Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

International, Cooperative Research In The Apuseni Mountains Of Western Romania, Lee J. Florea, Bogdan P. Onac

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

In May of 2006, nine American scientists and cavers from the Karst Research Group at the University of South Florida traveled to western Romania to attend and present at an international conference on records of climate change in caves in the historic Roman town of Baile Hurculane. The conference, co-sponsored by the “Emil Racoviţă” Speleological Institute of Romania and the Karst Waters Institute, drew more than 100 experts in the field of climate change and karst, and was a wonderful time spent alongside the thermal springs and Austro-Hungarian bathhouses nestled within the massive limestone canyon of the Cerna River.

Following …

Loess Deposits, Origins And Properties, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Loess is an eolian (windblown) sediment that is an important archive of Quaternary climate changes. It may provide one of the most complete terrestrial records of interglacial–glacial cycles. Loess is unusual as a record of Quaternary climate change because it is one of the few sediments that is deposited directly from the atmosphere. Thus, it is a geologic deposit that contains a record of atmospheric circulation and can be used to reconstruct synoptic-scale paleoclimatology. Loess is also unusual in that it can be dated directly using ‘trapped electron’ or luminescence methods that require only the sediment itself. Commonly, loess deposits …

Impact Of More Intensive Grazing On Nitrogen And Phosphorus In Shallow Aquifers Of The Southern Perth Basin, D L. Bennett, Patrick Donnelly, Peter J. Tille

Resource management technical reports

This study reports on the nutrient content, pH and salinity of groundwater samples collected from the watertable and within the Superficial and the upper Leederville Aquifers from the Southern Perth Basin, south of Pinjarra, Western Australia. Sampling was undertaken to determine the impact of intensification of broadscale grazing on groundwater nutrients in the area.

Boyup Brook - Upper Warren Area : Catchment Appraisal 2007/ Prepared By The South West Arm Region Appraisal Team., Henry Brockman

Resource management technical reports

The aim of this Resource Management Technical Report is to assess the current extent of salinity and other natural resource degradation issues in the Boyup Brook - Upper Warren area and provide landholders with the best current management options to address natural resource management issues and enhance sustainable agricultural production.

Potential Capture Of Surface Run-Off For Reliable Water Supplies In The 500-825 Mm Rainfall Zone Of South Western Australia, D L. Bennett, Peter J. Tille, Ned Stephenson, Tilwin Westrup

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

West Midlands Region Catchment Appraisal 2007, Angela Stuart-Street, Northern Agricultural Region Catchment Appraisal Team

Resource management technical reports

Annual run-off likely to occur was calculated for farm-scale catchments within the 500-825 millimetre rainfall zone of the South West Catchment Council [Western Australia] area. When compared with historical flow measurements, this method was found to be accurate (or conservative) in 85% of all measured years, indicating its usefulness for predicting reliable annual flows.

Adaptive Data-Driven Models For Estimating Carbon Fluxes In The Northern Great Plains, Bruce K. Wylie, Eugene A. Fosnight, Tagir G. Gilmanov, Albert B. Frank, Jack A. Morgan, Marshall R. Haferkamp, Tilden P. Meyers

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Rangeland carbon fluxes are highly variable in both space and time. Given the expansive areas of rangelands, how rangelands respond to climatic variation, management, and soil potential is important to understanding carbon dynamics. Rangeland carbon fluxes associated with Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) were measured from multiple year data sets at five flux tower locations in the Northern Great Plains. These flux tower measurements were combined with 1-km² spatial data sets of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), temperature, precipitation, seasonal NDVI metrics, and soil characteristics. Flux tower measurements were used to train and select variables for …

Understanding Dispersion Models Using Computer Technology, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

• Analyze dispersion models
• Use computer models to predict outcomes of various scenarios

9-12 NSES Standards:

• Standard A: Inquiry - Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry and Understanding about scientific inquiry
• Standard E: Science and Technology - Abilities of technological design and Understanding about science and technology
• Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives - Personal and community health, Population growth, Natural resources, Environmental quality, Natural and human-induced hazards, Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges

Indoor Air Pollution, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives: Students will learn about indoor air pollutants the types and legal concentrations and affects on human health. The students will also determine the pathway for the formation of radon.

