Pew Pew Pew

Aim: Make a volcano... But it's a cake

Equipment: (We doubled this because we made two cakes :D)
1 cup Chelsea White Sugar
125g butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Baking stuff

Method: (from Chelsea Sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour a 23cm x 23cm cake pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla essence.
3. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally, stir in the milk until mixture is smooth. Pour or spoon into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back to the touch.
5. Make some icing. Try and make it brown. Or green. Or something.
6. Try your best to carve out the shape of the volcano and icing appropriately. Cake art.
7. Carve out a crater and shove some m&m's inside. 
8. Eat it because of cake. 

Results:

...Actually, you don't want to see what we made... It's not the prettiest things I've ever made but it'll suffice for now.

I didn't do the main decoration with the fondant, that was Jakita. I did, however, carve it and let me say it's not the easiest feat ever.

Discussion:

Volcanoes are formed when convergent boundaries occur. Convergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates come together, they either subduct or push up. To form a volcano, a convergent boundary will need to subduct. Subduction is when the more dense crust of the earth is pushed under the less dense crust. This less dense crust is the earth/crust we live on, continental crust. The denser crust is the oceanic crust. In the case of a volcano, the oceanic crust is forced under the continental crust and creates a trench that begins to meet the Earth's mantle, the 2nd layer down from the top. The plate is pushed down to the mantle is slowly melting, and as it melts it begins to get less dense. The now-liquid rock, magma, forces its way through the continental crust's cracks and weaknesses and begins to build pressures inside of the Earth. When that pressure is released, the liquid rock explodes up into the surface. When magma reaches the surface, it's called lava. Lava cools and becomes a new layer of crust. After many explosions like this, the new layers of the crust start to form the classic volcano shape.

Did you know there's actually more than one type of volcano? There are three main different kinds. These are known as composite (or strato), shield, and dome. Composite volcanos are steep-sided volcanos that can reach up to and over 8000 feet. Pyroclastic flows (flows of ash, rock, steam and, dust) are more likely from this kind of volcano rather than full-on eruptions with lava bombs. Mount Fuji is a composite volcano. Sheild volcanos are a lot less steep, and their eruptions are a lot less explosive but frequent and more gentle. Lava tends to rapidly fall down the sides rather than explode upwards. They rarely lead to deaths. An example of a shield volcano is Mount Kilauea. Last but not least, dome volcanoes. Dome volcanos are steeper than shield volcanos due to their (acid) lava being slower, thicker, and stickier than shield volcanoes' lava. This causes the lava to not be able to go very far before cooling and steepening the sides of the volcano. 

Talking about types of volcanos, each volcano is usually formed by different kinds of magma cooling to form different kinds of rocks. Basalt magma usually forms shield volcanos, andesite or rhyolite (depending on how much gas is contained) magma form domes or composite volcanoes and so on. Here are some rocks you can find associated with volcanoes. Basalt is formed from pyroclastic flows, it cools quickly outside of the volcano hence it's holes. Pumice is similar, but it's cools when it's thrown out of the volcano and has more holes because of. Andesite is similar to basalt too but contains less iron and more silica. Rhyolite is lighter than the rest as it contains a lot more silica and a lot less magnesium and iron. Pumice is actually a kind of rhyolite! Ignimbrite is also formed by pyroclastic flows but contains a lot of combined pumice fragments, so it's kind of a sedimentary rock but still.

Everyone knows that erupting volcanos are dangerous. I mean, extremely hot lava is either pouring or exploding out of the top with extrusive rocks like pumice flying everywhere. So erupting volcanos should be avoided at all costs, but how safe are volcanos when they're not erupting? Well, it depends on the state of the volcano. If it's extinct, meaning it hasn't erupted in over 10s of thousands of years and has no sign of ever doing so again, it poses no real threat. However, if it's dormant (it's active and it's possible it could erupt) or active (has erupted in the last 10,000 years) the same can't be said. 

