Blog Post Reflection- "Cornucopia"

The pervasiveness of corn kn out diets is at an all time high. Corn is used in 90% of the products we buy and eat. For example, high fructose corn syrup , cornstarch, corn oil, and etc. It is a major problem that corn is used in 90% of our food. Most the corn used in the food is chemically altered and can be very dangerous to our health. Sometimes these companies are able to not even tell us about these chemicals in the products. For us to be more informed we need to always read the ingredients on the product and search for these chemicals. In some cases, the companies would try and hide these ingredients by abbreviating them, making it seem it is a different ingredient. I feel as if everyone should have the right to know what is in our food. We are the ones consuming these products and we should know what we are putting in our bodies. It is the companies responsibility to inform us, the consumers, about what is inside the food.

Blog Post Reflection- "Dollar Menu Reflection"

In today's video I think subsidizing food is affecting our nation in a very negative way. I believe this because the family in the video were saying that they would rather go eat this very unhealthy food because it was cheaper than buying vegetables. I think that is just ridiculous. In my opinion, I think people should have eating healthy as a right. I think this because with out force, we would not even think about eating healthy. Today my eating habits are very different from my grandparents. The reason for this is because my grandparents are not from America. Back when they were my age, they did not have fast food restaurants like we do. Also in the Philippines, most of the food we cook is organic and not tampered with chemicals. Because of the era of food I was raised in, which is about artificial coloring and flavors,  at a young age I did not eat as healthy but know because I am more athletic and want to be fit I tend to eat more healthy but I have some tendencies to eat unhealthy. Right now, my family is actually very healthy. My dad and my sister started to force the family into eating less and eating healthier and know its our way of living. But buying and growing vegetables organically is very expensive we do tend to go out and buy something cheap like McDonald's or Burger King.

scrAPES #16 - "Greenland's Melting Ice Problem May Be Far Worse Than We Realized"

Greenland's Melting Ice Problem May Be Far Worse Than We Realized, by Lydia O'connor is about Greenland's massive ice problem. The ice sheet, in Greenland, might melt and have the whole island to shrink.  This may happen because of the increasing global temperature. If all of the Ice sheet was to melt, global sea levels will increase almost 23 feet.  The only reason it has not happened yet is because of the firn. The firn is the sponge like snow a top of the ice sheet. The firn traps and holds any melting water that would otherwise run into the ocean. This would help maintain the ice sheet in the summer temperatures. The firn has not been diminished and is still able to help the ice sheet but In the past few summers, there have been unusually high temperature summers. 

This article caught my eye because I have always been interested in global warming and the effects it could have on the Earth. I think that it is very cool that there is this massive ice sheet that can raise sea levels as up to 23 feet. To me, that is mind boggling. Also, there is something called a firn. I just thought it was fascinating to know there is the spongy snow that help collect melted ice before it goes into the ocean. 

This relates to Environmental Science, because of how it can affect the Earth and it's surroundings. Knowing that global warming is effecting the environment but not only us directly relates to environmental science. Global warming has always been a big problem for us and scientists are doing what they can to help stop it or at least slow it down.    

scrAPES # 15 - "There are sharks living in a volcano, and this is not a drill"

In the article, "There are sharks living in a volcano, and this is not a drill" by Amelia Urry, it talks about an underwater volcano and the species inside it. 60 feet underwater, off the coast of the Solomon Islands, there lies a volcano under the sea. The volcano is named Kavachi. Kavachi is notoriously known for erupting frequently, which worries the group of scientist who want to explore the volcano with an underwater camera. Not only is the volcano frequently erupting, the water is very hot and acidic. Luckily, on this day the volcano was dormant and it was a perfect day to run the experiment. They go to Kavachi, and drop the camera inside the crater. After an hour, the group of scientist come back to grab the camera and see what the camera picked up. The camera picked up small fishes, sting rays, and the most surprising, full grown sharks!

The reason why this article got my attention is because of the title. Not everyday you read there are sharks in a volcano, which can get anyone interested. Not only is it intriguing but it is just really cool. Reading about sharks is interesting to me enough, but now there in a volcano. My imagination went wild when I read the title.

This relates to environmental science because of the specific area that these sharks are in. By studying these animals more extensively we can unlock more mysteries on Earth. Also, by knowing how these animals can live in these conditions, we can use this new information and potentially learn how to put it in our very own lives.

Hw - Aquarium " Save an Animal"

During the aquarium there was a section that showed me these animals that were in need of our help. The giant manta ray caught my eye because they looked the most interesting to me. The giant manta ray is very vulnerable to extinction due to the high demand of manta ray gill rakers.  They use those gill rakers to feed by straining  out the food from the water using sponge-like tissue.  The way these large fish reproduce is between two individuals, a male and a female, by the male putting sperm inside the females cloaca. Even though manta rays are fish, meaning they are born in eggs, the manta rays have the eggs held in them and the babies will hatch there, being born alive.

There have been many programs to help the endangered manta rays, such as (CITES) Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species, (CMS) Convention of Migratory Species, and much more. These groups specifically want the killing of the rays for there gill rakers. They are trying to officially stop the trade legally. What I can do to help is to stay informed about what is happening to the manta rays and spreading the word about these animals being endangered. I am not surprised this is happening to these animals because some humans just do not care. These people conducting these hunts to find and kill these animals just care about the money and not about the actual animal.

Cw - Aquarium "Reflection"

In the aquarium there were a lot of different fishes and marine animals. My favorite part of the trip was witnessing the rock hopper penguin being fed. They have a very distinct look to them. They have sharp yellow and black feathers that adorn its head. These penguins, unlike the rest of the other penguins, hop rather than waddle. These penguins are among the smallest penguins in the world, they stand about 20 inches tall. They have a very distinct look towards them, having red-eyes, a red-orange beak, and pink webbed feet.

Also, one of my favorite parts of the trip was going all the way to the top of the fish tank. There was a presentation talking about the fish tank. The speaker told us a lot about the fish tank. For example, at the time the tank was created it was the biggest in the world. Of course now, it is not the largest but it still is one the biggest. There are about 200,000 gallons of salt water inside the tank. They have over 1,000 species inside the tank. They also have 2 turtles!

All in all this trip to the aquarium was fun and I learned a lot. There was also the touch tank. That was really fun. I got to touch all the different sharks, sting rays, and all the other species of animals. I would love to go back and maybe just stay even longer and explore more of the aquarium.

scrAPES #13 "Milkweed Effort Already Impacting the Monarch Butterfly Population"

In this article, Milkweed Effort Already Impacting the Monarch Butterfly Population by Dawn Papple it talks about how the monarch butterfly have been close to extinction and how certain changes have rebounded there population. Since 1999,  99% of milkweed in corn and soybean fields have been eliminated due to herbicides. This put monarch butterfly population at only one-tenth of its population.  But now, for the milkweed-fostering efforts the population for the monarch butterfly will be estimated to be about 3 times larger than last years population.

What caught my eyes about this article, was the picture. I was looking around and saw this weird thing on a leaf with pretty colors. This intrigued me to know what this mysterious creature was, so I had to read the article. I am pretty happy I did click on this because these butterflies are not just cool looking, but they are very helpful in the environment.

These butterflies are helpful to the environment because they help pollinate. Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from one flower to another. Pollination is very important because not only does it create more plants, but it can grow the fruits we eat.  That is why by almost killing off these pollinators you are essentially hurting not only the environment but also yourselves and everybody around you.