Environmental Science Review Vocab Quizzes- Screenshots

 

The Biosphere one is not here because I couldn't get it but, you said that you could trust me so it is fine I guess.

Retracing your journey

• My favorite quest during this class was the Jurassic Park quest from the Extinction chain.
• The quest that challenged me the most was probably the quest Floods from the Natural Disasters quest chain. Mostly because I wasn't used to using locations in quests.
• I don't know exactly what you mean but I assume you meant what idea that you had the greatest impact on me, but the idea I think had the greatest impact would be when you linked a lot of the information that we were needed for notes to Youtube channels that I enjoy and related them into your class.
• The results of my sustainability challenge have ranged from me not relying on electronics as much to changing my eating. I have become vegetarian as of two months ago and I don't know if this class if what influenced me wanting to begin vegetarianism but it possibly could have.
• From this class I have learned how to use Google Maps (The example in the quest helped me remember that) TinkerCad, Blogger (Not necessarily caused by the class but the class made me use it), and how to look in Wikipedias references for more accurate documents of information.  

See The World! Sixth or Seventh- I don't know

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_XwzW5fUdu0ba1BTH3thbce3jj9XE02sB0BXXeMGb4I/edit?usp=sharing

This is my sixth or seventh see the world quest. Here you go!

The War for Water- The War for Water Quest Chain

In this post, I am going to be writing about an invention idea I came up with instead of writing about a conflict that happened over water. I think that the invention of a Water Purifying Bucket. The bucket could be used to scoop up water in massive amounts and the water would be automatically purified. This could be helpful for places similar to Africa where a lot of the water sources are polluted. The bucket would probably be two or three gallons large and would be made of some plastic material. There could purifiers, like the ones in water bottles, in the bucket so that it could purify it quickly and remove all the pollutants it can. The bucket could possibly have four purifiers in it like the ones in bottles and then it could also probably have a supply of those little tablets that are used to purify water supplies. I assume that all the purifiers would be top of the line so that they could continue to work over many years and in a good condition. The bucket would be very useful in places like Africa because it could be used to retrieve safe water for drinking, hygiene, or to use for anything else that the water may need to be pure for. I feel like this idea could be very useful and that there should already be something like this out in the world being used to give communities without safe drinking water.

My notes: Here

Don't drink the water!- The war for water Quest Chain

My filter was made of a plastic bottle, a hairbow, two different paper towels, sand, small rocks, and large rocks. They were all layered in the bottle and little pieces of paper towel on the bottom tied on with the hairbow. I also did the Bhopal Gas Leak, Australia's colonization, and Synthetic Pesticides on the Padlet.

My notes: Here

Climate Change- Climate Change Quest Chain

My notes: Here

I already wrote my responses in the discussion forum and replied to atleast two people.

Choking on Air Pollution- Climate Change Quest Chain

I did the air pollutant Hydrochlorofluorocarbons. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are a large group of compounds, whose structure is very close to that of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), but including one or more hydrogen atoms. Under normal conditions, HCFCs are gases or liquids which evaporate easily. They are generally fairly stable and unreactive. HCFCs do not usually dissolve in water, but do dissolve in organic (carbon-containing) solvents. HCFCs are chemically similar to Hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Halons and therefore display some similar properties, though they are much less stable and persistent. HCFCs are also part of a group of chemicals known as the volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Notes here: Link

The Green Revolution- The War for water Quest Chain

Hydroponics is when crops are grown without soil and are instead grown in water and still get all of their necessary nutrients. It is popular to use in nurseries because it is easy to maintain and gives great control over the environment. It is also a good way to grow plants in areas that are difficult, such as dry areas or places with poor soil. In fact, hydroponics conserves more water than irrigation does, because the water is recirculated rather than being allowed to drain away.

Notes are here: Link

The Energy of The Future- The Energy Crisis Quest Chain

I played EnergyCity twice and forgot to take a screenshot of the page. But my scores were 361000 and 411000.

What I learned from playing this on how we struggle with providing energy for ourselves is that the environment is harmed a lot due to our inefficient way to produce energy. If we continue to build power plants that are forming clouds of smog and pollution that that slowly damages the environment more and more. Plants that run on water, like hydroelectric dams, are a lot more environmentally friendly way to produce energy.

Notes: Here

See The World- Deep Ocean

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_XwzW5fUdu0ba1BTH3thbce3jj9XE02sB0BXXeMGb4I/edit?usp=sharing

This is my another See The World quest but this time on the Deep Ocean.

The Energy Crisis

An energy crisis is when anything that is required by plants that create energy is threatened and more of it is needed but we can't get more. The main energy source that causes an energy crisis to happen is oil. Oil is used in a lot of things that we use today similar to factories, machines, cars, trains, and more. With that being said, the demand people have for oil is extremely high. If the supply and demand ratio of any product gets thrown off too quickly, then a crisis is waiting to happen. The supply and demand ratio that a product has is very rarely thrown off by the consumers. Usually, the government has to do something drastic like implement  tax hikes. stricter regulations, or union strikes in the industry that the product is based out of. The most common thing that a government does to affect the energy industry is to implement a tax hike. A tax hike is devastating to the energy industry because they now have to adjust the price of the product itself, the way that they make the product, and the cost of transportation. Major changes like these don't happen overnight. Until the energy industry changes its prices to accommodate the new tax hike, they are losing money. If a company is losing a lot of money in a small period of time, they will most likely panic and either stop production of their product or raise the price of their product significantly to cover the cost of the lost time adjusting the prices. Oil is widely used throughout the world, which means that the demand for oil is extremely high. If the amount of oil even for an instance drops below the average supply and demand ratio, a crisis will most likely occur. If companies and people have to pay more for oil, then the price for everything that uses oil will rise too. The energy crisis causes a domino effect to occur in the global economy.. It is estimated that 1.2 billion people in the world don't have access to an energy source at all. This can be considered bad for humans but good for the atmosphere because the smaller the amount of people who have access to energy, the smaller the amount of pollution from factories and plants. For people, this figure is bad because energy usage makes life easier and can potentially save the lives of people. Not enough energy is being produced for the growing population. If this continues, two potentially devastating things will most likely occur. The first is if the population of the world gets to a point where people can't produce enough oil to sustain themselves, then supply and demand will go into effect and significantly raise the price of oil so only the rich people can afford to use it. Two, the supply of oil could run out on Earth, which would cause humans to have to find another energy alternative to it. Electricity is cheaper and healthier to use than oil, but most companies and people will probably continue to use oil until it runs out.

