Nat Geo contest

Take a look at this....you are entered in the National Geographic Environmental Contest.....you have 2.5 stars already and a comment....please read it!! Your work goes on and on!!! Kudos to you APES of 2009!!

http://greeneffect.nationalgeographic.com/ideas/

Easter Island Readings

There are some very interesting controversies about Easter Island and how/why the island fell into ecological disarray.

The following links are most enlightening:

http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/rapanui.html ( if your system allows, listen to the music of the Rapa Nui people. The system at school won't let us.

Jared Diamond's article is quoted often : http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/042.html

http://www.primitivism.com/easter-island.htm

A new perspective: http://www.livescience.com/history/060309_easter_island.html

Those blasted rats! Seems they are at work again!!

Food for thought: http://www.netaxs.com/~trance/cannibal.html

wasterwater treatment animation

This is something you should become familiar with......

http://www.wef.org/AboutWater/ForThePublic/WastewaterTreatment/

click the link...then the link that says go with the flow ( english) and follow the directions. It is pretty clear and a much better way to see it than in your book.

Q& A about swine flu

This is a very good link that may answer some of your questions. There is also a link for a map of the outbreak sites ( not too update based on SC information) with info about history etc.


http://www.boston.com/news/health/blog/2009/04/swine_flu_q_and.html
http://www.boston.com/interactive/graphics/generic_page_20090428005501/

some extra online study sites

Here are some sites with animations and some explanations that may or may not mirror mine. Sometimes a different viewpoint makes things clearer.

We will have afternoon reviews and maybe a Saturday afternoon coffee session review the Saturday before your exam.

http://www.ucopenaccess.org/course/view.php?id=58

http://go.ucsusa.org/game/

Newest List of 10 most endangered rivers

Well, imagine SC being included in this list......if I am not mistaken, the Saluda River starts in Greenville SC right on the border of NC....hmmm. Wonder if the Tarheels are having any effect on the Saluda?

By the way, the Saluda River is a major Tributary of the Congaree River that flows through the Congaree National Park..........

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/07/rivers.endangered.list/#cnnSTCText

6) Saluda River
Location: South Carolina
Excess levels of sewage waste threaten the drinking water of more than 500,000 South Carolina residents, conservationists say. Sewage in the river increases phosphorous and algae levels, depletes oxygen, and kills fish and other aquatic life. American Rivers is asking the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to improve sewage-treatment standards and ensure the river reduces its phosphorous levels by 25 to 50 percent.

Geoengineering to fix the Earth? Don't know about you all, but after reading this article I am a bit concerned...

Where are our Brains? Oh wait! I see them.....

Here is the link to an interesting solution being proposed by President Obama's staff Chief Scientific Advisor.

http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/39644/print

This should spark some interesting discussion amongst you all and I can't wait to read it.....tell me what you think.....

Red Sox and others led the way to " green" stadiums

.............Even the nation's oldest MLB stadium still in use—Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, the Yanks's biggest rivals—is getting in on the greening (puns about its legendary "Green Monster" wall in left field aside). Some 28 newly installed solar panels on the fifth floor's slanted roof offset 37 percent of the natural gas burned to heat the stadium's water supply, says Katie Haas, a team spokesperson. The park also sports 11 BigBelly solar-powered trash compacters on the premises.

Some of the statistics are pretty impressive when you look at the energy reduction, carbon footprint decrease etc.

Read complete article @ http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=green-baseball-diamonds-energy-efficiency

EPA adds to Superfund priority sites

Check this out folks! Article on superfunds that is at the very least interesting...at the most a bit disturbing.
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/39630/print

Barite Hill/Nevada Goldfields (McCormick, S.C.) (3 hours away)

Proposed to be added:

Ore Knob Mine (Ashe County, N.C.) ( 2 hours away)
GMH Electronics (Roxboro, N.C.) ( 3 hours away)

tomato activity......starting Monday 20 April 2009

Plants and light (or Energy input into ecosystems )

Green plants are the primary source for all of the biotic energy requirements of an ecosystem.
Photosynthesis vs respiration.In green plants both photosynthesis and respiration occur. In relatively bright light photosynthesis is the dominant process (meaning that the plant produces more food than it uses during respiration). At night, or in the absence of light, photosynthesis essentially ceases, and respiration is the dominant process; the plant consumes food (for growth and other metabolic processes). Photosynthesis absorbs energy (from sunlight) whereas aerobic respiration yields energy (as a result of the oxidation of glucose, the carbohydrate molecule shown here). These are essentially "competing" processes, one producing glucose (photosynthesis) and the other consuming glucose (respiration).

