Unit 4 - The Atom - Andrew Lerario

Unit 4 - The Atom

2/18/2014

Here's where things start to get really interesting. Our study of the atom requires students to grasp some fairly abstract concepts, including atomic structure and electron configuration. Although these seem complicated, there is a system to it, and once learned, provide a foundation to move on to greater understandings. Below is the work for the week, designed to help students become familiar with the atom and the systems we use to describe its structure.

Unit 4 Cover Sheet

Electron Configuration Worksheet

Unit 4 Journal Writing

Unit 4 Illustration

Atomic Structure Worksheet

35 Comments

Jazzay Buncom link

2/18/2014 11:42:24 am

Subcategory: ZOOLOGY

This article is essentially about adorable elephants cuddling. Researchers in Thailand discovered that when an Asian elephant knows that another is stressed it tries to console its' friend by touching and "talking" to it. Elephants adopt the same emotion as their stressed friend in a reaction know as "emotional contagion". After mimicking their feelings researchers saw that the elephants move closer to their companion and caress one another with their trunks while they chirp reassuringly. This kind of behavior has been seen in other animals as well. Chimpanzees have been known to, in a less adorable way, reassure others by putting their hands in each other's mouths.

The thing about this article that struck me (besides the adorable pictures of cuddling elephants of course) was how similar elephants (and other animals) are to humans. I often forget that other animals experience empathy just like we do and that they're a lot more like us than is commonly perceived. Just like humans experience emotion while watching an actor get into a scary situation elephants experience emotion from watching their friends in a situation of distress.

Paul

2/18/2014 12:34:54 pm

Yeah I also read that elephants can also have emotions and cry like us humans.Very interesting topic.

Nikki Anderson

2/18/2014 12:58:08 pm

I remember watching a video one time about two elephants who had been together for awhile and then were separated. When their owners put them back together, the two elephants were trying to break down the fence between them and once they could reach each other, they "cuddled." This article and your comment reminded me of this.

I think that my reaction to this article (which was very similar to yours) can be related to what we are reading in Ishmael, where Humans are not longer looking at animals as equals, but as a completely different things. And yes, they are genetically significantly different, but very similar and this article shows that.

It also makes me question if elephants, or any other animals, are better than us with empathy and similar altruistic traits. I just read two articles about the lack of empathy in trolling and the stunted development of empathy in teenagers that play violent video games often. Maybe it's because we are putting more priority in researching the human brain versus other species brains or the lack of technology that other species have, but it seems like every animal but man, and dolphins, are "better people" than actual people.

Nikki Anderson link

2/18/2014 12:48:09 pm

Subcategory: Psychology

To find this article I went to reddit.com/r/science and went through the psychology filter.

This article is about the personality types that are attracted to trolling online. Whether on online forums or in youtube comment sections, the more time spent trolling the stronger these personalities were connected with the Dark Tetrad traits: Machiavellainism (manipulating and deceiving), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse or empathy), and sadism (finding pleasure in the pain/suffering of others). Researchers found the strongest connection is with sadism. They said that the internet offered them a good platform for them to get this pleasure "in a socially-desirable manner."

I had heard of previous studies on internet trolling because it plays such a big part on social media. While to me, typing out mean things in comments (if I comment at all) seems unimaginable because I can recognize that on the other side of the screen, figuratively speaking, there is someone who is there reading my comments and I could seriously affect their life. I wouldn't dare type out something purposely harmful because it just seems like common sense to me, while trolls on the other hand, lack those social-emotional traits. I guess I'm still wondering how trolls act when they're not online because a keyboard can disconnect people from "reality." It also makes me wonder if people have developed the Dark Tetrad traits from trolling, or at least increased them.

Tiffany La

2/19/2014 11:22:31 am

Because of my own use of the Internet, I have heard of the famous 'online trolling', but never understood it up until now. Before reading your article Nikki, I always thought that trolls just wanted to have fun in their own demented ways, and sadly, it turns out to be right.

