Foundations Supporting Sustainability (Featured: The Colcom Foundation and YOU)

Let's face it, money plays a role in environmental issues.  Notice how poorer areas have more pollution?  Don't you think that residents in those areas also deserve clean air and water?  You want clean air and water, don't you?

You see what happened to Dukakis, politically, when he spent money to clean up the Boston Harbor?  The Waterfront went from smelling like an open sewer to smelling like clean, salty, ocean breezes.  People's water bills went up and Dukakis was voted out of office.

"In 1919 the Metropolitan District Commission was created to oversee and regulate the quality of harbor water... In 1972 the Clean Water Act was passed in order to help promote increased national water quality.

Signage on the streets of Boston says:     Don't Dump!

" ... Boston [had] little incentive to increase water quality of the harbor. Since the mid-1970s organizations within the Boston community have battled for a cleaner Boston Harbor. More recently, the harbor was the site of the $4.5 billion Boston Harbor Project. Failures at...[a]... sewage treatment plant in Quincy and ... Deer Island plant adjacent to Winthrop had far-reaching environmental and political effects. Fecal coliform bacteria levels forced frequent swimming prohibitions along the harbor beaches and the Charles River for many years.^[3]... finally[action] by the United States government, [resulted] in the landmark court-ordered cleanup of Boston Harbor.^[4]

Drains to

"Before the cleanup projects, the water was so polluted thatThe Standells released a song in 1966 called Dirty Water about the sorry state of the Charles River.

[Thank you Standells...  All musicians note your role in creating a sustainable Earth!]

Boston

Harbor

"...Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis to propose separating the water and sewer treatment divisions from the MDC, resulting in the creation of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority in 1985 . 

"[Dukakis'] environmental record, ... was better ...^[5]The court ordered cleanup continued throughout the next two decades and is still ongoing.^[4] 

"... water quality in both the Harbor and the Charles River has significantly improved, and the projects have dramatically transformed Boston Harbor from one of the filthiest in the nation to one of the cleanest. Today Boston Harbor is safe for fishing and for swimming nearly every day, though there are still beach closings after even small rainstorms, caused by bacteria-laden storm water and the occasional combined sewer overflow.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Harbor;  Accessed 20 March 2014. 

Meanwhile, some people took advantage of the revived waterfront area and built assets there to make them even more money.  These should have brought in enough tax revenue to compensate for the cleaning of the water.  Did they?  As a global citizen, you need to reflect on these kinds of issues that affect clean air and water.  What do you think?  What happens to the sewer in your town city or rural area?

Public health depends on your active participation in global sustainability.  And money is always involved.  Reflect on issues in your community.  I will post foundations supporting sustainability here and in other posts as I come across them.  Perhaps you will think about establishing a foundation in your community to support clean air, water, and other sustainability issues.  (Do you know how to do that?)

Here is a link to Colcom foundation (I read about the Colcom Foundation when following up on  a mention in an aarticle on Mister Rogers.  Read about Mister Rogers if you are not familiar with him.)  The mission of the Colcom Foundation is stated as:

... to foster a sustainable environment to ensure quality of life for all Americans by addressing major causes and consequences of overpopulation and its adverse effects on natural resources.

Regionally, the Foundation supports conservation, environmental projects and cultural assets.  

(Source:  http://www.colcomfdn.org/mission.html, accessed 20 March 2014.)

The Colcom Foundation has local, regional and national areas of interest that they support.  At the regional level, for example, they are committed to ensuring quality of life and environmental sustainability.

The Colcom Foundation aggressively addresses:

• watershed remediation,
• natural resource preservation,
• clean air,
• improved water quality, and
• farmland and wildlife habitat conservation.

I am interested in those same points in Orange and Rockland Counties in New York state, which have had tremendous population influxes following the 911 events.  Farm and woodlands, and, thus clean air and water, are rapidly disappearing.  Can you help?  Can you contribute?  Can we build a foundation to support the Orange and Rockland area?

I am interested in these points for other areas around the globe.  What can each area do to raise the needed funds to create sustainability globally?

If you are starting a foundation, post a comment here.  If you are a foundation, post a comment here.  If you have a good idea about raising money to build a sustainable Earth, let us know of your success.  

We can create a sustainable Earth together.  All it takes is our effort, and, money...so, let's set about finding ways to get the job done.  We can build a sustainable Earth.

Thank you Colcom Foundation for your inspiration and support, and, thank each and every one of us who is doing our part to build a sustainable Earth.

