SCI207 Ashford Week 4 Carbon Neutral Community Plan for Ashfordton Paper Week 4 – Discussion 1
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A Carbon-Neutral Community Plan for Ashfordton [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
Imagine that you are a resident of Ashfordton, a community whose characteristics are described below. You have come together with your neighbors for a special meeting to devise a plan for helping the community become carbon-neutral by 2050, meaning that by that time, no net carbon dioxide emissions will be produced by residents as a whole.
Fortunately, you have all showed up to the meeting with lots of knowledge you gained from your readings in this course. Now it is time to put your thinking cap on and get to work! Your plan should consist of the following elements:
Energy conservation measures (e.g., promoting carpooling by adding special lanes to local highways)
Steps to move toward sustainable energy production (e.g., installing solar panels on town government buildings)
oReducing energy consumption will help, but some actions will have to involve switching to other power sources for buildings and vehicles as well.
This week’s discussion will take place in an online app called “Tricider.” There, you will be able to post your ideas for plan components and also share pros and cons of different proposals during the week. Finally, you will be able to vote on what you think should be in the plan.
For directions on how to use the Tricider app, please review the Tricider Help Guide. In Tricider, you will be expected to do the following:
Post at least two separate and unique ideas.
Post at least six different pros and cons for your classmates’ proposed ideas.
o Include your full name for each one.
Vote on what you feel are the top three ideas in the list.
o Do not vote before Friday.
You must complete the three tasks above to receive full credit for this discussion.
Week 4 – Discussion 2
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A Carbon-Neutral Community Plan Voting Rationales [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 3, 4, 6]
Now that you have cast your votes for the Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, it is time to explain your choices to the class. Please make a post of at least 150 words in which you
Identify (briefly) the plan elements on which you voted.
Explain why you selected each one.
Each of the elements with an explanation is worth .5 point for a total of 1.5 points.
Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own. Week 4 – Journal
Ecological Footprint Update and Course Reflections
Throughout this course, you are keeping a journal about your experience in the class.
The purpose of this activity is to enable you to reflect on your learning: what new things
you have discovered, what surprises you have encountered, what topics or ideas you
have found particularly challenging, and how the course is going for you. You should
also be using the journal as a space for a progress report on your Environmental
Footprint Reduction Project efforts. Your entries will be evaluated in terms of how well
they met the topic and length requirements, and your writing clarity. Your entries should
be a minimum of one typed page each (double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point
font) and will be submitted through Waypoint.
Complete the following:
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In the first paragraph or two of your journal entry this week, provide a status
report on your Ecological Footprint Reduction Project. Have you encountered
success with implementing your intended changes? What challenges have you
encountered? What have you learned so far from this activity?
In another one or two paragraphs, share your thoughts about the fourth week of
class. What did you learn? What experiences stand out for you? What tasks or
content did you find difficult or frustrating? What activities did you find surprising
or exciting? Looking ahead, what are your intrigued or concerned by in the final
week of the course?
Week 4 – Assignment 1
Greenhouse Gases and Sea Level Rise Laboratory
This lab enables you to create models of sea level rise resulting from melting of sea ice
and glacier ice and examine the effects of this potential consequence of climate change.
The Process:
Take the required photos and complete all parts of the assignment (calculations, data
tables, etc.). On the “Lab Worksheet,” answer all of the questions in the “Lab Questions”
section. Finally, transfer all of your answers and visual elements from the “Lab
Worksheet” into the “Lab Report.” You will submit both the “Lab Report” and the “Lab
Worksheet” through Waypoint.
The Assignment:
Make sure to complete all of the following items before submission:
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Read the Greenhouse Gases and Sea Level Rise Investigation Manual
and review The Scientific Method (Links to an external site.)presentation
video.
Complete Activities 1 and 2 using materials in your kit, augmented by additional
materials that you will supply. Photograph each activity following these
instructions:
o When taking lab photos, you need to include in each image a strip of paper
with your name and the date clearly written on it.
Activity 2, Step 12 will require you to make a line graph. Should you desire further
guidance on how to construct a graph, it is recommended that you review
the Introduction to Graphing lab manual. (You are not expected to complete
any of the activities in this manual.)
Complete all parts of the Week 4 Lab Worksheet and answer all of the
questions in the “Lab Questions” section.
Transfer your responses to the lab questions and data tables and your photos
from the “Lab Worksheet” into the “Lab Report” by downloading the Lab Report
Template .