Factors Affecting the Rate of Photosynthesis

1. Compensation point for light

One simple way to get an estimate of the level of phototsynthetic activity in a green plant is to place the plant in a sealed container and measure the rate at which oxygen is produced.
When such an experiment is actually performed it is found that increasing the brightness (intensity) of the light increases the rate of photosynthesis, but only up to a certain point, beyond which increasing the brightenss of the light has little or no effect on the rate of photosynthesis.
Conversely, reducing the brightness of the light causes a decrease in photosynthetic activity.
The light intensity at which the net amount of oxygen produced is exactly zero, is called the compensation point for light. At this point the consumption of oxygen by the plant due to cellular respiration is equal to the rate at which oxygen is produced by photosynthesis.
The compensation point for light intensity varies according to the type of plant, but it is typically 40 to 60 W/m2 for sunlight. The compensation point for light can be reduced (somewhat) by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide available to the plant, allowing the plant to grow under conditions of lower illumination.

2. Compensation point for carbon dioxide

Under conditions of constant and uniform illumination the rate of photosynthesis can be increased by simply increasing the amount of carbon dioxide (i.e. increasing the atmospheric partial pressure) available to plants. As before, one can measure the rate of photosysthesis as a function of carbon dioxide pressure by placing a green plant in a sealed container and measuring the rate at which oxygen is produced. As the partial pressure of carbon dioxide increases there is an almost linear increase in the rate of oxygen production, which implies an identical increase in the rate of phtotosythesis. This increase eventually levels off, and further increases in the concentration of carbon dioxide have no further effect.
Conversely, reducing the carbon dioxide concentration reduces the rate of photosynthetic activity. The level at which the oxygen production rate drops to zero is called the compensation point for carbon dioxide.

3. A Day in the Life of a Plant
Compensation Point for Light (of photosynthetic plants) is the intensity of light at which the rate of carbon dioxide uptake (photosynthesis) is exactly balanced by the rate of carbon dioxide production (respiration) or equivalently, the light intensity at which the rate of oxygen production is exactly balanced by the rate of oxygen consumption.
Since it is primarily food production we are interested in, we will consider the third equivalency, the rate at which the food produced (carbohydrates) is exactly balanced by the rate at which the food is consumed.
In the figure above, to the left the red line shows the rate of carbohydrate production due to plant photosynthesis. The green line shows the rate of carbohydrate consumption due to respiration.
The shape of the photosynthesis curve is due to increased sunlight during the day and the shape of the respiration curve is due to increased temperature during the day.
Since photosynthesis produces carbohydrates, the rate at which the amount the carbohydrates change is positive for photosynthesis, that is, the amount increases.
On the other hand, respiration consumes carbohydrates, hence the rate at which carbohydrates change is negative for respiration, that is, the amount decreases.
This is shown in the graph to the right.
The area in yellow represents the total amount of carbohydrate produced in a 24h period (due to photosynthesis). The area in green represents the total amount of carbohydrate consumed due to respiration.
For a green plant to survive, grow, and produce mature fruit, area (a) (yellow), must exceed area (b) (green).
The area (a), that is the total amount of carbohydrate production due to photosynthesis, can be increased in two ways:

1. Increase the intensity (brightness) of the light.
The danger is that if the light is too intense the heat it produces can damage the delicate plant cells, as well as increasing the transpiration rate, causing the leaves to wilt.
Of course, there is a limit beyond which increasing the light intensity has no significant effect on the rate of photosynthesis. This occurs for most plants at a light intensity of about 40% full daytime sunlight.

2. Increasing the duration of the light which illuminates the plant leaves.
In the case of natural sunlight it is generally not possible to increase the time during which the plants receive light beyond the length of natural daylight hours.
To increase the length of time during which photosynthesis occurs requires the use of artificial lights.
If there is enough electrical energy available both the duration and intensity of the light can be controlled to provide optimum growing conditions for green plants.
The problem is that using artificial light to grow plants is an extremely inefficient use of energy.

