Charity Fair | It Only Takes A Word To Change A Nation

Women Employed Tri-fold by Mackenzie Macdonald

Charities are everywhere, they help with all different things and try to make their community, state, nation, and even the world, a better place. Charities are non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting things or fixing a problem or injustice. Charity Fair is an AdVENTURE event that allows students to research an issue, study and choose a charity, make and sell a product, look at carbon footprints and make an ignite. These products are sold at a student exhibition night, to parents and people, and all of the money goes to the winning charity. The winning charity is decided through the Ignite presentation process. Students will study a charity and make an Ignite presentation to convince people why their charity deserves to win the money. They will present in their classes and their classmates will vote on who has the best charity. Then the winning charity of each class will head off in front of the student council who will, in the end, decide which charity(s) will get the money. But there is more to this project than just charities. Our carbon footprints as humans are huge, we make a gigantic impact on the earth and everything that is on it. Also, there is a lot of business, selling products is a lot harder than it seems, you can't just make a product and put up a booth, there is a lot of advertising and mathematics that goes into making and selling products. You have to figure out how much you are going to sell it for so that you make a reasonable amount of money, but people will still buy it. You also have to figure out just how you are going to make it and how you are going to advertise it and make it so that people want to buy your product. This year, my group and I, choose to make bath bombs for our product. It was a lot of work and took time, but in the end, it was worth it. Our charity, Women Employed, works to get women fair work spaces, equal pay and get young women through college, empowering women and making a difference in their community. We got second in our class with our Ignite Presentation, and grown a lot since we first started.

Backward-Looking

I have definitely gotten better at doing this work over the years. I have improved upon my presentation skills and learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. I have also worked on my time management, which was one of my big goals from years past. I have gotten better and making quality products and working efficiently. It has been a very fun and instructive time here at AdVENTURE STEM and I have had a really good time growing and learning. I think I have definitely grown a lot and can see all of my progress, overall, it was a very successful time at charity fair.  

Inward-Looking

This year, my standards were to make my presentation look really good and get int the class top three, sell out of our products by the end of Charity Fair exhibition night, and to make sure that my work looked good and professional. Finally, I wanted to try my best and have fun this year. I believe that I have not only achieved, but exceeded this years standards. I not only sold out, but sold out less than half-way through the night, I made it into second place for our class and I was able to make my work look great and had an excellent time and enjoyed myself.

Outward-Looking

When people, especially adults, look at my work, I want them to realize just how much of an effort I have put into it and how much I have grown. I started as a fifth grader clutching my script and shaking presenting in front of my own class, now as an eighth grader, I am confident in my abilities and don't even look at my note card. In fifth grade, my products were messy and cute, not neat and professional. I think that I have put a lot of effort into my work and grown, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. I want people to see how going through this program has made me a better person and a better worker, and that you can do anything you set your mind to.

Forward-Looking

If I had a chance to do something like charity fair again, I would like to learn from my mistakes. I would make a product that more people would want or need. I would make sure that my presentation was as perfect as it could be and that I changed it to be better every time that I got feedback or a compliment so that my Ignite could be really great. I think I would also like to spend more time working and improving on something, then going through it, getting an A, and then moving on. Everything has room to be improved upon and I think that that is something that I overlooked this year while I was working on my project. I will always have room for improvement and I think that making those improvements is something that I need to spend ore time doing,

