Methods II: Week 13 "Climate Change"

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?

  1. How can we switch from using fossil fuels?
  2. How can we discourage use of fossil fuels? 

4. How should we address those questions? 

  1. We can investigate renewable resources like solar power, wind turbines, and water power. 
  2. Carbon tax, raise awareness for effects, express limitations in how much fossil fuels we have in the Earth (eventually we will run out and need alternate forms)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Methods II: Week 9

 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...
Read more

Methods II: Week 11

Image
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...
Read more

Methods II: Week 8

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...
Read more