Sources:

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-solutions-to-the-global-energy-crisis.php

http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/knowledgebase/the-global-environment/the-energy-crisis-and-climate-change/proposals/the-energy-crisis-and-climate-change

https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epas-position-energy-crisis

Epidemics- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

From playing the Pandemic game, I can say that a disease being resistant to the heat, the cold, and moisture is a good way for it to spread and if the symptoms include coughing or sneezing than it can be spread easily. It if can be spread through the air, water, insects, and/or rodents than it is going to infect a lot of people.

Also, I did the disease Epidemic Typhus in the Class Spreadsheet.

Notes are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_VfCl_B4eVlweS0hpoD_xD0qVQb-CppMYjZXjxk2EDI/edit?usp=sharing

See The World 4- Freshwater Biomes

Here is the link to my presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_XwzW5fUdu0ba1BTH3thbce3jj9XE02sB0BXXeMGb4I/edit?usp=sharing

This one is on Freshwater biomes and is the fifth slide of the powerpoint.

Droughts- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

I don’t think that we are at risk of another Dust Bowl, because even though we are having a period of drought in California it isn’t as bad as the ones during the Dust Bowl. I think that something similar to the Dust Bowl could occur again in the future though maybe not soon. We have hopefully learned how to farm differently from that experience. People could prevent things like the Dust Bowl from happening by stopping global warming, like using natural gasses up, and have everyone start using these improved farming techniques. We have started using and introducing techniques that are not as harmful to the environment and benefit us more too. However, we will probably have another Dust Bowl situation because of global warming or something similar to what caused the Dust Bowl.

Notes: Here

Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2015/02/12/climate-change-will-probably-force-me-to-move/#3782f162788a
http://news.discovery.com/earth/weather-extreme-events/drought-dust-bowl-120719.htm
http://drought.unl.edu/droughtforkids/whatisdrought/causesofdrought.aspx
http://drought.unl.edu/DroughtforKids/HowCanWeProtectOurselves.aspx

Our Breathable Eggshell- Climate Change Quest Chain

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/782383059394625536

My notes are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I72BVtI_sawwtTHw9FXBlV2BiiSstGxAc076PuPZn9E/edit?usp=sharing

World Without Oil- Documentarian

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2htGadwrhcI

This documentary is talking about how we use oil for almost everything that we currently use and how it is a big part of modern lives. They give a scenario that if the world were to lose all oil then cities and other places would start to stop functioning without oil. In the scenario oil begins to disappear and then gas station begin to run dry. It also talks about how food companies, hospitals, and other areas begin to lose power and thus they can no longer function. This documentary shows the world from a post-apocalyptic point of view.

Sinkholes- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

Causes of Sinkholes:

Rainfall percolating, or seeping, through the soil absorbs carbon dioxide and reacts with decaying vegetation, creating a slightly acidic water. That water moves through spaces and cracks underground, slowly dissolving limestone and creating a network of cavities and voids. As the limestone dissolves, pores and cracks are enlarged and carry even more acidic water. Sinkholes are formed when the land surface above collapses or sinks into the cavities or when surface material is carried downward into the voids. Drought, along with resulting high groundwater withdrawals, can make conditions favorable for sinkholes to form. Also, heavy rains after droughts often cause enough pressure on the ground to create sinkholes. Sinkholes can also form due to several manmade actions. These actions include drilling new wells, creating artificial ponds, over withdrawal of groundwater sources, and diverting surface water from a large section of other surface water.

For the area that I live in, I am not in any danger of a sinkhole forming. The bedrock under us is not very soluble to let water in and there is not much withdrawal from our well. We also have no other conditions that may lead to sinkholes.

Landslides- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

A few ways to tell if a landslide might occur in your area are a sudden increase in water levels, new cracks or unusual bulges in the ground, structures tilting, and/or rumbling sounds.


https://res.cloudinary.com/roadtrippers/image/upload/c_fill,h_316,w_520/v1369763596/mount-katahdin-51a4ef057f3d7726960045a7.jpg

I am doing mount Katahdin as the mountain I analyze. I think that the risk is very high, because the mountain is one of the tallest mountains in the Appalachian mountain range, and a large amount of trees have been killed off by acid rain, invasive species, and other things. This means that the soil is now very loose and can fall easier. By looking at a map of where landslide risk is the highest, the Appalachian mountains were rated as having a very high risk.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8532/8573212579_c404c9003c.jpg

My notes: Here

Floods- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

My house is not at risk for flooding. I am kind of near a flood risk area but am far enough away that I have less than a 10% chance of my house flooding.

• The environment can help prevent flooding. Things like trees, ditches, etc. You can dig a ditch that leads off of a body of water and the ditch leads into a large open field. This way the water can just pool into the field and maybe ruin those weeds but this way you don’t get flooded. Trees can either be planted or they can be laid across a river or stream. When laid across a river it prevents little to no water from getting past so it floods sideways. When you plant trees the trees soak up all of the water and catch the water when it falls downhill. 
• Sustainable drainage systems are another way to prevent floods. For this to work you replace things like concrete with a material that absorbs the water. With something like concrete the water just runs off of it into a drainage system. Drainage systems work until there is tons and tons of rain and then they get overwhelmed. Materials that absorb rain would soak up all of the extra like a sponge. Buildings being designed so that water runoff hits the soil instead of concrete is also helpful. 
• A third way you can prevent flooding is with flood barriers. They are used more in areas that have tons of flooding but you can use them anywhere. The barrier is usually close to the sides of the river. These are not expensive but only work to a certain extent. 

