PDS AP Environmental Science 8th Period 2010-11

So, your text had a section on carbon offsets, but we never discussed it in class. There are many companies out there now marketing carbon offsets to reduce your “carbon footprint.” Terrapass is a popular one. You can offset one year’s worth of air travel (an estimated 8,000 pounds of carbon emitted) for just $50.60 [...]

Since it was such a busy week with prom and since most of you met your scribe post obligations during the energy project, I did not assign scribes over the last few days. So, here is a collection of links from last year’s class on Global Climate Change for those that missed class: Intro to [...]

First, we talked about smog. Term coined by combining smoke + fog to get smog. Here are the two types we learned: Sulfur-based Smog: “industrial smog” Nitrogen-based Smog: “photochemical smog” Sulfur-based Smog takes on a gray color. When coal is burned compounds within the coal interact with atmospheric oxygen which then causes iron oxide and [...]

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: [...]

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, [...]