Era Report WAC - 9/22/17

       According to the Geologic Time Scale, there are four major eras in history that shape Earth as we know it today. The Precambrian era is the first era that occurred on Earth. This era covers almost 90% of Earth's entire history. The beginning of the Precambrian era started with the formation of Earth 4.6 billion years ago and ended at the first sign of complex life about 540 million years ago. This era is divided into three eons. This includes the Hadean eon, the Archean eon, and the Proterozoic eon. The Hadean eon started when the planet first began to form as the Earth's core was building. The solar system was constructing within a cloud of dust and gas, known as the solar nebula. The Archean eon was a time of continental building and showed the first stages of early life on Earth. At this time, the Earth's crust cooled enough that rocks and continental plates began to configure. The final eon apart of the Precambrian era is the Proterozoic eon. During the Proterozoic eon, life began to evolve into more complex organisms.

       Since the Earth was barely formed during the Precambrian era, there were little to no plants present during this time. According to the Penn State University department of science, Lichens are believed to have been the first fungi existing on Earth. A Lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi in a symbiotic relationship. During the Proterozoic eon of the Precambrian era, Lichens teamed up with photosynthesizing organisms. The organisms that Lichens collaborated with, include cyanobacteria and green algae. Together these plants conceivably boosted oxygen levels in the atmosphere high enough for animals to develop skeletons, grow larger, and diversify.

        Toward the end of the Precambrian era, the first life formed. The first one-celled organisms formed during the Archean eon of the Precambrian era. Early evidence of life that was once living in the oceans of Earth were microscopic bacteria that were capable of photosynthesis. These one-celled organisms helped make the air and water around Earth become full of oxygen. Once there was plenty of oxygen in the atmosphere and in the ocean, new life could form. New varieties of bacteria began to harness the power of the sun through the biochemical process known as photosynthesis. This energy source ultimately lead to the creation of simple plants and opened the planet up to animal life. The Precambrian era ended with the emergence of complex, multi celled life forms. By the end of the Archean eon, the ocean floor was covered in a living mat of bacterial life.

         Scientists named this eon after the Greek god Hades, who ruled underworld. The surface of the Earth during most of the Hadean eon must have been like our image of the underworld. During the Hadean eon the Earth released tremendous amounts of heat as the Earth's core was forming, due to gravitational sinking. In fact the surface temperature of Earth at this time, was at 1200 degrees Celsius. Throughout the Archean eon, the outer covering of the Earth cooled and hardened into a crust. The hot molten leaked out at weak places in the crust, creating volcanoes. Water from comets and hydrated minerals condensed in the atmosphere and fell as torrential rain. This rainfall formed and filled oceans. The presence of micro organisms on Earth during this time, indicates that 4 billion years ago the Earth's surface temperature must have cooled to less than 100 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, the oceans must have been above 0 degrees Celsius. Therefore, the Earth's surface temperature was between 0 degrees Celsius and 100 degrees Celsius. These temperatures would have had to occur on Earth during this eon in order for these organisms to have lived.

           The basis of Earth's growth happened during the Precambrian era. There are three eons that make up the Precambrian era, including the Hadean, the Archean, and the Proterozoic. The Earth had just formed during the Hadean. At scorching temperatures, there were an abundance of radioactive elements and collisions with other solar system bodies. Approximately 70% of continental landmass was formed during the Archean eon. Huge pieces of crust began to move in different directions, called tectonic plates. This tectonic activity formed the first continent, Rhodinia, about 1.1 billion years ago. The modern-day continents South America, Australia, and Antarctica surrounded North America which was located in the middle. The Earth's crust started to cool down to between 0 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius for micro-organisms to live. However, the Proterozoic was the time when life actually evolved into more complex organisms. These organisms include bacteria life and multi celled organisms such as the Lichen fungi. All of these events that have occurred billions of years ago, are components that form the Earth we live on today.

