And the Waters Turned to Blood

Describe the symptoms the family had and how the mother narrowed the possible exposures down

The Jorgensen family had various symptoms that included: cold lower body, tingling of the limbs, and muscle spasms followed by intense burning sensations. At times, they would function normally and the next the symptoms would reappear. Usually, it would get worse every time until the pain started to die down. The mother, at first, didn't bother to look into the disease until she found out that her kids had the symptoms as well. She searched for answers through physicians, internists, and neurologist, all of them equally confused with what she and her kids had. Eventually, she went to other doctors and they claimed that it was due to the bad environment. She had invested hundreds of dollars but nothing came out of it. The doctors then recommended her to go seek a neurologist at John Hopkins. He then told her to go find a psychotherapist for he thought that they were mental. However, she knew they weren't mental so they retraced their steps. This was when she had discovered that there might have have been connection with the dead fish at the river.

Career Blog: City Planner

career blog: city planner or surveyor (land use) or climate change analyst (CGSS)

An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning/city planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically analyzing land use compatibility as well as economic, environmental and social trends. In developing their plan for a community (whether commercial, residential, agricultural, natural or recreational), urban planners must also consider a wide array of issues such as sustainability, air pollution, traffic congestion, crime, land values, legislation and zoning codes. The typical full-time city planner reported an annual salary within a range of $43,000 to $80,000.

Toulmin Paragraph: Global Superstorm Chapter 3-4

As Earth's historical story is revealed, Earth's inhabitants had to go through many unusual temperature changes. Without a doubt, Earth can be a beautiful mystery when it comes to weather and temperatures. As stated in the book, The Coming Global Superstorm, when thunderstorms were becoming visible just above the horizon, most of the tourists were unaware of how unusual this was, but the local-the guards and attendants regarded the sight as something extremely strange. In addition, the weather in the Northern Hemisphere was far worse. However, not only was the Northern Hemisphere affected, but many other countries were affected by this weather change as well. The unusual weather created a war zone. The entire world was involved due to this weather catastrophe. Therefore, we can conclude that Earth's inhabitants had to go though unusual weather changes.

Cookie Mining

To extract the ores in a neat manner

To extract ores by drilling holes

To extract the ores as fast as possible

Today, we did a lab where we tested and examined different kinds of mining. In this case, the cookie acted as a land form, while the chocolate chips acted as the ores/minerals. Now, as you can see in the first cookie mined, my cookie wasn't broken all over the place. Instead, my cookie had its chocolate chips extracted in a orderly fashion in order to keep the cookie together. This type of mining is called strip mining. In this kind of mining the damage done isn't that bad so repairing the land form can be an option. However, as you can see in the last cookie, the "ores" were extracted in a very messy and rapid way that caused the cookie to fall apart. This kind of mining is called shaft mining. Now unlike strip mining, you cannot repair the damage done to the land form. In my second cookie, you can see that although it was not as in bad condition as the third cookie it still wasn't as good as the first cookie. This is because for this cookie, we had to drill a big hole in order to extract the ores hidden within the cookie. Now, I think we can all tell that the first cookie turned out the best, while the third cookie was pretty much destroyed.

Last Mountain Legislation

Write a law about strip mining specifically talking about the public commons.

A Resolution to Reduce Strip Mining 

WHEREAS, strap mining does more damage to the environment than strip mining; and

WHEREAS, mining is very vital to many industries in today's society; and

WHEREAS, strip mining can cause damage and destroy land forms; and

WHEREAS, restoration of every damaged land form would be deplete our economy; and

WHEREAS,  damage or destruction done to land forms by strip mining can be repaired; and

WHEREAS, mining can cause disruptions around citizens; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, by the Congress here assembled that we implement less mining and mine only when resources are low

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that industrial companies must follow a limit on strip mining or pay a fine of $5000

I believe that strip mining should be restricted more because of the damage it does to the environment. However, I highly suggest strip mining over strap mining because strip mining does less damage. Even though strip mining do cause damage and destroy land forms, the damage done can be repaired. Unlike strap mining, damage done is permanent. I understand how mining is very important for many industries today. However, I would like to emphasize our earth should not be taken for granted. Therefore, we should reduce strap mining and stick to strip mining instead. Despite my encouragement towards strip mining, I hope that there is not going to be twice as much mining as before just because we can repair the damage. I mean if we were to repair the damages done, then that would cost far more money to repair the damages than extract resources. In addition, mining is not welcome around citizens. I highly doubt that they like getting their houses mined just because there are valuable resources underneath it. Thus, I highly suggest that we implement less mining and only mine when resources are low. Also, we should respect our citizens' rights and disturb them as little as possible with our mining issues.

