The Pacific ring of fire (science)

The Pacific ring of fire is a line/belt of earthquakes and volcanoes that surround the Pacific tectonic plate.

The belt is around the edges of the Pacific Oceans, it includes 15 countries including Indonesia, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Philippines, Japan, United States, Chile, Canada, Guatemala, Russia, Peru, Solomon Islands, Mexico and Antarctica.

The Pacific ring of fire is caused  by many things. Many of the volcanoes are caused by a multitude of converging tectonic plates, the plates going below each other cause magma to rise and solidify to create the volcanic peaks.

Plate boundaries

This is my drawing of the three types of plate structures. The top third is a convergent plate boundary. This plate boundary occurs when one plate (usually an oceanic plate) is forced downwards when another plate (usually continental) is stronger and ‘collides’ with the other plate.

The left third is a transforming plate boundary. This plate boundary occurs when two tectonic plates slide against/collide with each other.

The right third is a divergent plate boundary. This plate boundary occurs when two tectonic plates are separating from each other, this causes a gap for magma to rise and creates a new formation of rock between the plates.

Convection currents experiment

Today in class we had the option of going outside to work on a DLO/Slide-show/current game or to stay in the class and do an experiment. Along with Mayesa, Loreen, Ayesha and Liyahn, I chose to do the experiment.

The experiment was using potassium permanganate crystals to show how convection currents work. This example shows how the colour emitted by the potassium permanganate crystal (purple) is distributed throughout the water.

This experiment was an easy set-up. We filled a beaker 3/4 of the way, set up the tripod, gauze + heat mats, set-up the bunsen burner and then we connected it to the gas to watch the experiment take place.

I watched the heat slowly chip away at the potassium permanganate and distribute it. It was distributed by rising the colour, splitting it, dropping it and then eventually completing a full rotation. At the end of the experiment, the water had turned completely purple.

This experiment shows how convection currents move and transfer/distribute things throughout an area.

Some examples of similar convection currents that occur on Earth include heating a kettle, using an air conditioner, the transmissions of volcanoes underwater and it can also occur in science experiments. 🙂

Health Assessment (Proteus syndrome)

WSM, CAM and TM

There are three main types of medicine used around the world today. These acronyms stand for ‘Western Scientific medicine’, ‘Complementary and alternative medicine’ and lastly, traditional medicine. 

All of these types of medicines are good for different things. 

Some people choose to take a more traditional/environmental approach, using treatment such as kawakawa, manuka, horopito and other plants that are easily accessible. (TM)

Some people choose to take a more modern approach, using treatment such as surgical procedures, prescription medications and radiation or chemotherapy. (WSM)

Some people choose to take a mix of both approaches, using treatment such as massage, yoga, drinking green tea, essential oils and others. CAM is safe to be used alongside other forms of medicine and gives heavier benefits in the long run. (CAM)

 

Proteus syndrome

Proteus syndrome is a rare genetic condition that causes the enlargement of Several tissues in the body including bones, skin, arteries and organs. 

This condition is caused by a mutation in the AKT1 gene, which can occur randomly. If a baby is born with Proteus syndrome, symptoms may not be shown, as the overgrowth usually appears when babies are between 6 to 18 months. 25% of people with Proteus syndrome die before the age of 22.

A famous example of a case of Proteus syndrome is Joseph Carey Merrick. Joseph didn’t show signs of Proteus syndrome until he was 5. Much of his skin and bones swelled, but the most obvious was the changes in his head and face. Sponge-like bits of skin hung from the back of his head and across his face. The deformation of his mouth/jaw area resulted in him being unable to speak clearly or show facial expressions. The circumference of his head reached up to almost 1 metre! Merrick’s right arm was swelled to the point of his wrist measuring 30 cm, both of his legs had similar measurements. Since he was so disfigured and nobody knew what was wrong with him, he became famous and served as a ‘professional freak’ for 3 years. He was denied medical help for several years, but was finally acknowledged and taken into the London hospital in 1886. Merrick died on the 11th of April in 1890, caused by trying to sleep on his back. The weight of his head tilted his neck back and dislocated it.

Treatment and impacts on hauora

Proteus syndrome doesn’t have a direct cure, but there are treatments medical professionals use to combat infections and help a patient live as long as possible.

 

*One method of treatment is to identify the symptoms of specific patients, then using multiple orthopaedic procedures, which work to try and control/slow the growth. (This treatment is WSM because it is modern and uses surgery)

*In addition to the surgery, it raises the risk of developing a blood clot. While a patient is undergoing surgery, the doctors are monitoring them closely to prevent the formation of blood clots.

