PDS AP Environmental Science 8th Period 2010-11

As we approach the final day before the AP exam, have you reviewed the nutrient cycles? Knowledge of these cycles is critical-they tie everything together.  In the fall we learned primary reservoirs, key chemical reactions, and anthropogenic impacts.  I also had each of you write a creative short-story of a cycle.  Here is a good [...]

This last chapter, we really started to get an idea of how biogeochemical cycles work and can “malfunction.” Here are a few interesting current events on the topic if you want to learn more: Nitrogen Cycle: Whales Help Fertilize Ocean With Floating Dung http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130437080 Phosphorus Cycle: Manure, Fertilizer Part Of Chesapeake’s Problem http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121565792 Carbon Cycle: [...]

Aldo Leopold is a name you may recall from our environmental history readings.  He is often called the “father of wildlife management,” and you’ll encounter his work again later this year.  He wrote a famous book called A Sand County Almanac and in it, this short story called “The Odyssey.”  It is about “atom X” [...]

So today we I began a little review of basic geology we tried to teach you all in 7th grade.  We are up against the test, so I’ll handle scribe duties.  Remember, I put the Power Point slides in “the box.” We started by reviewing the “anatomy” of the Earth’s interior.  Here is a simplified [...]

In class on Friday we discussed the water, or hydrologic, cycle.  The water cycle plays an important role in all of the previous nutrient cycles we have discussed in class.  The three largest reservoirs of water are, 1. Oceans, 2. Ice forms (glaciers/caps), and 3. Groundwater.  Although water makes up the majority of our planet, [...]

The nitrogen cycle, the most nitrogenous cycle in fact, is crucial to the biosphere because nitrogen is essential for such compounds amino acids, protein, DNA, and RNA. Most nitrogen is found in the atmosphere, but this nitrogen is inert, “broken”, because it is triple bonded to itself (N2). And because of atmospheric nitrogen’s inert nature [...]

Today in class we focused on the phosphorus cycle, which is concentrated mostly in the lithosphere and oceans. Phosphorus is a very important element because it builds part of vital molecules such as ATP, ADP, DNA, and RNA–all molecules we recognize as part of the building blocks of life. Despite the fact that Phosphorus is [...]

So…I forgot to make sure there was a scribe for this lesson, so I got this one.  Maybe a model of what those that handle other cycles can do? Since we are all “carbon-based life forms,” this cycle is crucial to life.  We reviewed a little biochemistry in class, noting that carbs, lipids, nucleic acids, [...]

After having learned about the different biomes and aquatic life zones, it was important to understand the relationships and connections associated between them. The planet is not simply categorized by individual biomes. It is a “complex network of interlinked systems.” Be sure to understand the CONNECTIONS between biomes, not simply the biome. While categorizing these [...]