The most obvious threat is an active volcano erupting. Excessive heat from the lava, consequential fires, the gases released, landslides, it's crazy. 
    Lava, while destroying (well, melting) most things it touches, can cause fires that can spread to places further away from where the spewing lava can touch. It can kill any people, animals or plants in its way and can cause a famine if any surrounding people rely on said animals or plants as the main food source. The bigger the eruption, the more catastrophic the damage can be. In 1883, Krakatoa destroyed entire villages and killed over 36,000 people.
    Stronger volcanos can release hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide, ash and other materials into the atmosphere. Usually, it's fine as these mostly blow away, but the heavier gases can stay low and cause respiratory problems or other health issues in locals. Same goes for ash, which can also darken skies, hurt air quality, contaminate water, coat highways, cover yards and ground aeroplanes. The whole breathing stuff particularly affects older people, infants, people with lung diseases or other lung problems like asthma but anyone should be cautious. 
    Landslides can completely change the landscape around a volcano. When landslides can move dirt up to 100km/h, it could destroy nearby villages. Pretty scary stuff. Not too harmful to us as humans but the consequences following or someone happening to get in the way is a different story.

I'm Soaring! Flying!

Aim: 
To build a catapult capable of throwing marshmallows


Equipment:
- Popsicle sticks, a lot of them
- Rubber bands, we used like 3 
- Big and small marshmallows
- Milk lid
- Glue. (preferably hot)


Method:

1. The original instructions say to cut the sticks but we didn't and I don't know what that means so we're going to skip that one for now. 
2. Take some popsicle sticks just stack them together horizontally.
3. Wrap the rubber bands around each end of the popsicle tower you now have. DO NOT GLUE. Or do, but if you do, leave one gap between two sticks.
4. Take another spare popsicle stick and glue the milk lid to the end.
5. Squeeze the milk lid popsicle stick between the bottom stick in the stack and the one above it, sliding it all the way through so only the last inch of stick is sticking out.
6. That's about it. Now shoot people! (Note: Please don't, it wouldn't be very nice.)

Results:
These (The ones above too) are the numbers that we got. This will be useful in our discussion later on.





Discussion:
Using these numbers, we are able to calculate some key things in the realm of physics. I did like four hours of calculating for this, you better appreciate it. First up, I found the average of each set of numbers. These were a lot easier to work with compared to 8 different sets of calculations. Then, with what we got, I was able to first calculate the speed and then the acceleration by using the following formulae. 

Speed = change in distance/change in time

Acceleration = change in velocity(speed)/change in time

We'll start with the larger marshmallows, I got a speed of 0.286 metres per second (m/s), this is basically how fast it got from point a to point b. I also got an acceleration of 0.22 metres per second, per second (m/s^2), which is the measurement of the increase in velocity (speed).

With the small marshmallows, I got a speed of 0.288 metres per second and an acceleration of 0.15 m/s^2. By comparing the two, we can see that although there's a small difference in speed, there's actually quite a difference in acceleration.

Using the acceleration and the mass of each marshmallow, we got the force. For the small, I got 0.105 Newtons (N) of force and 1.54 N for the large. Force is any action that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. Or, a push or pull motion. Newtons is what will measure how much force there actually is.

We took another set of data and found the work required to launch the catapult. I measured this by seeing how far down Chyna pushed the catapult and long it took her to do it. I multiplied this by the average weight of one's finger because I wasn't exactly sure how else to do it. Seeing as the work is force x distance, this was the best way to do it. I had to first figure out the speed, then the acceleration and multiply that by the mass to get force, hence the extra measurements. In the end, the work was approximately 62.4 N-M (Newton metre)


While we were measuring how far we can send a marshmallow flying, we were also measuring how high the small marshmallows can go. Using that data, I was able to figure out the potential energy of the catapult. This was done by multiplying the mass, the Earth's gravity, and the change in height. In the end, I got 0.0062426 ‬Joule (J) using. The number seems quite small but I converted the mass to kilograms and height to metres as a J = 1 kg m^2 / s^2. Potential energy is the energy an object has because of it's position with another object. That wasn't a good explanation but imagine two magnets. They have more potential energy when they're held a centimetre apart compared to when they are together.

That was all the maths I had the time and energy for but there we go. I apologise if anything is wrong :)

But First... Let Me Take A Cell-fie

Aim: 

Generate energy using an electrochemical cell.

