Module 7, Climate change??

Explain

The ability of cyanobacteria to perform oxygenic photosynthesis is thought to have enabled biodiversity and let oxygen dependant organisms thrive.  The opening scenes from "Life before Oxygen" from Teachers Domain were just like the poster on the wall of Mr. Pointer and similar to this:



From Geo 130, U of Florida

 Stromatolites are produced by microbial assemblages, mostly dominated by blue-green algae, but the stromatolite is really a sedimentary deposit. In effect, they are trace fossils produced by the sediment-trapping character of the microbial mat. In my own teaching manuals I list stromatolites under Trace Fossils. If you want to indicate them as the products of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), then list it under Kingdom Monera (for prokaryote microbes).
Dr. Tom E. Yancey


In the video "Soil Microbes and Global Warming" I learned the the very area we feel is most susceptible to Global Warming may be itself a leading contributor to Green house gases! Another great example of how all things are connected.

After learning about the creation of all elements withing stars again I gave pause.  Super Nova
Starting with hydrogen and helium using fusion to create all elements through Iron, then explode the star to create the rest.... wow!

From the BBC a supernovae in real time

Extend

While a student at Tumwater High I remember listening to Mr. Pointer and his rants on blue-green algae! (Cyanobacteria) "Do you realize you owe your life to bacteria", he would say. His enthusiasm was laughable at the time for young cool teenagers like myself...  Not long after doing my student teaching in Tumwater, I thanked him.  He didn't pay for a drink all night..... :-) And he swears his next fishing trip is to Juneau!

We are currently studying weather and climate in my class at F.D.  The last few modules have been great but, this one seems a little out of the range, for now. The question of how deep to go is a constant struggle. Every video reminds me of a months worth of study in college.  What do I share, what do I explore, what do I want them to learn, when do I just let it go and leave it for the next teacher....? My Principal gives me the impression that if it is on the SBA's then teach it, if not, touch on it and move on. (I will refrain from bashing standardized testing)

Is climate changing? Some things I know for sure:

• As I have looked out at mendenhall glacier since I move here in 1992, it has retreated.
• I took this photo today, that rock face on the left is somewhat new....as is my lovely wife! :-)

• Growing up I once drove my motorcycle across Black Lake in the winter to my buddies house, It hasn't frozen like that since I was 16.
• My brother built an 8 foot snowman in the road when I was a kid and the police stuck a flare in it and the Daily Olympian took a picture, now Tumwater struggles to get snow that lasts at all.
• I sat in the sun in shorts just over 2 months ago.  (okay, maybe El nino...)
• Watch the video of the Inuit people of Sachs Harbour

Evaluate

This module has so many great resources it is hard to imagine using even half of them. The carbon cycle is not as well known as the water or rock cycle but stay tuned.......

I have tried to secure compute lab time to share some of these but have run into trouble with the district and it's YouTube and internet policies so I just download them and show them from my PC.

The very idea if capturing and storing CO2 is amazing: store it here?

Classmates:

Konrad here are a couple links to help clear up the carbon cycle: or carbon cycle 2


Carbon cycle


Others coming soon!

Module VI The Atmosphere and us

Explain

I have learned the Arctic air and mammals are bearing the brunt of the pollution created thousands of miles away by industrialized nations who have lax or no environmental laws to impede the worlds greatest nations from getting things made cheap!

China

This pollution is in turn being passed on to the people who eat the mammals at the top of the food chain.  If they were to merely eat the fish or lower animals in the food chain they would be better off, however, that is not their way of life. 

Seal fat from Google images, Sila.nu

It is the fat in these arctic mammals that store the toxins that have accumulated where the sun is not available to warm the air and cause the circulation that occurs in the lower latitudes.

In a study from the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada. An ice core from Greenland shows a continuous record of the monthly deposition of thallium, cadmium and lead from 1772 forward.  All three metal levels soar between 1850 and 1900 only to escalate 10 fold again in the early 20th century until the great depression curbed industry.  By the 1970's all three metals were decreasing as clean air laws are adopted in the U.S. and parts of Europe.

From Science Daily

As China, India and the rest of Asia work to control emissions there is some hope these and other pollutants can continue to be eliminated from all of the worlds air and food....

Extend and Evaluate

It is truly ironic that the same harsh, cold weather conditions that keep the arctic isolated from most humans also trap the pollution of the densely populated warm climate areas of the world.  The arctic haze...

From NOAA

The images below in Google earth show what looks like a tropical depression or storm building over Puerto Rico.  It is hard to tell without wind speeds....I don't know how to view the date of these shots.

As I look at the cool models of the atmosphere and wish I had these at the beginning of this year when I was teaching Atmosphere, I smile and recall my drawings on the white board...lol  Using many colors and taking great care to make things clear when I could have just gone to the computer lab...however, taking good notes also helps students so a mix of the two is what I will use in the future.

I think I will go back and revisit some of the topics I have finished using these resources and call it a Mid-Semester review...

I am a little confused at the wind charts with the increase in Latitude.  It shows little wind at the equator....The Doldrums as I expected.  At 30 degrees though it shows a constant increase in wind speed.  My question is what about the horse latitude calm zone from the high pressure in the Hadley and Ferrel cells?

