How Global Warming Relates to math

For the past few weeks I have been immersed in a research task. My, topic for this task was global warming. As i researched, I discovered just how much math and global warming were related. To begin with, scientists observe the earth each day, trying to examine the changes that global warming has inflicted upon the environment. Sea levels are observed and scientists believe that there is a 90 percent chance that sea levels will rise along the coast. In addition it is believed that the sea levels will rise around the world, rising 8.3 inches above the mean sea level because of human induced climate change. As scientists continue to make these calculations, they understand how much of a threat global warming can be to the earth. If the sea levels continue to rise, the oceans will engulf many nations in water, killing so many. Humans continue to ruin the environment with self generated gas emissions that will cause more disasters such as droughts and hurricanes. Inevitably, more people will be left homeless forcing more and more money will have to be contributed in order to pay and restore the losses. Many graphs were shown to provide people with insight on how global warming may continue to affect us, with line graphs displaying the increase of greenhouse gases and increase in sea levels. Over all, math and global warming are connected in many ways, and without math scientists would never have been able to comprehend just how much global warming was affecting us.

Class Response: Cnidarians and Sponges

In science class we have been learning about sponges and cnidarians. During this time, I learned quite a lot. To begin with, both cnidarians and sponges reproduce both asexually and sexually. Budding in how the two animals both reproduce asexually, which is when an organism duplicates itself. Sponges and cnidarians have two different cell types that allow them to trap food. Sponges have collar cells and cnidarians have stinging cells. The stinging cells paralyze a cnidarians prey, thus allowing them to eat they prey as their food source. Sponges and cnidarians aslo have two distinct body structures. Cnidarians have radial symmetry, tentacles with stinging cells and two basic body forms:vase shaped and bowl shaped Medusa. Sponges on the other hand, are like hollow bags with pores. They are invertebrate animals with spikes for defense. Based on all of this information I have gained, I ended up feeling satisfied with knowing so much about sponges and cnidarians. This was an interesting topic to learn about, and surprising to see that the 2 animals reproduce the same way. I don't think I can watch "Spongebob" again without remembering all of the facts I learned in class!

Chef

My podcast is an interview with a chef and they discuss the education and science involved in this career.
http://omegapride.podomatic.com/player/web/2009-12-11T09_06_19-08_00

Turkeys On Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays ever, and the food is probably one of the reasons why it is so loved. Turkey on Thanksgiving has been a tradition for many for centuries, however "the odds are 99-to-1 your holiday spread won't include a traditional gobbler but rather it's mass produced cousin" after reading this sentence in The Sunday Star-Ledger newspaper I was shocked! According to the article, It is very unlikely to find a pure bred turkey now a days. Instead we find ourselves eating "a white feathered bird that's been bred to grow breasts so plump it has lost the ability to fly." However, New Jersey and many other states happen to be raising heritage turkeys even after they were almost near extinction. Now that farmers have started to raise these birds, more people are buying them and tasting the succulent taste of a nicely bred heritage turkey. This connects to science because farmers need to know about genetics in order to produce more heritage turkeys. They would probably need to know about dominant factors in a turkey and how the offspring would turn out to be. I chose this article because it appealed to me and seemed interesting how heritage turkeys were being bred again, and all this time I had thought that all turkeys were the same! My opinion on this situation is that I am very pleased that more heritage turkeys are being raised, and its always a good thing traditional meals on holidays like Thanksgiving. In addition I hope that the rate of heritage turkeys for the 100 farms that possess these turkeys goes up and that they will spread to other farms so that more natural heritage birds can keep being bred, and they won't face extinction.

I found this article in The Sunday Star Ledger Newspaper.