Submit your completed “Lab Report” and “Lab Worksheet” through Waypoint.
Week 4 – Assignment 2
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part 4 of 4: Sustaining Our
Atmosphere and Climate
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please review Chapters 6, 7, and 8 in Turk
and Bensel’s Contemporary Environmental Issues textbook (2014).
The purpose of this assignment is twofold: first, to enable you to explore a term
(concept, technique, place, etc.) related to this week’s theme of sustaining atmosphere
and climate; 2) second, to provide your fourth contribution to a collective project, the
Class Sustainable Living Guide. Your work this week, will be gathered (along with that
of your peers) into a master document you will receive a few days after the end of the
course. The document will provide everyone with a variety of ideas for how we can all
live more sustainably in our homes and communities.
To complete this assignment, TERM TO USE IS: FOSSIL FUELS
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You will first need to select a term from the list of choices in the Week 4 – Term
Selection Forum. Reply to the forum with the term that you would like to research.
Do not select a term that a classmate has already chosen. No two students will
be researching the same topic.
Next, download the Week 4 Assignment Template and replace the guiding text
with your own words based upon your online research. Please do not include a
cover page. All references, however, should be cited in your work and listed at
the end, following APA format expectations.
In the template, you will
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Define the term thoroughly.
Clearly relate the term to the week’s theme.
Explain how the term affects living things and the physical world.
Relate the term to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability.
Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps a technique or
technology that might promote it.
Suggest two specific actions we can take to promote sustainability in relationship
to this term.
Provide detailed examples to support your ideas.
The Week 4 Assignment
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Must be three paragraphs in length (not including title, quoted text, and
references) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford
Writing Center’s APA Style resource (Links to an external site.).
Must cite at the following three sources at minimum:
o The class textbook, or provide a URL formatted according to APA standards
to the resource in case your term was not in the text.
o A scholarly source.
o A credible source.
o To aid you in your research, and particularly in locating scholarly sources via
the Ashford Library or using Google Scholar, please review the following
Ashford videos and tutorials:
▪ Scholarly and Popular Resources (Links to an external site.)
▪ How to Use FindIt@AU (Links to an external site.)
▪ Database Search Tips (Links to an external site.)
▪ Research, Keywords, and Databases: An Overview (Links to an external
site.)
▪ Accessing Full Text and Citation in Google Scholar (Links to an external
site.)
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external
site.) resource for additional guidance.
o The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an
external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If
you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this
assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say
about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the
Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper guide (Links to an external
site.).
Must include a separate references list that is formatted according to APA style
as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References
List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for
specifications.
Week 4 Assignment Template
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part Four of Four:
Sustaining Our Atmosphere and Climate
Instructions: Using the term that you have selected from the list provided in the classroom,
please complete the following template. Create a minimum of 5 to 7 well-crafted sentences per
paragraph. In your response, you are expected to cite and reference, in APA format, at least two
outside sources in addition to the class text. The sources must be credible (from experts in the
field of study); scholarly sources (published in peer-reviewed academic journals) are strongly
encouraged. Delete these instructions before submitting your work to Waypoint.
Your Term:
Instructions: In the first paragraph;
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Thoroughly define your term.
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Describe how the term relates to this week’s theme. Provide specific examples.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to Waypoint.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the second paragraph;
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Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical world.
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Explain how the term relates to the challenge of achieving environmental sustainability.
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Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps a technique or
technology that might promote it?
Again, be as specific as possible and include examples to support your explanations.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the third paragraph;
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Determine at least two specific actions that we can take in order to promote
environmental sustainability in relation to this term. Be creative and concrete with your
suggestions. For example, you might recommend supporting a particular organization
that is active in the field of your term.
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Consider actions that might be taken
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1) on the individual level, in our daily lives;
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2) at the community level;
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3) via national and global organizations working on behalf of the
environmental issues associated with your term; and/or 4) at the ballot box
(though voting).
[Enter your information here]
After proofreading your assignment carefully, please submit it to Waypoint.
Running head: NAME OF LAB
1
Name of Lab
Your Name
SCI 207: Our Dependence Upon the Environment
Instructor’s Name
Date
Running head: NAME OF LAB
2
*This template will enable you to turn your lab question responses into a polished Lab Report.