I know that everyone is different, especially in personality and thoughts, but it still saddens me to see trolls running around. I've even seen some people just blatantly take someone else's story and post it up as their own-literally plagiarism!

Although, after all this, I can't help but wonder HOW people end up like this--sadists, narcissists, and so on. Are they REALLY like this, or just putting up a front through the keyboard they're typing on? Maybe we'll find that out one day.

Jake

2/19/2014 12:01:45 pm

I think when they're not online, they probably don't say anything that resembles what they say online because you can pretty much say whatever you want over the internet without consequences but in real life they might get beat up or something.

Torrey Haselbeck link

2/18/2014 02:09:27 pm

subcategory: Zoology

I found this article under "monkeys" in the New York Times, the reason why I chose this article is because I think monkeys are really cool animals and I think it is very interesting how much they are alike to humans more ten any other species. The article was a study on monkeys and baboons and how they are the only other species to have contagious yawns, this works will all kinds of monkeys and also with humans. they did an experiment where they took people the chimps had never seen before and put the people in front of them and had them yawn, and in fact the yawn was passed over to the monkey. Yawns are only contagious when they are five years of age and up, and this is the same for people, the study was to see if monkeys were contagious to yawns at the same age people are.

What struck me about this article was how similar monkeys and baboons are to humans, and that they are so smart in many different ways. I had no idea that monkeys were also contagious to yawns and I was very surprised to find this out when I read the article. Something else that really surprised me was that yawns are contagious between people and apes, this I had no idea was possible.

Alan Rivera link

2/19/2014 04:21:36 am

This article I read was about how high levels of tritium exposure has been rising in our in the United States since 1977. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Agnecy's say if large amounts of tritium levels in our ground water can be dangerous and cause serious health problems for humans. We get tritium exposure by: Nuclear weapon testing in the ocean, water around nuclear power plants.

Tiffany La link

2/19/2014 11:15:07 am

Subcategory: Geology

When looking for an article, I ended up stumbling across this one on Google News. It turns out that in Yellowstone National Park, just recently, is releasing a LOT of helium gas from its famous geysers and steam vents, more than normal. Really, 60 tons of helium a year is escaping from Yellowstone earth , and that is said to power one Goodyear blimp for about a week.

I actually found this article interesting because one of my very first road trips involved my family visiting Yellowstone back when I was in 6th grade. It was really fun watching Old Faithful erupt as high as its namesake, and to hear about this made me remember all the fun times I had. And to think, that much helium is coming out ALONG with the stinky sulfur that I once breathed. :) Science is always an interesting thing.

Jake link

2/19/2014 11:58:41 am

The article that I read was about substances that are present in common food packaging materials leeching into the foods that they contain. This isn't that bad because it will only kill you when you're super old (the levels of exposure are very low), but it is still pretty scary. These harmful materials are present in most food and food service products, especially fizzy drinks and certain kinds of tableware.

Studies have found various cancer causing and hormone altering substances in a few packaged food, and they have even observed cell changes as a result of certain chemicals that could be found in food. These cell altering substances are known as FCM's in the science world. These FCM's are pretty abundant in packaged foods, and it's legal for companies to put it in their products. I don't really care though I'm looking forward to growing a second nose when I'm 80 years old.

Sophie Williams link

2/19/2014 01:47:58 pm

I found this article by going to reddit and clicking on their science category. From there I found this article within Psychology.

This article is mainly about self identified sad music, or SISM as the author likes to call it, and why people chose to listen to sad music, particularly when they were sad. In this study, they had 220 people recall an emotional event, and the music they listened to afterward (being primarily sad). A phycology doctor explained that the music choices are memory triggers in some way. She said, "We found in our research that people’s music choice is linked to the individual’s own expectations for listening to music and its effects on them."

