Sunday, July 27, 2008
Entry 18: Reflections of Biology Journal
Althought this will be my last post on this blog for my Biology Journal Blog Project, I am not exactly feeling very happy that I do not have to update the blog anymore as have found it a very pleasant learning experience. Initially, when I was told by my Chemistry teacher, Ms Qiu to do 3 entries per week on two topics on this blog over a period of six weeks, I felt apprehensive and was not willing to spend my internet time on Biology. Well, it was my first research post that made me change my mind. I had discovered it was quite fun after all, searching all over the internet for relevant information, and compiling them together like book. I had copied plenty of the information from several websites and hope the owners would not mind as I have left the URL's of sites which I have copied the information from. I think that's about all I have to say, and my conclusion is that this Biology Journal has really helped me in understanding Digestion,Ecology and Nutrient Cycles, with the aid of the many Biology sites I have visited.
Entry 17: Human Aspect of Nutrient Cycles
As I had mentioned in my last post, this shall be my last informative post before I start on my reflections of this Biology Online-Blog Journal in general. There is no doubt, that humans rely directly and indirectly on nature for their survival and that humans are taking a toll on the environment in which they live. The majority of, the world's population receives its food supply from sustainable agriculture practices, which began with the selection of wild seeds several thousand years ago.
Modern agriculture has done away with the slow process of natural selection and hybridization. For this reason it is important that human kind does not allow the biodiversity of the world to slip away, since the plants we loose today could be the cure for the diseases of tomorrow. Not only do humans effect the environment through agriculture; they also rapidly transform environments into shopping malls, or housing developments, often destroying, habitat for animals. In industrialized nations petroleum products drive the economy, by fueling our cars and other modes of transportation, decayed organic material is essential to the health of the global economy, in less industrialized areas organic matter such as wood and coal are important, parts of the everyday lives of the people. It as been shown that the world cannot sustain another century like the past one with over 1,000 species going extinct for every new species which evolves. Where everything, which is consumed, is replaced, keeping an accurate balance of the diversity of life on earth will be essential to the survival of humankind.
The environment has become one of the most important issues of our time and will continue to be well into the future. The challenge is to find approaches to environmental management that give people the quality of life they seek while protecting the environmental systems that are also the foundations of our well being.
Information obtained from:
1)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/category.php/5.html
2)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/aspect.html
Modern agriculture has done away with the slow process of natural selection and hybridization. For this reason it is important that human kind does not allow the biodiversity of the world to slip away, since the plants we loose today could be the cure for the diseases of tomorrow. Not only do humans effect the environment through agriculture; they also rapidly transform environments into shopping malls, or housing developments, often destroying, habitat for animals. In industrialized nations petroleum products drive the economy, by fueling our cars and other modes of transportation, decayed organic material is essential to the health of the global economy, in less industrialized areas organic matter such as wood and coal are important, parts of the everyday lives of the people. It as been shown that the world cannot sustain another century like the past one with over 1,000 species going extinct for every new species which evolves. Where everything, which is consumed, is replaced, keeping an accurate balance of the diversity of life on earth will be essential to the survival of humankind.
The environment has become one of the most important issues of our time and will continue to be well into the future. The challenge is to find approaches to environmental management that give people the quality of life they seek while protecting the environmental systems that are also the foundations of our well being.
Information obtained from:
1)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/category.php/5.html
2)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/aspect.html
Entry 16: The Water Cycle
In my opinion, this post on Nutrient Cycles is the most interesting, and here it goes.
Earth has a stable water supply which 98 percent of the earths water is contained in, oceans, lakes, rivers and streams with the remaining found in, the form of ice, water vapor, and in the bodies of living organisms. The constant movement of water, from earth to the atmosphere is called the water cycle. This cycle is driven by solar energy, and causes Earth's water supply is used over and over again. The sun evaporates water off of water bodies such as rivers and lakes, as well as form moist surfaces and bodies of living organisms.
This water is drawn back up into the atmosphere, and falls back to earth in the form of rain. There is a greater amount of evaporation, from the ocean than the amount of precipitation (rainfall) this results in a movement of water vapor by the wind to inland areas, areas closer the ocean receive more precipitation (rainfall) than those which are further from the ocean or are protected by a mountain range. Water is also absorbed from the bodies of terrestrial plants and animals as well as the soil, the collective process of evaporation from the soil and plants is called evapotransporation. This constant movement of water through evaporation by the sun. Water which is not evaporated by the sun may reenter the water cycle by seeping down through the soil, until it reaches the, a zone of saturation, here all of the holes and cracks of the soil are filled with water below which there is a bed of solid rock which the water cannot penetrate.