Things that we know about the relationship between plants and light :
All green plants need some light.
Too little light is bad for green plants (below the compensation point).
Too much light is bad for all plants.
Increasing the carbon dioxide concentration increases the rate of photosynthesis (over a small range of carbon dioxide enhancement).
Things we would like to know about tomato plants
What is the absolute minimum light intensity needed for tomato plants to survive?
To what extent can the duration of light exposure compensate for low light intensity?
How does low light exposure affect a tomato plant's ability to produce fruit?
Although the maximum intensity (brightness) of sunlight on Mars is much less than on the Earth, the seasons are twice as long as on Earth. It is assumed that in the beginning all Mars habitation will occur near the Martian equator where seasonal changes are less noticeable.

Student activity: How much light?

1. You will investigate the relationship between plant growth and the duration of available light. Begin by setting up a gro-light system on an ordinary household light timer. ( I will be your timer)
2. You will use your Tomatosphere seedlings for this experiment makesure they all belong to the same group - M or N).
3. Your shelf to use will be the middle shelf where the seed trays were intially placed. The gro-lights will be aimed at the shelf. In this investigation all lights will be at exactly the same height above the plants, to ensure that, as much as possible, the light intensity is the same for all plants.
The variable in this experiment is the light duration, not the light intensity.
All other growing conditions must not be varied. Water, fertilize, and warm all plants identically.
Once your test site has been established, set the light timers to provide six (6), twelve (12) and eighteen (18) hours respectively.
Create a daily journal in which to record your observations.
Measure and record the following:

1. Daily -
Temperature
General appearance (healthy, spindly, limp, and so on)
Condition of the soil (dry, wet , moist)

2. Weekly -
Height of the plant
Number of branches
As required
Watering
Fertilizing
Appearance of first flowers
Number of flowers
First appearance of fruit
First mature fruit

Can't wait till the little plants start really growing!!

What is an Ice Age?

Please read the following articles:

1. Milutin Milankovitch: Seeking the Cause of the Ice Ages

http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/earth/p_milankovitch.html

2. Milankovitch cycles:
http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/a/milankovitch.htm
http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/howard2/theory.htm

3. Little Ice Age:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/climate/little_ice_age.html
http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/lia/little_ice_age.html

Tomatosphere

The tomato planting went well.......hope you remember to water them.
Tomatosphere link: http://tomatosphere.org/

look here often for information about things we will be doing with tomato plants!

NEW Projects

Natalie says:

I believe we should all bring in stuff for the breakfast..instead of the foods class..but we need to keep in mind staying local..i'm not against the foods class idea..but I believe we could do it ourselves!

I think she has a great idea!!!!!!!

Earth Hour Sucesses.....

Horray for the GREAT APES!!! the greatest of great apes in the world...... You were magnificent!! thanks to everyone who worked hard and couldn't be there last night; thanks to Matt for getting us the fellowship hall at his church ( that was so awesome!); thanks to Chris and Justin for their continued dedication; thanks to everyone who brought family and friends with them; thanks for all the food; thanks Joe Morton !!! what a great surprise; thanks to the roof crew for making the stars shine even brighter than they finally did; thanks to Mrs. Nantz for her never ending support;thanks for the opportunity to spend " quality" time with a bunch of APES; thanks to anyone and everyone who I may have forgotten in my zealousness ; Billy - you never fail to amaze me; Wolfie and Logan puddles will never be the same and spiral staircases will also be an area that in the long run may cause me to jump ; Sara, Brittney, Caitlin, Mollie ( ha! spelled right) - your enthusiasm was contaigious; Alisha - way awesome you made it! ;Lawson and Brett- way to work out a work situation ; Ben - great Earth Hour soldier! Jimmy and Tripper - there are no words - your help was invaluable; Megan - a better reporter we couldn't have had - make sure we get the photos.

The Gaston Gazette has posted a slide show of last night..if you would like to view it the link is as follows....
http://gastongazette.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=720651&CategoryID=15927

Enjoy your sucesses!!!

If I missed ANYONE that was there...please let me know.....it is still such a blur...................

Fair warning for your chapter to write questions on/for...

