I decided to try something new and not in my comfort zone. For my final blog of the year, I decided to attempt a video to show my final project. My final project was trying the steam distillation to extract oils from plants. Early in the year, I used it to extract from fruits, so this spring I decided to try it on plants. As I learned things during the spearmint trials, so I can do better on the lavender plant. The video shows you how to set up an apparatus to extract the oils. The video is a little lengthy, but it is very informational. I guess you could call it a VLOG, like Mrs. Harris. This year has been unforgettable, we got so many chances to do so many things. SteamScience is awesome!
The Brain definition is set to as an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. But the brain is way more complex than that sentence. The brain has four main parts, (Cerebrum, Cerebellum, Limbic System, and Brain Stem), that are made of several different parts. The Cerebrum, or referred as the cortex is the largest part of the brain, composed of four sections: Frontal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Occipital Lobe, and Temporal Lobe. In the Cerebrum, you would find higher brain function, like thought and actions. Each Lobe has its own functions. The Frontal Lobe is associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving. The Parietal Lobe associates with movement, orientation, recognition, and perception stimuli. The Occipital Lobe is associated with visual processing. The Temporal Lobe associates with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech. The Cerebrum is also divided into two halves: left and right hemispheres. The two hemispheres look symmetrical, but their functions are slightly different. The right side is associated with creativity, as the left is associated with logic abilities. The Corpus Callosum (a bundle of axons) connects the two hemispheres. The Cerebellum is known as the “little brain”, as it is very similar to the cerebrum, in that it has two hemispheres and has a highly folded surface or cortex. The structure is associated with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance. The Limbic System is often referred to as the “emotional brain”, founded buried within the cerebrum. This system includes Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Amygdala, and Hippocampus. The Thalamus is the structure responable for sensory and motor functions. The Hypothalamus is invovled in homeostasis, emotion, thirst, hunger, circadian rhythms, and control of autonomic nervous system. The Amygdala involved in memory, emtion, and fear. The Hippocampus is important for learning and memory for converting short tem memory to more permanent memory. Under the Limbic System you will find the Brain Stem. This structure is responsible for basic vital life functions, which includes breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure. The Brain Stem is made of midbrain, pons, and medulla. The Midbrain includes two parts: tectum and tegmentum. The Midbrain functions the vision, hearing, eye movement, and body movement. The Pons is involved in motor control and sensory analysis. The Medulla is bewteen the the pons and spinal cord, and is responsible for maintaining vital body functions, such as breathing and heartrate. Looking at all the parts and their functions, I also came along some interesting facts. It's important to stay very hydrated, as your brain is 73% water, and only takes 2% dehydration to affect your attention, memory, and other cognitive skills. Something very interesting I found was, "Ninety minutes of sweating can temporarily shrink the brain as much as one year of aging." Just like any other cells, all brain cells are not alike. There are as many as 10,000 specific types of neurons in the brain. To make sure you don't become brain dead, your brain has to go without oxygen for at least 5 minutes before brain damage can occur. Talk about being fast, brain information moves at an impressive 260 miles per hour as a race car top out at 240 miles per hour. There are so many interesting facts about the brain. The Be Brain Fit website was a great tool for fun facts, that are incredible. Even though this video, describes a few more parts and functions I have learned so far, it is a great way to learn and memorize the brain parts and their functions. "I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan This quote can give you tons of motivation, as Michael Jordan is a famous retired NBA player. After, if he would have gave up, he wouldn’t be where he is now. From big things like becoming a NBA player to small things like our hovercraft, we can learn from failure and errors as we can learn from our mistakes. Olivia and I used this quote and a few other to keep pushing forward with our building of a hovercraft for STEAM SCI showcase at the boys’ basketball game. How do you make a hovercraft? You would think it would be pretty easy. You would take a circular board, staple a thick plastic around it. Then cut a hole in it for the leaf blower to push air into the thick bubble. Well that isn’t the case. You have to know the physics and the background in the hovercraft, before stapling and duct taping things together. As though you may watch tons of videos and instructions, the process always depends on different cases, but the key point is to never give up. When attempted to construct a hovercraft, we probably went through more trial and error than our chemistry labs. It’s a good thing, that Olivia and I never threw in the towel, as we finally reached a combination of duct tape and holes we needed. We watched and took notes from three different videos, all giving about the same instructions. Cut a 4 foot diameter circle from a piece of plywood, staple the shower curtain around it (cutting off the extra), then duct taping that down. Finally we would cut a circle about ¼ ft from the edge, and about the size of the leaf blower hole. The last step was to cut 6- 2 inch diameters on the shower curtain around a stapled down coffee can lid. Click for a picture. As for the guys of the videos, they make it seem very easy, but for us