My notes: Here

Offshore Oil Drilling Industry- Documentarian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jNSTIpBa1U
There is the link to the video. (Warning: Terrible quality)

Offshore drilling typically refers to the discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater. Most commonly, the term is used to describe oil extraction off the coasts of continents, though the term can also apply to drilling in lakes and inland seas. This also presents environmental challenges, especially in the Arctic or close to the shore. This is like controversies including the ongoing US offshore drilling debate and many other things. Oil also became more pricey once companies had taken most of the oil that was obviously in an area, making it harder to get oil for other companies.

See the world 2- Desert Biome

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_XwzW5fUdu0ba1BTH3thbce3jj9XE02sB0BXXeMGb4I/edit?usp=sharing

This is the link to a slideshow presentation I am going to be doing for these quests! Thes quests were done with information from the Planet Earth documentaries on Netflix! The one I am doing for this submission is the Jungle or Tropical Rainforest biome. The information is in the presentation on the second slide! This biome is on the third slide of the presentation.

The Right to breathe- Documentarian

Here is the link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1M894GH4q4

The Right to breathe is a documentary about air pollution from major cities and factories in Southern California and how the smog from this pollution harms the environment and makes the area less and less attractive. The documentary creators interview a couple of different people and they give their experiences with the pollution. One girl talked about how she could actually see the mountains around her one day after it had rained because the rain had turned into acid rain by carrying down the pollution from the air. It talks about how pollution is coming from people trying to make their lives easier like with cars. Cars are supposed to make it easier to travel but it also pollutes the air around us.

Natures Bounty- The Energy Crisis Quest Chain

In the Class Spreadsheet, I focused on air and how it is a renewable natural resource. It is renewable because we can not deplete the amount of winds we are going to receive unless we were to stop the sun. Another thing that was asked was if wind was sustainable. The answer to that is yes as long as people have turbines to collect the air energy, and as long as the conditions are met for winds to form. Air will not go away until many things, such as the sun, go away.

My notes: here

The Promised Land- Side Quest

So an article on the bad things about fracking is here: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/problems/fracking
Fracking is pretty dangerous in the fact that it damages a lot of the area around where it is done, it can lead to water pollution, and it being a fossil fuel means that it is not renewable and harms the atmosphere.

An article on why fracking is good: http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-fracking-a-good-idea
Fracking can be useful for getting the fossil fuels out of the earth for use.


I would vote against fracking though because it is overall really bad for the environment and I don't agree with it.

Documentarian- Mankind Rising: Where do humans come from?

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StqZI9pMq0U&list=WL&index=6

Also, I shared this on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/DevyionOnline/status/712326647798747136

This documentary starts off with it talking about how the soon to be earth was being hit with thousands of asteroids. The material of the asteroid sometimes got into the ocean. The ocean hit the material and the water at the right time and created the first ever genetic material. This genetic material was then consumed by an oil blob and created the first ever cell. The cell then went through mitosis and created millions of cells. The cells then had accidents with them just floating around in the water. Some cells collided with each other and had sexual reproduction. This sexual reproduction created mutations and variants of the other cells and more cells were formed. The cells then began to create more cells which then turned into the first aquatic creatures. These creatures were worms that formed under the water. These creatures were blind but developed eyes after a while. The nerve cells inside of the worm begin to collect to form a brain. At this point, it is a fish like creature. That creature then evolves into a more armored and stronger fish due to needing to protect itself. That fish then struggles to find a home and ends being able to breathe air. This creature is an amphibian and can breathe air and water. Later it finally evolves to exist only on the surface. The creature on the surface then has to compete with other creatures on the surface that turn into dinosaurs and other things. Due to the sun, the amphibian evolves into a lizard that has tougher skin to protect from the sun and claws to help for traveling terrain. The cold then forces many of these lizards to grow hair along their bodies. These are rodents and they are alive during the dinosaurs. They live in burrows and are very small. They survive the extinction of the dinosaurs by hiding underground. With being small they can eat the small amounts of food while the other plants are growing back. The rodents that rule the land then evolve even larger and variation makes animals even more diverse. The first human-esque creatures finally develop due to the need to kill other creatures and speed. Those creatures then form into the humans that we know today.

Documentarian- Life After Dinosaurs

Here is the link to the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7QSwAhMuUY

I also shared this on Twitter. It is here: https://twitter.com/DevyionOnline/status/711658425160175617

This documentary starts with talking about how mammals are the animals that succeeded the dinosaurs after the majority of them died off.  Archaeologists had found a mammalian skull in the desert that they say was the beginning of all of the mammals we have today. It was as long as 5 inches and first appeared during the period when the continent was Pangaea. Mammals were very small and lived in burrows. Due to the dinosaurs that would eat them in the day time, most mammals would hunt and forage during the night. They also had a bone structure in their ear that humans still use today. Most of the mammals during that time laid eggs to give birth. A certain few species had begun using the placenta to keep babies inside of them, birthing live children. The documentary then moves to talk more about dinosaurs and how the dino succus ruled the fresh waters in North America and then it shows this ground that had been turned on its side in the last millions of years where dinosaurs had used to walk. The wall/ground showed that there were still many different types of dinosaurs alive before the extinction. It then moves the scene to a lake area with a desert/savannah setting around it. A sauropod and edmontonia feast on trees and bushes. A carnotaurus attacks after the sauropod leaves. Edmontonia fights the carnotaurus with the spikes on the sides of its body. The carnotuarus realizes it cannot win and goes after the sauropod. The carnotuarus chases the sauropod and collides with it. More of the sauropods of the same species come and protect the younger one that was being attacked. It then moves the scene to the asteroid belt and tells how the collision of two asteroids caused one to be thrown at the earth. The asteroid hits the earth and sends tons of debris in all directions. Everything is set on fire and all dinosaurs not killed by the fire are killed by the tsunamis that follow afterward. All small animals that lived underground are safe. The mammals with high birth rates and small lifespans now benefit the mammals. Being small also allows the mammals to eat a small amount and it helps them because there is a very small amount of resources. Mammals had evolved bigger after the plants that were covered up began regrowing and more species of mammals allowed for more food. Mammals ruled the planet and kept evolving.

