Monthly Archives: April 2013

For a class looking at Rocks and Minerals...

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Below are links to "Rocks and Minerals posts I have made over the last year.

In 2012, I sent some rock samples to a class in England. I followed up with a series of posts examining what was sent...

This is the first of some posts I will make on my experiences with volcanoes. Looks at the samples sent.

Samples – Scree & Obsidian samples

Samples – ‘A’a and Pahoehoe

Iron Sands (NZ) and Pumice Stone

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: Mt. Tarawera, New Zealand

Looking at Volcanoes - Some links to post

Hotspots (Geological not internet)

New Zealand

A final volcano post of You Tube links

More on Volcanoes for Global Grade 3

New Zealand’s Beautiful landmarks – for B4 and Bradley

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The Earth

How did the Earth begin? – A challenge from Heather and Keira

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Examining Some Rock Samples from Canada - Are they fossil rocks or volcanic?

Something Special from Canada

 For a class looking at Australia -

Australian Flag

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Aboriginal Flag

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Torres Strait Islander Flag

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Some Audio Files

Australia's National Anthem - as sung by a combined choir in a performance I filmed...

 Advanced Australia Fair

Many official functions start with an Acknowledgement of Country in order to recognise the traditional owners of the land...

Acknowledgement of Country

The didjeridoo was made from a hollowed branch and was part of many ceremonies. The hitting of sticks or boomerangs together often accompanied them.

Sticks and Didjeridoo

Below are links to Australian related posts on my blogs including links to others. I hope they are of some help...

HMB Endeavour at Eden - Replica of Captain James Cook's HMS Endeavour visited  in 2012. James Cook was the first explorer from Europe/UK known to have sailed along Australia's east cost.

My Region of Australia - A general look at my area of Australia featuring the old family dairy farm, scenic photos, beach activities, and Australian animals.

Tasmania – Sharing old photos - Looks at the Australian island state of Tasmania and a little of our convict heritage.

Older Australian Currency - Australia uses dollars and cents these days but before 1966 used pounds, shillings and pence.

Aboriginal Cultural Resource Links for the Roadrunners - Information about the Aboriginal people of Australia and their traditional culture. Check the "Twelve Canoes" link in particular.

Class 6 – Olympic Countries – Australia - History, the Australian flag, National Anthem, animals, Sydney Harbour Bridge, sport

ANZAC Day for 2/3 Class - Looking at ANZAC Day and its meaning for me.

For Emily from Michigan who was interested in Australia - A collection of photos taken in different parts of Australia (including animals).

More photos and information on Sydney for Emily - Some photos of Sydney past and present.

Spring has Sprung in Australia – for 4KJ and 4KM - Looks at the seasons of the Southern Hemisphere.

 Australian National Parks near me in answer to ♥Ell♥e♥ and ಢAcacia✄ - Information about Australia as well as some national parks in my area.

Australian Birds – Mostly Close to Home…

Some plant photos taken in my area…

The family dairy farm for someone who loves everything farming

Maoris, Volcanoes and Aboriginal Rock Art (some notes) for Roadrunners and their comment. Includes the Aboriginal flags of Australia, information about paintings and engravings

Australian Animals for Mrs. Watson’s K/1/2/3 and “Our World, Our Numbers” - An assortment of photos, drawings and information.

Koalas and Kangaroos - Two video links I prepared for a class

Australia’s Extinct and Endangered Species – for Katey of Techie Kids

Tasmanian Devils for Christian and Techie Kids

Some More Aussie Animals for Alexis & Techie Kids

 

You Tube Video Clips

These are my own video clips uploaded to my You Tube Channel. Some are already embedded into the above posts but can be viewed here as well...

Eastern Grey Kangaroos

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

The life of "Sapphire" the koala

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Echidna (Spiny Anteater)

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

"Bert" the wombat joey (baby)

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Walking koala from a series of photos

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

The Song of the Lyrebird

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

"Lyrebird Story" by Alexandra Seddon

This video clip may not be copied or distributed in any fashion.

Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Suzie the koala's baby makes an appearance

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Black-Headed Python Experience

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Potoroo "Daniel"

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Koala encounter with "Blinky" and "Suzie"

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Echidna "Spike" Encounter

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Ringtail Possum "Estelle" Encounter

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Swamp Wallaby "Serena" Encounter

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Emus

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Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Many of the above animal video clips were filmed at Potoroo Palace . It is a native animal educational sanctuary operated by volunteers and funded by visitor entry fees and donations. Potoroo Palace is a not-for-profit organisation passionate about caring for the Earth. The aims of Potoroo Palace are...

  • To improve the habitats and wellbeing of the native animals already in our care

  • To promote public awareness of their plight in the wild

  • To educate the community about the importance of the conservation of our unique Australian native animals and plants.

At times I have been invited to film their animals.

4 Comments

This post was in response to "Our World, Our Numbers" and a post about the kangaroo and koala.

Australian Animals

After reading the post on Australian animals, I thought I would put together two You Tube clips, one of "Sapphire" the koala and the other on the eastern grey kangaroo. Here are the photos of the stars...

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

 Below are the two videos created for you...

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Schools and students have permission to use this video clip for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

 

Koala - "Sapphire"

Schools and students have permission to use this video clip for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: Potoroo Palace, N.S.W., Australia

2 Comments

For the students who sent me a kind gift. Here is a link to their blog...

Battalion Hawk Bloggers

Hello Battalion Hawk Bloggers,

Well, it did take some time for the parcel to arrive but, as you already know, it finally appeared. Here is what I found inside...

A clapper board to help me align video clips.

A packet of chalk so I can write on the board.

Three rock samples bearing fossils.

Just by chance, later the same day your parcel arrived I had a phone call. I was asked if I was willing to video the opening performance of the Candelo Village Festival. I agreed and realised I had the chance to use the clapper board very soon after receiving it.

This also presented me with another idea, I had a blog where little had been posted as I didn't have a strong use for it. I cleared away some old posts, some of which ended up on this blog because they were my earliest extended comments. After reorganising the layout and content,  I renamed it...

Exploring Ideas: How to and why… A look at blogging, graphics and activities

The idea is to use this blog when I explain how or why I do things the way I do. I left two posts from March, 2012 because they looked at how to write a googol (special number where 1 is followed by 100 zeroes) and how I approach writing a story, particularly long ones.

Your gift gave me an idea for the first post made especially for the blog. It tells how I used the clapper board. I have included a video clip I made for you showing me use the clapper board to mark the film position. I also included 15 seconds of a performance so you can hear a little of my experience on the evening of Friday (April 12).

The people have been deliberately blurred for privacy reasons. You will not have heard the song before as the music festival opening included original works by local composer/musicians. Here is the link to the first real "How to and Why" post...

Aligning Video Clips

Now, let's look at the rocks you sent. There were the three stones and something sounding fossil-like. I'll explain shortly...

 Crinoid or Corallite Fossils?

 

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Both suggestions people made through Twitter seem reasonable and both types of creatures still exit in our oceans today. Of the two choices, I would favour crinoid-like fossils but, remember, I am not an expert so this is only my opinion. There is a third option I might add soon. Let's look at the two choices...

Corallite

(Wikipedia reference: Scleractinia )

This is a Wikimedia Commons image of one type of hard coral taken by Nhobgood

Corallite, if I have my information correct, is the fossilised remains of stony corals. When you look at photos, you can see they are well formed, rock-like structures so I would expect fossils of them to include a more regular pattern than in the samples you sent (see the photo below). Of course, it is also possible what you see in the rocks are broken bits of coral cemented together in the way sedimentary rocks can form.

 

Below is a photo of a piece of coral I found washed up on the shore in Queensland. It came from the Great Barrier Reef. Can you see the pattern of openings where coral polyps once lived?

