Water Cycle-Final Exam.

a) The water cycle consists of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff, infiltration, transpiration, groundwater, and absorption.

The first step to the water cycle is evaporation. Evaporation is when the water in the oceans, and lakes turn into water vapor. For the water to turn into water vapor, the temperature must be warm. If the water isn't warm, it will take quite a long time to evaporate. "During the process of evaporation, impurities in the water are left behind. As a result, the water that goes into the atmosphere is cleaner than it was on Earth."(a2)

The next step is condensation. The water vapor in the sky turns to a liquid. "When the water droplets formed from condensation are very small, they remain suspended in the atmosphere."(a2) These droplets in the sky form clouds.

"When the temperature and atmospheric pressure are right, the small droplets of water in clouds form larger droplets and precipitation occurs."(a2) Then, the rain falls to the ground. 

In the surface runoff stage, water from condensation flows into streams. "Small streams flow into larger streams, then into rivers, and eventually the water flows into the ocean. Surface runoff is an important part of the water cycle because, through surface runoff, much of the water returns again to the oceans, where a great deal of evaporation occurs." (a2) 

In infiltration, the water soaks into the ground, through the rock and soil layers. During this process, most of the impurities are filtered out. After this, some of the water stays in the ground as ground water. Also, some of the water is absorbed into the ground, which waters plants.

Transpiration is when the plants absorb water from the soil, the water moves from the roots to the stems of the trees. After the water reaches the leaves, the water is evaporated.

b) "Watershed refers to the land over and through which water flows to reach a common water body. It has two components - surface drainage and groundwater drainage"(b2) Just as surface water flows through the land, from gravity, the groundwater flows through soil. Groundwater flows much slower though. In a watershed, small streams flow into larger streams, which then flows into rivers and lakes. " A watershed is a basin-like landform defined by highpoints and ridgelines that descend into lower elevations and stream valleys."(b1)

c) All rivers and streams start at a high point. "Small rivers and streams may join together to become larger rivers. Eventually all this water from rivers and streams will run into the ocean or an inland body of water like a lake."(c2) As the water from the rivers cut up into the land, erosion occurs. As the rivers cut up, rocks and soil are grinded up, or moved. After a while, the water can build a new land form, or a new river.



http://www.tutorvista.com/content/physics/physics-i/heat/evaporation.php




http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs15099/

 

 http://www.melbournewater.org/content/about_us/who_we_are/what_we_do.asp

Bibliography:
a1) http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/info/water_cycle/hydrology.cgi, Description of the Hydrologic Cycle, NOAA, December 7, 2010.
a2) www.mbgnet.net/fresh/cycle/index.htm, The Water Cycle Introduction, The Evergreen Project,  1998.
b1) http://www.watershedatlas.org/fs_indexwater.html, Whats a Watershed, Watershed Atlas, Unkown Date.
b2) http://www.naugawatshed.org/What%20is%20a%20watershed.htm, What is a watershed?, Naugatuck River, Unknown Date.
c1) http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep7j.htm, Rivers and Streams, Nature Works, 2010.
c2) http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesublimation.html, The water Cycle, USGS, February 8, 2011.

ACT Questions.

1. The score i got was 21/44.
2. I could improve my score by being more patient and reading the questions. If i had read all the way through the passage, i would have gotten a better score.
3. I think all the information i needed was in the passages. Knowing more about the content might have helped me more, but i think my problem was in reading the passages.
4. I think practicing higher level thinking questions could help, and prepare you for the ACT.
5. I've barely started my final project,

Sewer Treament Plant.

At the sewer treatment plant, i learned that they use micro-organisms to clean the water. Also, the water is cleaned many times, and tested. Everyday, before sending the water out, they test the levels. What i didn't know was that the water has oxygen put into it, so the micro-organisms can survive. Sometimes, too many micro-organisms are in the water, so they "kill" some of them off. I can't think of anything else we could do to make that process more efficient, it seems like everything was thought of.


When recycling, you separate white glass, brown glass, tin, and plastics. At the recycling place, the thing recycled most often seems to be plastics. I also noticed that a lot of people recycled bottles that could have been returned... seems weird that they would want to recycle them like that, instead of returning them to the store. I will recycle again, my family always recycles glass, and plastic.