See The World 1- Jungle/Tropical Rainforest

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_XwzW5fUdu0ba1BTH3thbce3jj9XE02sB0BXXeMGb4I/edit?usp=sharing

This is the link to a slideshow presentation I am going to be doing for these quests! Thes quests were done with information from the Planet Earth documentaries on Netflix! The one I am doing for this submission is the Jungle or Tropical Rainforest biome. The information is in the presentation on the second slide!

Extraterrestrial Beings- Interstellar Quest

I think that out of a space station, a Mars colony, and a Moon colony, that a colony on the moon would be the best. I think that this will be the best option out of the three because the moon, as long as earth does not get destroyed, has the earth to orbit around which is already the perfect distance from the sun. With being the perfect distance from the sun, that means that the moon will range from how far and close it is to the sun, due to it orbiting the earth. So, by that, I expect that there will be a new kind of seasons on the moon.

Now I am going to be listing the things that humans would need inside of a space station if there was one on the moon. This station would be the shelter. The first thing I know we would need is a source of oxygen. This could be possible with the use of plants that could grow in the space station. The way we could get plants in space, trees, bushes, and etc., is that we could bring soil up from Earth on a spaceship. The soil could also be made with a mix of the decomposing food that was left over from the trip, the crews feces from the trip, and the soil on the moon. The Moon’s soil contains a lot of oxygen and silicon and these both positively affect plants. The next resource we would need to cover is water. Water could be made from a purifier that connects to all of the bathrooms. It would then take the urine of the people and purify it. Urine is 95% water so a large amount of water could be regained from urination. I also would plan to create my station on the bright side of the planet or close to the line between the dark side and the light side of the moon so that part of the station could be receiving direct sunlight and the other side wouldn’t. The sunlight would help with the plants that I plan to grow inside of the space station. I would also have solar panels on the part of the station that is exposed to the sun so that I can collect power for the station and all of the appliances inside of it. The next thing would be the plants that we would have on the station. There would be no animals because it would be a vegetarian colony. The plants would be brought from earth and would be planted in the soil that I had made. Inside of my station is where I would have my farm and there would be a giant thick glass dome for sunlight to get to the crops. Also, there will be a carbon dioxide vacuum system that sucks up all of the CO₂ and feed it to the plants. There will also be a radio tower like set up on top of the station so that we can receive signals from other areas in space and from the earth.

Here is the link to my station: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/lWO4eTMxNSb-moon-colony-station

Here is the link to my notes: Here

Documentarian- Dinosaurs in the Outback

Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y75OB2n9Zz4

In this video, it talks about some of the dinosaurs that lived in the outback. For the main part of this video, it talks about how this guy named David Elliot, a grazier in the outback of Australia. He was herding sheep and found a bone that he thought, at first, was a strange looking rock. He contacted the Queensland museum a year after they found it, not digging it up, though, and they came to Elliot and collected the bone. They had only found the femur that he had seen on the surface. He knew about how the soil on the top had really just been blown around and that may have covered up the rest of the dinosaur's fossils. The team of Paleontologists came back out and they started excavating the dirt around where the femur was. They soon found other parts of the "sauropod that died there"'s legs and found some other lower body pieces. The person who has been narrating in this documentary then went back to the lab with the scientists. The scientists showed her how to and what they use to clean the dinosaur bones and remove them from their protective rock shells. A theropod's bones were also found near the area later on by David's family. Scientists assumed that the way this happened is that the sauropods herd was traveling through the area that was there millions of years ago. It had probably gotten stuck in the mud while traveling. The theropod there had probably been trying to eat the sauropod because it had noticed it was stuck. The theropod tried to attack the sauropod and the sauropod swung it's tail at the creature and killed it. The theropod died on its side and the sauropod died standing in the mud. Bigger dinosaurs had probably come by and took some of the sauropod's body. That is the reasoning for why the dinosaurs that were found in the area are there and their positions. Also, it is the reasoning for why some of the sauropods bones are missing.

Documentarian- Mega Beasts: T Rex of the Deep - Mosasaur Documentary

Here is the link to the 33 Minute Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhY_SnX2gjE

This documentary is about how the Mosasuarus is the apex creature of the sea during the time of the dinosaurs. It starts off talking about how the mosasaurus was originally a land lizard that had to move to the ocean to avoid being eaten by the land creatures at the time. It talks about the land reptile mosasaur evolving into the dallasaurus and then into the Mosasaurus. For the main part of this documentary it talks about what makes the mosasaurus the apex if ut's territory. The first thing is it's bone structure. The bones allow for the fast movement in water with it's webbed feet and paddle-like tail. The second thing is, that since it evolved from a lizard, it has the ability to smell like a lizard. It has the forked tongue that allows for the smelling in two different directions. The next thing is it's sonar ability. It uses this to hear everything in it's area and it allows for it to fin many sources of food. The next thing is the size of the creature. The size allows for the mosasaurus to take on many large predators. The last thing that makes the mosasuarus an apex predator is how it's jaw is formed and it's teeth. It has a small set of teeth in the back of it's throat that allows for pushing it backwards in it's thoat and allows for fast swallowing and biting.

