Class Response: Waves

In class, we are learning about waves. The waves we learned about are Longitudinal waves and Transverse waves. Longitudinal waves are waves that move the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave is travelling. Transverse waves are waves that move the medium at right angles to the direction in which the waves travel. Did you know that the highest point of a transverse wave is called the crest, and the lowest point is called the trough? We also learned a little bit about Electromagnetic waves, but these aren't visible. Most waves need a medium to travel through. A medium is the material through which a wave travels. The different types of mediums that waves can travel through are liquid, gas, and solid. But Electromagnetic waves don't need a medium to travel through. In longitudinal waves, there are compressions and rarefactions that occur. A compression is the part where the coils are close together, and a rarefaction is just the opposite, when the coils are spread out. Energy moves in waves.

The basic properties of waves are amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and speed. Amplitude is the maximum distance that the particles of the medium carrying the wave move away from their rest positions. Wavelength is the distance between corresponding parts of a wave. Frequency is the number of complete waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time. Lastly, speed is the rate at which an object moves. This is one of the many things I learned in Science class, and waves are definitely fun to learn about.

Turtles swim Pacific in 'race' for survival

In this article, I read about turtles, Leatherback turtles to be specific, and how they are 'racing' to get to the Galapagos Islands from San Jose, Costa Rica, which have a distance of about 950 miles.

The turtles need to get to the Galapagos Islands, because that is where their feeding ground is. These turtles are on the endangered species list as well, and they have inhabited the oceans for about 100 million years. These Leatherback turtles have been tagged with satellite communication devices so that way their progress is being monitored, as well as their position. Now people are actually allowed to log on to this website [www.greatturtlerace.com] choose a turtle, and track the race. Some company sponsors have adopted turtles, and all the participants are asked to donate as well. The winner will be the turtle that travels farthest by April 29. And as for the satellite devices that are tracking each turtle, scientists consider it a huge breakthrough in science. Watching the world through the eyes of a turtle is truly fascinating.

I found my article at [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18038071/]