Soil erosion is just important as global warming and emerging diseases because these all affect the Earth and its inhabitants. Soil erosion may damage the Earth's land and land forms causing deformations of land forms. In addition, soil erosion can highly affect the job of farmers. The soil used by farmers may be ruined and so there will less food produced, Thus, leading to the depletion of Earth's resources. Therefore, soil erosion is just as harmful as global warming and emerging diseases and may possibly be even more fatal.

Plan It Green City

Now, as you can probably tell I spent quite some time to create and design my city, Little Royal Valley. I purposely built my city this way for the sole purpose of making it laid out nicely in an organized manner. I wasn't just thinking about the economical value of my city, but I was also thinking about the environmental beauty as well. As you can see in the picture of my city above, I have about 2500 environmental points, meaning that my environment is kept in a well manner. However, note that my city has various types of trees and plants in order to sustain this environment. Now, I wasn't just being eco-friendly, but I was also being successful economically too. As you can see, I have various houses and industrial buildings in my city. And yes, these buildings were harmful to my environment; however, I balanced out the harmful impact of these buildings by planting various trees and plants. Thus, I simply placed a tree near every corner of a building or had a line of trees along the side of the building to reduce the damage done to the environment.  Overtime, I started having more plants spread out and didn't build as much, which soon transformed my city to what it is now. And did you notice how I purposely separated my houses from my industrial buildings? Well, I  did that to make my city look more well organized. Now even though this strategic way of placing my buildings didn't effect my environment in the game, in reality, the placement of my buildings wouldn't easily influence my citizens from the air pollution my industrial buildings are doing. Therefore, even though the environment is doing well, we also can't slack off on the well-being of our citizens.

Global Superstorm: Time Master Chapter 3-4

Quickwrite Quiz

What are the 3 types of subsurface coal mining?
Describe the four steps of the 1st one described in the video.

The 3 types of subsurface mining include [1] conventional board and pillar mining, [2] blasting gallery technology, and [3] long wall mining. According to the "How Is Coal Mined?" video, conventional mining has four steps: 1) drilling, 2) blasting, 3) lifting, and 4) loading. In the first step, drilling, the workers drill into the wall in order to place an explosive within the wall. In the second step, blasting, after the workers place the explosive in the wall, they lock the explosive in place by burying it in dirt. Then, they stand back for the "show". Once blasting has taken place, the third step is initiated, lifting. This is where the workers shovel up the coal and fill them up into baskets. As soon as lifting has been completed, the fourth step, loading, takes place. Here, the workers take the baskets and load the coal collected onto a rail track. Once this final step is completed, stage 1 is finally over.

Land Career: Farmer

Land Career- pick from mining engineer, pedologist, and farmer. Describe a day in the life of, how does each work with land resources, salary range, training, picture and reference

 

A farmer (also called an agriculturer) is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer might own the farmed land or might work as a laborer on land owned by others, but in advanced economies, a farmer is usually a farm owner, while employees of the farm are known as farm workers, or farmhands. Traditionally, many farmers are born into family farming businesses. Their experience is gained through observation and hands-on experience from the time they're children. However, the modernization of the farming industry has made it more necessary for farmers and ranchers to receive formal education and training as well.  In 2004, the most recent year for which comparable data exist, the average farm household had an annual net income of $81,480, while the average U.S. household netted $60,528. 

  

Global Superstorm: Quote Master Prologue + Chapter 2

"Congress, mired in its false debate about whether global warming was even happening, wouldn't pay for any studies of the flow of the North Atlantic Current, even though it is the lifeblood of the world" (page 2).

