last blog

I can honestly say that my success of the year was my garden and my notebook. I mean, my notebook isn't that great, not as good as my other class mates, but in my opinion i tried my best on this notebook and i am reaping the rewards. I worked hard this year, that i can also honestly say. I have a lot of failures if you look at my grades, thats a bit obvious! xD Although, the thing i learned this year, is that i work best under pressure. As strange as that sounds, i do. I will also remember that procrastination is my greatest flaw.

"Closing the loop"

What we need to do in terms of waste management is to stop buying new products such as whenever a new product of computers or television or phones. If it still works, you don't NEED to get it. Speaking about need, people need to learn the difference between the things that are needed for survival, and the things that we want. Especially in today's economy, the things that we want certainly are not needed for us to survive! When people say "closing the loop" in concerning waste management, what is meant is that we need to stop creating and wasting. We need to reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Population

How can a countrys population grow without birth? Well, a country also has to consider that immigration could be a possibility of the growth of population. Also, if new medications are made and old people don't kick the bucket (die) or pulling up daisies then the population will also grow, since people aren't dying. Those are two ways population can grow without birth.

fragile

I believe that the rainforest is the most fragile ecosystem/biome that the world has. That and the coral reefs. Why you may ask? Because they support the most biodiversity that the world has, not only that but the rainforest has many plants and animals that have yet to be discovered, and if people continue to destroy and  cut down trees from the rainforest there will be animals and plants that will go extinct that haven't even been discovered. As for the coral reefs, coral has been found to live for hundreds of years, and if I am correct were not quite sure what the average lifespan of coral is. If we continue to dump things into the ocean the coral will die, if we don't take care of the earth, temperatures will rise and the coral will die because they can't survive the most minor weather changes. And the fish that survive and thrive off of the coral will die as well. Too many animals are dependent on the coral and if we don't take care of them an entire ecosystem along with the biodiversity they hold will disappear off the face of the earth.

Pesticides

Should we use pesticides on our food? In my opinion, no i don't think we should use pesticides because they could ruin our health. Not only that, but there are so many substitutes in using something to kill the bugs. Such as  bugs on bugs. There are other insects that could be used on a farm to kill other pests. Such as praying mantises or lady bugs, or flys that lay eggs in ants. There are many other substitutes and in using bugs to eat bugs you are bringing in more population for those bugs to your farm.

Farmer Barry

I believe that what happened to farmer barry was very unfair. I think that the court should have said that it wasn't the farmers problem if these seeds came onto his land. They said it didn't matter how the seeds got onto his land, whether it was by bird, or cross pollination. This, in my opinion, is stupid. The farm has no control over nature, such as the birds and the bees. He can't keep bees out, or else how can he farm? Thus, there is no way to keep these seeds out of his farm other then not farming. I also believe that its stupid that there saying that their mutated seed is supposed to be equal to the regular seed, yet its unique enough to have patent on it. This doesn't make sense at all. I think a better outcome is either in the ruling of the case in court, or in the giving the patent on these mutated seeds.

My learning

In the class I have learned many things. I've learned about ecosystems on land and in the water. I've learned about how species survive in these ecosystems, and how the littlest changes to those ecosystems can make a big difference on the biodiversity of those ecosystems. If there is one thing that I don't understand in this class, it hasn't come to be. Maybe later on in the semester I will ask a question that I won't understand.

My favorite biome

I would have to say, that the most interesting biome i find is the rainforest! It has a large ecosystem supporting a biodiversity of plants and animals! Not only that, but many of these plants contain medicines that we could use. Also, the amount of rainfall in the forest is enourmous! About 68-78 inches of rain a year! What many people don't know, is that their are two types of rainforests. The tropical rainforest that we all think about, and the temperate rainforest. Tropical rainforests are said to be the Earths lungs, but its found that that tropical rainforests contribute little net oxygen to the atmosphere through photosynthesis. And despite the amount of rainfall, soil quality is quite poor! Yet the rainforests can sustain more then half of the worlds species of plants and animals! This is why i find that the rainforests are so interesting!

River habitats

A river is a body of flowing water that goes into a sea, lake, or ocean. The crenon is the uppermost zone at the source of the river. It is further divided into the eucrenon (spring or boil zone) and the hypocrenon (brook or headstream zone). These areas are characterized by low temperatures, reduced oxygen content and slow moving water. The rhithron is the upstream portion of the river that follows the crenon. It is characterized by relatively cool temperatures, high oxygen levels, and fast, turbulent flow. The potamon is the remaining downstream stretch of river. It is characterized by warmer temperatures, lower oxygen levels, slow flow and sandier bottoms. The chemistry of the water has a large impact on the ecology of that water for both plants and animals and it also affects the uses that may be made of the river water. Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycle also. 

Semester 2: Relationships between organisms

Their are many organisms that help each other in the act of survival. One example that happen on campus is below the soil. Their are worms in the soil, that eat the dirt, and their poop thus gives nutrients to the soil. This leads to my next example, which is plants and trees take nutrients from the dirt and make food with that such as fruit. This fruit feed herbivores or omnivores such as the rats or opossum in the school. Not only do the plants and trees feed them, but we humans also give them our left over trash. This attracts carnivores, for example, the hawk that circles over ricks. This hawk hunts the rats and opossums that live in our school. Our school is able to support many animals and creates a variety of relationships between organisms that support their survival.

Enviro poem: Natures Song

The river was a peaceful place
where all  fish sped to race
and at the end of this river was a waterfall,
so when the river fell, it was almost like a call
for all the birds to come bathe and sing
to make this beautiful ring
into a bright and beautiful oasis!

Now listen to the wind,
make music with fire as it kindles,
at that to the river,
at the same time they begin to deliver
a beautiful melody called Natures Song!
oh how the song lasts oh so very long!

But now the earth has been molded and beat
the trees are now silent with defeat.
The now dingy rivers have lost their past shine,
don't you wish you could go back in time?
The rainforests have dwindled from immeasurable to measurable.
Can anyone say they find this quite pleasurable?
To watch our Mother Nature sing
with utmost felicity?

But once we disturb it,
theirs no coming back to it.
we can only mimic
what Nature once made rhythmic.

But once man is gone,
life will still go one
and Nature will renew her song.

chaos theory

This man named Edward Lorenz came up with a theory of why not tell the weather for the future? not like tomorrow the future, but like next month! But while he was doing his studies, he found out that this was near to impossible. There is too many things that can change the weather, thus the butterfly effect. Not only that, but people do too many things to the environment to cause an inbalance in the weather/environment so their is no way to have an exact weather reading. 

Soil conservation

for farmers, yes, i do think that we are doing enough for THEIR soil. but for all local communities i dont think we are doing enough for our soil. California native soil does not have as much nutrients in the soil for plants and trees to survive, and if we want our plants to thrive, then we need to do something about it.

My Favorite

My favorite activity in environmental is the gardening/ beautification of the school. i like learning about things that effect the environment, how certain lack of nutrients can change how a plant grows. i  also like making the school a better place to be in, and possibly less dreary. It was pretty nice to watch our plants grow, and how certain actions can increase germination in the seeds. My least favorite thing in the class, are the computer work. Im not good with technology, so all the computer work we have to do kinda makes me feel stupid. i think i would change the quizes from the computer to in class. this way i could at least get credit for them....