Greenhouse Gases and Scenarios Oh My!

     There is a relationship between greenhouse gases and global climate change; that relationship is that as we add more greenhouse gases to our atmosphere the more we change our global climate! Now don't get me wrong greenhouses gases are not all bad, we do need some to get the greenhouse effect going and keep the earth habitable because without it Earth would be a COLD place to live because no heat would be trapped here. Our problem is that we are adding far too much extra of these different gases into our atmosphere which is increasing the greenhouse effect which in turn is causing/helping global climate change to happen.

     Climate models are very neat in that they let us see what could happen in a lot of difference scenarios. These models give us insight into what the possible outcomes would be if we do not fix the problems we have now that are leading to GCC. The models also can let us see what would happen if we could decrease our impact on GCC. They help with uncertainties in that they help us see them and what is happening with them so they are not quite uncertain about them anymore.

     For me there are bits and pieces of each scenario that seem very likely to happen within the next 100 years. I think it was put best in the IPCC's Special Report on Emission Scenarios: "By 2100 the world will have changed in ways that are difficult to imagine – as difficult as it would have been at the end of the 19th century to imagine the changes of the 100 years since." I'm sure people that were living here 100 years ago never would have pictured the technology we have now or all of the environmental problems we have now; just as it is difficult for me to imagine what it will be like here on Earth 100 years from now. I think that as of right now I can see us really falling into A1FI (using fossil fuels) just because it seems so "easy" for the time being. I can also see the world population growing and growing as in scenario A2, although I do think in time (maybe not 2050) population growth will start to slow down due to more education for poorer nations where populations are booming. I hope in my lifetime I am able to witness us move into a scenario like A1B where we can start relying more on alternative sources of fuel and start moving away from fossil fuels.
    

Climate Forcings and Feedbacks

         In the United States the most prevalent climate forcing include: dust, smoke, soot, and aerosols; while the most prevalent feedbacks include: an increase in clouds (which will actually sometimes help in cooling the Earth), precipitation ( this evidence is not completely conclusive some data predicts and increase in precipitation while other data predicts a decrease), and sea level rise (this would effect Americans who live on the coast although we are not completely sure how much/how fast the sea level will rise).
      
        There is so much information on the topic of GCC that it is almost overwhelming for a "newbie" like me to pick out the best of the best. One website that I would like to use with my students is : http://www.realclimate.org/  (it actually even gives you many other websites to go to if you are just starting out with the topic of climate change which is great for my students and myself to get up to speed with the information and the terminology that is used). Another site that I started checking out for my students and myself is: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html which is set-up for students to use and created by the EPA. There is even a link to educator resources at the bottom of the page which includes ways to use the site in the classroom and links to other sources!
  

Conections to 21st Century Education

NASA, STEM, and PBL all are a great fit for 21st century eduction! NASA helps make the transition into 21st century learning because they are leading the charge with new technology and giving us the resources to help students learn about this technology. STEM is all about getting students to think critically and to solve problems by either using technology or creating technology which is what 21st century education is calling for in our classrooms. Lastly PBL forces students again to think critically by giving them a problem (just as the "real world" will in the future) and then working with peers come up with a solution to the group problem.
These three things together greatly add in helping students become better prepared for what they will encounter when they get out into the working world.

Web 2.0 Tools... How Much Fun!

   After looking over the list of web 2.0 tools the one that really caught my attention was having students use blogs. This is my first time blogging, I've ready many different blogs but have never really had anything "important" enough to say to the world. After looking into blogging I see how it would really get rid of the "walls" that the quiet students put up in a classroom setting and lets them share their ideas without having to see anyone face to face. I think blogging would also get students to put more thought into their ideas because they are posted for the world to see and hopefully they would want to put their best foot forward.
    Blogs would be great answering probing concept questions, having students explain what happened during their lab and why they found the results they did, doing a group project and having the students comment on each others' blogs to keep the project moving without having to be in the classroom. I have seen many great ideas on using blogs in the classroom!!