My Science Homework

Day 171: The Global Warming Debate

Mr. G — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:49:33 +0000

Today, we took a short quiz over the final units of the meteorology section of our class. These quizzes will be graded over the weekend and grades updated my early next week.

We then watched another 15 minutes or so of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”. Students were again encouraged to jot down notes regarding the thesis of the film as well as the supporting evidence that is discussed. We then took a few minutes to discuss the main points covered in the film. With this information, students are able to finish writing the second of four portions of their climate change paper.

To finish out the week, we began watching the second film: The Great Global Warming Swindle. To watch the first 10 minutes of this film (which includes a very concisely-stated thesis), press “play” below or click here. This is the portion of the film we viewed in class today.

To watch more sections of the film, click the links below. We will finish watching this film on Monday of next week. Your best strategy to successfully complete this paper is to work on it in small pieces - don’t wait until Tuesday night to write the entire paper! It is due on Wednesday, 05/21/08. Have a great weekend!

View all chapters of The Great Global Warming Swindle:

Day 169: Intro to Climate Change

Mr. G — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:09:49 +0000

The final unit of the year: Climate change. We will be spending several days studying the climate change debate from the scientific viewpoint. We began by discussing the history of climate change on the earth. In a nutshell: the earth’s climate is indeed changing and it always has been. What sets the current changes apart from the others is that they are going on while humans are keenly aware: we are studying the climate more than ever before. We are becoming increasingly aware of the smallest changes, the implications, and funding continues to increase to further study climate change.

Today’s objective was to gain a better understanding of the history of climate change. The test-grade paper was also introduced. All students were given copies of the Climate Change Paper outline form. All students are encouraged to start this paper TONIGHT! Since the paper is expected to be detailed and in-depth, giving attention to the project over several different days/evenings is the best way to complete the project on time. The paper is due on Wednesday, May 21st. Due to the end of the semester grading deadlines, absolutely no late papers will be accepted.

Tomorrow we will continue watching Film #1: Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Then we will follow that by watching a second film: The Great Global Warming Swindle. For now, you should focus your energy on completing the first of four parts of the paper: The history of the Earth’s climate.

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More resources on the history of the Earth’s climate change:

Day 147: Stream Table Lab - Day 2

Mr. G — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:44:44 +0000

Yesterday’s lab was designed mainly to get students accustomed to working with the stream tables and simply observing the flow of water over the Earth’s surface. Today’s lab involved more detailed concepts, including observing closely where erosion and deposition will occur in a meandering river, where the best places would be to construct buildings as to avoid flooding and erosion, and other principles of watershed dynamics.

Homework: Complete Part II of the stream table lab prior to Monday’s class period.

Day 146: Stream Table Lab - Day 1

Mr. G — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:33:18 +0000

After gaining a solid understanding of the terminology used to describe watersheds, students worked in pairs to complete the first part of a two-day lab on riverbed erosion.

Today’s lab focused on simply observing a river channel, blocking the river channel with a dam or levee, and observing how such structures break down with time. Tomorrow we will more closely examine the changes that rivers make over time, including meandering rivers, oxbow lakes, and others. The complete lab (Parts I & II) are due at the end of class tomorrow (Friday). Remember, the geology test is on Tuesday of next week (April 15th).

Homework: Complete Part I of the stream table lab prior to tomorrow’s class period.

Day 145: Rivers & Streams Pre-Lab

Mr. G — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:26:47 +0000

As a means of getting ready for tomorrow’s stream table lab on the development and evolution of streams and rivers, students worked individually to read section 15.2 from the Earth Science text on watersheds. The secdtion review (#1-7, 9) was completed in class and is due at the start of tomorrow’s class period.

Homework: Complete the section review for Section 15.2 prior to tomorrow’s class period.

Day 144: Continental Drift Lab

Mr. G — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:12:03 +0000

What evidence exists that the continents of the Earth have drifted around on the globe over the past several million years? Today, we examined three main pieces of evidence: the fossil record, rock & climate records, and glaciers.

All three of these objects leave significant evidence that the continents were once connected and have since drifted apart. Today’s class was largely spent on the continental drift puzzle activity as we close out the geology unit. Next week we’ll spend most of the time completing a lab utilizing the stream tables to explore how water flows over the Earth’s surface. We’ll also tackle the test over the second half of the geology unit.

Homework: Complete the Continental Drift lab prior to the start of class on Monday.

Day 143: Earthquake Lab

Mr. G — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:05:51 +0000

Today’s objective: To learn how geologists determine the epicenter of an earthquake. The process is remarkably easy and after viewing some of the specifics in a brief, 7-minute video clip, students then worked in cooperative pairs to complete a lab utilizing data from various cities seismograph records to determine the epicenter of an earthquake. Specifically, students worked to determine how far the earthquake occurred from each of three cities utilizing seismograph records. After determining the distance, circles were scribed around each of the three cities. The location in which the three circles intersected is defined as the epicenter.

The earthquake lab was largely completed in class with most groups turning it in prior to the end of the hour. For those who have not turned it in, it is due at the start of tomorrow’s class period.

Homework: Earthquake lab due at the start of tomorrow’s class.

Day 142: The Fossil Record

Mr. G — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:23:52 +0000

As we aim to complete our work on the geology unit over the coming week, students worked in cooperative pairs of their choosing to complete the “The Fossil Record” guide with help from the text. We also discussed the importance and differences between several types of fossil specimens that were passed around the room.

Next week we’ll tackle several days of labs utilizing the steam tables, exploring erosion and deposition, river sediment, deltas, meandering streams, oxbow lakes, flood control methods, etc…

Homework: Complete the fossil record guided notes prior to next week.

Day 141: Absolute Aging Review + Quiz

Mr. G — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:03:27 +0000

We began today’s class by reviewing the absolute aging concepts covered in yesterday’s class period. We did this by going through the solutions for each of the four assigned problems that were part of last night’s homework. Students were allowed to keep the practice problem set and were encouraged to reference it for review prior to the geology test in a couple of weeks.

Following the absolute aging review, students completed a quick, 10-minute quiz over the theories related to the Earth’s changes over time as well as the specifics of the relative aging processes we’ve covered over the last week.

Homework: None.

Day 140: Absolute Aging

Mr. G — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:59:47 +0000

After wrapping up work on determining the relative age of rock layers using the principle of superposition and recreating cross sections of rock layers, students were introduced today to the concept of absolute aging: determining the quantitative age of a rock layer or fossil.

These methods incorporate the principles of radiometric dating: the use of quantitative methods regarding the radioactive decay of such elements as uranium, potassium, and carbon-14. At the end of the hour, students began working on the Absolute Aging problem set - due at the start of tomorrow’s class period.

Homework: Complete the “Absolute Aging Problem Set” prior to the start of class tomorrow.