Equipment:
Zinc metal
Zinc Nitrate solution
Copper metal
Copper nitrate solution
Potassium nitrate solution
Paper towel + Tape
3 beakers (We used two 250ml and one 150ml)
Voltmeter
Iron wool




Method:

1. Gather the equipment. You have no experiment without equipment!
2. Roll up the paper towel and tape it in place. This acts as our salt bridge
3. Taking your smaller beaker, place your salt bridge inside. Place some potassium nitrate in the same beaker and wait for it to soak.
4. While it's soaking, clean off the top few layers of the metals and place one of them into each of the larger beakers. 
5. Connect the voltmeter to the two pieces of metal.
6. With the zinc metal, put in a bunch of zinc nitrate (I'm not exactly sure how much.) Do the same with the copper.
7. Finally, place in your soaked salt bridge, making sure it does not accidentally touch the metals.
8. Record the results.

Results:

We managed to generate about 0.8 volts of energy, our highest being around 0.902 volts. In theory, it should've been 1.101 volts, but we'll go over that later.

Discussion:

Right. Now to the juicy stuff. What the heck is happening? Well, in short, electrons. In this cell, there are two things that can happen in each beaker. The zinc metal, the Zn, has 2 electrons in its outer shell. It doesn't want that. So, it can give away its two electrons and become Zn²⁺ or the zinc solution, the Zn²⁺ we have in the beaker, can gain 2 electrons and become zinc metal. The same can happen in the copper beaker too. Now, because both movements can't happen at the same time and zinc is more reactive than copper, so the metal is going to lose electrons rather than the zinc ions gaining any. The voltmeter is tracking this movement. This means our copper ions are going to be gaining electrons and becoming copper. If we had left the cell for a g e s we would've seen more copper metal in the beaker than what we began with. 
But... we had a potassium-nitrate-soaked-paper towel connecting the beakers? What? As we know, the paper was soaked in K⁺NO₃⁻ and that there's a bunch of electrons leaving the Zn moving into the Cu. The movement of electrons is going to cause an imbalance. There's going to be a bunch of negative charges with the copper and a bunch of positive charges with the zinc. Nature likes to be balanced. So nature would implode if this was imbalanced (I'm kidding. I think.). So it's the salt bridge's job to balance this, make it all even and stuff.
While all of this is happening, we generated around 0.882 volts. It tended to fluctuate a lot but my clearest image is 0.882 so we're going to go with that.

Evaluation:
Nothing really... went wrong during this experiment. Obviously, we didn't do it to the exact year 13 standard but that's difficult to do for year 10 students. Next time, I'd want to learn more about why the voltage was lower than it's potential. As previously stated, in theory, it should have been about 1.101 volts. This is because the cell potential of zinc is 0.762 V and the cell potential of copper is 0.339 V. When added together you get 1.101 V. But we got less than that. And I think that it has something to do with the concentration of our chemicals, the resistance given by the salt bridge, and how much we cleaned the metal. 

Are You Worth Your Weight In Gold?

Aim: To attempt to turn a copper coin into a silver/gold one.





Equipment:
- Two small beakers, 50ml and 250ml
- Bunsen burner/other heating things
- Heat Mat
- Tweezers
- Zinc Sulfate,
- Zinc Metal
- Glass Stir Rod
- Tap Water
- Copper coins



Method:
*DISCLAIMER, Actually read these, carefully. We didn't the first time and it didn't work as well*

1. Set up the bunsen burner, be safe!
2. Fill the smaller of the two beakers 3/4 full with tap water, this is your cooling beaker, set it aside.
3. Dissolve 30 grams of zinc sulfate in a beaker with 100ml water. A little heat from the bunsen burner will speed this up.
4. Place the zinc metal in the beaker, enough to cover the bottom.
5. Using tweezers, place a couple of copper coins into the solution. Make sure the coins are touching the metal pieces but NOT each other.
6. Bring the solution to a slow boil for about ten minutes.
7. Carefully remove the pennies with tweezers, placing them in your cooling beaker then drying them with a paper towel. They should now be silver!
8. To turn them gold, carefully heat them over the bunsen burner until a brassy/gold colour.
9. Recool it and boom! Gold coin!

Results:
WE DID IT! It only took us two separate hours but we did it! Look at this! Look at our success!

"It look pwetty" - Chyna 2019

"I'm a wich(rich) kid" - Also Chyna 2019

 "Money Money Money" - Also Aldo Chyna 2019

Discussion:
When a "copper" coin is placed in a zinc solution, the formerly copper plated steel coin becomes zinc plated and appears silver to the human eye. When the coin is heated, the copper and the zinc form an alloy of brass and appears gold.
I say "copper" because the coins aren't technically made of copper. The coins we use are actually copper coated plated steel, giving them a copper colour. Now, steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. Speaking of alloys, we're going to talk about them now. Why? Because coins are made of alloys... and we used coins in our experiment... now I feel like this meme...

