Alexa's Elementary Science Methods Blog

 What did you do in lab?          -      In lab this week something we learned about was the greenhouse effect. This begins with either the absorption of radiation by the earth's surface, causing it to get warmer, or the radiation is instead reflected. Infrared radiation that was emitted from the earths surface then goes through the atmosphere. Here the earths surface and the lower atmosphere become warmed by the infrared radiation that becomes absorbed at first and then gets re-emitted. Something else we learned about is that heat that we feel is from infrared photons that are created by visible photons being absorbed by the earths surface. What did you learn in lecture?          -      In lecture this week, something I learned about was the albedo effect. The albedo effect relates to whether a surface reflects or absorbs radiation. If a surface has a higher albedo it indicates that it reflects more ra...

What did you do in lab?     -  This week in lab we learned the difference between climate and weather. Climate is what temperature you expect to occur in a certain area and is determined by what the average weather is measured over thirty years. On the other hand, weather is the temperatures that you get day to day. We also analyzed multiple graphs in order to come up with a statement based upon the earth's climate. Some of the graphs showed that we are having a higher number of frost free days, we are using the furnace less, we are having more precipitation, longer growing seasons, etc. These all show the intensity of climate change and how it is continuing to become worse as the years go on.  What did you learn in lecture?     -    This week in lecture I learned that the public is 50/50 on whether or not climate change is real. This may be due to the fact that there are "trusted" sources, such as the Climate Depot, that are telling them, "No war...

 What did you do in lab?          -      This week in lab we started off by discussing the Before the Flood film and some of the major issues it discussed. We talked about how the film explained the topic of climate change and how we as humans contribute to this greatly through burning fossil fuels, deforestation, methane emissions, pollution, etc. Some common questions that we had related to this film and climate change relate to what can we do to reverse the damage done by climate / can we do anything, and what changes can we make to protect the environment. We also worked in groups and were given a section of Iowa to focus on and see how the number of days with heavy rainfall has changed over time. My partner and I had the Drake University section where we found that the number of days with heavy rainfall increased over time by 33.33%.  What did you learn in lecture?          -      Exam Textboo...

What did you do in lab?          -      In lab this week, we talked about the Law of Superposition, which explains that the layers of a sedimentary rock go from oldest to youngest, and also go in a horizontal direction, which is explained by the Principle of Original Horizontality. We also learned how to determine the order of the rock layers from oldest to youngest when looking at a picture. One last thing we did in lab was look at various types of sand under a microscope and list their characteristics. We saw sand of many different colors, various sizes, smooth texture, rough texture, different shapes, etc.  What did you learn in lecture?          -      This week in lecture I learned that an objects buoyancy is related to the density of the object and its comparison to the density of water. We tested out multiple cans with liquid inside of them to see which ones would sink and which would float. We f...