The Gifted Kids Network

Check this out! Fodey

 Biodiversity loss of the Deciduous Forest will grow into a major problem. We need to save it. If biodiversity loss goes on like it is, we will lose the forest. We will lose our source of wood and one source of food. we need to stop polluting and start making more nature preserves to conserve the resources that they hold.

Biodiversity

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Here’s an example of a good blog post a student might have written for this assignment.

VoiceThread is a great tool for school projects.  You can upload a photo or multiple photos to their web site and then annotate the photo with audio or written comments.   I’m using VoiceThread to create a project comparing ancient Rome and ancient Greece for my History class. 

Here are some of the tools you can look at and write about for this post.

Photo editing/ Digital graphic editors

• SplashUp http://www.splashup.com/
• Picnik (www.picnik.com)

Video

• Voicethread (voicethread.com)
• Animoto (http://animoto.com/)

Presentations

• Slideshare (http://www.slideshare.net/)

Research Tools

• Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/)
• Footnote (http://www.footnote.com/ )

Writing

• Glypho (http://www.glypho.com/)
• Story Creator 2 (http://myths.e2bn.org/create/)
• Fodey (http://www.fodey.com/)

Graphic Organizers

• Bubbl.us (bubbl.us/)
• Class Tools ( http://classtools.net./)

Cartoons/Comic Strips

• Toondoo (http://www.toondoo.com/Home.toon)
• Make Belief Comics (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/comix.php)
• Howtoons (http://www.instructables.com/group/howtoons/)
• Pixton (http://www.pixton.com/home)

Drawing and other Creativity:

• Sketchcast( http://sketchcast.com/)
• Kerpoof ( http://www.kerpoof.com/)
• Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/)
• ArtPad (http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/)
• Architect Studio 3D (http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/design_studio.html)

The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth.  Based on what you learned in the prior unit about life in extreme environments, consider the possibility that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas.  Do you believe life could exist on other planets or satellites? Write a blog post answering this question and providing detailed support from your research on extreme life forms on Earth.

 In all of the civilizations we have studied so far the geography of the area has played a very important role in determining how the society developed and what technologies evolved.  Write a blog post examining how environment, society, and technology were related in early civilizations.  

As some of us might know, the Dolores River Basin is one of the most ecologically diverse river basins in America. But it is now coming under a threat: a threat of an explosion from gas and oil drillings on public land. Oil and gas drilling is projected to increase by 160 % over the next two decades in the West. More than 160,000 new oil and gas wells have been approved in the West. A large portion of the Dolores watershed is targeted for drilling, and that includes habitat for Gunnison sage-grouse and other animals and plants.

As if that’s not enough. There in another threat immerging for the Dolores River Basin; destructive uranium mining. Mining operations that failed after the uranium boom in 1980 are being reinvigorated for new nuclear power plants, which require uranium. Hence we are witnessing what seems to be an edge for another uranium boom. Environmental study shows that twelve western states have increased uranium mining claims by 80 %, and more than 50,000 have been filled in the past nine months! The uranium-rich Dolores River Basin will be a hotspot for the latest boom.

As a community, we should be increasingly worried for our beautiful basin. We should get together and discuss possibilities to save the Dolores Basin. We will preserve the animals and plants unique to this endangered region, and we will continue to be the proud, thriving community we are.

The Sahara desert is known to have one of the most extreme and harsh weather conditions in the world. The Sahara ranges from miles of sand dunes, rocky flats to dry safari and covers 35% of Africa. The center of the Sahara is hyper-arid, with little vegetation. The northern and southern reaches of the desert, along with the highlands, have areas of rare grassland and desert shrub, with trees and taller shrubs in wadis where moisture collects.

The Arabian Desert vastly stretches from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It has an area of about 900,000 miles squared. This makes it cover most of the Arabian Peninsula. This Ecosystem consists of many different species of animal. Gazelles, oryx, sand cats, and spiny-tailed lizards are just a few. These animals have adapted to survive in the extremely arid area. White oryx and the sand gazelle have been re-introduced to their habitat and are currently protected at a number of reserves. Due to hunting species such as striped hyena, jackal, and honey badger have become extinct. At the very center of it all is the Rub’al Khali. The Rub’al Khali is one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world.

Climate is a huge part in why the Arabian Desert is hyper arid. Rainfall is only about 35 mm per annum and relative dry. In summer temperatures can get up to a scorching 104-122 degrees Fahrenheit while in winter temperatures are usually around 41-59 degrees Fahrenheit. Daily extremes are very important. Overgrazing by camels and goats and other cattle effect the land highly. In the 1990’s this ecoregion was the victim of a massive oil spill which released toxins in the atmosphere. The end result of the pollution was death of thousands of water birds and the Arabian Gulf’s aquatic life such as shrimp, sea turtles, dugongs, whales, dolphins and fish.

Desertification in this area is caused by climate.People cannot change the climate in an area.Perhaps scientists could use cloud seeding to make it rain but if so the animals would have to re-adapt to the climate and that could be potentially harmful. Personally, I think that desertification cannot be reversed or avoided in the Arabian Desert.

 Death Valley is a large desert in the United States, located in the states of California and Nevada. Usually, you count how many feet above sea level you are. But in Death Valley, you are actually 282 feet below sea level! It has an area of about 3,000 square miles.

            This desert is one of the best examples of Basin and Range configuration (a valley bounded by mountains bounded by valleys.) Temperatures here can range from 130 ° F to 15° F. The lower the altitude, the hotter the area tends to be. This is especially true for Death Valley, because the mountains surrounding it let of such radiation to make Death Valley one of the hottest places on Earth! The highest temperature ever recorded in the United States was in Death Valley, reaching 134° F.

            Even though Death Valley gets very little rain, it can be known for its flash floods. One example was in August, 2004. It caused two deaths, and hence the closing of Death Valley National Park.

            I believe that if we could harness these flash floods, perhaps by irrigation into a reservation, and keep the temperatures low there, we might be able to distribute this water all over Death Valley. Over a series of years (and flash floods) we might be able to reverse the effects of desertification in Death Valley.