Storms- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

First, I have to talk about how multiple different storms are formed and what conditions are needed for them to form. First, a tornado. For a tornado, you need warm, moist air that collides with cool, dry air. The cool, dry air pushes against the warm, moist air and it makes the warmer air begins to convect and spin rapidly, forming a supercell. The next one I am going to do is hurricanes. A storm, which is from cold and warm fronts colliding, has to form over the ocean. Then the warm fronts push more water vapor towards the storm and it begins to build more storms with that starting storm. It again creates a supercell and that is where all of those storms attach. The final storm is a blizzard. Blizzards The first thing is that cold air that is under 0 degrees Celcius is needed. Then moisture is also needed for clouds which can be gathered in a couple different ways. The air then pushes to moisture towards the cold front and it begins to create clouds. Then a warm front is needed so that the clouds can rise and for precipitation to fall. These are the conditions for all three major storms.

My Newspaper article is here: Click here

Save the Blank!- Extinction Quest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_PewocndDQ

This is the link to my video on the Axolotl. Thanks to Colleen for the awesome narration!

The Martian Quest

In the movie, The Martian, Mark Whatney faces many different things on mars. These three challenges are a constant supply of oxygen, a steady supply of water to drink for the human body, and a good supply of food. Mars makes all of these hard to do because it is very cold (This keeps water frozen most of the time), the soil is mainly composed of iron, there are constant dust storms, and the air is not full of oxygen (Or if it is then it also has other chemicals in it to make it to where humans can't breathe it). Earth makes up for all of these challenges with the great temperature depending where you are on Earth, the soil also depends on where you are and even though it has a lot of nitrogen in it the plants actually use nitrogen, and the temperature (Again depending where you are) is great, which makes the water not freeze. Whatney, in the movie, overcomes these challenges in a couple different ways. For the temperature problem, he actually does most of his work inside of the station that was left on the planet. Inside the station, he takes the crew's excrement and the martian soil and mixes it to make a more fertile soil. He uses this soil to grow the potatoes in.

http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/9725/664975_084.jpg

http://3blmedia.com/media/images/martian-gallery.jpg

 He then creates a little set up in the middle of the potatoes which uses excess hydrogen in the atmosphere and creates a way for water to come from it. This water is used for him and to water the potatoes that he found were on the station. In the future, I predict, that humans will already have many machines that can generate or break down many chemical compounds so that the base elements can be used and that could create a way for oxygen to be created easier on other planets. Also, by the time that they have the technology to do that I suspect that they will have many pressurized stations to form colonies on Mars.

Jurassic Park- Hollywood Critic

This is a critical review of the science and research behind Jurassic Park. The first thing that I want to talk about and point out is that the Tyrannosaurus Rex can see things that do not move. Researchers, after watching the film, had found interest in the subject and began research on it. They have found out that the T-Rex possibly had better eyesight and depth sensory than modern day raptors. More information can be found here. The next thing that I want to talk about is how most of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park are not even from the Jurassic time era. Most of the dinosaurs that are actually shown in the first movie are actually from the Cretaceous time period. Some of the dinosaurs that are actually from the Cretaceous period include the T-Rex, the Velociraptor, the Spinosaurus (From Jurassic Park III), the Masosaurus (From Jurassic World), and a dinosaur that is actually from the Triassic era, the Camptosaurus (Form Jurassic Park II). One of the people that worked on Jurassic Park had responded to an interviewer on why it was called Jurassic Park and not something like Cretaceous Park is that it was just a name and could be named anything.

Where in the world?- See the World Quest Chain

The first things that I would look for are the types of trees in the area. Trees grow in set climates and conditions and if you look at a certain type of tree then you can automatically, as long as you know something about the trees, tell what kind of area you are located in. Like, for example, Aspens. Aspens are a tree that is usually found near the North of temperate forest areas and north of the Northern hemisphere. The second thing I would look for, if there were any, is cars. Since this quest did say there were no people around and not cars. You can tell what part of the world you are in often by which side of the car the driver's seat is on. If it is on the right side of the car then that limits to where you are. Try to find more than one car that is like that though so that you can make sure it is not “someone from out of that place”’s car. Also, if the cars were to just be left on the street and they were abandoned then that could hint to you being in the UK, Ireland, or a couple other countries. The third thing that I would look for is the landscape of the area you are in. The landscape around the world is very different in certain parts. Also, the landscape includes looking at what type of ground is underneath you because sand could lead to you being in a desert. Rocks are also a big part of where you are at. If the rocks around the area are sedimentary then that could mean that there is a lot of sand around the area and could lead to a desert type biome. Igneous rocks could lead to you assuming you are near a volcano. Now, to talk about the stars. Stars are located directly above some areas so that tells you where you are. Like Polaris, the North Star, sits directly above the North Pole. So if you look up into the sky and find Polaris, it is always above the Big Dipper, then you will be able to find where you are in the world.

The Sixth Extinction- Extinction Quest Chain

This is the list of criteria that I would go over if I had to consider an animal needed to be saved.

1- Does it contribute to keeping the population of another organism low?

2- Does it provide something to another organism? (E.g. Spider's silk, cow milk, etc.)

3- Does it critically impact the environment?

4- Does it support a food chain?

5- Does it keep another animal alive? (E.g. symbiosis, etc)

6- Is it interesting to look at or cute?

Does the Giant Panda fit this criterion? Yes, I think that it does. Basically, I am going on if the animal fits a majority of the criteria. This is the yes/no answers to the criteria.

1- Yes (Bamboo)

2- Yes (Research on the lifestyle of most other bears that share its lifestyle)

3- Yes (It keeps the fast spreading bamboo at a low)

4- Yes (It eats bamboo and is one of the only things that do)

5- No (It is the apex of its territory)

6- Yes (Definitely)

The five other animals that I did were Siamese Crocodile, Takhi, Hawaiin Monk Seal, Sumatran Orangutan, and Axolotl.

