Terraforming

Each year the Earth becomes more polluted, and the environment becomes more destroyed. The earth is covered by nearly 70 percent water, and this number is growing due to the rising temperatures and the melting of the polar ice caps and glaciers. The amount of habitable environment for the human race on earth is shrinking quickly, and with a world population that continues to grow at an increasing rate, the human race may soon face the same issue that many species of animals also face- habitat loss. What possible solution could there be to this problem? Well, many people believe that the human race may need to look for other worlds to sustain life. Finding a planet capable of supporting life is extremely difficult, however the idea of terraforming could be the solution to this problem. Terraforming, or planetary engineering, is the idea of changing another world’s environment, so that it can be habitable to humans. Terraforming could turn a hostile planet into one that humans can survive on. 

Where would we terraform? 

Figure 1: Mars, as seen from
2500 kilometers away

Finding a good candidate for terraforming is very hard, however, Earth's neighbor Mars is on the short list of potential candidates for terraforming. As you may know, Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system, right after Earth. Mars is also the second smallest planet in the solar system, following Mercury. Often called the Red Planet, Mars gets its reddish color from an abundance of iron oxide, which can even be seen by the naked eye (refer to figure 1). Mars is often considered to be the planet most likely to host life, due to it having very similar orbital periods to Earth, which leads some scientists to believe Mars could have Earth-like seasons. Mars and Earth also share some similar landscapes, as they both have valleys, deserts, mountains, and even polar ice caps. 

Why can't we live on Mars already?

Mars may be our neighbor, however it has very different conditions than the Earth. For instance, Mars currently has “[l]ow atmospheric pressure and surface temperature combined with relatively high levels of ultraviolet and ionizing radiation”, which together make it impossible for organic life to survive on the surface of Mars (2). At its coldest, Mars can get down to -195 degrees fahrenheit, which is almost 70 degrees colder than the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth. All of these factors combined make Mars a very hostile environment, and certainly one that humans cannot currently survive under. 

How to Terraform Mars

Terraforming was once thought of as strictly science fiction material, rather than a reality. However, scientists have recently become more optimistic about the possibility of terraforming Mars, due to a discovery regarding extremophilic organisms. An extremophilic organism is one that can survive under extreme environmental living conditions. The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is one exciting extremophilic organism for scientists. This bacterium can be found on Earth in such places as sewage systems and animal fecal material. It is believed that this bacterium can be used to help humans terraform Mars, since D. radiodurans can survive such hostile conditions, it is thought that it can help detoxify the soil of Mars. This would only occur on very small-scale situations, however, if this were to come true, it could mean for the beginning of life on Mars. 

What does this mean for humans?

The terraforming of Mars means several things for the human race. If the human race finds success with terraforming another planet, it could allow for us to relocate and for people to leave the Earth. Why would anyone want to do this? Well, every year the Earth faces increasing amounts of pollution, eventually, this pollution might destroy our world, which means that one day we might need to find a new one to live on. If terraforming Mars is successful, it would allow for people to leave Earth, and it could one day save the human race. 

References

1. Kte’pi, B. (2015). Mars. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com

2.Mars: Extreme Planet. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2016, from http://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/extreme/

3. Slotnick, R. S.. (2000). EXTREMOPHILIC TERRAFORMING. American Scientist, 88(2), 124–125. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27857990

Research Blog: Education in Today's Society

The New Ways to Learn 

What Are Your Favorite Things in School? 

Do you have a dream job? Do you want to be a musician, artist, or professional athlete when you grow up? What is your favorite class in school? Is your favorite class a special class, like music, physical education, or art class? Do you like to play an instrument in your school's band? Do you like to draw or color? Or do you like to play sports? In your school, teachers are now more focused on math and reading classes than special classes, like music, physical education, and art class.

Why Are Special Classes Not Getting Enough Attention? 

