Field Trip the New England Aquarium    http://www.neaq.org

On Wednesday we visited the New England Aquarium in Boston. Once we arrived, we began looking at all the exhibits and tanks throughout the Aquarium. I saw tanks simulating tropical reefs, mangrove swamps, the ocean floor, and local habitats. WE also witnessed fur seal and sea lion training as well as a feeding in the large tank. Being able to see all of the amazing and wonderful creatures swimming around was nice, but nothing compared to being able to touch and basically pet sharks and rays in the touch tank.
 
Having rays glide right underneath your hand is an amazing feeling, and to be able to gently touch a 3 foot shark was probably the highlight of my week.

Geologic Timeline Activity

Geologic Timeline Activity

During our project concerning the biological, geologic timeline of Earth, I learned a lot about the specific life and conditions of the Jurassic period. However, i would argue that the skills i learned from creating the timeline far out weighed the pure knowledge i gained from researching.
   My contribution to the group fell under more of an artistic sense rather than a strictly scholastic. I helped by forming our clay fossil, drawing the background of our piece timeline, tracing and coloring our dinosaurs, and organized our part of the timeline.
   During the presentations, i gained a lot more respect, understanding, and admiration for the other time periods on the timeline. I had known only a little bit about the other periods prior to the presentations, and can now say that i have a solid understanding of what the conditions of each period were like.
  I think that the only thing my group could have done better was to present. We did not prepare at all and during our presentation i realized i had been reading the wrong card on our timeline. Unfortunately, i could not keep myself together basically ruined our entire presentation.  
     

Plankton Decline, Readings and Analysis 

In class yesterday, i read three articles on the slow loss of diatoms in the world's oceans. Through satellites and sampling, scientist were able to determine that plankton are on the decline, by 1 percent per year. 

The first image is a satellite picture of plankton. The second is a graph displaying the consequences of the loss of plankton. "If the trend continues, it could decimate ocean food chains and accelerate global warming." (Kristen Minogue). In the past (2010) it has been thought that in order to observe and tally phytoplankton, satellites were the only method needed. But, recent research (2013) has shown that satellites could have missed 50% of the plankton in the seas, and a combination of methods are necessary.     

 

The reason for the decline in plankton is warming oceans, "We found that temperature plays a critical role in driving the cycling of chemicals in marine micro-algae. it affects these reactions as much as nutrients and light, which was not known before." (Climate News Network, 2013)

 

The loss of plankton in the world's oceans is a serious issue that, unless addressed, could have disastrous affects on human life.