Vanessa Vihnanek

 Lab: In lab this week, we continued our discussion on climate change. We looked at a lot of different graphs about climate change to analyze any common trends. The graphs all showed that temperatures and CO2 levels are rising. One takeaway from these graphs was the future predictions they showed. The data continues to skyrocket in the next 50 years. If we don't work to prevent further damage to our planet, pollution, natural disasters (droughts, storms, etc.), and more will only continue to get worse and more common. We also learned that CO2 levels naturally rise in the winter when there aren't plants to take it out of the air. This natural rise between seasons was manageable but humans are causing this rise to happen in every season without the steady decline in the warmer seasons.  Lecture: In lecture this week we learned that the planet naturally decreased the amount of CO2 before any life began. The sun and volcanoes are two natural contributors to climate change. However...

 Lab: This week, in the lab, we learned the difference between climate and weather. Weather is what we see day to day, while climate is the average of weather over a 30-year period. Changes in climate affect plants and animals. For example, the change in temperature and precipitation affect Iowa's goldfinches. If it continues to change, the goldfinches will either move to another location or go extinct. At the end of lab, we continued our investigation on climate change. All of our groups had similar takeaways and results that all point in the direction of climate change. Some of my notes from class are pictured below: Lecture: In lecture this week, we continued our discussion about climate change. Although most people believe in climate change, many still don't. We also learned why some regions have specific climates (some have to be hot and some have to be cold).  Pressbook: The pressbook explains that the Earth's atmosphere, even though it's thin, blocks the harmful ...

 Lab:  This week, in the lab, we researched climate change in Iowa. Because of climate change, Iowa has seen humidity, rainfall, and temperature increases. The increase in temperature at night affects crops, animals, and pets. It also can lead to loss of life. We worked with our groups on designated areas of Iowa to find the climate change effects in each zone.          Pressbook:  In this week's reading, I learned that a weather event cannot be blamed on climate change. A claim like this confuses weather and climate change. Climate change has to be a trending change measured over 30 years instead of a weather event only lasting a few days. It was so interesting to learn that the Stanely Art Museum which just opened two years ago was rebuilt after the 2008 flood. It really puts into perspective the effects of natural disasters. 

 Lab:  This week in the lab, we worked with our groups to examine samples with the microscope. We looked at eleven different samples to decide if they were developed through water, glacier, or wind. For some of the samples, it was hard to decide how they were developed. We thought most of the samples were developed by glaciers, but after analyzing the correct answers, we realized our results were very different.  Lecture:  I learned that something more dense than water will sink. The diet coke has less sugar than the other pops so it floated. Water displacement can help collect accurate measurements. The container needs to be completely full and you need to measure how much water is displaced from the container to get accurate results.  Pressbook: In the pressbook reading I learned if the specific gravity formula equals 2.7, it's likely the geode is solid quartz. Like the experiment we did in lecture, if the formula is less than 2.7 the geode is probably more ho...

 Lab: The Earth is made of the core, mantle, and crust. The hot air rises from the crust, cools at the crust, and then goes back down into the core. Mountains are created when the plates collide. It causes the Earth's crust to crumble, fold, and rise up into mountains. Earthquakes occur when the plates move away from each other.  Lecture: This week we focused on the sea floor and the movement of the plates and ridges. The ocean basin gets older as you move from the middle of the Atlantic toward the African coastline. The ocean sea floors don't spread at a consistent rate over time. We can average how much they move in a hundred years or a year but the results won't be the same. It depends on the time because it isn't a set rate. In lecture, we also learned that the spreading of the sea floor is measured in mm/yr.  Pressbook: In this week's chapter, I learned why compasses always point north. It's because the flow of the liquid metals in the Earth's core crea...

 Lab: In lab this week we learned about the Earth and its timeline. Our first life forms on Earth started in the water. Fish were on Earth before plants appeared 440 million years ago. Once land plants were on Earth, amphibians were able to have food to survive. Pangea occurred 335 million years ago. The first dinosaur appeared 225 million years ago. I was interested to learn that oxygen wasn't always on Earth.  Pressbook:  The pressbook described the timeline of the Earth and how it was created 4.67 billion years ago.  The Earth was covered in ice about three times in Earth's history.  To melt the ice, people believe volcanos continued to erupt under the ice layers. Later on, the continents were created when Pangea broke apart into pieces. Scientists, including Wegener, believe Pangea existed because fossils spread throughout the continents. It shows that animals could walk to different continents since they were all connected in Pangea.