Speed and Velocity | Interpreting distance vs. time graphs

Difference Between Speed and Velocity by Addison Wesley

I am sure you have all heard of speed like the car is going 30 mph or the person is running 5 m/s. But have you heard of velocity? Velocity is the slope of the line at different points on a direction vs. time graph. The velocity is otherwise known as rise over run, where the rise is the y-axis and the run is the x-axis. Speed and velocity are similar but still different. Speed is a scalar quantity because it measures time over distance, but not direction, whereas Velocity, a vector quantity, measures direction as well as speed. Velocity is the line on a direction vs. time graph. A direction vs. time graph will always have the direction or position factor on the y-axis and time on the x-axis. To interpret these graphs all you need to do is to figure out which direction the object is moving relative to the reference point, and how fast the object is moving. First, find your reference point, or this example we'll call it (0,0) Then look at the line, is it sloping up or down from your reference point? This means that it is moving away from your reference point. If it is a line parallel to the x-axis this means that the object has stopped moving at whatever position that they are from your reference point, and not moved for that period of time. Once you know this, you can interpret what the object is doing and how it is moving. But you still have to figure out the speed that your object is moving at. This would be the slope of the line or rise over run, but you just won't be adding the direction. The slope of your line can be calculated using this simple equation: (final y position - starting y position)/(final x position - starting x position). Then, to find the units, look at the bottom of the graph on the x-axis to find the unit of time and then look to the y-axis to find the unit of movement. There you have it, you can now interpret these graphs, you can add in the direction of movement to find the velocity.

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SP: Analyzing Data

Interpreting graphs is one of many forms of analyzing data. Interpreting graphs can help scientists and mathematicians to figure out important details and analyze data. Graphs are a way that scientists can organize and look at all f their data in a way that they can easily understand. Being able to interpret and read graphs is very useful for when you are looking at your or other scientist's, data.  Being able to do all this is a very important skill that is used a lot in the fields of science and mathematics.

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XCC: Structure and Function

Everything thing has a very unique structure and function that fits its needs. This is especially seen in families. Every family has it's own structure and functions in a different way that is suitable for who they are and what they need. But structures and their functions can change. This can be most widely observed in families around the holidays. around the holidays. Lots of different people celebrate different holidays around winter time, even is families celebrate the same holiday, they most likely celebrate it differently. The structure and function of families can change during the holiday season, spending more time with family could cause the structure of the family to strengthen additionally, hosting people over the holiday season can change the function of the hosting family to get prepared and make sure that everything is ready. Structure and function are a huge part of science and show us how things works, families of every kind are a great example of structure and function and how things work, we can learn a lot from families if only we would look further into it.

Motion | Distance, Displacement, Scalars and Vectors.

Have you ever been on a road trip? Have you ever planned one? Well, if you have or haven't, the basic criteria is to stop at different places and get there in the shortest amount of time. You want to spend the least amount of time as you can traveling on highways and the most time doing fun activities. You also would know road trips cover a lot of distance. But what if you could just cut in a straight line to your destination. That would make for a much shorter traveling time. That is called displacement. Displacement is one of the many vector quantities A vector quantity is a quantity that has both a magnitude and a direction. A displacement is the shortest way to get from point a to point b. A direct, straight line that gets you there in the shortest distance. It has both the distance traveled and the direction in which it is traveling. This is different than distance. Distance is a Scalar quantity. A scalar quantity is a magnitude. It has no direction. It is like if I said, that car is slow, or that mouse is small. Distance and displacement are two common things used to define how far something is traveling and what is the shortest route. But how do you decide if an object is moving anyway? Well, you compare it to a reference point. A reference point is an object that you can use to describe a objects position. Like, that person is 5 feet away from the light post, where the light post is the reference point. Your positions, and whether you are moving or not, depends on your reference point. If your reference point is moving, the distance can be growing or getting smaller, so it is easier to choose a still reference point when wanting to figure out an object's position. So next time you go on a road trip, just remember, there more science in life than you think.

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SP: Using Mathematics

Distance and Displacement require mathematics. To figure out distance, you need to add up all of the different measurements to get the overall distance that the object has traveled. For displacement, the easiest thing to do is using the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, a squared plus b squared must equal c squared, where c is the hypotenuse. To figure out displacement, just draw a rectangle where point a is opposite point b. Then draw a line through the middle that connects both lines. Then use the Pythagorean theorem to solve for the hypotenuse. The hypotenuse will equal the displacement of your object. But don't forget to add the direction in which your line is moving, this is because displacement is a vector, so it has both magnitude and direction.