Figure 1

You might be wondering why your math and reading classes are receiving so much more attention than your special classes. The answer is your teachers are now required to teach you a new set of education standards in your school. Education standards are skills and knowledge that you need to know before you move up to another grade level. You then need to learn these things before you graduate from high school. These new educational standards are called the Common Core State Standards. Like mentioned before, the Common Core State Standards only include two subjects, which are math and reading. This means that schools are now focusing on teaching you things like how to use different times tables (Figure 1). You're teachers are also focusing on teaching you how to be a more critical thinker when you read. 

What Are the Differences Between the Old Educational Standards and the New Common Core State Standards? 

So what is so important about the new Common Core State Standards? In the past, before the Common Core State Standards were developed, each one of the fifty states in the United States of America had its own set of educational standards. The new Common Core State Standards and the old educational standards have three differences. The first difference grows from the old standards to creating more efficient ways to teach the same thing. For example, English used to teach about one fifth of of analysis while they read, while the new standards in Common Core involve analysis one third of the time in class. In other words, the new Common Core State Standards are making you think a lot more about what you are reading. The second way the Common Core State Standards are better than the old educational standards is it focuses on lower levels of algebra, than higher levels of algebra. The old educational standards put more emphasis on high levels of algebra. The third difference with the old educational standards, each state had its own set of standards. In other words, the standards were not the same from state to state. The new Common Core State Standards lay out exactly what students need to learn. Therefore, it makes the standards the same from state to state. It also makes the educational standards clear for teachers in each state that agreed to have the new standards. Forty-two out of fifty states have the new Common Core State Standards (Figure 2). 

Figure 2

Why are the new Common Core Standards important for you?

These three differences mentioned above all relate back to you! The first difference is import to you as a student because it teaches you to learn better reading habits to enhance your reading abilities. The second difference is very important to you when reach a certain level in math class in high school. In other words, when you get to high school, you will take a math class called algebra. With the new Common Core State Standards, teachers will focus on teaching you the basic levels of algebra more than the high levels of algebra. The Common Core State Standards put more emphasis on the lower levels of algebra because you will not be able to study the higher algebra classes without mastering the basics of algebra. Finally, the third difference is so important to you because if you move to another state, you're new teacher will know exactly where you left off in your old math or reading class. Like mentioned before, forty-two out of fifty states in the United States of America have agreed to have these new educational standards in their schools. Therefore, if you move to a state with the new educational standards, you're teacher will have an easier time catching you up in class. 

How Do You Feel About the New Common Core State Standards? 

Do you like that schools are focusing more on math and reading than your special classes? Do you dream of having a job that deals with math and reading? On the other hand, do you not like that schools are paying less attention to your music, art, or sports because you have that dream of one day being a musician, artist, or professional athlete? Would you rather be a well rounded student in every subject, instead of just math and reading? 

References 

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Development Process. Retrieved from       http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/development-process/

Garland, S. (2013, October 15). How Does Common Core Compare? The Hechinger Report.

      Retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/how-does-common-core-compare/

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved           from http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-                     questions/

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Read the Standards. Retrieved from                http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Standards in Your State. Retrieved from         http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/

(Figure 1) Canon Proham. (n.d.). Multipcation Square [Illustration].Retrieved from
         http://canon-popham.vox-                                                                                                cms.com/Resources/user/docs/year2/multiplication%20square.jpg
(Figure 2) Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Standards in Your State.                     Retrived from http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/

A Helping Hand

Have you ever felt sad? What do you normally do when you're feeling this way? Do you cry? Listen to music? Hug someone? Eat a snack? All of these are good things to do when you are feeling this way. But some people don't know what to do when they are sad. They don't know what to do to make themselves happy again. There are many bad things to do when one is feeling down in the dumps that actually makes people feel worse instead of better. A few of these things include drugs and alcohol. But one of the things that people do that you guys may not know much about is something called self-harm. Self-harm is when someone is feeling so sad that they feel the need to hurt themselves. They usually take a sharp object and cut their arms or legs until there is blood, or put something hot against their skin to create a burn.