Their criteria ratings will be listed in the order below as they were just given.

1- Yes (It eats many mammals that drink from rivers it lives in)

2- No (They do not give any resource or material)

3- Yes (It keeps the population low of many animals that live around it)

4- Yes (It eats many fish and mammals)

5- Yes (Symbiosis with some birds allow them to eat from cleaning crocodile's teeth)

6- No (They are scaly and don’t look very friendly)

1- Yes (It eats many plants around its territory)

2- No (They do not give any resource or material)

3- No (It keeps the grasses around its habitat low)

4- Yes (It eats grasses and carnivores eat it)

5- Yes (Apex predators feed off of it)

6- Yes (They look like a fat horse)

1- Yes (It eats much fish in the sea around it)

2- Yes (They provided their hide, a reason for their extinction)

3- No (It is not that big of a contributor to the decline of fishes populations)

4- Yes (It eats many fish and sharks, did, eat it)

5- Yes (It was a primary food source of some sharks)

6- Yes (It is blubbery and is really sleek looking)

1- Yes (It eats many berries and keeps the berries from spreading more rapidly)

2- Yes (It has homes in the trees that another animal can use after them)

3- Yes (It keeps the trees at a limit and it provides homes for other animals)

4- Yes (It eats many of the berries and fruits in the forest)

5- No (They are very independent)

6- Yes (They are red and furry)

1- No (They are very solitary and docile creatures)

2- Yes (They provide many different types of research to science)

3- Yes (It was the apex predator of its environment and kept fish populations down)

4- Yes (It consumes many small fish and birds eat it)

5- Yes (Many birds, including Herons, eat it)

6- Yes! (Basically a Mudkip, adorable)

Now I am going to be discussing several other things that I am supposed to be talking about. The first thing is why extinction is a problem for human survival. The main reason that I think that extinction is a big problem for human survival is that things that critically support humans, like bees, cows, etc., provide so many resources for humans that they rely on them. The second thing that I need to talk about is why I chose the criteria I chose for above. I chose the first piece of criteria because that is something that all animals should do so that things don't begin to overpopulate (Like humans). The second criteria were because all animals, including humans, should be providing for another animal so that it can survive as well as that animal. The third criteria were chosen because it is similar to why humans should clean up their trash after they do something. This keeps the world prettier and less abundant of a certain resource. The fourth criterion was chosen because if the animal solely eats on a thing and so many other animals also eat that, then that animal does not really need to be there. This is unless there is an animal that eats these animals. The fifth criterion was chosen because most if an animal supports the life of another animal then that boosts both of those animals likeliness of survival and shows scientists what their behavior towards other animals are. The final criteria, if the animal was cute/interesting or not, was put in there because not many people are going to really want to help that animal if they don’t have some reason to like it.

The next thing that I have to talk about is whether the Giant Panda fits the criteria I listed and if it is worth saving. The Giant Panda’s rating for the criteria is at the beginning of this article and on whether I think that the Giant Panda should be saved is, yes, the Giant Panda should be saved. It is an amazing animal and is one of the best animals at keeping the bamboo rates down. The last thing that I have to do is explain why my highest ranked animal is threatened and what we can do to save it. I had three animals that got the same scores on the criteria and out of them I choose to do the Axolotl as the animal I would like to save. The Axolotl is endangered because of pollution of the only place it lives naturally in, the Xochimilco lake. This lake is being polluted because of the city of Mexico that is right beside that has factories that let off very dangerous waste into the lake. The solution I believe would work to save these animals would be to start a clean up in the lake where people will take out animals and clean them off and start to remove the sludge at the bottom of the lake. The factories would also need to have another place to put their waste. The animals could be put somewhere safe for them while their home is being cleaned and after it is clean, then they could be put back into the lake.

My notes: Here

Volcanoes Quest- Natural Disasters Quest Chain

This blog post is about the Yellowstone Volcano at Yellowstone national park and if it is a threat to America. Yellowstone is a volcano that is located close to the top of the United States of America and it has been dormant for a very long time. The last time the volcano erupted was in 1350 B.C. This eruption did not let out an actual explosion, though. The last actual explosion of the volcano was 174,000 years ago and the last time lava flowed from the volcano was 70,000 years ago. To answer the question if it would be devastating to humanity if it were to explode, yes, it would be. The explosion would cover up to 2/3 of America, the whole continent, in ten feet of ash. Yellowstone national park is located inside and around the caldera of Yellowstone. If you don't know, a caldera is a crater left over from a volcanic explosion, with Yellowstone's case being over a couple thousand years ago. Scientists have stations around Yellowstone national park that monitor the activity of the volcanoes. These scientists include seismologists, volcanologists, and more. They are all studying the crust and the mantle of the Earth and everything on top of it to get the most accurate amount of years it will be until the next eruption of the Yellowstone volcano. So far, it is expected to be longer than 1,000 to 10,000 years from now. There are also often 100-300 earthquakes, which show that there is still activity in the area under and around Yellowstone and that means that the volcano is still just dormant and will likely erupt once pressures get high enough and it will be devastating.

