Good Bye For Good........Maybe.

This will be my last post of science. But before I leave I'm going to talk or write about what my favorite activities were in each big topic. Astronomy, Weather and Climate (Earth's Atmosphere), Geology, Weathering and Erosion, and Earth's Waters. My favorite part in astronomy was learning about the stars and the sun, because I didn't know much about the sun and stars. And I learned all of the characteristics of stars, the color, brightness, size, temperature, and composition. I also learned that the sun has 5 layers including the corona and core. I think the sun is so interesting because it's so big and it heats or Earth so well. And think the stars are so cool because even though they're only gas and other particles they look so beautiful at night.

When our class studied weather and climate my favorite part of studying it was learning about all the layers of the atmosphere. I thought there was only one, which was the atmosphere including space. I didn't know that there were 4 layers! There's the thermoshpere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and the troposphere. All of the layers have something special about them and it was so cool to learn about them. But they do have some weird names, I mean why can't it be 1st layer, 2nd layer, 3rd layer, and 4th layer?

Leaning about volcanoes, rocks, layers, of the Earth, etc. Was very interesting, I mean who knew that there was sedimentary rocks, metamorphic, and igneous. My favorite part about this section was learning about all the different types of rock. My favorite of them all is Obsidian, I don't know why but it just looks really pretty. And I'm just really fascinated at the process that makes the different kinds of rocks. It's amazing!

Weathering and erosion was an interesting topic. I mean I thought glaciers and the podcast was pretty cool. I really liked doing the podcast. It was fun and it was different then the usual class work we do. Plus I love working on the computers and learning new things. Even though some of it was difficult and we really had to rush our project. It came out great and I really though we did good.

Learning about Earth's waters was pretty easy. But I really liked it! My favorite part in this section was wetlands. I didn't know how much wildlife lived in them and why they're so important. It was really cool to learn about all the species. But it was very depressing to learn about what people are doing to them and that they're destroying them. But also very interesting to learn what I can do and what other people are doing to trey and save them.

Well this probably is my last post. So I'll say good bye now. Good bye now.

Colorado, Manitou Springs Water

75% of water that Colorado Springs gets comes from Leadville, Breckenridge, and Aspen. Pipes transfer the water from those areas to Colorado Spgs. The other 25% comes from surface water sources and ground water sources that are close to COS. It takes about 200 miles for the water to get to COS. The water is very pure because it comes from the snow and the snow is a very pure water source.

Manitou Springs gets its water from the snow melt up in the Rocky Mountains/Pikes Peak. The water travels through many rivers and streams. On it's way to MS it picks up many minerals harmful and helpful.

What can happen with deforestation, good and bad!

The Water Cycle

1. What is the water cycle? The water cycle is the cycle that water goes
threw changing into gas, liquid and solid.

2. Does the water cycle have a beginning or end? No it doesn't because when a solid becomes a liquid it will either stay a liquid or turn into a gas. Water will never disappear, maybe from sight but not from the atmosphere. It just goes into a different form like gas, liquid, or solid.

3. Starting with a puddle on a sunny day, describe how water might move through the water cycle and eventually fall back as rain. The heat from the sun warms the water and the water gets too hot. So it starts to evaporate into the sky. And the liquid turns to gas and makes a cloud, when the air starts to cool down. The gas molecules start to condensate and the grab round dust particles. A dust particle is like the nuclease, the water then falls from the sky because it becomes to heavy since in condensed. The liquid then falls to the ground as rain.

