Nov. 16- 20: Ozone and Carbon Cycle Lab

This week students will be learning about the ozone and about the development of our atmosphere. They will be doing an activity on the computers where they will read about the ozone, then find a connecting article and write summaries about it (they are making an "article chain"). Then they will do a graphing activity that illustrates how the atmosphere has changed over time (from early Earth, to our present conditions). Then, if the lab supplies we've ordered have come in, we will do a lab to review the carbon cycle (what puts carbon into the atmosphere and what takes it out). I'm excited to do a lab with the students - they enjoy getting to DO science. We haven't had many opportunities for labs so far though - hopefully we can make that change.

Nov. 9-13: Nitrogen Cycle

Last week we worked on the carbon cycle - this week we're learning about the nitrogen cycle. Both carbon and nitrogen are important for living tissues. Carbon is the backbone for most of the chemicals in the body (DNA, carbohydrates, lipids, etc.). Nitrogen is necessary for DNA and proteins. So learning how they cycle through Earth's systems and how they become available for our bodies is important. These 2 cycles are also important because they both are involved in making greenhouse gases (and could influence the climate... depending on how you look at the data).

We've been looking at evidence for human influences on the atmosphere and I'm proud of how the students have been able to look at the issues and think critically about how we may (or may not) be influencing the Earth. I have given them an extra credit opportunity to look at some of the current issues about global warming (looking up current events is also a geography requirement for most of them, so this should kill 2 birds with one stone).

We'll be doing a lot of review, and hopefully a lab near the end of the week (pending lab supplies). We'll be taking a quiz on the carbon and nitrogen cycles early next week.

Thanks for all your support!

Nov. 2-6: Carbon Cycle

We're on to something new!!! Of course, you'll never forget the stuff we learned for astronomy... but it's time to move on. Our next unit will focus on the atmosphere and how it interacts with other Earth systems through matter cycles. First we will look at the carbon cycle. We'll take a few notes, do an online activity, look at carbon emissions around the world, and read some articles for and against human causes of global warming. My hope is that you will learn how to read articles and critically look for bias and to rely on solid data before deciding for or against ANY issue. Learning how to interpret other people's opinions is an important life skill - one we need to practice.