Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Bryan Foo's product reflection

We faced many difficulties. Like thinking of the things to use for the experiment. Then we also had to find some time to go and buy the ingredients. Also, we had to think where are we going to get the money to buy the needed things from. Lastly, some of the experiments did not turn out as we expected.

I did some research to find what ingredient can be used in our experiment and also tried to find the ingredients that cost the least.

product reflection

I researched for the product and thought of the idea for the project. Some difficulties we faced are lack of time ,some of the plants we planted did not grow well and the results are not what i expected

Product reflection

I did almost everything! Huh ya..... Even the kang kong seed i buy. LIme and bitter gourd. Soil also i buy, huh ya , Water i buy lol. Green bean seed also i buy. Cup also i buy. Taking care of the plant also me. huh ya......

They are so irresponsible, that THEY GO ASTON HOUSE eat macdonald nia, thereafter play some random zombie game. While aston launch maple.

The product should be easy to make if i solo as my group members are of NO HELP TO ME. boohoohoo...... :(

We faced many difficulties. Like thinking of the things to use for the experiment. Then we also had to find some time to go and buy the ingredients. Also, we had to think where are we going to get the money to buy the needed things from. Lastly, some of the experiments did not turn out as we expected.

I did some research to find what ingredient can be used in our experiment and also tried to find the ingredients that cost the least.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

list of alkalinic foods...

http://www.energiseforlife.com/list_of_alkaline_foods.php

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Scoop some soil into a container. Then, add a half-cup of vinegar. If the soil bubbles or fizzes, it's alkaline.
If there's no reaction, scoop a fresh soil sample into a second container. Add a half-cup of water and mix. Then, add a half-cup of baking soda. If the soil bubbles or fizzes the soil is highly acidic.
Amend your soil with wood ash or lime, if it's acidic. Amend your soil with sulfur or pine needles, if it's alkaline.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Go to this link...

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/soil/pHplants.html
Use of litmus paper. A small sample of soil is mixed with distilled water, into which a strip of litmus paper is inserted. If the soil is acidic the paper turns red, if alkaline, blue.

link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_pH

how to reduce or increase soil ph value

Increasing soil pH
The aim when attempting to adjust soil acidity is not so much to neutralise the pH as to replace lost cation nutrients, particularly calcium. This can be achieved by adding limestone to the soil, which is available in various forms:
Agricultural lime (ground limestone or chalk) is used for soil liming. These natural forms of calcium carbonate are probably the cheapest form of lime for gardening and agricultural use and can be applied at any time of the year. These forms are slow reacting, thus their effect on soil fertility and plant growth is steady and long lasting. Ground lime should be applied to clay and heavy soils at a rate of about 500 to 1,000 g/m² (1 to 2 lb/yd² or 4,500 to 9,000 lb/ac). The concept of "corrected lime potential" [2] to define the degree of base saturation in soils became the basis for procedures now used in soil testing laboratories to determine the "lime requirement" of soils.[3]
Quicklime and slaked lime: The former is produced by burning rock limestone in kilns. It is highly caustic and cannot be applied directly to the soil. Quicklime reacts with water to produce slaked, or hydrated, lime, thus quicklime is spread around agricultural land in heaps to absorb rain and atmospheric moisture and form slaked lime, which is then spread on the soil. Quicklime should be applied to heavy clays at a rate of about 400 to 500 g/m² (0.75 to 1 lb/yd² or 3,600 to 4,500 lb/ac), hydrated lime at 250 to 500 g/m² (0.5 to 1 lb/yd²). However, quicklime and hydrated lime are very fast acting and are not suitable for inclusion in an organic system. Their use is prohibited under the standards of both The Soil Association and the Henry Doubleday Research Association.
Calcium sulphate (gypsum) cannot be used to amend soil acidity. It is a common myth that gypsum affects soil acidity.[4] However, gypsum does reduce aluminium toxicity. Because gypsum is more soluble than alkaline earth carbonates, it is recommended for the treatment of acidic subsoils.[5]
[edit]Reducing soil pH
See also Soil acidification
The pH of an alkaline soil is lowered by adding sulfur, iron sulphates or aluminium sulphate, although these tend to be expensive, and the effects short term.
Urea, urea phosphate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphates, ammonium sulphate and monopotassium phosphate also lower soil pH.
Fertilizers often also affect a slightly more acidic soil since this increases uptake of nutrients.
Decayed vegetable matter, compost, stable manure, urea, etc.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Slides

Submitted already.....