Deforestationn Project

Deforestation Bibliography

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview.html
This is the website I went to. It said deforestation is a big threat to the environment, many animal's and plant's homes are lost in the process. The logging industry has cut down much of the forests and are clearing them for roads so they can get deeper into the forest. Some of the logging companies are cutting down trees illegally, logging companies aren't the only reasons for deforestation. Farmers are also contributing to the cause. They are cutting down the forest for crops and livestock. Also they're "slashing and burning" little parts of the forest so they can make money and feed they're families. Trees also are a very big factor in the climate, they help with the water cycle, they shade the moist soil from the sun. Without the trees forests can become hot sizzling deserts. Also the trees help regulate the temperature in the forest, shading them in the day and keeping heat in at night. The biggest solution and the most obvious solution is STOP CUTTING DOWN TREES!!!

http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/Envfacts/facts/deforestation.htm
12 million acres are cleared annually! Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Costa Rica, and Sri Lanka might lose all of there forests by 2050 if things don't change. There are so many different problems contributing to deforestation. Such as logging, farms, population growth, food, firewood, and building materials. Carbon Dioxide will increase because of the deforestation. Because trees feed on CO2 and let out oxygen, so the less trees the less oxygen. Trees soak up water from the earth and release it into the atmosphere. There are many ways you can help with this problem one way is using or buying an energy-efficient stove.

http://www.angelfire.com/mo/celticmoon/rainforest/rainforest.html
The rainforest is an abundant resource and is shrinking very fast. It used to be twice as large as it is now. Many plants in the rainforest has medicines in them and cancer institution and leukemia institutions need those medicines to see if they can find a cure. Many species of animals are being demolished every day approximately 100 species are being destroyed a day. Because of deforestation, deforestation is killing the animal's habitats. The Greenhouse effect and soil depletion is being caused by deforestation. It's like a chain reaction. Many tribal people are selling their land and only getting coffee beans and other materials. The tribal people are not getting a fare trade because logging corporations are selling the wood for thousands of dollars and none of it goes to the tribal people.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/
Deforestation is hurting not only humans but animals and plants too. Deforestation only meets some of human needs, but is it worth making animal species and plant species go extinct just for a little timber? No it's not! There may not be a lot of rainforest but it is habitat for 1/2 of the animal population that's wild. Many have micro habitats in the forest and they only live in that little area. In the rainforest there could be cures for cancer in the animals, plants, fungi, etc. genes. Most all of the nutrients are in the living plants and decomposing liter on the ground. Farmer's lands are starting to not be able to produce or hold crops anymore, because the soil composition has not fertilization. And when that land is turned into cattle land then there is a small chance of forest recovery.

Deforestation What I'm Doing

What, specifically about your topic, are you going to research? I'm researching who is cutting down the trees and what companies and how they are doing it.

What conclusions did you come to? I came to the conclusion that we need to really help and go against deforestation because our lives might be at risk too. We might have less oxygen and your kids will have less oxygen and their kids will have less oxygen if we don't do something about it.

What do you recommend average citizens do to make a difference? Be specific. This is the main part of your assignment. I recommend that average citizens protest and write letters to the big corporations that they stop cutting down the rainforest or they will stop using the products the company sells.

What would happen if, worst-case scenario, nobody listened to your recommendations? All of the endangered animals and plains will go extinct or be destroyed, and there will be less oxygen and more carbon dioxide in the air.

What would happen if, best-case scenario, everybody listened to your recommendations? The rainforest could grow back and the endangered species will become not endangered because they will have more living space.environment.

Observing Water Properties

My partner and I did a penny and water experiment. We took 2 pennies, laid them on a flat surface, and with water droplets dropped water on to them to see how many drops the penny could hold. I thought the penny would only be able to hold 4 water droplets. But I was wrong, the penny held 12 droplets in all. The height really effects how many droplets the penny could hold because the higher the droplet was held. The faster the water would fall. Plus I didn't have a lot of control on where putting the water on the penny at a greater height. Unlike when the droplet was about maybe a 1/2 inch above the penny. I could control where the drop landed on the penny and how fast it landed.