I will post, probably Saturday morning , a list of the chapter numbers and titles that are assigned to each chapter. It is your responsibility to create a series of questions that will address the major concepts of each of the chapters . Create questions that will help you and your classmates hear the concept and challenge themselves when playing review games.
I will send the Earth Science powerpoints to the following APES that have requested them:
Matt Rachel Logan
Natalie Olivia
Billy Ashton
Ariel Ben
Lawson Wolfie

As of 2:30 on Friday 27 March 2009, these are the only people that said they needed them. If I missed you , let me know or if you change your mind, let me know..............

request from Sarah

Hey Mrs. B,
It's Sarah. I just wanted to tell you that I highly doubt ill be at school tomorrow. My grandma, mom, and sister are all puking sick and I have a fever. So, that sucks.
BUT i really think that someone needs to explain earth hour in detail over the announcements because today in US history Mr. Cowie had asked me about my shirt that i wore yesterday and when earth hour was and the time. EVERYONE in the class thought that earth hour was from 8-9 AM instead of at night, so i really think that needs to be cleared up.

Thanks,
Sarah s.

Ashton, Natalie and everyone.......let's see if we can fix this problem..................

Earth Science powerpoints

If you would like the powerpoints that I use for my earth science classes, let me know and I will be happy to get them to you................

Ha! Ha! to my professor...............

You guys caught my grad prof..........and he is adjusting all quiz grades.........you are so cool!!!!!

here is a very good diagram to show you that the epicenter is on the surface and the focus of an earthquake is underground..............

Charts to remind you of the cycles

Vocabulary for the ocean current studies

Current: water in the surface ocean flowing consistently in a particular direction. Ocean currents are driven by wind!!!!!

Latitude: an angle north or south of the equator

Longitude: an angle east or west of the prime meridian in Greenwich, England

Kuroshio Current: a warm ocean current that flows northward, theneastward on the west side of the Pacific Ocean

Oyashio Current: a cold ocean current that flows southward along the coast of Siberia and Kamchatka

Alaska Current : a cold ocean current that flows northward , then westward towards Alaska

California Current: A cold ocean current that flows southward along the west coast of North America

North Pacific gyre: a circular system of ocean currents that together flowi n a clockwise pattern all around the North Pacific portion of the Pacific basin.

GLOBE AT NIGHT!!! Don't Forget

the star observations start tonight...of course because it is cloudy!! and rainy!!

You will need to either down load the forms or look at them and write your information down. Keep a record of it and if you are planning to submit the data yourself, then make sure I have a copy of what you are submitting. IF I am submitting your data , I MUST have it the class following your observation.........

This is not an optional assignment!

Assignment

Please read chapter 10 - geologic processes and chapter 15 geologic resources by Thursday....

Newest of the new!!

And the news keeps on rolling in.................

we made the front page of the Lincoln Tribune ( http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=11155 ), the LCS home page and the county office is sending out your flyers to every LCS employee.........

Linda Yoder - lead science teacher for LCS has sent all science teachers and teachers she knows a note about your classroom visits.......Mr. Mitch Sherrill at the county office endorsed your plans and approves and.......

you made the Twitter blog on the Earth Hour US home page.......right hand side of the page under Lincoln tribune heading....folks you are with the big boys!!!! The Empire State building and even Concord, NH.................... http://www.earthhourus.org/main.php

Mr Worley sent out an email about the carolina green sense listing.....to all LHS teachers...( tee hee)

best of all.......your presentation has already been requested in a classroom at Kiser............

heady times folks........I am humbled to be a part of your success............

Newsest UPDATE!!!!!

We are in Carolina Green Sense!!!!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Lead on, Lincolnton!
This just in: the first Earth Hour 2009 city in the Carolinas is Lincolnton, NC. Or Lovable Lincolnton, according to their web site. This town of around 10,000 is near Lake Norman and north of Gastonia. Thanks for leading the way!
Labels: Earth Hour 2009, Lincolnton NC

APES can swim!!! Well some of them got a little cold.

Always knew that APES were very talented; some evidently prefer the warmer climates though. Good Job this morning......here are a few pics for your entertainment.

Earth Hour update!!

Check this out!!!! we are listed in the Earth Hour Blog!!

" Just got a call from Lincolnton, NC has just issued an #earthhour proclamation. Enfuego baby!about 9 hours ago from web ...posted by Dan Forman (Public Relations ManagerWorld Wildlife Fund1250 24th Street, NWWashington, DC 20037-1193)

and the map has us on it too.......you guys rock!!

http://www.earthhourus.org/map.php#

some thoughts on coral reproduction for those a little unsure..

the best way to tell you is to show you pictures and diagrams....makes it easier to understand.

MOVIE MAKERS - IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey guys! Check this out!!!!.......want to be famous across the state of NC? Want more notarity than ever dreamed before? Then take this challenge - I dare you!!!!