In my next post, which should also be my last informative post, I shall be continuing on the human aspect of nutrient cycles and finally my reflections of the whole Biology Learning Journal.
Information obtained from:
1)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/cycles.html
Earth has a stable water supply which 98 percent of the earths water is contained in, oceans, lakes, rivers and streams with the remaining found in, the form of ice, water vapor, and in the bodies of living organisms. The constant movement of water, from earth to the atmosphere is called the water cycle. This cycle is driven by solar energy, and causes Earth's water supply is used over and over again. The sun evaporates water off of water bodies such as rivers and lakes, as well as form moist surfaces and bodies of living organisms.
This water is drawn back up into the atmosphere, and falls back to earth in the form of rain. There is a greater amount of evaporation, from the ocean than the amount of precipitation (rainfall) this results in a movement of water vapor by the wind to inland areas, areas closer the ocean receive more precipitation (rainfall) than those which are further from the ocean or are protected by a mountain range. Water is also absorbed from the bodies of terrestrial plants and animals as well as the soil, the collective process of evaporation from the soil and plants is called evapotransporation. This constant movement of water through evaporation by the sun. Water which is not evaporated by the sun may reenter the water cycle by seeping down through the soil, until it reaches the, a zone of saturation, here all of the holes and cracks of the soil are filled with water below which there is a bed of solid rock which the water cannot penetrate.
In my next post, which should also be my last informative post, I shall be continuing on the human aspect of nutrient cycles and finally my reflections of the whole Biology Learning Journal.
Information obtained from:
1)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/cycles.html
Entry 15: Nutrient/Biogeochemical Cycles 2
Well, I hope you have a undersatnding of Nutrient cycles already, if you have not, please read the last post. The content may seem quite difficult to understand initially, as I copied most information from websites and put them here without rephrasing as it's really difficult to rephrase certain parts. I hope you undersatnd, Ms Qiu. Read slowly, and you should be able to get it though.
Without further ado...Many elements cycle through ecosystems, organisms, air, water, and soil. Many of these are trace elements. Other elements, including carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus are critical components of all biological life. Together, oxygen and carbon account for 80 percent of the weight of human beings. Because these elements are key components of life, they must be available for biological processes. Carbon, however, is relatively rare in the Earth's crust, and nitrogen, though abundant in the atmosphere, is in a form that is not useable by living organisms. The biogeochemical cycles transport and store these important elements so that they can be used by living organisms. Each cycle takes many different pathways and has various reservoirs, or storage places, where elements may reside for short or long periods of time. Each of the chemical, biological, and geological processes varies in their rates of cycling. Some molecules may cycle very quickly depending on the pathway. Carbon atoms in deep ocean sediments may take hundreds to millions of years to cycle completely through the system. An average water molecule resides in the atmosphere for about ten days, although it may be transported many miles before it falls back to the Earth as rain. I shall elaborate on the water cycle in my next post, do read on.
Informatrion obtained from:
1)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/198.html
2)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/cycles.html
Without further ado...Many elements cycle through ecosystems, organisms, air, water, and soil. Many of these are trace elements. Other elements, including carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus are critical components of all biological life. Together, oxygen and carbon account for 80 percent of the weight of human beings. Because these elements are key components of life, they must be available for biological processes. Carbon, however, is relatively rare in the Earth's crust, and nitrogen, though abundant in the atmosphere, is in a form that is not useable by living organisms. The biogeochemical cycles transport and store these important elements so that they can be used by living organisms. Each cycle takes many different pathways and has various reservoirs, or storage places, where elements may reside for short or long periods of time. Each of the chemical, biological, and geological processes varies in their rates of cycling. Some molecules may cycle very quickly depending on the pathway. Carbon atoms in deep ocean sediments may take hundreds to millions of years to cycle completely through the system. An average water molecule resides in the atmosphere for about ten days, although it may be transported many miles before it falls back to the Earth as rain. I shall elaborate on the water cycle in my next post, do read on.
