Science Infoblog

Check out the following:

• Bacterial basics
• How bacteria live: Extra cellular digestion
• Watch a white blood cell chase a bacterium and absorb it…a horrible end
• Bacteria dividing

Glaciers move slowly but relentlessly down valleys gouging out huge volumes of rock as they go. It takes about 400 years for snow collecting at the top of Fox glacier to reach the Fox river at the bottom.

As the glacier rips rocks away from the sides of the valley it can leave a polished surface with gouge marks. 400 years in this grinding machine can turn rocks into flour. Look at the colour of the water coming out the end of the glacier in the last video. Rocks carried by the glacier get dumped at the front and the sides when the ice melts.
Valleys formed by glacier erosion have a characteristic U shape.

Many games are driven by physics engines that mimic motion in the real world in a virtual counterpart. Phun discussed earlier is a simple 2D example. A number of classes had a brief look at the technology behind the Nintendo Wii and the physics concepts underpinning the games. The boxing game will have to be banned in future as students let loose in a virtual world were determined to punch each others’ lights out risking a virtual school suspension

get your vodpod

Some physics concepts identified include:

Don’t forget the homework!

As part of their coursework a class of year 11 students had to imagine that they were in a newsroom reporting on increased earthquake activity around Auckland. This seismic activity had finally culminated in the disastrous formation of a new volcanic cone within the Auckland City limits. While students were working on their project the Auckland City Council civil defense planning team were doing an exercise testing their ability to cope with the real thing.

The videos show learning in progress and by themselves are not an outcome .

In the first video a scientist is being interviewed about the causes of the disaster.

and seismic activity shook the newsroom around in the second

The final video in the series rocks!

The winner of the video award will be announced shortly.

Have you ever wondered how cars, bikes helicopters and people move around in games like Grand Theft Auto 4.

Objects that move around in the real world follow Newton’s laws of motion. To develop software that mimics the real world you need to understand the physics of motion.

Rockstar North is the developer behind Grand Theft and they are based in Edinburgh Scotland. They are currently advertising for a physicist and people to test their games to check that they are realistic!

Phun is an educational, entertaining and addictive piece of software for designing and exploring 2D multi-physics simulations in a cartoony fashion and you can download it for free.

ICT Challenge trophy

Release your artistic and scientific skills. Dowload PHUN and use it to illustrate a physics concept (friction, gravity, collsions, billiard table etc)

There are three different categories for junior and senior students and a separate category for enthusiastic parents.

email mr West as an expression of interest and for further details ( john.west@greenbayhigh.school.nz ). Have PHUN