Photos (c)2004-present J S Shipman

Sol and Dean sent this Musical Mobius Strip

http://strangepaths.com/canon-1-a-2/2009/01/18/en/. Accessed 8 April 2010.

Well worth watching the animation. Thanks for sending it to me.

Using Music to Reach Youth about Science Topics

Take Aim at Climate Change

"Yo
Hey, y'all
Let's talk about the Earth
Really Talk about Survival
We can talk about the poles where the cold is our rival
The arctic top of the world
That's people and polar bears"

Listen to all the science and motivation tucked into this music video. Can your students create science videos using lyrics and song? Can they rap? Music is another way to learn about science.

Bridging from Children's Science Activities to Current Science Concepts

[under development, but, nearly done...]
Click these words for a link to a site full of children's science activities.

If you pick an activity, see if you can find how it relates to current (or, sometimes old-but-still-relevant) science research. For example, as we have a few warm days after the frost... a time reminiscent of and feeling like our summer, it might be fun to make ice cream...one of the fifth grade (USA, around age 10) activities.

As you can imagine, this is also about freezing point depression. So, what does freezing point depression have to do with current scientific research? Do you know? A search using a search engine can quickly come up with a huge list. Here is a small selection of what is available in the technical literature that involves this topic--- freezing point depression. It covers mammals (including rats and humans), fish, urine, veins, Vitamin C, sugar, protein, diabetes, salt, water, electricity, fluids, and other topics. In other words, there's a little something for everyone. If you can't find something in this list, it's probably out there in the other available research. A reference librarian should be able to help you find something. Be sure to let him or her know you are looking for difficult-to-read, refereed journal articles (primary sources).

1. The freezing pointdepression of mammalian tissues

2. Ascorbate Restores Endothelium-Dependent Vasodilation ...
   

3. Structurally Caused Freezing Point Depression of Biological Tissues

4. The freezing point depression of mammalian tissues after sudden heating in boiling distilled water

5. Freezing point depression of rat kidney slices during water diuresis and antidiuresis

6. The relationship between the freezing point depression and specific gravity of urine under varying conditions of metabolism, and its clinical value in the estimation of sugar and albumin

7. Freezing point depression of NaCl-KCl-H2O solutions
   
   
8. Freezing point depression of aqueous sodium chloride
   

9. vbA method for the determination of the freezing point depression of aqueous solutions..

10. Freezing-point depression: New Method for Measuring Ultramicro ...
11. Freezing resistance in some antarctic fishes

12. Freezing-point depressions in stabilized soil aggregates
    

13. Structure-function relationships in an antifreeze polypeptide. The ...

14. Detection of freezing point by dielectric measurements

15. A method for the determination of the freezing point depression of aqueous solutions.
    
    

For fifth graders, the goal is not to have them understand everything in all of these articles, nor, even to have them understand everything in one article. The "Reach Reading™" goal at this age is to have students understand that:

1. The lessons learned in making ice cream do apply to and are "real" science. Science can be fun.
2. There is technical research, in the form of laboratory reports found in journal articles that uses this research.
3. They can get a few new ideas from such articles, even if they don't understand everything (...or, even if they don't understand 99.9%).

Such ice cream and other fun science activities can also be adapted to children of any age--- Here's a song (to Frere Jaques) I wrote for a similar activity when my son was in pre-school:

Freezing point depression
Freezing point depression
Makes the ice cream freeze
Makes the ice cream freeze
Salt particles lower the temperature
Salt particles lower the temperature
The ice cream's cold
The ice cream's cold

In what other timely topic(s) does freezing point depression play a role?

• Fruit ripening
• Cold hardiness
• Autumn color (and leaf fall) (Note, though dated 1939, this selection still carries valuable information that students may find more readable than some other selections.)
• and, a thesis...
  

One added point: Click here for some winter science ideas.




(c) 2008 J S Shipman
"Reach Reading™"is a trademark of J S Shipman

Cartoons and Music: Planning Winter Science Lessons?

If you think science in December is difficult, you might enjoy this cartoon, which mentions December, and brings some vocabulary to the viewers' attention. While it needs more, "science," to make the lesson, it is an interesting way to start a class learning about plant structure and photosynthesis.



Where will you go from here? What lesson ideas did the cartoon give you?

