Journal Questions
By karter laughery
what is sustainiable living? How could someone acheive this? * Do you think that you could personally acheive this?
2. fossil fuels vs renuwable energy-compare and contrast the two forms-look at the financial costs- convince someone to conserve energy.
What does it mean to recycle? Why should someone recycle? how long does it take for these to compose:
how long does it take for these to compose?
a. tin can- 50 years
b. glass bottle- 1,000,000
c.disposable diaper-550
d. wood-1 year
e. paper- 1 month
f. plastic bag-500-1,000
g. styrofoam cup- 1plus million years
h. aluminum can-200
i. cotton T-shirt- 1-5 months
j. apple core- 2 months
k. did any of these surprise you? yes a lot of these surprised me because i just figured that all these would only take up to abut 1 year but it actually goes up to like 1,000,000 plus years!
What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? What can we do here in Iowa to help, is it even possible?
5. Define 2 Biomes of the world, define an ecosystem found in each, and explain the biotic and abotic factors involved
grasslands hold an ecosystem for many past and present organisms
tundra mammals, birds and insects
Biotic= of, relating to or resulting from living things
abiotic= physical rather than biological, not from any living organism.
6. Choose a biome and create a food chain
the location is in the northern hemisphere
the food chain=
lichen, moss, grasses- producers
arctic hare, lemming, caribou, musk ox and pika- consumers
arctic wolf- secondary consumer
brown bear-tertairy consumer
polar bear- tertiary consumer
7. What are dead zones in the gulf of mexico? what causes this? what can be done to help stop this?
We can help stop it by fixing the problem with runoff in to the lakes and oceans, put laws into effect form fertilizers and waste runoff
and build water treatment plants to prevent human and animal waste from entering the waters.
8. define keystone species. give two examples, one a top predator and one not. and explain how their absence would effect the ecosystem
otters and sea urchins are two examples
otters help eat away the forest of kelp in the waters, and without them there would be a hung amount of kelp in the waters and nobody to take care of it besides humans.
without sea urchins the coral reefs would be unprotected at night and it wouldn't be taken care of properly with out them.
also sea otters feed on these urchins and without the otters to eat some of these urchins the urchins would eat all of the sea weed and kelp and there would be hardly any left
9. What is competitive exclusion and give 2 examples of it
birds and pack of wolves are two examples.
10. define each term and give 2 examples of each
parasites is living in or on someone or something- living on whales and living in human stomaches
mimicry is the action or art of imitation someone for entertainment-
mutualism is the way two organisms of different species live- a fish and a donkey each live completely different lives
commensalism is a class of relationships between two organisms where one benefits from the other without effecting it.- a little animal in a crocodiles mouth cleaning its teeth, the croc benefits and the small animal doesn't die
11. Explain the carbon cycle and how humans affect it
12. What is global dimming? where does it usually affect and why is it a problem
global dimming is the decrease in the amounts of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth.
sense the 1950's the places it has happened the most is in Antarctica by 9% in the U.S.A 16% and in Europe by 22%, all of these causes a huge risk for our environment.
global dimming is a major problem to all living beings because it can cause acid rain and smog. Many other things can happen because of this also
13. explain the greenhouse effect and how to the carbon cycle and greenhouse effect work together?
The carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect work together because carbon is a building block of life and a form of stored energy. When fossil fuels are burned for energy/ combustion, carbon is released. Carbon compounds move through plants and animals, the air, the ocean, and the each. Carbon present in the air as carbon dioxide and contributes to the greenhouse affect a related to global warming.
14. define endangered species and give an example. How do species become endangered? what if it was a keystone species? What would happen to the ecosystem? and why should humans care about endangered species?
endangered species: a species that has been categorized by the international union for conservation of nature, because they are at risk for extinction. an example is a white tiger
species become endangered by the environment, humans and a lack of food sources or reproduction. If a keystone species would become extinct or endangered the IUCN would help protect them with all ways possible. If a keystone species would be extinct the ecosystem would take a part in falling apart also. it would take more work for humans to take care of the ecosystem because the animal is now gone. We should take care of endangered species because once they are gone, they are gone forever and they can come back
15. define invasive species. how do they effect the ecosystem and how did they get there?
invasive species: an animal, plant or fungus that is not native to any certain location
examples: frogs, zebra muscles, lion fish
with the example of zebra muscles they effect the lakes and oceans by taking over and effect everything around them. it is impossible to make them go away but there are ways to help stop the spread of then. They get transported by boats and not cleaning out the lake water from pervious lakes when you enter another
16. why should people take care of the lost rainforest ground? why are they being cut down? what would happen if they completely disappeared?
17. why is human overpopulation a major problem? explain all resources for humans to sustain life
the earth can only produce a certain amount of water and food. because there isn't a numerous amount of resources for every country war outbreak occurs
18. pesticides- what are they? how do they effect the environment? and how does it effect crops?
they can be carried out of where you are spraying them through the wind, rain and animals. when you don't deal with them correctly they can be a poison to humans , animals and the environment. they mess up food chains also.
if it gets into the crops even after you boil your food you are still at risk