My Blog List

Thursday, October 20, 2011

MSU Experience

5 things I learned at the Planetarium
  • I learned my Zodiac symbol is Virgo
  • I learned constellations don't look like their names
  • I learned the constellations move in the sky
  • Jupiter is the easiest planet to see right now
  • The North Star doesn't move because our axis points towards it
3 things I learned at the Cyclotron
  • 6 foot thick concrete walls contain the radiation
  • Their walls can be taken apart and put back together
  • MSU is the leading Cyclotron place
2 things I enjoyed the most
  • Operating the 6 foot thick concrete door!:)
  • Lunch, ice cream, hanging out with my friends, and playing on the little kid stuff!:)
 What I would change about the trip?
  • I thought this trip was SSUUUUUPPPEEERRR fun! But if I could change one thing i'd want the weather to be better. The rain was kinda sucky.


MRS. GRIVINS WE SHOULD DO THIS AGAIN!:)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Climate Research: Floods

A flood is basically a rise in water level that the ground is unable to sustain. They can happen slowly or quickly. With or without warning. Floods occur in many places around the world where either the weather is able to produce large amounts of rain or there is a nearby river that overflows. (1)

 



 Floods occur when there is an excess amount of water occuring from one of these main places: rainfall, rivers rising, ice melting, tides due to the moon and tsunamis. (1) When there's excess amounts of water the ground can't absorb it fast enough so it all runs off. Hurricanes cause a mass amounts of flooding because there's heavy rainfall and storm surges. Coastal areas are perfect for flooding, especially during storm season. Coastal regions are normally at a lower elevation which adds to the likeliness of a flood.

A flood impacts the environment greatly. When flooding is severe it damages homes and businesses. When homes and businesses are destroyed it puts many dangerous toxins into the environment, like paint, pesticides and gasoline.(4) Floods wash things away and weaken foundations. Floods can cause raw sewage to spew into the environment putting toxins and other harmful things into it. (4) Even though floods are mostly bad for the environment, they do spread sediments around, which is a good thing.
 



 Flooding can cause people major problems. It can ruin homes and work places causing people thousands of dollars worth of damage. Floods can cause people to get evicted from their homes.(4) Thousands of people lose their life due to flooding every year. (5) Floods also impact the economy too. Water damage ruins many businesses causing lots of money in repairs. When a flood wipes out an entire city it puts the economy on standstill. Often the government has to step in and provide money to help repair costs for the floods, also causing economic changes. (5)





 Satelites are used to predict when floods will be happening. Based on the radar, meteorologists can see if large rainfall is due. If conditions are right for a flood, a warning will be set out. In the US flood warnings are made by the National Weather Service if it is a large scale flood. Warnings are set out when a flood is expected within 12-48 hours. (6) Warnings are broadcasted over television and radio frequently and locally, sirens may go off.
















 Bibliography
1. http://clearlyexplained.com/nature/earth/disasters/floods.html Clearlyexplained.com. Floods.
©2000-2011 R.Conan-Davies.
2. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=flood+zone
3.http://www.google.com/imgres?q=flood+zone+map&hl=en&biw=1140&bih=562&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=ibm__Hi2lx3Y7M:&imgrefurl=http://floridiandiscountinsurance.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/flood-insurance/florida
4. http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/disaster/flood/effects.html. ThinkQuest. Effects of Floods.
5. http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/02054/effects.htm. ThinkQuest. Effects of Floods.
<>Copyrights 2004@Law Ting Pong Secondary School. All rights reserved.<><>
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_warning Wikepedia. Flood warning. last modified on 20 August 2011 at 08:17
<>

Monday, October 3, 2011

Great Lakes

On the river I learned that we have a low Biological Oxygen Demand, which is unusual. I don't know if something went wrong in testing or if our water was contaminated. But our Q-Value was 52. The overall Q-Value for the class was 73.779. I was very surprised by this because this means our river's in pretty good shape. I thought our river was trashed and very dirty. My action project can maintain the health of the river by keeping our trails clean and pollution down.

1. The larget Great Lake in Volume is Superior, the smallest is Erie.
2. The most urban lake is Lake Erie, the most rural is Lake Superior.
3. The Lake with the longest shoreline is Lake Huron.
4. We can best manage our ecosystem by doing our best not to pollute the land or air. Everything drains back to the Great Lakes so if we don't pollute our watersheds we will do our best to keep our ecosystem healthy. Also, to manage our waste disposal so it doesn't get into the Great Lakes.
5. 2 Types of pollutants that pertain to my action project are pesticides, since there are many farms around our trails, and pesticides. Everything drains back to our wetlands on our trail.
6. The water rom my house goes into the ground.
7. Runoff water is excess water that will not absorb into the Earth. Runoff water goes into streams, ponds, storm drains etc.
8. Runoff water in the city goes to the same place as the sewer. It shouldn't go to the same place because by going into the sewer it is contaminating perfectly clean water.
9. Sources of pollution in runoff water is the air, fertilizers, pesticides etc.
10. Point Source pollution is leaked from an obvious place, like a factory, while Non-Point Source pollution is leaked from lesser known places, like small backyard spills.
11. A watershed is an area of land where all the water drains to a same place.