Waves All Around Us: Unit Reflection

Heres my brain storm on a brief summery of what i learned this unit:

How does the use and study of waves affect societal well-being?

During the first part of our unit on waves we learn't about how waves aren't just the waves that you swim in at the beach. They are all around us, so throughout this unit we learn''t the basics of waves and all about the different types of waves. This variety of waves

includes seismic waves, sounds waves, electromagnetic waves, surface waves,

We started with the most well known waves,

Water Waves: Water waves can effect our lives both positively and negatively, from a fun day to a beach to a drastic tsunami. Water waves are

known as seismic waves, seismic waves are formed from stress in the rock. When the rock moves from its original space it will send energy throughout Earth.

When two types of waves known has p and s waves (p = primary s = sec

ondary waves). When these two waves combine they create an earthquake and/or a tsunami. While studying these types of particular waves we learn't a lot about what to do if you are in a situation where there is a tsunami or earthquake.

Sound Waves:

We started of this section of our unit by leaning how sound travels and how it effects us. One of the most memorable parts of this unit for me was learning about how damaging and how many types of noise pollution there is!

Electromagnetic Waves:

While studying electromagnetic waves we lean't a lot about the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum includes; radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, visible light waves, ultraviolet waves, x-rays, and gamma rays.

What did I like about this unit?

I liked this unit because it was slightly different from some of our previous units, like how we started simple and then branched out into wide variety of all the waves around us. I also liked all the projects that we did while working with different people than we're used to.

I think that for next years students the layout of the unit could stay the same and they could all still learn alot! but I think that a bit more on the electromagnetic spectrum could be nice because even though we had all the presentations on different parts of the spectrum i still find it a bit hazy.

Irradiated Foods

Will irradiating food make people less careful about handling the food?

I would say yes. Because though there should be no difference in the way people handle irradiated food vs non irradiated food, people will think that because the irradiated food is sterilized and almost all the bacteria is gone that they do not need to be as careful and hygenic in the way the handle the food. However, this is not true, irradiated food can still become contaminated. And the amount of radiation will not kill all the harmful and dangerous organisms in the food, it is still necessary to good it propery before you eat it (especially meat and eggs.)
So i think that when companies label irradiated foods they should also give warnings about th way that you still need to/should handle the food. Because, yes, people who understand what irradiated food is are probably more likely to be more careless while handling irradiated foods.
Pros and cons of irradiated food: Pros:
- Healthy way of sterilizing food.
- Can kill and reduce the number/amount of dangerous organisms in food (90-99%)
- Helps foods be stored longer/ last for longer thus decreasing famine and prices seeing as not as much food is needed to be bought.
- Works as an alternative to fumigation
Cons:

- Irradiation ca destroy up to 95% of the vitamins and minerals that are essential to our bodies
- Irradiation doesn't necessarily get rid of all the bad things in food.
- Some people don't always treat irradiated food with as much caution (while handling) as they should. (see paragraph above.)

Statement: I think that irradiation should not be encouraged but it shouldn't be banned. I think that it is working as a step to creating a technology that does similar things that everyone benefits from.