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XCC: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Vector and Scalar quantities are used in all kinds of scales. They can be used to figure out small or large things in motion. They help scientists to figure out many different things from Temperature to acceleration. They can be used in simple things like, "My dog runs fast." or "Its 78 degrees outside today" or in more complex ways like, "The car accelerates by 5 miles per hour every time it turns right, and 6 miles per hour every time it turns left." Vector and Scalar quantities help scientist figure out things on all different types of scales. This shows us just how much science is used in our lives and how it affects and changes us.

Our Carbon Footprint | Emissions We Never Realized We Made

Our carbon footprint is bigger than we think. Simple everyday items come from all over the world and pollute the air. This brings up the questions, what do you think should be done in order to reduce the transportation environmental impact? How do you think your answer to the previous question would affect the price of products? These are questions we had to think about as we found where all of our products came from and their journey. Some simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to buy items lovallay and use items that were manufactured closer to home. You can also buy things from the same store to reduce the amount of carbon released when you are driving. This would affect the price of some of these products because it could be more difficult to make them locally and closer to home, therefore raising the price. But it could also mean that using less transportation costs less money and therefore lowers the price. Overall, I found it surprising just how much carbon we emit into our atmosphere and how far some items travel to get to us.

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SP2: Using Models

We modeled how our raw materials for our project have traveled. We modeled where they were manufactured by purple dots. We then modeled where we bought them with black dots and connected the two with a line to show how far they traveled to get from the manufacturer to the retailer. Then we connected the retailer to the school modeling how the materials got from the retailer to us. This overall modeled the whole journey of our product, from start to finish.

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XCC: Patterns

Every day millions of American's go to the store. Buying things like food, furniture, and other things. People usually go to the store buying food a couple times a week, starting a pattern. They go to the store and buy food, then come back once they run out of something. Creating the pattern of buy, run out, and buy again. This then repeats itself over and over and over again. This creates a ton of carbon emissions, causing a pattern here. They go to the store and emit carbon driving, the store then must restock the food, causing it to emit more carbon. Then in the days, they don't go to the store, they emit less carbon, creating the cycle, carbon, more carbon, less carbon then finally carbon again as they go back to the store to buy more food.

Mantowausu | An Evolution Fantasy

Mantowausu by Jane Partsch

 

Has your imagination ever taken you away to a far-off land, full of different creatures and plants? This leopard went through the same thing, but it wasn't its imagination, it was its reality. A Mantowausu was first a figment of the imagination of me and my team. But we brought it to life with its evolutionary story and history. We gave it a name, home, diet, body, protection and more. Everything that you need to be able to be a successful species. It's habitat full of dangerous things that we had to think about and process to figure out its protection, diet, and predator(s). The food chain already figured out, was a problem that we needed to solve, seeing as our animal couldn't be the almighty animal that rules the forest and is not eaten. It needed to adapt to be able to survive. Its mutations kept it living, while natural selection was fighting for it. The Mantowausu endured a lot, hoping to find a home where it fits. The Mantowausu was part of the quest to understand evolution and the way that it works, changing the course and lives of whole species forever. The Mantowausu has shown my group and me, really just how evolution works and how it changes lives. The Mantowausu and evolutionary fantasy, has come to life. With everything it needs to survive and live on, making for a successful life. In the end, the Mantowausu shall be revealed to the public, as the wonder it really is. This has taught me about the different ways that evolution happens and what evolution does to affect different organisms and ecosystems.

Backwards-Looking

I went through a lot to get to this point. My team and I have figured what animal we wanted to make and it's evolutionary story and background. We then created the slideshow above and made sure to add all of the adaptations and information. Then we decided what our animal should look like and what its name should be. We then decided how we would make our poster and prototype. Then we made a prototype and made it look nice so that we were proud of the work that we did.

Inwards-Looking

I really like this project and am proud of this and like the work that I have produced. I really like the slideshow and the image and all of the work that we put into it. I think that we could have done a little more in the slideshow and the picture could be a little better. Overall, it was a very good project I am really proud of it.