National Science Education Standards: As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of the structure of the atoms; environmental quality; and natural and human-induced hazards.

As a result of their activity the students will have a better understanding of the atom’s parts and how the atom disintegrates and interacts with the environment. The students should have a better understanding of the …

Oxygen Give And Take, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Summary: This is a series of three activities followed by a worksheet. The concepts taught include gas production (O2 and CO2), chemical reactions, catalysts, and pollution caused by combustion. Correlation to National Science Education Standards

• Content Standard 9-12 Physical Science B Chemical Reactions

• Content Standard 9-12 Earth and Space Science D Geochemical Cycles

There's A Whole Lotta Spillin' Goin' On!, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Unit Learning Objectives: The learner should be able to:

1. Compare and contrast hazardous chemical spills 2. Comprehend how hazardous chemicals affect the environment.
3. Explain the difficulty involved in cleaning up a hazardous spill.
4. Explain how the chemical travels once it is released.
5. Assess how hazardous chemicals affect the human body and animal life.
6. Analyze a chemical spill and its affects on its surroundings.
7. Create an emergency management system based on a real life situation

Evidence of Understanding: By the end of this unit, students should be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of hazardous …

There's A Hole In My Umbrella: A Mini-Unit On Acid Deposition, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will gain an understanding of acid deposit ion and the environmental impact it has both nationally and globally. National Science Standards: As a result of these activities, students in grades 9-12, will

• develop skills in scientific inquiry (standard A).
• observe changes in properties of matter (standard B).
• gain an understanding of environmental quality related to both natural and human-induced hazards (standard F).
• understand that science is a global challenge (standard F).
• evaluate results of scientific experiments and observations (standard F).

It’S Time For A Change, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Learning Objective: (adapted from the Secondary National Science Content Standards)

1 .Chemical reactions may release or consume energy. Some reactions, such as burning fossil fuels, release large amounts of energy by losing heat and emitting light.

2. Light can initiate many chemical reactions such as the evolution of urban smog.

3. The total energy of the universe is constant. Energy can be transferred by collisions in chemical reactions. However, it can never be destroyed.

4. Everything becomes less orderly over time. In energy transfer the overall effect of the energy spreads out uniformly like the warming of our surroundings as …

You're One In A Million: An Activity In Comparing Of Concentrations, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

Prior to the introduction of criteria pollutants and NAAQS values, it may be helpful to familiarize students with the scale at which criteria pollutants have been deemed harmful. Often numbers as small as these can seem almost abstract, but the following activities will help to make them accessible and concrete to the students,making the discussions of NAAQS values more meaningful.

Carbon Dioxide In The Atmosphere, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives: Students learn the importance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry and understandings about scientific inquiry. As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of matter, energy, and organization in living systems. As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of energy in the earth system and geochemical cycles.

Trouble Breathing?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective:

Students will make connections from everyday situations to air quality. Students will know the 7 criteria pollutants established by the EPA and monitored by each state.

National Science Education Standard:

As a result of activities in grades 5-8, students w ill learn that natural environments may contain substances that are harmful to human beings. Maintaining environmental health involves establishing or monitoring quality standards related to use of soil, water, and air.

Finding The Planetary Boundary Layer, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will learn about the presence of the planetary boundary layer within the troposphere. Then using real life data, observe the changing levels of the boundary layer.

National Science Education Standards:

• Standard A: Science as Inquiry
• Standard B: Teacher will guide and facilitate a learning environment
• Standard D: Students will be provided with time, space and resources to conduct their research.
• Standard E: Science and Technology

Concentration Is Essential For This Task!: An Activity In Comparing Of Concentrations, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

Students will be able to explain and give examples of both parts per million and parts per billion. In the next activity students will use these values in the analysis of air quality data.

National Science Education Standards:

Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The varied materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food. Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.

