Tag Archives: environment

Do Now #79: Saving the Honey Bees

May 7, 2013, 8:22 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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KQED QUEST

KQED QUEST

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Do Now

Are we doing enough to protect honey bees? How might this environmental issue impact you? What do you think will happen if there are no more honey bees?

Introduction

Since 2006, honey bees have been dying at an alarming rate. The event, called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has killed about one third of all honey bees within the US.

We depend on honey bees to pollinate crops that we eat every day—apples, cucumbers, blueberries, broccoli, onions, pumpkins, carrots, avocados, almonds, strawberries, soybeans, watermelon, and more. The bees’ services are estimated to be worth $20-30 billion in agricultural production annually in the US alone.

Researchers have found links to CCD with certain pesticides called neonicotinoids. Last month, nations within the European Union voted a two-year ban on neonicotinoids to protect honey bees.

The US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency came out with a 72-page report on honey bee health determining that pesticides in combination with other factors—including parasitic mites, low genetic diversity in bees, and poor nutrition—are contributing to CCD. Neither organization recommends banning neonicotinoids as the EU has done, but would like beekeepers and growers to collaborate on best practices with use of pesticides.

The US organizations will update an action plan to include priorities in combating CCD over the next 5-10 years.

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Filed under: Do Now, Do Now: Science
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Ecoliteracy Conference: May 4, 2013

April 18, 2013, 3:02 pm • Posted by Nancy Yamamoto
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thinkstock.com

thinkstock.com

Are you interested in having students learn outdoors--beyond the classroom walls? The Bay Area’s diverse ecological landscape is an ideal place for students to develop their understanding of the environment, its importance to our lives and our effects upon it.

Join SFUSD and the San Francisco Science, Sustainability, Stewardship (4S) Collaborative as they host the first Ecoliteracy Conference For All, focusing on environmental and sustainability education. The conference is on Saturday, May 4, 2013 from 10am-2pm at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco. SFUSD and other local teachers, grades Pre-K-12, are invited to register for the event.

Free, hour-long workshops will be presented by teachers and environmental education experts from organizations including the Lawrence Hall of Science, Aquarium of the Bay, Exploratorium, PEAK, Nature Bridge and California Academy of Sciences. Explore the reality of plastics and recycling, learn how to identify low- or no-cost energy saving behaviors, gain a better understanding of the carbon cycle and discover holistic place-based approaches to developing ecoliterate students. The conference will also feature a recorded performance of a student-written and performed opera created in partnership with the San Francisco Opera’s ARIA Network Program.

For more information and to register, visit the SFUSD website at www.greenthenextgen.org.

 

Filed under: K-5 Science, Science
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Do Now #53: Cap-and-Trade for Carbon?

December 11, 2012, 12:10 pm • Posted by Andrea Swensrud
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Credit: Craig Miller


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Do Now

California recently implemented a cap-and-trade program in order to cut carbon emissions. Would a carbon tax be better or worse? What do you think about cap-and-trade? How can companies be best regulated to reduce greenhouse gas pollution?

Introduction

Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been a substantial increase in carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and countries around the world. The increase is due to human activities, namely the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation, industry processes and land-use changes. The additional carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere trap heat and cause the Earth's surface temperatures to rise, also known as the greenhouse effect. To combat climate change, scientists have said that we need to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.

Last month, California launched its cap-and-trade program. In this program, the government sets a limit on the total amount of allowable carbon emissions from businesses, refineries, manufacturers and power plants. This limit will decline 2-3% each year. Major emitters of greenhouse gases must get permits, known as allowances, for each ton of carbon they emit. Initially, businesses receive most of the allowances from the state for free. Over time, the state also auctions allowances to the highest bidders. As the overall cap on emissions is lowered each year, businesses must continue to obtain allowances equal to their emissions. They can buy unused emission allowances from other companies, or they can sell emission allowances that they may have leftover. So, a company that isn't ready to cut its carbon emissions enough to meet its allowance can buy emissions from other companies that can reduce their emissions.

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Filed under: 6 -12 Science, Do Now, Science
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Do Now #26: Earth Day...Every Day?

March 30, 2012, 5:15 pm • Posted by Andrea Swensrud
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photo restored by Royce Blair/Flickr

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Do Now

Do you make it a regular practice to care for the environment? If so, what do you do?

Introduction

The first Earth Day celebration was held on April 20, 1970. Its founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson, developed the idea over a seven-year period after he realized that political leaders were not making environmental issues a priority. Senator Nelson began a massive grassroots effort among his colleagues and in local communities. Twenty million people participated in the first Earth Day. They became part of a change that continues today.

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Filed under: 6 -12 Science, Do Now, Science
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KQED Science Youth Media Festival

February 24, 2012, 4:43 pm • Posted by Matthew Williams
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Applications are now open for the 1st Annual KQED Science Youth Media Festival, hosted at California Academy of Sciences on June 10, 2012, 3-5pm.

