Makenna Kopf's Science Methods 1 Blog

 What did you do in the lab this week? This week in lab, we worked in groups to create presentations about climate change. My group's project was on temperature. We worked to find data supporting how climate change affects temperature, and we found data supporting this at a local, regional, and global level. Then we shared our findings with the class and listened to our peers' presentations. Below is some of the information I learned from the other presentations:  Precipitation:  Rising global temperatures are causing shifts in precipitation, leading to more intense storms.  Snowfall is decreasing as temperatures rise; precipitation in December is typically rain now.  This harms crops as snow helps soil not freeze, which the freeze harms crops.  There is a drastic increase in precipitation. There is a 50% increase in days with more than 4 in of rain in Iowa City.  Since 1901, the annual precipitation rate in the US has increased by 0.18 in per decade....

What did you do in lab this week? Climate Change: What are the primary points in the video?  Climate change is real and caused mainly by human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation. It is already affecting our planet through rising temperatures, melting ice, and extreme weather. Politics plays a large role in climate change and the legislation surrounding it  Solutions exist, such as renewable energy, protecting forests, reducing meat consumption, and creating carbon taxes. What are the major issues?  Rapid melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Rising sea levels are causing flooding and threatening entire countries. Massive deforestation, especially in Indonesia, releases large amounts of carbon. Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the meat and palm oil industries. Political and economic systems that make it hard to take meaningful action. Poorer countries suffer the most from climate change impacts. What questions do you want us to t...

  What did you learn in lab? This week in lab, we shifted our focus to weather. We learned more about the water cycle, and made a drawing depicting the water cycle based off of our prior knowledge about the water cycle. Then, we learned about how convection cells impact different types of fronts such as warm, cold, stationary, and occluded fronts. I will attach a photo of the drawing my group and I drew. We also talked about what comes to mind when we think about weather and brainstormed a list. Overall, this lab was a good refresher of my prior knowledge of weather.  What was the big question? What is the water cycle? What is weather? How accurate are our weather apps? What did you learn in Thursday's discussion? N/A Exam Day!  Online Chapter:  What did you learn? I learned more information about warm and cold fronts. Warm front: warm air mass is moving in to replace cold air. Cold front: cold air mass is moving in to replace warm air. I also learned more about pres...

What did you do in lab this week? This week in lab we shared our convection cell videos, and then we did a lab about plate tectonics and their movement, and even got to eat our lab supplies. I will attach photos of the lab to show what I did.  What was the big question? What are the different types of ways plates move, and what do those movements look like? What did you learn from Thursday's discussion? Earthquakes: Earthquakes are caused because plates move.  Earthquakes have different levels of power because of the amount of tension that is built up between the plates.  There will be an earthquake big enough to shake the whole world.  Underwater when earthquakes happen it causes tsunamis. An earthquake could not cause the earth to fall in on itself.  Earthquakes do occur in predictable ways, but they can occur in areas that are off of normal pathways due fracking and other things.  There is no correlation with increased earthquake activity and global warm...

 What did you do in lab this week? (photos below) What was the big question? What are the different types of volcanoes? Where do volcanoes and earthquakes occur?    What did you learn in discussion this week?  Oldest to Youngest: White Sandstone  Siltstone  Shale Igneous Batholith  Igneous Dike A  Sandstone A  Conglomerate  Igneous Dike B  Dolostone  Sandstone B  Glacial Debris   Location of Earthquakes and Volcanoes:  Fault lines: tectonic plates are broken at fault lines  Coast lines are typically on the edge of fault lines  Not all earthquakes and volcanoes are found on fault lines  Example of this: Hawaii  Wegener and Tectonic Plates: Alfred Wegener was a German climatologist and geologist  He proposed a theory called Continental Drift in 1912  He used fossil evidence and layers of rock to support his theory  His theory was eventually accepted in 1967 and was changed to...

  What did you do in lab this week? In lab this week we did an experiment exploring different types of sand with a microscope, I attached two of my favorite ones. It was really cool seeing what each sand looked like very close under the microscope. Then, we looked at fossils that were found in Iowa. Then, we took a field trip to Macbride Hall to see the museum which was very neat.  What was the big question? How can fossils tell us more about what our planet was like before we were here?  What did you learn in discussion this week?  The Devonian Period In Iowa:  Around 419 to 359 million years ago, most of Iowa was covered by warm, shallow seas. During this time, the area was home to a wide variety of sea life, including: Brachiopods, Trilobites, Corals, Crinoids, Cephalopods, Armored fish. Types of Sand: Water-formed sand : Smooth, shiny, and grains are usually the same size.  Glacier-formed sand : Also smooth and polished, but the grain sizes vary. Wind-f...