Interactive Temperature Game

I played the Interactive Temperature Game. The purpose of the game was to match the temperatures of certain icons to their actual temperature. I was given the choice of playing the game using the Celsius, Fahrenheit or Kelvin temperature scales. On the Fahrenheit scale, water at sea level freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The Fahrenheit scale is mainly used in the United States. On the Celsius scale, water at sea level freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius. The Celsius scale is used by most other countries to report temperature. On the Kelvin scale, water freezes at 273.15 Kelvin and boils at 373.15 Kelvin. The Kelvin scale is the international standard for scientific measurement of temperature and is used mainly by scientists. When we measure temperature, we are measuring how fast the molecules or atoms, in a substance, are moving.

Green House Effect

Article Title: 2 More Glaciers Gone From National Park


The melting of glaciers around the world has accelerated in recent years. More than 90 percent of the worldwide glaciers are melting. Scientists believe increasing temperatures brought about by higher atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are the cause of this melting. Glacier National Park is one of the places experiencing this accelerated melting. There were once 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park. A glacier needs to be 25 acres in order to receive a name. Thirty-seven of the glaciers in the park were large enough to be given names. Glacier National Park has recently lost two more named glaciers, Shepard Glacier and Miche Waburn Glacier, to melting. Of the 37 named glaciers only 25 remain. Geological evidence shows that these glaciers have existed for seven thousand years. Unfortunately, scientists predict that several of the park’s largest glaciers will disappear by 2020.


It’s sad to read that glaciers that have existed for thousand of years are melting away. In my opinion, the glaciers in Glacier National Park as well as the glaciers in the Himalayas, the Alps and all around the world will start to disappear due to global warming and the greenhouse effect. Studies have shown that an increase of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere has caused the Earth’s temperature to rise at a faster rate than in the past. This temperature rise is melting the glaciers of the world. I hope this article will make people more aware of the effects of greenhouse gases and its effect on world’s glaciers. It is not too late to save the glaciers. Hopefully, people as well as the world governments will do something to decrease greenhouses gases so that the glaciers will not disappear.

Convection Popcorn Lab

Today, I completed the Convection Popcorn lab. My teacher used a popcorn popper to make popcorn. She placed the kernels in the popper. She turned on the popper. Hot air created by the popper transferred heat to the kernels, making the kernels expand and pop. There are three ways to heat something: conduction, convection and radiation. In this experiment, the popcorn was heated by convection. Convection heating occurs when heat is transferred by the movement of a gas or a liquid. In this lab, the movement of the hot air (a gas) transferred heat to the kernels. When heat was added to the kernels, the water in the kernel’s soft starchy insides turned to steam. The steam expanded so rapidly that it broke the hulls of the corn kernels and the starchy insides of the kernels expanded with air.

Layers of the Atmosphere

1. What is the basis for dividing the atmosphere into four layers?
The atmosphere can be divided into four layers based on temperature variations.

2. Does the temperature increase or decrease with altitude in the:
Troposphere - decreases
Stratosphere - increases
Mesosphere - decreases
Thermosphere – increases

3. What is the approximate height and temperature of the:

Tropopause - approximate height = 12 km, approximate temperature = -5 degrees Celsius
Stratopause - approximate height = 50 km, approximate temperature = -2 degrees Celsius
Mesopause - approximate height = 80 km, approximate temperature = -79 degrees Celsius

4. What causes the temperature to increase with height through the stratosphere and decrease with the height through the mesosphere?


Ozone absorbing ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes the temperature to increase with height in the stratosphere.


The mesosphere does not absorb solar heat, so the temperature decreases with height.

5. What causes the temperature to decrease with height in the troposphere?
The troposphere is heated by the transfer of energy from the surface of the Earth. The lowest part of the troposphere is the warmest and the temperature decreases with height.

Water Cycle Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/Omegapride/water-cycle-3662207

Frog Dissection

Well, we finally did it today. We got to dissect a frog. Not everyone has the guts to slice open a frog. Some queasy students just dread the thought of cutting open something that was alive. But what’s the big deal? We’re in science class. Aren’t we supposed to dissect animals in science class? Besides, the frog was dead already. I was kind of hesitant about dissecting a frog. I guess I was listening to all those queasy complainers. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it was really interesting. There were four people in my group. We each took turns cutting out different parts of the frog. The first parts I saw were the liver and the fat bodies. Once I removed the liver, I saw the other organs such as the stomach, large intestine and the small intestine. I don’t think I need to list all the internal organs of a frog. I think most of you should know them. As for my group, during the dissection we were given permission to remove an eyeball from the frog. As we were trying to remove the eyeball, we learned an important lesson. Eyeballs are very delicate (because we popped it before we could get it out). During this dissection, I learned a lot. Since a frog is a vertebrate, I learned how a frog’s internal organs are similar to humans. I also learned that taking out a frog’s eyeball requires skill and a delicate hand.

