Chapter Challenges are an important component of your studies in Earth Science. These long term projects establish your team as researchers or investigators and set you off on a mission to help solve a problem in your community.
Your first Chapter Challenge is this:
Leaders in your community want to know if an El Nino event could affect the weather and economy of your community. They have asked your help. The state will host a conference to discuss how to minimize the impact of El Nino, but only if your research reveals it can actually affect your community.
You are to prepare a report in which you will explain:
- Ocean surface circulation and how it changes during El Nino
- The relationship of ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns during an El Nino
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- Changes in weather or climate that might occur in our community (central Florida)
- The relationship between ocean circulation patterns and the food chain and how El Nino affects these.
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- How El Nino related changes in the food chain might affect Florida.
The project can take many forms (video, PowerPoint presentation, podcast or typed report).
Little time will be devoted to producing your report in class, so consider this a home project. Each of the activities we will be doing in class is designed to provide the information you need to complete this project. However feel free to conduct additional study into this topic and include that information in your report.
Each time you complete one of the activities, there is a “Reflecting on the Activity and the Challenge” and “Preparing for the Chapter Challenge” section in your EarthComm textbook, both of which are designed to help you complete your project.
The due date will be October 28th. That gives you a little more than 3 weeks.
The project will be evaluated on how thoroughly and accurately you address each of the items listed above. A one or two sentence answer for each would not be considered complete. Illustrations, charts, data tables or graphs should be included. These help to provide scientific data supporting your statements. Remember to include a list of sources. The report will also be graded on how interesting and creative it is. Put your artistic and scientific sides to work.
You should be reflecting on how the activities we are doing in class relate to your chapter challenge. For example our textbook asked if you could predict ocean surface circulation based on our experiments on wind and the coriolis effect.
What would you need to know to make a better prediction?
What would happen if the winds changed?
How does El Nino change ocean circulation?
Where could you find some of this information?
I am really confused about how El Nino related changes in the food chain might affect Florida because it can’t have anything to do with the agriculture because that would have to do with rain and therefore would go with the weather change question. So it must have to do with the marine food chain in which case, I don’t see how that effects Florida because we are on the opposite side of a large land mass from the area where the fish are going to be dieing or migrating because of the lake of food produced by producers. Sothe fish go to other areas probably north or south of the problem spot, but I don’t see them swimming all the way around South America to affect Florida. So does this question apply to marine or land food chains?
Well actually we do import fish from S. America in particular anchovies, so a decrease in phytoplankton results in fewer anchovies and higher prices for imports. So there is one way.
But the weather effects on farming in Florida would fit here as well.
Are two reasons enough for the last question?
Two would be acceptable as long as they are correct and clearly explained. Food chain affects in Florida is a difficult one. There is some change in salinity off the coast of Florida which can have some impacts. But mostly its on our agriculture, remember the food chain includes the food we eat, we are part of the food web.
Here are some more things to think about:
Surface Circulation
- What is the normal circulation pattern of the oceans?
- What causes ocean circulation?
- What is the Coriolis force?
- What are the trade winds?
- How does temperature affect circulation?
- How does salinity affect circulation?
- What causes upwelling?
- Why is upwelling important?
El Niño Events
- How is ocean circulation different during an El Niño event?
- How long can an El Niño event last?
- What effects does an El Niño event have on:
o Circulation patterns
o Upwelling
o Weather patterns
o Thermoclines
o Ocean food chains
o Atmospheric CO2 levels
Local Effects
- How can an El Niño event affect us here in Florida? Think about:
o Temperatures
o Weather patterns
o Drought conditions
o Food prices
o Crops and farmers
o Tourist industry
o Forest/brush fires
o Hurricanes
o Tornadoes
Mr. Grant, I am having a hard time answering the question about the the relationship of ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns during an El Nino. I have looked through all my notes, visited all your attachments, and i have read the textbook over and over. I cant really find any relationships. Im not even sure i know what atmospheric circulations are. Are there any other resources i can use to help me answer this question?
Remember the drawing that was on the front board of normal and El Nino conditions in the Pacific ocean? The one that showed how the temperature of the ocean was changing and above the ocean was the trade winds and clouds. Those arrows showing the direction of the winds and where the clouds and rain forms is atmospheric circulation.
we need a bibliography right???
You should list your sources, but I’m not looking of a formal bibliography.
Wait! We didn’t HAVE to have a bibliography right??? Because I didn’t do one and I really don’t want to get counted off for it just because I didn’t know that we had to do one…. So is the bibliography part of our grade???
You should always list your sources.
Do you have to have an illustration for each of the 5 topics?
No, not for every one.
The 5 answers to the questions and the bibliography were all we needed to have right?
Well since the idea is for you to help the state decide if a conference should be held to prepare for an EL Nino you should make some recommendation on this.
And I don’t get how El Nino makes ocean water warmer when it weakens trade winds. If trade winds are weakened then shouldn’t the water get colder?
Why do you think it would make the water colder?
Click on the first image above and see what it says about warm water.
Because if trade winds carry warm water and they’re weakened then shouldn’t there be less warm water
Trade winds push the warm water towards the western end of the pacific ocean during non-El-Nino times. When the winds weaken it allows the warm water to flow back towards the middle and eastern end.
I’m just surprised that this is an 8th grade class. I’m taking this class in the 10th grade, and its supposed to be “Honors”.
Sometimes I am surprised by it too; I have even seen similar content at the 5th grade level! In Orange County both of the textbooks we use for 8th grade are high school texts.
I would assume that as a honors high school student you will go into greater depth in your answers for example discussing Walker Cell circulation and shifting high and low pressure patterns, etc. Good luck on your chapter challenge.
Im doing the exact same Chapter Challenge.
Hey our class was given the 8 planet research monday and other classes was given the assiment that fri/thur before the break so i was wondering do we get extra time and time tommorrow to work on it
Thanks for reading
Grant
I’ve been working with each class to see how much they get accomplished. As it stands now we’ll continue to work on it in class this Thur/Fri. You might have to complete it as homework over the weekend.