Finals Blog 2: Resources and Human Impacts on Earth Systems

http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/smoke%20stack-jj-001.jpg
http://jazzrunner.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/deforestation_bolivia1.jpg
http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/alternative_energy/wind/wind-farm.jpg

Part A: There are many different kinds of renewable and nonrenewable resources that are used for human consumption. Renewable resources, by definition, are natural resources that can be replaced at a rate that is equal to or faster than the rate humans can consume it. Examples of renewable resources could be wood, wind, solar energy, geothermal energy, and water. Most of these resources do not harm the environment in any way. Solar, wind, and geothermal energy only cost to start the equipment. After you afford them, the energy pays for itself and then gives much more back. Non-renewable resources are, obviously, the opposite. They cannot be produced at a rate equal to the rate humans are consuming them. Examples of these resources are natural gas, coal, oil, and petroleum. Burning these resources at the rate of our use puts excess CO2 into the atmosphere. They are cheap to mine and produce, which is why it is so popular with the public. There is no comparison as to which we should use, but fossil fuels are in such abundance the time to make the move to renewable resources for energy will take some time.

Part B: Humans have not been active enough in natural preservation in recent years to positively affect the environment. We have been damaging it more than helping it with our use of fossil fuels and pollution. With all the millions and millions of cars in the world, near every single one produces CO2 that goes into the atmosphere. It is pushing global warming ever so slightly, and increasing the global temperature. The deforestation of forests like the amazon is majorly affecting the oxygen output from trees. Destruction of the coral reefs is destroying the habitats of many different species of the ocean.

Bibliography

11/22/2009, "Non-Renewable Resource":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-renewable_resource

11/22/2009, "Renewable Resource":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-renewable_resource

Finals Blog 1: Water Cycle

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/earth/Water/images/water_cycle_usgs_big.jpg

Part A- The water cycle begins with evaporation. Evaporation is when water moves from liquid form to a gas, usually from a body of water into the atmosphere. Transpiration is like precipitation, but it is when plants release water vapor into the air. Condensation, the next step, is when water vapor turns into water droplets in the air (i.e. clouds). Then comes precipitation, and that is when water falls to the Earth's surface in many different forms (rain, snow, hail, sleet, etc.). Infiltration is after the water falls to the ground, it goes into the ground and becomes ground water. Surface runoff is when the ground has absorbed the maximum amount of water it can hold and then water flows across the ground. Ground water is water that is absorbed into the soil. Absorption is when the water is moved from one substance into another, such as the atmosphere into the soil.

http://paws.wcu.edu/bkloeppel/images/watershed_management.gif

Part B- Water usually begins it's journey through a watershed from high places, such as hills or mountains. It either goes into the plants, soil, or ponds or small lakes. From the ponds and small lakes, it moves from streams to bigger ponds or bigger lakes, or other streams and become rivers. From the larger rivers, the water will eventually end up in an ocean. Plants use up the water and release the water vapor, and in the soil water moves from source to source until it ends up in the ocean as well.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/family-vacations-in-arizona-the-grand-canyon.jpg

Part C- Rivers and streams come in many, many different forms and types. Many have dug canyons, run down mountains, or spread across valleys. Erosion has caused the rivers to dig the canyons, the most famous example would be the Grand Canyon. The Nevada River started very high above sea level, and due to gravity it has "sawed" it's way through the Earth and formed the Grand Canyon. The Nile River has a flooding cycle where it floods the plains of Egypt every year and supplies the crops with their water. Many things humans do affect these things, such as agriculture and industry.

Bibliography:

10/24/2006, "Water Cycle":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle

11/4/2009, Howard Perlman, "The Water Cycle":

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html

Night Observations

1. It was pretty cold out so I stayed inside my house and just looked out a window, the sky wasn't as clear as I've seen but it was alright
2. I noticed the big dipper in the sky
3. I found the North star
4. I was not able to see a meteor
5. I also noticed a small portion of the milky way

Nature Trail Blog 2

Differences-
1. Less poison ivy
2. Trails were easier to follow (if covered by leaves)
3. The signs had been cleaned
4. Most of the branches had been moved off the trail
5. Many overhanging trees and branches had been cut down

K-12 Activities
1. Could have an annual "clean-up day" for the trail in which the students participate
2. Maybe on Earth day, elementary students can have a field trip through the trail
3. Middle school students could go there for a science class and test the water or soil
4. It could become a regular piece of extra credit for this class to go on the weekend and clean up the trail
5. Maybe before a break a group of students and teachers could go have lunch at the trail

Community Activities
1. If people needed a fundraiser there could be a nature walk through the trail and have a guide tell families about the trail
2. On Easter there could be a picnic or outdoor party at the trail
3. Maybe the town can go to the clean-up day with the school
4. The community could all plant a tree along the trail on Earth Day
5. On Labor Day, everyone could help clear the trail again.

NASA Blog

X-Ray Telescopes
Read Me- I learned that X-ray telescopes use gold mirrors in them instead of the standard mirror in a regular space telescope
Quiz- 75%
No Try This

Origin and Destiny of the Universe
Read Me- I learned that scientists think there are two ways the universe will end, either the big crunch or the big freeze
No Quiz
No Try This

Supernovae
Read Me- I learned that there are two types of supernovae, a white dwarf going thermonuclear and those from massive stars which either turn into black holes or neutron stars
Quiz- 100%
Try This- I dropped a tennis ball and basketball from waist height, the tennis ball directly on top of the basketball. The tennis ball came back up higher than where I dropped it from.

X-Ray Astronomy
Read Me- I learned the first man to learn of x-rays was Wilhelm Rontgen, and the first x-ray picture was of his hand
Quiz- 80%
No Try This

Bottle Bio

For my bottle bio, I plan to make a terraqua column. In the column I have soil, and below I have water and I had put a fish in it on day one, and day two it "mysteriously" died. I plan to add pieces of plastic to the soil and see how it affects the water I put into the bottle.

Nature Trail

1. Lady Bugs
2. Mosquitoes
3. Sparrows
4. Crows
5. Box Elder Bugs
6. Mushrooms
7. Flowers
8. Bushes
9. Oak Trees
10. Poison Ivy
11. Rocks
12. Should've moved debris off the trail
13. Signs were dirty
14. Diverse Tree Species
15. Lake

The trail is a part of our community because people donated much of it's land. It has many different kinds of organisms in the area, there are many birds, insects, and plants. There are many things in the nature trail for our class and others to learn from. One problem is the trail is not well kept. I believe our next trip there should be to help clean up.