In my opinion, dissection of frogs really helps you learn about the anatomy of the animal. Sure you can look at pictures and drawing, but seeing the real thing is much more interesting than pictures. I, like most students, learn best by seeing, touching and feeling objects. Dissecting a frog or any animal can be messy and gross, but they are very good learning experiences.

By:

greendragon

The Snowicane

We can all thank last week’s snowicane for our early dismissal on Thursday and our snow day on Friday. Meteorologists named last week’s heavy snowstorm a snowicane. Well, what exactly is a snowicane? According to the forecasting service, AccuWeather who coined the term, a snowicane is a snowstorm with hurricane-force winds and rain which can cause flooding.

Well how did the snowicane formed? Winter storms, such as the snowicane, usually form from the clash of two air masses of different temperatures and moisture levels. The water cycle plays an important part in the formation of snowstorms, like the snowicane. Warm ocean water evaporates into the atmosphere. The water then condenses into tiny droplets. As more and more water vapor condenses, the droplets grow. Cold air freezes this water into ice crystals. As the ice crystals come into contact with a warmer air mass, the air masses combine. They cause the ice crystals to melt a little to form snowflakes. Last week, weather forecasters monitored a low-pressure system, a whirling mass of warm, moist air, heading up the East Coast towards another system from the west. One system had moist and warm air from the Atlantic while the other contained colder air from the northwest. When these two air masses combined the snowicane was formed. The energy source that a hurricane needs in order to form and strengthen is warm ocean water. As ocean water evaporates and forms water vapor, heat energy is carried up into the atmosphere. When the water vapor condenses back into liquid water in a cloud, it releases this stored heat energy. The rising air spirals produce a low-pressure zone at the surface where thunderstorms begin to form. As these thunderstorms become more organized, they produce a cluster called a tropical disturbance. This storm system can continue to strengthen and begin to rotate, leading to the formation of a hurricane. All the earth's weather is dependent on that portion of the water cycle concerning evaporation and condensation (resulting in precipitation). So as you can see, the formation of a snowicane and a hurricane both require evaporation of warm ocean water and condensation resulting in precipitation in order to form.

The snowicane produced wind gusts of up to 91-94 mph in New Hampshire and Maine. These winds speeds were well above hurricane-force winds of 74mph.

The precipitation from a hurricane is heavy rain. The precipitation produced by the snowicane was a combination of snow and heavy rain. It produced a wet, heavy snow.

When a hurricane comes onto land, its heavy rains and strong winds can cause major flooding and wind damage to buildings, cars and trees. The snowicane did a lot of damage to cities along the east coast. Schools were closed. Major businesses and government offices also closed. Like a hurricane, the snowicane’s high winds and heavy rain downed trees and power lines and caused coastal flooding. It brought many forms of transportation to a standstill. It caused numerous power outages.

The global pattern of storms, like the snowicane as well as hurricanes, is affected by a combination of factors. This winter’s severe and more frequent snowstorms were caused by a combination of El Nino, a warm patch of water in the Pacific, the Arctic Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation. The Arctic Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation are both sending colder than usual air toward the eastern part of the United States. When all three factors are combined, much of the U.S., especially the North and East, experience cold, stormy, and snowy weather.

Meteorologists named last week’s snowstorm a snowicane because of its similarities to a hurricane. Like a hurricane, the snowicane brought with it not only heavy snow it brought hurricane-force winds and heavy rains. It caused major flooding in certain areas. Like a hurricane, the snowicane caused major damages to building and trees. The snowstorm’s similarities to a hurricane are the reason why meteorologists coined the name, snowicane.

By:

greendragon

Resources:

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35627330/ns/weather/
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/snow-hurricane-threatens-east-coast-snow-flooding-winds/story?id=9931285&page=2
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/02/28/2010-02-28_forecasters_fight_over_storms_call.html
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2006-04-19-global-climate-patterns_x.htm
http://www.learner.org/interactives/weather/iceandsnow.html