Module VII

Essential Question: How is Earth's climate connected to its geological, biological and cultural systems?

1.  Explain:  What new learning or reflections have you taken from this module?

I did not know Parrot fish create much of the sand at the bottom of coral reefs from feeding on coral polyps—wow!  I also didn’t know sea cucumbers get algae and organic matter by eating the sand.  Energy Flow in the Coral Reef Ecosystem video provided a lot of vivid sea life images—particularly the chloroplasts close-up on the ruffled sea slug.  What an amazing ecosystem a coral reef is.

I was a little perplexed by the second sentence in this paragraph:

Coal Carbon Cache
Plants take up carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and store it in their tissues. When plants are eaten or die and decay, the solid carbon stored in them is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

How does the solid carbon return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide?  Is it off-gassing in swamps?  Or when bodies decay, they produce gases—is that an example of carbon dioxide being produced?

The Nova/Frontline video clip from TD, Global Warming: Carbon Dioxide and the Greenhouse Effect really made an impact with me.  A gallon of gasoline that I burn will spread throughout the entire atmosphere and show up all the way in Antarctica by next year.  What a staggering statement!  And it sticks around in the atmosphere for about a hundred years—I did not know this.  Then it gets absorbed into the ocean—and I just learned what carbon dioxide is doing there: ocean acidification.  This is all quite depressing.  The infrared image of CO2 causing the scientist’s face to disappear is a great visual.

I had to chuckle at the question “Why so many engineers?” in the category of US climate skeptical scientists by field—my husband is a civil engineer.  Hello!  Engineers build, construct, and develop land into buildings and roads and cities.  I was not shocked in the least! 

I love that Capturing Carbon from the atmosphere stemmed from Lackner’s daughter’s science experiment—how cool is that?!  She must be one smart cookie.

2.  Extend:  How might you use this week’s information and resources in your lessons?  What other resources can you share?

The Elements: Forged in Stars TD video provided the best explanation I’ve ever seen of the formation of new elements.  It made the periodic table a lot less daunting.  I think this video would definitely be useful if I ever teach the subject of chemistry or Earth science, especially coupled with The Origin of the Elements. 

The TD video, Global Warming, The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect starts with a question that permeates on the Kenai Peninsula: “Why should adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere be cause for alarm?”  I struggle as a teacher to educate this population on “green” subjects, because they balk at such topics.  “Blasphemy!” they cry.  When a significant percentage of the local people work in the oil industry, their children have been raised to ignore the negative consequences of consuming oil, and even disagree with the physical impacts, as though they aren’t even occurring.  Talk about looking at life through rose-colored lenses!  This video may help me in tackling environmental subjects, as it might get my students to listen.  Maybe.

The car analogy for greenhouse gases in the TD video Global Warming and the Greenhouse Effect is a great demonstration—I think it would be a helpful example for students to better understand how greenhouse gases really do have an effect.  We all hate being in an unconditioned car on a hot sunny day with the windows rolled up!  I expect I would use this analogy either in discussion or show the video in an environmental class. 

The video also mentions sources of methane—even rice paddies?  I now am going to feel guilty when eating beef and rice?  OMGoodness.

3. Evaluate: How useful, insightful or relevant are this module’s information and resources?

As in past modules, much of this information was not directly useful for the classes I currently teach.  However, that by no means suggests this wealth of knowledge wasn’t valuable to me as a life-long learner and responsible citizen of Earth.  I am definitely reflecting a lot on the Carbon Connections section especially, as it more directly hits a nerve.  Overall this week’s module was the most depressing so far—I’m left with a strong sense of no way out.  It’s frustrating to hold the knowledge but lack the power to make positive impactive changes.  And in some regard, do I want to change my behavior?  I LOVE to snowmachine!  The government has taken steps to reduce emissions, but gas is still being used.  Period.  Can I give up my passions?  Can society give up so much of what (media) it has determined necessary?  I'm not sure.  I'll just toss and turn over this tonight & not get restful sleep, feeling guilty. . . 

But I did enjoy riding Saturday in the Caribou Hills--the snow was superb!

3 Colleagues

I visited Dave Sather’s blog again this week & found his Carl Sagan’s Cosmos video to be a great summary of life’s history on Earth.  It’s fun to ponder what it would be like on our planet if evolution had taken a different path!

Thanks for the recommended read, Konrad Mittelstadt.  “The Firecracker Boys” sounds interesting (and scary!).

Kathy East had some great pictures—the one of the “lobster” got a real chuckle out of me!  I love to dress my dogs up each Halloween, too.