Brenna Hunt

1. Common themes/preconceptions about climate change from "Before the Flood": Preconceptions: Climate change is not affecting us now Average citizens cannot influence change, only policymakers and famous people Themes: Many people are experiencing effects of climate change in different ways across the world  The US is an extreme contributor to over-use of electricity and fossil fuels Citizens can influence policymakers to make changes that can slow climate change 2. What are the major issues?  Wider range/fluctuation of weather patterns More flooding/heavy rainfall Increased temperature of the earth will harm plants/animals Influence on agriculture from changes in climate with ability to grow certain crops or raise certain animals 3. What questions do you want to address? How can we switch from using fossil fuels? How can we discourage use of fossil fuels?  4. How should we address those questions?  We can investigate renewable resources like solar power, wind turbin...

What did we do in lab this week? This week we started our discussion on climate change. We talked about some preconceptions we have and that are commonly thought among people, including that it is not human-caused and that climate is the same as weather. We talked about how we can measure if Goldfinches are in danger based on rainfall. We did an activity where we looked at the difference in rainfall in a region of Iowa (Des Moines area). We found out that the rainfall increased by 63%.  What was the big question? What is climate change and how is it caused?  What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? In our Thursday lecture, we took our Earth exam.  This week's reading: Chapter 21: Climate vs Weather - I learned: Iowa will have more periods of drought and extreme precipitation/flooding due to climate change. Also, I didn't know that UIowa got flooded and buildings had to be rebuilt.  - I found helpful: The acronym "LOWER near water" tells me what kinds of factors...

What did we do in lab this week? We started by talking about the law of superposition, that the rocks further down in the earth are older than the ones above it. We also talked about how rocks are changed, through weathering/erosion (chemical or physical). We looked at different samples of sand and tried to determine if it was eroded by water, wind, or glaciers.  What was the big question? The big question was, how is sand made/what do different kinds of erosion cause?  What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? In our lecture, we did some investigations about what would float or sink in water and read a book about Archimedes' rule. We talked about how we could determine if the two objects were the same, using water displacement and buoyancy. Then we used this method to figure out how we can determine how many crystals/empty space are in a geode. We can decide how hollow a geode is using Specific Gravity. If it is less than 2.7, then it is at least somewhat hollow. If it is 2...

What did we do in lab this week? This week in lab, we worked through how we can represent the rock cycle with Starbursts. We used the candies and a torch to create the different kinds of rocks, by melting and molding them together and allowing them to cool. We did this to make igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock. We also talked about convection currents and how they cause plate tectonics.  What was the big question? The big question was, what is a rock, and how can we represent the 3 kinds? What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? We focused a lot on earthquakes, volcanoes, and the rock cycle. We talked about the different interactions of plate tectonics that cause different landforms. Divergent plates can form ridges, like the mid ocean Atlantic ridge. Converging plates can form a mountain or a trench (continental v continental is mountain, oceanic v continental is trench). A transform boundary is like sliding plates and causes an earthquake or tsunami (if in water)....

 What did we do in lab this week? This week we focused a lot on the timeline of our existence and Earth's existence. We looked into big events such as the formation of the earth, water found on the earth, Earth freezing over, the first plants and animals on the earth, and when humans first existed on Earth. We emphasized that humans have been here for a very short time in comparison to the timeline of the universe since the "Big Bang". We used a simulation called Earthviewer to look through some of the big events and eras our earth has gone through.  What was the big question? When did big events relating to our Earth take place? What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? We took our Space exam so we did not continue our discussion on this topic.  This week's reading:  Chapter 15: History of Earth - I learned: the Earth was able to freeze over completely due to a positive feedback loop. When Ice accumulated on the planet, it reflected more and more light away fro...

What did we do in lab this week? This week in lab, we focused on presenting our group slides covering several different ideas. We were able to practice teaching about these topics rather than just sitting and listening and learning ourselves. Being able to teach our classmates helped us to practice some of the tactics we have been seeing and learning about, as well as address misconceptions about each topic which we have learned how prevalent they are even in higher education.  What was the big question? The main themes we covered in our presentations were, the origin of the universe, lifecycles of stars, galaxies, black holes, origin of the earth, and space exploration in the past/present/future.  What did we learn in Thursday's discussion? We started by doing a short review about the moon phases and space. Then we discussed the Big Bang Theory as well as alternative theories. Then we went through the life cycles of stars and how/why stars are different and change. Next we ta...