*This method of treatment impacts a patient’s taha tinana and taha hinengaro. Orthopaedic procedures stretch and test the ability of your muscles, joints, bones, ligaments and tendons to produce the best results. Although it seems as if these procedures are only physical, it can take an extreme toll on a patient’s mental health.

>Another method of treatment is antibiotics. This isn’t an extremely effective method, but a better medication treatment is in the making. Medical professionals are working to determine whether or not AKT inhibitors can delay or slow overgrowth. (This treatment is WSM because it uses prescription medication/antibiotics)

>This method of treatment impacts a patient’s taha tinana and taha hinengaro. The use of antibiotics and AKT inhibitors have many negative side effects such as oral inflammation, diarrhoea, fatigue and many more. For the mental side of things.

Overall impacts on hauora

Proteus syndrome is a syndrome that can be extremely hard to live with. Some things that negatively affect an individual with proteus syndrome include..

 

  • The possibility of developing neurological abnormalities such as intellectual disabilities, seizures and vision loss. (Personal)

 

  • Individuals with Proteus syndrome are often put on a pedestal and constantly undergoing tests, since there is still no known cure. (Personal)

 

  • The swelling bones, skin and organs are extremely painful and can make doing everyday activities very difficult, resulting in the need of a caretaker at all times. (Personal, Interpersonal)

 

  • It is very common for people to be scared of people with Proteus syndrome, they may be bullied and this can cause insecurity. (Personal, Societal)

There are little to no positives about having Proteus syndrome. Individuals with this condition live in constant pain, daily activities are very difficult and seeing as their average life expectancy is below 22, they have a pretty low quality of life.

Health passion area (Walking corpse syndrome)

What is walking corpse syndrome?

Walking corpse syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder that makes people believe they are either dead, missing their soul, missing organs, blood or particular body parts.

How does walking corpse syndrome occur?

It is not clear or known what causes corpse syndrome, but Walking corpse syndrome is linked to deeper medical problems that affect the brain such as depression or dementia, instead of being classified as a disease of its own.

How do you treat walking corpse syndrome?

There are many ways to treat walking corpse syndrome, but most doctors opt to treat the medical problems that are causing it. Doctors can decide whether a patient needs to be put on anti depressants or simply talking with a counsellor or therapist. Most victims use a combination of medication and counselling/therapy to get better and faster treatment.

How does this affect a person’s hauora?

There are many long and short term effects walking corpse syndrome has on its victim. Some of these effects can cause a victim to harm themselves in physical, social and emotional ways.

Some long term effects include..

  • Social isolation (or becoming speechless) <taha hinengaro, negative>
  • Severe depression or feelings of sadness (melancholia) <taha hinengaro, negative>
  • Extreme delusions <taha hinengaro, negative>

Some short term effects include..

  • Hearing voices <taha hinengaro, negative>
  • Refusal to eat <taha tinana, negative>
  • Tendencies to inflict self injury <taha tinana, negative> 

Fun facts

Walking corpse syndrome is extremely rare, with only about 200 cases recorded worldwide!

Although symptoms are extreme, most people get better with the treatment!

Another name for walking corpse syndrome is ‘cotard’s syndrome!’

Sources..

  1. MMC
  2. WebMD
  3. MNT

Medicine + Health Conditions

Knowing the safety precautions around taking drugs and medicine is important.

The main points in the video were ‘how to take medicine safely’, ‘how to store medicine safely’, ‘ensuring medication safety for children’ and ‘what to do with expired medication.’ Each of these segments explain the important of knowing the safety precautions and crucial details you need to know about medicine before taking it.

The most crucial details that you should make sure you know about the medicine before you take it are..

  • The name of the medicine
  • Who it is for
  • What is its purpose
  • What is the correct dosage
  • How the medicine was supplied
  • How you should store the medicine

Teenagers are definitely not the most knowledgeable when it comes to ‘drugs and medication safety.’

Some ways that I think can help teenagers be safe around medication include…

  • Know the name of the medication/drug
  • Only take prescription drugs if your name is on it
  • Know what the effect of the drug or medicine is
  • Know where the medicine or drug came from and what it is made of
  • Never remove labels from things just in case
  • Store your medication/drug separately from others

Science experiment observations

We did a total of 4 different experiments and examined 1 other experiment which was done by another class.

The 5 experiments include..

  • The hydrogen pop test
  • Burning magnesium
  • Iron corrosion
  • Lime water test
  • Extinguishing a flame

All 5 of these experiments presented different results and we observed the many different things that happened.