Here are my notes: Click here

Resources:
http://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/volcanoqa.htm

http://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/doomsday-could-yellowstone-park-s-supervolcano-erupt-soon/article_4a20351e-f6ec-11e4-aefc-073e37e89022.html

http://www.ryot.org/supervolcano-yellowstone-volcano-will-it-erupt/765673

Scorched Earth- Interstellar Quest Line

The scenario I think that is the most likely to cause the biggest threat to survival is the global warming scenario. I think that this is the most realistic scenario because humans, really ever since the late 90's, have been pumping out more and more Co2 emissions through the advancement of factories and industries. "It is clear from the extensive scientific evidence that the dominant cause of the rapid change in the climate of the past half century is human-induced increases in a number of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide." This quote is from the American Meteorological Society and is talking about what humans have been putting into the air by creating all of the new technologies we have today. This quote by the AMS was from 2012. It has been almost 4 years and people have still not started to try and fix anything with global warming. My second reference is from 2001. This again shows how long we have been dealing with global warming. "Climate change is real. There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world’s climate. However, there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities." That reference is from 11 different science academies together. The U.S. National Academy of Science is just one of these academies.The last reference is from theEnvironmental Research Letters by J. Cook. This is from Volume 8 Number 2. ". . . global climate change together with increasing direct impacts of human activities, such as fisheries, is affecting the population dynamics of marine top predators." This volume of letters is from 2013. A solution that I think would work is if humans stopped destroying the forests of areas on the Earth where humans have been too and then start regrowing plants and cleaning up areas that humans no longer use.

Jurassic Park Quest- Extinction

These are the animals that I would bring back from each mass extinction if I could use the process of de-extinction. There are a couple different categories that I will go over for each animal. These are classification, (wether it is a mammal, bird, reptile or etc), diet, (what it eats), habitat, (the area it lived in), and the extinction it lived before.

The first animal I would bring back is the Dimetrodon.

Classification- The Dimetrodon is an animal that more closely resembles that of modern day mammals than lizards or birds.

Diet- The diet of the Dimetrodon consisted largely of fish that lived in shallow waters, including the xenacanthus.

Habitat- The fossils of this animal are most commonly found in the red beds of Texas/Oklahoma. This is near rivers and beaches were a long time ago.

Extinction- The Dimetrodon lived until around the end Permian.


The second animal I would bring back is the Trilobite.

Classification- The trilobite was a marine arthopod.

Diet- Though it is uncertain, most people have concluded that the trilobites were carnivores that consumed small invertebrates, such as worms. This is thought because of their structures and how their teeth are formed.

Habitat- The trilobites inhabited the oceans and the seas.

Extinction- The trilobites lived before the end Ordovician.


The third animal I would bring back to life would be the Dunkeosteus

Classification-The Dunkleosteus was a marine reptile.

Diet- It often fed on sharks slightly under its size but could take on something it's size.

Habitat- the Dunkleosteus lived in the depper parts of the ocean and in today's Pennsylvania.

Extinction- This marine reptile was alive until the Late Devonian extinction.

The fourth animal I would bring back to life would be the Camposaurus

Classification- This is a neotheropod dinosaur

Diet- It mostly eats small lizards and bugs that it can kill.

Habitat- It mostly lives in forests near rivers and streams.

Extinction- This creature lived up until the end Triassic.

The fifth animal that I would bring back is the Utahraptor

Classification- This is a theropod dinosaur

Diet-They often ate anything that was available to them and that did not kill them first.

Habitat- Highly wooded forests.

Extinction- This dinosaur went extinct in the K/T Extinction.

Citations:
http://galileon.deviantart.com/art/Utahraptor-2-524313025
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camposaurus
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-terrifying-prehistoric-sea-monsters.php
http://www.mineraltown.com/Reports/33/33.php
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/ss/10-Facts-About-Dimetrodon.htm

My notes: Here

Lunar Landing Quest

If the moon were to be removed from the orbit around Earth, theses are the major and some very small consequences. The first major consequence I could see the moon disappearing would have on the Earth is that the Earth's balance and orbit would be thrown out and it could possibly pull the Earth closer or farther from the sun and create major climate change. The second consequence is that the tides from the moon would disappear and that would mean that at noon time is when the tide would be high. The next consequence is that a lot of animals that sleep in the dark/ night time, including humans, sleep schedules would be messed up. This would cause for the animals to slowly have to either adapt or die off because of the exhaustion. That would then end a lot of food chains involving certain rodents, insects, and other animals. A lot of animals would die and that would cause a lot of foods to disappear from human diets. The next consequence I could see is that there would be no more phases of the moon to observe at night and astronomers would have it harder because the moon is very good for studying space and other extraterrestrial objects.

My notes: Here

Diversity Matters- Extinction

The first profile I am doing on the consequences of changing biodiversity is about how it can lead to extinction. This is also going to be my one profile on the consequences of changing genetic diversity affects a population. Most creatures that are alive today have evolved from past animals and used their genetics to adapt to their surroundings to strive in their current ecosystem. Some animals have had to change their DNA, which is more like the DNA changes itself because of the environment around them has put so much pressure onto their genetics that it causes the genes to have to change. This sometimes results in a species being killed off because either all of their genetics adapt to the ecosystem or the animal dies because it can not handle everything around them.

Credit: Fact Monster

http://www.factmonster.com/dk/science/encyclopedia/evolution.html

The second profile I am going to do is on how animals can damage their own ecosystem. This profile is on how change in species diversity affected an ecosystem. Species are constantly in competition for similar or the same resources. These resources can range from food to areas that they live in. So if two or more different species are fighting over a resource then they could possibly drive that resource  "out" of the ecosystem around them. An example I could give of this would be if two different species of birds were to be competing for a certain bush of berries in the forest. If the birds could (not saying that is real, it is just an example) only eat that berry in that ecosystem, then they may end up getting rid of all of that berry in the area because of them trying to take and eat all of them so that they have them. This would end up changing the ecosystem by taking away those berries and then the rest of the ecosystem wouldn't have it and since the berry bushes grow from the seeds from the berries, they could no longer grow. I assume the berries could possibly redevelop into the ecosystem by the fecal matter if the bird had not been able to dissolve the seeds.


