Earth and Environmental Blog Week 17

Monday or February 22, 2015 C.E.:

Today we were introduced into a new unit and a new project. We have started the notes on Unit 7 Section 1 which talks about sea water. We also learned more about a really cool project that were would do today. We will carry a trash bag for 24 hours and put in all the waste that we use. When we return to class, we will all weigh our trash and graph all our weights. Already I have used five tissues. It will be interesting who uses the most trash from our class.

Tuesday or February 23, 2015 C.E.: 

Today we all compared our trash bag weight. One person had no trash and we all thought he cheated and threw away his trash somewhere else. Our Math teacher, Mr. Simon had the most trash. This is understandable because he has 2 small children. I was toward the bottom, but some people beat me. We also did a lot of notes. We also discussed ocean gases. Oceans contain mostly Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Carbon Dioxide. The amount of dissolved gases is based on the temperature of the water. Colder water can hold more dissolved gas.

Wednesday or February 24, 2015 C.E.:

Today we took a lot of notes about salt in ocean water. Salinity is the measure of dissolved solids in ocean water. It includes, but is not limited to salt. The elements present in the salts in ocean water are not just sodium and chloride, but also phosphorus and iron. We also learned about thermocline which is amount of the sun's energy on a region of the ocean. We also started an interest-a-lizer. It is essentially a study about what each of us likes to do. Apparently, there is a project coming up where we can choose what we want to study.

Thursday or February 25, 2015 C.E.:

Today our teacher gave us four large papers titled Land, River, Sand and Ocean. We had to brainstorm as many things as possible in them. We wrote so many things that each paper was almost completely full. Then we were told to go to the group that we liked best. I went to the Land group because I like breathing air. We then had to come up with something environmental that could affect what we like to do. I though smog could affect that. We still don't know what the project is, but it should be pretty big and good.

Friday or February 26, 2016 C.E.:

Today we did a lot of notes. We learned about the difference between deep ocean and surface currents. Deep ocean currents are slower and colder. Surface currents are warm and faster. We also learned about the global conveyor belt. In this, deep ocean currents move from the equator to the poles and back. When they reach the equator, they rise and cause upwellings. They then also bring nutrients to the surface. We also learned about what the project was about. We could either choose to do a lab in class about seawater or something of our choice. I decided to be in the same group with Andrei. We will research the effect of Eutrification on coastal ecosystems. We will research algal blooms and the overfertilization involved.

Algal Bloom

Summary: This week was a good week. We took part in an eye-opening trash project and started a really cool lab about oceans. I still need to work on finishing my blog fast and not last minute.

Earth and Environmental Blog Week 16

Monday or February 1, 2016 C.E.:

Last week we dug up soil from our yards. We then put it in a bag and brought it to class. Today we started a soil profiling lab. We need to examine our soil and its properties. Today we did the soil observation visually. We looked at it with a hand magnifier and a weak microscope. The microscope was really cool. Even though it wasn't that strong, I was able to see so much more than I could before. I saw little rock fragments and sand bits. I was amazed. Tomorrow we will continue on this lab.
















Tuesday or February 2, 2016 C.E.:

Today we continued the cool lab in science class. I started out the class with a test of my soil for texture. I had to make a soil worm by rolling it into a ribbon. If I was unable to do so, my soil was predominantly sand. Silt is seen with a short ribbon and clay with a long one. My soil had silt. Then I found the amount of free carbonates in the soil by dumping vinegar on it. This was really easy because nothing happened. This means I have zero. At the end of class I started a long experiment. I put soil and water in a graduated cylinder and shook it up. Tomorrow when the soil settles, I will see how the layers settle.

Wednesday or February 3, 2016 C.E.:

Surprisingly, my soil has the majority of sand in it. It was really hard to see the layers in my soil because everything is extremely dark. After a lot of observation, I finally came up what it was 56% sand, 19% silt, and 25% clay. After, I had to check the phosphorus content of the soil. It seems my soil is depleted of phosphorus. We also did a little review for the test tomorrow. It talk about weathering, erosion, and deposition, or the things on the quiz. It will also talk about new things such as soil horizons, soil types, and soil formation. I think the test will be easier than the quiz because many of the questions on the test will probably also be from the quiz. I am hoping for an A+ which would be awesome.

Thursday or February 4, 2016 C.E.:

Today we took the big test. It had questions about the rate of weathering and what affects it. There were questions about the interaction of different soil horizons and their names. We also had to explain how soil is formed and in which condition it forms the fastest. I definitely think I will do good on this one. It had so many questions that were on the quiz that I doubt I will get anything lower than a high A. One reason why I am so confident is because of my studying. I studied my vocabulary and soil layers which really paid off.

Friday or February 5, 2016 C.E.: 

I got a 98% on my test!!! I am thrilled. I got one multiple choice question wrong about the biosphere. I defined the biosphere wrong, but that is ok. We reviewed the quiz quickly and it seems other people around me did well too. After this we worked a little on our Seeds to Shoreline project. We didn't have much to work on since we didn't have any seeds germinate. This means we have officially the least germinated seeds. We have three. Another group had over twenty. :( The rest of class we just took it easy and learned a little bit about the ocean to prepare for our new unit on Monday.
Summary: This week was a good week. I did better on my assessments than last week and I finished my blog faster. I can still work on efficiency and speed in other areas though.