Day After Tomorrow.

1. Climate Changing Instantly; No i think it takes more time.
2. Continent Scale Blizzard; I dont think its possible for blizzards to merge together.
3. Flash Freezing; I think this might be possible.
4. Tsumami in New York; No.
5. Super Cell Hurricanes; Yes, but not during blizzards.

Flash Freezing: This isnt possible. The air would warm as it decends, according to the Ideal Gas Law. No matter how fast it was moving, it isnt possible to flash freeze anything.

Super Cell Hurricanes: Hurricanes form over warm water, and lose strength when over land masses. A hurricane cant merge with other hurricanes, especially over a land mass. Rain would occur with the hurricane, not a blizzard.

1. Climate change could happen due to rising temperatures and pollution. Dumping trash into our waterways, and the buring of fossil fuels lead to pullution.  Greenhouse gases become trapped in the Earth's atmosphere, preventing outgoing radiation from going into space, polluting our atmosphere more. The air temperatures then rise, causing increase in water temperatures, and global warming.

2. Some things in the movie could never happen; But, some could. The ice caps melting could lead to sea levels rising, coastal flooding, increase in precipitation, less drinking water, and climate shifts.

3. Climate change could effect Typhoons by making them disappear. If the water in the Pacific Ocean got cold, there would be no more Typhoons, because warm water is what causes them. If the water got warmer, Typhoons could happen more often. Global warming cause them to occur more often, the warming makes Typhoons happen more often then the natural cycles would have them occur.

Typhoon Research.

(1)

Where Do Typhoons Occur?
Typhoons are located in the Pacific Ocean. Around Japan, China, The Philippines, and Korea. Hurricane and Typhoon are regionally specific names for a tropical cyclone. A Typhoon is only called that name if the tropical cyclone is in the West Pacific Ocean. (2)

(3)

Why Do Typhoons Occur?
The scientific definition for a typhoon is a non-frontal synoptic scale over a low-pressure system over tropical waters with organized convection and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation. Warm waters are necessary to fuel the typhoon. Moisture must be present, then a near surface disturbance exists. Also, low values of vertical wind stirs the storm. For a typhoon to actually occur, all these marks must occur near the equator. (4)

(5)

Impact On The Environment, People, and Economy
The damaging winds can fly debris into trees, causing habitat problems. The winds can also effect the sewage systems. The rise of the ocean can cause water damage, ruining homes and businesses. Some typhoons can bring damaging rains, which also ruins homes, and the standing water can spread disease. The rain can cause mudslides and landslides in the mountainous areas of the west. All together, these effects can destroy communications and transportation. The economy can suffer because of the money needed to fix the towns. No one will be able to afford anything other than necessities.

(6)

Warnings Issued
Warnings are issued when the typhoon will hit land within the next 24 hours. There are many flag alerts, white, green, yellow, red, and black (China). Broadcasts are issued over radio and TV also. (7)

(8)

(9)

Lexus Power-Point.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0ARXdpcCwOVV0ZGdkNWRqcDRfNjBkcDdxenFnYg&hl=en&pli=1

Bad Astronomy.

The project i would like to do is called How Do We Know? I would like to do this project because i would like  to know more about the sky and astronomy. I am interested in the constellations.

1. Bad Moon Rising. Did we really land on the moon?
a. Before this website, i figured we did land on the moon, but i didnt know, just like many people didnt know because we were not there.
b. The website says, yes we did land on the moon, so i didnt really learn much. I did learn on reason for thinking it was faked was that the pressure due to the Cold War forced the government to fake it.

2. The Sky At Night. Do All Stars Look White?
a. I think that most stars look white, but the dying ones, and special other cases, make them change colors.
b. I didnt know that stars emit all colors of the rainbow, i thought only white, red, and yellowish. I also learned that the stars change colors because they change temperatures. If the star is very hot, its glows blue. If a star is not so hot, it glows red.

3. A Step Farther Out. Whats Your Sign?
a. My sign is Aquarius. There is 12 signs, that align with each month.
b. There is really 13 to 24 zodiac signs. As in there is more constellations, but there is 12 zodiac signs. Scorpio is really called Scorpius. Capricorn is really named Capricornus.