Informatrion obtained from:
1)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/198.html
2)http://library.thinkquest.org/C007506/cycles.html
Entry 14: Nutrient/Biogeochemical Cycles 1
Assuming you already know what is an ecosystem from Entry 8, I shall not bother explaining it as I continue on nutrient cycles(also known as biogeochemical cycles). Life on earth is inextricably linked to climate through a variety of interacting cycles and feedback loops. In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the extent to which human activities, such as deforestation and fossil fuel burning, have directly or indirectly modified the biogeochemical and physical processes involved in determining the earth's climate. These changes in atmospheric processes can disturb a variety of the ecosystem services that humanity depends upon.
The Earth is a closed system for matter, except for small amounts of cosmic debris that enter the Earth's atmosphere. This means that all the elements needed for the structure and chemical processes of life come from the elements that were present in the Earth's crust when it was formed billions of years ago. This matter, the building blocks of life, continually cycle through Earth's systems, the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere, on time scales that range from a few days to millions of years. These cycles are called biogeochemical cycles, because they include a variety of biological, geological, and chemical processes. In my next post, I shall be going in-depth about nutrient/biogeochemical cycles, and hope to give you a better understanding.
Information obtained from:
1)http://essp.csumb.edu/esse/climate/climatebiogeo.html
2)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/198.html
The Earth is a closed system for matter, except for small amounts of cosmic debris that enter the Earth's atmosphere. This means that all the elements needed for the structure and chemical processes of life come from the elements that were present in the Earth's crust when it was formed billions of years ago. This matter, the building blocks of life, continually cycle through Earth's systems, the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere, on time scales that range from a few days to millions of years. These cycles are called biogeochemical cycles, because they include a variety of biological, geological, and chemical processes. In my next post, I shall be going in-depth about nutrient/biogeochemical cycles, and hope to give you a better understanding.
Information obtained from:
1)http://essp.csumb.edu/esse/climate/climatebiogeo.html
2)http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/198.html
Entry 13:Environmental Protection 2
As mentioned in my previous entry, I'll be continuing on reusing and recycling today. Apart from reducing electricity usage and gas emissions, you can help reduce pollution just by putting that soda can in a different bin. If you're trying to choose between two products, pick the one with the least packaging. If an office building of 7,000 workers recycled all of its office paper waste for a year, it would be the equivalent of taking almost 400 cars off the road! If you must drink bottled water or can drinks, put them in the recycling bin, which helps to reduce the amount of space taken up at landfills by solid waste. By reusing paper bags and everyday waste like cardboard boxes, why not reuse them? You do not waste money on unnecessary boxes and bags by reusing whatever you have instead of conveniently dumping them away. This will go a long way in environmental protection and make a earth an even cleaner place for generations to come.
By following these tips, you can help to save precious money and do your part in saving the earth. Remember, REUSE, REUCE and RECYCLE!
Information obtained from:
1)http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/transport/car-pollution/#wa638
2)http://interiordec.about.com/library/weekly/aa042201a.htm
3)http://science.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm
By following these tips, you can help to save precious money and do your part in saving the earth. Remember, REUSE, REUCE and RECYCLE!
Information obtained from:
1)http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/transport/car-pollution/#wa638
2)http://interiordec.about.com/library/weekly/aa042201a.htm
3)http://science.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm
Entry 12:Environmental Protection 1
Today's topic shall be on Environmental protection, and how you can do your part in saving the earth. Environmental protection or going green, is actually easier than you think. There a a few things you can do which can help to make a less harmful impact on the environment. Help to save the Earth by reusing, recycling and reducing. In this post I shall only be touching on reducing usage of cars and savng electricity, as it's fairly long alone. Firstly, when you reduce your usage of cars, you save money and the planet. You can stop using the car for short journeys and switch to public transportation instead. If you just stay off the road twice weekly, you'll reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1590 pounds per year. Alternatively, you can walk or cycle for short distances. It not only saves money spent on fuel, you burn calories and improve your health too! Also, to save electricity, which in turn saves the earth, you should use compact fluorescent which only use 1/4 the amount of electricity and incandescent one uses while generating the same amount of light. In my next post I'll be giving you more helpful tips on reusing and recycling, so do continue reading!
Information obtained from:
1)http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/transport/car-pollution/#wa638
2)http://interiordec.about.com/library/weekly/aa042201a.htm
3)http://science.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm
Information obtained from:
1)http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/transport/car-pollution/#wa638
2)http://interiordec.about.com/library/weekly/aa042201a.htm
3)http://science.howstuffworks.com/save-earth-top-ten.htm
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