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Nutrient Cycles
What can limit a population's size and growth?
Ecological Succession... What happens when a landscape is drastically altered? Maybe a wildfire wipes out an entire forest... maybe a volcanic eruption like Mount St. Helen's completely decimates an area of ecological balance. Will life ever return? How long does this process take? Today, we looked closer at the process of Ecological Succession in disturbed communities. Fortunately for us, plants are extremely resilient and will almost always return to an extremely disturbed environment. The type and severity of disturbance, however, will greatly impact the pace in which life returns to the area. The quickest and most responsive return of living species follows the process of Secondary Ecological Succession. This typically occurs in response to a disturbance that alters many, but not all of the vegetation. A great example of this is a wildfire!
What happens if we drastically alter one of these perfectly functioning biomes? May 18, 1980 - The Eruption of Mount St. Helens "The eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington State on May 18, 1980, is certain to be remembered as one of the most significant geologic events in the United States of the 20th century. The explosion, on May 18, was initiated by an earthquake and rockslide involving one-half cubic mile of rock. As the summit and north slope slid off the volcano that morning, pressure was released inside the volcano - where super hot liquid water immediately flashed to steam. The northward-directed steam explosion released energy equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT, which toppled 150 square miles of forest in six minutes. In Spirit lake, north of the volcano, an enormous water wave, initiated by one-eighth cubic mile of rockslide debris, stripped trees from slopes as high as 850 feet above the pre-eruption water level. The total energy output, on May 18, was equivalent to 400 million tons of TNT - approximately 20,000 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs." - http://www.icr.org/article/mt-st-helens-catastrophism/ Something to think about... How long will it take for the vegetation to return to this area? What vegetation will begin to fill in first? Which vegetation will fill in last? At what point will we see animals again?
TED Talk by Ed Yong - Suicidal Crickets, Zombie Roaches, and other Parasitic Tales...
Here we are in the final stretch of your first year of high school... How will you finish? 265 days ago you began your journey through Blue Valley High School - you navigated the infamous "Freshman Hallway" only to enter unknown classrooms with unknown teachers, you became involved in extra-curricular activities and maybe even made a couple new friends along the way. All in all, we sit here with only 24 days remaining... Each one of you gave me your word to finish strong - not only in this class, but in all classes. Have ownership in your learning and push hard all the way to the finish... "Most of the time, the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you'll get everything you wished for. Maybe, you'll get more than you ever could've imagined. Who knows where life will take you, the road is long, and in the end... the journey is the destination."
Unit 8: Evolution Assessment Monday! Please take advantage of the many resources out there for you including this blog, the extra help tab, and Quia quiz/vocab! Reminder - take the Check for Understanding Quiz as many times as you would like. This is not a complete collection of the material but is certainly a great study tool. Also, vocabulary is a huge portion of this unit so take advantage of the Quia Unit 8 Vocab Matching Quiz. Study hard and have a great weekend! Only 28 more days until summer! Unit 8: Evolution Power Point Slides
Chapter 14 and 15 Presentations
Genetic and Anatomical Variation among species
Earth Day 2014! Today is a special day for our planet... many people today will begin to see the change they can make to not only our local communities and ecosystem, but the larger biosphere as a whole. Volunteers around the world will increase their recycling efforts, plant trees, and educate people on their individual human impact on the environment. As part of our unit on Evolution and leading into our next unit covering Ecology, we listened to a TED Talk by George Monbiot titled "For more wonder, rewild the world". His take on rewilding certainly brings to light many conversations about not only the human impact on the environment, but also the many species that inhabit our planet. In his talk, he discusses the impact of the wolves in Yellowstone National Park as well as the whales in the ocean. Their impact as a species is tremendous in maintaining a balanced ecosystem! As part of Earth Day, our classes took advantage of NASA's #GlobalSelfie request and went outside to snap a picture and soak up some Vitamin D! For more information about Earth Day - check out this history! The History of Earth Day One last thing, our planet is pretty awesome....... |
Mr. Hulse
Check this blog to recap our daily class topics and activities! Archives
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