Outwards-Looking

Compared to those groups who choose the same project, we did ours similarly. We all made a poster and a slideshow and an animal. But our animals were different as well as our slides, poster, and presentation. We decided to paint instead of color, our poster. We decided to include bullet points instead of paragraphs. We didn't label our animal's poster, others did. Some did it individually, we did it in a group. Overall, we had a lot of differences within the very similar outcome and project.

Forwards-Looking

If I was to do this project again, I would have changed my slides a little, and added more to the project. I would have added a cladogram and visual representation of the food chain and how our animal, the Mantowausu, fits into it. I would also have added some more images to the slideshow/presentation. I also would have liked to make a website for our animal that went along wth our project further exlaining our anima and it's adaptations. But I think that I managed my time well, which is an imporvement, and worked hard to get this project done and do it well.

Mantowausu | A Flying Rain Forest Cat

Evolution is a huge part of life on planet C. A mysterious, dangerous and interesting alien plant. Full of rain forests, poisonous plants, insects, birds, fish, monkeys, and huge dangerous snakes. On this strange planet, the Mantowausu was born. The Mantowausu used to be a leopard, but when challenged with the harsh and strange environment of Planet C, it chose to take its own course. It started with a mutation, one leopard's DNA was mutated so that it had wings, this trait was passed on and better developed, then through natural selection, those with wings lived longer to reproduce and passed on the trait. Then being separated from Earth's leopards in an act of genetic drift, those Mantowausu's with larger fangs and harder paws, survived longer. Able to catch food and fight back against their slithery predators, they live long enough to reproduce and pass on their traits. The Mantowausu then had another mutation. It now had oils that would release into its fur to keep it dry in the moisture of the rainforest. The Mantowausu has developed a diet for birds, fish, and a smaller monkey if it can catch it. The Mantowausu nest in crooks of trees far off of the ground to avoid the poisonous plants, as the adult's paws are hard, the poison can't enter their body, but the young paws are still soft and vulnerable. Through many adaptations and struggles, the Mantowausu has come to grow into its environment and live a good life.

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SP3: Conducting Investigations

The Mantowausu is a very interesting animal that took a lot of time to create. We had to investigate all of the properties and unique traits that the Mantowausu would possess. We investigated all of the things that the Mantowausu would need to survive and how it would get it. It was a difficult but fun process that I very much enjoyed.

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XCC: Stability and Change

The Mantowausu went through a lot of change to become stable in its environment. It had to adapt and change to fit the climate and ecosystems on Planet C. It also had to keep a stable life and living practice that kept it alive and safe. This was a huge thing. Without change, the Mantowausu would have never become stable enough to continue to live and would have died out. The Mantowausu needed the change to become stable and learn to live in its environment. Change and stability really affect animals and evolution. It is the process in one phrase, changing over time to become more stable and safe as a species.

Cladograms and Common Ancestors

Cladogram Vertebrata by Biology Dictionary Editors

One of the most common things known amongst people who have studied evolution is that we all share a common ancestor. But how do we figure out which one we are the closest related to? The simplest thing to use is a cladogram. A cladogram shows us traits that certain organisms share, who their closest relative is and what common ancestor is shared most recently between organisms. A cladogram consists of a line climbing diagonally upwards, diagonal lines branching off of the baseline, the name or a picture on the top of one of the branches and a list of traits shared by the organisms as we go further up the diagram, below the baseline at certain points. To make a cladogram you first identify all of your organisms. Then you make a table of the organisms and their traits. Go through the table, it the organism has the trait, put a plus sign, if it doesn't, put a minus and if you don't know, put a question mark. Then make a Venn diagram, but not your usual two circles Venn Diagram. Start by drawing one big circle. At the bottom, put the most common trait and the organisms that share it. Then draw another circle inside that first circle. In this one write the next most common trait and the organisms that share it. Continue to do this until you have listed all of the traits. You are now ready to build your cladogram. Draw a line at the bottom of your diagram, this line represents time. Then draw a line branching off of the one you just drew, for every organism you have. Leave space at the top. You will then look at the center of your Venn diagram, you will most likely have one organism and the trait that only it has. Take that one organism and put it on the line at the front of the baseline. This would be the most recent. Then put the trait that it shares, beneath it where the organisms line meets the timeline. Then move o to the second smallest circle in your diagram. You then choose the organism that is not yet on your cladogram. Place it and the trait on the cladogram. Repeat these steps until all of the organisms and traits are on your cladogram. You can now figure somethings out. At the spot where the organisms line meets the line of time, you will have a common ancestor of that organism and the ones above it. The closer the organism is to this spot, the more recent the common ancestor, the closer they are related. You can also use this to figure out what two animals are more closely related. If they share a more recent common ancestor, they are more closely related. You can use cladograms to sort and classify organisms, as well as figure out things like common ancestors, close relatives and who the organism evolved from. Cladograms tell us a lot of things, no wonder they are so common.

