a. What happens if the polar ice caps melt?
According to the U.S. EPA, the sea level has risen 6 to 8 inches in the last 100 years. (Brain, 2010). There are approximately 29,300,000 km3 of ice in the world. Melting this ice would produce 26,100,000 km3 of water. Some places, such as the 2,100,000 km3grounded ice in Antarctica is below sea level and would be replaced by water. Thus, the net addition to the world's oceans would be about 24,000,000 km3 of water spread over the 361,000,000 km2 area of the world's oceans, giving a depth of 67 meters. The new ocean area would be slightly larger, of course, since some areas of land would now be covered with water. The final result would be around 66 meters. Obviously some areas are affected more than others. (Johnston, 2005)
Some say this change will take thousands of years while others predict it will happen within the next 100 years. It is probably safe to say that it will not happen overnight similar to what happened in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow,” but we need to make long term changes now. It is difficult to predict exactly how the water levels will change the landscape but those living on coasts will probably be more affected than those living inland. Looking at just the United States in particular, many of our major cities are located along the coasts. Since these cities are bases of a lot of economic activity, that would have a great effect on the nation’s economy (as if it wasn’t bad enough). Also, if the water does get too high it will have a great effect on farmland. This, in turn, will affect our food sources. It is likely many of the coastal lands will be placed under water such as California, Washington, and Florida as well as the upper west coast which could include New York City. Inland cities would be affected during storms when the tides are higher. We would have to put in place a lot of flood protection along the coasts which, no doubt, would be very expensive.
Large scale evacuations would have to take place all over the world. This may be impossible in poorer countries. Inland cities would become overcrowded and resources would be low. We would probably end up tearing down even more forests to make room for more inhabitants, thus lowering our resources even further. There would be a shortage of fresh water as all the fresh water would have mixed with the salt water of the oceans. We would need to determine more conventional ways of purifying the salt water to use for our means.
b. What other questions do you have about this Science Inquiry Experience?
My questions include: Would I get the same results of the experiment putting the iceberg in a different shaped container? Since the oceans are not bowl – shaped like the container I used for the experiment, how would the results differ in real life compared to the results we received during our own experiments?
Brain, M. (2010). If the Polar ice caps melted, how much would the oceans rise?. Retrieved from http://www.howstuffworks.com/question473.html
Johnston, W.R. (2005, December 29). What if all the Ice melts: myths and realities. Retrieved from http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/environment/waterworld.html
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
STEM Lesson Reflection
It was helpful using the 5 E's strategy to plan my lesson but I did not start out with them. I picked a unifying theme to work with and then decided on an idea for a lesson that would fit with one of those themes. I chose energy flow because it is one of my favorite scientific concepts. I located the Benchmark standards as well as the Pennsylvania standards that most closely related to the concept before planning out the lesson. Then I started jotting down basic activity ideas for how I could relate information about food chains to my students in a hands - on, lecture free way. After I had a basic outline, I went ahead and checked to see that I had covered each of the 5 E's. It helped me to see what I was leaving out and what I needed to change or add to enhance the lesson. I wanted to make it a tiered lesson so that it was guided toward multi - leveled learners and I made sure to include lots of manipulatives and visuals for diverse learners.
Since all of you did not get to actually see the lesson, here is the basic outline: The lesson focuses on food chains and energy consumption along the food chain. I wanted the students to discover why there are more producers than consumers. The students are grouped into 3 groups by learning level. Each group gets a bag of elastic headbands to put on that have pictures of a sun, plants, or animals on them. The students are not allowed to see which picture they are getting on their heads but have to silently help their group members place each other in the correct order of where their energy comes from. Each group has a different food chain to create. Afterwards, the students would present their food chain to the class using the correct terminology to describe it (producer, consumer).
Then the students will actually become the members of that food chain and perform the activities those plants and animals do (grow, breathe, move, bloom, etc). For each activity they do, they use up a certain amount of energy. For example, a student representing a plant receives an envelope with 10 cards that each say 10% on them which represents the energy he got from the sun. The plant uses up 90% of that energy acting out activities. He gives the leftover 10% to a cow. The cow realizes he needs 100% too and has to consume more than 1 plant to get enough energy. This continues along the food chain. The human at the end of the food chain gets some energy from the cow but receives energy from other sources as well and does not need to eat as many cows (burgers).
The students will tally the results of how many each animal needs to eat and will notice the similiarities between the food chains that the highest member of the food chain needs to consume so many of the preceeding member and that member needs to eat even more of the one before it and so on and so forth.
