Wednesday, September 18. 2019

Today's schedule is BADC

B Block Human Geography - Today's key question is "Why Does Population Growth Vary among Regions"? and it's kind of an important one to look at. Although population rates vary among countries, the model for a similar process of change in a society’s population is the demographic transition. So we'll look at the model...it looks like this:

I'll have you fill in the chart on the week three work package with characteristics describing each stage in the demographic transition model (CBR, CDR, NIR, etc.) along with the amount of growth of each stage (low, high, decreasing aka moderate) etc.

Consider Bulgaria. Bulgaria is projected to have the fastest-shrinking population in the world. It's already lost a fifth of its population since the 1990s. But what does this mean for those who remain? Bulgaria's dwindling population numbers happen in part because a lot of young adults have left the country so the birth rate is low but the Bulgarian government does not see immigration as a possible solution to the country's dwindling population. So...stage 4 (maybe 5) in the DTM. What should they do?

You'll also need to look at the ideas of Thomas Malthus (Malthusian theory)

I'll have you fill in a chart on the various theories of population growth and we end with this question:

Paul and Anne Ehrlich argue in The Population Explosion (1990) that a baby born in a developed country poses a greater threat to sustainability than a baby born in a developing country because people in developed countries place much higher demands on the world’s supply of energy, food, and other limited resources. Do you agree with this view? Why or Why not?

We'll also play around a bit on Gapminder to visualize these statistics

A Block Physical Geography - Don't forget, you may use the Earth Interior web page or the Dynamic Earth webpage to help with questions 7 & 8 from page 366 of your Geosystems text (answers can be found between pages 334 and 336 of the text). After, we'll discuss the differences between Sial and Sima (continental and oceanic crust) along with figuring out what buoyancy and isostasy are. You'll need to complete question 9 from page 366 of the text (isostasy, isostatic rebound, and crustal equilibrium). We'll also transfer some notes into our week 3 package on the rock cycle and then we'll focus on igneous rocks and plutonic features. If you need help look at the Geology for Kids web page or the e-notes on Earthfacts




D & C Blocks Environmental and Social Sciences - In D with Young (in 115) we'll discuss your work on the right to clean fresh (potable) water and title to land connected to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of the Oceti Sakowin Oyate Territory. We'll also talk about title, power, ownership and worldview. The Standing Rock protest is a modern version of the conflict of worldviews between the European settler/colonial worldview and the Indigenous worldview. So who is a settler? What are the differences between Indigenous Peoples Worldviews vs Western Worldviews? From Dismantling the Western, Settler-Colonial Worldview:

Our current American, settler-colonial, cultural morality and spirituality are developed from a particular worldview. For example, how we understand nature is firmly rooted in the particular ways in which we view the world. From a Western worldview, nature is to be studied, harnessed, developed and exploited. From an Indigenous worldview, humanity is formed by nature — not the opposite. In an Indigenous worldview we are intricately related to all other parts of creation. This worldview, when it was the dominant worldview on Turtle Island (America), generally produced harmony and a relatively light impact on the earth, at least up until the spread of settler-colonialism and modern capitalism.

We are using North America as an example but there are water issues between Indigenous people and European settlers in Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Brazil and Peru as well. Lastly please try to answer the following:

1. Robert D. Bullard, the dean of the school of public affairs at Texas Southern University, defines environmental justice like this: Environmental justice is defined as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Is the Dakota Access pipeline an example of environmental injustice? Why or why not?
2. Is completing the pipeline - or stopping the pipeline - necessarily a win-lose situation? Is there a compromise solution that might please both protesters and pipeline supporters? And if not, is there a resolution that at least might be deemed fair and equitable considering all of the circumstances?

With Benton in C Block you'll examine how anadromous fish contribute to freshwater ecology investigating eulachon and salmon, their life cycles and importance.