Extinct For Science?

After dissecting various organisms, I was given practical tests, tests that involve real specimens. On the last practical, the practical of the frog, the final question appeared, this question had been pondered by me since the beginning of the dissection period. The question was questioning the ethics of the practice of dissection. The answer I gave was to terminate this practice. This is partly because of the numbers:

For us, one class equals six specimens at six lab tables.
6x5 classes=30 specimens per unit

30x6 7/8 grade units=180 specimens for our school

180x2 middle schools=360 specimens for our town

This doesn't include the high school, or the extra specimens needed for the practical tests.

I have no knowledge on whether these animals were farmed our not, but if they were farmed, I believe it can be less shamed upon. If these animals were taken from the ecosystem, then the practice should stop immediately. Seeing the numbers above, organisms will become extinct very soon. Also, I believe that frogs are now endangered, and the most common organism to dissect is the frog. After the organism is removed from the ecosystem, predators will have to narrow down their food selections, or adapt to different foods, both of which are difficult to do in the short amount of time before starvation. Even if the animals are farmed, they shouldn't be slaughtered for a mature form of "child's play". It would be understandable that they would be killed for food, since we need food, and we consume plants along with animals, balancing out the slaughtering. Dissection after farming still goes against some people's ethics.


Some alternatives to dissection are virtual dissection, photographic documentation, and organism analogs.


Since technology is improving over the past years, I suspect it can be possible to create a virtual frog for dissection. Perhaps the image of the frog can be projected onto an interactive "lab tray" and much like a Smart Board, students can pick up specific dissecting tools and perform on the virtual organism. The con to this is that only the sense of sight is satisfied while virtually dissecting.


There are already plenty of photographs of dissections; students could observe these instead of the real specimen. A con to this is that the pictures are in two dimensions, not three.


Analogues of the organisms can be made, specific organs made of synthetic material to look and feel like the real organ. A student can dissect the analogue just like the regular one, but not get dissecting juices all over them or removing the organisms from the environment. A con would be that mass producing analogues will be costly.


In the end, I believe that dissection should be banned whether the organisms are farmed, or captured in the wild. There are plenty of texts books and photographs. Technology will help improve our experience. If we continue this practice, not much animals will be left on the planet. Likewise, there will be less to study.

A primitive version of my imaginary virtual dissection:

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00548/DissectionGame.html

A Connection

I, and the rest of my school, was given an assignment. I was asked to research one of five topics and compose a five paragraph essay with the notes I took. While going through the process of performing this task, I noticed a connection. A connection between the five main core classes in a student’s curriculum, a connection between language, literature, social studies, science, and math. This connection can be seen in all five topics of our choices. Going with why I chose this blog name, global warming is my topic, it is the focus of this entry, and the other focus is the relationship to mathematics.

Global Warming has a close relation to science which in turn, connects to math. When climatologists model climate change patterns into the computer, they are programming mathematical equations into them, the computer just gives them the ability to solve them quickly, but, the equations were composed by the use of mathematics. Likewise, the statistics of the temperature and carbon dioxide levels also add this connection. For example, if all of Antarctica’s ice were to melt, there would be a 64 meter rise in sea level (Jha). You would need to know the approximate volume of frozen Antarctic ice and divide this by the surface area of the ocean. Graphs are also an important tool in calculating climate change. Graphs have shown an increase in Carbon Dioxide growth over the past 200 years. graphs will somewhat help project future changes as well.

Some climate change problems make our math look primitive, some are just random. That is why people have to learn, once when they know the basics, the creativeness and logic can be used. I believe that is why we are thought these subjects in school, because of this connection. A connection between science and math, and also Literature, Language, and Social Studies. A connection forcing us to acquire knowledge that is currently thought of as having no use. This connection will also encourage us to learn, satisfying our curiosities.

Ozone Blanket

A hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has protected areas of the continent from the dreadful effects of Global Warming. However, now, as the human race halts the emission of CFCs, Antarctica will have to acquiesce to the over heating of the globe. Not all of Antarctica though, was temporarily saved by this hole. The western Antarctica peninsula has already been thawing having been covered with ozone. The areas exposed, without this layer in the atmosphere has actually been cooling. This is because Ozone is actually a green house gas.

"They include methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone (O3), and a number of industrial gases" (Michael D. Mastrandrea, Wolrdbook).

