Elsa Petersen's Science Methods II Blog

 Lab: Gazette Article:  In the coming summers, scientists predict that we will have more days above 100 degrees than ever before. They have noticed the temperatures trending upward through climate data, and believe that a way we can help to slow the impacts of climate change is to switch up the energy sources we use day to day. Because of the rising heat, more people are dying from weather-related deaths, specifically from the heat. If we can attempt to get climate change under control, then these deaths will continue to decrease. There have been positive signs in Iowa, though, as 30% of the energy created in the state is from wind. While there is much more to be done, that is a least a start.  With the changing needs for livestock farmers, how can we make sure that the energy being used is sustainable going forward?  How will the changing climate impact all other industries? Precipitation: Questions:  1. What type of data do we have that supports climate change...

 Lab:  What are the primary points in the video? - Climate change is becoming increasingly destructive to the earth - People are experiencing the impacts of climate change right now -- even those who don't contribute to the problem as much What are the major issues? - glacial melting - people are needing energy, and how do we provide that for people without using fossil fuels - lobbying for big energy companies - changing weather patterns What questions do you want us to teach you? - What realistic steps can we take to navigate the effects of climate change? - What big corporations contribute the most? - What will happen if we do nothing to change our habits? How would you like us to teach you? - Real-life impacts from around the world? - SDG's - Simulations - Public Data NASA Images of Change: This image describes a lake in Oregon that has disappeared over the span of 20 years. This was caused by immense dry conditions and water withdrawals in the area. The disappearance of t...

 Lab:  First, we discussed the law of superposition. This law states that the deeper layers of rock in or outside of the earth are the oldest, and as they get closer to the surface, they are younger. We then determined the order in which different formations occurred based on the principle of superposition using a handout. We found that if there are rivers or other movements (earthquakes, etc) then that movement must have occurred before material filled it in.  st Sand Sample Classifications:       1: Beach Sand (Ocean) -- Bigger pieces with irregular shapes      2. Dune -- fine, opaque       3: Beach (Ocean) -- Huge pieces irregular in size, pitted, dark in color       4. Beach (Ocean) -- Very irregular in size, random bits, rough, not polished       5. River -- Polished, smooth, similar in size       6. Dune -- very fine, frosted, similar in size, slightly ...

Lab:  Sedimentary / Metamorphic/ Igneous Rocks This week, we learned more about convection and how the inside of the earth heats and cools, causing the movement of the tectonic plates. The movement of the plates can cause different natural formations, such as mountains, ridges, volcanoes, and more.  Rocks:  Igneous: Cooled Magma Metamorphic: Heat and Pressure Sedimentary: Compaction and Cementation (includes water)  Through an investigation, we created our own kinds of rocks by using starburst candies. Igneous rocks were created from melting one or more flavors of candy, and metamorphic rocks were crafted by sightly heating up the candy so that it could be molded and formed with another. Lastly, the sedimentary rocks were created by just simply shoving the starburst candies into one another, creating layers within the formation. It was a really fun experience to see how different rocks are created in nature while also getting a delicious treat afterward! ◡̈ Lecture:...

Lab:  Earth viewer Activity:  Earth and Moon formed ~4500 Mya The oldest minerals show evidence of liquid water on Earth (~4400 Mya) About 2.4 billion years ago, oxygen began to persist in the atmosphere. Before then, life did not necessitate oxygen.  Snowball earth -- earth was covered in ice (2200-2000 Mya)  Cambrian explosion (540 Mya) -- diversification of life First land plants: (470 Mya)  First land vertebrates (375 Mya)  Permian-Triassic Extinction (~251 Mya) referred to as "The Great Dying" or the largest extinction event in history Genus Homo (2 Mya)  Homosapiens appeared much later -- 0.2 Mya With young students, it is helpful to use a timeline to illustrate the concepts of earth's conception and beyond. With the students, it could be easiest to create a timeline that details the last billion years to be more specific with a smaller span of time. Pressbook:  - The first life on Earth was simple, prokaryotic bacteria. - At least three tim...

 Lab:  Today we discussed the planets in our solar system, creating a model of the four planets closest to the sun. Our task was to create a proportional model, discovering how small the planets are compared to the sun and how vast our galaxy is. We decided to make our model 60 meters long, with our sun at 350mm in diameter. At first, we made our sun way too small, meaning our planets were a fraction of a millimeter in diameter, which did not work for this particular model. With that information, we lengthened the distance of our model, and made the diameter of the sun much larger so that we could properly create our model.  Sun: 0m                                                                 Mercury: 14.5m                    ...