This article intrigued me, primarily because I can relate. When I get really stressed or sad, I prefer to listen to sad music, and that's always made me wonder why. For me it's because when I'm sad I feel like listening to happy music will only make things worse. When I'm sad I should be sad , when i'm happy I should be happy.

Nicholas Maciel link

2/19/2014 03:07:56 pm

Medicine

This article talks about kids getting harmed. Not only are kids getting different sicknesses by being born with it but it is also getting affected because of the environment. It may be a result of different chemicals such as lead, methylmurcury, polychlorinated biphenyls, arsenic and toluene. These chemicals may also be the reason for these diseases showing up more and more frequently.

I was interested in this article because it talks about children getting exposed to dangerous toxins and that is a serious subject because it really can affect and hurt a child. Getting sick as a child and having that disease that really does effect your body, it means serious business.

Tiger Hoang link

2/20/2014 01:22:15 am

The name of this article is "Levitating objects with sound". Very eye catching title, since levitation has always been a fascinating topic (in my opinion) and doing that with sound makes it all the more interesting. Not only that, but the device built here allows you to rotate & move an object across a small field generated by just sound. Their purpose for using this device, however, is to mix compounds to create pharmaceuticals without impurities.

Victoria Delgadillo link

2/20/2014 06:06:04 am

I found this article by going on the Science Daily website and looking through the articles categorized as Consumer Behavior.

According to some newly found research, often times when we are faced with heavy decisions we will tend to blame fate for any outcome we get. In a survey when subjects were asked how they make difficult decisions and how they felt about making these decisions most of them said that it was really in the hands of fate. They figure even if they make the wrong decision, then it must have happened for a reason.

I think it’s interesting that during the most important moments, where it really matters what you do, were willing to leave it all in the hands of fate. I can relate, because during stressful moments it is comforting to believe that no matter what happens, it happened for a reason. But in a different sense is it naive for us to think that way? Because then we might not take the situation as seriously as we should be, and as a consequence things turn out badly, because if we leave it in the hands of fate, we would probably be more likely to make an impulsive decision.

Melody Day link

2/20/2014 06:10:59 am

Category: Psychology (found on Reddit)

This article was about the psychology behind sad music and how it linked to the lifting of people's moods. According to recent research, people would pick sad songs to listen to in order to recall certain memories. They also picked songs that they believed conveyed a particular message, as well as songs that they just believed were beautiful. These people either had an expected mood change, or wallowed in deep sadness, depending on their prediction of the outcome.

I picked this article because I found it to be quite interesting. I love listening to music and writing songs, and I also had noticed that I tend to listen to sad songs when I am sad. It was cool to see the psychology behind it.

Paul

2/20/2014 12:30:50 pm

Hmm I didn't know that I would always do that,I'd play a sad song on guitar and i'd feel better(for some odd reason).Thank you, it was interesting to see something about what I normally do when listening to music.

Jessica link

2/20/2014 06:23:57 am

This article was found on Sciencedaily.com in the health section.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, that affects 1/125 babies, which is sad right. Scientists have been testing drugs on mice suffering from the same disease and have hit the jackpot. This drug thinned out the muscle tissue around the heart, causing the cardiac functions to improve.

I think this is really good because this is a next step towards healthier babies and less birth defects. This intrigued me because I love young children and it saddens me that many face a lot of health problems. It can happen to any child and it makes me sad that little kids could be struggling all their lives. I am very happy we are advanced in health care because we can solve a lot of these health issues because of these chemists and scientists.

Erica Wehrung link

2/20/2014 07:56:08 am

I found this article at the Science Daily website under Top News

For the past few years, scientists have perceived if your ear hair cells inside your ear are damaged, you can never hear again. But just lately, scientists have discovered that they can possibly regenerate the hair cells so that deaf individuals could be able to hear.

