Back on the bike. Collar Bone Healed.

A day of Golf with Dad

Well at least someones putting my golf clubs to use. Dan Sr and Hawk enjoy a nice round of golf along with Uncle Garrett and Kalstar.  Aunite KK, Christopher and I went to the McDonalds Playhouse down the road while they played.  Fun day for all.  Good times spent with family.  

Brothers - Ice-cream on the 4th of July.

Banana Boy Adventures

At first I was embarrassed to be seen with him but then I found myself proud of his courage and ability to make people smile.  His crazy idea to put out to his friends this dare to wear his age old banana boy costume that I made him 5 years ago! Not only wear it, but rather wear it in public!  I had shopping to do at BJ's so this was our destination.  The greeter smiled and suggested that he be careful in the produce section.  He hugged his fellow peeps.  Children commented to their Mom's as we walked by and giggled.  A random lady opened a box of cookies she just bought and shared them with him.  Crazy Hawk is an amazingly funny, brave, and caring kid.  Who doesn't love a funny banana boy?

Banana Boy Ready to Peel Out!

4th of July Fireworks.

We brought the boys to the Greenfield Fireworks.  However Christopher fell asleep on the way so that made it impossible (difficult) to park and walk.  So we settled on parking lot near by.  Wendy's, Frosty, Roof Top Chair, FUN!

Also Last Day of School ! PM

So he left for school with long locks.  Came home and said he wanted a hair cut before graduation ceremony tonight.  So we raced off to the Barber and made it to the school just in time for the graduates to walk in.  EVERYONE WAS SHOCKED!

Last Day of School ! AM

LAST DAY OF 6TH GRADE

FIRST DAY OF 6TH GRADE

Elementary school count down.

Well it's happening.  We are counting down the days till the end of elementary school.  Tomorrow it is the spring band concert, and next week its graduation!  Next step . . . JR High!

Hawk gets hair cut.

Just a trim and style - still long hair.

Follow Up

Well picture is actually from the ER.  But we did have a follow up with the Orthopedic Doctor yesterday and he says no sports for 6 weeks.  This means BUMMER!  This means no rafting trip with class, no more baseball, no more . . . everything.  This means many of the things that Hawk enjoys is now off the table for 6 weeks, including Hockey Camp.  He's handling this all rather well considering.  He has been very strong and brave, more than I would have been at his age, in fact maybe more than I would be at my current age too. His strong and humor filled character is persevering for sure. 

Not much other than the sling can be done. The break does not require surgery as it hasn't affected any nerves, other than when it first happened, and it's not poking thru skin.  You can see where it's broken just by looking at him and in time as the bone grows at the point of the break there will be a large bump, but this will get smaller and the bone will straighten as his body continues to grow bigger. 

Broken Clavicle!

Playing football on the playground - Daniel broke his clavicle and his friend that he went to the ground with is also out of the game for six weeks with broken wrist.

GRANDSLAM!

Thank you Poppy for the transportation to ball game, since both Mom and Dad had to work!  And for capturing this incredible moment on film.

This is Hawk hitting his first ever Grand Slam !
                                          notice the ball in the upper left of picture . . . that thing is out of here!!

Science Fair 6th Grade Project

Helium vs. Pure Air.

What Happens to the Sound of a Person’s Voice

After Inhaling a Controlled Amount of Each?

HAWK

Grade 6

Introduction

In this assignment I have selected to explain what happens to the sound of someone’s voice after inhaling both Helium and pure air at separate times.

I have read through a few websites that explain when sound travels through helium it will change my voice. I was hoping to have fun, and I am looking forward to sharing this with my family and friends.

Hypothesis

My Hypothesis is that if you alter the density of the air (Or gas) a person breathes in then it will change the sound of their voice.

Will the sound of someone speaking sound different through Helium than it does through air after inhaling a controlled amount of each from a balloon at separate times?

