Nopenhagen? (Blog #10)

Many concerned citizens and scientists around the world are dismayed by the outcomes of December's multi-national climate summit.  The podcast this week looks back at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference and the outcomes of the meetings.

After listening to this podcast, respond to the prompt below:

Imagine you are the President of the United States;  what would you pledge the United States to do to combat climate change and promote energy sustainability?

Bonus Points for second response:  Read the news article below and answer the prompt in red.
Obama's reaction to the Copenhagen Climate Conference
Watch the video and read the article associated with the link above.  What is your reaction to the presidents words about the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference?

Using Wolfram Alpha Data Search Engine (Blog #9)

Part of the Climate Change website project requires you to include data from Wolfram Alpha.  Wolfram Alpha is a great website filled with data related to any and all branches of science.  Try searching for your name, birth date or other significant date or fact.

Here is a sample set of data from Wolfram Alpha concerning global greenhouse gas emissions.  You could break this down further and search for: US greenhouse gas emissions or Russian greenhouse gas emissions.

PROMPT:
In the comments, respond by telling us what data you discovered and where you plan, or have used this, on your website.

Responding to An Inconvenient Truth using VoiceThread

1.  You will need to set up a VoiceThread account, use your Gmail account for this.

2.  Go to the link http://voicethread.com/share/810722/ and listen to my prompt (it is the same as the one I gave you on paper)

3.  Record your response after writing a rough draft by answering the questions.

Have fun,
Mr. Murray

Click on the "Register" icon found at the bottom left of your screen

RealClimate and RealCLimate wiki

Hey class, I found a site filled with information regarding inaccuracies in the media concerning climate change.  Click on the links below to navigate to the site.

 RealClimate.org

RealClimate wiki

Tools for Your Website

http://sites.google.com/site/murraybiology/I have decided to post some information about various, free online tools to improve your website.

1. Wix - using this site you can create cool flash animations for your website

2.  Bannersketch - use this site to create a banner (like the one below, for the top of any page in your website.

Click here to see Mr. Murray's google site for Spring 2010 Biology

3.  Bubbleply- upload videos from Youtube or Google and add information, pitures or video to annotate/narrate them.

How do we know about past climates? Blog #8

The study of pre-historic climates, or paleontology, includes investigating tree rings, ice core samples from glaciers, fossils, mud, water and much more.  From this data we can reconstruct a picture of past climate history.  Respond to the prompt below:

Pick a website below and read a little about paleoclimatology, if the material from the website is way over your head, use Wikipedia or Youtube for some information to respond to this prompt.  Once complete with your research write 5-7 sentences about your research and identify the information you find most interesting.

Coral Evidence of Climate
Glacial Ice Core Samples
Sea Sediments (mud)
Tree Rings
Photo Evidence
Fossils and much more
.....haven't found anything yet?  Click here then.

Farmscrapers? Like a skyscraper farm? (Blog #7)

Check out this new, intriguing and sustainable building known as a farmscraper.  Imagine a city skyline sporting vertical farms in urban areas, check out this article to see the potential benefits and proposed consequences of farmscrapers.  Article is here.

After reading the article, respond to this prompt:  What is your initial reaction to this concept?  Do you believe this to be beneficial for humans and responsible for the environment?  What potential problems do you see with vertical farming in urban areas?

Check out Katelynn and Na's blog

As part of their water-use project, Katelynn and Na have developed a Littleton Water Usage blog at the following address: http://www.littletonwaterusage.blogspot.com/

They are asking for people to visit the website and comment on one of the four sections in any way they would like.  Please feel free to comment by making suggestions on how to improve their website or in relation to the content of each blog post.

If you have any questions, see Katelynn or Na during class.

Antarctic Ice Melting (Blog Entry #6)

In a few weeks, 60 leaders from around the country will meet in Copenhagen, Germany to hold talks about climate change.  This will be a chance for America to step forward in their role towards curbing/fighting climate change.  As evidence continues to mount supporting the impact climate change has on ecosystems this meeting is necessary towards sustaining our world.  Read the prompt below so you are aware of the assignment, post your response to earn your grade.

News article available here

After reading this article, respond to this prompt:
Evidence supporting and contradicting climate change is everywhere.  What surprised you about this article?  How do you plan to separate fact from fiction concerning climate change?  Where will you get your information from?  What role can your parents play in helping you understand climate change news?  What is one specific thing that you can do to influence people's misconceptions about climate change?

Water Useand Sources

Today you will form groups of four to perform research on water uses and sources.  Once your research is complete +/- 20 minutes you will report your findings to the members of your group +/- 20 minutes.

