Wednesday, September 15. 2021

Today's schedule is BADC

B Block Physical Geography - Today we'll start with time to work on yesterday's topic of "spheres" - the interacting systems that we'll work through this year. Remember I'd like you to interpret the relationships among the four spheres as a result of humans burning fossil fuels (where do they come from? what are they made of? how do we extract/process/use them? What happens to the carbon byproduct after combustion? How does that impact the spheres?) If you're having trouble with this consider the carbon cycle (pages 634-5 in text) or look at Earth Observatory Carbon Cycle from NASA. You could also look at Annenberg Media's "The Habitable Planet" Carbon Lab or their Chapter 8 Global Carbon Cycle from their online text or the Cool Geography Global distribution of major stores of carbon website. Lastly, we'll work on some basics of geography focusing on time zones, latitude and longitude, GPS, and the remote sensing technology of GIS.

From PBS NOVA

It was one of humankind's most epic quests - a technical problem so complex that it challenged the best minds of its time, a problem so important that the nation that solved it would rule the economy of the world. The problem was navigation by sea—how to know where you were when you sailed beyond the sight of land - establishing your longitude. In 1714, following a maritime disaster, the British Parliament offered £20,000 for the first reliable method of determining longitude on a ship at sea (adjusted for inflation that is roughly the equivalent of £2,995,000 today which is $5,246,945 CAD). While the gentry of the 18th Century looked to the stars for the answer, an English clockmaker, John Harrison, toiled for decades to solve the problem. His elegant solution made him an unlikely hero and remains the basis for the most modern forms of navigation in the world today. 

For more on GIS check out:
ESRI What can I do with GIS?
National Geographic What is GIS?
Geolounge What is GIS
GIS Geography
VIU GIS programs
UVIC Geomatics program 

A Block Criminology - Today we'll begin the class with the next few sections of the NOVA video we started yesterday in class...

   

D & C Blocks Social and Environmental Sciences - All Benton today so make sure you go to room 145. With Benton, you will start our environmental journey with a look at freshwater. At a biologically microscopic, atomic, and sub-atomic level water is extremely complex and without it life would not exist. Water is essential to all animal and plant life on Earth. Plants, for example, use water in photosynthesis to make their food. Roughly 60% of the adult human body is water and it performs many functions, including:

1. Dissolving vital nutrients in the bloodstream and delivering them to cells.
2. Regulating our body temperature.
3. Dissolving waste substances and carrying them out of the body in urine, feces and sweat.
4. Protecting tissues, joints and the spinal cord.

We looked at the ecological connections to water in our observations of and mapping the riparian features of Towhee Creek. Many beings depend on freshwater and understanding the whole can help guide us to make better decisions for the future. Today you'll start with a water analysis. 

You'll look at what is in freshwater

You'll take some water samples from Towhee Creek and we'll look at them along with a sample water analysis from CARO labs, metals, anions, alkalinity, etc. Comparison to Health Canada limits for specific water uses, drinking, irrigation, etc. Lab Component: examine water samples and test for pH, colour and turbidity. Tomorrow you're with Young all morning and we'll look at environmental "values" through EVS (Environmental Value Systems) and how those may be reflected politically. We'll venture to the Learning Commons to do a bit of research on the environmental policies of Canada's Federal political parties.