Picture from Wikipedia:

It is so cool to be back in science....I like getting side tracked while talking to students about "things they have heard" or things that don't make sense.... like; if warm air rises, why is it cold on mountains...?? :-)

It is sometimes difficult to secure time in the computer labs as more and more classes utilize this vast resource.  The more I learn in classes like this the more I realize I must use the Internet more to give my students the best education I can, especially in science!  These videos and pictures from sites like Teachers Domain truly bring to "life" the topics we cover and foster better understanding...

My classmates:

Amy and I both learned about Ben F. mapping out the gulf stream and will use the videos in this section soon.

In Sandi's blog she models the kind of organization I think my blog is lacking.  I will try to adopt her layout skills.....

I'm glad Nick dispels the myth of total darkness in Barrow.  Nice pic, like most of you I too enjoy taking in "the moment" and appreciating the amazing things around us daily.

Module V and Ocean connections

Explain
Thermohaline circulation was a great flash from the past.  Very cold water that is very salty sinking from the poles and starting the great ocean current conveyor.  The cold dense water moves very slow and can take over 1600 years to complete the circulation with only the last tenth being in the warm surface current.

  This type of convection cell fuels many systems on our planet, including our weather, fueled by the large amounts of warm moist air rising near the equator and cooler air sinking around 30 degrees north.  Until writing this blog I thought warm air had the ability to "hold" more water vapor than cold air, In the search for the truth I found this: Water Vapor Myths and this: Bad Clouds you decide.... I will spend more time on this later.

Expand and Explore

As I explore Ocean temperatures I am amazed at my findings.  The surface temperatures below are from today Nov. 9, 2010.  My class just studied Hurricanes and Typhoons where surface temp. to build a good storm must exceed 81 degrees F, plenty of opportunity out there.....

The average ocean temp. from "Save the Sea" stated 39 degrees F or 2 degrees C.  That didn't make sense to me until I thought about the oceans being so deep (average depth is 12,200 ft.) 

The video from TD about Warmer Oceans Affect Food Web attributes the decline in some sea animals to declines in forage fish species such as herring and sand lance.  These declines are partially attributed to warming oceans and the effects may be just beginning.  According to the Ocean Facts on SavetheSea.org 3.5 billion people depend on the ocean for their primary source of food. And this number is suppose to grow rapidly! 

The indigenous people of Alaska have already noticed a huge decline in the availability of food from the sea and waters here in Alaska. As the ocean warms, pollution increases, over harvesting continues and more people become dependant on the Oceans for their food, something has to give. 

Unfortunately it will most likely be the people who need the ocean to survive who will be hurt the most. Around the world, impoverished people with little or no political voice and no corporate connections will have to make do with what is left after the major ocean harvesting corporations are done making a profit. 

My wife's family lives in the fishing port of Roxas City, Philippines and have felt first hand the effects of declining fish populations that once sustained their entire existence.

Good points of classmates

Matt does a great job discussing S & P waves! The importance of early warning is critical especially with the threat of Tsunamis!

Like Konrad I enjoyed the google earth section of this module.  I wanted to post a cool under water view I found but it kept mixing up my entire blog....?

Nick brings up a huge concern of barrow and many others....the vanishing sea ice!

All things with enough heat and time...

After viewing the first three videos of the TD Resources section my mind wonders yet again.  Desecration's of Holy sites litter our nation.  Thank God (the holy power of your choice) the people are finally having a voice that government officials are BEGINNING to listen to.  I also enjoyed the story of Maui catching the great fish that turns into the Hawaiian islands.

I took a class this last summer and learned of a sacred place of the Tlingit right here in Auke Bay that has been mostly lost.  I believe it is Indian Cove that was once a great herring spawning ground and the Indian Point peninsula is a sacred place for the local Tlingit people. Both places show the impact of non-cultural development. The herring beds are gone.


Explain:
The San Andreas fault is a Strike-Slip and in places, Thrust faults. This is the major sources of earthquakes along the left coast of the U.S., however, volcanic activity is not associated with this type of plate boundary.  The Subduction zone of the pacific plate along the Aleutian islands is a volcanic nursery and equally responsible for earthquakes in Alaska.

Extend:
Spirit Lake was just another place to go camp... Mt. Saint Helens was just another peak in the cascades until May 18, 1980..........................Watch the eruption

I was at spring football practice going into my sophomore year at Tumwater High School.  We saw the cloud of dust rising to the south, the coaches new what had happened and sent us home.  We only got a dusting of ash, our friends to the south received from inches to feet depending on location... 57 souls were lost.

The formation of  Mt. Saint Helens and the Cascade Range is similar to the Aleutians.  A "small" plate called the Juan de Fuca plate is sub-ducting under the North American plate.  The result is the same, volcanoes and earthquakes!

I estimate the length from Hawaii to the tip of the Aluetians to be 3,909 miles.

The end...

Some classmates of mine...

 I like the way James W. acknowledges Alaska as a place of “feast or famine” and  “remote and raw”.  Alaska has had many stories of “boom or bust”, it is the local people who see what the land truly has to offer and harvest those resources to survive.

Sandi P. has a nice way of showing her understanding and continued learning as a result of taking this class…. By throwing and old lesson plan in the trash!  Woo hoo!

Like Eric E. is doing now, I also enjoy the learning I have gained by just living here and visting remote places in Alaska.  So much is happening here that is not well known by people who haven’t visited, trying to explain it to them just can’t do the people involved justice.