During class on 8/29/13, we learned about water, hydrogen bonding, and water's properties. But first, we took a quiz on basic chemistry. After the quiz we got into pairs. My partner was Alex. We then each received a question and had to present to the class what the answer was through the knowledge we gained from our homework on water. Alex and I got asked the question, " Why can a water strider stand on water?" The answer is that water has high surface tension and the water strider can stand on the hydrogen bonds without breaking them. The water strider can stand on them without breaking them because the water strider's legs are light and have large surface area. If the water strider had legs where the weight was not spread out (surface area) then the water strider would sink. Then after we all presented, we got into larger groups and answered the question "Why do humans sweat and why do dogs pant?" The answer is that our bodies need a way to cool off. Water has a high heat capacity of vaporization. So, when we sweat and our sweat (basically water) reaches a certain temperature, it evaporates, taking the heat away from our bodies. Dogs pant because they have fur so they cannot sweat. Their way of cooling off is by panting. Update of what we do next in honors biology coming soon!
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