Credit: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_(biology)

My notes: Here

Star Trek- Hollywood Critic

In Star Trek, there are many different aliens that the Starship Enterprise people encounter and come by throughout the movies and series. This hollywood critic is on how all of these different speciees (Vulcans and etc.) all look similar or exactly like humans. So Vulcan's only difference in their appearance to humans is there eyebrows and their ears. If you think about it then the Vulcans, unless they were from another planet and just became native to Vulcan, would have had to evolve from something like a rodent or some other animal in that planet. Vulcan has no animal similar to that of a human or anything human-esque on it. This is very annoying and I don't see why they would have some of the main races look like humans. I could understand if it was really like a budget cut and they couldn't get suits for them but I also don't because like some other things have suits. Also, I could really say this about multiple human-esque aliens in other movies.

Explaining directional hearing in animals- Journalist Side Quest

One of the reasons that humans have the ear lobes are to help them know what direction sounds is coming from. Most animals in nature have a different way of doing this. Scientists have discovered that most animals that do not have really defined ears have a set of "internal ears" which localize sounds so that they can understand them. The animals need this because of the very small gap between their ears and the empty space from ear to ear, allowing for sounds to escape. These newly discovered ears have been found to allow creatures to also hear some more precise things and some internal sounds. Scientists have since thought of a way future robots could use this type of hearing for industrial applications. 

I feel that the discovery of this information is pretty useful because all of the implications it could have ranging from robots with very good hearing to hearing aids that are beyond better than the ones we have now and that could possibly give someone perfect hearing even if they were struggling to hear before. This discovery is very cool.

The article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160218133146.htm

Credit to: Technical University of Munich

Pale Blue Dot

1. For the first step for creating a basic replica of Earth, you would need to find an area that is in a habitable zone and that has a star, such as a red giant, for energy on the planet.

2. After the area for this new planet is located, you will need a lot of dirt, stone, liquid metals, and rocks of sorts. Make sure the dirt has plenty of nitrogen in it so that it can help the atmosphere and be very good for crops.

3. Put the molten metal into a compressed ball in the area where you want the new planet. After that then just start throwing the rest of the stuff onto that ball of metal. It will all eventually sort itself by density and that will create the inside of your planet. The molten core so far will cool on the inside and the outer core will stay liquid because of the pressure on the inside. This liquid out core will help with the atmosphere on the planet.

4. For this step you will need to collect millions of comets and bomb that rock you have created so far with them. This will add a nice landscape to the planet and all of the ice on the comets will melt and create a lot of water.

5. The last step is for vegetation and organisms on the new planet. You could possibly make synthetic life forms, or artificial I guess would be a more accurate term.


My notes: Here

I am Legend- Hollywood Critic

In the movie, I am Legend, Will Smith plays a virologist who is also the protagonist of the film. In the film he creates a vaccine to protect himself from a virus that turns people into zombie/vampire/ghoul things. This may sound like something that is possible but it actually wouldn't work in real life. In the movie it is known that he is the only human that is currently "living" in the city, so knowing this and knowing that to make a vaccine, you would need a patient that had this disease already to get a small cell of the virus which you could then genetically modify so that it was weak and couldn't reproduce rapidly. So to create this vaccine that would protect him so much, he would either need to find another human that would contact or already had contacted the virus and take some of their blood, or he could get the virus and then take his own blood and then he would have something that scientists could go off of because it surely wouldn’t be perfect enough to keep everyone from contacting the virus.

What Goes Down When the Lights Go On

This quest journal entry is on the amount of power others and I use in our household. It cost 12.29 cents to fully charge my iPod. I assume this is a small amount taking in the fact that I don’t even charge it everyday and if I do charge it I only charge it once the whole day. The power bill for my house is about 230$ every month. It costs more power on the weekends because that is when we are all using electronics and on our technology. The month(s) the power bill is the highest is in June, July, and August. It is the highest in those months because that is when we are playing on games, watching tv, and just being lazy because we don’t have school (Me and my brothers). My house requires about 30 to 34 kwh per day. The most efficient ways I could reduce how much energy I use is by not leaving things on the charger overnights or forgetting their on there and leaving them on for like a week (Poor Windows Surface 2). I think that they could change a lot of the energy grid, though it would cost a lot, by upgrading to more hydroelectric and geothermal power plants.

What's Out There- Interstellar

My presentation: Here

My notes: Here

Crash Course Big History #1- #7- Documentarian

So I watched #1 through #7 of Crash Course Big History and have learned many things. One thing that I thought was very interesting was how I learned that Australia had broken off of Antarctica, but the thing I thought was interesting was how marsupials were the majority of the creatures that lived and evolved on Australia, resulting in kangaroos, lemurs, and many other creatures now on Australia. I also learned, or might I say clarified, on how we are more like cousins to Chimpanzees than a predecessor to them. They are like us  in how we both are from a close ancestor from a long time ago. We are no more genetically advanced than Chimpanzees. I also learned and thought it was interesting in how we share 98.4 percent of our DNA with the Chimpanzees. I enjoyed learning about the many different time periods including the Permian, Devonian, and Cretaceous.

Credit: Crash Course http://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/crash-course-big-history.jpg

Godzilla (2014)- Hollywood Critic

In the movie "Godzilla", the main monster is always Godzilla because everything else is irrelevant. The science that I am judging in this Hollywood Critic is about how tall Godzilla is. With the height I found on the wiki page for Godzilla in the newest movie (108 meters or 355 feet) and assuming that Godzilla's bones are created the way most other living creatures bones are made, then I can say that Godzilla's body structure is impossible. Godzilla him self weighs 164,000 pounds and bone would have to make up most of that to be able to hold him up. Bone can hold a certain weight per meter and when increased to Godzilla's size bone increases in weight fast than it increases in how much it can hold. So Godzilla would have to have bones made of something that's weight would be equal to the bones but potentially quadruple the strength so that it could hold up the weight of the bones themselves and the rest of Godzilla's body.