The consequences are that one third of the sea ice may be lost and 1.4 meters of sea level rise. Since Antarctica contains 90% of the world's ice and 70% of the world's freshwater, the ocean would rise 63 meters if all the ice were to melt.

My opinion on this is that this can only be stopped by cutting back on CO2 emissions. I also believe this will affect organisms from penguins to humans, and will not be stopped in the time that the ice can still be saved. We could lose biodiversity and we will have less dry land in the overcrowded earth. I also think that this is such a "funny" coincidence that a human effort to help the globe actually is helplessly destroying it and rebuilding it at the same time.

This article is from:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/01/ozone-antarctica

Learn Electronics Basics

I have known called Make for a while. Make also produces magazines, and the sight is headquarters for D.I.Y. people. Collin Cunningham created videos about different electronics components. If you are looking for basic electronics knowledge, check out the videos.

Makezine.com

learn about:

The Inductor

The Capacitor

The Transistor

The Diode

The LED
The Resistor

The Intergrated Circuit

Cunningham's Blog

Podcast For Environmental Chemist

I've recently created a podcast for a school assignment. this Podcast is about the career of the Environmental Chemist.

Environmental Chemist podcast

Spirit Calls Roadside Service

In 2003 two rovers were sent to our neighboring planet, Mars with the names Spirit and Opportunity. The two rovers were made for discoveries and they delivered. In fact, they out lived their life expectancy by many martian sols making much more discoveries. Now, as Opportunity makes his long two year journey to Endeavour crater, spirit is in trouble. The MER (Mars Exploration Rovers) rover Spirit has been caught under sand since April at a sight named "Troy". Troy is a crater about 26 feet wide filled with sulfate-bearing sands produced in hot water or a steam environment. The soil has layers each of different composition, and a crusty top covered the crater and it trapped Spirit much like a pile of leaves on top a dug hole would trap an unsespecting victim.

Researchers sent out the signal to attempt to free Spirit and the chances of making it out varies according to the tests done on the Earth. 

"This is going to be a lengthy process, and there's a high probability attempts to free Spirit will not be successful" says Doug McCuiston, director of MER at NASA headquarters. "After the first few weeks of attempts, we're not likely to know whether Spirit will be able to free itself." Efforts to free the troubled rover will last until early 2010. McCuiston says that lessons from freeing this rover will provide knowledge on Martian terran and help future mars rovers. Other benifits from this unfortunate draw back is that while being at troy there were signs indicating ancient martian hotsprings of steam vents, possible habitats for life. If the they do not manage to free the rover, its stationary location could result in new scientific findings.

My veiw on this unfortunate event is that even if the rover does not escape, it will still answer a lot of unknown questions in its unmovable location. Also, even if it does die, it has died heroic in a way, just like Hubble will some day. Hubble has given us photos of the deep unknown and has discovered many things that enhance our understanding. In analogy,  Spirit and Opportunity have Added to our knowledge about life on ancient Mars and about the possibility of life out there in general. Both of these rovers, I believe were worth the cost and the troubles, it has profited the people of Earth through a vast expanse of knowledge. I truly hope this rover can escape, it has done us so much, battling the martian winters, climbing the tall Columbia Hills, and bringing so much to the scientists back here. I will hope for the best that this beautiful tool will be salvaged.   

Learn more at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20091112.html

The People Of Sparks

I am currently reading a book called The People of Sparks, the second book of Ember. In this novel, Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow just made it out of a doomed underground city called Ember. After they make it out, they have to coexist with a village called Sparks and eventually colonize another area. They are to stay with Sparks for six months and learn the skills needed to start a village. During these six months, the Emberties and the people of Sparks encounter conflict. This plot line takes place far beyond our time, where the earth became cramped. Three plagues spread over the world. War broke out over the leftover food and scarce farmland. Some of the people who survived the three plagues and four wars or "The Disaster" founded sparks. They grew strong over the years. Now they must aid the Emberties.

This book is related to science because the scenario is closely related to our situation on the Earth. Eventually, we will run out of farmland and become overcrowded on this planet considering the conditions we live with today. This novel also uncovers "history" such as "ancient" books and the marvelous electricity that the Emberties had before they left their precious city. The people also talk about ruins of cities and they have ox pulled trucks. After the years, people referred to fuel as "gasleen" because it was so long lost. I suspect there are many other ways this book relates to science, I just hadn't finished reading it yet.