PaytonKonekScienceMethods

          1. What did you do in lab today? In lab, we did simulations to explore what happens to the infrared protons that enter our atmosphere. In the past, much more of the protons would hit the ground, heat up the earth, and bounce back to space. However, today, we have more architecture covering the ground which captures heat and hold it in, which causes the temperature to continue to rise. Additionally, as more greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, more particles are present that capture and reflect the infrared protons back into our atmosphere, which prevents them from returning to space and causes the temperature to continue to rise here on Earth.         2. What was the big question? What happens to the infrared protons that enters our atmosphere?          3. What did you learn in Thursday’s discussion? Lecture Notes:  Human and really all life evolution has happened between 180-300 parts per milli...

     1. What did you do in lab today? In the lab, we looked at the data that was presented to us in the slides and then wrote a paragraph to describe what conclusion we could draw from it. Some of our big conclusions were that the average temperature is getting warmer along with the number of warm days that we have in general. This is having many effects, including a decrease in the number of days that we have with frost, snow, and cooler days in general. Additionally, due to the heat, more water is being absorbed into the atmosphere, which causes us to experience strong weather, like rain showers. Farmers experience longer growing seasons, and the spring and summer get wetter while the fall is dryer. This affects life too because plants are blossoming earlier due to the warmer temperatures tricking them, and animals are needing to relocate because the higher temperatures are affecting the availability of the resources that they are used to and need.      ...

         1. What did you do in lab today?     In lab this week, we selected a region of Iowa and then used a website to observe its rainfall from about the last 100 years. Our group selected the North East section of days and selected three cities to observe. We chose Dubuque, Waterloo, and Decorah. Then we selected an amount of rainfall to use as a baseline. Then, using the website, we made a graph to see how many days the city received more than that rainfall. To record our data, we specifically paid attention to the first 5 years in the graph and the last 5 years. After comparing the average rainfall between the cities, we found that the area had a.97 increase in precipitation. Using this data, we concluded that the increase in rainfall would make our state less habitable for the goldfinch.          2. What was the big question? Will change in precipitation affect our state bird?          3. What did...

  1. What did you do in lab today? In the lab today, we used a microscope to look at different sand-like materials in order to classify them depending on their characteristics. We had three categories that we could classify the materials into: water, glaciers, and wind. These categories described what formed the materials. In terms of classifying the materials, it was pretty easy to classify them as wind/water between and  glaciers. However, differentiating between water and glaciers was sometimes difficult. The only difference between the two is that glacier-created materials are irregular in size. Which can be subtle. The activity was very fun, though, and I specifically liked looking at our own items. I put my AirPods under the microscope, and they were disgusting.          2. What was the big question? How can we differentiate between materials that were formed by water, glaciers, and the wind?     3. What di...