I've talked a lot about alloys but what are they? What are they useful for? Well, an alloy is a mixture of two or more elements, where one (or more) of which is a metal. Alloys are made and used because of the advantages they have compared to pure metals, like how some alloys are stronger/harder than the metals they contain. A commonly used alloy is steel. As mentioned before, steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, with stainless steel with additional nickel and chromium, and tungsten steel with additional tungsten and chromium. It is used in bridges, ships, building frames, and cars because of how it's stronger, harder, and more flexible than iron. It also doesn't corrode (eat away at) as fast as iron. Other common alloys include bronze, brass, and duraluminium (duralumin?)

Other than alloys, this experiment can be connected to electrochemical cells. What is an electrochemical cell? I'm not entirely sure how to explain it but this is what Google says...
"An electrochemical cell is a device capable of either generating electrical energy from chemical reactions or using electrical energy to cause chemical reactions."

In an electrochemical cell, the more reactive metal loses electrons, this is called oxidation, and the less reactive metal gains the lost electrons, this is called reduction. For example, let's say we take two beakers. When we put a piece of zinc metal in a Zn²⁺ solution and a piece of copper metal in a Cu²⁺ solution inside of these beakers, eventually, because of how reactive zinc is, it will become Zn²⁺ and 2 electrons. As stated before, the more reactive metal, Zinc, will lose these electrons. The less reactive metal, being copper in this example, gains the two electrons lost by the Zinc. The Cu²⁺ will turn into Cu. What Chyna and I did was basically this but in one beaker. Boom. Science. 
(*ANOTHER DISCLAIMER* please be aware, I'm a year 10 student and this is year 13 work. Don't crucify me)

Evaluation:
If I were to do this experiment again, I would use a different set of equipment, or at least swap the metal for a powder.
What we noticed was that because we used zinc metal, rather than zinc powder, the reaction occurred a lot slower than people who used zinc powder. In a short, simple, form, this is basically because of the surface levels of our materials. Because the metal had less contact with the coin, only parts of the coin were touching it, compared to the powder, which completely engulfed the coin, the reaction occurs a lot slower. Rates of reaction and such.

Instructions are taken from:

https://www.sciencecompany.com/Turn-Copper-Pennies-Into-Silver-and-Gold-Pennies.aspx
Thanks, guys!

Drop The Base! (Actually Please Don't, That Will Sting...)

Aim:
Use multiple indicators to determine whether a substance is an acid or a base.

Equipment:
- Four test tubes (or more depending on the chemicals being used.)
- Test tube holder
- Various indicators - We used litmus paper (red or blue), universal indicator, cranberry juice etc.
- An acid - We used HCl
- A Base - We used NaOH
- A neutral substance - We used water
- A household "unknown" substance - We used toilet cleaner and Spray and Wipe
- Safety glasses - Don't be an idiot

                                                                                                   Method:

1. Add a few drops of each substance/chemical into each of your test tubes - Label or remember which one is which.
2. Choosing an indicator test each substance. Either, add a few drops of universal indicator or cranberry juice or other liquid indicators into the chemicals/substances OR placing a strip of litmus paper into the tubes.
3. Record the change. We used a table but it doesn't really matter.
4. Using your results, determine whether your substances are acidic, basic, or neutral. With the universal indicator, use the colour to determine the pH level.

Results:

Hi please ignore the white litmus paper it was really useless

Conclusion:

From the results, we can confirm that hydrochloric acid is indeed an acid (Wow, incredible, such a revelation). We can tell this due to the fact it was a complete red in the universal indicator AND the red litmus paper stayed red. We can also confirm that sodium hydroxide is a base, due to its purple colour in the universal indicator and that water is neutral due to its green colour. As for the toilet cleaner and Spray and Wipe... These two were our unknowns. Again, from the chart, we can conclude that toilet cleaner is a weak acid, as it was orangey red in the universal indicator, and that Spray and Wipe is a base as it turned the red litmus paper blue. Remember, BLUE=BASE!