This quote emphasizes how ignorance, as well as the lack of funds, is blocking the development of scientific venture. Therefore, money is not as valuable as knowledge because this knowledge may help the future.

"This standard notice never reached anyone who might have been concerned about its true meaning" (page 2).

This quote displays that people simply do not concern themselves with about the environment and their daily surroundings. Thus, people do not care about what happens in the world until trouble hits.

"Had the scientists working on the Atlantic Change Experiment known what had happened, they would have certainly have been alarmed" (page 3).

This quote shows that the effect of what ignorance and not taking action sooner could do. Thus, the research the scientists could have done if it wasn't for the lack of resources, would've have greatly impacted the world's alertness of global warming.

"Once, people would have been laughing. Nobody was laughing now" (page 4).

This quote illustrates how people are reacting to the weather change, even though they were warned of this disaster and had the chance to change this dilemma. Thus, if people had taken the warnings more seriously, then we wouldn't be in this dreadful situation.

"The scientists predicted that the earth will shortly be warmer than it has been in millions of years" (page 11).

This quote emphasizes how not only the United States, but the world as a whole will be greatly effected due to this weather change. In addition, since it "has been in millions of years," this means that this occurence had just recently happened because of our lack of responsibility to help scientific research to develop and make the world a better place.

OSF: Word Master Chapter 11-12

1) paradigm (page 201)- a typical example or pattern of something; a model

2) carcinogenicity (page 202)- the ability or tendency to produce cancer

3) cystic fibrosis (page 204)- (a.k.a. mucoviscidosis) an autosomal recessive genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs but also the pancreas, liver, and intestine; causes thick, sticky mucus to build in the lungs, digestive tract, and other areas of the body

4) perturbations (page 206)- anxiety; mental uneasieness

5) appendicitis (page 208)- swelling (inflammation) of the appendix (small pouch attached to the beginning of the large intestine)

6) gestation (page 212)- the process of carrying or being carried in the womb between conception and birth

7) atrazine (page 213)- a herbicide of the triazine class; used to prevent pre and post-emergence broadleaf weeds in crops

8) dacthal (page 213)- (a.k.a. dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate) a chemical used in several selective preemergent herbicides

9) diatomaceous earth (page 217)- (a.k.a. diatomite) a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder; consists of fossilized remains of diatoms

10) chlorofluorocarbons (page 218)- an organic compound that contains only carbon, chlorine, and fluorine, produced as a volatile derivative of methane, ethane, and propane

Physical Properties Of Soil Lab

Los Angeles Dirt

Alhambra 1 Dirt

Alhambra 2 Dirt

San Gabriel Dirt

Malonek 3 Dirt

Malonek 11 Dirt

End Results After Water was Added

OSF: Quote Master Chapter 8-10

"The question wasn't what makes cells multiply; it's what makes them stop. The complex organisms that appeared later in the history of life cannot survive unless their cells maintain a certain disciple. If these cells start multiplying continuously in the way bacteria do, the organism will rapidly turn into little more than one big disorganized tumor. For Soto and Sonnenschien, the goal was to find an inhibitor." (123)

This quote shows me that cells multiplying wasn't the big idea, but rather what made them stop. Thus, this question made Soto and Sonnenschien set out to find the answer

"This had to be it. The orange-capped Corning tubes. Something must be leaching from the tubes into the blood serum they used in their experiments, something that acted like estrogen. The plastic, which they had always regarded as benign, inert substance must contain chemicals that can cause significant, worrisome changes in human cells. Far from inert, the plastic appeared biologically active." (127)

This quote is important because it shows me that plastic contained an estrogen-like substance in which caused many disruptions in not only labs but also human cells.

"Through further investigation, Soto and Sonnenschien learned that p-nonylphenol is one of a family of synthetic chemicals known as alkylphenols. Manufacturers add nonylphenols to polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, known commonly as PVC, as an antioxidant to make these plastics more stable and less breakable. The plastic centrifuge tubes in which they stored blood serum had been of polystyrene-a plastic that, depending on the manufacturer, may or may not include nonylphenols." (128)

This quote is significant because it shows that the plastics back then contained PVC, which made the plastic more stable and less breakable. However, due to these additional chemicals, they possibly disrupted many hormones of people who used these plastics.