The Precambrian Era - 9/17/17

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXqSBHuZ5Ti7Y-ktIlDh60PvyO5shbQBidGt5Fl2peHQ26Pb12jWVzGrC5zJ6Vo7_Scnn-CTNPK5sgVg2UQakv7Kwl0Ycv8D24elWj406Jr7IqPvn1IY8vvUPP-qOc1Y_JinlWHS5tgo/s1600/231A-Image+The+Beginning.jpg

According to the Geologic Time Scale, there are four major eras in history that shape Earth as we know it. The Precambrian Era is the first era that has occurred on Earth. This era covers almost 90% of the entire history of the Earth. The beginning of the Precambrian Era started with the formation of the Earth about 4.6 billion years ago and ends at the first sign of complex life about 540 million years ago. This era is divided into three eons, including the Hadean, the Archean, and the Proterozoic. The Hadean eon began when planet first began to form, about 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists named this eon after the Greek god Hades, who ruled underworld because during most of the Hadean period the surface of the Earth must have been like our image of the underworld. During this time, the Earth released tremendous amounts of heat (at a surface temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius) as the Earth's core was forming due to gravitational sinking. At the time of the Archean eon, the Earth's crust cooled enough that rocks and continental plates began to form. It was early in this eon that life first appeared on Earth. Our oldest fossils date to roughly 3.5 billion years ago, and consist of bacteria micro fossils. The final eon apart of the Precambrian Era is the Proterozoic eon. During this time, life began to evolve into more complex organisms. The first evidence of life that were once living in the oceans of the Earth were one-celled micro organisms that were capable of photosynthesis. They helped the air and water around the Earth, become full of oxygen.

S&EP - SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions

I evaluated information to explain the history of the Precambrian era and form hypotheses. In order to complete the worksheet for this project, much research was required. I needed to search the internet to figure out when the Precambrian era began and when it ended, how long it lasted, the different periods it is divided into, the major events that occurred during the era and its different periods, the climate during this era, the positions of the continents during this period, what types of life lived during this era, and finally the major types of plants present in this era. Once finding the information for each of these topics, I answered the questions on the worksheet using detailed ACE explanations. I constructed an explanation of each topic I researched for the Precambrian era, when I found the needed information by searching sources online and collecting the information using the ACE structure of answering. I designed a solution to a problem when a source I was searching didn't have enough information needed to answer the topic questions. However I solved this problem by researching multiple sources to grasp as much information as I could find on the topic. For example, one website I visited didn't mention anything about plants existing during the Precambrian era. But after researching multiple websites, I finally found a website that gave me all the information I needed on the plants that lived during this era.

The Age of Rocks - 9/10/17

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Cross-section_of_sedimentary_layers.png/500px-Cross-section_of_sedimentary_layers.png

The Geological Time Scale is a record of the life forms and geologic events in Earth's history. The Geological Time Scale includes the age of rocks or the years since the rocks are formed. There are two ways that geologists determine the age of rocks. The Relative age is the age of a rock compared to the ages of other rocks. For example the rock is younger than the rock beneath it. The Absolute age is the number of years since a rock is formed. For example the rock is one million years old. The law of superposition states that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it. Therefore the older the rock is, the deeper it is in the ground. Another way to determine relative age of rocks is the Cross-Cutting Principle: when "something" cuts across a body of rock, that "something" is younger than the rock it cuts across. 

S&EP - SP7: Engaging in argument from evidence

I use evidence to defend my explanation. I took notes on the age of rocks and fossils providing the power point about how scientists find the age of fossils, as evidence. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that the top layer of rock is younger than the bottom layer of rock, using the fact that the older the rock is, the deeper it is in the ground as evidence. I examined my own understanding in light of the evidence. I used to think that rocks were dated depending on what stage of the Rock Cycle they were in, but because of understanding the information on the power point that my teacher presented in class, now I think that rocks are dated by their layers. I collaborated with my peers in searching for the best explanation. I did some research on the age of rocks and fossils which I discussed with my class and table group. Together we figured out that scientists find the age of fossils depending on how deep the rock is in the ground.

