Erosion is Wearing the Earth Away!

Erosion, or the process of wearing down the surface of the earth by natural processes such as rain, water, wind, and tectonic movement, continues on daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis whether we humans like it or not. It has been happening since the beginning of time, and will continue to happen religiously forever. Erosion occurs over millions of years; wind, water, sea, and rain continue to shape and reshape the land endlessly, often creating new or oddly formed land structures. The most breathtaking sites in the world, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Niagara Falls, and Mount Everest, were made with at least some process that has something to do with erosion. The earth's natural processes aren't to be stopped, if nature can help it. Places in China, Estonia, Jordon, and Japan, all have been affected at least to some degree by erosion. Coastal or beach  erosion, meaning erosion around the coastlines of various countries occurs, too, and sometimes we can see the changes it creates happen right before our eyes, even after a few years. Glaciers, huge drifts of ice, play a huge part in erosion as well. In fact, over the next million years, several new continents could even be formed. How will erosion affect the earth in the next 100, 1,000, or 1 million years?

In last week's class we started the topic of erosion. We  read about the topic, and this was followed by vocabulary. Then, we completed the vocabulary word practice, and did our usual listening. Finally, we wrote some sentences and shared those, too. At last, today we designed and presented our projects based on erosion.

After that, we briefly started the next topic, environmental economics. After reading, we just touched on the vocabulary, which will be completed after the winter holiday. As for that, please have a great holiday season, get lots of rest, grab a lot of otoshidama, eat a lot, and get ready for the new year! 

The Amazing Properties of Lightning

Lightning, or a massive discharge of electricity around storms, is as scary as it is amazing. When heat, air, and water vapor mix in a cloud, it can attract many positively and negativlye charged particles together, that, when the build-up becomes too great, must be expelled in the form of an explosion. This explosion causes a huge noise to be emitted as well; this noise is something that we call "thunder." Along with the emission of noise, the bombarding particles also cause sparks to form, and those sparks create enormous outbursts of electricity that gets attracted from cloud to cloud, and also from clouds to the ground in streams. These electrical streams, or strokes, are incredibly energy-filled and bright, hence the term, "lightning."

We can calculate the distance a storm is from us by counting the number of seconds it takes to hear thunder after we see lightning. Lightning and thunder occur at the same time, but light travels faster than sound, so we see the lightning first, we know thunder will soon follow. It generally takes sound to travel at 3 seconds per kilometer, so if we can count to 5 before we hear thunder, we know the storm is 15 kilometers away.

Lightning is cool, yes, but can it be used as an energy source? There are people who think so. In fact, some university laboratories are experimenting with harnessing lightning to be used an as alternative form of energy. Will it work? Maybe. If you find out how to do it, maybe you will be the next Thomas Edison!

Nuclear Energy

Most people fear nuclear energy because you can't see it, taste it, smell it, hear it, or feel it. It can creep up on you from miles away, but you can't detect it yourself. It can cause many health and environmental problems if it happens to sneak into your bodily system through foods, the air, or in the water. Although it is scary, if we can harness nuclear energy safely, we can have endless amounts of energy for centuries to come.

This is one scary notion, indeed! Nuclear energy has both fascinated and scared me from my earliest days of childhood.In fact, in my state, Pennsylvania, a nuclear accident occurred at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979. I won't tell you my age, but I was alive then, and I do remember that incident. Ever since then I've been both awed and terrified by nuclear power. Interestingly, one of my hobbies is writing stories, and one of my stories has the theme of a nuclear power plant.

After the Tohoku earthquake in March of 2011 which dessminated the town of Kessenuma and the Fukushima nuclear power plant, we all became more aware of the power, and danger, of nuclear energy. No one really knows the detriment of that accident as of yet, but we can say that the area is probably unsafe to live, and the food might be unsafe to eat. Anyway, we wouldn't want to find out, right? After the Kumamoto earthquakes, too, we all became fearful of what might happen in our own neighborhoods after a devastating earthquake. In Chernobyl in Russia in 1986, a nuclear accident occurred which caused radiation to leak for many years. It is still quite unsafe today.

In the class about nuclear energy we watched a short movie about the dangers of nuclear energy, but not only about the dangers - about the potential of nuclear energy as well. Of course nuclear energy is dangerous, but it also has the capability or producing vast amounts of never ending energy. Isn't that we we need to help humanity evolve? Isn't that better for progress? For advancing to the next level of awareness, of creating the next generation after generation of society?  This is something we all must ask - are the benefits worth the risk? Perhaps only time and advances in nuclear technology will tell.

Think about it!

