9. Extended Questions

    a. What happens if the polar ice caps melt?

         With the melting of the polar ice caps we are facing several events that can change how we live in

this world.  The first, the fact that with the melting of the ice caps we are not putting more water into

our oceans, what we are doing we are changing the physical properties of the ice from a solid into a

liquid.  There is more mass in water in a solid state than compared to water in a liquid state.  The

problem is our oceans are a mixture of H2O and NaCl.  With the melting of the polar ice we are putting

more of pure H2O into our oceans.  I believe that this could and will eventually throw the natural

balance off.   Our world is on a balance beam, with the melting of the polar ice, we could and have seen

an increase of weather changes.  This will also upset the food chain, many of our food products like fish,

shell fish etc. all depend on the carefully balance mixture of compounds that are found in the ocean.   

     

Reflection of my students

As I reflect on the lesson plan that I formatted for this class,  I have to also reflect how my lesson went with my students.  We are learning about cells.  I introduced to my students to what a cell was, and how cell(s) make up organisms.  The students seem to know about cells from their previous Science classes.  When I had them describe the organisms that they could see in and outside the classroom, the students seem to be uninterested.
I brought out a jar of pond water, asking them what types of organisms live in pond water. Taking it a step further I took a drop of pond water.  Asking the students is there life in this drop of water.   Half of the class said yes, some said no, others said don't know.  They were amazed of the organisms that I was able to show them.  Engaging our students is a must.  We need to use a variety of tools, resources and creative thinking to educate our students.  There are great sites to explore. I am finding new sites every day. Using these sites with the students encourages them to explore the internet, to find a discovering that they can share with the class teaches not only them but the rest of the class.

Earth Science Week is coming up

This year, AGI is sponsoring three national contests in conjunction with Earth Science Week 2010. Students, scientists and the general public are encouraged to enter the Earth Science Week photography contest, "We Depend on Energy." Students in grades K–5 are encouraged to enter the visual arts contest, "Energy on Earth." And an essay contest, "How Energy Powers the Planet," is open to students in grades 6–9. For more information on these contests and the full program, visit www.earthsciweek.org/contests. The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 47 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. More details are at www.agiweb.org.

Welcome to Scientific Observers

I am looking forward to exploring the world around us. Just think of what we can contribute to each other and our students!!!!