When I first started reading his article, I found it so amazing how advanced medicine has become at creating cells and even organs. Towards the middle of the article, it starts to get into how they discovered that this regeneration was possible, which ended up being by animal testing on mice. I am aware that most medical discoveries have been tested on animals at some point, but the thought still disturbs me. This little part in the article distracted me from the actual article and made me ponder how exactly did they get the mice to be deaf? I’m sure there is no way they just bred a bunch of mice and hoped to get some deaf ones. The whole article became kind of sickening to me when I came to the conclusion that they probably had to shatter the mice’s eardrums to make them deaf in order to perform the experiment.

Paul link

2/20/2014 01:04:17 pm

Article category:Science technology

I read this article and It is about a new Google phone that constantly scans the environment.It makes a 3D map of where you are,It tracks wherever you are on the earth.It is currently in prototype stage, is it being sent to developers for feedback a ways to improve the phone. Several companies are working on this working together to make this prototype called "Project Tango".This is a phone that Captures everything that you see and creates a 3D map in your phone,it can also put objects in the map ex:I scan my living room and I think of putting a lamp inside,I can add a lamp and put it in the 3D map to see how a lamp would look like in my living room before I actually install one.I thought"hey this is pretty cool!" There can be various uses for this;scanning a house that you've never been in before and using the map to help find your way around,Playing an augmented reality game,figuring out a way to go home when your lost,and perhaps several other ways of using this for a useful cause.

Thank you for reading and don't stress out too much.

Becca Jones

2/20/2014 01:10:24 pm

Uh, whoa! That's insane! I feel like the technology that is being developed in this era is so movie-like. It's almost unbelievable. Think about it. An application where you can create the non-existent? I feel like this could be very beneficial, just like you said. BUT to every great product, there is a nerve-wracking complication. Sometimes I feel as if our technology is taking over everything we're grasping onto. But besides that, it's a super rad idea! I'd love to see where it takes us!

Becca Jones link

2/20/2014 01:04:36 pm

I came across this article while scrolling through the Reddit science section. I skimmed through subsections and found this in Psychology.

Through some newly found research at University of Toronto, they were able to conclude that the lighting of a room can affect you and the choices you make. It claims that the decisions you make and your work ethics can also be wavered. The evidence behind this includes information about how human emotions are felt more profoundly under bright light; whether they are positive or negative emotions doesn't matter.

I was interested in this article from the moment I saw the title because just today in class Andrew was talking about changing the lighting situation for an experiment, due to this exact method! I really hope to try this principle myself.

Kristine Nailon link

2/20/2014 04:12:58 pm

Topic: Seasonal Flu

This article is about the seasonal flu vaccine that reduce the risk in having a stroke or a heart attack. This information is from The University of Nottingham who discovered that patients who have been vaccinated against influenza are 24% less likely to suffer from a stroke. However the causes of strokes are still not fully understand.

Reading this article wasn't that very interesting because I wanted to know more about the cause of strokes.I find it kind of weird how the cause of strokes are still not fully understand. Learning that smoking, and having high blood pressure can account for it. I never knew that 47,000 people have suffered from a stroke. I was wondering about more of the health. For example: The difference in taking care of you body and not. I wonder what is the percentage in getting a stroke if you were to have a enlarge heart.

Sophie Rickless link

2/21/2014 01:33:14 am

Category: Physics
Topic: Quantum mechanics (specifically, Bell's inequality)

This article was pretty in depth, and it was only thanks to Brian that I stuck with it--but after he explained it, I was glad I did. Basically, the theory of entanglement says that two particles' measurements can be completely interconnected. According to classical theory, one of these particles always has one measurement, and therefore the other has always had the opposite one, even when not observed by us. But according to quantum theory, the measurements are constantly in flux and only decide their measurements once one is observed. When that one is observed, it will immediately determine the other's measurement, even if the other particle is across the universe. This is essentially Bell's inequality--whether everything in the universe behaves according merely to locality, or whether everything is constantly in flux and each measurement is just chance. The article outlined a new way to test the inequality and further prove that the universe behaves according to quantum mechanics. Basically, we will observe the behaviors of entangled particles being emitted by ancient quasars, and attempt to determine once and for all that our universe is actually constantly in flux.

