Deep Sea Deep Secrets

This movie followed Holger Jannasch and the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory and their research with deep sea hydro-thermal vents. To learn more about Jannasch and the laboratory, check out this link: http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=10934&tid=3622&cid=817

Organisms

There are several kinds of organisms found in the deep sea hydrothermal vents. 

• Octopods are the top predator of the feeding web. They are also the most intelligent.

• Spaghetti worms can grow up to 8 feet long, and they drape around rocks.

Alvin

Alvin is a submarine-like machine with a pressurized cabin that holds three people. Alvin is able to operate at 13,000 feet below sea level. Scientists use Alvin to travel to the deep sea hydro-thermal vents around 9,000 feet below sea level. It takes about 2 hours for Alvin to reach the destination. Once there, Alvin is able to take pictures and collect samples of plants and animals. 

Cemetery Project

Age	Female	Male	DX	dx	Ix	Qx
20-29	1	1	2	0.1	1	0.1
30-39	1	0	1	0.05	0.9	0.056
40-49	0	1	1	0.05	0.85	0.059
50-59	0	1	1	0.05	0.8	0.062
60-69	0	4	4	0.2	0.75	0.266
70-79	3	4	7	0.35	0.55	0.636
80-89	2	2	4	0.2	0.2	1

Solar Trajectory Diagram

     For my solar trajectory project I found a wooden post that measured 3ft. 31/2in. tall.  I stuck the post in the ground in a field behind my building that allowed the sun to cast a shadow without being blocked by any trees or other objects.  On March 6th, I measured the shadows cast by the sun at three different times: 8:00 A.M., 10:45 A.M., and 5:00 P.M.  Also at each of these times, I used a compass to measure the direction that the sun was shining.  I then used special graphing paper to plot my measured points and measure the solar trajectory for that day.  After taking a closer look, my professor and I realized that the graphing paper I used had been printed wrong and was actually a mirror image of what it should be. I have included a picture of my trajectory below.

Topographical Map

      I created a topographical map of Mount Fuji, which is located on Honshu Island in Japan.  It is the highest mountain in Japan.  I created lines surrounding the mountain at 7,000, 9,000, and 10,000 feet.

Mystery of the Megaflood

About 200 miles east of Seattle, there is a large terrain called the “scablands”.  This area is filled with valleys and hills that appear as if they were made by water. It had been a mystery how these scablands came about, because there was no evidence of any flowing or still water that could have produced these large rocky masses.  J Harlen Bretz was a geologist who thought the scablands had come about by a massive flood engulfing the area.  Others thought his idea was ridiculous, but Joseph Thomas Pardee helped Bretz in his search for the answer. Pardee found an area in Montana where a large lake had once been.  He believed that if the dam to the lake (which was a glacier) had been broken, the lake water would flow to the area where the scablands are, and create the massive hills and valleys.  The only problem with this idea was that something would have had to break the massive glacier of a dam.  However, this was later discovered when a similar dam in Iceland broke.

Lab #5

Flood of '94

     By the Ocomolgee River in Macon, Georgia, there is a man-made levee.  This seems to be a good thing, as it is a place people can walk on, and it provides a clear bank to the river.  Yet in 1994, this levee caused a great flood.  The flood was a result of the tropical storm Alberto.  Georgia received at least ten inches of rainfall, and this caused the Ocomolgee River to rise very high.  The water pressure was great, and the levee broke.  Water flooded past the levee and into the community.  The river rose so high that there was a great fear of the Otis Redding Bridge breaking.  The bridge survived, but Interstate 16 and Interstate 75 were blocked due to the flooding, and portions of them were completely underwater.  Governor Zell Miller declared Bibb County to be in a state of emergency, and millions of dollars in damage were done. 

Click on the link to see a video of the flood: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEOCfrOP5G4

This picture shows an overhead view of the flooding in Macon, GA. 

Lab #4

Up the Yangze

Up the Yangze is a movie about the hydroelectric dam built on the Yangze River in China.  The movie takes an interesting approach to the situation by following two teenagers who are affected by the building of the dam.  The two teenagers both take up jobs working on a cruise ship as a way to earn money during this time of change.  One of these teenagers is a girl named Yu Shui.  She is given the English name of Cindy by her employer, and she works as a dishwasher on the cruise ship.  Cindy is 16 years old and comes from a very poor family that lives in a small home on the edge of the Yangze River.  Although Cindy’s family is poor, they are able to have enough food to eat by farming off of the land they live on.  When the dam is built, Cindy’s family is forced to move to the city where they can no longer farm for their food.  The movie shows the water rising once the dam is built, and it eventually covers the lot where Cindy’s family once lived.  The other teenager is a boy named Chen Bo Yu.  He is named Jerry by the cruise line, and he works as a performance singer and carries passengers’ bags to make tips.  Jerry is 19 years old and comes from a better off family.  Jerry has a rather arrogant attitude, and believes he is better than Cindy.  This attitude results in Jerry getting fired from the cruise line.  Unlike Cindy, however, Jerry has other options in life.  His family can afford to send him to school if he does not work.  By following these two teenagers, the movie shows the different effects that the dam has on families.  Although Jerry has other option, Cindy needs to work to help her family survive in the city.  The building of the dam shows that China is changing.  The dam is progress for China, and it will help industrialize the country.  Yet this industrialization results in the rural areas, and the people that live there, being forced out.  Although the dam is good for the country, it is not necessarily good for all individual families.

 

    The movie cover shown above illistrates       The picture above shows the hydroelectric dam

    Cindy staring out over the Yangtze River          built in China that resulted in flooding that

  before the flooding resulted from the dam          displaced many families, including Cindy's