Search You-tube for another video with, "Photosynthesis," as the theme. There are several available. For example:
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IV-E68rh18, TakTakTinnna: Mr. Durand singing the photosynthesis song, accessed 9-29-08),
or, here is a photosynthesis rapp created by students. (Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XrL9uYJXo, Boris, Anthony, and, Brandon, with Gino as, "the beat", teach photosynthesis in Ms. Stokes' Bio, accessed 9-29-08)


or,
another rap found here, by more students, "ingoldby and sherry."



You can see all the students are still learning. Look how far Boris, Anthony, Brandon, Gino, Ingoldby, and, Sherry have come already. It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of the class to talk about photosynthesis, let alone, rap. Can you provide a beat like that and rap? Congratulations, gentlemen. When your CDs come out, let us know!

You can also develop your own song. You might be able to use National Institute of Environmental Health music links to help you develop your own photosynthesis songs.

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Students might write an essay or draw a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the animated cartoon with a video on photosynthesis that you find or create. Be sure to help students learn to check for technical accuracy. For example, if plants are thought to be a separate group from trees, that is not accurate. Students can understand that there are herbaceous plants, or, "herbs," and woody plants, or, "trees." Both herbs and trees are plants that photosynthesize.

Any time students read material, watch TV, or scan the internet, they need to think deeply about what information they gain, and assess if the material presented is accurate. Studying photosynthesis is no different. Have fun as you study plants.


Dr. J

Sometimes we use math!!!

I thought you would enjoy this math video. It is well done and the lyrics are available. It is an excellent example of putting math standards into an audible form, very artistic. Smile.


Congratulations, Drew D'Amelia!

It is a wonderful example. Can you do a creative video on science standards that you are studying? Just trying will help to expand your mental brain capabilities. Whole brain development is encouraged by such creativity. Enjoy and share your results.

Dr. J

Power at its Source

The government has descriptive sites on energy production. One of them is on producing electricity from water, that is, hydroelectric power. The process is illustrated in an easy to follow format.

Water can be used to produce power:
Look at a hydroelectric power system- http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyhowworks.html

See a turbine- http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/hyturbine.html

Wind can also be used to generate power:

Great basic information on Windmills and...Many more links inside this one: http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_19268_20778-52098--,00.html

American Windmills- http://www.windmills.net/

Fuel-less Power- http://www.fuellesspower.com/windmills2.htm

Discussion of Windmill Efficiency- http://www.nov55.com/wdm.html

Photos of Historical Windmills:
Photo of operational windmill in Australia- http://members.ozemail.com.au/~thelily

Photo of a windmill in Gardiner, NY (by Mike Rega)- http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/?id=2957565&refnum=548652

Photo of the Hook Windmill- http://www.answers.com/topic/east-hampton-town-new-york?cat=travel

A gallery of 50 photographs of windmills-
http://www.windmillersgazette.com/gallery.html

The Beebe Windmill- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/

Modern Windmills-
The Dump that becomes a park (with windmills)- http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2007/01/youll_be_able_to_frolick_in_a.html

Windmills at NYU- http://www.nyu.edu/nyutoday/archives/20/04/PageOneStories/Wind-Power.html

Tiny windmill powers workshop- http://picasaweb.google.com/slothmuffin/PhotoADay/photo#5082014917530784274

Paintings of Windmills-
Walter C. HARTSON, (American, 1866): Dutch landscape with windmills and a figure in a boat- http://www.burchardgalleries.com/auctions/2002/jan2002/l027a.jpg

Herman A. Webster (American, 1878-1970)- http://www.timsmills.info/Journal/BULLET61.HTM

Map of Windmills in Manhattan-
Map-http://www.sunysb.edu/libmap/img0009.jpg

More information on the map- http://www.sunysb.edu/libmap/Manatus.htm

Windmills on the farm-
Grants for farm windmills- http://www.elpc.org/energy/farm/index.php?gclid=CKzbkaSewZACFTyKOAodDCYSZg

Perhaps you have developed an interest in other uses of windmills-

http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs333a,0,6371263.story

Commercial sources that may provide information on windmills (Listing does not constitute endorsement; Other commercial providers may submit links via comments)-

Beckermills
Brasada
Bask
Gaiam
windmilloutlet


You can generate power by turning a crank:

http://www.nextag.com/crank-generator/search-html

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/catalog/p_el-genhand.html

It would be good to work with pin wheels, water wheels or crank generators in lab activities or experiments to help understand the points made. Similarly field trips to old mills, singing, "Old Mill Stream," or visiting a farm where a wind mill is used, or touring the windmills of New York State (part of the Dutch settlers' cultural heritage and positive influence on the state), or in several other other states (Illinois, Indiana,Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa ...), would also enhance learning about sustainable energy and power generation. (If you know a good website on windmills in your state, please add it to the comments.)

