Monday, November 19, 2007

Our Breathing Space


we can breathe. We can go out in the Sun with out getting fried. We can watch life evolving all around us.
How do we do this when we are on a lump of rock hurtling through space?
We have an atmosphere. Let's find out a little more about it...

questions:

1. how come we have air to breathe?
2. why doesn't the sun fry us?
3. why does our air stay around us instead of flying out into the vacuum of space?
4. why does the air temperature change and how come we aren't frozen like we would be if we left the Earth without a spaceship?
5. where does the ozone layer exist? what is it? how does it help us? is there a hole in it? how did that happen? is it our fault?
6. do we humans have an effect on our atmosphere?
7. what is the greenhouse effect? can we replicate that in class somehow as an experiment?
8. do you like growing tomatoes or chillis or beans?

[I'm hoping you will add todays questions to this post]

here are sone links to investigate:

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/overview.html

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/atmosphere.html

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/atmosphere.html

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/layers.html

http://www.cosmos4kids.com/files/solsyst_earth.html

take this quiz when you've done some research... or take it first to find out what you don't know ...

http://www.geography4kids.com/extras/quiz_atmintro/index.html

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

i took that quiz, those questions are very interesting but i don't think i did very well!

This is a good kids climate change site,check it out!

http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/cc.
html

Miss Candy said...

here is a video of you tube you can wtach it if you want!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTwKoc5lIBI

its about global warming.

i dont think that the worlds heating up though.(thats what the movie said)2005 was the hottest year, if the world was heating up wouldn't 2007 be the hottest year? i think the temputure rises and falls naturaly with maybe a little bit of our help.

i agree that the use of fossil fuel is bad! it's going to eventually run out, what will we do then, bio oil? thats worse. were using plants foolishly.
although i would like to ride horses every day!but technology would have evolved we might even have compost has car fuel. die, technology, die!i want to ride horses! dont die we wont have tv!

there are a lot of global warming videos on you tube, so go on youtube and watch the simpsons!na just jokes watch the global warming video, even this one!(you have to watch the whole thing or you'll think its just simpsons but its not!

p.s smile01 just bet me wha wha!

Kitty Kat said...

by 11 whole minutes wha wha!!! booo hooo! ;3)

youtube is good but remember everone can put stuff there so its not excactly reliable.

the questions that you asked are good questions to find the answers to although they are open and skinny because the answers come from your HEAD!

I also think that today was very hot (this afternooon so i found it hard to concentrate and I ended up feeling sick in the heat! imagian that was only 23 degrees....think about 35 deegrees. thats ONE of the possibilitys of what could happen due to climate change.

In 2005 there was a day that was 32 degrees. they were thinking of closing schools but they decided not too...

I wonder if humans could live undeerwater???? All the toxins though...BAD for the sea...

Also I heard on the redio today that the hole in the Ozone layer is fixing itself! apparently if we continue to improve our care of the earth the ozone will be perfect again by 2060!!

Wouldn't it be nice if the world was fixed!
You could have a nice cold winters day!
Climate change would soon not be a problem.....lalalalalallalala...

SpUdArOoNy said...

argh! i hate humans. we treat our earth and our air so disrespectfully. now it's gunna die.
thanks to us.
):

Catarara said...

wow very interesting opinions and information guys! and yes it would be wonderful if the world was fixed yay!! i think that throughout years of global warming people might die because it is getting hotter for one(skin cancer) and traffic pollution is making young kids asthma worse!! this is not very good so we must fight and save the world!!!!!!! yay!! go room5ians :)

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

um, here is the answer (i think ((it might be wrong)) for that question that individualist asked: if the infrared waves can't escape, then does that mean the solar radiation cant get in? \
no, because the atmosphere is so good at absorbing long wave infrared, it effectively forms a one-way blanket over Earth's surface. visible and near-visible radiation from the sun easily gets through, but thermal radiation from the surface can't easily get back out.

see this website for some 'easy to understand' stiff on the ozone layer...http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMY1LXJD1E_Earth_0.html

every spring a hole as big as the USA is developed in the ozone layer over antarctica, and a smaller hole is also formed each year over the arctic. the ozone hole over antarctica started in 1979 and it began to thin in the early 1980s. the sad thing is, after around 25 years of ozone destruction, it will now take over 30 years to see any majorly significant changes!

http://clean-air-kids.org.uk/ozonehole.html

p.s. Mr Woody, i kind of confused about that mobile thing, do we need any questions or any thing? i have started a bit and havent had questions, and alreaddy learnt heaps!! maybe we could just have the topic, then leave it for individuals to work it to their own learning advantage...?

cool quiz!!

SpUdArOoNy said...

Wowzers our class is smart.
hehe

Kitty Kat said...

hmmmmmmmm.........good question room5ian..............
thats a really good idea about the sunray thing but im still confused. WHY is the atmosphere a one way blnket and HOW excactly does the One Way thing work.
Spud hows your leg???

Catarara said...

thats very interesting room5ian...
and yes spud hows your arm and leg?? lol i took the test/quiz thingy and i didn't do very well either :)

Miss Candy said...

if we all put an effort into the next 50 years the earth maybe fixed naturaly and shame would soon earased of the human race! there should be a law. selffish people this laws for you. NO CARS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBUARY! NO ELECTRICITY FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF AUGUST. HELP THE ANIMALS ALL YEAR ROUND. VEGETARIAN MONTH, JULY. FREE RANGE MEAT MONTH, OCTOBER. if we do all these things the world would be a better place.(whoops capatils)kitty kat what if the radio people were only hypothasising and it was wrong?

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

miss candy, i dont think she is wrong as i have found a lot of other reliable sources which say the same thing.

another thing, i dont actually know but i also think that it might help with that blanket thing, that maybe the raditation is stronger before it hits the earth?.....hmmmmm i think ill stick something on my blog about it......remeber to give me TRUTHFULL feedback, if nyou dont agree, i dont mind! tell me what YOU think but remember to try to back it up.

MrWoody said...

great work girls - especially room5ian - except for breaking spuds arm of course ;>)

and yes, room5ian, yo umay approach the fast fact card mobile in anyway you choose so long as it is clear, quality work, referenced, includes some diagrams, [preferably handdrawn] and covers the required topics. you don't need to put your questions on it.
8>)

MrWoody said...

some of you must check your spelling a bit better... miss candy...
especially 'hypothesis'

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

Cool, thanks!

um, i have made a diagram about the greenhouse effect on the computer, i hope thats ok. Ar the required toppics global warming and the greenhouse effect?

SpUdArOoNy said...

Hmm....

MrWoody said...

yes, room5ian, those are the topics. using the compouter or anything is cool, so long as you make it and don't just copy it from the net [as i know you wouldn't but others might]
8>)

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

OK, thank-you!

SpUdArOoNy said...

Mr woody, can we wear mufti tomorrow for the uni thingy?

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

nah i dont think we can...but you can have mufti props!

Catarara said...

iv'e got lots of costumes for little red riding hood so i'm gona bring them just incase something dosn't work out with the other skits. what skits are we doing because we didn't really decide yesterday???

Bob smo said...

This is kinda completly off topic about the trip to the uni which is about 6 or 7 hours too late, so yeah. I still think global warming IS happening. Hear that george bush, IS HAPENNING. MAD!!