This was our last week of learning content for our 'Science In Our World' subject and it was a good topic to finish off our semester. Again we followed on looking at humans and we also touched on some sustainability issues that we looked at in the earlier weeks. We started by asking ourselves are humans still evolving? Personally, I think we are. With our world always changing I think we have to evolve to keep up with it. A microphone was passed around the lecture and these were some of the other answers from my peers;
Answer 1: "It’s hard for us to know if we are still evolving. Our descendants will know if we are/have but we won’t know ourselves."
Answer 2: "Yes. An example showing that we are still evolving now is that AFL ruck man used to be a lot shorter and have all gotten a lot bigger to be the tallest in the competition."
Answer 3: "I think so. A study was recently published showing that our thumbs are going to evolve as a result of all our use of mobile phones and technology."
We looked at two case studies. The first being 'why there is more CO2 in the atmosphere and what effect is it having?'
Well the natural substance is growing at a very fast rate, faster than the Earth can cope with. The major effect obviously being the big issue of global warming. (Eek. It's a scary thing to think about!) You can see direct effects for example on the Pacific Islands. There are now more documentaries and resources than ever explaining to us the rising of the sea levels and the potential damage it is causing as a result of climate change.
I've included a video below that we watched in the lecture to gain a better understanding of the anthropogenic factors of climate change.
Answer 1: "It’s hard for us to know if we are still evolving. Our descendants will know if we are/have but we won’t know ourselves."
Answer 2: "Yes. An example showing that we are still evolving now is that AFL ruck man used to be a lot shorter and have all gotten a lot bigger to be the tallest in the competition."
Answer 3: "I think so. A study was recently published showing that our thumbs are going to evolve as a result of all our use of mobile phones and technology."
We looked at two case studies. The first being 'why there is more CO2 in the atmosphere and what effect is it having?'
Well the natural substance is growing at a very fast rate, faster than the Earth can cope with. The major effect obviously being the big issue of global warming. (Eek. It's a scary thing to think about!) You can see direct effects for example on the Pacific Islands. There are now more documentaries and resources than ever explaining to us the rising of the sea levels and the potential damage it is causing as a result of climate change.
I've included a video below that we watched in the lecture to gain a better understanding of the anthropogenic factors of climate change.
The second case study was on 'POP's. Persistent Organic Pollutants.'
After learning about POP's in this lecture I have nothing good to say about them! POP's are actually highly toxic and are not biodegradable, they do not break down and become something we can use it so there is no place for them in a natural cycle. These 'Persistent Organic Pollutants' are capable of long range transportation and can do so very easily. This is very dangerous because it has been said that POP's have made their way to Antarctica where whales are consuming the POP's which are inside smaller fish that they eat. If we are eating fish that have consumed POP's they are going straight into our bodies! So while you may not think about it as an immediate threat to us, it actually can be.
This weeks reading included a POP fact sheet written by the 'United Nations Environment Programme.' One fact and easy to understand definition was 'dioxins and furans are environmental contaminants detectable in trace amounts in air, water and soil in virtually all parts of the global ecosystem.
Today I learnt another piece of advice about teaching science to children. The children may not understand all of our ethics of care when told about them, they may find it difficult to learn when a whole bunch of facts are just delivered to them. However kids understand care. They care for their family, friends, animals and themselves. If we as educators can often link these science concepts with caring for our world, they could develop a greater understanding and interest.
After learning about POP's in this lecture I have nothing good to say about them! POP's are actually highly toxic and are not biodegradable, they do not break down and become something we can use it so there is no place for them in a natural cycle. These 'Persistent Organic Pollutants' are capable of long range transportation and can do so very easily. This is very dangerous because it has been said that POP's have made their way to Antarctica where whales are consuming the POP's which are inside smaller fish that they eat. If we are eating fish that have consumed POP's they are going straight into our bodies! So while you may not think about it as an immediate threat to us, it actually can be.
This weeks reading included a POP fact sheet written by the 'United Nations Environment Programme.' One fact and easy to understand definition was 'dioxins and furans are environmental contaminants detectable in trace amounts in air, water and soil in virtually all parts of the global ecosystem.
Today I learnt another piece of advice about teaching science to children. The children may not understand all of our ethics of care when told about them, they may find it difficult to learn when a whole bunch of facts are just delivered to them. However kids understand care. They care for their family, friends, animals and themselves. If we as educators can often link these science concepts with caring for our world, they could develop a greater understanding and interest.
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