Most Americans aren't aware that there is a World Environment Day. June 5 of every year since 1972 it has had a different theme. WED is hosted every year by a different city and commemorated with an international exposition. WED of 2005 focused on green cities and included some tips for kids.
Six really important Things I can do as a kid to help the environment
1.Shop locally: Walk to a store near your house, Go to one store for every need instead of driving all around town for 2 different items, if a store like that is to far away then ride a bike or a skateboard etc., By doing these you will already be saving the earth and tons of $.
2.Reduce Recycle Reuse: Reduce the amount of thrash by buying stuff with less packaging. Recycle used plastic, paper, aluminum, and Styrofoam. Reuse old leather, clothing etc.
3. Use less energy you will save Money and the earth: Turn off appliances when you are not using them. It might not make sense to a kid to turn off every light in their house before they leave their house, This is the biggest money saver of all 12, and by turning off all of the lights you will save the earth the sun and us.
4.Eating: If you learn to cook yourself a meal you will be reducing the amount of pollution in the world. Why, because most people in America buy fast food every day and half the people who buy fast food throw the thrash on the ground.
5.Saving trees: Use Sunday comics as wrapping paper
6.Put rotten food in the Compost. Also if you don’t have a compost don’t buy one make one.
Mexico, a country at the crossroads of the Green Economy and one increasingly in the centre of regional and global affairs will host the international 2009 World Environment Day celebrations. The theme chosen by the UN Environment Programme, which coordinates the day on 5 June on behalf of the UN system and the peoples of the world, will be 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'.
I encourage everyone to participate by doing any simple thing and raise awareness for World Environment Day. If each person contributes a little then we can all make a difference. =)
Monday, October 13, 2008
mini project #6
Bioterrorism in the United States:
Bioterrorism is terrorism by intentional release of bacteria, viruses or toxins. These may be in a naturally-occurring or in a human-modified form. These are bacteria with a high potential for adverse public health impact. An excellent example of bioterrorism is the anthrax attack of 2001. That is exactly what bioterrorism is, scaring a population of their personal health with deadly toxins. Biological viruses are relatively simple to obtain by terrorists and are becoming a major threat to the United States. The government is working on advanced technology to have early warning systems, and identifying contaminated areas. Methods for predicting the use of biological bacteria in urban areas as well as assessing the area for the hazards associated with a biological attack are being established in major cities. Although the threat of bioterrorism will most likely always be in our society...we can feel confident that it is being observed closely, and hopefully we will always be one step ahead of the biological terrorists. =)
Bioterrorism is terrorism by intentional release of bacteria, viruses or toxins. These may be in a naturally-occurring or in a human-modified form. These are bacteria with a high potential for adverse public health impact. An excellent example of bioterrorism is the anthrax attack of 2001. That is exactly what bioterrorism is, scaring a population of their personal health with deadly toxins. Biological viruses are relatively simple to obtain by terrorists and are becoming a major threat to the United States. The government is working on advanced technology to have early warning systems, and identifying contaminated areas. Methods for predicting the use of biological bacteria in urban areas as well as assessing the area for the hazards associated with a biological attack are being established in major cities. Although the threat of bioterrorism will most likely always be in our society...we can feel confident that it is being observed closely, and hopefully we will always be one step ahead of the biological terrorists. =)
Sunday, October 12, 2008
visitors from many different places...=)
The first turtle we analyzed was the box turtle. Turtles are water animals and tortoises are land animals. The box turtle however also lives on the land and does not have particularly webbed feet to help it swim through the water currents. This box turtle had a patterned shell, which was yellow and black but all in all the shell was rather plain as the turtle was a female. These box turtles are native to Florida.
Tortoise number two was a red foot tortoise native from South America. The flat belly showed us that it was a female as this is a specific feature adapted to the way these tortoises mate. The tortoise moved very slowly, which also gave us a clue it was not a water animal. Although the name suggests that the skin on the tortoise was red, it was actually more brown/grey. This tortoise is a vegetarian and therefore had a soft mouth.
The third turtle was the Central American Wood Turtle. This turtle was very active and seemed rather agitated. It had a pointed mouth, which is perfect for shredding the fish which it eats. Its shell was slightly raised and triangular in shape which would allow it to glide through a water current easily. In appearance this turtle was much brighter with orange and black eyes, and a brown with orange shell.
The Russian tortoise is a vegetarian and has a pointed mouth, perfect for shredding foliage. This tortoise also looks like it may be able to dig as his claws were also long and sharp. When we put him down on the table to look at him he also tried to dig into the wood. He was very heavy , ran very fast, had a yellow/brown shell, but the bottom was completely black.The mud turtle we looked at was only young and therefore very small in size. He had very webbed feet and a triangular shell to glide through water. His face looked completely different to the others as he had a more triangular and stream lined face and mouth. His bottom jaw was very pointed and this shows that he probably eats fish in the water. For camouflage the turtle was green with black spots on his belly. This turtle originates from North America.