that was a different case. As we followed their steps with caution, but we left out one very important step: putting duct tape around the 2 inch circles to avoid rips. But not only did we have rips, but we also had a very loud sound coming from where the lid and circles were. We decided to test different lids and then how they were attached to the board like either using duct tape, staples, or a screw with a bolt and washers. After experimenting with different holes, lids, and duct tape, we decided to get help from outside the internet and classroom, so we went to Mr. Gibson, but our real help was Mr. Guillaume. Mr. Guillaume told us to try removing the lid, and placing 4- 3 inch diameter circles around the outer of the little circles. When tested this method, it worked great! Even though it wasn’t a donut shape on the bottom, it was still the best type of hovercraft to ride and push each other on. At the game, we were a little nervous getting started. But as the night went on, our hovercraft was very popular as we never had a dull moment besides the break time we took, which wasn’t fast enough for the little kids. We had all kinds of different ages test the hovercraft several times. From a one- year old to fifty- year old. We even convinced Mrs. French and Tom, to ride the hovercraft (of course pictures were taken). I can’t tell who was more tired: Me, Olivia, or the hovercraft. As the clock was coming to an end, we allowed everybody to have one final ride. Then night ended with Mrs. Harris and Mr. Moskos, trying the hovercraft. Everybody gave a very great reviews about the hovercraft. But without our trials and errors, we would have never made it to Steam night. “Failures are part of Life. If you don’t fail, you don’t learn. If you don’t learn, you’ll never change.” This quote also sums up our learning process as rarely you’ll do something completely right the first time. It might not take you 20 times like Olivia and I, but you should take you 2 or 3 trials to get something right. If we didn’t have failure we would never learn, and our ways we used to construct our hovercraft wouldn’t change and everybody’s would be the same. Failure creates uniqueness and teaching moments. 3-D printing is defined as a process for making a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many successive thin layers of a material. That sounds really confusing if you read it first right? But actually it’s a really awesome process that is not just making simple objects, but also thriving usable parts like tools and organs. The thin material used is called filament. The filament is kind of like plastic that melts down so they can connect to each strand. There are various types of filament, depending on what type of item you are creating. Click here to see various types of filament according to your project or object. Plus there are different types of printers too! There are mini ones and big ones. Plus there are ones that use stronger filament for tougher projects. There are new printers that are even the best as I think. The one uses plastic bottles and reuses them. They melt down the plastic and runs in through the extrudes. The second printer recycles old car dashes into filament to create objects. Before you can even get started with printing, you have to know the software to create and print your objects. That’s the tricky part in 3-d printing. Olivia and I tried printing for the first time, and we discovered with some help how to create and print on our own. There are a lot of test and run, but after you develop the knowledge about the software and printer, the experience will be very amazing as you will be able to print 3-D objects. The thriving use for 3-D printing is in the medical world. Organs like spleens, bladders, and hollow tubes can be 3-D printed using a certain printer. This a huge plus in the medical world, as it lifesaving. Instead of waiting for a donated organ, the doctors and surgeons can print an organ according to the certain cells and DNA of a patient. The patients are less likely to reject the organ as it will include their blood type and parts of their DNA. The more complex organs such as the heart, are taking longer to plan out as they have different systems. The heart has four chambers, the blood travels through and out of to the lungs and body. So the more complex it is, the more planning and time it takes to construct the organ. They are making heart valves though, just not a heart as a whole. The doctors are continuously constructing different organs in the human body every day. The 3-D printing world is amazing, and as Olivia and I began going deeper and created something more useable than keychain, we may be created trials and tested them. We’ve already started on testing how sturdy 3-D printed objects are. We thought about this as we stood on a 2x2x2 printed cube, and it didn’t break. So that sparked our minds about how sturdy our simple printer can be. We’ve already began talking about what to print next and how we can use our different objects that printed. Olivia and I will be discovering a lot more about the 3-D printed world, as we expand our minds. Your primarily sources for Essential Oils are either Doterra or Young Living, but have you ever had interest in creating your own oils? Essential Oils can get very pricey. They also can take some time to be made and be delivered. Is there a way in having a cheaper and faster way to own essential oils? Over the past few months, my time has been invested into making my own oils. In making essential oils, you need to ask yourself these questions:
Are you one of the people who love the enjoyment of a treadmill, but still wish you could get the fresh air while exercising? Or maybe you wish you could get exercise while traveling to work or the grocery store. There is biking, but maybe you’re not a fan of cycling. It hurts your butt, or you don’t want to sit that long. You would rather be standing, like running or walking. Then there is the problem, where you don’t want to walk or run ten miles to the store, as that would take forever. What if we had a faster way to get there, but still got the exercise you want.