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Saturday, March 27, 2010

New survey questions!

Reforestation Survey



My purpose of this survey is to find out what people think of our project

*(Circle the answers)


(1) Are you a environmental friendly? Yes / No / Maybe



(2) Do you think deforestation is serious? Yes / No / Maybe



  1. Do you think saving the environment is important? Yes / No / Maybe



(4) Are you willing to save the environment at all cost? Yes / No / Maybe



(5) Do you know that global warming is related to deforestation? Yes/ No / Maybe



  1. How much time do you think is required?


5~10 years / 10~15 years / 15~20 years/ More than 20 years


  1. How much money is required?


5~10 thousand / 10~15 thousand / 15~20 thousand/ More than 20 thousand

  1. If the product is good should we mass produce on a singapore scale at all cost?


Yes / No / Maybe


  1. If the product is effective would you consider buying it?


Yes / No / Maybe


(10)How old are you?


10~20 years old / 21~30 years old / 31~40 years old / 41~50 years old / 51~60 years old


(11) Did you know that if deforestation continues the earth will overheat and everything will die? Yes / No / Maybe


  1. Any other comments?


_________________________________________________________________________


_________________________________________________________________________

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Survey

Ok guys print out 12 copies each person and give to your relatives to help.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Survey

Group Name: Graceful Marist

Title of Project: Reforestation


Our purpose for the survey is:

to find out what people think of our project


Our target population is: 14-50 years old


Our sample size will be: 50


Questions that we would like to ask during the survey:


(1) Are you a environmental friendly? yes/no/maybe


(2) Do you think deforestation is serious? yes/no/maybe


(3) Do you think saving the environment is important? yes/no/maybe


(4) Are you willing to save the environment at all cost? yes/no/maybe


(5) Do you know that global warming is related to deforestation? Yes/no/maybe

(6) How much time is required? 5~10 years / 10~15 years / 15~20 years/ More than 20 years


  1. How much money is required? 5~10 thousand / 10~15 thousand / 15~20 thousand/ More than 20 thousand

    8. If the product is good should we mass produce on a singapore scale at all cost? Yes/ no /maybe


  1. If the product is effective would you consider buying it? yes/no/maybe


10. How old are you? ________

Moving this post up!

New grace website...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Reflection 6 Aston koh

bryan foo reflection

Surveys are to allow you to find out what people think about a particular topic. Surveys are helpful in a way as you can find out so much more about how the public feels. At the same time, you can use the information found to develop and work on your project more to make using the product more easy. But a bad point about surveys is that not everyone is willing to take it. It is not easy to conduct a survey.

I think that a survey will really help a lot in developing something. It allows you to make the product in a way which the people using it will feel comfortable. Also, surveys can help you to know if your product suits the public. If the public dont like the idea that you have in mind, you can find out through surveys.

I found out that not everyone will want to do the survey. Most people are not interested.

I can then know what is it that the public is interested in. Then I can improve my product,into something that the public would be interested in.

Week 6 reflection (Abraham)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Week 6 reflection

Pls do your reflection by today. Each of you are to think of three question for the survey....

Friday, February 19, 2010

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Abraham low Week 4 reflection

Group Name: Graceful marist

Title of Project: Promotion of plant growth

Project Focus:Reforestation


(A) The Guiding Questions that our group has selected to do research on are:

(1) Are there any side effects on the plant? What are the side effects?

(2) How long will this idea be effective?