The Rock Cycle - 9/2/17

http://www.mineralogy4kids.org/sites/default/files/rockCycle_0.jpg

The Rock Cycle is the cycle of processes that rocks in the Earth's crust undergo. The Rock Cycle describes the formation, breakdown, and reformation of rocks. The three main processes that a rock goes through is Igneous rock, Sedimentary rock, and Metamorphic rock. The Igneous rock is formed by cooling of molten magma on the Earth's surface. The Sedimentary rock is formed when sediment is deposited out of air, ice, wind, or when water flows carry these particles in suspension. This sediment is often formed when weathering and erosion break down a rock into loose material. The Metamorphic rock is a result of a transformation of a pre-existing rock. The pre-existing rock is subjected to very high heat and pressure which makes it go through physical and/or chemical changes. Each type of rock is able to transform into the two other rock types. However, there are other steps that the rocks must go through in order to transform from one rock type to another. The other stages of the cycle include becoming magma, soil, or sediment. You may be wondering how the rocks transport from one stage to another, well the rocks may experience erosion, weathering, deposition, lithification, melting, or crystallization when transforming into the different stages of the rock cycle. Rocks typically start as molten rock (magma below ground or lava above ground) which cools and hardens into igneous rock. No matter what rocks start as, they are always able to go through the cycle and make their way back to what they originally were.

S&EP - SP1: Asking questions and defining problems

I formulated testable questions when I discovered what I needed to do in order to complete the worksheet I did in class, about the Rock Cycle. I established what is already known about the Rock Cycle by writing, filling out, and answering questions about the Rock Cycle and how it works, using the online Gizmo. I determined what questions have yet to be answered when I looked back on the information that I collected and saw which of the questions on the worksheet I still needed to answer. I defined constraints and specifications for a solution when I noticed that some of the information on the worksheet I needed to have wasn't actually on the Gizmo. This information that I needed should only be answered by myself, since it was only the basic knowledge of the Rock Cycle I should have. However, I had some trouble on this part because the Rock Cycle is review from sixth grade and I don't quite remember all the processes of the cycle.

The Environmental Accords 5/21

http://ueamelakasummit2017.mpag.gov.my:8081/uea/uea/images/logo_uea.png

The Urban Environmental Accords are a set of objectives for an urban future. These objectives are set for an urban future that would be "ecologically sustainable, economically dynamic, and socially equitable". As well as these set of objectives are based on existing best practices and applied to issues like energy, waste reduction, urban nature, transportation, and water. The Environmental Accords were created on June 05, 2005. On this date, San Francisco hosted United Nations World Environment Day, during which Mayor Gavin Newsom presented mayors from around the world with this unique opportunity to create the Urban Environmental Accords. Since then, the Urban Environmental Accords have been signed by more than a hundred mayors who have begun applying accord principles in their own cities across the globe. In addition, since then San Francisco has been adopting three Urban Environmental Accords actions per year. All together, there are 21 Environmental Accords. These 21 accords are separated into seven different categories. The seven categories that the Environmental Accords cover are Energy, Waste Reduction, Urban Design, Urban Nature, Transportation, Environmental Health, and Water. Each category contains three different Urban Environmental Accords.

S&EP - SP7: Engaging in argument through evidence

I used evidence to defend my explanation. I created a brochure for my Redesigned Urban Village using the Urban Environmental Accords, providing three Urban Environmental Accords as evidence. For this assignment, I had to create a brochure type document for my Urban Village. I chose three Environmental Accords and listed them down on my brochure. As well as I wrote a paragraph for each of the three Environmental Accords, stating how my Urban Village will reflect and show these Accords in its environment. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that my Urban Village will provide a compost bin and a recycling bin next to every trash can following Environmental Accord #6 using the fact that Accord #6 is to implement "user-friendly" composting and recycling programs as evidence. I examined my own understanding in light of the evidence. I used to think that the 21 Urban Environmental Accords were just about helping to protect the environment generally, but because of reading through the different Environmental Accords for this assignment, now I think that the Urban Environmental Accords are separated by seven specific categories Energy, Waste Reduction, Urban Design, Urban Nature, Transportation, Environmental Health, and Water. I collaborated with my peers in searching for the best explanation. I did some research on the 21 Urban Environmental Accords which I discussed with my table group and elbow partner. Together we figured out all of the different 21 Urban Environmental Accords and how they impact the environment of an Urban Village.