Create a commercial for use in NC across the state. The particulars are listed at the website below...... I double dare you!!!! : )


http://www.re3.org/contest.htm

(like the green bend? tee hee!!)

Coral and the oceans

One of the topics that you will need to become more familiar with is corals.....to start you off, here is an article that you should find interesting. It describes the mechanisms that corals use to stave off extinction and the resulting problems that oceanographers and biologists have in classifying them. Please post your comments and/or questions below. I will post more coral related articles, but this will get you going.....

the picture in this posting is of the fairly rare bamboo coral......

link to article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090223221343.htm

The Great APES Earth Hour Team......

Thought you all might like a copy of this picture........your team spoke well for you and about you and made us all proud. You are truly an unusal group of APES.........

Oh Boy! New fun stuff!!!! 16 March - 28 March

We have been invited to be a part of NASA's Globe at night. It will run from 16 March through 28 March so it will be fun to see the difference in the sky from the earlier date through Earth Hour.

This is not an optional assignment! You can pick the times based on what your work schedules etc. Try to make your observations at the same time every evening.

Please go to the site and download a form for the nights that you will track the stars. The site is self explanatory and very easy to follow. I will need the sheets or at least a piece of notebook paper with all the information on it that you have kept for the time that the assignment covers.

Your paperwork is due to me on 30 March. However, if you are not going to post the data yourself, I need to have the information the day after you do your observations.

Find your location by using the link on the homepage for the project.

Ex: LHS is at 35.479 degrees N. Latitude

-81.26 degrees W. Longitude ( the - sign indicates a west longitudinal direction)

the link to the NASA site is: http://www.globe.gov/GaN/

clueless

Folks- Natalie has posted that her businesses seemed clueless; Chris has the movie on line....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26xFJxfeGQ4 ; seems that little old Lincolnton doesn't know what Earth Hour is........we need ways to help them understand.

Tragedy question....let's get some good comments on the last two posts I have made.....

APES,
Don't forget the reading on Malthus and the chapters in the book....the questions are secondary at this moment to those readings. I know you all have very strong opinions.... So, lets get something going here about the question of " selective breeding to eliminate people of conscience". You all had very interesting comments on your quizzes....now bounce them off each other. My comment is this: Are we striving for a perfect human? and how can we ever eliminate something by selective breeding for a trait that isn't a breedable trait?

Thomas Malthus theory on population - does it differ from Hardin's ideas?

Here is a link to an article about Thomas Malthus.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Malthus's views were largely developed in reaction to the optimistic views of his father and his associates. He predicted population would outrun food supply, leading to a decrease in food per person. This prediction was based on the idea that population if unchecked increases at a geometric rate whereas the food supply grows at an arithmetic rate. Only misery, moral restraint and vice (which for Malthus included contraception) could check excessive population growth. Malthus favoured "moral restraint" (including late marriage and sexual abstinence) as a check on population growth. He did however favor visiting the houses of ill repute (prostitution) so that the married women would have less chance of becoming pregnant.

Malthusian catastrophe: is a return to subsistence - level conditions as a result of agricultural (or, in later societies; economic production being eventually outstripped by growth in population.

arithmetic growth for resources: in this case ,subsistence level food resources are at best exhibit arithmetic growth, which means food increasing by a fixed absolute amount in a fixed amount of time.

geometric growth: in this instance the fixed doubling time for population

So what does Malthus suggest? Misery and Vice. The acting agents of misery and vice are war, famine, and disease. Misery can also be accelerated by:

A. Tillage over pasturage: Grains, legumes to more efficiently feed
B. Agriculture over manufacture: Can't afford to lose sources of food production
C. Moral restraint: Don't have children until you can feed them!
D. Free labor market: People should be free to move about and freely take work wherever it is available.
E. Abolish parish-laws and establish workhouses: Avoid the vicious cycle initiated by public assistance for the poor, which only encourages people to have children beyond their means.

Please understand that he is not predicting the end of the world due to poverty and hunger; rather that at some point humans will hit the " glass ceiling" and that some type of check will necessarily have to fall into place.

Readings......

