies, and not feeling cold while roaming the fridge all conclude that my fridge’s cooling fan is not working properly.
Hi Yussef, your topic on polar vortexes are new to me, as this is the first time I’ve heard about it so hearing about this is pretty interesting to me. I liked the way that you researched this topic and came to a reasonable conclusion based off your research. Also, like Dahlia mentioned, raising up the issue of climate change and how that could also be a factor was good since there can be various colliding factors. In addition to your research, I would be curious as to how polar vortexes are effecting other states, not just NY.
Interesting analogy Emily. I really pictured the air particles in between the snow that makes it fluffy. Besides the amount of air leaving inside the snow particles making it less fluffy, did you consider the decrease in temperature that we experience after the storm? While the storm occurs and the snow falls and piles up into a fluffy malleable particle the temperature outside is not extremely cold and dry, it almost feels cold and humid. The next couple of days the weather begins to decrease and the air becomes dry and dense which makes the “fluff” in the snow decrease and become hard ice, which makes the rock-like structure you observed.
Hi Jonathan, interesting view on the melting of snow. I specially observed this while trying to get into a car that was surrounded by snow on the side walk. I stepped on the snow and saw how fluffy was on top but the bottom was completely rock-hard ice. I think layers of ice are made as more snow falls which will also prove your conclusion and observations on the effect of sunlight melting snow. The deeper the level of snow the harder the snow becomes. If more snow were to fall then the top of the layer from the previous snow fall will become hard and the new layer created will remain fluffy and malleable.
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