(3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the project.

(4) How are we going to conduct the experiment in a larger scale.




(B) The areas that our group will be doing research into are:

(1)What kind of PH value of the soil will be using for the experiment.

(2)What chemicals are we going to use?

(3)How would the colour of light affect our experiment?

(4)What breed of plant would be the most effective.




(C) Our Progress, so far, is as follows:

So far, we have decided on the topic and are ready to start the experiment as soon as we are finish with our research.




(D) The product that we are thinking of creating is as follows: A substance that would help the plant grow very healthily.

Aston koh reflection


Monday, February 8, 2010

Bryan Foo's reflection

Group Name: Plants.
Title of Project: Promotion of plant growth.
Project Focus: Reforestation.
(A) The Guiding Questions that our group has selected to do research on are:
(1) Are there any side effects on the plant? What are the side effects?
(2) How long will this idea be effective?
(3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the project.
(4) How are we going to conduct the experiment in a larger scale.

(C)Our Progress, so far, is as follows:
We have finally decided on the topic after much discussion. We are currently still trying to find a method to conduct this experiment. We are also still trying to find the sources of the chemicals we are going to use.

(D) The product that we are thinking of creating is as follows: It is the formula or method of promoting plant growth to reduce pollution and global warming.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

New proposal

Have you ever wondered why the mummies in the pyramids do not rot away....

Well there is a mysterious reason behind this. And do i planned to investigate.

I figure out that it is the shape of the pyramid so we planned to test out which food rot in in which type of shape containers faster.

This is to also help the poor who can't afford a fridge.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Week 3 reflection



Week three Reflections

Aston Koh (2)

We had first thought about the idea of making a potato battery which turned out to be something not really realistic as we would need about 20 over potatoes just to power a clock . We then changed our topic to something more realistic on how we could change the Ph value of the soil to
fit the exact needs of the plant .
There are some questions like how we are able to find the exact Ph value and what kind of plant it is best for us to grow . Like how we are able to make the Ph value be always the same throughout the whole experiment. We have done some research on the internet and some books .

The product should be a few potted plants which will show what kind of ph value is the best and suitable to grow plants .

Proposal

As we were going through the aspects of creating a potato battery , we found out that even though the idea is there , we could not create a full proof environmentally friendly battery thus we changed our topic and decided to brainstorm on how to save our rain forests. We always knew that our forests were cleared at an alarming rate and we want to do something to stop it. We knew that once the forest have been cleared, the soil becomes hard to grow plants on, thus prone to land slides. thus we decided to focus on reforesting and start with re-fertilizing the soil.

Some question that were yet to be answered is that are we able to create an environmentally friendly fertilizer to be added and also re-grip the soil to make a solid ground for plants to grow on.

In order to do that , we can approach our teachers to find out what can we do to re grow a forest. Next we can use the internet to find out more on our topic.

At the end of our studies, we will present our findings as two pots of plants , one showing the soil which was directly after deforestation and the other was after we added our findings.

Brendon Tan(3) week 2 reflection

1) What is our topic ?
To produce an environmentally friendly battery which is easy to make and is renewable.A potato/lemon battery


2)What i already know about this topic.
Even though it is environmentally friendly, we require a lot of it (the battery) in order to power a house and even more to power a country. So farmers will take advantage of it and might even raise the price of potatoes!


3)What are the questions i want to ask about this topic.
How can it benefit the people using it. Are there any other disadvantages using it. For how long will this method stay effective.How can I improve on this topic.


4)What are the subjects, skills i can make use of
I can make use of Chemistry to make sure that the theory is correct in the first place and also make use of DnT to create the circuit.


5)Where can i go to find information about our projects
Firstly we can use the internet to find relevant information next we could approach our chemistry teachers and DnT teachers as well.