 

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Crinoid

(Wikipedia reference: Crinoid )

This is a Wikimedia Commons image of one type of crinoid taken by Alexander Vesanin

Crinoids tend to have small tube-like structures that could be what we see in the stones. There have been some beautiful, almost complete crinoid fossils found. What you see could also be the remains of small shellfish, i.e. their shells (see the photo below). I don't know what rocks are native to your area but, whatever, the stones you sent will now take their place in my rocks and minerals collection. They are my first from Canada. 🙂

Below is a rock I picked up on a beach. You can see, like the samples you sent, it has been rounded by water action. Can you see the shell fossils embedded in it? In these cases, you can see the shell was from spiral shell type similar to ones I sometimes find washed up on our beaches.

 Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Did I say "something sounding fossil-like" back there? I'll explain.

You know my mind tends to wander in many directions and this is what happened when I saw the packet of chalk. The question came to mind, "What is chalk?" I thought I would share my answer with you.

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Location: Dover, England

I took the above photo when I was in Dover in England. It shows the famous White Cliffs of Dover. The cliffs are chalk but what exactly is chalk?

 

Here is a quote from Wikipedia...

"Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates (coccoliths) shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores."

(Wikipedia Reference: Chalk )

What this means is chalk has formed under the ocean from the remains of algae so tiny you would need a microscope to examine them properly. Can you imagine the cliffs of chalk in the above photo would have involved many billions of these tiny organisms over a very long time?

Is this the same chalk you sent? While it could be, much of the blackboard chalk manufactured today is made from a stone called gypsum. Below is a photo of gypsum from my collection. This particular piece is known as rose gypsum because of its appearance. (It is shown glued onto a shell for display.)

 

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What was the third option for the stones you sent?

I can be a very curious person when seeing something interesting. This is what happened when I was looking at the rocks.

I suspected I might not be looking at fossils in rock at all so I broke open the smallest piece of stone so I could examine its centre. I found the stone was made of small crystals. Below is a graphic showing four photos I took of one of the pieces of the small stone. Can you see the shine of the small crystals?

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Now I was really curious because I suspected the stone wasn't fossil bearing sedimentary rock. I thought it might actually be igneous rock, i.e. volcanic rock. I spent more time searching my rocks and minerals books and the internet. I think I might have found what the stones could be. I think they might be diabase (aka dolerite).

Below is a reference for diabase. Visit the site and look at their photo of diabase. Tell me what you think.

Diabase

Of course, I could be completely wrong but it is fun to try to find answers even if they're sometimes wrong. We can learn from both right and wrong answers if we keep our minds open.

* * * * * * * * * *

I just had an afterthought on rereading this post and thought I'd share. When I broke open the small rock and looked inside, I realised I was the first person to have ever seen what's inside that particular stone and now I'm able to share what I found. In your lives, you will have many first person experiences. Will you recognise them when you do? I wonder if that makes us all curiosity explorers a little like early explorers seeing somewhere for the first time?

6 Comments

This was a very early blog comment post on another blog. It has been transferred to this blog.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

In answer to the question, "If you woke up tomorrow and there was no such thing as numbers, what would your day be like?"

There were, in the past, times when numbers weren't in existence. They're something humans have made up to try to explain things we see.

Through history, there have been many ways of writing numbers. Our numbers are known as Hindu-Arabic because of the influence of those two systems on us. They replaced Roman numerals that were based on fives as in the fingers and thumbs on our hands.

Look at the sum below and see how hard it would be to do maths....

Roman Numerals

DCCLXIX + CCCXLIV = MCXIII

Hindu-Arabic Numerals

769 + 344 = 1113

Which would you prefer to use?

Did you know computers use a number system called binary to work?

Binary only uses 1 and 0. A 1 tells the computer to turn something on and a 0 off. By turning on or off many tiny “switches” in a processor, the computer is able to operate. No numbers, no computers.

