Science Methods II - Week 12

 

1.       What did you do in lab today?

a.       In lab today we started with a Kahoot reviewing our geology section for our upcoming quiz. We then moved onto talking about climate change and we specifically looked at precipitation changes in Iowa. We asked the question, “Is the Iowa State Bird (the Goldfinch) in danger/endangered?” We split our table groups into regions and made charts to measure the average increase in precipitation in our regions. We put all our results on the big white board and then talked about how global temperatures have increased on average. We then did our best to answer the question we asked earlier about the Goldfinch. We ended the day by breaking open some geodes.

2.       What was the big question?

a.       The big question this week was: What can we do to make sure that environmental activism and climate change is taught to all students?

3.       What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion?

a.       In discussion this week we took our Earth exam

4.       Read the textbook, chapter 22

a.       From the textbook I learned that the atmosphere is a collection of gasses and can be seen from space as a thin blue line. I learned that it is only 60 miles thick. I learned about how the ozone layer blocks solar radiation, and that human activities have been increasing the ozone and other chemicals in the atmosphere. These chemicals have been trapping heat and leading the planet to warm. I learned how infrared radiation from the sun gets reflected by reflective areas on Earth, but is absorbed by surfaces that absorb heat. The absorbed heat is then trapped and re-radiated as heat throughout the planet. I learned about the word albedo, which refers to the amount of energy reflected by a surface. I learned that when climate change melts glaciers, the albedo of our surface gets even lower, because ice reflects sunlight, so it creates an ever-increasing cycle of warming. I next learned about the carbon cycle, which is the process of carbon dioxide being shuffled throughout the atmosphere, from being in the atmosphere, to being absorbed by plants, to being stored into rocks and emitted by humans through our breath and our industry. I also learned that ice follows the law of superposition as well, and can be used by scientists to measure carbon dioxide levels and create climate models, because the ice from glaciers traps carbon dioxide inside of it.

5.       What do you still have questions about?

a.       I still have questions about how different phenomena like volcanoes and hot spots occur throughout the globe, and how erosion and deposition move rocks and sand all over the globe.