Scientific investigations involve …

There's A Whole Lotta Spillin' Goin' On!, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Unit Learning Objectives: The learner should be able to:

1. Compare and contrast hazardous chemical spills
2. Comprehend how hazardous chemicals affect the environment.
3. Explain the difficulty involved in cleaning up a
hazardous spill.
4. Explain how the chemical travels once it is released.
5. Assess how hazardous chemicals affect the human body and animal life.
6. Analyze a chemical spill and its affects on its
surroundings.
7. Create an emergency management system based on a real life situation

Evidence of Understanding: By the end of this unit, students should be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of hazardous …

Be Particular About Our Matter!, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

--Demonstrate that particulate air pollution can be invisible to the eye.
--Students will collect and observe particulate matter.
--Students will identify pollen grains and make their own pollen map for Davenport.
-- Students will collect and interpret local environmental maps.
--Students will investigate health risks involved in polluted air.

National Science Education Standards:

• Standard A: Students will conduct scientific inquiry
• Standard B: Teacher will guide and facilitate a learning environment.
• Standard D: Students will be provided with time, space and resources toconduct their research.
• Standard F: Risks and benefits; Science and technology in society

What's The Temperature?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective : Students will be able to read a Fahrenheit and a Celsius thermometer, and correctly indicate temperatures on a thermometer diagram.

National Science Education Standards : All students should develop an understanding of: properties of earth materials, objects in the sky, changes in earth and sky. Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.

Is Air Quality In The Index?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

• Make predictions and explanations based from evidence.
• Identify sources of air pollution that affect air quality.
• Interpret and apply the Air Quality Index.
• Have the desire to share Air Quality information with others.

5-8 NSES Standards:

• Standard A: Inquiry •Standard D: Structure of Earth Systems
•Standard E: Science and Technology
•Standard F: Personal Health, Population, Resources, Environmental and Natural Hazards, Risks and Benefits, Science and Technology in Society

9-12 NSES Standards:

• Standard A: Inquiry
• Standard D: Geochemical Cycles, Origin and Evoluti
on of the Earth System
• Standard E: Science and Technology …

Clouds Over Your Head, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

• Students will become familiar with the four main types of clouds: stratus, cirrus, cumulus, and cumulonimbus and their characteristics
• Students will learn the weather map symbols for cloudy, clear or no clouds, and partly cloudy.

National Science Standards: All students should develop an understanding of: properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

Where Did The Water Go?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:

•To predict what will happen to the water sprayed on the surface after setting for a short time.
•To predict the effect of moving air on evaporation

National Science Education Standards: As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

To Burn Or Not To Burn, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective : Students learn how a locally proposed power plant may impact the environment of their community.

National Science Education Standards:
As a result of activities in grades 9-12, students
should develop

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understandings about science and technology

As a result of activities in grades 9-12, students
should develop understanding of

• Personal and community health
• Environmental quality
• Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges

Which Way Does The Wind Blow?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will be able to explain the direction the wind is blowing by observing a wind vane and applying this knowledge to the use of real time weather data about wind.

National Science Education Standards: All students should develop an understanding of: properties of objects and materials, position and motion of objects, properties of earth materials,and changes in earth and sky.

Highs, Lows And Patterns In The Wind, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:
1. Students will learn that H is the symbol for high pressure and L is symbol for low pressure on weather maps.
2. Students will properly identify areas of high pressure and areas of low pressure on current U.S.A. surface maps.
3. Students will begin to develop an understanding of weather associated with high pressure and low pressure areas.

National Science Education Standards: All students should develop an understanding of: properties of objects and materials, properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

Weather Around Highs And Lows, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:
1. Students will develop an understanding of precipitation patterns associated with high pressure and low pressure areas.
2. Students will develop an understanding of temperature patterns associated with high pressure and low pressure areas.

National Science Education Standards: All students should develop an understanding of: properties of objects and materials, properties of earth materials, and changes in earth and sky.

Factories - Friends Or Foes?, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objective: Students will be able to role play various points of view considering placement of a factory and its effects on air quality.

National Science Education Standards:

Standard E - Understandings about science and technology

Standard F -

• Personal health
• Populations, resources, and environments
• Natural hazards
• Risks and benefits
• Science and technology in society

Standard G - Science as a human endeavor

Drawing Isotherms, Storm Project

Open Educational Resources

Objectives:
1. Students will be able to define and draw isotherms to analyze temperature variations.
2. Students will be able to compare and contrast temperature variations on a weather map.

National Science Standards: As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop an understanding of: structure of earth system, science and technology, risks and benefits, and science and technology in society.