Extra Credit: Quote

The quote "in science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world not to the man whom the idea first occurred" means exactly what it says. In science, there are so many assumptions made and ideas that pop into one's head at any given time, however you cannot be positive about hypothesis until that hypothesis is proven. For example, Nicolas Copernicus was the first who came up with the theory that the the Earth was in motion and that the Earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around. However, Nicolas did not have the tools to prove his theory and everyone in his time thought that he was insane. However, Galileo Galilei managed to prove to the world that Copernicus's theory was correct with plenty more theories and fancy math jazz. And to this day, people recognize that name for being the one that proved the Earth was definitely in motion.So in the end, it all comes down to whether or whether not one can prove his or her hypothesis, and then that person will be recognized for their outstanding achievements.

Ecosystems Collapsing

Who: The Apex predators and Mesopredator's.

What: The decline of apex predators( large predators that don't have predator's therefore they are at the top of the food chain ex: sharks, lions, wolves.) is causing a huge uproar in the ecosystems. Mesopredators ( or the medium sized predators such as skunks, snakes and cats) are increasing dramatically in their given ecosystem, therefore "causing major economic and ecological disruptions."

When: Present day

Where: North America, parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Why: The food chain is un-balanced now, due to the fact that the apex predators have been decimated. Apex predators such as wolves, lions and sharks are decreasing as a result of fishing and hunting. .Because of this, mesopredator population has increased dramatically/ This could be very severe and and could have intense ecological consequences.

My opinion: Based upon the information given in this article, I believe the balance of the ecosystem has plummeted dramatically. It is my belief that problems like these always lead back to humans. They disrupt the lifestyles of animals quite often. However, if humans were to cut back on fishing so much and hunting so much then maybe that would give a chance to the animals to catch up and set the balance of our world right. In addition, humans should know the facts. They should know that by killing apex predators whether it be to protect their livestock from wolves, or just fishing for sharks, we are causing our own down fall by losing crops and plant damage. Its becoming even more hard to stop the prevention of mesopredators release because of the increasing loss of apex predators. Humans need to understand the circle of life better and comprehend how much we ruin the balance of all of animal's ecosystems. Inevitably, we will be in trouble too, when all of the commotion in the animal's ecosystem effects us dramatically. In the circle of life we are all connected and we can't ruin that balance by making ridiculous mistakes such as over fishing and hunting so much. To read the article click here
I also got "circle of life" stuff from the lion king (:

Flamingo's Iconic stance

Flamingos are astonishing and beautiful birds that happen to be very unique. They have he most unusual stance that you may not find in other exotic birds. They have a one-legged stance that has had many people baffled including Matthew Anderson of university of Philadelphia who has conjured two very intelligent theories that may explain this peculiar behavior of these magnificent birds. His first theory was that the stance of the flamingo is dictated by the fatigue felt. Therefore the one legged stance reduces muscle fatigue. In addition, standing on one leg prevents both legs from stiffening and or causing exhaustion, therefore, if a predator were to come the flamingo would be able to escape swiftly and quickly without much hesitation. This theory was evaluated by timing how long it took the flamingo to to begin moving in a unipedal or bipedal resting position. If the flamingo took their first couple steps in the unipedal position the theory would be considered correct. However the flamingo did not do so, therefore the theory was ruled out. The second theory was based upon thermoregualtion, the maintenance of body temperature. Both the legs can cause significant heat loss in birds, with one leg close to the body the bird would conserve their heat. To test this theory, the examination of the weather conditions played a significant part. If the weather conditions in which the flamingo was resting was warm they would stand on two feet. If the climate was colder they would stand on one leg. It was seen that the majority of the birds stood on one foot during the cold climate. So according to Matthew Anderson, the theory of thermoregulation plays a huge part in the one-legged stance of flamingos. In addition "it doesn't rule out other benefits of the posture, such as minimizing contact with parasites and fungi that might be present in the water they are wading in" as stated in the article where all this information was found. My opinion on this matter is simply that flamingos are fascinating creatures, and their iconic stance has had many befuddled. I believe that thermoregulation plays a crucial part in the reason why they stand in such a way, in addition to posture and exhaustion. I mean with legs like that wouldn't you wanna relax one of them by standing on one leg? I sure would. This article was found here.