Ask+Mr.+Mitchell



The first question comes from Ahmed who was inspired by what he learned during the G3 unit on light and sound.
 * Ask Mr. Mitchell **
 * How is artificial light like the light in our classroom made (produced)?**

There are actually two different kinds of artificial lights: incandescent and fluorescent. Incandescent bulbs look like this:

The lights in your classroom are fluorescent light bulbs, and you might have some at home too that look like this:



Each of these make artificial light in different ways. In the incandescent bulbs there is very thin wire called a filament that is coiled around and around lots of times like a spring. When electrical current flows through this wire it gets very hot and all that energy creates light. It’s similar to the way the a fire or candle make light- very hot things glow. So never touch an incandescent light bulb if it’s on or you’ll get burned!

Fluorescent bulbs aren’t as hot. Instead of a wire, fluorescent bulbs are filled with a gas called mercury vapor that creates light when electrical current is used. It’s more complicated than that, but the important thing to know is that fluorescent bulbs use less energy than incandescent bulbs. So using fluorescent bulbs is less expensive and better for the environment! Find out more ways to save energy here: @http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=kids.kids_index

 The next two questions are partner questions that come from G3.
 * What animal and plant fossils have been found in Qatar? What do those fossils tell us about (the environment of) Qatar a long time ago?**

Believe it or not, Qatar is actually a great place to go hunting for fossils, especially ancient see creatures. For example one of the most common fossil found in Qatar are ancient shark teeth! These shark teeth are approximately 50 million years old, and can be found buried in rock outcrops made of a rock called shale. Many other kinds of animals fossils can be found as well, such as ancient shellfish, sting rays, and sea cows. Why so many sea animals? Scientists believe that millions of years ago the land that makes Qatar was actually under the ocean!

If you are interested in hunting for fossils in Qatar, I recommend checking out the website of scientist Jaques LeBlanc, who has a free guide you can read about how and where to find fossils in Qatar: @http://sites.google.com/site/leblancjacques/fossilsofqatar

 Lizzie in G4 posed this question after a science lesson about ecosystems and oil spills: **How can oil from an oil spill (like the one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico) seep into a bird's egg when an egg's shell is hard?**

Great question, I think it’s time for an experiment! Get an egg, a bowl, and some warm water. Fill the bowl with warm water and then put in the egg. Look closely at the egg and observe what happens. Do you see tiny bubbles coming from the egg? What does that tell you about an eggshell? Even though an eggshell is solid, it has tiny holes in it that air can pass through. This way when a baby bird is growing inside an egg it can breathe.

However, if an oil spill occurs, like in the Gulf of Mexico, oil can also pass through these tiny holes and harm the baby bird. This is why oil spills can be so damaging to marine ecosystems- the oil pollution can harm many different kinds of organisms in many different ways. So it’s very important we keep our oceans clean! To learn more about oil spills, check out this website: @http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm