Ecodetectives 4/28/17

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This week, we learned about a serious fish kill in the gray area. A little boy named Juan Tuno (aka Want-to-know) is trying to find out why. So far, we think it could be Ken Unballe's water slide, LaToya Faktorie's toy factory, or Anton Alogue's tree cutting business. Ken Unballe owns a water slide. Every Wednesday, Ken's employees let out all of the chlorinated water from the pool into the river. The chlorine in the water means that the fish won't be able to breathe the oxygen in the water. And the water slide opened five years ago. The fish began to die five years ago. It makes sense that the water slide might be killing the fish. Second, LaToya Faktorie's toy factory could be killing the fish. The toy factory could be causing acid rain to fall on the rivers that the fish are in, making the lakes to acidic for water and plant life. Also, the oil refinery is over there, which could be causing pollution. LaToya is determined to show the chairman of the board that she is NOT polluting the air. Also, there are a lot of highways and cars in Synchrony City, which could be contributing to the acid rain problem in the Rafta river and the lake Adaysicle. But how could the Toy factory be contributing to acid rain on the other side of the bay, you ask? Well, the toy factory could be polluting everything if the wind blew around the pollutants. But the Fo and Misterssippi rivers, which are closest to the Oil refinery and toy factory, are not acidic. Why? Well, the bank of the rivers is limestone. Limestone is a special rock which can neutralize the acid, making the river safe for fish life. So why is that not happening in the Rafta river? The Rafta river banks are granite. Granite can NOT neutralize acids, so that river is being affected. Anton Alogue is in the tree cutting business. Every time he cuts down a tree, the tree dies. The tree's roots held in lots of sediment. But when the tree dies, the sediment falls into the river. Why is this a problem? Well, the sediment clogs up the fish's gills, making them unable to breathe. Also, the sediment is dark, so if there is enough, the sun will be attracted to the river water, making it so hot the fish could die. 

Climate change: Why should we care?

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        We should care about climate change because it could rip our world apart. All this pollution in the air could make it harder, maybe even impossible to breathe. Some places are experiencing drought, like California was just months ago. If there isn't any water to drink, then people and animals, along with plants, will die. If the water is polluted, that could be just as bad as having none. Some places, like Northern Europe are experiencing more and more extreme weather. Hurricanes, cyclones, and tsunamis could very well kill thousands of people living there. As the earth gets warmer because of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases, more forest fires sweep through, killing people and animals and leaving us with less valuable resources. Besides, mosquitoes and other annoying bugs thrive in the heat. As the bugs become greater in number, so do the deathly diseases like malaria. Some places experience to much water, which causes little or no food to be grown there, destroying many people's food supply. The heat will even melt the asphalt in some places, making it hard or even impossible to transport goods, people, and crops. Solar panels and windmills could help us get renewable energy, making climate change even the smallest bit better. And big factories are no help. They spew disgusting pollutants right in people's air and water. Islands like Tuvalu are already mostly underwater, and your dream vacation to Hawaii might not be a dream in a couple years. Cars and buses and other transportation use to much non-renewable resources. Carpooling and using public transportation is better for the environment because less pollutants are spewed out into our atmosphere. Some people see it as a problem in 100 years from now. Actually, climate change is starting to affect us now. And if we don't do something, our precious planet could end up permanently affected. 

climate change 4/9/17

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This week we have to start our climate change project. We are in group and we have to figure out how climate change affects our sector. My sector is human health. My group is Desmond, Nic, and Elayna. So far, we are done with our research and we started our product. Our product is a large circle or cardboard, split into three. It is decorated to look like the earth in 1934, 2017, and 2037 (if climate change keeps up). Then we will make little pegs out of toothpicks and paper to show, 'Oh, here it is getting hotter. There are more mosquitoes and so there is more malaria.'  and things like that. Then 

we will stick the little pegs right where this is happening. We haven't decided if we will draw a zoomed-in drawing of everyone on earth or not, but we think we might not.         

S&EP: SP8 Communicating Information

We will present our information and our product to the class.     

S&EP: SP2 Using models

We are making a product to show our understanding.

S&EP: SP4 Analyzing data

We are using scrible to annotate documents and control our information. 

     

Global Warming 4/1/17

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This week we continued to talk about greenhouse gases and global warming. We had to write a whole summary about greenhouse gases and what they did, so here it is below. 

Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming

The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of many different gases. When the sun’s radiation warms the Earth, some gases called Greenhouse gases trap in the warmth, only letting a small amount of warmth rebound back into space. The natural process between the sun, the atmosphere, and the Earth is called the Greenhouse Effect. These phenomenon are called the Greenhouse Effects because greenhouse gases act the same way that a  greenhouse window would, trapping in the heat so that the plants can grow. The atmosphere has a number of different gases which trap in heat for the Earth. To maintain a safe balance of heat, the balance between the gases must not be upset, or the world will become hotter. The greenhouse gases are usually water vapour, carbon dioxide (Co2), methane (which comes from rotting trash), nitrus oxide (formed from dying or dead plants), and ozone. Some of man’s deeds have also caused greenhouse gases, which is starting to be unhealthy for the Earth. This is Global warming. If there is too much of a greenhouse gas in the air, it begins to make the world hotter and hotter. This act is global warming. If we continue this, the world could become to hot to live in. Imagine that!

Actually, there are many ways that we can stop or reduce global warming. We can carpool, walk or bike to work or school to emit less CO2 into the air. If there are less cars emitting dangerous gases, then that is less gas overall. And veichles aren't the only ways to reduce CO2 emissions. If you watch less T.V. or be on the computer less, that is saving the world from greenhouse gases. If you take shorter showers, that reduces water vapor, which is a greenhouse gas. Also, leaving the lights on in a room that is empty or isn't being used is really wasting electricity and creating more gases. More things that you could do are eating less meat, turning off all unused electrical devices, and washing more, but during shorter time periods.