Here is 0 to 10 in binary coding…

0,  1,  10,  11,  100,  101,  110,  111,  1000,  1001, 1010

Numbers are a fascinating part of our lives. They are much more a part of our everyday life than we might realise and would affect many things you might not realise.

Remember to set your alarm so you can be up in time for school tomorrow. Wait, clocks use numbers. Have a shower, no, computers and machines control the delivery of water and electricity. Maybe we could walk to school because buses and cars aren’t running. Wait, the buildings have gone because we didn’t have the numbers to help build them. We can go into the simple wooden shelter and sit on the ground then pick up our books. No, computers and machines involved again…

Maybe I should just make a spear and settle around a fire near my rough shelter made from branches and animal skins. When the sun rises, I’ll go hunting while the family searches for water and wild grains to make rough bread. For games, my children can practise throwing spears or learn how to cut animal skins into clothing.

We could survive without numbers but the world would be a very different place for us.

 

This was a very early blog comment post on another blog. It has been transferred to this blog.

I thought this might be too long to include as a comment on your blog so I have decided to set up a blog page as a comment. From your writings, I can see you have been learning about World War II and how it effected people’s lives. As well as the home front, Allied forces were scattered around the world. British forces were fighting in North Africa, Burma and Singapore. I have some photos to share you might find interesting. All were taken when I visited Singapore in 2010. They show The Battle Box in Fort Canning, the Allied Forces HQ , during the Japanese attack on Singapore and its surrender in 1942. One of the troops in Singapore at that time was my father. He was with the Australian forces and ended up a POW until the end of the war in 1945.

Picture 1:

The main entrance to the underground shelter known as “The Battle Box”

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Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

 

Picture 2:

This is a guiding diagram for The Battle Box

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Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

 

Picture 3:

I chose to explore The Battle Box by myself. All I met were the mannequin soldiers in the darkened rooms. Considering the heat and humidity of Singapore, The Battle Box has a pleasant coolness unlikely to have existed when full of soldiers.

 Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

Picture 4:

Lt. General Arthur Percival commanded the Allied Forces. You can see his likeness behind the desk. His decisions guided the Allied defences.

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Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

Picture 5:

Operations kept track of Allied and Japanese forces during the Battle for Singapore

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Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

 

Picture 6:

With munitions running low, the last defence line broken, anti-aircraft guns unable to fire, and growing losses to civilians in Singapore, Lt. General Percival felt compelled to discuss the surrender option.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

 

Picture 7:

On 15 February, 1942, Lt. General Percival surrendered to the Japanese. Over 80,000 Allied troops fell into Japanese hands. It was the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. Many died during their years of captivity with large numbers going to work on the Burma Railway never to return. Some were also sent to Japan as POWs.

 With the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August, Japan official surrendered to Allied forces. The photo below was on display. It showed the Japanese commander surrendering to Lord Mountbatten on 12 September, 1945.

 

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: The Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore

Now for something a little different.

Read this letter from a Prisoner-Of-War (P.O.W.) held by the Japanese at Changi P.O.W. camp in Singapore during World War II. This was the first letter he sent to his mother after being freed at the end of the war.

 

Changi 6-Sept-45
Dearest Mum,
Free at long last. At last I am able to write to you after three and a half years of silence. It has been a long wait, but all good things come to those who wait.
At present I am in fairly good health. Of course I have had my share of sickness since I have been a prisoner of war. My weight is now about eleven stone so you see I could be a great deal worse than I am. The sicknesses that I have sustained are such that will be quickly dispelled with proper medical treatment and a good diet so you need not worry about it in the least.
There is no need to tell you just how happy I was when I heard the news of imminent release. I can just imagine the excitement at home when the wonderful news was released.
There is really not much I can tell you about my life as a P.O.W. as censorship is very strict but I will try and give you some idea of what I have been doing since release. One of the first things that happened in the camp was the installation of a short- wave radio and hence we have been able to hear the news from the outside world (officially and first hand). Red Cross supplies have been coming into the camp since the news became official, so that rations have been getting better every day and we are told that we will soon be on full European diet. It is a great thing to have plenty of cigarettes again.
It was not long before swimming parades were arranged. Today I went on an organised tour just outside the camp. Two of my mates and myself managed to buy a duck, some eggs and a large papaya (paw-paw) and of course we had the best meal we have had in three and a half years. Well I will have to cut it short here as space is short.
Please give my love to all at home (I can’t mention all).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As you can see by the date, the letter was written before the official surrender of the Japanese but Allied forces already controlled Singapore. Here are some questions you might consider if interested...