Return to SE with Ecosystems

Ecosystems, as we learned last week, are comprised of everything living thing in a particular area. Elements of ecosystems include plants, insects, small animals, larger animals, and even humans. Whatever lives and needs sustenance is part of an ecosystem; small plants create food by photosynthesis, and then insects and small animals feed on these small plants. Larger animals, in turn, feed on plants and smaller animals, and then larger animals still feed on these smaller ones. Humans, at the top of the food chain, feed on all of the producers under them in various trophic levels, taking in all the vital necessities one needs to live powerfully.

This week's design project is going to be designing an ecosystem under a dome. What this means is to design an ecosystem that can be used for educational purposes, one that could be displayed in a museum, for example. If one searches the Internet, one can find mini-ecosystems that come in kits so people of all ages can learn how all of the members of an ecosystem interact.

I will provide you with pictures and examples so you may all design your ecosystems effectively beginning this week in class. Then we will present at the front of the room using the overhead camera, on which you can show your designs. Eventually I would like to incorporate this with your own visual material, shown on the computer, as well as power point presentations that can help in explaining your designs and ideas.

Summer Vacation

Well, as you're having the SE final test this week, it must mean that summer vacation is upon us. And yes, you're right, it is. That does not mean that you will have a free summer, though. I guess most of you will keep learning about Science during the summer in such things as internships and the like. This is a great opportunity for you to reach out and contact someone working in the field to find out their lives and what jobs they are doing. Many graduates work in the Science field as researchers, data entry specialists, data collectors, and the like. Some of you may go on to graduate school. and then may work as teaching assistant. After graduating you may work for a university as a research assistant. Some of you may even work in a closely related, but separate, field, such as health or nutrition. Whatever you might do this summer, please be observant and notice the world around you, especially the natural world. Look at how it changes from year to year. Look at how it evolves. Notice the things that impact you. Make mental notes of these things for it is this act of noticing that will propel you to other unique and interesting adventures in life! Oh yeah, don't forget to enjoy your summer and have a little fun, too.

This blog will take a break this summer, but will pick up again at the beginning of October. Let's look forward to next semester which will begin with topic # 7: Ecosystems.

Pollution, Vol. 2

In the next SE class, we'll take a closer look at pollution while writing answers to such questions as: what form of pollution are you concerned with, how can governments control pollution effectively, how can we make noise and light pollution less harmful, and more. Then we will start (and finish) our next design project: creating a pollution monitoring equipment or measurement machine. This kind of device is very useful for the continual control and monitoring of environmental pollution, which can help us feel secure in the future. The control or monitoring device can take any form and be in any medium: water (rivers, oceans), air (high above us, or localized air), noise (big cities vs. small towns), or light (bright lights vs. low-level light). Please take time and think about the device you want to create. It must be viable and realistic, and it must contain three components. What are its benefits? What are its drawbacks? Have fun, but create something serious, in class. After the projects, I will explain next week's examination to you!

Pollution and its Adverse Effects

The homework for this week was to design you own disaster warning system and create it on Google slides. Then you were to share them with me. Most people have created their slides and have shared them. After looking them over, I can say that there were many interesting, useful, and well-thought out designs. I enjoyed reading them all. I may ask a few people to share them with us at the front of the room, at least one. Are there any takers out there? I will make sure you get some extra points for your efforts! 

One of the world's biggest problems is pollution. We can't escape polluted air, rivers, streams, oceans, forests, and grasslands these days. Unfortunately, pollution has become more and more widespread with the advent of machinery, cars, trucks, tools, and factories, all of which came to fruition during the rise of the industrial age. These kinds of equipment can cause pollution in our green world (making it more brown than green), so much so that it has become difficult to turn back the pages. However, that does not mean that turning back the pages is impossible. It will take hard work, careful planning, and even paying fruitful attention to the way we manufacture, control, use, and discard waste at the end of the day.

In the next class we focus on this very problem and the negative effects that can lead to bad health, low aptitude, body fatigue and problems that arise in many natural areas. Many negative effects can be harmful to health and hard on the environment as well. Even some things we do not consider pollution, such as noise or light, can be considered pollutants because they affect our health in negative ways. Too much noise and light can cause stress leading to coronary problems and high blood pressure. That means they can cause, yes, even death as well. Pollution is not to be taken lightly!

Our next design will be a pollution measurement and control center, in which we will focus on how to determine the effects of pollution and how to adequately measure, control, and end pollution forever. Why? Because the first step in ending pollution is measuring it and its effects. Then we can take steps in controlling it, and finally in ending it altogether.

Recycling Center Handouts and Natural Disasters

In the next class, we will begin the next topic, Unit 5 (Natural Disasters). This is because the final test will cover units 1- 6, and we have only three more classes to finish this span of work. Because of this, I will give you a separate handout for the "recycling center" designs this week, so that you may finish them separately and give me later. Please put the completed handouts in the folder on the e-learning lab door by Friday, July 6 at 12:00 PM. In addition, please put your Saturday, June 30 make up reports and anyone who has not given me your movie report also by Friday July 6.