This week you will need to read chapters 7 & 8. This will finish up all the basic stuff...biomes, habitats, and the rest of the primarily review from bio and chem. Be prepared for a test on chapters 1,2 and 3. It will be in the form of a take home test.....approximately 70- 75 questions, right from the book ( s ). I will post the questions Monday evening for review. Chapter question and readings will not be due until Tuesday of next week. But do not procrastinate. You have a lot to do this week .The test will be given to you Wednesday and you will have until Sunday evening at midnight to submit it to me. Please mark the answers on your sheet , but when you submit it , you may do so in the following format:
1. B
2. C
etc. You will recieve a posting with the correct answers.
Fret not, Apes..they are multiple choice.

Earth Hour - 36 days and counting

The activity level today was intense! Signs are going up! Contacts are being made and we are all getting excited! Keep it up! Don't let down.......

Some terms and an illustration that may help with the " Law of the Sea" concept

The drawing shows where national and international waters extend. Please be aware of terms like internal waters, international waters, Exclusive Economic Zone.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is the international agreement that resulted from the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III), which took place from 1973 through 1982. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

In the early 20th century some nations expressed their desire to extend national claims: to include mineral resources, to protect fish stocks, and to provide the means to enforce pollution controls. Using customery international law principle of a nation's right to protect its natural resources, President Truman in 1945 extended United States right control to all the natural resources of its continental shelf. Other nations were quick to follow suit. Between 1946 and 1950, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador extended their rights to a distance of 200 nautical miles to cover their Humboldt Current fishing grounds. Other nations extended their territorial seas to 12 nautical miles.
By 1967, only 25 nations still used the old 3-mile limit, while 66 nations had set a 12-mile territorial limit and eight had set a 200-mile limit. As of May 28, 2008, only two countries still use the 3-mile limit: Jordan and Palau That limit is also used in certain Australian islands, an area of Belize, some Japanese straits, certain areas of Papua New Guinea, and a few British Oversees Territories, such as Anguilla. TheUnited Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was convened in New York in 1967.

The convention introduced a number of provisions. The most significant issues covered were setting limits, navigation, archipelagic status and transit regimes, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelf jurisdiction, deep seabed mining, the exploitation regime, protection of the marine environment, scientific research, and settlement of disputes.

Internal waters: Covers all water and waterways on the landward side of the baseline. The coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Foreign vessels have no right of passage within internal waters.

Territorial waters:Out to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource. Vessels were given the right of "innocent passage" through any territorial waters, with strategic straits allowing the passage of military craft as "transit passage", in that naval vessels are allowed to maintain postures that would be illegal in territorial waters. "Innocent passage" is defined by the convention as passing through waters in an expeditious and continuous manner, which is not “prejudicial to the peace, good order or the security” of the coastal state. Fishing, polluting, weapons practice, and spying are not “innocent", and submarines and other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on the surface and to show their flag. Nations can also temporarily suspend innocent passage in specific areas of their territorial seas, if doing so is essential for the protection of its security.

Contiguous Zone: Beyond the 12 nautical mile limit there was a further 12 nautical miles or 24 nautical miles from the territorial sea baselines limit, the contiguous zone, in which a state could continue to enforce laws in four specific areas: pollution, taxation, customs, and immigration.

EEZs: Extend 200 nautical miles from the baseline. Within this area, the coastal nation has sole exploitation rights over all natural resources. The EEZs were introduced to halt the increasingly heated clashes over fishing rights, although oil was also becoming important. The success of an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 1947 was soon repeated elsewhere in the world, and by 1970 it was technically feasible to operate in waters 4000 metres deep. Foreign nations have the freedom of navigation and overflight, subject to the regulation of the coastal states. Foreign states may also lay submarine pipes and cables.

Continental Shelf:The continental shelf is defined as the natural prolongation of the land territory to the continental margin's outer edge, or 200 nautical miles from the coastal state’s baseline, whichever is greater. State’s continental shelf may exceed 200 nautical miles until the natural prolongation ends. However, it may never exceed 350 nautical miles from the baseline.

Tragedy of the Commons? Really now, says who?

Read the article and the rebuttal by Wednesday.......be ready to discuss. We will be playing a tragedy game with food...so be ready......if you can't discuss, you can't eat!

The Lights of the Cities Go Dark.....How serious are you?

http://www.earthhourus.org/

Let's get involved!!

Rubber Duckie, you're the one.......

One of the topics covered in your current set of chapters deals with currents. We will be doing an activity based on this " spill" in class. Please familiarize yourself with the incident and then comment.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0731/p01s04-woeu.html

NEW PROFILE PICTURES!!!!!!