Discussion: 

When we take acid and a base, such as sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), they begin to neutralise each other. If we start with a solution of sulfuric acid and universal indicator, the solution will begin as a reddish orange colour and a low pH level. As you add sodium hydroxide, the pH rises, approaching a pH of 7. The closer to this pH the solution gets, the more greenish-yellow the solution becomes. As all this is happening, OH⁻  particles are slowly connecting with and neutralising the H⁺ particles. Once a solid green, and completely neutralised, the solution will have a pH of 7 and the number of OH⁻ particles will be the same as the number of H⁺ particles. If you continue to add sodium hydroxide, the colour of the overall solution will become blue due to the OH⁻ particles outnumbering the H⁺ particles. The more unbalanced this is the more purple the solution will appear, leaving the solution with a pH of around 14.

Evaluation: 

If I were to do this experiment again, I'd remove the excess litmus paper, as it did not end up working at all. I would also use each indicator on all of the solutions, as it will give a more accurate result. In hindsight, I would have prefered if I did more investigation into what's happening in the experiment. (This would be things like what in each solution makes the indicators change colour etc.)

Light 'Em Up, Up, Up

Aim:
To see how much magnesium's weight will change after being turned to ash.

Hypothesis: 

I believe that the magnesium will not change weight.

Equipment:
Heat mat,
Bunsen burner,
Scissor Tongs,
Beakers,
Scales,
Magnesium,
Safety glasses. 
Lighter,

Method:
If you were looking to do this experiment (which I don't recommend to do at home), take some notes.

1. Collect and set up your heating equipment and take whatever precautions necessary (tying up your hair, wearing safety glasses etc.)
2. Weigh a strip of magnesium (or whatever magnesium you have) in a beaker, note. This is so that when you weigh it in the beaker afterwards, the weight will be fair and accurate.
3. Light your bunsen burner, a bunsen burner is of no use when it's not lit.
4. Taking your magnesium in your scissor tongs, CAREFULLY place your magnesium in the middle of the flame (where the small bright blue flame is). 
5. Wait for the metal to set fire. In which you need to not be a scaredy cat like the majority of my group doing this and actually hold the metal in the flame.
6. Once the magnesium sets fire, be careful or you may be blinded(not really but be careful anyway), wait for it to turn to ash and dump the ash into the same beaker that you measured the full magnesium in.
7. All of the magnesium might not burn in one act, so repeat steps 4-6 until all of the magnesium is ash
8. Get all of the ash you can into the beaker, it's alright if you can't, it's just that the result might not be completely accurate to what is meant to happen.
9. Weigh the ash in the beaker and take note of this number.
10. Compare the two numbers to confirm or deny your hypothesis.

Results:

When Brianna, Chyna, and I did this, our starting weight was 4958 milligrams. After the process, we managed to get the majority of the ash into the beaker, but we must've missed some, as our final weight was 4952. Though I did prove my hypothesis wrong, the results were not exactly what should've happened.
I probably should put this in my discussion but the results aren't accurate because, in theory, the weight should have gone up. This is because you're taking oxygen and adding it to the magnesium, which each have separate weights. It's like if oxygen was 2 grams and magnesium was 5 grams, the compound, magnesium oxide should be 7 grams.

Discussions with Sam:

I hope you're ready for some science. In year 10 level words, in this experiment, magnesium reacts with oxygen to create magnesium oxide (Mg + O₂ --> MgO OR 2Mg + O₂ --> 2MgO to balance the equation). But I don't want to settle for a year 10 level as I am a try hard, so let's dive a little deeper.

During this experiment, we take 2 atoms of Mg and an O₂ molecule to create 2 MgO molecules through a chemical reaction. A chemical reaction is a transfer of electrons. Because Mg has 2 electrons in its outer shell, it wants to lose 2 electrons so it becomes stable. A similar thing is happening with O, it has 6 electrons in its outer shell so it wants to gain 2 electrons to become stable. This leaves us with Mg with a charge of 2+ and O with a charge of 2-. Now one has a negative charge and the other has a positive charge, they are "electrostatically" attracted. I'm not sure what this means exactly but my teacher said it once and it sounded smart. I'm kidding, electrostatic attraction is basically just a force that causes positively and negatively charged substances to (H U L K   S M A A A A A S H -Anonymous person *cough* NaTaShA *cough*, 2019.) Bond. She means bond :3.

