Science Club Newsletter IN THIS EDITION:

 Welcome to the
February Edition!
February and March 2021
 Riddles, Jokes, and
Puzzles

 Articles written by
February and March Edition students

 Citations/Sources
Welcome to the February and March edition of our monthly newsletter! We
hope you take a look at our selection of science related topics! Thank you for
your submissions!

For quick updates on club events and meetings please follow our Instagram:
@whs_scienceclub_ or our Facebook page: WHS Science Club 20-21

Additionally, if you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach
out to scienceclubwhs@gmail.com.

~ Science Club Officers

Science Club is
still looking for a
logo!

If you’re
interested please
contact
scienceclubwhs@
gmail.com

Any type of art

(digital or hand
drawn works!)
How well do you know your heart? Try labelling all the parts (Answers are at the
Citation section of the Newsletter)

Quick info about us: Science Club meets on most Tuesdays/Wednesdays. The club *We’ll look into
itself consists of 2 sections: Science Fair and Community Outreach. Those in Science
Fair utilize the club to get information and advice for participating in the regional and giving you hours
state science fairs. The Community Outreach aspect of the club focuses on spreading
STEM throughout Westborough. Incentives such as the Science Club Newsletter are a for your work!
vital part of this!
Riddles, Jokes, and Puzzles

CELL PARTS
Articles Written by Students
All About Snow
It snows when the atmospheric temperature is at or below 0 degrees Celsius. This is
not necessarily the temperature that we feel on the ground. If the ground temperature is at
or below zero, the snow will reach the ground. When the temperature is above freezing,
sometimes snowflakes will melt and this melting creates an evaporative cooling and this
cools the air around the snowflake and then this holds back the melting process. This lets
the snow still reach the ground although the temperature is above freezing. Usually, if the
ground temperature is 5 degrees Celsius or above, snow will not form. As long as there is
some sort of moisture, snow can form at extremely low temperatures. Although, most heavy
snowfalls occur when there aren't extremely low temperatures, this is because warmer air
can hold more water vapor. Places where there are very cold temperatures but are also very
dry rarely receive snow because snow formation requires moisture. One example is
Antarctica’s Dry Valleys, here, they have cold temperatures, low humidity, strong winds and
no snow. If the temperature is warmer than 2 degrees Celsius, then the snowflakes will melt
and fall as sleet not snow. If it's even warmer, it will fall as rain rather than sleet or snow.

Snow forms when tiny ice crystals stick together in clouds and when enough of these
ice crystals stick together, they'll become heavy enough to fall to the ground. When the air is
dry and cold, snowflakes that are falling through the air will become powdery snow. While,
when the air is a little warmer, snowflakes will melt around the edges and stick together to
produce big snowflakes. This wet snow is perfect for making snowmen because it sticks
together easily. When snow is combined with strong winds, a blizzard can occur.

When the air temperature is below freezing but there is warm sunshine, snow and ice
can melt, drip off your roof and freeze, when it hits the cold air. An icicle is starting to form
with only a few droplets. An icicle grows when there is a constant layer of water flowing over
it. Water runs down the sides and freezes on the way down the icicle. An icicle stops growing
if water flow decreases or stops entirely.
Articles Written by Students continued
New Covid-19 Pill Shows Success in Initial Testing
By Anshika S.

As the number of cases starts to decrease and more people get vaccinated, could this pill be an alternative
to the vaccine? Or a cure to the virus besides the vaccine which is more preventive?

A new drug being developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck & Co. shows some promising results
in the pill’s preliminary testing. When administered, the pill was able to significantly reduce the virus in
the subject's systems within five days of treatment, according to Ridgeback’s reports on March 6th.

What does this mean for the future?

If the pill is able to treat people with Covid-19 and people with similar symptoms, the drug would be
another treatment available for the virus. The way doctor’s have been treating patients with the virus was
to hospitalize them and wait for the infectious disease to pass or give them an authorized dose of
Remdesivir. Remdesivir was one of the first drugs proven to help fight the virus in doses. However, there
weren’t a lot of outcomes with this method; people would pass away due to not being able to fight the
virus, not be able to get the Remdesivir drug, put on a ventilator, or they were able to recover. Now, the
way Coronavirus is being treated, is to vaccinate everyone; in an effort of preventive caution. If this drug is
proven successful, not only will we have the vaccine to prevent the spread but also a way to treat infected
patents.

How does this new drug work and what is the effectiveness?

Other Covid-19 drugs target the virus itself, trying to kill it off using the virus's own proteins and structure.
What this new drug, named Molnupiravir, does is it targets the part of the virus that iads it in reproducing
and spreading. Potentially, this drug not only could stop the virus from spreading in the body and treating
it, but also slow the spread of the virus within people who have taken the pill before.

The results of the second phase of testing of this pill have been quite promising. According to Ridgeback
Biotherapeutics, their most recent study they conducted and reported on March 6 stated that subjects who
had taken larger doses of the drug had lower levels of infectious virus than the placebo group after three
days. Another promising result reported was that tests run on study volunteers who took the drug twice
daily for five days, weren’t able to detect any disease in them. While 24% of the volunteers who hadn't
taken the pill in the placebo group were detected with the virus after five days.

With this new drug, trends of the Coronavirus could start to slow down, potentially putting a hopeful end
to this situation everyone has experienced for the past year. Not only will there be prevention, but possibly
a more effective treatment.
Citations/Sources
All About Snow:
“National Snow and Ice Data Center.” How Snow Forms | National Snow and Ice Data Center,
nsidc.org/cryosphere/snow/science/formation.html.

“How Does Snow Form?” Met Office, www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-

weather/snow/how-does-snow-form.

“Why Are Icicles Shaped like Long Skinny Carrots?” The Weather Guys,
wxguys.ssec.wisc.edu/2019/03/11/icicles/.

New Covid-19 Pill:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-pill-shows-promise-in-preliminary-testing-11615006861

https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/merck-ridgeback-covid-19-antiviral-drug-data/596302/

Heart diagram:

Were you able to label the diagram correctly???