Hey!!!! I think it would be a smashing idea if everyone changed their profile picture to an ape picture that reflects his or her personality. I already changed mine...Editorial rights permit me not to say who I stole the idea from, but if you APES are as smart as I know you are....it will be easy to see who already is in ape fromat.....can't wait to see what you all look like!!!!!!!

The Iceman says more than originally thought....

The Iceman cometh? No, according to DNA, he went......the last of his kind.


http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,445385,00.html

APES in films and other endeavors

The following question has been posted in an effort to focus the content of the potential LHS Movie entitled " The Inconvenient Freezer". Your input is extremely important so please take the time to think about your responses, comments and other input.

1.What do you think should be the main theme of the " Inconvenient Freezer" ?

2.What aspects of climate change should be addressed, especially those which you think are a common misconception?

3.What powerful ways do you see being utilized to illustrate these points in the movie?

Reading Assignment

Read chapters 4-6 by Friday 13 February.
Question list to follow...

If you run across something that totally puzzles you, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact me by email or bring the question up in class.

APES get to pondering as all good APES do...

One of your classmates would like comments and discussion on the following statement:

Why does it seem that nobody talks about global warming in the winter , but they go crazy with the topic in the summer?

Assignment : Bats dying? So what? Big Deal?

How do you think this will impact us? Will it impact us? Will it impact our bat populations?

Assignment - Great Barrier Reef dying?

In 2006, when I was snorkling the Great Barrier Reef, I was dismayed to see something that was so far from the beautiful pictures on the Discovery Channel. I know that I looked stunned because our guide asked me if I was ok. I started to ask him questions about the reef and the life or lack of life on it and he quickly clammed up.
There were no massive schools of exotic, brightly colored fish - there were tons of needle fish! We had to really, really hunt for the little clown fish and the corals had taken on a sort of ashy hue. It made me hurt inside......Read the article and then comment.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,475068,00.html?sPage=fnc/scitech/naturalscience

Chapters 1-3 questions

The following are the questions from each chapter that you are responsible for by 6 Feb ( that is next Friday). Please remember to save them as a word document and send them to me as an email attachment to lhs.apes@gmail.com .

Chapter 1: Review questions: 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18 , 22
Critical thinking : 3 & 9

Chapter 2: Review questions: 7, 13, 16, 18
Critical thinking: 4, 5, 7

Chapter 3 : Review Questions: 2,7, 9, 10 ,27, 29, 30
Critical thinking: 4,5 , 9, 11

Remember these are due Friday 6 Feb 2009 by class time.

New Gorilla babies! Good news or is it?

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,483374,00.html

check out the good news......or is it? Read on and comment.

Toxic Waste disposal....assignment # 2

According to your article, "Why Not Dispose of Waste in Ocean Trenches?", it would be disasterous to dispose of nuclear material in trenches; but according to the authors , it is not feasible to send it to space and not desirable to plant it under Yucca Mountain, Nevada. You are head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Since you can't please everyone all the time and few people most of the time, what is your solution to the disposal of our toxic waste , which remains dangerous for thousands of years?

Please post all replies on the blog site.

Powerpoints for Chapters 1-3

If you would like a copy of several different versions of the powerpoints for the first three chapters, email me at lhs.apes@gmail.com.
I have also posted the links to the Meatrix and Store Wars on the blog as well.

Assigment 1 due by 6 Feb. ( Friday)

Once you get your books:

• Read Chapters 1-3 making sure that you read the sections in blue at the start of each chapter, carefully, the connections boxes and the guest essays.
• If you are unfamiliar with a bold faced word, you may want to look it up. I will not be assigning vocabulary per se .
• Each chapter will have selected questions to accompany it. I will post those in a day or so.
• http://www.brookscole.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&discipline_number=22&product_isbn_issn=0534397980 link to the website for your book

Welcome to the next step before the next step....

Hi Apes!

This is your forum to write comments and reply to those comments. I expect an on going exchange of ideas and opinions throughout the course of the semester. You may also use this blog to ask each other class related questions ( ex: you do not understand the basics of a concept we are discussing or you are missing an assignment). I will try to get all assignments posted so that if you do miss class, you can stay current.

This will be a graded part of your classwork. Please do not ignore, misuse or abuse it. I am looking forward to reading all of your deepest thoughts!!!

Enjoy the rest of your mini - vacation.

Mrs. B