A Change In Heart

And that was my poster on heart attacks. I hope you learnt something new!
If I were to do this again, or if I had more time and space, I would go more into detail and add some more pictures. I would try and answer questions like what is cholesterol or what actually is plaque? Maybe what all of those medications actually are, what could go wrong in a bypass surgery? If you were to create a poster like this, I would recommend using a template with more space so you can add more information and photos if needed, simplify what you are saying so that people can understand it and make it more reader-friendly.

Biology Is In My DNA

Aha, boy, am I funny.

A part of our final score in science, we need to do a practical. And this practical, unlike last year, doesn't need to be an experiment. I took this opportunity, and the fact that I already had my clay out, to use my 'creative juices' and do a small project.

My aim is to create a replica of a strand of DNA out of clay.

The equipment I used was five different colours of clay *duh*, a shaping tool, and an oven.

The following is the best method I could muster:
1. First, separate the five different colours of clay into the amount you think you'll need. You'll need more of whatever colour you want for the strands (the edges - I will be calling them 'edge strands' to make sure no one gets confused) as they are longer than the nucleotide bases.
2. Next, roll out each colour into snakes the length you want them. This may vary depending on how big you want the final product to be. Roll two really long snakes for the edge strands and pretty short and thin snakes for the bases.
3. Take a single edge strand and place it in an s shape

<-- Like the orange in this but without the other things in it.
4. Take the other edge strange and place it in a flipped s shape. Adjust until it is in the shape of a DNA structure you like.
5. Take your smaller snakes and roll them together. Let's say you're using red, pink, blue, and yellow. This may sound weird but depending on what kind of clay you're using this is how you stick them together. If there's another way you can put two colours together, do that. These will be the bases. Only roll the blue with the yellow and the red with the pink. This is because of the structure of DNA, as base pairs always consist of adenine with thymine or cytosine with guanine. You'll need enough bases to fit onto your edge strands.
6. Place the bases along the back edge strands, cut them if needed, and stick them on, making sure there's not too much or too little space between them.
7. Once you are glad with the way it looks, bake in the oven and let set (or just follow the instructions required for the kind of clay you're using.)

Here are my results:

Let's have a quick discussion: What I have made is a 2D DNA double helix. While making it, I decided that the pink was the cytosine, the purple was the guanine, the blue was the adenine, and the green was the thymine. These are the basic DNA nucleotide bases. Under the 'complementary base-pairing rule' (A biology rule, discovered by Erwin Chargaff, that states which other base that each base is paired with) cytosine is with guanine, hence pink with purple, and adenine with thymine, hence green with blue. These bases link together the sides, or the strands, of DNA and make up 'nucleotides.' Nucleotides are altogether made up of a sugar, a phosphate, and a base. This means that the strands of the DNA are made up of the alternating sugars and phosphates. There are sections in DNA that control our features, those are called genes. These all put together, now as DNA, in the shape of a twisted ladder (double helix, a shape proposed in an academic paper co-written by James Watson and Francis Crick), create what we know as chromosomes. Humans have 46 chromosomes altogether, with 23 from their mother and 23 from their father. Chromosomes are located in the nucleus of each cell that makes us up as humans. The nucleus is thought to be the control centre of the cell as it contains the instructions on how a cell should function. It's safe to say cells are... complicated. If you want to complicate it any more, you could talk about DNA replication. This the process of DNA making a copy of itself during cell division. It's kinda hard to understand but what I get of it is that the DNA 'unzips' the opposite strands by detaching the base pairs, fragments of DNA attach to the end of the lagging strand (usually the bottom strand) while pieces of RNA (like DNA but without thymine) called 'primers' attach to the end of the leading strand (usually the 'top' strand) adding new complementary nucleotide bases to the strand. Once all complementary bases are together and more are added, an enzyme called DNA ligase 'seals up' the sequence. Following replication the new DNA automatically winds up into a double helix. So. Yeah/

A final evaluation:
As I was trying to create the model, I attempted to create a 3D model. This... didn't work. I first tried to wrap the clay around pipe cleaners, they didn't stick. I couldn't get my hands on any floral wire, which would be ideal for the model I was going for.
If I were to do this again, I would attempt a different method to try and make a 3D model, as that would be a lot more accurate. To do that, I would try to use a different pattern, a sturdier kind of clay, floral wire, and floral foam. In theory, that would help create the 3D model that I originally wanted.