'Why would anybody want to do this?', you might ask. The answer isn't a simple one. People do certain things for different reasons. The person may feel that inflicting physical pain can sort of get rid of the mental pain that you are feeling. Usually people that do this are very sad, or depressed. Spotting the signs of self-harm isn’t always easy and are usually hidden. The people that self-harm usually wear long sleeves and long pants, even in hot weather, to cover up their scars and injuries. Self-harm is a very bad thing to do when you are sad; but some people don't know this. They don't know any other way to feel happy. It's your job to spot these people and help them feel happy again. 

What can you do if you notice that a friend or family member is harming themselves? The best thing to do is to stay calm and listen. They are obviously very sad and need your help to feel happy again. If they are injuring themselves, it's always good to tell an adult. One day, they may accidentally hurt themselves really bad and end up in the hospital. Tell a teacher or a school counselor. Your friend may get mad at first, but in the end they will thank you for saving their life. One other thing that you can do is to suggest the things that you do when you are feeling sad to make yourself feel better. Remember what I asked in the beginning? Do you cry when you are sad? Listen to music? Watch a movie? Hug someone? All of these are healthy ways of dealing with sadness. With your help, you could make someone happy and potentially save their life.  

Global Warming Worries!

Recycling Matters... Go Green!







I'm sure you all know what this symbol means!

 It is so important to mother earth and she thanks you!

Hey guys, do you ever wonder what happens to your recycling that, well, doesn't get recycled? I bet most of you don't; this goes for a lot of your peers and even adults as well. A lot of people all over the world are simply too lazy to recycle. In fact, currently less than 35% of households and less than 10% of businesses in the U.S. recycle (Elmer, 2015). This aggravates a lot of us adults and I'm sure some of you too! It is so easy to recycle your garbage! Plastics, paper, metal, they're all things that can be simply thrown into your recycling bin! It seems crazy that not everyone does this, I know.

Driving a car, using electricity in excessive amounts to heat and light your home, and especially throwing away plastic and garbage contributes quite a bit to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are the pollutants caused by us humans that go up into the atmosphere and harm the ozone (Enzler, 2004). Why is this a bad thing? We need the ozone layer so the earth can survive! Without the ozone, there would be no earth, and I  apologize for frightening you, but this is a scary topic for sure.

 

          Truth of Landfills

Speaking of trash... look at this picture. Yes that's what you've all heard about before I'm sure, a landfill. A place where all the regular trash goes to potentially be broken down and biodegrade as one with the earth. Unfortunately for us, this usually is not the case. Approximately five pounds a day is wasted by an American household, that's about the weight of a couple of your textbooks! On the bright side, two thirds of this is said to be compost, so this waste can easily be cut down by a couple ways.

1. RECYCLING!!! ( of course)

2. Composting What's composting? Composting is when your family eats dinner, you take the food that can break down into your garden's soil, say a piece of corn on the cob, and throw it in a bin with a hole on the bottom. A bin like a cylinder, think like a trashcan with an open bottom. Eventually all the food will break down into the soil, not only this, but also the degraded food will provide an abundance of nutrients to your garden's soil and plants. When this happens, you can take off the cylinder and spread all the good waste out on top of the soil. Composting is an easy, simple, and fun way to reduce your waste!

 

             You've Learned Quite a Bit, Now Do Your Part!

Obviously everyone can help improve the earth, but if you and your friends start a trend in the younger generations, it will do wonders and have a great effect when your older. It's always good to get into a good habit when you're young, so start recycling and reducing your energy uses today! Your planet WILL thank you later.

 

Elmer, B. (2015, January 23). Top Ten Reasons Climate Change is a Hoax. http://www.globalclimatescam.com/opinion/top-ten-reasons-climate-change-is-a-hoax/

Enzler, S.M. (2004). Global Warming, a very short introduction. http://www.lenntech.com/greenhouse-effect/global-warming-history.htm

pic one: https://www.google.com/search?q=recycling&biw=1600&bih=784&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiDj56m-bPMAhXIVj4KHTVYDBsQ_AUIBygC&dpr=1#imgrc=UkZmiFovATxu3M%3A

pic two: https://www.google.com/search?q=landfill&biw=1600&bih=784&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjc55HJ-bPMAhWMMj4KHRahB3wQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=F6MI7fkhCafuyM%3A