Noise Pollution

What is noise pollution? Noise pollution is not actual pollution in the commonly used sense of the word. It is a series of sounds that affect the ears in a negative way. It can cause health and behavioral effects on people AND animals. There are a variety of things that can cause noise pollution such as, different types of large machinery, jet engines, rail noises, automobiles, car alarms, office equipment, factory machinery, construction work, entertainment systems, a busy metropolitan, a large office building, and/or a small residential building etc...Noise Pollution Effects on Humans:
Noise pollution as a variety/wide range of negative effects on humans some of these are, hearing problems, cardiovascular issues, sleep disturbances, interference in verbal communication, and mental health problems.Hearing Damage: Exposure to unplesent loud noises can damage your hearing. Hearing impairment due to noise pollution can sometimes turn out just to be temporary however, sometimes you are unlucky and you loose your hearing permanently. Noise levels of above 80 decibels can cause damaging effects to the ear, however if noise levels above 100 decibels can cause permanent hearing damage or loss.Cardiovascular Issues: Did you know that a noisy environment can be one of the sources of heart related problems? A series of studies have shown that a high sound intensity environment can cause a dramatic rise in blood pressure and the high noise levels have also been known to constrict the arteries (which disrupts the blood flow.) Due to the blood increase, you increase the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases in the future.
Sleep Issues: Though an obvious cause of such loud noises, loss of sleep can effect your overall well being. By losing sleep you can become an incredibly annoying, grouchy, and uncomfortable person to be around. Lack of sleep can also decrease your ability to work efficiently.
Interference in Verbal Communication: Ever been talking to someone and gotten annoyed cause you couldn't hear what they were saying even though they were right next to you? Thats because the environment you were trying to communicate in was producing more than 50-60 decibels of sound. Also, if you can only grab snippets of what a person is saying then this may lead to a misunderstanding which, will cause future issues all due to a noisy environment.
Mental Health Problems: Being exposed to loud and irritating sounds 24/7 can elevate you stress levels and maybe even stimulate violent behavior! While being exposed to continuous loud noises in the area where you live or work can sometimes trigger headaches, cause you to be tense and anxious, and sometimes disturb your emotional balance!
Noise Pollution Effects on Animals: All the man made noise pollution around the world today isn't just effecting us as humans, we are also effecting the animals. Due to noise pollution we have; decreased reproductive activity for many animals,caused discomfort amongs underwater animals due to ships, submarines, and sonars. Birds in some urban areas have developed a sharp hearing ability in order to improve their ability to scout out prey however, thanks to noise pollution the breeding and feeding of these animals has been disrupted causing some species to become extinct! Another common effect on animals due to noise pollution is that, underwater animals communication has been lost in some situation due to them being surrounded by loud disturbing noises (this relates to humans problem of communication as well.)One of the scariest effects for animals in noise polltuion ist that some animals are found to have gone blind due and then been seriously hurt becuase they couldn't see!Ways of Eliminating Noise Pollution:
Though noise pollution is till a huge problem, certain measures are still being taken to prevent it, these are a couple ways that I have found.
Double-paned windows and weather stripping: Some people who live a a noisy city, or near an airport or highway, have installed double panned windows in their houses and added weather stripping. These i think are the best things to do because the weather stripping and double panned windows don't only reduce the noise pollution but they also have been known to reduce your cooling and heating bills, therefore you are also helping the environment!
Turn off the T.V.: When at home many people leave the TV going constantly they don't actually know how much efeect this can have on you. The contant backdrop of TV can work as a distraction and potential stressor.
Popular, Crowded areas: By living near major highways, roads, shopping centers, airports, etc... You are being more exposed to noise pollution than some.

Works Cited

J, Nicks. "Noise Pollution Effects." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. .

Scott, Elizabeth. "Reducing Noise Pollution - How To Reduce Noise Pollution's Negative Effects." Stress Management - Stress Information and Resources from About.com. 17 Nov. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. .

"What Is Noise Pollution? - What Noise Pollution Is, What Causes Noise Pollution, and Who Regulates It." Recent Questions: - Questions Recently Asked on What-Is-What.com. 09 Dec. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. .

Guiding question:
How does density of various solids affect the was sound waves travel from the tuning fork?

Hypothesis:
I think that the denser the material is the louder it will sound.

Data Analysis:

Material	Density	Observation
Locker	7.85 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: Very high pitched, proves that that the smaller they are the louder they sound. sound lasts for 17.69 seconds. a lot less vibration than with the larger one. Tuning Fork 256 C: lower pitched, sound is slightly harder to hear (not as loud) sound lasts for 15.03 seconds. a lot more vibration with this one than with the smaller one.
Whiteboard	2.8 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: less vibration lasts for only 9 seconds. Tuning Fork 256 C: loud! not as much vibration as with lockers. sound lasts for 18.65 seconds.
Desk	0.75 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: Just as loud as it was against the locker, sound lasts for, 12.35 seconds. Tuning Fork 256 C: Sound lasts for 30.73 seconds, More vibration than on white board and lasts for longer.
Wall	3.12 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: Lasts for 20.75 seconds, more vibration than other ones. lasts longer than dest Tuning Fork 256 C: Sound lasts for 34.0 seconds, not very high vibration.
Wooden Floor	0.50 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: last for 9.44 seconds, same vibration amount as locker, very hollow sounding. Pitch lower Tuning Fork 256 C: Lasted 30.43 seconds, vibration not very high, pitch was high sounding.
Cement Floor	3.12 g/cm 3	Fork 480 B: Lasts for 7.05 seconds, vibration high, pitch higher than mlst tries. Very loud, loudest one. Tuning Fork 256 C: Sound lasts for 27.25 seconds, vibration very high, higher than usually but not as high as last try.

Conclusion

The hypothesis turned out to be partially correct because we received the best results from the locker. We found that the larger the tuning fork was the lower the pitch was, and the smaller the tuning fork the higher the pitch was. I think that one of the reasons we got the best results from the locker is because the material of the locker and how dense it was. The material helped because out of all the materials we used it was easiest to move and vibrate in a way. And it was the most dense material that we used as well.


Further Inquiry:
We could have tested more materials, or the same materials with a bunch of different tuning forks. And then seen and recorded how they reacted therefore getting a better picture of the way the sound waves react when it comes to a variety of everyday materials.


Sites that you used:
No research was done.