XCC: Cause and Effect

The cause and effect relationship that occurs in the 21 Environmental Accords happens between the specific accord and how it impacts the environment of an Urban Village. The actions of one of the Environmental Accords effects the environment by improving energy, waste reduction, urban design, urban nature, transportation, environmental health, and water. As well as the outcome of each of the Urban Environmental Accords not only benefits the environment, it also impacts an Urban Village by improving quality of life. For example, action #13 is to develop and implement a policy which expands affordable public transportation coverage to within half-a-kilometer of all city residents in ten years. This impacts the environment by encouraging more public transportation to reduce the amount of fossil fuels that are released by individual cars. Less fossil fuels released into the atmosphere, means less pollution in the environment. As well as this action also helps the Urban Village by providing a more affordable public transportation system to the community.

The Different "Spheres" of the World 5/14

http://assets.openstudy.com/updates/attachments/547f6731e4b03e22bc88fba0-kamibug-1417635919362-capture.png

Humans have impacted the world greatly. Don't be flattered because I don't mean in a beneficial way. What I'm trying to say is that human activities and actions have damaged the Earth's environment. This takes me to the 5 "Spheres" of the world. Earth's system can be separated into five major subsystems; air, land, water, organisms, and ice. These five subsystems are called "spheres". More specifically, they are the atmosphere (air), lithosphere (land), hydrosphere (water), biosphere (living things), and cryosphere (ice). The atmosphere is the layer of gases surrounding a planet. Humans activities effect the atmosphere by causing air pollution in many different ways, including the use of transportation that requires gas, working in factories that give off fossil fuel gases, and using items that give off smoke. The lithosphere is the rigid outer part of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. The lithosphere is impacted by humans because of erosion. Natural land cover is disturbed as new cities are built because this new development can result in very high levels of erosion. As well as deforestation to clear land, damages the quality of land. The hydrosphere consists of all the waters on the surface of the Earth, such as lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans. Humans can impact the hydrosphere by creating water pollution. Water pollution occurs when humans let out oils and trash into bodies of water. In addition, humans can redirect the course rivers take make by creating dams. The biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living things and their relationships. The biosphere is effected by humans when humans cause species to become endangered and go extinct. Humans cause this to happen by clearing out the homes of different species in order to build cities. The final sphere, cryosphere, is the frozen water part of the Earth's system. Climate change is a big impact on the cryosphere and all of the fossil fuels that are let off from humans makes the Earth warmer. The cryosphere protects the Earth from getting too warm, but when the ice melts from global warming, it impacts the affects the entire planet's energy balance.

S&EP - SP7: Engaging in argument through evidence

I used evidence to defend my explanation. I played a playlist of educational games on "Legends of Learning" that dealt with human impact on the Earth and taught me how we can start improving, providing the information that I learned as evidence. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that human activities damage the atmosphere by creating air pollution using my knowledge that gas emissions from transportation mobiles, fossil fuel gases that are given off from human made factories, and smoke that is burned from humans cause air pollution, as evidence. I examined my own understanding in light of the evidence. I used to think that deforestation of areas in order to clear space for cities effected the lithosphere most because of soil erosion that deforestation causes, but because of playing the educational games and learning new information, now I think that deforestation is a huge impact on the biosphere because of the lost of homes of animal species. I collaborated with my peers in searching for the best explanation. I did some research on the different "spheres" of the Earth and how human activities greatly impact them, which I discussed with my class and the people at my table. Together we figured out how humans effect the environment of the Earth and the Earth's "spheres" with our actions.

XCC: Cause and Effect

The cause and effect relationship that occurs in the different "spheres" of the Earth happens between us humans and the well being of the Earth's environment. More specifically, the relationship revolves around the actions and activities humans take in daily life and how this effects the "spheres" of the Earth. For example when humans let out fossil fuels into the atmosphere, this not only affects the atmosphere with air pollution, it also causes the global warming. Global warming is the act of the Earth getting warmer. When the Earth gets warmer, it effects the cryosphere by melting ice. This is important because when the ice melts, it effects the entire planet's energy balance and encourages global warming. Another example of this relationship is when humans cause water polution. When we release oil, trash, and other toxic items into bodies of water, it of course pollutes the water and contaminates it. However, this action also affects the biosphere by killing any species that live in these contaminated bodies of water.

