Science assignment

 

Environmental Footprint

 

The purpose of this assignment is to learn more about how connected you are to the ecosystems and biosphere that you inhabit. You will learn how your everyday choices contribute to the human impacts on our environment you have been learning about. Most importantly, you will learn about benefits that you can receive by joining the increasing number of people who are making choices that reduce their environmental impact.

 

First, calculate your ecological footprint.

 

Use the Footprint calculator (http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/ )to measure your ecological footprint and learn “how many earths” it takes to support your lifestyle. Be sure to choose the “detailed response” option for each question.

 

Answer each question in the quiz honestly and record your answers and results in the Environmental Footprint Reporting Form (available for download in your online course). 

 

Second, calculate your household carbon emissions.

 

Use the Household carbon footprint calculator (http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/ind-calculator.html to measure your carbon emissions and determine your environmental impact and the benefits of solutions.

 

Section 1: Estimate your current total household emissions (from home energy use, vehicle use, waste).

 

Section 2: Explore actions you can take to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and waste disposal costs.

 

Section 3: See how much you can save (in dollars and emissions) by taking the actions you chose in Section 2.

 

Answer each question in the quiz honestly and record your answers and results in the Environmental Footprint Reporting Form. 

 

Complete Tables A and B as well as assignment questions 1 through 4 on the Environmental Footprint Reporting Form. Save your answers as a Word document. The document must be formatted according to APA style. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course. Submit the document via the Assignment Basket in your online course.

   

Lab 1 – Exercise 1: Data Interpretation

Dissolved oxygen is oxygen that is trapped in a fluid, such as water. Since many living organism requires oxygen to survive, it is a necessary component of water systems such as streams, lakes and rivers in order to support aquatic life. The dissolved oxygen is measured in units of parts per million (ppm). Examine the data in Table 4 showing the amount of dissolved oxygen present and the number of fish observed in the body of water the sample was taken from; finally, answer the questions below.

Questions

1. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 4?

2. Develop a hypothesis relating to the amount of dissolved oxygen measured in the water sample and the number of fish observed in the body of water?

3. What would your experimental approach be to test this hypothesis?

4. What would be the independent and dependent variables?

5. What would be your control?

6. What type of graph would be appropriate for this data set? Why?

7. Graph the data from Table 4: Water Quality vs. Fish Population (found at the beginning of this exercise). Describe what your graph looks like (you do not have to submit a picture of the actual graph!!).

8. Interpret the data from the graph made in Question 7.

Lab 1 – Exercise 2: Percentage Error

In the questions below, determine the percentage error. Show your work on all problems.

1. A dad holds five coins in his hand. He tells his son that if he can guess the amount of money he is holding within 5% error he can have the money. The son guesses that he is holding 81 cents. The dad opens his hand and displays 90 cents. Did the son guess close enough to receive the money from his father?

2. A science teacher tells her class that their final project requires the students to measure a specific variable and determine the velocity of a car with no more than 2.50% error. Jennifer and Johnny work hard and decide the velocity of the car is 34.87 m/s. The teacher informs them that the actual velocity is 34.15 m/s. Will Jennifer and Johnny pass their final project?

3. A locomotive train is on its way from Chicago, IL to Madison, WI. The trip is said to last 3.15 hours. When the train arrives in Madison the conductor notices it actually took them 3.26 hours. The train company prides itself on always having its trains to the station within a 3.00% error of the expected time. Will the train company live up to its reputation on this trip?

4. A coach tells his little league players that hitting a 0.275 batting average, within 7.000% percentage error, means that they had a really great season. Seven year old Tommy ended the season hitting a 0.258 batting average. According to his coach, did he have a great season?

© eScience Labs, 2012

Lab 1 – Exercise 1: Data Interpretation

Dissolved oxygen is oxygen that is trapped in a fluid, such as water. Since many living organism requires oxygen to survive, it is a necessary component of water systems such as streams, lakes and rivers in order to support aquatic life. The dissolved oxygen is measured in units of parts per million (ppm). Examine the data in Table 4 showing the amount of dissolved oxygen present and the number of fish observed in the body of water the sample was taken from; finally, answer the questions below.

Questions

1. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 4?

2. Develop a hypothesis relating to the amount of dissolved oxygen measured in the water sample and the number of fish observed in the body of water?

3. What would your experimental approach be to test this hypothesis?

4. What would be the independent and dependent variables?

5. What would be your control?

6. What type of graph would be appropriate for this data set? Why?

7. Graph the data from Table 4: Water Quality vs. Fish Population (found at the beginning of this exercise). Describe what your graph looks like (you do not have to submit a picture of the actual graph!!).

8. Interpret the data from the graph made in Question 7.

Lab 1 – Exercise 2: Percentage Error

In the questions below, determine the percentage error. Show your work on all problems.

1. A dad holds five coins in his hand. He tells his son that if he can guess the amount of money he is holding within 5% error he can have the money. The son guesses that he is holding 81 cents. The dad opens his hand and displays 90 cents. Did the son guess close enough to receive the money from his father?

2. A science teacher tells her class that their final project requires the students to measure a specific variable and determine the velocity of a car with no more than 2.50% error. Jennifer and Johnny work hard and decide the velocity of the car is 34.87 m/s. The teacher informs them that the actual velocity is 34.15 m/s. Will Jennifer and Johnny pass their final project?

3. A locomotive train is on its way from Chicago, IL to Madison, WI. The trip is said to last 3.15 hours. When the train arrives in Madison the conductor notices it actually took them 3.26 hours. The train company prides itself on always having its trains to the station within a 3.00% error of the expected time. Will the train company live up to its reputation on this trip?

4. A coach tells his little league players that hitting a 0.275 batting average, within 7.000% percentage error, means that they had a really great season. Seven year old Tommy ended the season hitting a 0.258 batting average. According to his coach, did he have a great season?

© eScience Labs, 2012

Lab 1

Introduction to Science

Introduction

Concepts to ExploreConcepts to ExploreConcepts to ExploreConcepts to Explore

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Introduction to Science

Table of Contents Environmental Science
Exercise 1: Data Interpretation

Questions

Introduction to Science

Exercise 2: Percentage Error

Introduction to Science

ASSIGNMENT 1 REPORTING FORM

TABLE A. Ecological Footprint

Footprint Results (Answers to the following 2 questions will be given upon completion of footprint)

If everyone lived like you, how many planet Earth’s would we need?

To support your lifestyle, how many productive global acres area needed?

Ecological Footprint Breakdown (Values can be obtained by scrolling over pie chart generated at completion of footprint)

Percent of emissions from Food

Percent of emissions from Shelter

Percent of emissions from Mobility

Percent of emissions from Goods

Percent of emissions from Services

TABLE B. Household Emissions

Household Emissions Results (Answers can be found in bar graphs following completion of calculator)

What are your current household emissions?

What are the U.S. average household emissions?

What was your reduced emissions?

Household Emissions Savings (Answers can be found above bar graphs

If you took all actions you would reduce annual emissions by:

If you took all actions your potential dollar savings would be:

Your new total annual estimated CO2 emissions:

Assignment Questions

1. What are the 3 everyday products and practices that contribute most to your environmental footprint?

2. What impacts might result if everyone in the world enjoyed the same lifestyle? For example, what might the impacts be on:

a.) Earth’s Climate:

b.) Biodiversity:

c.) Economic Security:

3. Identify solutions to the issues you mention in question 2. What are the savings of BOTH carbon emissions and money you can achieve via each solution?

4. Does reducing the size of our footprint necessarily mean reducing our quality of life? Why or why not? Are there ways of enhancing quality of life while lowering impact?