Deadline for submission: April 15, 2012

The theme for this year's festival is Nature and Environmental Science. We are looking for videos produced by youth who are either in middle school or high school about the following topics:

    wildlife
    water use
    oceans
    pollution
    cultural connections
    restoration
    sustainability
    environmental justice

We are accepting submissions from youth who have made digital media projects either in school, an after-school program, summer program, or independently. The project format must be self-contained and able to stand alone. Presentations such as PowerPoint, Prezi, etc. will not be accepted. The projects must be published on a video hosting site like YouTube, SchoolTube, or Vimeo. The length of the projects cannot exceed 15 minutes and they must have been produced AFTER April 15, 2010.

Download our criteria for accepting entries to the 1st Annual KQED Science Youth Media Festival.

Youth whose entries are accepted to the festival will receive iTunes gift cards. Grand prizes include the possibility of the showcasing the winning videos on KQED QUEST, a two-day internship with QUEST’s production team, and Apple mobile devices.

SUBMISSION

Before submitting your project, be sure to post the video on a video hosting site like YouTube, SchoolTube or Vimeo, and make sure that your video is public (we will not be able to view or judge a project that is set to private). To submit your project, fill out our online entry form below. Be sure to read the guidelines before filling out the form. You can download a copy of the entry form HERE to review it.

Submission Guidelines:

  1. KQED Science Youth Media Festival is to showcase the work of middle school and high school students (ages 13-18). If you are younger than 13, please have a parent, teacher or instructor submit your project. All communication will be sent to the email listed in the form so please be sure it is active and checked often.
  2. Teachers: For classroom projects, please submit only the "best" one or two to the KQED Science Media Festival for consideration. In other words, if your students are creating similar projects on air pollution, please submit only one or two projects to the Festival.
  3. Create and keep a complete, high-resolution copy of your project, as this is required for all winning projects.
  4. Entries must be received by 11:59pm PST, April 15, 2012.
  5. Entries must represent work that was completed after April 15, 2010.
  6. Please note that a completed materials/appearance release will be required for entries accepted to the KQED Science Youth Media Festival. This form must be printed and signed by the youth and his/her parent or guardian.
  7. All entries must be submitted online using a preferred web hosting partner or other media hosting provider (e.g. SchoolTube, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). All entries MUST have a valid, public URL that our judges can access.
  8. If your project includes copyrighted material, please follow the Center for Social Media guidelines for Fair Use or view the post on KQED Edspace and be sure to cite your sources in the end credits.

Please contact mwilliams@kqed.org with submission questions, or if you need an alternate submission option.

 

Partners of the KQED Science Youth Media Festival include:

Filed under: 6 -12 Science, Science, What's New in Science!, Youth Media Festivals
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Do Now #2: Plastic Pollutants

September 16, 2011, 2:56 pm • Posted by Andrea Swensrud
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Do Now

Answer one of the following questions: How much plastic do you use on a daily basis? What are the most common plastic items that you recycle or throw away? How could you reduce the amount of plastic that you use?

Intro

Saturday, September 17, 2011 is California's Coastal Cleanup Day -- an annual beach and waterway cleanup that takes place around California and the world. It is the state's largest volunteer event. In 2010, over 82,500 volunteers removed more than 1.2 million pounds of trash and recyclables from California beaches, lakes, and waterways. Much of the debris found on our beaches and in our waterways is plastic and actually starts as street litter or garbage. Besides being unsightly, garbage affects ecosystems. Plastic, instead of biodegrading, photodegrades—it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces. These pieces of nondigestible debris are often mistaken for food by marine animals. Derelict fishing nets and lines, another type of marine debris, can entangle and harm birds, seals and other animals. Households and communities can prevent trash from getting into waterways and becoming marine debris by making sure that garbage is disposed of properly. Recycling bottles, cans and other products reduces the amount of trash headed for landfills. Reusable shopping bags and containers also decrease the amount of trash produced from single-use items.

Resource

KQED QUEST segment Plastic in the Pacific
Imagine every person on earth had 100 pounds of plastic. That's how much new plastic was estimated to be manufactured in 2010. Sadly, much of that will end up in the ocean within a massive area dubbed the Pacific Garbage Patch. Can anything be done to clean it up?

To respond to the Do Now, you can comment below or tweet your response. Be sure to begin your tweet with @KQEDedspace and end it with #KQEDDoNow

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More Resources for Follow-up Lessons

KQED QUEST segment Future History: Plastic Water Bottles
What does our use of bottled water say about us? Take a look from the perspective of an anthropologist from the distant future.

KQED QUEST segment Sea of Plastic
When you order your double latte to-go at the corner coffee shop, the empty cup and lid may end up in a giant pit of plastic ocean litter off the coast of California. Some cities and counties are so concerned about the garbage in the so-called North Pacific Gyre that they've passed ordinances to try to limit the amount of plastic in our lives.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures Trash on the Spin Cycle
Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team sail into the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” while shooting “Voyage to Kure.”Discover what causes huge quantities of garbage to end up on the most remote islands in the world and how this garbage affects wildlife.

Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures Kure Waste Chase
Remote Kure Atoll is awash with trash – lighters, bottles and fishing gear – that threatens its amazing wildlife. But you have the chance to help restore the island’s natural beauty. Chase the waste away from Kure’s beaches, waves and ocean depths to protect the dolphins, seals, seabirds and more in this amazing interactive web game.

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