Use these sources to get you started, feel free to use YouTube to find related video clips.
2 group members perform research on water uses
2 group member performs research on water sources

Your notes will be compiled onto the advanced organizer and we will review them as a class on Tuesday at the start of class.

Blue Gold: World Water Wars Response

After viewing the documentary Blue Gold, respond to the following prompt.  The privatization of water resources is a controversial subject, while the intent is for the consumer to benefit from companies taking over water supplies, the fear is that this will drive up the cost of water, and make it less available for those not able to afford water.  The documentary states that in 50 years, water wars will be occurring.

Prompt for Response:

How old will you be in 50 years?  What do you think your family will be like?  Will you have kids? Grandkids?  Where will you be living? What will be the source of your drinking water?  What will water supplies look like, in your opinion?  What can you do over the next 50 years to improve the availability of water by conserving the water resources you use now?  (See my response as an example.)

Your choice from NH Public Radio (Blog entry #5)

This week's blog will consist of listening to a podcast from the NH Public radio Environment website of your choice.  After you have listened to this podcast discuss the following:

1.  Briefly summarize the content of the podcast (what was it about?)
2.  Discuss the impact the new knowledge will have on your life, your choices and actions.
3.  Based on the information from this podcast, what is one change you can make that promotes environmental responsibility.


NHPR Environment Website

Fake Plastic Trees? Blog #4

Radiohead had a song called Fake Plastic Trees, it came out when I was in high school.  Pretty good song.  This podcast is about Fake Trees.  Continuing our look into global warming, this podcast investigates a proposed solution to a human-caused environmental problem through mimicking a trees intake of carbon dioxide.

Listen here <----click on the mp3 link to open in iTunes

After listening to the podcast, react by answering the following questions.

What do you think of using fake trees to capture carbon dioxide?  What are some of the environmental impacts you foresee in using these fake trees? Finally, this idea is known as Biomimicry (click here for a Wiki link explanation)  If you could pick one element of nature and solve a human-caused problem or to better design anything, what would it be?  Example, using information and structures of a Gecko's feet to design a better Velcro adhesive!

Acid in the Arctic Blog #3

This week's blog assignment involves reading an article about a new discovery related to climate change and to listen to a podcast concerning the fate of a species due to elevated carbon dioxide levels.

NEWS ARTICLE
First find some time to read this news article.
< "Scary" climate message from the past>

PODCAST
Acid in the Artic podcast
1. Click on the arrow next to mp3 to the Acid in the Arctic title to download story. iTunes will open and play the story. Here is a link for the transcript of the story, which may help when responding to this prompt. Click here for a glimpse of the link: -->

Prompt for Blog Response
As climate change legislation gains momentum in the U.S. government, evidence continues to arise that supports scientists' claims of human-caused climate change. What is your initial reaction to the podcast and news article? Which did you like better and why? What evidence, facts or information were most interesting to you and why?

Where have all the salmon gone?

This case study deals with the collapse of the salmon fishing industry in Oregon. Click the link below to download the materials and follow the instructions to complete the case study.

Where have all the salmon gone? (<--- download documents here)

Be sure to read the instructions for submitting your completed work. This will be due Thursday 10/1

Ecology Blog #2

Ecology, our first major topic we will dive into for this course, is the study of the interactions amongst living things in the environment. Ecology considers the interrelatedness of living things and their environment while looking at such topics as biodiversity, population trends, human impacts and successional development of ecosystems.

Please read the story found at the link below, after you have read the "mini case study" comment to your classmates by answering the prompt below the story. This will be graded as a participation grade, proper grammar and punctuation is expected.

LINK: A Brief History of New England Forests

Question for comment guidance: How has the primary use for forests of New England changed over time? Were you aware that 60-80% of all the forests in New England were once completely logged!? Why do you think our forests were able to bounce back unlike the ecosystem of Easter Island which has remained in its altered state?

Ecological Footprint Quiz {Blog #1}

Ecological Footprint Quiz: http://www.earthday.net/footprint/flash.html

The assignment: Navigate to the website above and take the Ecological Footprint Quiz. This quiz will be revisited at the end of the semester to see if your impact on the Earth's resources decreases. Your grade will not depend on the reduction of your "footprint" rather only the analysis of your results and the completion of the quiz twice.

After you take the quiz, write a 3-5 sentence summary of your results. Include how many planets we would need to live like yourself, were the results surprising, what can you do to lower your impact on the Earth's resources and how do your results compare to your lab partner?

Click on the comments section below for a writing sample.