A Dutch man, Bruin Bergmeester created a Treadmill Bike called, Lopifit. Bruin’s reasoning behind its inception was the need to combine moving around with keeping fit and being outdoors, although we’re pretty sure regular bikes are a good enough cardio workout as they are. Most people actually don’t enjoy the concept of biking. The Lopifit had the same concept as a Treadmill, Bike, and Moped combined. It has the bike frame, with a Moped motor, powered by the concept of a Treadmill. The Lopifit travels as you walk or even run on the Treadmill. It travels about 15mph as you run a steady pace on the rotating belt. As of now, the Lopifit is only available from a foreign country, but you may wish to order and ship it in though. The Lopifit isn't popular in the US as in the Netherlands where they travel by bike or walking most times. The price for a Lopifit is roughly $2000 and comes in various colors including blue, green, yellow, and orange. What does the Lopifit have to do with Steam Science? Great question! I plan to see how it's actually made and make a plan of how I could create my own model. I could take it farther into actually making the Lopifit, but I'll have to see how much time I have to do it. I've being contacting the creator himself and a few companies who make and sell Lopifit, as I'm reaching out to resources and connections to foreign people to bring a small project to life. The Lopifit will be one of the best inventions of 2015 for exercise. For more information visit: https://lopifit.com/ Did you get the chance to see the 2015 Total Lunar Eclipse of Super Blood Moon this past weekend?? If not, you could have the chance in about 18 years. The Super Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse hasn’t happen since 1982 and won’t happen again until 2033. The Super Blood Moon is quite the sight to see. Pictures don’t even begin to describe how amazing the science of the moon and planets are!! The eclipse of the moon appears when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned to form an almost or exact straight line. The technical term for the eclipse is syzygy, which comes from Greek meaning being paired together. Total Lunar Eclipse is actually part of four series lunar eclipse called Lunar Tetrad. The first three series appeared on April 15, 2014, October 8, 2014, and April 4, 2015. Between each series is about 6 months and 5 full moons a piece. The next Lunar Tetrad will start on April 25, 2032. The reason why most people call the Lunar Eclipse, a Blood Moon is when the Earth cast a shadow on a Full Moon, causes the moon to have a red glow. Another reasoning for a red tint, is what we call Rayleigh Scattering. Rayleigh Scattering is the same mechanism that causes colorful sunrises and sunsets. Not only is the Moon a Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse, but also a Super Moon. Total Eclipse of a Super Moon are rare, but it happen this past week on September 27/28, 2015. The Super Moon appears when the Moon is the closest to the Earth. Rising Super Moon can look larger and brighter to spectators watching on Earth. I’m hoping you didn’t miss your chance to see the exciting Total Lunar Eclipse of the Super Blood Moon, but if you were unlucky and didn’t get the chance, videos and pictures will catch you up on the action people have been talking about.
P.S. There was a shooting star,too!! http://www.space.com/30546-supermoon-blood-moon-total-lunar-eclipse.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWgmAUeOT6c Did you know you can extract oils from your microwave? Usually pure, therapeutic- grade essential oils are extracted two methods; steam distillation or expression. Steam distillation is the most common method. Plant material is placed in extraction method, where being heated steam and oil rise then when cooled, essential oil sets on top of the water (condensed steam). The expression method is where you mechanically press the oils from the plant, most likely from the peel or rind. Oil Extech created a way to extract oils from the microwave. The EssenEx essential oil extractor is an apparatus that fits into your home microwave and allows you to extract your favorite scented oils. It takes up to four hours by the distillation, but only minutes to get an average of 3.5 grams of oils the EssenEx way. Which one is a true better solution to extract oils?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b7sba8ITx8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ7V8ObABA4 It may seem that since we are in STEAM Science, we should be learning more about science or techy things. But we are also learning life skills, such as teamwork and listening. This past couple of weeks, we have taken a break from individual projects or goals, to work together on our class project. Our class project couldn’t just have one person being in charge, but instead each person decided to study a different thing within the jellyfish project. We helped each other out, instead of taking over things. It also brought us together closer, as we were sort of in our own grade of bubbles. We have really grown from our one project, and we are now kick started to start our projects!
Essential Oils may seem so simple to someone who hasn't experience them or researched about oils. But actually Essential Oils are complex of various compounds. They are so complex of compounds, that it is nearly impossible to discover them completely. For an example, Citrus Essential Oil contains: 34 alcohols, 30 esters, 20 aldehydes, 14 ketones, 10 carboxylic acids, and 36 variety of terpenes. If you didn’t know, essential oils are lipid soluble portions of fluid that flows through the plant. They should only be extracted from certified organic or wild plants that are never exposed to fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. There are two extracted methods for pure, therapeutic- grade essential oils; steam distillation and expression. Steam distillation is the common method for extracted oils, as 93% of oils are extracted by this method. This method is really hard to describe without a demonstration or photograph. So if you get a chance, type in “Steam Distillation for extracting essential oils,” on google images. You will get a relevant sense of how the process works. The Expression process is fairly easy to comprehend. This method is usually referred as the cold expression, or cold pressing. It is also used mainly on citrus fruits. You use mechanical pressure to press out the oils from the plant material, mainly from the peel or rind. After the oil is extracted, it is placed in a light- resistance bottle. The bottles are usually metal or dark glasses that provide 100% light blockage. The light- resistance bottle protects the oil from being broken down into the compounds, but eventually the essential won’t have the same effect as it would together. There are so many types of applications and oils itself. I’m still in the process of researching the applications, different essential oils, and the uses or reasoning for using different essential oils or oil blends
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AuthorI'm Ryann Lynch and I'm currently studying about essential oils, Lopifit, and 3-D printing. |