Monday, November 4. 2019

Today's schedule is A-AG-BCD

A Block Physical Geography - Today we're looking at water. The USGS diagram to the left shows the distribution of water on the planet and explains the amount of water available for "human use". You'll note that there is precious little water available for 7 billion people. Then consider that the flora and fauna of the biosphere require water as well and you can see the importance of water to all forms of life on the planet. Today we'll look at the properties of water in its three phases and then you'll need to sketch a diagram of the hydrologic cycle (page 253 in Geosystems). Next you'll need to define: condensation, evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, sublimation, percolation, aquifer, zone of aeration, and zone of saturation. Lastly you'll need to complete questions 2 & 5 from page 210, 1 from page 278, and 14, 16, & 18 from page 280 all in your Geosystems text. To help look at the United States Geological Survey Water Cycle website


B Block Human Geography - Today we'll look the the key question "Why Do People Preserve Local Languages?" This is the basis of your next project in Human Geography (for which we'll be in the library Tuesday - Thursday this week). We'll look at multilingual states and linguistic diversity in Switzerland, Belgium, Nigeria and here in Canada. We'll try to examine of Celtic languages like Welsh, Irish, Breton, Scottish, and Cornish are being preserved along with Aboriginal languages (in Both Australia and Canada) and Maori (in New Zealand). Finally we'll look at English as a lingua franca and examine pidgin, Fringlish, Spanglish and Denglish.








C & D Blocks Environmental and Social Sciences - Today we're in the learning commons/library for your last day to work on your land use (terrestrial ecosystem) conflict poster project. Remember:

1. Why is there a crisis over forested land in your area? What social and environmental factors do you think are contributing to the crisis? Does this forest have intrinsic value? What are common factors that go along with the land disputes, such as political instability, social unrest, economic downturn, heavy unemployment, civil warfare, etc.? 
2.  Who are the “players” or "stakeholders" in this conflict? What are their motives and interests in the forest? 
3. What (and what type) is the forested land in question (Tropical rainforest; Sub-tropical forests; Mediterranean forest; Temperate forest; Temperate rainforest; Coniferous forest; Montane forest)? How large is the forested space, and how large is the area which it belongs to? Who and how many people use this forest and what do they use it for? Identify 10 dominant plants and 10 dominant animals of the forest. Are there any endangered or endemic species in this area? 
4. Where in the world and in the country and/or region is the forest? Identify the forest on a map, and highlight areas of the map involved in or affected by the issues in dispute (locations of villages, industries, crops, water sources, country/clan borders, etc.). 
5. How would the forest and its biodiversity be affected by different outcomes of the dispute (logging, mono culture, dams, agriculture, tourism, human development)? Has any group of humans successfully lived sustainably with the forest? 
6. How, if at all, would this forest conflict be resolved? What is the current state of the dispute, if it is ongoing? Are there forest products of economic value that preserve the integrity of the forest? What are solutions to the forest crisis? Can you come up with ways that would provide the basis for a forest-sharing plan?

Virunga/Bwindi region of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Burundi and Uganda (Gorillas)

Rondônia or Maranhão in the Brazilian Amazon

Ogun State in Nigeria

Vancouver Island or Haida Gwaii here in British Columbia

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, La Macarena, and San Lucas mountains, and in the regions of Tumaco and Catatumbo in Colombia

Mekong forests of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar

Chocó rainforest Ecuador

Khabarovski Krai and Primorski Krai in Siberian Taiga, Russia

Kalimantan, Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia)

Menabe region of western Madagascar