The Great Dyings

It's a fact: 99.9% of all life forms that ever existed on Earth have gone extinct before humans evolved. It is possible that this type of mass extinction could occur again. You are part of a joint research team including representatives of FEMA, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and The Global Crop Diversity Trust that has to report on:

• exactly what caused the extinction of all these other life forms. Explain how a disaster in one part of the world could lead to global extinction of a species.
  
• how will humans prepare for life during and after a mass extinction event in the future. How many humans would be left and what could they find for food?

Answer to the daily problem will be recorded on Flipcam while students are at the museum.


The Fifth Extinction (K-T)


The Third Extinction (Permian)



The First Extinction Event (Ordovician-Silurian)




Links for more info:
http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.php?itemid=211

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/extinction_sidebar_000907.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20180820/

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/mass-extinction/

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/Fossil_Halls/fossil-halls2.html

http://www.amnh.org/rose/hope/

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/

Climate Change Threats

Climate Change

What is causing climate change?

What is the greenhouse effect?

The threats from climate change

Sea Levels Rising

Why flooding could happen & how it would affect New York City

How much sea levels might rise

Hurricanes and Storms

How global warming is making hurricanes worse

Water System

Climate change and the water system

Air pollution / smog

Climate change and air pollution

Nuclear Disaster

RESOURCES

Consequences and health risks

Environmental effects of nuclear radiation

Description of effects at Hiroshima

• includes details about the damage done at different distances
  
• includes descriptions of health problems

Amount of nuclear weapons around the world

Red Cross: Protection from Radiation

Nuclear threat info for each city:

Havana, Cuba

New York, USA

San Francisco, USA

Tokyo, Japan
map of nuclear power plants in Japan

Jakarta, Indonesia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia


Animation of Nuclear Fission - watch as a neutron collides with an atom which causes more neutrons to pop out and crash into other atoms. This is a nuclear chain reaction.

Nuclear Fission Animated @ Yahoo! Video

The Bombing of Hiroshima




Hiroshima Atomic Bombings

Destruction by Space Objects

Problem of the Day:
The recent media attention surrounding the 2012 hysteria has prompted NASA to respond to the public and help them understand what actual "end-of-the-world" scenarios are possible as a result of space object collisions. You are assigned to a NASA team that will determine the diameter and velocity of impact for previous dangerous space objects and analyze the known near-earth-objects (NEO's) to determine what they are and what real threat is posed to Earth from collision with space objects. You will also have to communicate the findings with the public.


Vocabulary you should look up:
elliptical orbit
near earth objects
meteorite
comet
asteroid
NASA
Big Bang
accretion
IAU number
diameter
mass
velocity

Websites to investigate (which are reliable???):

• How did the solar system form?
• The Probability of Collisions with Earth
  
• 2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End?
• Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Ask an Astrobiologist
• NASA Announces 2012 Destruction Probable
• How to Survive 2012
• Near Earth Object Program
• Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
• Impact Risk
• History of meteorite impacts
• Hall of Meteorites
  
• Meteorite Impacts
• Video of falling meteorite
• The Big Bang Theory
  
• What was the Big Bang?
  

Volcanoes!

Some useful resources on volcanoes:
Video on Mt. Pinatubo

Short videos on natural disasters

What Causes Volcanoes to Erupt

How Volcanoes are Formed

Why Some Volcanoes are Explosive

How Magma Makes a Volcano More or Less Dangerous

Magma and Locations of Volcanoes

Online Encyclopedia

More Resources on volcanoes

• A list of active volcanoes
• Novarupta: The Most Powerful Volcanic Eruption of the 20th Century
• Where do volcanoes erupt?
• How dangerous is a volcano? (1)
• How dangerous is a volcano? (2)
• How dangerous is a volcano? (3)
• Why do volcanoes occur?
  

Day 3 - Earthquake-Proof Structures

This is a picture of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. This ancient mosque has survived 1,500 years of severe earthquakes while modern buildings have collapsed around it. What did the architects of this building know about earthquake-proofing? Today's Problem: You are on a panel of building experts that will advise the leader of Sumatra about how they can earthquake-proof their infrastructure. Sumatra depends on the rich volcanic soils of the land for survival so they are not willing to move regardless of the seismic threat. Based on the results of your experiments with distribution of weight, variation of size, variation of height, and variation of foundation material, you will determine how architects can make it safer for humans to live in this dangerous region. Use these links to do your research today: How are people building stronger houses in Haiti? Why are building codes important? What happens when buildings are not built properly? How do engineers test buildings for earthquake durability? Video of testing a earthquake-proof home Map of Sumatra Which buildings are the most earthquake-proof? Compare graphs of building height vs. durability (you have to click on the building type listed to see the graphs, you should compare the tall buildings to the short buildings) How can this ancient building survive earthquakes for 1500 years? The world's largest earthquake-proof building Review the activity we will be doing in class

Day 2: Earthquakes

Earthquake Resources:

1. What are tectonic plates?

2. Where do earthquakes happen?

3. What caused the earthquake in Haiti?

4. What are the different types of faults that cause earthquakes?

5. What caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

6. Animation: Why do tsunamis happen?

Wildfires

Entire towns have been seared off the map by wildfires raging through southeastern Australia, burning people in their homes and cars.

You are an expert on wildfires with the U.S. Forest Service. The Australian government has hired you as a consultant to respond to the Feb. 2009 "Black Saturday" bush fires that resulted in hundreds of dead and injured residents of Victoria, Australia. In order to prevent an uncontrolled fire from destroying so many lives, your team must come up with a plan of action that protects the lives and homes of those in the path of future fires, while remaining ecologically sensitive to the role fires play in nature.

Resource Bank

Books

Fire and Ashes
Contains information on:
fire response, negative effect of...

Great Disasters: Fires
Contains information on:
history, prediction, fire response, causes of...

Victoria
Contains information on:
information on bushfires, climate

Our Changing Planet
Contains information on:
role of wildfires, causes of wildfires

Internet

pictures, timeline

general overview

wildfire basics

fire response

environmental effects

conditions for fire, fire response

weather conditions

how wildfires are connected to climate change

Video
Associated Press
Contains:
arial view, fire response

Associated Press
Contains:
Marysville aftermath

Country Fire Authority
Contains:
personal accounts

Country Fire Authority
Contains:
conditions for fire

CNN
Contains:
personal accounts

CBS
Contains:
news brief of the incident

interviews with victims and aerial photos