Global Warming

Posted: January 6, 2009 by Dr. Glass in Science in Everyday Life

We continue to become aware of factors about global warming.  This is a list of the terms to know.  The terms are the same ones we were studying before winter break, but some of the definitions have been made clearer and a couple of terms have been added.  Please study these.

We have already had a test on these, but we will be pre-testing again, then testing, as the subject is a hard one, and the testing needs to be easier than it was before break.

1.     Fossil - what is left of something that was alive soooo long ago (many thousands or millions of years ago).

2.     Fuel - anything that is burned (like wood, cow poo, gasoline, coal)

a.     to run our cars

b.      to make electricity

3.      Fossil fuel - what dinosaurs and plants turn into after millions of years underground -”natural gas,” “oil,”   or “coal.”  Then we use these for fuel in our cars and to make electricity.

4.     What using fossil fuels causes -  it adds lots of one kind of gas - CO2 - to the air and turns the Greenhouse Effect into  Global Warming

5.     The Greenhouse effect is GOOD - when the gases around Earth keeps Earth a little warm at night by trapping heat in the atmosphere.

6.     Global Warming - when there is too much of some gases in that air around Earth and too much heat is trapped, and it gets too warm on Earth.

7.     Climate Change - another ‘word’ for Global Warming

8.     Where most electricity comes from - burning fossil fuels

9.     Gas - something that you usually can’t see, like air.  When something is not solid or a liquid, it is a gas.

10.             Air is made of many different kinds of gases.

11.             Many things are often a gas.  [You don't HAVE to know the examples.]

a.      Water

b.      Oxygen

c.       Carbon dioxide

d.      Nitrogen

e.      Natural Gas/ Methane (from garbage or …

12.             Many things are often a liquid [You don't HAVE to know the examples.]

a.      Water

b.      Gasoline

c.       Whatever you make using water (blood, runny nose juice, lemonade)

d.      Carbon dioxide on other planets - but not Earth

13.             O2 = oxygen

14.             CO2 = carbon dioxide

15.            What humans breathe in - O2 /  What humans breathe out - CO2

16.            What plants breathe in - CO2  / What plants breathe out - O2

Science in Everyday Life - quiz Fri, 12-19-08

Posted: December 18, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Science in Everyday Life

1. Fossil - what is left of something that was alive many thousands or millions of years ago.
2. Fuel - anything that is burned and gives off heat
3. Fossil fuel - when dinosaurs or plants die, are covered over and turn into gas, oil, or coal - then we get them from underground and burn them for fuel.
4. Fossil fuels are used for the energy for
a. Cars, planes, trains
b. Heating houses
c. Making electricity
5. What burning fossil fuels does - it adds lots of CO2 to the air and turns the Greenhouse Effect into Global Warming
6. Where electricity comes from - something turns or heats or both. (Most electricity comes from burning fossil fuels)
7. Gas - a form that any atoms and most things can be in instead of solid or liquid. Usually, you can’t see the gas form of something.
8. Things that are commonly in a gas form (they might be in solid or liquid form too):
a. Water
b. Oxygen
c. Carbon dioxide
d. Nitrogen
e. Methane (from garbage or …
9. Things that are often in liquid form
a. Water
b. Gasoline
c. Whatever you make using water
10. What humans breathe in - O2 / What humans breathe out - CO2
11. What plants breathe in - CO2 / What plants breathe out - O2
12. What it means for something to be in a cycle, like water or O2, or CO2 is that it goes different places and in different forms, but keeps coming back around

HS Life Science Quiz 12-19-08

Posted: December 18, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Life Science

Organism > population > community > ecosystem > biome > biosphere
2. Biomass - the amount of matter in an area that is living.
3. Biotic - the living parts of an area
4. Abiotic - the non-living components of an area
5. Troph - nutrition
6. Trophic levels - the different layers of consumption on a food chain, web, or pyramid - starting at the bottom with producers, going to herbivores, then to omnivores, carnivores, and decomposers
7. Autotroph=(makes its own nutrition) = producers - mostly photoynthesizers, but also chemosynthesizers
8. Heterotrophs + consumers - herbivores, carnivores, [ carrion eaters- scavengers],detritivores (decomposers)
9. Energy pyramid - shows the decreasing amount of effective energy use as go higher on the pyramid. 1 > 3/10 > 3/100
10. Biogeochemical cycle - when a molecule or element circulates in environmental contexts that include life forms, earth, and chemical changes.
11. Nutrient cycles- biogeochem. cycles involving specifically those molecules and elements used by living organisms for life.
12. Nutrients that cycle - CO2, N, H2O, P
13. CO2 cycle - includes
14. Nitrogen cycle - includes fixing nitrogen by bacteria, so producers can use it
15. Phosphorous cycle - doesn’t go into air; most common in compound phosphate (PO4)
16. Limiting Nutrient - a single, first level nutrient, that can limit the growth of producers.
17. Niche- the place and actions of an organism in an environment (where and how)

JH Life Science Fri. 12-19 quiz

Posted: December 18, 2008 by Dr. Glass in 6th/7th Grade Science, 8th Grade Science