6)What do i want to prepare to tell others about our project.
Energy is precious we must conserve it even though we have a more environmentally friendly method of producing energy. I will also tell others about the advantage of using a clean battery for powering small electrical appliances.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Bryan Foo's reflection

Upon realizing that our previous topic will not bring us as many marks as we expect, my group has changed our topic into doing an experiment that promotes plant growth by changing the PH value of the soil.


There are still some questions that are still going around in my head. Like how are we going to find the acids and alkaline we will need. Also, how are we going to make it original, an idea that nobody has ever thought of. And also is there any specific type of acids that plants will need?

I learned that it is going to take quite some time to make that product and prove that it works. I also learned that plants cannot grow in soil that is too acidic or too alkaline. Lastly, I learned that we should not waste what we have. We have to recycle so that acid rain does not occur too often, which causes the demotion of plant growth.

I agree with the fact that it is not going to be easy to ask everyone to change their habits so that not too much waste is produced. That way, all kinds of pollution will decrease. Lastly, I agree and like the idea that promotes plant growth, as it helps safe planet earth and also, it is an original idea and it follows the theme for this year.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Abraham low Week 2 reflection


Here is the pic.....

Aston Koh week 2 reflections

(1) What is our topic?

Our topic is to find out other ways of producing electricity . If one day , electricity runs out , what are we going to do when we do not have electricity . We will create a potato which will work and give us energy to power something small like a light .


(2) What do I already know about the topic?


I know that we will need a quite a lot of potatoes to support a a light like a battery
So if we are to support something bigger we wold need much more potatoes .


(3) What are the questions I want to ask about this topic? 

What is the exact amount I need to make a light work ? How long will the potatoes last ? 


(4) What are the subjects/skills I can make use of?
We are likely to need a two end clip to connect the potato to the power of the light which is learn in science and skills like observation and the amount of light given out due to the amount of potatoes .


(5) Where can I go to find information for our project? 

We can find more information on the Internet and some books . 


(6) What do I want to prepare to tell others about our project? 

The project will be very environmental friendly so we will try not to use anything that requires energy in our experiment .
 


Our plan is to build a battery.

A potato battery.

A lemon battery / potato battery is a device used in experiments proposed in many science textbooks around the world. It is made by inserting two different metallic objects, for example a galvanized nail and a copper coin, into a lemon. The copper coin serves as the positive electrode or cathode and the galvanized nail as the electron-producing negative electrode or anode. These two objects work as electrodes, causing an electrochemical reaction which generates a small potential difference.


The aim of this experiment is to show students how batteries work. After the battery is assembled, a multimeter can be used to check the generated voltage. In order for a more visible effect to be produced, a few lemon cells connected in series can be used to power a standard LED. Flashlight bulbs are generally not used because the lemon battery cannot produce the amount of current required to light such bulbs. Digital clocks can work well, and some toymakers offer small kits with a clock that can be powered by two potatoes or lemons.

The energy for the battery does not come from the lemon or potato, but rather the energy comes from the chemical change in the zinc. The zinc is oxidized inside the lemon, exchanging some of its electrons in order to reach a lower energy state, and the energy released provides the power. The lemon or potato merely provides an environment where this can happen, but they are not used up in the process.


Reactions

In a lemon battery, both oxidation and reduction occur. Consider the case of a zinc-copper battery; this battery is similar to the original "simple voltaic cells" invented by Alessandro Volta. At the anode, metallic zinc is oxidised, and enters the acidic solution as Zn2+ ions:

Zn → Zn2+ + 2 e-.

At the copper cathode, hydrogen ions (solvated protons from the acidic solution) are reduced to form molecular hydrogen:

2H++ 2e- → H2.


Potatoes, apples, or any other fruit or vegetable containing acid or other electrolyte can be used, but lemons are preferred because of their higher acidity. Other non rusty metal combinations (such as magnesium-copper) are more effective: for example, using a magnesium strip instead of zinc increases the voltage from 1.1 V with zinc to 1.6 V with magnesium. (The exact voltage varies depending on the lemons.) However, zinc and copper are usually preferred because they are reasonably safe and easy to obtain.