And now on to the next topic, which I mentioned at the beginning of this blog. Two words: natural. Disasters. Hmmm. We all feel the same way, I imagine: the phrase, natural disasters, is scary. These two words put together in this order is somewhat unnatural. However, they are events that actually do happen in real life. I've heard of natural disasters, and even experienced things on the periphery of natural disasters: strong rain storms, tornadoes, heavy snow; I never thought I'd live through a much bigger, more serious natural disaster, like the double earthquake we had in Kumamoto a little over two years ago. I learned then that natural disasters occur all over the earth and one could strike any moment during any given day.

The earth is a living, moving, breathing entity, very much alive in its wonder. An earthquake is like the earth stretching, moving its body, like humans do. A volcano is like spewing something from its stomach, like humans do. A hurricane is like letting out a large breath, like humans do. If we think like this, we realized we must forgive the earth for its actions and movements, even if they cause us disruption. They are the result of the earth being alive, of moving, of living. We realize that the earth is a living creature, and it eats, moves, breathes, and lives, much like humans.

Recycling Center

Good day, SE students! In this week's class we will work on recycling; we'll complete the sentence writing, listening, and the questions/answers. Then we will focus on the designs; I hope to be able to at least start them this week. This unit's project - design your own recycling center. Here, you have to first think what you will recycle - a new completely new product (using parts from old or outdated products, recycled parts recreated, or newly manufactured parts from old materials) OR a new item re-purposed or re-created into a new and useful item.

Recycling centers are numerous throughout the world, and although the aim may be obvious, the operation is not always. Many recycled products take many steps to produce, so your centers should be at least 5 stages. This could include the intake stage, the crushing stage, the melting stage, the fabrication stage, and the shipping stage for example. In other words, you should design a fully operational/functional recycling center capable of recycling, re-manufacturing, or re-purposing your item now and for many years into the future. Look ahead, think deeply, be creative, and have fun.

Recycling!

Modern recycling is a very important process in saving energy, and can be considered a plus to environmental sustainability. Why do I say this? Well, RE- means to do something again. A cycle is the circular motion of an object or an idea.Therefore, after using something, we change it back into its previous form or into a new form altogether, saving energy that is used to make the original item. In addition, have you ever considered that energy can be created through the process of recycling itself? Want to know how? Well then, go out there and find out how!

So what is modern recycling? Well, it's a process containing two main streams. One stream is to make something new from something old, such as making new pet bottles from old, used bottles. The second stream is to use something old or used for a new and different purpose, such as making pencil holders from tin cans or making bags from old pairs of jeans. This process is often called re-purposing, and it is a different, yet very important and functional, form of recycling.

The reason we need to recycle things that the energy needed to manufacture things in the first place is vast, and can be a drain on many parts of the environment that we don't even see. Dirty water is offloaded into streams. Exhaust fumes cause acid rain and air pollution. And the list goes on. The ideal way to make things in this day and age is to take old products and re-use them rather than using dirty resources, such as oil, and sparse natural resources, such as trees, for making new products. If we were to use dirty resources continually  or cut down trees continually for making new products, our earth would soon become barren, dirty, and would soon break down. Therefore, recycling is very necessary for the future of our planet. The big blue marble, planet earth.

Alternative Energy

Alternative energy sources swing with the wind these days, no pun intended. (A pun is a short joke based on words). What I mean by the first sentence is that many different kinds of alternative energy sources are discovered almost daily, some by accident, many by design. In fact, the reading in our books covered a group in England who discovered cars can run on cooking oil. In middle America, small farms use cooking oil, and other forms of reusable fuel sources such as methane related products and biomass energy sources, to run equipment. Composting toilets and other compost can be used for fuel as well, after being cleaned, of course.

We have also seen other alternative energy sources of late: wave energy, foot power energy, bicycle pedal energy, wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy, and the list is far from over. However, which of these will stay and which will go remains a question that will long be held into the future. One thing is for sure - most of these sources are cleaner than the nasty coal we still have at hand today. I'll bet we will keep using coal into the future, even though it has many shortcomings. Let's hope not, though.

In the next class we will further our talk about alternative energy sources and you will tackle the very question that may just solve our dirty energy problem, and that is, what kind of energy sources are good and clean enough to spend time and money developing? Hey, the answer might just be with you!

Presentation Day

This week in SE class we will begin our first presentations. It is the first presentation day, so I will allow you to take a few minutes to touch up, fix, or put finishing touches on your visual material. Visual materials are very important for any presentation, so please have something to show during your presentation.

When presentations begin, we will make four groups randomly. Then, each group member will take turns giving your presentation. After everyone in each group presents, if we have time, we will change groups and continue a little.