1. Mutation - permanent change to DNA or RNA (can be +, -, or neutral)
2. Gene Pool - all the different gene alleles in one species
3. Natural Selection- living organisms whose difference is an advantage are ‘picked’ by nature as more likely to survive and reproduce in an environment.
4. Adaptation - a change that is beneficial that happens over many generations
5. Adaption- a change that one individual makes, not genetic
6. Niche - a unique position held by one species (or a person) - where and how it makes its living better than others
7. Evolution = mutations + natural selection (+reproduction); over many generations
8. Micro-evolution -small scale - within a species
9. Macro-evolution - large scale - theoretically can account for all life forms from one
10. Speciation - evolving long enough to be different enough to make a new species
11. Homologous structures - structures that are the same in different species, like finger bones.
12. Evidence of theory of macroevolution -
a. Fossils (there were life forms that no longer exist, but they seem related)
b. Homologous structures (likely that organisms evolved from each other, that’s why they have similar organs, etc.)
c. Many different species have the same early developmental stages (Ontology recapitulates phylogeny ~ the evolution of species is replayed in the development of one individual
d. DNA similarities
13. Classification of species
a. D domain duh
b. K kingdom kind
c. P phylum Philip
d. C class comes
e. O order over
f. F family for
g. G genus good
h. S species soup
14. Binomial nomenclature = 2-name name, Genus, Species
15. Mass Extinction - 5 so far, MANY species gone in same period

SEL (Science in Everyday Life) Quiz and homework due Fri.

Posted: November 13, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Science in Everyday Life

Study for the quiz on continuums, atmosphere, greenhouse effect and global warming tomorrow,

Come up with one of your own examples of a continuum.

What to Study for SEL

Posted: November 10, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Science in Everyday Life

Science In Everyday Life

Terms
1. Continuum -a way to describe something (a condition or situation) that goes from one extreme to another, like:
>___________________________________________________>
not enough to just the right amount to too much

Examples include:
 food
 sugar
 salt
 water
 sleep
 warmth

For life, t is usually an unhappy thing at both extremes - the too little and the too much.

Also called spectrum (like a rainbow of colors that goes from one to another)
It can be a continuum that has no unhappy ends, or only one,
Like sadness to happiness or black to white

2. Atmosphere - the air which stays around the planet Earth. It is a mix of different gases and other tiny particles.
3. Greenhouse Effect - the trapping of heat somewhere because of a see-through wall that light and heat can get in through, but it cannot get back out too well.
Examples include
 A little house for plants so they can be warm enough & grow where they would otherwise be too cold
 A car sitting in the sun with windows that trap a lot of the heat inside the car.
 The Earth with the gases making the atmosphere that traps a lot of the heat from the sun.

4. Global Warming - When more gases are added to the atmosphere, making more heat get trapped in by Earth. It is when there is too much greenhouse effect on the whole planet.
5. What would happen if there was no Greenhouse Effect on Earth? All life would freeze to death at night when the sun wasn’t warming the planet.
6. What happens when there is just the right amount of Greenhouse Effect on Earth? It makes it so living things (including people), can survive well.
7. What happens when there is too much Greenhouse Effect? When it happens sort of quickly, as it seems to be, it can cause many, many problems for people and other life forms.

Life Science

Posted: October 9, 2008 by Dr. Glass in 6th/7th Grade Science, 8th Grade Science, Life Science, Science

There is a pre-test in Life Science tomorrow covering photosynthesis, cell respiration and the cell cycle.  (Anyone who gets an “A” does not have to take the formal test.)

Earthquake Safety

Posted: October 2, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Science in Everyday Life

Your student in Science in Everyday Life brought home a 2-page list on Earthquake Safety.  The homework was to go over the steps of earthquake preparations at home with at least one parent, and bring the paper back signed by a parent by Monday, October 6.  The list is part of our class topic of understanding  natural disasters and the preparations we can make ahead of time as adults, or even young adults. If you have already done many of the things on the list, or merely want to read it over with your student at this time, please just sign the bottom of the list and send it back to school.  If you are actively conducting some of those steps at this time, please check those steps off, then sign and return the form.  (Some forms have been returned already.)

Science in Everyday Life

Posted: September 12, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Science in Everyday Life

I wanted to let all the parents of students in the “Science in Everyday Life” know two things.

First, I want to assure you that the terms related to government on the list are not a mistake. They are just being used to set the foundation for understanding that the government plays a role in consumer and environmental safety and health issues.

Second, as part of this class, we talk about things that are to be avoided or corrected (for instance the current hurricane problems), as well as circumstances that are to be celebrated. My goal is to have the students aware of such things as, for instance, the possibility of global warming without causing them distress. I am careful in my presentation and facilitation of class discussions. I do want to ask, however, that you let me know if any of your students seem bothered by the subject matter and I will re-stress to the students that things are OK; these are just things that people and governments are working to prevent.

Earth Science

Posted: September 10, 2008 by Dr. Glass in Earth Science

Earth Science Grades 9 - 12 (Full Year)
Students will learn about the origin of the earth, its place in our solar system, and the larger contexts beyond our solar system. Students will learn about the changes Earth has undergone throughout its history along with anticipated changes. Students will become familiar with the earth’s layers including plate tectonics, and how these layers play a role in earthquakes and volcanoes. Students will learn about rocks and minerals and forces that contribute to rock cycles. Fresh and salt water are examined as well as the atmosphere, and its role in the earth’s weather and climate. Special attention is given to the geology of California. Students will demonstrate knowledge of current events such as natural disasters and global warming. Prerequisite: None

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