Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 05/19/2011 - 20:02

Hi Mr. Wood,

This is Shannon from your period 6 class. I am going to answer the last two questions that I didn't answer from your May 5th journal, the questions from your May 10th jounal and the quiz of course. First, I want to say congratulations to your daughter for getting nominated for the Tower Awards at Huntington Beach High School. Your dodgeball team also won the other day too. I liked learing about the caribou. I can't believe their hairs are hollow! Oxen can survive pretty extreme temperatures! It was fun talking to you on Monday. You said the kids at the local school were going to help measure some of the carbon in your experiment. Did you do that yet? If so, how did it go?

I will answer the May 5th jounal first. Sea level rising will affect people because they will have to move farther inland, but I do not think it could kill people. If the the sea level keeps rising though and takes over all of the land, people will have no where to go and will not survive unless we lived on boats. If the sea water covers up roads we will have to build different transportation routes. Sea levels rising is due to climate warming. To stop this from happening, we have to stop releasing carbons, aerosol sprays and CFC's into the atomosphere. When we do this, the O Zone layer deteriorates, letting more ultra violet rays in, making the temperature hotter which rises sea levels.

Now I will answer the questions from the May 10th journal. I think our climate was hotter than usual and now we are going through a period that won't be as hot and a little cooler. It was cool here the past couple of days too. I also do think that a few wet or dry spells won't influence our climate that much, it is just the way the climate works. Those are my two perspectives. For the fly, I just think it is trying to eat the red things on the willow plant. They could possibly be pollen or nectar. I don't think the two organisms are helping eachother because the willow tree probably doesn't want any insect eating away at it. It could also just be a cycle of what the plants and insects do to stay alive.

Here is the answer to the quiz: 1. The amount of CO2 the graph is showing is 387 parts per million because it is between 386 and 388 parts per million.

  1. The data was collected at 3:00. I can tell because the sun is highest in the day at 2:00, as you said in past journals, so when the sun drops, just the small bit, the carbon starts to rise and gets higher and higher until the sun comes back out again.

  2. In two more hours the carbon parts per million will move up. Once the sun goes down after it reaches the highest point in the sky, carbon rises as it gets later and later because the plant can't take in carbon if the sunlight is not there.

Thanks Mr. Wood! Hope this answers what you want! -Shannon

John Wood

Wow, thank you for all of the news and I will pass your congrats on to my daughter. Was your brother up for something also? How did he do?Your answers are great. The willow and the fly are actually helping each other. The fly eats the nectar from the willow and then the fly carries some of the pollen for the willow to help it reproduce. Thanks for taking the time to write me. Hello to your family!
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Hi Mr. Wood!My brother was up for history and english. He recieved pins like your daughter. They both did great. I understand now how the fly and the willow plant are helping eachother. Thanks for the answer. I have a few questions. When you drill the water out of the ground around the tundra, will it adapt to not having the normal amount of water, will it die, or will something else happen? Are you going to be holding any more experiments before you leave? Will Dr. Natali go back to the study site every few years to see if changes are happening in the experiment?
Can't wait to see you!
-Shannon Keane from Period 6

John Wood

Thanks for the comments, and the great questions. When we remove the water we are not sure what will happen. We have a hypothesis and some ideas about what we think should happen. But that is the great thing about science, you just don't know until you try it! And that takes time and careful planning. I do think that part of it will be a change in the plants that can live in that area. I will not be able to be here for any other experiments, but Dr. Natali will be here for most of the time until September. She will have someone taking measurements all winter and then she and the rest of the team will return next year. If we are luck, she will come to Talbert next year to meet and speak to you and the other students.See you soon!
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Hi Mr. Wood!I had a few questions for you if you wouldn't mind answering. There have been many tornadoes happening in the southern states lately. Do you think this is happening due to climate change? How long will it take untill you find some results in your experiment?
It was fun skyping with you today. I'm still thinking about the answers to your questions, but I will answer them soon! Hope to hear back from you soon.
-Shannon from Period 6

John Wood

It was great seeing you guys and talking with you all today! As far as the tornadoes, there are some people who think they may be linked. We have to watch the patterns over a longer period of time to begin to see if there really is a shift in the climate or if these are just weather events. These experimental results will also take time to see a trend, maybe the next few years.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Hi Mr. Wood!I can't believe you are coming back next week! Can't wait to see you, but I hope you are having a good time! I liked the pictures from the permafrost tunnel. It is hard to believe all of those plants and animals are stuck in there. Are you going to be able to swim in the Arctic Ocean? Anyway, I have the answer to the questions.
1. The factors that cause this area to be tundra are latitude, temperature, soil, and precipitation. The plants look the way they do because of limiting factors, abiotic factors, and biotic factors along with the things I already listed.
2. With a warmer climate oraganisms will adapt to the temperature or possibly die because they can't make those changes.
3. There are no large trees in the tundra area because they don't have enough time to grow. Due to the weather and precipitation the trees grow as much as they can in the spring and summer, but when winter comes, the ground freezes and they don't get the resources they need to grow.
Thanks Mr. Wood! Hope this answers the questions!
-Shannon from your period 6 class

John Wood

It won't be long before I am back in the class! I am flying to Barrow this evening and will see if a dip in the ocean is possible. They still have a lot of ice there. Your answers are great. The limiting factors really control life in an area.Thanks,
Mr. Wood

Anonymous

Hi Mr. Wood!I just would like to say thank you for showing us polartrec and staying connected with us throughout this experience. I have heard of the word whaling before, but I do not not what it means. Could you explain it to me? I have the answer to the picture challenge! I will put it in order from the the latest to most recent pictures.
1. Photo E
2. Photo G
3. Photo C
4. Photo A
5. Photo F
6. Photo B
7. Photo D
Hope this is correct. I will try to guess the names of the skulls this weekend. If not, See you on Monday!
Thanks,
Shannon from your period 6 class

John Wood

Wow! You did that fast and correct. Good job! Whaling is hunting and using whales for food and other products. Most people stopped whaling years ago. These people whale because their culture is based on the tradition. The natives have been whaling for hundreds of years. They eat the whale meat and blubber and use the bones for various things. Today the natives in Barrow have been limited by how many they can take, but they still go out in small boats and hunt as their grandfathers did. It's very sad but it is a relationship that has developed over the years. We will talk about that more when I return.See you Monday. Thanks,
Mr. Wood