I got this idea from the MythBusters Marathon. One episode I found very interesting.   On the episode a section titled “Fun With Gas”, Adam Savage one of the shows hosts inhaled first helium and then spoke with a squeaky voice like Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Next he inhaled a gas call Sulfur Hexafluoride and that made his voice sound low and deep like a monster.   You can view this video on line too.  Just go to MythBusters on Discovery and search the site for “Fun With Gas.”

I also learned a few safety tips while doing my research.  A site called Go Ask Alice said that some people can get light headed or dizzy from inhaling helium so it’s a good idea to have my participants sit down while experimenting  just in case so they don’t come crashing down to the floor.

My mother advised me was that it is unsafe to take inhale Helium directly from a Helium tank.  Death may result and a person should never try to do that.  She and I talked about using small amounts at different times to perform my experiment in order to be safe.

I learned on a search engine called Helium more interesting facts about Helium too.  It is the second element on the periodic table after Hydrogen.  High amounts of Helium can be found in stars.  But on earth because this noble gas escapes from the earth’s atmosphere it only makes up for a very small amount of the earths atmosphere.  

The gas fields of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas produces near 80% of the world’s supply of Helium while also extracting natural gas. 

Procedure and Experiment

I performed my experiment of three different occasions.  Each time I performed my experiment differently.

Experiment #1

April 17^th, 2010

While at home me and my Dad both inhaled enough helium to fill our lungs and our sound waves from our voice traveled through the Helium much faster than air. The result was that our voices sounded higher.  And our laughter grew as we sang silly songs with squeaky voices.

Experiment #2

May 8^th, 2010

While at home along with four of my friends we tried the experiment again. This experiment was conducted in the middle of my living room in a chair because if one person got dizzy they would already be sitting down.  We had all used one big balloon and each person took a turn of inhaling a small amount of Helium from the balloon.  Each person’s voice sounded a lot higher in pitch because our sound waves traveled through the Helium much faster than air.

Experiment #3

May 15^th, 2010

While at home I again performed the experiment using myself, my Dad, and my Mother as participants.  For this experiment I used a more controlled method.  

I used 2 different colored balloons.  Blue to represent the air filled balloons filled with a hand pump.  Red represented the Helium filled balloons filled form a helium tank.   In order to control to amount each balloon was filled to be identical in size.  Each were filled to be about 4” in diameter and then knotted at the end.  Next I set up the area that included a chair and table to hold the bowl with the balloons and the scissors to cut the knots form the end of the balloons.  The video camera readied and one at a time we conducted the experiment in this way:

1)   I had to sit down then read “This is my voice to start with”

2)   I then used scissors to cut the end of the balloon to inhale from the blue balloon (air filled).

3)   I then repeated the sentence and my voice sounded like nothing changed.

4)   I then used scissors to cut the end of the balloon to inhale from the red balloon (helium filled).

5)   I then repeated the sentence and my voice sounded higher after inhaling the Helium.

6)   I then had both my Dad and Mom repeat steps 1 through 5 each separately.

Results

My results after inhaling controlled and even uncontrolled amounts of Helium were that each time the person’s voice would sound different, in a higher pitch.  It didn’t really matter that each time I performed my experiment I did it in different ways.  First two experiments were more about the fun of inhaling Helium from balloons and hearing the funny results and the final more scientifically controlled experiment all proved my hypothesis to be correct.  Through this project I learned that this is because Helium is six times less dense that air, allowing it to travel more easily through the vocal cords.

Conclusion

In conclusion I was interested in how our voice sounds higher after inhaling Helium and because I had never tried it, I thought it would be very for all the people that will see the results of helium vs. pure air.  I now know that it is the density of the gas that causes a person’s voice to change.  As a less dense gas than air it passes through the vocal cords differently then air, resulting in a different sound.   I think of my results to be fascinating, because now I understand why a person’s voice gets “squeaky” and that’s just funny. 

