Nicolas Reed Science Blog

Summary: My Biogeochemical Cycle Project        What we had to do for this project is we had to first pick a biogeochemical cycle that you would like to make a comic about and then make a comic to show the cycle that you chose. What I learned through doing this project is that all living things need sulfur to survive. I also learned that the three most known steps (in order) for the water cycle is the first step is evaporation and condensation, and precipitation. Evaporation is when liquids (mainly from oceans, rivers, etc.) turn into a gas that is known as water vapor. Condensation is when the water vapor changes back into a gas. The last step, precipitation is when the water that just formed in the step of condensation rains back down to earth. Another thing I learned is that the carbon cycle is basically made up of two miny cycles or systems known as photosynthesis and cellular respiration. One other thing I learned is that sulfur dioxide can be released int...

Summary:        This week in science we learned about biogeochemical cycles, more specifically, I learned about the biogeochemical cycle known as the Sulfur Cycle. What I now know about the Sulfur Cycle because of what I learned this week through research is each part in the sulfur cycle. I also now know that their are a lot of different parts in the sulfur, but my focus was trying to make this complicated cycle very simple and easy to understand. The first part in the Sulfur Cycle is  Hydrogen Sulfide Gas is released into the atmosphere by the eruptions of volcanoes, hot springs (“ spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater that rises from the Earth's crust. ”) , and the decay of living biological sulfur-containing materials in swamps, bogs, and tidal flats. Sulfur is also released from the ocean in sulfur-containing compounds in sea spray, and as the gas hydrogen sulfide. I also know that most of the sulfur released from the world's...

Summary:        This week in science we learned about photosynthesis and ecosystems through taking notes and completing assignments. What I now know about photosynthesis is a true definition of photosynthesis. This definition is, "Photosynthesis is an endothermic process by which plants and organisms make sugar (glucose) to store energy." I also know the (balanced) chemical formula for photosynthesis. The balanced chemical formula is  6CO 2 + 6H 2 O —> C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2   and because this is a chemical formula it doesn't show one important missing piece/part of photosynthesis. This missing part/piece is sunlight. I also now know the exact opposite of photosynthesis and a good way to define it. The opposite of photosynthesis is cellular respiration, cellular respiration is an exothermic process by which organisms release the energy stored on food (glucose). I also now know why photosynthesis is important. Photosynthesis is important because without...

Summary:        For the Charity Fair project what we had to do was choose a charity that we would like to raise money for and research. Then create a product in which you will use to raise money, then create a cost and profit document for you product. An additional thing you had to do revolving around your product was find the carbon footprint of your product and show that in an interactive map. For your charity you had to find and create a document about your charities statistics (how much money the charity raised basically) and create an ignite presentation about your charity. What I learned from this project is that in order to really persuade an audience with an ignite, you really have to have very compelling images. Images that mean something and have a story behind each image. You also should sound like what you are saying for your ignite is something that you have never said before, this will help make your presentation feel fresh, unique, and different. Ano...

Is Ecotourism Helping or Hurting our National Parks?              Have you ever thought about how ecotourism positively and negatively hurts national parks? Ecotourism is supposed to be a very good thing for us (humans) and wildlife. But currently, this is not the case. Ecotourism is actually hurting our national parks and also the animals and wildlife that lie within them. Ecotourism is hurting our national parks through changing their mindset and making them think more about the money that they will make rather than the animals they are supposed to protect. National parks are making these animals habituated or not "wild" and are putting these animals through conditions that are irregular. Furthermore, this is happening today and has become a huge problem the United States needs to face.        One reason/way ecotourism is hurting our national parks is by ecotourism affecting how they (national parks) see ecotourism. ...

Summary: Link      This week in science we learned about ecotourism in national parks, and because of this, I now know a lot of things about national parks because of what I learned based on my research. What I now know about ecotourism in national parks is things about why Ecotourism is helping and hurting our national parks. Ecotourism is helping our national parks by preserving and protecting lots of wildlife (land and animals) while still allowing many, many people. Also by ecotourism providing income and promoting national conservation. One last reason ecotourism helps our national parks is by boosting our economy and providing many new jobs for people (more than 200,000 jobs are created because of ecotourism). One way ecotourism hurts our national parks is by sometimes not keeping the wildlife, well, "wild" and by getting the animals close to humans and not allowing the animals to be in their regular, "wild" state. Another way ecotourism hurts our nati...

Summary:       This week in science we learned about the carbon footprint of the product we are creating for Charity Fair 2017. What I now know is what the total amount of CO 2 we produced from the creation of our product. I now know how much CO 2  was  produced by each of our materials. For example, I know that in total the felt produced 428.615 of CO 2 /kg. I also now know the types of vehicles used to ship materials and how much grams of CO 2 per kilogram each produces. The types of vehicles used to ship materials/products are planes, trains, trucks, and cars. And the amount of CO 2  each produces is for a plane it produces 0.8g of CO 2  per mile, a train produces is 0.1g of CO 2  per mile, a truck produces 0.17g of CO 2  per mile, and lastly a car produces 0.41g of CO 2  per mile. I also now know how much grams of CO 2 the materials my group used to create our product created. The raw materials used to create our product cr...