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SP2: Using Models

A cladogram is a big model that helps scientists all over the world to understand organisms. Cladograms help people to figure out many things. But to make a cladogram you need other models. These include Venn diagrams and tables. These are two very useful, visual, diagrams that can help you no matter what you are looking for. Cladograms and the process to get them includes many models that make life easier for people.

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XCC: Structure and Function

Cladograms are a type of structure that has many functions. A cladogram is a simple structure of lines and words. It has many different functions. These include showing us traits that are shared, like spikes, claws and hair. It also shows us who certain organisms are more closely related to. Like Bears and Birds or Bears and Monkeys. They also show us common ancestors, like bacterias and other more recent and complex organisms. Cladograms are simple to construct, and tell you a lot about certain organisms, this is why they are used so often.

The evidence for Evolution | How we know that we evolved

 

Evolution Evidence by Jane Partsch

We know that evolution occurred in earth history. But how and why do we know this? There are 5 things that show us that evolution occurred and that it is happening. This is morphology, the fossil record, Comparative Anatomy, Homologous Structures, and Embryology. Morphology is the change in physical characteristics. The fossil record is observation seen in preserved organisms from the past. Comparative Anatomy is the comparison of living organisms. Differences and similarities in living things. Homologous Structures are structures that have different mature forms in different organisms but develop from similar embryo's. Embryology is the study of embryos. This all tells us that thing have evolved. This is because they show that some characteristics have changed over time. Which is basically the definition of evolution. They compare different things to find out how things are similar and different from each other, showing us ways that certain organisms evolve.

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SP1: Asking Questions, Defining Solutions

Have you ever wondered how evolution works, why it works and how we know that it happened? How do people know that we didn't just land on earth by unknown means, and just look somewhat like animals? I have. But it turns out that there is a ton of evidence on this subject. This evidence supports evolution and not some weird space landing. Evolution does happen, it uses different methods to drive it and evolves life. We will always have questions, and the only way to get rid of them is to define its solution,

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XCC: Patterns

Patterns are seen everywhere every day. Some are small, others are big. Some change your life and some are just part of it. But every day the patterns keep going. Evolution is a huge pattern. Always repeating itself. Changing organisms, then going and changing them again. All in a never-ending cycle, all in a never-ending pattern. Not only does evolution show a pattern, but our evidence of evolution also shows one. The evidence is like a pattern. When you compare human arms to those of other animals, you find that it looks similar, this happens no matter what you compare. Pattern. No matter what kind of pattern it is, humans tend to miss them. But if we took a moment to look around, life's patterns might just give us a clue on how to live ours.