Bibliography

Discovery Communications, LLC “Fun With Gas.” August 7, 2008. The

Discovery Channel.  April 25, 2010

<http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/mythbusters-fun-with-gas.html>

“Inhaling helium - Just hilarious or a health threat?” Go Ask Alice, Health

Promotion Program at Columbia University. August 03, 2007 <http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2299.html>

Bowler, Alison. “Element facts: Where helium is found.” Helium. April 25,2010

<http://www.helium.com/items/1667926-element-facts-where-helium-is-found>

Ball Game

FOLLOW THESE LINKS TO YOU TUBE TO SEE HAWK IN ACTION

1st Inning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYPnkotoFxA

2nd Inning - TRIPLE PLAY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIG3rKrSffU

School race to raise money for playground equipment.

Daniel is first to the start line.

Daniel gets crowded in by all the runners at the start.

Daniel finishes third among the boys.  Fifth over all.

Four Wheeling!

Texting and driving  . . . . . 

Tooling around with ChrisP and Cow in tow.

Birthday Impromptu Family Bash

So it took everyone awhile to get home for dinner and cake.  Poppy Deer and Uncle Bob dodged trees coming up Route 202 and Poppy Snowmobile and I were rerouted several directions to get from there to here.  What an aftermath from a storm.  Thankfully we all made it ok.  Sarah had the boys at her house and waited it out there they were the last to arrive.  Fortunately I had picked up pizza on my way since we had no power.  I boiled water to make coffee and just before starting to make it by hand the power came on but only long enough to brew the pot then lights out again.  Not to return till the next morning.

Uncle Bob setting up the safety on Hawk's new pellet gun.

Christopher and Poppy Snowmobile. 

Christopher and Poppy Deer playing a smacking game. 

Hawk and his helper blowing out the candles.

Hawk sticks his face in once everyone was done. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAWK

    12 YEARS OLD!

Turning Twelve.

WOW, how did this happen so fast?  Hawk turns twelve in 4 days.  As if his 12th birthday isn't enough for me, he also will be experiencing "step up" day at the JR High that same day.  This just solidifies in my mind how fast these last 12 years have gone by.  I am lucky to have such a great son.  True there are many times in any given day that I wished to squash him like a bug with his constant dry and timely whit, but mostly I am just proud of the young man he is becoming.  12!  Half way to college graduation - I am not ready for this next 12 years.  After reading this to Hawk he just was kind enough to remind me that in twelve years I will be 51!  What?  Sigh!

Applees for Dinner to Support 6th Grade Rafting Field Trip

Family dinner at Applebees to support Hawk's 6th Grade class Rafting trip next month.  We had a  great time all four of us.  Hawk was very kind to share his root beer with his brother, and dessert when it came to table and Christopher decided it was his to share with the table rather than Hawk's.  What a good big brother!

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Monday, March 29, 2010 

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Bon Jovi @ Mohegan Sun

Thank you M and P for the concert tickets.  

Hawk and I had a really great time.  I haven't seen Hawk that impressed by a site since we came up out of the subway in NYC for the first time.  The opening band was good, Bon Jovi was great, and the encore was amazing.   I had never been to the Mohegan Sun before myself, I enjoyed the different design elements through out the space.   After the concert Hawk and I explored.  We ate a great dinner that could have fed a family of six at a BBQ Restaurant.  We enjoyed Ribs, Pulled Pork, Cheese Loaded Mash Potatoes, and Coleslaw.  Hawk enjoyed a very yummy Root Beer serve in a chilled bottle and I savored my so so coffee knowing that I still had to drive home and we still weren't ready to leave.  We visited the Arcade a few times and he watched on while I dropped a few bucks into the slots.  Hit some, lost some, oh well.  I was feeling it a bit wrong to be at the casino so late with Hawk until we saw a family including a young girl that couldn't have even have been three yet in the arcade at 1:30 AM. (Look in the picture above, Hawk Driving the Race Car and little girl cutting some rug on the dance pad.)  OK, at least I now had a scale to measure our appropriateness.  We saw many people taking naps in the car garage on our way out near 2AM in the morning . . . home just before 4AM.  What a blast.