"The amounts of potentially harmful chemical compounds produced each year are truly staggering-thousands upon thousands of chemicals and billions of pounds. Five billion pounds of pesticides alone are spread far and wide not only on agricultural fields but in parks, schools, restaurants, supermarkets, homes, and gardens." (139)

This quote is vital because it emphasizes the effect as well as the spread of these harmful chemical compounds produced each year. The pesticides ,in fact, are spread not only on the agricultural fields but even areas near us.

"In light of the growing evidence that many synthetic chemicals disrupt hormones, impair reproduction, interfere with development, and undermine the immune system, we must now ask to what degree contaminants are responsible for dwindling animal population." (147)

This quote is significant because it emphasizes the numerous of  harmful effects that synthetic chemicals may cause to wildlife.

Shoebox Landform Data

Land Form Data (click on picture for a bigger view)

As a result of the data, the land form displayed above required a satellite view as well as false colors. The satellite signals show what the land form would look like at a 2- dimensional view. In this case, the skewers acted as the satellite. The false colors then give us the 3-dimensional effect. The different colors in the graph demonstrates the protrusion and elevation of the land forms based on a x-y-z graph. For instance, the graph on the right shows the elevation of the land forms within the shoe box. In this shoe box, we were able to identify a few mountains on the left and some hills in the middle and on the right.

OSF: Word Master Chapter 7

1) litany (page 111)- a tedious recital or repetitive series

2) chlordane (page 111)- an organochlorine compound used as a pesticide; a white solid used as an insecticide for crops

3) dioxin (page 112)- a diverse range of chemical compounds which are known to exhibit "dioxin-like" toxicity; in chemistry, a dioxin is a heterocyclic 6-membered ring

4) carcinogen (page 113)- a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue

5) sarcoma (page 114)- a cancer that arises from transformed cells of mesenchymal origin

6) lymphoma (page 114)- a group of blood cell tumors that develop from lymphocytes; symptoms include: enlarged lymph nodes, fevers, sweats, itchiness, weight loss, and feeling tired among others

7) lordosis (page 119)- a normal inward curvature of the lumbar and cervical regions of the spine

8) methoxychlor (page 120)- a synthetic organochlorine used as an insecticide; intended to be a replacement for DDT but has been banned based on its acute toxicity, bioaccumulation, and endocrine disruption activity

9) vinclozolin (page 120)- a common dicarbonximide fungicide used to control diseases, rots, and molds; shown to be an endocrine disruptor with antiandrogenic effects

10) aryl (page 120)- any functional group or substituent derived from an aromatic ring

Potato Mountain Topography

Original Potato

Cutting the Potato

Half of the Potato that is Sliced in Pieces

Cardboard Model Glued Together

Side-view of Cardboard Model

Top-view of the Cardboard Model

Notebook Figure of the Top-view of Potato

Contour Lines are used to describe the elevation of a land form on a topographical map. For instance, in this project, the potato contour lines inside contour lines. This means that the potato was shaped like a hill. The more contour lines means the higher in elevation the land form is. In addition, depending on how far the contour lines are spaced out from each other on a topographical map, we can identify what kind of slope the land form has.

OSF: Word Master Chapter 5-6

1) promiscuous (page 70)- characterized by or involving indiscriminate mingling or association, especially having sexual relations with a number of people on a casual basis

2) onyx (page 70)- a variety of chalcedony having straight parallel bands of alternating colors; black, especially jet black

3) formononetin (page 76)- a natural compound, which escapes breakdown in the stomach and, like DES and DDT, mimic the biological effects of estrogen

4) silphium (page 78)- a now extinct fennel that prevent pregnancies and precipitate abortions

5) kepone (page 80)- also know as chlordecone, is a organochlorine compound and is a colorless solid that is a controversial insecticide related to Mirex and DDT

6) ubiquitous (page 81)- existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time, omnipresent

7) hermaphrodite (page 83)- an organism, as an earthworm or plant, having normally both male and female organs of generation

8) archipelago (page 87)- a large group or chain of islands

9) biphenyl (page 91)- an organic compound that forms colorless crystals and has a distinctively pleasant aroma; an aromatic hydrocarbon

10) predilection (page 95)- a tendency to think favorably of something in particular; partiality; preference; biased

OSF: Sketch Master Chapter 3-4

This is basically a drawing of the human body (female and male) which lists some important body parts that can be effected by or effect hormones.