Darwin's Finches | Darwin's Revolutionary Breakthrough On Evolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin%27s_finches

Charles Darwin is one of the most widely known scientists around the globe. Charles Darwin made a major step in the realization of evolution and helped us get to where we are, right now, in our studies of it. Without him, we wouldn't know a lot about evolution. Darwin started to come up with the theory of evolution, whilst on his stay in the Galapagos islands. Darwin discovered different species of finches, all very similar, but with different beaks and adaptations. They were different shapes, sizes and differently adapted, but all could have shared a common ancestor. So, why were they so different. The more that Charles Darwin looked into this, the more he found. Darwin used his finches to come with yet another amazing discovery. For Darwin also came up with the basics of the process of natural selection. Darwin found that each beak was different from the other. On islands with lots of rainfall, islands that produced a lot of new soft seeds, smaller beaks were the popular trait. The dominant trait. But on islands that were drier, and produced less, older and harder nuts, the larger beaks were more common. This has to cause some wonder on why, if they were all from the same common ancestor, did they have different beaks. This is because of natural selection. This meant that the finches, all on different islands, started to see changes. For instance, one island gets a ton of rain for ten straight years. Many of the smaller-beaked birds are finding it easier to get food. This soon becomes the growing trait. Since the island can't hold millions of these birds, the birds with the trait that is not needed, starts to die off. Eventually, we are left with the smaller-beaked finches. Another example would be on an island with a drought. The seeds are too tough for the small beaks of the smaller-beaked finches, to break open and eat. But the larger-beaked finches find it easy to open the tough, large seeds. The smaller-beaked finches start to die of hunger, while the larger-beaked finches become more popular and continue to reproduce. Eventually, the smaller beaked trait, dies out and we are left with the big beaked trait. There is a lot of stuff that we can learn from the world around us, we just have to look. Charles Darwin looked in the right place at the right time and discovered something truly amazing, something groundbreaking. He discovered the beginnings of evolution.

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SP3: Conducting Investigations

Charles Darwin's theory was a very complex one. The theory of evolution has many different pieces and parts that must go together to make the picture whole. I conducted an experiment on the many pieces and parts that went into Darwin's discovery of such a life-changing cycle that happens in front of our eyes. I investigated the difference and evolution of Darwin's finches and came to the conclusion that the finches had adapted to become a better fit for their environment. This along with the process of natural selection made the finches what they are today, and gave us our knowledge of evolution.

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XCC: Stability and Change

Change happens all around you. leaves change color, people change age, seasons pass by and organisms grow. But somehow, our world stays stable. The change not being able to throw Earth off. Just like evolution. Evolution is a change in the gene pool after a long period of time. Change in the gene pool. This change helps the organism become more stable in their environment and situation. It helps to keep the organism from toppling off of its stand, into total chaos. Evolution is the change that allows stability of a species to be possible. We evolved from apes but were able to stay stable and alive. With the help of evolution, we are where we are today. We are who we are today. Without stability and change, our world would be plain and boring. Nothing new and a big old mess. We take change in different ways, depending on who we are, how big it is and how much it affects us, our lives and our feelings. But we always seem to let little things pass by, and not notice the things and cycles and process within them. Keeping them changing and stable.

Evolution, The Greatest Show on Earth

What is Evolution? by yourgenome.org

When life started, we had only single celled, simple, life forms like bacteria and algae. How did we get to a point where life is so diverse, different and complex? Evolution. Evolution is a change in heritable traits that can be seen across many generations. It is change that happens over time. Lots, of time. You have most likely changed and are different than your great grandparents. Over a long period of time, you changed. This change might be seen in your mother, and possibly, in your kids. This is evolution. You have a change in your heritable traits that can be seen across many generations. But why did change happen? What caused the evolution? There are five main driving forces of evolution. Natural selection, mutations, genetic drift, genetic flow and mating choice. Mating choice is when you mate with a person because they have the same trait as you or a trait that you like. This means that you are choosing to pass on a certain trait. If this happens for long enough, one trait starts dying off, and the other thrives. Evolution.

Genetic flow is when people, carrying a certain trait, enter a different population. It then introduces that gene into that population's gene pool, therefore causing people to get that trait. A black fly decides that it is going to go and live in a blue fly population. The black fly mates with a blue fly, and the black fly trait enters the gene pool. Overtime, more of the blue flies, start to turn black because of the black fly trait. Evolution.