Simply copy paste your answers to the lab questions, as well as all data tables, graphs, and
photographs, in the locations indicated. Before you submit your Lab Report, it is recommended
that you run it through Turnitin, using the student folder, to ensure protection from accidental
plagiarism. Please delete this purple text before submitting your report.
Name of Lab
Introduction
Copy and paste your response to Question One here.
Copy and paste your response to Question Two here.
Copy and paste your response to Question Three here.
Materials and Methods
Copy and paste your response to Question Four here.
Results
Copy and paste your completed Data Tables here.
Copy and paste any Graphs here. Include a numbered figure caption below it, in APA format.
Copy and paste your Photographs here, in the order they were taken in the lab. Include
numbered figure captions below them, in APA format.
Discussion
Copy and paste your response to Question Five here.
Copy and paste your response to Question Six here.
Copy and paste your response to Question Seven here.
Copy and paste your response to Question Eight here.
References
Copy and paste your response to Question Nine here.
ACTIVITY
Lab Worksheet
Hypotheses
Activity 1.
Activity 2.
Observations/Data Tables
Data Table 1. Sea Ice
Time
(min)
Estimated
Depth (m)
Measured
Depth (cm)
Observations
0
10
20
30
40
50
melted
continued on next page
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Data Table 2. Glacier Ice
Time
(min)
Estimated
Depth (m)
Measured
Depth (cm)
Observations
0
30
60
90
120
150
melted
Calculations (paste your line graph from Activity 2, step 12 here)
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Photographs
Activity 1.
Activity 2.
Lab Questions
Please answer the following entirely in your own words and in complete sentences: Introduction
1. Background—What is important to know about the topic of this lab? Use at least one outside source (other
than course materials) to answer this question. Cite the source using APA format. Answers should be 5–7
sentences in length.
[Write your answers here]
2.
Outcomes—What was the main purpose of this lab?
[Write your answers here]
3.
Hypotheses—What were your hypotheses for Activity 1? What were your hypotheses for Activity 2? Identify
each hypothesis clearly, and explain your reasoning.
[Write your answers here]
Materials and Methods
4. Using your own words, briefly describe what materials and methods you used in each of the activities.
Your answer should be sufficiently detailed so that someone reading it would be able to replicate what you
did. Explain any measurements you made.
[Write your answers here]
Discussion
5.
Based upon the results of each activity, explain whether you accepted or rejected your hypotheses and why.
[Write your answers here]
6.
What important information have you learned from this lab? Use at least one outside source (scholarly for full
credit) to answer this question. Cite the source using APA format.
Answers should be 5–7 sentences in length.
[Write your answers here]
7.
What challenges did you encounter when doing this lab? Name at least one.
[Write your answers here]
8.
How might a scientist create a more realistic physical model to show the effects of global climate change on
sea level rise? What factors might be changed?
[Write your answers here]
Literature Cited
9. List the references you used to answer these questions. (Use APA format, and alphabetize by the last
name.)
[Write your answers here]
Now copy and paste your answers into the Lab Report provided. Include the data tables
and photographs. You may wish to make minor edits to enhance the flow of your resulting
lab report.
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Greenhouse Gases and
Sea Level Rise
Investigation
Manual
GREENHOUSE GASES AND SEA LEVEL RISE
Table of Contents
2
Overview
2
Outcomes
2
Time Requirements
3
Background
10 Materials
10 Safety
11 Preparation
13 Activity 1
14 Activity 2
15 Submission
15 Disposal and Cleanup
16 Lab Worksheet
18 Lab Questions
Overview
In this lab, students will carry out several activities aimed at
demonstrating consequences of anthropogenic carbon emissions,
climate change, and sea level rise. To do this, students will first
create a landform model based on a contour map. They will create
models of sea level rise resulting from melting of sea ice and
glacier ice and examine the effects of this potential consequence
of climate change. Students will critically examine the model
systems they used in the experiments.
Outcomes
• Explain the causes of increased carbon emissions and their likely
effect on global climate.
• Discuss positive and negative climate feedback.
• Distinguish between glacial ice melt and oceanic ice melt.
• Construct a three-dimensional model from a two-dimensional
contour map.
• Evaluate and improve a model system.
