Monthly Archives: September 2009

Massive 8.3 Ocean Earthquake

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Today’s South Pacific earthquake is an example of Earth’s interacting spheres. The heat from within the Earth powered the magnitude 8.3 quake whose epicenter was 21 miles below the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The shifting of Earth’s crust resulted in a tsunami killing 23 people on surrounding islands.

Here’s an excerpt from Discovery News about today’s quake.

Sept. 29, 2009 — A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of up to 8.3 struck off the South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami as coastal residents fled to higher ground.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves 1.57 meters (five feet) tall hit American Samoa, while 0.7 meter waves were recorded in Samoa.

The center had earlier issued a tsunami warning for a large swathe of the South Pacific including Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga after the U.S. Geological Survey reported a 7.9 magnitude quake.

The center later said an 8.3 magnitude quake had been recorded at a depth of 33 kilometers (21 miles). It was not immediately clear if this was the same quake and the USGS’s website did not provide exact details of its location.

“Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated,” said a statement from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

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“It may have been destructive along coasts neat the earthquake epicenter and could alo be a threat to more distant coasts. Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this possibility.”

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Earth Systems

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How does water move throughout the Earth’s spheres and what effects does that movement (or lack of) cause? How does the water effect land and how does the land effect the water? What arrows did you add to this drawing?

theearthsystem2

Follow this link to learn more about Earth Systems Science.

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SPF Investigation

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Future scientists at work! I wonder if that is true.

So what did you learn by doing this? What was the purpose of this experiment and why do you have to complete the formal write-up? Did this answer your key question? Was this all about determining if higher SPF levels block or absorb more UV rays? Did it create more questions than it answered?

I’ve heard that some of you are struggling with making a graph. Use software to help you like Create-A-Graph; scientists don’t do graphs by hand they use computers! Here’s a simple graph I created:

SPF graph

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Daily Reflections

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Science sometimes is hard to understand. Classes are often a series of experiments or investigations followed by lists of  “facts” pulled from reading a dry textbook or classroom presentation. Students  miss the bigger picture, how do all of these separate things connect, what is the meaning of it?

Reflective Writing

Your daily reflections assignment is a way you can stop and try to make sense out of what you are learning. Everyday you are to write a reflection in your binder. It is an ongoing journal or diary of your learning. From time to time I’ll read through your reflections to help me better understand how you are doing, where you are struggling, and questions you may have. We’ll also use it as part of your portfolio of learning (more on that later).

I revised the presentation you saw in class and inserted it into this post to give you one more look at what reflective writing is about.

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