1. How do you think the soldier felt during his time as a prisoner?

2. Was he well looked after by his Japanese captors?

3. Do you think he was lonely or worried being far from home and not able to write to his family?

4. How do you think his family felt while he couldn’t write?

5. How do you think they felt when they got this letter after so long?

 

Picture 8:

There are still many buildings in Singapore that stood during the war but Changi, where so many were held, has changed. As then, it is a prison and has been renovated but the old Changi chapel was moved and incorporated into a memorial chapel and museum. Visitors can sit in the chapel or walk around inside the attached museum.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: Changi, Singapore

 

Perhaps some of you have relatives who served in Singapore during World War II. I can't imagine you would be able to have a field trip to Singapore to see Fort Canning and The Battle Box so I hope my post has shown you something from WWII's history very far from your home.

This was a very early blog comment post on another blog. It has been transferred to this blog.

I thought I had better blog the comment on "SPLASH (Water related theme)" as this would allow me to add some photos I've taken as well...

What is water? It's a compound made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. It can be made when hydrogen and oxygen are together and are sparked. The two gases explode in their reaction and water is produced. This can happen when lightning passes through the atmosphere or can be done in a lab (but is very dangerous).

Water is important to life.

We drink it

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We swim in it

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We boat and kayak in it

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Location: Merimbula, N.S.W., Australia

We surf and sailboard in it

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Location: Merimbula, N.S.W., Australia

We jump and dive in it

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Location: Merimbula, N.S.W., Australia

Many animals rely on it for food and habitat

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Location: Merimbula, N.S.W., Australia

 

Our problem is, most water in the world isn't suitable for drinking. It can be polluted or too salty yet most of the world's surface is covered in water.

This is why The Water Cycle is so important to us. When studying water, The Water Cycle shows us how water can move through the environment. Water EVAPORATES into water vapour and rises up into the air. As it cools, it forms into droplets. The droplets combine and when large enough fall as rain, now free of salt or pollutants.

You could try a simple experiment to see how The Water Cycle works...

You will need
two saucepans
a hot plate
water
ice

Method
An adult should always help when dealing with hot plates.
1. Put water in one saucepan and place it on hot plate to boil.
2. Put ice in the second saucepan.
3. Hold the saucepan with the ice above the saucepan on the hot plate when the hot plate pan has boiled.
4. Watch underneath the saucepan with ice and report what happens.

Beautiful

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Location: Yabba Creek, Imbil, Queensland, Australia

Serene

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Location: Rock Pool at Koondalilla Falls, Queensland, Australia

Powerful

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Location: Bournda Beach, N.S.W., Australia

Salt water

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Location: Merimbula, N.S.W., Australia

Fresh water

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Location: Bega River, Bega, N.S.W., Australia

Such a simple compound, yet so important. If it's no longer there...

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Location: North Tura Beach, N.S.W., Australia

Possible things to study....

The Water Cycle
How can we filter dirty water?
Keeping it clean. (looking at ways to reduce pollution)
Pond life. (looking at plant and animal life in ponds or streams)
States of Matter. (looking at water in its forms as solid, liquid and gas and the effects of temperature. Did you know water boils at a different temperature the higher you are?)
Surface Tension. (looking at the effects of detergent on water surfaces.)