Time Requirements
Preparation:
Part 1……………………………………………………………….. 5 minutes,
then let sit for 24 hours before starting Activity 1
Part 2 ……………………………………………………………………2 hours
Activity 1: Sea Ice and Sea Level Rise ……………………………..1 hour
Activity 2: Glacier Ice and Sea Level Rise …………………….2.5 hours
Key
Personal protective
equipment
(PPE)
goggles gloves apron
follow
link to
video
photograph stopwatch
results and
required
submit
warning corrosion flammable toxic environment health hazard
Made ADA compliant by
NetCentric Technologies using
the CommonLook® software
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Background
For the last 30 years, controversy has
surrounded the ideas of global warming/climate
change. However, the scientific concepts behind
the theory are not new. In the 1820s, Joseph
Fourier was the first to recognize that, given
the earth’s size and distance from the sun,
the planet’s surface temperature should be
considerably cooler than it was. He proposed
several mechanisms to explain why the earth
was warmer than his calculations predicted,
one of which was that the earth’s atmosphere
might act as an insulator. Forty years later,
John Tyndall demonstrated that different
gases have different capacities to absorb
infrared radiation, most notably methane (CH4),
carbon dioxide (CO2), and water vapor (H2O),
all of which are present in the atmosphere. In
1896, Svante Arrhenius developed the first
mathematical model of the effect of increased
CO2 levels on temperature. His model predicted
that a doubling of the amount of CO2 in the
atmosphere would produce a 5–6 °C increase
in temperature globally. Based on the level of
CO2 production in the late 19th century, he
predicted that this change would take place
over thousands of years, if at all. Arrhenius used
Arvid Högbom’s calculations of industrial CO2
emissions in his equations. Högbom thought
that the excess CO2 would be absorbed by the
ocean; others believed that the effect of CO2
was insignificant next to the much larger effect
of water vapor.
It was not until the late 1950s, when the CO2
absorption capacity of the ocean was better
understood and significant increases in CO2
levels (a 10% increase from the 1850s to the
1950s) were being observed by G. S. Callendar,
that Arrhenius’s calculations received renewed
attention.
The Atmosphere
Weather is the condition of the atmosphere in a
given location at a specific time. Climate is the
prevailing weather pattern over a longer period
of time (decades or centuries).
The atmosphere is a thin shell (~100 km) of
gases that envelops the earth. It is made up
principally of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%),
and argon (0.9%). Trace gases include methane
(CH4), ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon
monoxide (CO), and oxides of nitrogen (e.g.,
NO2) and sulfur (e.g., SO2) (see Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Water vapor is sometimes included in the
composition of gases in the atmosphere, but a
lot of times it is not because its amount varies
widely, from 0%–4%, depending on location.
The concentration of gases in the atmosphere
is not uniform either; the atmosphere consists
of several concentric layers. Some gases are
concentrated at certain altitudes. Water and
continued on next page
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GREENHOUSE GASES AND SEA LEVEL RISE
Background continued
carbon dioxide are concentrated near the
earth’s surface, for instance, while ozone is
concentrated 20 to 30 kilometers above the
surface. Energy transfer from the sun at and
near the surface of the earth is responsible for
weather and climate. Solar radiation heats land,
the oceans, and atmospheric gases differently,
resulting in the constant transfer of energy
across the globe.
Several factors interact to cause areas of the
earth’s surface and atmosphere to heat at
different rates, a process called differential
heating. The first is the angle at which the sun’s
light hits the earth. When the sun is directly
overhead, as it is at the equator, the light is
direct. Each square mile of incoming sunlight
hits one square mile of the earth. At higher
latitudes, the sun hits at an angle, spreading
the one square mile of sunlight over more of the
earth’s surface. Thus, the intensity of the light
is reduced and the surface does not warm as
quickly (see Figure 2). This causes the tropics,
near the equator, to be warmer and the poles to
be cooler.
Different materials heat and cool at different
rates. Darker surfaces heat faster than lighter
surfaces. Water has a high heat capacity, which
is important on a planet whose surface is 72%
water. Heat capacity is a measure of how
much heat it takes to raise the temperature of
a substance by one degree. The heat capacity
of liquid water is roughly four times that of air.
Water is slow to warm and slow to cool, relative
to land. This also contributes to differential
heating of the earth.
Differential heating causes circulation in the
atmosphere and in the oceans. Warmer fluids
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Figure 2.
are less dense and rise, leaving behind an area
of low pressure. Air and water move laterally to
distribute the change in pressure. This is critical
in developing prevailing wind patterns and in
cycling nutrients through the ocean.
The Role of the Oceans
The oceans play an important role in regulating…
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