Acid vs. Base 5/7

http://www.differencebetween.info/sites/default/files/images/1/ph-scale.jpg

An acid is a chemical substance that neutralizes alkali and is able to dissolve some metals. Acids are usually a sour tasting liquid. You will most likely be able to find acids in foods you eat and drinks you consume. Examples of acidic substances are lemon juice, coffee, or tea. However, these acids aren't very strong, meaning that they aren't harmful and won't be able to burn through metals. A base is a chemical substance that is slippery to the touch and has a bitter taste. You will be able to find bases in cleaning products. Such as soap, baking soda, and ammonia. These products aren't very strong bases either, which is why you are able to use them to clean with no harm done to you. You can measure how acidic or basic a product is by using a pH scale. To use a pH scale, you put some of the product on a piece of litmus paper. If an acid is poured on the paper, it turns the litmus red. If a base is poured on the paper, it turns the litmus a blue color. This means that the more red the litmus paper is after the experiment, the more acidic the substance is. As well as the more acidic a substance is, the lower the pH level is on the scale. For bases, the more blue the litmus paper is, the more basic the substance is. The more basic a product is, the higher the pH level on the scale. You can tell that a product is an acid if the pH level ranges anywhere on the scale from 0 to 6. In contrast, you can tell that a product is a base if the pH level ranges from 8 to 14. In addition, the lower the pH level of an acid and the closer it is to 0, the more concentrated the acid is. The higher the pH level of a base and the closer it is to 14, the more concentrated the base is. You may be thinking, what does it mean if the pH level of a product is at 7? Is there an in between? The answer is no, if a substance has a pH level of 7, this means that the substance is neither an acid or a base. This means that the substance is neutral. An example of a neutral product is water or H2O. 

S&EP - SP7: Engaging in argument from evidence

I used evidence to defend my explanation. I conducted an experiment that tested the pH level of different acidic or basic products and filled out a worksheet about the pH level of acids and bases, providing the results of the experiment as evidence. I formulated evidence based on solid data when I stated that the more red the substance was when it was tested, the more concentrated the acid was using my observation that the lower the numbers got on the pH scale, the more red the substance had to be and the lower the pH level of a substance means that the substance is a stronger acid, as evidence. I examined my own understanding in light of the evidence. I used to think that when a substance had a pH level of 7, it just meant the substance was in between and was both an acid and a base, but because of learning about neutral substances now I think that when the pH level of a substance is 7 that means that it is neither an acid or a base, but a neutral substance. I collaborated with my peers in searching for the best explanation. I did some research on how to use a pH scale to tell if a substance is an acid or a base which I discussed with my class and the people at my table who conducted the experiment with me. Together we figured out that the lower the pH level and the more red a substance is, the more acidic the substance is. As well as the higher the pH level and the more green or blue a substance is, the more basic the substance.

XCC: Patterns

The pattern that occurs with using a pH scale to measure if a substance is acidic or basic, deals with the pH level of the substance and what color it is when tested. I observed this pattern when conducting an experiment in class that allowed me to see how acidic or basic a substance was based on its pH level. During the experiment I saw that after testing out the substances, all the acid products were a pink to reddish color and all of the base products were a green to blue color. When testing an acid product, I noticed that the more red the substance, the lower the pH level of the substance. Which lead me to figure out the the lower the pH level of a substance, the stronger and more concentrated the acid is. As well as the higher the pH level of an acid, the weaker and less concentrated the acid is. In contrast, I noticed an opposite pattern with bases. When testing a base product, I noticed that the more green the substance got, the higher the pH level of the substance on a pH scale. With this information I found that the higher the pH level of a substance, the more concentrated and stronger the base is. In addition, the lower the pH level of a base, the less concentrated and weak the base is.