October 27

My Atomic Model

This is my model of an atom. I was representing one large atom (the blueish-greenish pocket) with many smaller atoms inside of and around it (the yellow egg-like balls and the sickly-colored yellow on the outside). It closely resembles Dalton’s model, since it is of all different colors, shapes, and sizes. Dalton made his model around 1808, and I think that it’s really cool how his model represents various factors of one atom.

When I was younger, I never really thought about the truth, the truth being that everyone and everything is made of atoms. I was always really confused because I didn’t know how atoms could possibly be THERE, just THERE, without being able to see them. It annoyed me for a while, but now I think that it’s really cool.

Also, after studying atoms in science, I understand just how important they are. Everything is made of them, and without them, there would be NOTHING. I really think that it’s incredible how atoms are necessary to life of ANYTHING at all. It’s really crazy. There’s also some other, more important things about atoms. First off, here’s the parts of atoms: The nucleus. It’s the middle of an atom. Inside of a nucleus are protons, which are positively charged. Then there’s neutrons, which are neutrally charged, otherwise known as not charged at all!

Spinning at top speed around the nucleus are thousands of electrons, whizzing around the nucleus like race cars on a track! These spinning electrons are NOT in one orbit, and therefore are called an “electron cloud.”

Here’s some facts about elements. Adding more neutrons, protons, and electrons can all make different elements. However, you ALWAYS need a balanced element, so you always need the same number of electrons as protons. Atomic number is the little number that you see in the upper left hand corner of an element box. That’s also the number of protons. The longer, tinier number is helpful also. For example, the element beryllium has 4 protons and the small number is 9.0121. 9.0121-4= the number of neutrons, which is around five.

My atom is actually a very inaccurate representation of an atom! There is no visible “middle” (or nucleus) and you can’t tell what the yellow blobs are. It’s a SUPER confusing model! If I could make a model of an atom again, it would have a lumpy middle, with other protons and neutrons coming out of it. It would be similar to the chocolate-chip cookie model, but not exact.

I also think that my model can relate to J.J. Thomson’s model because there’s one main piece filled with many different pieces inside of it. But whoever’s model this looks like, atoms are incredible things. This is my atomic model.

screen-shot-2016-10-27-at-9-07-33-am

October 6

My Zoetrope

This is an image of my zoetrope. It is a sun rising, then setting. After that, the moon rises and it sets, as well. It works well as a zoetrope because directly after the moon sets the sun rises again! I like making zoetropes because I love discovering new ways of animation. Everyone thinks about videos and iMovies being all the rage right now, but remember, back then, zoetropes were what people had to use if they wanted to see animation. To me, having a sun rise, then set and doing the same thing with the moon is a simple thing to draw, so for this project it would definitely be my best work. But I could draw things with more detail. However, I think that this is my best work because I tried hard and took my time, yet completing the task at hand efficiently. In my next project, I think that I will do most things the same, using the same techniques and methods of efficiency. That is the zoetrope that I made. img_3773