Friday, March 30, 2007

Local Solutions from the discussion on An Inconvenient Truth

What are feasible solutions to minimize our impact @ NHS?

Here's what A block had to say (Thanks Chien!)

Ø Eat less meat
Ø Don’t use lighters
Ø Turn your lights off when no one is in the room
Ø Packing list for students should include: must have a surge protector with a power switch
Ø Conserve water
Ø Unplug electronics when not in use
Ø Replace normal light bulbs with energy efficient ones
Ø Recycle
Ø Have book store offer to sell organic clothes
Ø Have a vegetable oil club
Ø Convert heating furnace to use vegetable oil
Ø Replace old windows
Ø Plant more trees

Here's what C Block had to say (Thanks Amanda!)

- Surge protectors
- Recycling
- Reducing the use of the sprinklers
- Encourage less use of lights in dorms and classrooms
- Holding class outside
- Car pooling for day students
- Promote use of automatic lights
- Update heating systems
- Turning off and unplugging T.V, alarms, music ect...
- Penalties for leaving on electronics
- Energy consumption contest

Here's what E Block had to say (thanks Steve!)

More efficient mini-buses
Increase recycling by getting more recycling bins and making them more visible
Throw out napkins separately from food trash
Solar power
Plant trees to counteract carbon dioxide
More efficient heatingà Get rid of radiators
Wind turbines on Burleigh Mountain
Turn off lights
More double paned glass windows
Rake leaves instead of leaf blowers
Stop smoking
Geothermal wells

Discussion on An Inconvenient Truth

Today classes will discuss their reactions to watching An Inconvenient Truth. After a discussion students will work in groups of 3 to come up with a list of feasible LOCAL SOLUTIONS that we can implement on campus at NHS.

The following students are responsible for typing up their class LOCAL SOLUTIONS
E Block: Steve G.
A Block: Chien M.
B Block: Olivia N.
C Block: Amanda G.

Homework (all classes):

Part 1: Use the link on the right "Calculating your impact on global warming" to calculate your impact. You are asked for your utility bills, if you are a boarding student this is a great chance to call home and talk to your folks.

Part 1: Complete the worksheet "Where's all the snow?" In case you manage to lose it, here are the questions and links (remember: cite your sources!)

Assignment: Use the following websites (and any others that you find) to complete the following questions. For each question, you must write the URL (or source) for where the information came from. Writing “google” is unacceptable.
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science/global-warming-in-new-hampshire.html

www.nwf.org/globalwarming/pdfs/NewHampshire.pdf

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12391

http://www.carboncoalition.org/education/impacts.php

Here are the questions:
1. What is New Hampshire’s attitude towards global warming?
2. What is being done to curb carbon dioxide emissions?
3. How has global warming impacted the economy of NH?
4. Chose another state in the country and compare NH’s views to this other state

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

An Inconvenient Truth (3/28 & 3/29)

Admit Slip: What is an ecosystem? What are they composed of? Do you think they are fragile or fairly stable?

Objective: Students will begin to understand what an ecosystem is composed of so they can better understand the effects of global warming.

Homework: On Thursday night at Vespers the entire school will be watching An Inconvenient Truth. Even if you are a day student, please plan to attend. While you are watching the film take notes on the following things:

1. What are three major themes in the film?
2. What does Al Gore argue the link between temperature and CO2 is?
3. What part of the film had the greatest impact on you?

Bonus Point Opportunity: Post your answer to question #3 on this post. In order to get credit posts must be completed by 8am on Friday 3/30.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

What is a global problem?

Classes today worked on creating a definition for a global problem. Here's what we came up with:

A global problem...
....affects all countries
....affects all living and non-living things
....is a problem that finding a solution ASAP is in the best interest of the global population.

After creating a definition, students worked in groups to brainstorm responses to the following questions about one of three top three global problems (Global Warming, HIV/AIDS and War).

1. What does this problem include (what are the affects of this problem)?
2. What are possible solutions for this problem?
3. What biology knowledge do you need to address this problem?

The results of the posts

Thanks to all of you who posted over break! The top three problems were:

1. Global Warming
2. Disease (mainly HIV/AIDS)
3. War

Below are the tallies for everything that was posted. Below the problem is an (*). Each (*) represents each time a problem was listed. Some people listed very similar problems and these were grouped together.



Disease HIV/AIDS
*************************
Global Warming / Pollution
**************************
Poverty
*************
Military / War / Corruption
******************
Nuclear Proliferation
******
Darfur
****
Loss of Biodiversity
***
Dependency on oil
*****
Human Rights
*
Loss of middle class
*
Education opportunities
*
Social instability
*
Loss of resources
*
Ignorance
*
Gay Marriage
*
Communism
*
Not enough resources
***
Religious conflict
**
Displacement of refuges
*
The stuff in Blood Diamond
*
Loss of ozone
**
Extreme destitution in Africa
*
Terrorism
**
Lack of drinkable water
**
UNC losing to Georgetown
*
Pollution
***
Equity among people
*
Natural Disasters
****
Genocide
**
Use of fossil fuels
**
Next power source
*
Globalization leading to a growing income gap in all parts of the world
*
Starvation / Hunger
***
Deaths
*
Health Care
*
Sanitation
*

Monday, March 26, 2007

Congratulations A Block!

A round of applause for those students in A block. You were the first class to have every person post his/her top five global problems. Great start to the spring term. Your class average is 100%. Keep it up!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

In case you can't see the original post

For some strange reason, the post isn't showing up below. Hopefully this works. If you haven't posted a comment yet, you can post it here (or below). If you already posted a comment, you're all set.

Over break your homework is to post a comment answering the question:

"What do you think are the top 5 global problems?"

Posts must be completed by 8am on March 27th in order for you to get credit. You do not need to make a user name, you can post the comment anonymously and then sign you name. Please only use your first name and last initial.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Global Problems

Over break your homework is to post a comment answering the question:
"What do you think are the top 5 global problems?"
Posts must be completed by 8am on March 27th in order for you to get credit. You do not need to make a user name, you can post the comment anonymously and then sign you name. Please only use your first name and last initial.