I really think it is an important lesson because it connects students in the classroom with parts of the natural world many of them never get to discover. Plus, I think it is really important for students to know the source of the food they eat on a regular basis. If they recognize the amount of energy that goes into it, they will not take it for granted that they have it. :)
Since all of you did not get to actually see the lesson, here is the basic outline: The lesson focuses on food chains and energy consumption along the food chain. I wanted the students to discover why there are more producers than consumers. The students are grouped into 3 groups by learning level. Each group gets a bag of elastic headbands to put on that have pictures of a sun, plants, or animals on them. The students are not allowed to see which picture they are getting on their heads but have to silently help their group members place each other in the correct order of where their energy comes from. Each group has a different food chain to create. Afterwards, the students would present their food chain to the class using the correct terminology to describe it (producer, consumer).
Then the students will actually become the members of that food chain and perform the activities those plants and animals do (grow, breathe, move, bloom, etc). For each activity they do, they use up a certain amount of energy. For example, a student representing a plant receives an envelope with 10 cards that each say 10% on them which represents the energy he got from the sun. The plant uses up 90% of that energy acting out activities. He gives the leftover 10% to a cow. The cow realizes he needs 100% too and has to consume more than 1 plant to get enough energy. This continues along the food chain. The human at the end of the food chain gets some energy from the cow but receives energy from other sources as well and does not need to eat as many cows (burgers).
The students will tally the results of how many each animal needs to eat and will notice the similiarities between the food chains that the highest member of the food chain needs to consume so many of the preceeding member and that member needs to eat even more of the one before it and so on and so forth.
I really think it is an important lesson because it connects students in the classroom with parts of the natural world many of them never get to discover. Plus, I think it is really important for students to know the source of the food they eat on a regular basis. If they recognize the amount of energy that goes into it, they will not take it for granted that they have it. :)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Father of Earth Education is Coming to Town
For my first post, I thought I would share some great news related to science. My hero, the man considered to be the father of Earth Education, creater of one of the greatest international Earth Education programs, Master Earthkeeper himself Steve Van Matre is coming to Sandy Lake, PA on June 21 to do a workshop on Earth Education. I could not be any more excited about it.
Steve Van Matre is the international chair of The Institute for Earth Education. This man is a genius when it comes to creating programs that engage students in learning about the Earth and how to take better care of it. He will be hosting a workshop on June 21, 2010 at the Mckeever Environmental Learning Center in Sandy Lake, PA. The workshop is $60 and is worth 7 Act 48 hours. For more information, please contact info@mckeever.org.
I am seriously excited about this workshop. I have been wanting to meet Steve since I first learned the Sunship Earth and Earthkeepers program in March '08. The director of Mckeever sent his former student teachers all an email about it since he obviously knew how excited we would be. We were always asking questions about Steve, this mysterious man who wears a signature hat and carries a walking stick, similar to his beloved character, E.M. who we had all learned about in our Earthkeeper training. We had envisioned Mr. Van Matre as a man who work clothes made of hemp or other plant materials and who had a long beard with woodland creatures living in it. I pictured him as a hermit living deep in the forest in a house he built himself using only raw materials. Of course, these envisionments are, I'm sure, completely off base, though not unfounded. I have seen only one picture of him and he does have the long beard and slightly resembles the hermit I pictured. I know that I cannot wait to meet him. Plus, I haven't been down to the science center in awhile and it will be nice to see everyone again as well as walk the trails. :)
Steve Van Matre is the international chair of The Institute for Earth Education. This man is a genius when it comes to creating programs that engage students in learning about the Earth and how to take better care of it. He will be hosting a workshop on June 21, 2010 at the Mckeever Environmental Learning Center in Sandy Lake, PA. The workshop is $60 and is worth 7 Act 48 hours. For more information, please contact info@mckeever.org.
I am seriously excited about this workshop. I have been wanting to meet Steve since I first learned the Sunship Earth and Earthkeepers program in March '08. The director of Mckeever sent his former student teachers all an email about it since he obviously knew how excited we would be. We were always asking questions about Steve, this mysterious man who wears a signature hat and carries a walking stick, similar to his beloved character, E.M. who we had all learned about in our Earthkeeper training. We had envisioned Mr. Van Matre as a man who work clothes made of hemp or other plant materials and who had a long beard with woodland creatures living in it. I pictured him as a hermit living deep in the forest in a house he built himself using only raw materials. Of course, these envisionments are, I'm sure, completely off base, though not unfounded. I have seen only one picture of him and he does have the long beard and slightly resembles the hermit I pictured. I know that I cannot wait to meet him. Plus, I haven't been down to the science center in awhile and it will be nice to see everyone again as well as walk the trails. :)
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