I know, I know, I'm a total nerd, but this article was so interesting to me. I mean, the thought that our universe's behavior isn't actually only determined by local cause and effect? Mind blowing! Quantum physics last year was one of my favorite things we studied, because between things like this and wave-particles and other far-out ideas about our universe, I was just astonished about how little I knew and about what there IS to know over and over again. Anyways, sorry for the speech. :)

Sophie Rickless

2/21/2014 01:35:48 am

(The experiment is being conducted by David Kaiser, Andrew Friedman, and Jason Gallicchio)

Alberto Moreno link

2/21/2014 07:32:15 am

In this article i read it talks about the robot turtle. The robot turtle is a rather maneuverable underwater robot. used to go deep under water more efficiently unlike the other bigger and more expensive machinery used for marine research. the reason it is called the robot turtle is for the design similaraties to sea turtle and it has four propelers similar to fins just like the sea turtle giving it its name.

Elena Hoffman link

2/22/2014 11:22:43 am

I found this article in the "Health" sub-section of the "Science" section on reddit.com.

This article is about a new, recent study that has come out revealing that the average obese woman only exercises an accumulative one hour per year, and that obese men aren't much better (they receive 3.6 hours of exercise on average). It goes on to discuss what the study defined as "exercise," which is essentially any vigorous activity such as jogging and jump roping. It goes over some flaws in the survey, such as the fact that the definition of "vigorous" is limited and not based on the person's own fitness level, which can vastly differentiate. The study claims that doing 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week can put a stop to weight gain and improve health.

I found this article very interesting, especially since exercising is a passion of mine. I do feel as though the “average one hour a year” isn't exactly precise, for it was explained in the article that specific types of exercise such as swimming and biking didn't measure well in the study. Certain exercises that weren't considered “vigorous” in the study might have in fact been vigorous for some. However, I do believe that the average amount of time obese people spent exercising has to be very low, for people are not typically born obese. I believe the increase of processed foods and fast food chains are of no benefit to the increasing number of obese cases (over 1 in 3 Americans are obese!). It is not a major ordeal to go outside and take a slow, easy, and short jog once or twice a week. When one can get into the habit of exercising daily or weekly, they can begin to fall in love with it, for I know certain toxins are released in the brain that can serve as a feel-good drug. When I first began to run, I absolutely hated it, but as time passed, I began to love it and the feeling of liberty and accomplishment it brings. If obese people can have just a little bit of perseverance, their average amount of annual vigorous activity can drastically change (as will their weight).

Jonathan Worley link

2/24/2014 03:31:15 pm

I found this article by going on sciencedaily.com and looking under the addiction subsection.

This article is about how excessive tanning may be connected to OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) and BDD (body dimorphic disorder). It also looks at how tanning may be classified as an addiction at some point in the future. Analysis of the data suggested that being female and screening positive for either psychological disorder significantly increased the dependence on tanning. The researchers are continuing to look for evidence to see wether tanning is actually an addiction, because people without these disorders still partake in it, despite knowing the possible risks.

I think that this article is interesting because I suppose a combination of the two disorders could very realistically result in a 'need' to tan. If somebody has OCD, and is very focused on their physical appearance, then it would make sense that they'd take measures such as tanning to alter their image. I also think that the idea of getting tanning classified as an addiction is interesting as well. To me, anything can be an addiction to any individual, so what's the point of classifying something as one? Also, why are most things referred to as addictions considered to be bad things? Why can't happiness or laughing or joy be classified as addictions? It seems as if the way we classify and define things allows us to overlook some of the better things in life, if you see what I'm getting at.

