Samueli Academy Science

Freshmen Year Presentation:  Talk Show For this project our freshman year here at Samueli Academy we were required to work with a group to be able to explain a problem with our planet that is currently occurring. Many of these topics were environmental concerns, for example some of them being air pollution, waste disposal, ozone layer depletion, water pollution, and climate change. We then set up a presentation that would need to last around 10 minutes long but with the format of a talk show. We had to explain to the students what was the problem and what were some of the solutions or alternatives we could have started practicing in order to fix the problem. This was important for us students to learn because people from our generation are going to have to be dealing with the problems which are developing right now, and it is always important to know more about your surroundings and problems that you may be facing when you reach adulthood. Being able to know mor

Freshmen Year Debate: Hetch Hetchy Debate For this debate/presentation we had to gather lots of information about the Hetch Hetchy Dam which is also known as the O'Shaughnessy Dam. This dam impounds the Tuolumne River and it was controversial because the dam was built in the Hetch Hetchy Valley within Yosemite National Park, and obviously national parks are protected and many were upset that this dam was built in an area where nature is protected. This dam was created to be able to provide a steady water supply for the city of San Francisco. Many preservationist believed that the dam should have not been built because it destroys habitats and greatly affects the ecosystem within that area, but the city of San Francisco believed that it was necessary for the health of their city. What we did in our class was start to study about some of the benefits and consequences that could come with constructing and keeping this dam, we also had to keep in mind what would happen if we

Freshman Year Presentation: Rock Cycle Game Here's an example of a board game that was created during the project. This was a project that we completed our first year here at Samueli Academy. This was when we were learning more about the Rock Cycle and due to the fact that our school is more towards project based learning our science teacher Mr. Jones decided to learn about the Rock Cycle through interaction of a board game. Our groups for this project were required to be able to create a creative design for a board game that would allow students to be able to play and have a good time while being able to learn more about the Rock Cycle. Learning about the Rock Cycle is important because not only does it expose us students to new possible careers that are related to science such as Geologist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth, and this includes the study of rocks as well. The study of rocks is important becau