tears of an ocean planet

In this lab we tested the salinity of different water samples and measured the density with a hydrometer, the salinity with a temperature density chart. I discovered that the marine sample was denser than those of the brackish, lake and tap water samples and that the salinity was much higher. The more salt that was in the sample the denser the water. We also discovered that the temperature and salinity in the North Atlantic stayed relatively the same no matter what the depth. The salinity stayed around 34.0-37% salinity. I learned a lot in this activity, and the most important thing that I learned was that waters characteristics can differ within the same body of water, depending on where you take the sample. Also that temperature can effect its salinity. 

Its all connected

   In class we learned a lot about wind patterns and currents. Wind patterns greatly influence the currents in Oceans. The reason is because the wind pushes up against the water and constantly pushes the waves in that direction. Because of this, water is constantly moving on the Earth. For instance, Water off the shore of California is usually a lot colder because it is being pushed from up towards Alaska toward the equator. And water from the Equator is pushed either NE or it is pushed down south. It is warmer on the equator because of the angle the sun light hits it. It is stronger there than any other part of the globe. In 1992 many rubber ducks were abandoned in the ocean and scientists tracked where they ended up which totally helped scientists research water and wind patterns on the globe. So what I did to mimic this was choose a location off the coast of Miami, Florida and find out what wind comes in from there and where it goes after. The wind comes from down towards the equator and either keeps going to the Gulf of Mexico or it goes back into the Atlantic Ocean. The air from towards the equator brings a lot of moisture and heat. If a hurricane were to pick up a message in a bottle off the coast it could also affect where it would end up. The warm water coming from towards the equator brings dolphins/sharks and other tropical sea life and when the water goes back out towards the equator it probably picks up a lot of human waste which is unfortunate. I am happy that there is international law over what we throw out in the ocean, because if it were only local law, we would still be getting affected by the choices of a country across the globe. We should try and dispose waste in space instead of the ocean, because the oceans are limited but as far as we know space has literally infinite space.

Ocean tides

    Tides are caused by a gravitational tug-of-war between the sun, moon, and earth. All objects exert gravitational pull on each other. The closer they are, or the larger they are, the greater the pull. All of the planets exert some gravitational pull on the earth. However, the pull of the moon and sun are most noticeable because the moon is so close to us and the sun is so big. It takes the earth 365 days to revolve around the sun. As it revolves around the sun, it spins, or rotates on its axis once every 24 hours. At the same time, the moon revolves around the earth once every 29 days. Thegravitational pull of the sun holds the earth in orbit, while the gravitational pull of the earth keeps the moon in orbit.As a result of this gravitational attraction between the earth and the moon, the side of the earth facing the moon is pulled towards it. Solid objects like the ground and buildings are not distorted as much as liquids like the ocean. A bulge of water occurs on the side of the earth facing the moon. As the earth rotates around the sun, centrifugal force causes an equal bulge of water on the opposite side of the earth. Water is pulled away from these two sides of the earth to form these bulges, or high tides. This leaves a depression, or low spot, in the oceans between. These are the
areas of low tides.

Build a hydrometer

1. Define the term salinity.

 The amount of salt in water.

2. If you add salt to a water solution, will a hydrometer float higher or lower in the water? Explain your choice.

 Higher because salt takes more space to push up.

3. What effect does the addition of salt have on the properties of water?

 Makes it thicker.

4. Is it easier to float in the ocean than in a swimming pool? Explain why or why not.

 In ocean, more salinity. 

5. Define the term density.

 How much mass is in a certain space

 6. The salinity of seawater is also affected by the temperature of a body of water. Explain how temperature causes differences in the salinity of water.

Yes, because salt dissolves better in warm, warm is more dense. 

The way the wind blows

The reason the earth has uneven heating is because the earth is in the shape of a sphere so different parts of the earth will get more sun light and light rays will hit it differently.  Also, the earth is spinning so some of the earth will be getting hit and other parts of the earth wont. The Coriolis Effect is the deflection of objects when they are in a certian part of the world. Counterclockwise is to the left and clockwise is to the right.  The reason that most deserts are at 30 degrees is because that is where the sun hits the earth the most direct and the strongest. Prevailing winds are winds that blow predominantly from a single general direction over a particular point on the earth’s surface. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a particular point on the Earth's surface. Global Warming could cause the air pressure to change and therefore cause the wind patterns to change.

There are a few things that you must consider when nesting sea turtles are located near a barrier island. One thing is that when a mother lays her eggs you must make sure that all the lights are off so they don't get confused and walk the incorrect way. Also, you cannot boat close to the spawning grounds. A thing that needs to be determined is if there is a lot of wildlife and make sure there are no reefs. Also, must make sure that the are is not over populated.  One thing that might be a problem is that if it is to close to the water they might ruin some sand duns and a easy way to solve this problem is by not making a golf course to close the the ocean. You can be economically benefited by working for the local restaurants and the golf course. They can have a negative affect by ruining the sand dunes and by having to much light on at night and distracting the turtles. If we destroy the sand dunes then there is no better way to protect the main land. Sand dunes have worked better then any man maid barrier. After looking at other peoples groups i found that we should have made the research station closer the the turtle nest and would have made a better board walk.

Sand Reflection

A grain of sand can tell you a lot about the earth. As i examined sands from different places around the world I noticed how different each particle was. Even sands from beaches a half hour away from the other differed a lot. I saw sands that were round and tan, and others that looked like little crystals  with that being said, i saw gains that were quite large and grains that were tiny. Our essential question that we wee to answer by doing the experiment is, " how can examining sediment provide a lue to its origin?" We can discover a sediment's origin by studying its size, color, texture and rounding. These aspects all tell us something about where the sediment came from. Grain size is an indicator of how far the sediment has traveled. Texture an tell how a sediment was transported(lots of waves or not). Sorting also depends upon the distance the sediment has been transported. One of the beaches i hose was Marthas Vineyard, and the sand under the microscope was very glossy/white and large. It was also well sorted. Another sand i looked at was St. Kits and i noticed that this sand had ore tan particles than the others i looked at. Also the particles were very little and quite poorly sorted. This differed from Marthas Vineyard a lot. In the activity i did this for eight other sands. Eah particle was different. That shows that the waves, climate, and location are all aspects.