Monica S. link

2/26/2014 01:18:07 pm

This article was about how ants survive during floods. They create a raft with their bodies by holding on to each other. By doing that it decreases the deaths and injuries of the ants. During a flood their main focus is to keep the queen alive but also everyone else. They all work together to stay alive. When I was reading this I started to thing why don't we do that when we are in danger? I started to think about the walking dead. In the walking dead they fight and kill each other for land and food. I believe that if something like that went down we would fight each other to keep our family alive, it sounds like the right thing but we could WORK TOGETHER to get food and survive. I believe that to be true because when the power went we didn't really work together we kinda fought over what was at the stores to keep just our families alive. I feel from reading this we should be more like ants. Working together will save more people in a time of danger.

Diego Ruiz link

3/6/2014 04:04:53 am

This article is about how the air in la is so polluted, but that apparently its getting better. This struck me because how are people living and brething in this air. Its caused by the trucks exaust fumes and alot more. There was a diagram saying that the leading causes of the poluted air in california are fireplaces, household resourses

Richard Contreras link

3/7/2014 06:59:05 am

This article talks about how most preschoolers and kindergarteners can do basic algebra naturally before evening entering a math class. This was interesting because many high school and college students struggle with algebra but younger kids are able to do some basic algebra.

Sabrina San Vicente link

3/7/2014 07:28:51 am

I found this article in the Mind & Brain section of ScienceDaily.com

This article was about happiness (how appropriate). The charity, Action of Happiness surveyed 5,000 people and told them to rate themselves between 1-10 on certain habits that are supposedly the key to happiness. The habit that people practiced the least was Acceptance, when asked "How often are you kind to yourself and think you're fine as you are?", half of the people surveyed answered 5 or less. Acceptance is one of the most important characteristics to being happy, yet it's probably the most overlooked. The article explains different ways we can accept ourselves in this judgmental world. It encourages us to stop comparing ourselves to others, and to be as kind to yourself as you are to others.

I was interested in this article because it seems really relevant to what we're doing in class. I think that a lot of us are very unkind to ourselves and compare ourselves to other people. As hard as this is to do, I think it's really important for all of us to practice in our every day lives to be truly happy.

Amanda link

5/25/2014 03:16:38 pm

In this article it talks about how people who have lost a limb, lost their sight, their sense of smell, and their hearing can still feel pain, see faces, smell odors and hear sounds even though they are not there. People genuinely believe that whatever it is they think they are sensing is actually there, it's not only in people with mental issues, it occurs a lot to healthy minds as well.

Rodrigo Perez link

6/3/2014 12:28:42 pm

I found this article by going on sciencedaily.com

I found this article by going on sciencedaily.com

A group of astronomers discovered two new planets orbiting a star known as Kapteyn's Star, named after Kapteyn who discovered this star in the late 19th century. The planet called Kapteyn B might be supporting water. With it’s furious speed, orbiting it’s star in just 48 days, it’s believed to be warm enough to sustain water in it’s surface. The second planet, Kapteyn C is a massive planet. Taking 121 days to orbit it’s star, astronomers believe that it’s too cold to support any water. The unique thing about this planet is that it’s relatively close to the Earths Sun. Kapteyn’s star is the 25th nearest star to the Sun, only 13 light years away from Earth.

I was very interested in this article because it seems very relevant to our world, as well as to our learning. Not only is it relevant towards our learning, but it’s very interesting because it shows how our technology has progressed over the years, and our scientist have been finding more and more discoveries over the years.

Michael link

6/17/2014 11:22:02 am

This article at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140617112004.htm
was about how in a small area there is a deadly bird flu that spreads easily from bird to human. If a human gets this flu from the bird that person will get very sick and in some cases die. It is spreading rapidly and could harm a vary large amount of people.

Julian Armijo link

6/18/2014 11:28:43 am

This article is about a small device that can suck water out of air, its made up of tiny carbon tubes that suck the water right out of the air, but its not as fast as you'd think, but it still does it. Like the article said it would help places where they are stuck in a drought, but also if you didn't to pay for water you could just use these if you lived in a humid area. You just might need a bit more space.

Unit 4 - The Atom

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