Some foundations work to reduce global warming. Here are some (Listing does not constitute endorsement; Other foundations and organizations may submit links via comments)-

http://www.carbonfund.org/

https://www.greentagsusa.org/GreenTags/index.cfm

Adopt a windmill- http://www.communityenergy.biz/adopt/adopt_windmill.html

Read more:

Baker, T. Lindsay. A Field Guide to American Windmills. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. (Large volume—the ultimate windmill resource.)

Dennis, Landt. Catch the Wind: A Book of Windmills and Windpower. NY: Four Winds Press, 1976.

Ellis, Edward Robb, The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History. Carroll and Graf, Publishers, 2004.

Torrey, Volta. Wind Catchers: American Windmills of Yesterday and Tomorrow. Brattleboro, VT: The Stephen Greene Press, 1976.

Woelfle, Gretchen. The Wind at Work: An Activity Guide to Windmills. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1997.

A Link of Interest found while searching windmills...
Farm Math for Young Children: http://www.michigan.gov/hal/Publish Post0,1607,7-160-15481_19268_20778-52087--,00.html

Convection, Conduction, and, Radiation

Today, a student asked me a question about conduction, convection and radiation: "I am always confused between the difference of conduction, convection and radiation. What is being used in pouring hot water from a thermos?"

Students will often ask things that are assigned as homework. This might have been a homework question, or, it might have been genuine curiosity. I am always glad when students are curious.

I've taken the liberty of discussing the topic here because it is a topic on many state standards.

For these types of questions, try to guide a student in finding an answer. In this way, he or she is likely to remember the content learned. Here is a sample set of guiding questions and activities. I have also included some movies. Your students might be able to make movies that are more exciting and helpful to them. Review the "Botany Beat" or Tomato movies for some ideas. Here is one student's movie:




First, have you defined all the words? (You can use the dictionary links at the bottom of the page. Be sure to note down the date and the source you used.)

Conduction is ________________________________________________________
Here is a simulation on conduction:


And, here is an animation about conduction:



Convection is ________________________________________________________

Here is a movie on convection currents:


What do hot and cold have to do with convection?


Here's another convection movie showing some experiments and relating them to every day life.





Radiation is ________________________________________________________

Here is an animation on radiation and convection:


If you have trouble remembering them, try writing the definitions three or four times , or, try drawing a picture or writing a song about each one.

Also, try discussing these ideas with your friends or where you get snacks after school or with a mentor or adult in your family or community. These things can help you to remember them.



Did you brainstorm about them?



Do you have a thermos? If you don't have one, try to borrow one, otherwise, the question will be hard to answer.



If you put hot water in a thermos, can you feel the heat outside the thermos when you hold it?



What about if you put your hand over the thermos, can you feel heat, even when you are not touching anything?



What if you compare putting a plastic spoon into the hot water with putting a silver spoon into the hot water. What happens?



Think of things you know, for example:

The sun rays radiate.

The convection oven has heat rise and fall in circles.

A copper wire conducts electricity.

Now, think again about the question. When you pour hot water from a thermos, do you feel heat without touching it?



Does some heat stay in some matter, yet move?



Does some heat transfer from the hot water to the bowl or sink you are pouring it into?



Now that you have thought about all these things, and tried some of them, I think you can be confident of the answer that you develop. Be sure to back up the answer with why you picked it. You might speak, write and draw your answer, too. Let me know what you find out. Write back if you are still stuck. Dr. J

Related links:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/thermos1.htm

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/phy99/phy99x81.htm

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas/Phys_p032.shtml

http://www.comsol.com/showroom/gallery/1448.php

Update... 2009
rockytop.adams12.org/growlercore/documents/Weather_notes.ppt
http://www.accidentalscientist.com/2009/08/conduction-convection-and-radiation-and.html
(c)2007, 2008, 2009 J. S. Shipman

Imagination

Stretching the imagination is an important part of science because it lets us think "outside the box." Just as science fiction led to new discoveries, so do other mental exercises see new ways of seeing things. Watch this YouTube video and use your imagination!

Another Garden, in Montreal...

Edit 11-29-07...In response to comments:
http://read-about-it.blogspot.com/2007/11/helsea-physic-garden-home-of-original-u.html