The snake neck turtle we saw was a very interesting looking turtle. It lives in the water and is native to Australia. Its neck is very long and uses it to catch fish with since it lives in the water. It also had very webbed feet excellent for swimming and maneuvering its way in the water. It was also very fast so I imagine it is considered a predator in most environments in Australia
The soft shell turtle was also a water turtle, it is native to North America and can be seen in several environments throughout North America. It had a very small pointy little nose, very similar to a straw. It was also very small so it can fit in many places in ponds and lakes. It had a very soft shell which it also flexed and moved every once in a while. Like the snake neck turtle, it had webbed feet and a somewhat long neck but nowhere near the extension of the neck on the snake neck turtle.
Tortoise number two was a red foot tortoise native from South America. The flat belly showed us that it was a female as this is a specific feature adapted to the way these tortoises mate. The tortoise moved very slowly, which also gave us a clue it was not a water animal. Although the name suggests that the skin on the tortoise was red, it was actually more brown/grey. This tortoise is a vegetarian and therefore had a soft mouth.
The third turtle was the Central American Wood Turtle. This turtle was very active and seemed rather agitated. It had a pointed mouth, which is perfect for shredding the fish which it eats. Its shell was slightly raised and triangular in shape which would allow it to glide through a water current easily. In appearance this turtle was much brighter with orange and black eyes, and a brown with orange shell.
The Russian tortoise is a vegetarian and has a pointed mouth, perfect for shredding foliage. This tortoise also looks like it may be able to dig as his claws were also long and sharp. When we put him down on the table to look at him he also tried to dig into the wood. He was very heavy , ran very fast, had a yellow/brown shell, but the bottom was completely black.The mud turtle we looked at was only young and therefore very small in size. He had very webbed feet and a triangular shell to glide through water. His face looked completely different to the others as he had a more triangular and stream lined face and mouth. His bottom jaw was very pointed and this shows that he probably eats fish in the water. For camouflage the turtle was green with black spots on his belly. This turtle originates from North America.
The snake neck turtle we saw was a very interesting looking turtle. It lives in the water and is native to Australia. Its neck is very long and uses it to catch fish with since it lives in the water. It also had very webbed feet excellent for swimming and maneuvering its way in the water. It was also very fast so I imagine it is considered a predator in most environments in Australia
The soft shell turtle was also a water turtle, it is native to North America and can be seen in several environments throughout North America. It had a very small pointy little nose, very similar to a straw. It was also very small so it can fit in many places in ponds and lakes. It had a very soft shell which it also flexed and moved every once in a while. Like the snake neck turtle, it had webbed feet and a somewhat long neck but nowhere near the extension of the neck on the snake neck turtle.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
evolution...in a nut shell.
In biology, evolution is the change of traits in a population of organisms from one generation to the next. There is one major mechanism that drives evolution. That is natural selection, a process causing traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common in a population, and harmful traits to become more rare. This occurs because individuals with the beneficial traits are more likely to reproduce, so that more individuals in the next generation will inherit these traits. Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers are all related. Darwin's general theory presumes the development of life from non-life and stresses a purely naturalistic view. That is that complex creatures evolve from more simplistic ancestors naturally over time. In a nutshell, as random genetic mutations occur within an organism's genetic code, the beneficial mutations are preserved because they aid survival -- a process known as "natural selection." These beneficial mutations are passed on to the next generation. Over time, beneficial mutations accumulate and the result is an entirely different organism (not just a variation of the original, but an entirely different creature).
mini project #5
This weeks project was to go to the EPA's web site (www.epa.gov) I had to find the closest Superfund Site to Nova. First I entered all my details so that a map could be formed and then they gave me a color coded key to see where the sites were. it turned out that the closest Superfund Site is the Davie National Resource Recovery in 3250 Field RD FLD984182014. I found this on http://www.cqs.com/super_fl.htm
I also saw a map of Davie with Superfunds on the EPA website. http://iaspub.epa.gov/enviro/goemp.redirect?appl=wme&cmd=ZoomInByZip&min_x=-80.251293&max_y=26.093835&max_x=-80.199765&min_y=26.045421&selected=
I also saw a map of Davie with Superfunds on the EPA website. http://iaspub.epa.gov/enviro/goemp.redirect?appl=wme&cmd=ZoomInByZip&min_x=-80.251293&max_y=26.093835&max_x=-80.199765&min_y=26.045421&selected=
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
mini project #4
Genetically Modified Products on the Market today.
We all look back on the back of food packets to check how many calories, or how much fat there is in our food but do we look to see if it has been genetically modified? I don't think we take enough care when choosing food for us to eat as we assume, if it is on the store shelf then it is safe to eat. i found a really great website, the link is posted below, which gives vital information on every genetically modified product out there.
Monday, September 22, 2008
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