Orange Map Distortions

Originally, the orange globe had the continents close together and the North and South Poles were a small portion. However, after flattening the orange, I noticed that the continents spread out and the North and South Poles were deformed and expanded for they were all over the place in bits. Thus, we can tell that mercator maps are not as accurate since they have to be rearranged a little.

EcoFootprint

According to the footprint and survey, I currently use the energy source equivalent to 2.2 planets. Although, I use less than the average North American, I still use more than the energy source of one planet. In order to reduce the amount of energy I use, I should turn on the AC in my home less often. This way, less electricity is wasted. In addition, I shouldn't waste paper or other supplies. Thus, I will use my supplies all the way through then recycle them. Although this isn't much, I hope that by doing this, I will be able to reduce some of my energy usage.

About Me

Hello there! My name is Jennifer. I don't want to bore you by telling you my life story (even though it's not that long) so I'll keep it short. I'm a Vietnamese child (noob at the language). I love to eat to noodles, sleep for more than 10 hours a day (I wish), and play video games (even though I suck). I hate basically anything that is scary, such as bugs. I just want to put this out here but I hate vegetables. In addition, I am very moody and I tend to get very sleepy during my classes. This is all I can think of at the moment so I'm going to end it here. Thanks for reading!

OSF: Quote Master Chapter 1-2

"Some skeptics had questioned whether the cancer in fish was related to chemical contamination at all. But presentations in the fish tumor session put several alternative explanations to rest, including the suggestion that the cancer outbreaks were not a new phenomenon but a natural event caused by viruses." (page 16)

This quote talks about what skeptics had thought of to be possible causes of the cancer outbreaks but a suggestion shows that they were a natural event caused by infections.

"Those trying to discover links between ill health and contaminants were losing the battle, declared Bengt-Erik Bengtsson, the head of the Swedish Environmental Protection Laboratory for Aquatic Toxicology. Despite noteworthy advances, toxicologists were falling further and further behind in their ability to analyze and identify the contamination they encountered in the environment." (page 17-18)

This quote shows how people are failing to try to find a link between contaminants and ill health.

"Now the pieces were beginning to fall together. If the chemicals found in the parents' bodies were to blame, they were acting as hand-me-down poisons, passed down from one generation to the next, that victimized the unborn and the very young." (page 26)

This quote is important because it shows me what caused the deadly effects on wildfire back then.

"But the host of disparate symptoms in everything from adult herring gulls to baby snapping turtles did not seem to add up. Some animals, like the gulls, exhibited strange behavior such as same-sex nests, while other species, including the double-crested cormorant, had visible gross birth defects such as club feet, missing eyes, crooked spines, and crossed bills. Again a pattern emerged from the confusing pieces of the puzzle as Colborn reflected on what she had learned by following her nose. These were all cases of derailed development, a process guided to a significant extent by hormones. Most could be linked to the disruption of the endocrine system." (page 26)

This quote talks about the symptoms and shows that Colborn is slowly understanding what is contributing to these strange behaviors.

"The hand-me-down poisons found in the fat of the wildlife had one thing in common: one way or another, they all acted on the endocrine system, which regulates the body's vital internal processes and guides critical phases of prenatal development. The hand-me-down poisons disrupted hormones." (page 28)

This quote confirms that the hand-me-down poisons found in the wildlife victims had acted on the endocrine system as well as disrupted hormones.

OSF: Time Master Chapters 1-2

This is basically some of the important dates and events that occurred between the 1940s and the 1990s.