Sunday, May 21, 2017

5/20/17 Human Impact On The Environment

http://goo.gl/AOp6UA
Summary:
When you try and create a village it is good to consider how to would affect the environment. You can't just say "Oh lets build a Urban Village here" and then pop in some houses and completely clear out all of the animal habitats. Humans building houses takes away animal habitats. Landfills emit a gas called Methane Gas which causes a higher chance of global warming which really harms the environment and the type of air we breathe.If we create a policy that helps achieve zero waste towards landfills and incinerators by 2040 this will decrease the chance of global warming since too much trash in landfills can cause greenhouse gases, which can make the earth hotter from the core to the atmosphere.  This will be achieved in my urban village because we will have more recycling bins and we will reuse as much material as we can. We will also conserve food so that all our scraps go to all the less fortunate and so that it doesn't go to waste.
S&EP: SP2: Developing and using models:
To keep my urban village safe for the residents and safe towards the environment I chose 3 of the Environmental Accords and describe how I was going to use them in my Urban Village. Environmental Accord #2, Adopt and implement a policy to reduce the city's peak electric load by ten percent within seven years through energy efficiency, shifting the timing of energy demands, and conservation measures.  By implementing a policy to reduce the city’s peak and electric use by 10% in about the next 7 years we will conserve energy and we will begin to use renewable energy so that the demands for energy and electricity are met. My Urban Village will be addressing this problem by having solar panels set out on all of the roofs of the buildings that require electricity so the we can adopt the use of renewable energy. This is important because it means that our energy will be more efficient and will meet the demands of what our citizens need. That is one of the examples of my Urban Village.
XCC: Cause And Effect:
 When people throw away trash into landfills then after a while the trash inside of landfills decomposes and becomes Methane Gas which is very harmful towards the environment because its a leading pollutant in Global Warming.  If you leave your AC on for to long thats wasting energy that we could be consuming for times that we actually need it. Its the same with water. Many countries are in desperate need of water ( Africa, Southern Sudan etc.) and here in America we leave the water on for hours and hours, we take long showers and we just let all that water go to waste which drains more water that could be helping the environment and the people in need. Every little action can count. If you don't use the heater in the winter and just wear warm clothes, you save more electricity which is beneficial to the environment. If you turn off the water while brushing your teeth you end up saving lots of water.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

pH Levels And Color Change 5/6/17


http://goo.gl/7jGpmG
 Summary: Acids and Bases are measured a pH scale. The scale ranges from 0 to 14. 0 meaning the most acidic and 14 meaning the substance is a base. If the substance is at 7 on the pH scale that means it is neutral. An example of a natural substance is pure water. If a substance is from 0 to 6 on the pH scale that means its a acid. If the substance is 8 through 14 then that means that it is a base. A powerful acid scales from 0 to 3 while a powerful base scales from 11 to 14. To test the level of acidity of a substance you must perform a Litmus Test. A Litmus Test requires a piece of Litmus Paper and the substance you want to find the level of acidity for. Once you have both the Litmus Paper and your substance of choice you will dip the Litmus paper into the substance, the Litmus Paper will turn a different color depending on the acidity level. After checking the color use the pH scale to calculate the acidity of your substance.

SP3: Planning and carrying out investigations
I conducted an experiment where we used neutral cabbage juice and added 2 different solutions to change the acidity and make the substance more concentrated. When the cabbage juice became more acidic it went form a purple (cabbage juice) to a light pink to a darker pink and it inched closer and closer to red. The other solution made the substance a base as it went from purple to a dark green to a lighter green. We compared the different colors of the substance to a pH scale to see what level it was after we put each of the substances in.

XCC:Cause & Effect: When it comes to substances and pH levels anything can happen. If you add something to a substance that makes it more acidic the Litmus paper will turn either a dark shade of pink or purple to a light red meaning the substance becomes acidic. If we add a substance that is more base like to the solution then we will have our Litmus paper turn a dark green or a lime color.  Depending on the acidity of the substance the Litmus paper will turn a certain color reflecting the acidity of said substance. Its the same thing with a substance that is more concentrated and acidic. Something that is very concentrated and acidic could remove rust or it could act like bleach. Both rust removing liquids and bleach are high in acidity levels.