To all Group members pls upload the picture on pg 4 of worksheet 2.

Brendon where is your reflection???

Bryan Foo's reflection

Our topic is to reduce energy wastage by using potatoes to power simple items like clocks and maybe items that do not require much energy to function. I roughly know the steps to make a potato powered item and also the items required. I want to ask some question about this topic. "how much power a potato can produce?" and "does the size of the potato affect the performance of the object?".
I can make use of my fathers experience in fixing circuits to set up this potato powered circuit. I can find information I need from the internet and books as these are my main sources of information when I need them.
Lastly I want to tell people about the advantages of having most small objects being powered by potatoes. The amount of energy it can safe if majority of people use it, especially when the situation the world is currently in, where air and water pollution has harmed the earth too much.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Monday, January 18, 2010

Brendon reflection

Facts

What I know

Team work is important in this project. This project comprises of many objectives. We must be creative to complete the project. We must form close bounds with each others.

Ideas

What I think

This project is going to be very interesting. This project is very interactive. We get to interact with our friends. We get to interact with the teachers.


Learning Issues

What I want to find out

How can our project outcome influence others. In how many ways can we work together to come out with an outcome. how to effectively organize a group to complete the project. If we can organize our time efficiently

Action Plan

What I can do

Get involve in everything the group does. Do my part as a group member. Contribute ideas to the group. Be active in group activities e.g meeting .

Group Name

Our group name is Graceful Marist. It means we are devoted to the project and are willing to put in our best effort.


My name is Abraham low
I am a good member of our
group because I am the
leader.
My name is Bryan Foo
I am a good member of our
group because I am very
creative
My name is Brendon Tan
I am a good member of our
group because I am very
active in the project.
My name is Aston Koh
I am a good member of our
group because I am very
organized.
Our group’s motto: We strive for the
best!!! :)

Brendon quick upload the worksheet we did in class!

Reflection

Abraham low 2A (1)

Facts
I know that we have to work hard to achieve something.
Must be optimistic so that we can make something no one has made before.
Some group members are not very enthusiastic about the project
There are many people with great invention inventing something new would be a challenge, so we have to think out of the box.

Ideas
We must be creative.
Hardworking to achieve what we want.
Determination to finish the project.
Think extraordinary to think of something other people would not have thought of.

Learning Issues
How do people who invent things came up with the idea.
What do we learn from grace?
By making a product what do me learn in the processed?
Does the product we have to do with our study?

Action Plan
Lead the group
Make sure everyone plays a part
make sure that everyone is enthusiastic
Make sure that the product is able to do what is said to do

Aston Koh

What i Know , I know that we must work as a team in order to succeed . In order t o work as a team , we have to cooperate . we must put in our best in the project . we also need to have plenty of creativity .

What I think , the project will be very tough and will test us a lot . This project is very interactive and we need to do this things more . We may do the environment topic . We may create something to help the earth .

What i want to find out , What can we do to help people better in their daily lives .how to work with different people even if u dont like him .Be responsible . Learn how to lead .

What can I do work hard on the project . Spend sufficient on it .Do what is necessary . And complete the work on time .


Done by :

Aston Koh

Bryan foo reflection

I know that I have a good group. All of us are ready to put in out best effort in the project. I also know all our good points and some of our bad points. We will try to help each other out during the project.
I have some ideas for the project. The theme is to be environmentally friendly. So I thought that we could come out with something that somehow helps reduces air pollution. For example, we could come out with something that helps people stop smoking as smoking is a factor contributing to air pollution.
I want to find out what is the main cause of air pollution. This is so that we can reduce air pollution to the maximum. That is if our "idea"(not confirmed) works out. Also I want to take this opportunity to find out more about my friends.
I will try to start doing research. I will try to be a step ahead of others. So that we will not have to squeeze everything to the last minute. And I will do my part to contribute to the project.

Bryan Foo

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Link to GRACE website

http://grace-mshs.blogspot.com/