Genetic drift is the gradual loss or increase in genes in a population. Therefore causing certain traits to become more or less common, making changes in the heritable traits that the population has. A green eyed person mates with a blue eyed person. The offspring has green eyes. The blue eyed trait starts to die out in the population until it is gone and people continue on with their lives and live without it, changing the way that the population looks. Evolution.

Mutations are random changes in the DNA of a person. These can be good, bad or neutral. These new changes in the DNA can be passed on through the population, eventually changing it. The cat population has pointy, straight, ears. One cat is born with floppy ears, it's offspring now has floppy ears. This new trait is added to the gene pool and becomes more common in the population, changing the way that the cats looked. Evolution.

Last, but not least, natural selection. Natural selection is where there are at least two traits in the gene pool and one helps the organism survive better than the other. The part of the species with the bad trait dies off before they can reproduce, the part of the species with the better trait reproduces more. Therefore, the trait that is more successful will become more common and be passed on more, making it dominate and change the population. An island is home to a species of birds. They come in two colors, green and blue. The blue birds get eaten more often because they stand out more. The green birds mate and their offspring are green. The blue bird trait eventually dies out because the environment can't support their reproduction, and they die too soon to reproduce often. The green bird trait lives on, making the population be all green. Evolution.

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SP1: Asking Questions, Defining Problems

What is Evolution? How does it happen? And why does it matter? These questions are shown through millions of years of history, and all throughout today. Evolution is a way that a population changes due to mating choice, genetic drift, genetic flow, mutations and natural selection. Without evolution, we and many other species, like dogs, whales and more, wouldn't be here. This planet has changed throughout time, and with it, we came. We may be a small bit of it, but we are in Earth's history because of evolution. By studying these questions, I have formulated my own opinions and definitions, about evolution and the beginning of life.

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XCC: Cause and Effect

Evolutions is one of the biggest examples of cause and effect in life. It show the basics of cause and effect. Mating selection, is the cause of a trait to become more or less common, driving evolution and effecting the way the population is. Genetic flow causes different traits to be added to the gene pool, driving evolution and effecting the population by adding diversity. Genetic drift causes certain traits to increase or decrease in size or number. Effecting the populations size, diversity and traits. Natural selection can cause whole traits and parts of populations to disappear, lost to evolution. Effecting whole parts and systems within a population. Evolution causes life to be the way that it is now and causes it to change going forward, making it better and diverse. Effecting the way that life is lived and populations grow. All we can say is that evolution, has taken us a very, long, way.

WAC | We are not part of a 6th mass extinction

              There have been 5 documented mass extinctions. But people are wondering, are we part of a 6th mass extinction? And if we are, is it because of us? No, as a matter of fact, we aren't part of a mass extinction. In the AEON article We are not edging up to a mass extinction by Stewart Brand it says, "Viewing every conservation issue through the lens of extinction threat is simplistic and usually irrelevant. Worse, it introduces an emotional charge that makes the problem seem cosmic and overwhelming rather than local and solvable. It’s as if the entire field of human medicine were treated solely as a matter of death prevention. Every session with a doctor would begin: ‘Well, you’re dying. Let’s see if we can do anything to slow that down a little.’” We aren't in a mass extinction, we have polluted the Earth, cut down animals habitats and just straight up killed animals and plants. But even with all of that, our actions are a fraction when compared to the events of mass extinctions in the past.

                 Over our time on Earth, species have gone extinct and their numbers have dropped. But these numbers are nothing compared to the numbers of the past. They are only a fraction of the destruction. In the Atlantic article, Paleo Expert: Earth is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction by Eric Worrall, it says, “‘So you can ask, ‘Okay, well, how many geographically widespread, abundant, durably skeletonized marine taxa have gone extinct thus far?’ And the answer is, pretty close to zero,’ Erwin pointed out. In fact, of the best-assessed groups of modern animals—like stony corals, amphibians, birds and mammals—somewhere between 0 and 1 percent of species have gone extinct in recent human history. By comparison, the hellscape of End-Permian mass extinction claimed upwards of 90 percent of all species on earth.” Also in the Newsy article, Scientists Can't Agree If We're Really In A Mass Extinction by Sarah Schlieder it says, “Stewart Brand, president of the Long Now Foundation, says current rates don't signal a mass extinction because the past five wiped out at least 70 percent of all species in a relatively short time. He says current rates are too slow for us to be in the middle of one.” We may have killed species and caused them to become ‘endangered’ or ‘threatened’, but our actions are a fraction of what happened in the other 5 mass extinctions.