Ogallala Aquifer

The Ogallala Aquifer is located in 8 states, they are Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. As you can see in the pictyre above, the Ogallala expands 1,000 square miles, from Texas to South dakota. My role and purpose as a scientist going to Ogallala Aquifer is to find a way to reduce the ground contamination. The Ogallala is being depleted and polluted, the irrigation withdraws a lot of groundwater and hardly any of it is replaced or recharged. The Ogallala is on the Great Plains, it's made of sand, gravelm minerals, and other substances. It is starting to run dry, this is making wells run dry too. Farms are starting to foreclose and the population of small towns are decreasing since the Ogallala is starting to run dry. We believe that it will take 6,000 years to restore and refill the reservior to it's original condition. Around the Ogallala there are Rockie Mountains to the West, great Plains to the East, and many farms are around it too. There are praire dogs, grasslands, pronghorn antelope, foxes, praire chickens, and many more types of animals live around the Ogallala region. Ogallala reveals that Earth's waters are being polluted and used too much without recharging. Humans are using the Ogallala water carelessly and too much for there consumption. They need to give the Ogallala a rest so it can recharge or slow down on the amount they use.

Earthquake Web Quest

1a.Where do most of the earthquakes tend to happen?
Most earthquakes happen around the world.

1b.Where do most of the earthquakes tend to happen?
The most place earthquakes tend to happen is in the Pacific plate, between Asia and Australia, and the coast of North America.

2.Why do you think that is?
I think that is because all of the plates in the world are moving and causing disruption in the Earth and its crust.

3.What is this area called?
This area is called plate tectonics.

4.Where is the earthquake closest to Manitou Springs?
4.The closet earthquake to Manitou Springs was in NEW MEXICO.

What are the details of this earthquake?
It happened Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 08:02 AM. The magnitude was a
2.8 and the depth was 5.0 kilometers.

Would people be able to feel this earthquake?
No, not normally.

About how much more ground shaking would occur for this magnitude earthquake compared to a magnitude 1 earthquake?
The magnitude was 100 times greater than the magnitude of 1 earthquake.


About how much greater is the energy released with this earthquake compared to the energy of a magnitude 1 earthquake?
1,024 is how much more energy this earthquake released.





5. I'm doing the earthquake that hit YUNNAN-GUIZHOU BORDER REGION, CHINA. The magnitude was 4.6, the depth was 10 km (6.2 miles). There are rolling hills, deep river-carved gorges, and mountains. The earthquake hit on Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 8.41pm. The location of Yunnan-Guizhou is 26.832°N, 104.067°E. There was an extreme amount of ground shaking during this earthquake. Yunnan-Guizhou is in southern China 1845 km (1150 miles) SW of BEIJING, Beijing, China. Only some material was damaged nothing too bad.




6.How can people protect themselves from the dangers of earthquakes?
They need-
* Water: 1 gallon per person per day (a week's supply of water is preferable)
* Water purification kit
* First aid kit, freshly stocked
* First aid book
* Food
* Can opener (non-electric)
* Blankets or sleeping bags
* Portable radio, flashlight and spare batteries
* Essential medication
* Extra pair of eyeglasses
* Extra pair of house and car keys
* Fire extinguisher : A-B-C type
* Food, water and restraint (leash or carrier) for pets
* Cash and change
* Baby supplies: formula, bottle, pacifier, soap and baby powder, clothing, blankets, baby wipes, disposable diapers, canned food and juices.
* Canned bread and sandwich spreads
* Canned meat, fish or poultry
* Canned fruit and juice
* Canned soup, chili, spaghetti, stew and vegetables
* Nuts or trail mix
* Granola bars
* Tea bags, instant coffee and hot chocolate mix
* Instant soup and cereal
* Boxed cereal
* Hard candy and gum
* Evaporated or dry milk
* Baby food
* Formula
* Dry and canned pet food
* Large plastic trash bags for waste, tarps and rain ponchos
* Large trash cans
* Bar soap and liquid detergent
* Shampoo
* Toothpaste and toothbrushes
* Feminine hygiene supplies
* Toilet paper
* Household bleach

* Sturdy shoes
* Heavy gloves for clearing debris
* Candles and matches
* Light sticks
* Change of clothing
* Knife or razor blades
* Garden hose for siphoning and fire fighting
* Tent
* Toys for children
* Communication kit: paper, pens, stamps

* Plastic knives, forks, spoons
* Paper plates and cups
* Paper towels
* Heavy-duty aluminum foil
* Camping stove for outdoor cooking (caution: before using fire to cook, make sure there are no gas leaks; never use charcoal indoors)