Presidents' Climate Commitment

This week I found out that my school, Westfield State University, was a part of American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment! This means that the school has to follow and take certain actions in the fight against climate change. In the Commitment Text (here) it says that signatories must "Initiate the development of a comprehensive plan to achieve climate neutrality as soon as possible, Initiate two or more of the following [7] tangible actions to reduce greenhouse gases while the more comprehensive plan is being developed (listed on the website), [and] Make the action plan, inventory, and periodic progress reports publicly available by submitting them to the ACUPCC Reporting System for posting and dissemination." The first two have more specific guidelines on the website. I thought it was really cool that our campus is a part of this and am proud to a part of this idea and movement! 

Gay Head Lighthouse

One of the lighthouses on Martha's Vineyard is set to be moved this fall. Because of erosion, the shore is growing closer and close to the lighthouse, 46 feet to be exact. They need around 40 feet in diameter around the lighthouse in order to safety move it, so that it can still be used, which means they have to act now or within less than 2 years it there would not be enough land. This lighthouse it vital to mariners which is why there is urgency to move it! It has been standing since 1854, and will hopefully continue to stand, just in a different place!
To read about the project and learn more about the lighthouse's history check out it's website here!

Climate Change Games

If you want your kids to start being involved in the discussion on climate change (since the future will soon be in their hands) a great way to do that is to have them play games! This website has tons of games, ranging through different ages, from 7 until teen years. There are simulation games where your child could be acting as the ruler over many nations and has to make decisions to keep the world in check! Or they could play puzzle and brain teaser games about climate change. Whichever games they play, it gets them to start thinking about climate change and our world. Before we know it, our youth will soon be the worlds leaders and scientists and action against climate change will be in full swing (or so we hope!)
Check out the games or other resources Global Warming Kids has to offer here!

EPA Educational Resources

As I've mentioned before I am an education major in college, which means I am always on the look out for resources and activities for my future students. Recently I used the EPA website for a project for my Climate Change course, and saw that they had resources for parents and teachers. In this section of their website, they have quizzes, games, and homework help for students as well as lesson plans and resources for parents and teachers. I think this is great because it's coming right from the EPA but it is being brought to the level of students. This authenticity will help them feel more engaged and important in their learning about the environment and the global climate. Check out their resources here!

One Year Without Showering

Recently BuzzFeed created a post about a man, Rob Greenfield, who decided that he wasn't going to shower. He still bathed and washed himself, but he did not take an indoor inside a porcelain tub shower. Instead he bathed where ever he could find water! Leaky fire hydrant, rivers, lakes, etc. It started because he wanted to restrict his water usage, including drinking water. After six months he found it to be fairly easy, and decided to continue. His friends joined, he found romance, but it wasn't all an easy process. Of course it was more difficult when temperatures dropped, but he made it through and decided to keep going on. Although I'm not ready to cut out showering, because I don't live in a place that has that much access to bodies of water, it's made me think about cutting down my shower time, making sure I turn off the faucet when I brush my teeth or do dishes. We can all take those small steps to limit our water down to what we need. No extra.
Read the post here!

Bathtub Model Simulations

Similar to another source I posted about earlier in the semester, I found a simulation that shows our atmosphere with increased emissions, leveled off emissions, and lowered emissions in the future. The simulation shows charts, including past data, as well as the bathtub model. I like this simulation because  it shows the bathtub filling up and overflowing if we increase or level off emissions. I also like that even in the decreasing simulation, it shows how the water or level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will continue to increase for a time before it levels off. Check it out here!

Natural Resources Defense Council

The NRDC website has information about all different aspects related to climate change, issues in the environment, and policies. They also have a section where you can donate to help their cause, or you could "act now" and help out a cause by signing a petition. You can then sign up to receive email updates about the cause you signed a petition for! Check out the "Action Center" here!

Educational Activities

As an education major, I'm always on the lookout for lessons or activities and ways to incorporate multiple subjects into an activity for students. This website gives TONS of activities that incorporate math, ELA, geography, weather, reading, technology, even skills such as deductive reasoning and interpreting data. The website gives the activities as well as additional resources for each activity. I think this is a great way to get fun, multi subject activities. A lot of people think that you have to create all of your lessons yourself! While you do need to adapt them to make sure that ALL of your students can learn, even if they speak another language or have a disability, it's ok to search the web for different ideas. Just don't forget to give credit for other people's ideas and work!
Check it out here!

What's my carbon offset?

Two sites to determine your carbon offsets, or how much it would cost you to offset the amount of carbon (in tons) that you give off by living, are The Carbon Fund and Native Energy. These sites allow you to plug in some information about your lifestyle such as your home, car, flight/bus information if you use those, and it calculates how much money it would cost you to offset. You can even, if you feel so inclined, pay that offset! Check out these sites! Let me know if you think you know of another site that you feel is more accurate about calculating ones offset price!

Going Green: Success Stories

Happy Earth Day! In honor of Earth Day I thought I should look into some of the things that are happening in making our world more "green". I came across a website dedicated to Earth Day. This site has the history of Earth Day, events for Earth Day, resources and ways that you can become part of the movement towards a "green" Earth! The section that I am posting about contains pages and pages of small and big success stories from around the world. It includes news about places around the world that are taking small steps such as switching to led lights (Notre Dame Cathedral) to big steps such as switching to electric school buses and implementing free solar powered charging stations around cities. It's a great way to see what kinds of things are being done and can be done in the future! Check out the site, and see if theres anything near you and if there's anything you can do to help out!

www.earthday.org

Scientific Poster Rules

Erren, Thomas C., and Philip E. Bourne. "Rule 1: Define the Purpose." National Center for
Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 25 May 2007. Web. 19 Mar. 2014 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1876493/>.

NCBI put together a list of "Ten Simple Rules for a Good Poster Presentation". Accompanied with each rule is a short paragraph to expand and further explain what the rule means and/or why it is important. The rules cover the look and format of your poster as well as your presentation of the poster. A quick read, the rules give you tips and advice for how to create and give an A+ poster presentation.

To read the Ten Simple Rules click here!

Dendroclimatology

Dendroclimatology is the process of using tree rings to determine the past climate of the Earth. Scientists look at width to determine if the climate then fostered favorable conditions for growth. Scientists also looked at density, which can give better data than ring width. Tree rings have many advantages as climate proxies. Because tree’s have rings that are consistent markers of time, it is fairly easy to get precise dates. Furthermore, because tree rings respond to more than just temperature, they can be used to determine other aspects of past climate as well. Scientists collect tree rings, often using a handheld device, before bringing it into a lab to study and test. Scientists are able to determine things such as droughts, volcanic eruptions, and of course temperature.

To read more check out the wikipedia page here or this interesting case study!

Teaching Global Warming

Being an education major at heart, I can't help but post this link to a website that includes videos, lessons, and activities for all areas of science. This link brings you to the section on global warming and has tons of short instructional videos. I like this website not only because it is geared to a range of grades (3-12) but it's been reviewed by teachers. The videos are nice and short, so students won't be bored, but long enough to spark discussions! If you're entering the field of education, I recommend checking out this site.

www.neok12.com

Skeptical Science Website

The website SkepticalScience.com gives in depth explanations for anything related to global warming and climate change. Despite the fact that the site is set up with bright colors and ads down the right side, I think the website is fairly reliable. While exploring the site I went to the "about" section and read that while one man runs the site, he uses peer reviewed articles and other scientific literature when creating his posts. Although I wouldn't use this as a main source in any research, I wouldn't discount it when looking for some information. It's especially handy that you can select the complexity of explanations. For those of us who do not have science minds, the simplified explanations are much more appealing.