                Many people are interested in conservation and keeping animals alive and well. Fortunately, we have enough time to do this. If we were in an actual mass extinction, by this time, when we are noticing it, it would be well on its way and irreversible. If we were in a mass extinction, conservation would not be as big as it is now, and things would be dying at a higher rate. In the Atlantic article, Paleo Expert: Earth is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction by Eric Worrall, it says, “‘People who claim we’re in the sixth mass extinction don’t understand enough about mass extinctions to understand the logical flaw in their argument,’ he said. ‘To a certain extent they’re claiming it as a way of frightening people into action, when in fact, if it’s actually true we’re in a sixth mass extinction, then there’s no point in conservation biology.’” Another thing is that in the AEON article We are not edging up to a mass extinction by Stewart Brand it says, “The five historic mass extinctions eliminated 70 percent or more of all species in a relatively short time. That is not going on now. ‘If all currently threatened species were to go extinct in a few centuries and that rate continued,’ began a recent Nature magazine introduction to a survey of wildlife losses, ‘the sixth mass extinction could come in a couple of centuries or a few millennia.’”The rate of extinction is simply not moving fast enough for us to be in a 6th mass extinction, we don’t have enough organisms gone in the amount of time since we evolved on this planet for us to be in a mass extinction.

                Some people say that our carbon dioxide levels and greenhouse gas emissions could and are causing a mass extinction. They believe that our carbon leaks and emissions are causing a sixth mass extinction. In the MIT News article, Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction by Jennifer Chu it says, “Taking this reasoning forward in time, Rothman predicts that, given the recent rise in carbon dioxide emissions over a relatively short timescale, a sixth extinction will depend on whether a critical amount of carbon is added to the oceans. That amount, he calculates, is about 310 gigatons, which he estimates to be roughly equivalent to the amount of carbon that human activities will have added to the world’s oceans by the year 2100.” Well, this evidence and prediction does seem good, the problem is that this would have already happened if we were in a mass extinction. He states that this could happen by 2100, but that is in almost a century and might not even happen until later on. His argument is good, but it does not show that we are currently in a mass extinction.

                Finally, we are not in a 6th mass extinction because of global warming. While we are in global warming, that doesn’t mean that animals will all die and we will go with them. In the AEON article, We are not edging up to a mass extinction by Stewart Brand he says, “But just because organisms are sensitive to change doesn’t mean they are threatened by it. Any creature or plant facing a shifting environment has three choices: move, adapt or die.” Also, “Evolution is far more rapid and pervasive than most people realize. The activity of all organisms all the time is summarized in the title Relentless Evolution (2013) by John Thompson. As Chris Tomas, a conservation biologist at York University in the UK, told New Scientist last year: ‘It is only recently we have come to realize quite how much evolutionary change is going on.’ What we might be seeing in response to climate change, he suggested, ‘is starting to look very much like a global acceleration of evolutionary rates’.” Global warming may be a big thing, and it is very important. But Global warming does not mean that we are in a 6th mass extinction, we are just going through a rough time.

                There has been 5 devastating mass extinction recorded in Earth’s history. They wiped out many species and organisms completely with only room for those who clung to life and struggled to survive. But we will not be made the 6th. While many people say that the evidence shows this, the evidence does the opposite. Life is lived happily when optimism is part of the equation, all the news about the 6th mass extinction is putting unnecessary fear into people. Global warming and animal conservation is an important topic and people should care about it, but not because it could cause a mass extinction because it is important to care. Many people think different things, we all have different views, but that is part of being human. So next time you think about the dinosaurs, be glad that you aren’t in their situation.