Sheila+Cordova

Please direct questions and updates to Sheila Cordova here.

**//Here is the Science Fair Paperwork collected for your groups this week.... Brian and Jodi Burda//** Hi Theresa and Joanna - thank you for the update. It sounds like you are making a lot of progress. I hope you are taking a lot of pictures so we can see the process - I'd love to see the progress! (3/20/12) Mrs. Cordova

Hi Mrs. Cordova Just to give you and update on what we're doing: We are getting ready for making the solar cells. We just have to heat up the copper. Hi Theresa and Joanna - your research papers looks great and it was nice to meet you today. I researched but did not find anything on the types of light colors that respond to copper oxide. It sounds like it could be part of your experiment - testing which color of light repsonds best. Full spectrum will give you a better comparison with sunlight but it could be interesting to see which color of light responds best. I can't wait to see your solar cell!
 * - Theresa and Joanna :) **

HI! Just to give you an update on our project, we are planning to meet soon and do our experiment. Maybe next week!
 * -Theresa and Joanna **
 * Great - let me know how it goes! **

Gavin - the football paper has a lot of research in it - great job.

Hi Mrs. Cordova So our lunch meeting is this Friday? What type of things should we bring to it?\ -Theresa Sitter 3/6/12 Hi Mrs. Cordova! Are we allowed to put pictures (in my case graphs) on the backround research paper? Also, can you please help me find information on how different colors of light respond to a copper oxide solar cell? Thank you! -Theresa Sitter 2/29/12

Mrs. Cordova, Could you please help me find some information on how different colors of light respond to copper oxide? Thank you. My paper is due on Monday. -Theresa Sitter 3/3/12

Below are the emails that we traded before going strictly Wikispace!

__**SOLAR CELL EXPERIMENTS**__

Hello Joanna and Theresa,

Sounds like you have an interesting project for the Science Fair. I’ve included some information you might find useful and some things to think about. It would be great if you could let me know what direction you decide to take your experiments so I can give better answers or suggestions.

What are you trying to discover? Are you trying to discover the best possible or most useful way to gather energy with a solar cell?
 * For the Hypothesis and Experiment **

Which gives a better/stronger current: Sunlight vs artificial light (fluor, LED, Incandescent) Does the Distance, Angle of Light or amount of light on Solar Cell affect voltage or current? Does the color of light (different wavelength of light) affect voltage and current (v and c)? Is the v and c affected by where the light hits the Solar Cell? Is the v and c affected by the temperature of Solar cell?
 * What variables will you use? Some topics could include: **

You could test a few of these – they are all about the quality of the light hitting the cell.

There are many more that you may have already thought of. Theresa mentioned testing different (best) metals in the solar cell. This will either require you to build a solar cell or to buy one, take it apart and use different metals to measure its effectiveness.

Let me know what you come up with for your hypothesis and experiment. And let me know if there is anything you need from me.

Thank you! Sheila Cordova

Hi Mrs. Cordova! Thank you for the new ideas! I really like the one about artificial light and sunlight. I'll talk to Joanna about what we could do. I'll look at the sites you sent me and tell you when we have figured out our hypothesis and experiment. For now I will be researching some ideas! -Theresa Sitter =)

Hi, Mrs. Cordova! Theresa and I have been thinking that we should compare the amount of energy generated from sunlight and led/fluorescent light, but we would like to incorporate some of our own ideas.

Thanks, Joanna & Theresa
Great! I think you mentioned you have a voltage meter (or something that can measure amps or volts). The other materials will be Solar Panel (of course =), and then each of the light fixtures that you plan to try out. Be sure to get similar size and output from the LEDs and Fluorescents. They come in all shapes and sizes but as long as both bulbs are similarly shaped with similar wattage it should give you a better standard to read from. The sunlight will be harder since many factors can affect it – time of year, time of day, cloudy, angle of sun, etc. So thinking through how that portion will happen is a key component.

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts. Sounds like fun! =) Sheila Cordova

__**EARTHQUAKES AND BUILDINGS**__

Hi Mark, Jeremy and Derek, Sounds like you have an interesting project for the Science Fair. I’ve included some information you might find useful and some things to think about.

There are a number of factors that can affect a structure’s durability. Two of the most common include the materials used in construction and the shape of the building.

If you ever have to take a structural exam or architectural exam you will need to know the answer to this question. =)

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 * Someone who did an experiment based on shape (might be a good site to look over): **


 * How do you plan to construct the buildings? ** All the shapes should all be constructed in a similar way and with the same materials. The experiment above is built using toothpicks and modeling clay. You could also use blocks or solid objects. If you experiment with different construction methods you will have to test different shapes in each of the construction methods. The toothpicks and modeling clay is similar to stud construction, blocks to brick buildings and solid objects would be similar to a concrete mass. If you have other types to consider they can be included.

You will need to come up with a list of building shapes that can be tested. Cube, rectangular prism (upright like a skyscraper and horizontal like a ranch style home), dome, pyramid, and any other shapes or variations you can think of.

For shapes that aren’t symmetrical the direction of the earthquake can affect it’s durability also. So for the rectangular prism you might want to try shaking it in one direction and then turning it and testing it again.

[]
 * This website shows you how to build an earthquake generator **

Be sure each shape gets the same amount of shaking (always pull back to the same point on the generator for each shape to ensure the same Force being applied). Multiple “pulls” might be necessary to ensure the building falls down. Establish a set timing method for each pull since you need to do it the same way for each building shape.

Let me know how the experiment goes – I would love to see how this works out! Good luck! If this isn’t enough information let me know and I’ll dig around for more. =)

Sheila Cordova