We may go on to the textbook after we complete the presentations if there is time remaining. The next topic in our textbook is "Alternative Energy," is will focus on creating cleaner and more sustainable energy systems for the future. In this respect, alternative energy is a very important topic indeed. Of course, you know what that means: you have to design an alternative energy system yourselves!

Topic 2, Spring, 2018

Good day, students. Last week we completed our first pair and group presentation practice. I'd have to say that it went well considering it was the first try. I listened to most of you, and was able to hear quite a bit from both the girls' and boys' groups. I am thinking about having us do presentations in different formats for later in the class this semester as well. In the next semester, we will present often in front of the class.

In this week's class we will work on the next topic which we started briefly last week: the atmosphere. We all know how important the atmosphere is; without it we would not be able to breathe or live. It's amazing that this thing we can't see or touch (air) is something vitally important. When small particles contaminate the air, however, we can see the brown color, and this is what we call 'smog' in English. In the next class we will hopefully be able to finish sentences, move on to listening, and may even get to questions/answers.

At the end of this unit you will be putting your design skills to work again for the design and explanation of atmospheric and air cleaning machines. These are real machines that engineers and scientists have designed for this purpose. Yours will be equally important, so please make good designs!

That's all, see you in the next class.

First Design Project

In last week's class we finished the book portion of unit 1: What is Environmental Science? Your homework was to think about and try the first design: an environmental resource center (learning center). This center should be designed purely for environmental education purposes. It should contain various sections (as can be seen in the example) and offer interesting and useful information for visitors.

The homework was to start this design. In the first part of class this week, we will tweak and finish the designs. then we will have an opportunity to practice presentations in pairs, and then small groups. This week is the first presentation, so presentation points will be practiced. Later in the month we will create a larger version of your design (and sometimes will do it with a partner) to present in front of groups of the class. I will explain how to do this as time goes on.

After practice, we will probably go on to unit 2: The Atmosphere. We will do a short reading on the different parts of the atmosphere and the importance of the air we breathe. We hope to practice presentations on this week after next.

Please don't forget to bring all your books and notes to every class! If you forget your book, or neglect to do the homework, bookwork, designs, or don't take quizzes and tests, you grades will go down!

See you in next class and have a great evening!

An Introduction to Air

Air is very important, because we breathe it every day! If we have no air to breathe, we cannot live. If I am short of breath, I feel stressed. If our air is dirty, we can get sick. Let's take care of the air!

What is Environmental Science

Good day Science English students! In this week's class you will start the first project, "What is environmental science?" You will begin by reading a passage about environmental science. Then, reflecting on the reading, you will write the meanings in Japanese and then look up word meanings in English and write meaning in both Japanese and English. Then you can practice writing the words we learned into the sentences; after this, you will be able to practice listening. After listening you must think about questions with a partner and write your answers in English. But the unit isn't finished yet! You will continue on to one of the biggest activities we will do in the class: design and presentation. The first design will contain an environmental resource center will be used for educational purposes. You must write an explanation and design the center with your partner.

All the activities in each week's class will be checked after finishing. Please bring your textbooks to each and every class. In addition, don't forget pencils, pens, paper, and you may have to bring a USB flash drive if possible. You will present our designs and research to the class, so please try not to be nervous; it will be a good experience for all of you. The presentations will take place at first with partners, and then at the front of class. Presentations will not be completed every week but will done when we finish the unit, mostly twice per month.

Please try to come to every class, bring all the materials, try to write and speak your best in English, and try to use mainly English rather than Japanese! In addition, please follow this blog. Speaking of blogs, we will all have a chance to make a blog about an environmental issue and also will complete some homework using blogs, google drive, and e-mail. I will write a new blog entry every week, and it will cover past homework answers/comments, things we will do in the upcoming class, and new and interesting information.

Let's have fun in SE! That's all for now.

An Important Environmental Issue

An important environmental issue for me is air pollution. The world is covered with roads, streets, and highways, all leading to an increase in the use of cars, buses, taxis, and motorcycles. All of these transportation systems spew countless amounts of fossil fuel exhaust into the precious air. Many people take breathing for granted, but have you ever had a time when it was difficult for you to breathe? Perhaps when you were sick with a cold, exhausted, or in extremely hot weather? Just imagine having that feeling ever day, all day. It is very stressful and scary to be in a situation where you cannot breathe well. Some cities are so smog-filled, that one finds it hard to do just that - breathe normally. Bangkok, Manila, New York, Los Angeles, and Beijing are examples of cities with a lot of air pollution. I'm not sure how residents of these cities can manage to live comfortably and peacefully in such situations. I think people find it difficult to tolerate; however, there is only so much a humble resident can do. They must continue to live...and breathe...from sunup to sundown,and all the while find happiness in whatever way they can.