For the hydrogen pop test we put acid and mercury in a test tube, then covered it with another test tube to let the gas form and transfer into the second tube. We had to make sure the test tube was upside down and fully covered so the hydrogen gas being formed would not escape (since hydrogen rises.) Once we waited a few minutes, we lit a splint, turned the second tube upwards and put the glowing splint into the test tube. The results of my group were exactly what we expected, there was a pop sound! There was also a little bit of excess fire on the rim of the test tube, the pop sound was a lot louder than we thought and it scared us!

For the burning magnesium test we used our Bunsen burner but opened the bottom part to make the flame blue. We lit a splint, held it on the Bunsen burner for a few seconds then pulled it away. Once we pulled it away, we saw an extremely bright, white glowing splint which emitted rainbow streaks. Mr Daine’s told us not to look exactly at it, but we definitely underestimated what he said, it was so bright our eyes hurt!

We didn’t do the iron corrosion experiment, we observed this one which was completed by another class. The other class prepared 4 different test tubes, collected 4 iron nails and depending on what test tube, they changed the environment. The 4 different substances placed in the test tubes include tap water in number 1, salt water in number 2, oil and boiling water in number 3 and calcium carbonate (marble) in number 4. The reaction between iron and oxygen creates rust. Water is made of 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen, so there is a reasonable amount of oxygen for rust to occur. The order for the most rust accumulated while waiting those 2 weeks are tap water, salt water, oil and boiled water mix and then the calcium chloride.

For the lime water and extinguishing flame experiments, we used a delivery tube to transfer the carbon dioxide gas to the lime water. In one test tube we added acid and the calcium chloride, and in another we added lime water. Once connected, we left them for a few minutes and if nothing was  happening we added more acid. While we waited, the acid + calcium chloride solution bubbled away and transferred to the lime water through the delivery tube. When the lime water was cloudy, we took the delivery tube off and put a burning splint in there. As we expected, the burning splint immediately went out. This proves that there was carbon dioxide present!

Health (Drug consequences)

The 2 drugs I have chosen to write about are  inhalants and prescription drug abuse.

5 consequences that are caused by inhalants include..

  • permanent brain damage and memory loss (taha hinengaro and taha tinana) LT, negative, p
  • feeling waves of excitement and euphoria (taha hinengaro) ST, positive, p
  • nose bleeds and loss of smell (taha tinana) ST & LT, negative, p
  • involuntary passing of urine and feces/diarrhoea (taha tinana) ST, negative, p
  • hallucinations, blackouts or disorientation (taha hinengaro) ST, negative, p

5 consequences that are caused by prescription drug abuse include..

  • slurred words, mood and behavior changes (taha hinengaro and taha whanau) ST, negative, p, ip & s 
  • fatigue/depression (taha hinengaro) LT, negative, p
  • diminished intelligence (taha hinengaro) LT, negative, p
  • dilated pupils (taha tinana) ST, negative, p
  • rapidly increasing tolerance (taha tinana and taha hinengaro) LT, negative, p

 

Periodic table first 20 elements

This week in science we have been recreating the periodic table  and including the atomic number, the symbol and the amount of protons, neutrons and electrons.  

A period in the periodic table is a full horizontal row.

As we can go down a row, the amount of electron shells increase by one.

In the first period there is 1 shell, in the second period there are 2 shells, in the third period there are 3 shells and so on.

A group in the periodic table is a full vertical row.

As you go across the rows the outer shells increase from one until its full.

In the first group there is 1 outer electron, in the second group there are 2 outer electrons, in the third group there is 3 outer electrons and up to the 8th row, there are 8 outer electrons making it full.

This is Mr Daines version of the periodic table (I wasn’t here for most of the time we worked on our own tables)

The photo I have included is unclear so the names and symbols included in the image are..

(1) Hydrogen H

(2) Helium He

(3) Lithium Li

(4) Beryllium Be

(5) Boron B

(6) Carbon C

(7) Nitrogen N

(8) Oxygen O

(9) Fluorine F

(10) Neon Ne

(11) Sodium Na

(12) Magnesium Mg

(13) Aluminum Al

(14) Silicon Si

(15) Phosphorus P

(16) Sulphur S

(17) Chlorine Cl

(18) Argon Ar

(19) Potassium K

(20) Calcium Ca

Isotopes are two or more forms of an element that share an equal amount of protons, but have a different amount of neutrons. When there are isotopes of elements, it creates a radioactive version. An example of a group of isotopes include Deuterium and Tritium which are isotopes of Hydrogen.