U4 Geography
Environment pg. 74-78 Big Ideas
The environment is everything that is on, in, or
surrounding the Earth.
Everyone takes in oxygen and puts out carbon dioxide into the air.
The environment is made up of 4 parts: the atmosphere
(air), the hydrosphere
(water), the lithosphere
(Earth’s crust), and the biosphere (all living things).
The atmosphere allows us to breathe; it shields us from the direct rays of the Sun;
it supplies water
to the land; it provides plants the nitrogen/carbon dioxide needed to
grow.
The hydrosphere takes up almost 70% of the Earth’s surface; it includes the oceans, lakes, rivers, and the frozen polar ice
caps; our oceans supply most of the precipitation that falls on land.
The lithosphere is the Earth’s crust or surface and is up to 50 kilometres
thick made up of rocks and soils that
allow us to grow crops and provides us with natural resources like metals, oils
and natural gas.
The biosphere is the part of Earth where plants, animals
and people live.
Air is made up of nitrogen,
oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The ozone layer high up in the stratosphere of our
atmosphere blocks out much of the harmful ultra
violet (UV) light from the Sun which
can cause skin cancer.
Our ozone
protection weakens when we use air conditioners,
spray cans or refrigerators because chemicals like chlorine, fluorine and
hydrocarbons are released into the atmosphere.
When we burn fossil fuels like oil
and gas we release carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere; this causes higher temperatures and changes to Earth
systems – this called the greenhouse effect.
U4
Geography: Ecosystems Big Ideas pg.81-89
An ecosystem is a balanced arrangement of plants and animals in
their surrounding physical environment.
All parts of an ecosystem are related to
each other and depend on each other.
People, plants and animals are biotic
or living elements in an ecosystem.
Water and rock are abiotic or
non-living elements in an ecosystem.
A tropical rain forest, a coniferous forest or the
tundra are all biomes or vegetation regions
in an ecosystem.
All plants and animals in an ecosystem are struggling
to survive.
The food pyramid in an ecosystem is made up of
consumers, namely: omnivores (plant/meat
eaters), carnivores (meat eaters), herbivores (plant eaters), and producers and decomposers that break down dead plant/animal
matter and return nutrients to the soil.
Plants are producers – they make their own food by
using solar energy to change water and carbon dioxide into a kind of sugar they
use as food for growth – this process is called photosyntheis.
Changing any 1 part of an ecosystem changes the whole - it impacts the entire ecosystem.
If a species no longer exists anywhere on Earth because
i.e. people, pollution, predators or disease have affected the balance of
nature, then that species is said to be extinct.
The way humans interact
with the environment affects our well-being now and in the future. We are all responsible
for looking after the environment, just like Aboriginal peoples have known for
centuries how important it is to preserve the
environment for future generations.
Environment & Ecosystems Mini Prezi Team Task
What are we doing to go-green, to protect and preserve our city's environment and ecosystems?
Feel free to explore any of the suggestions listed below OR any topic of your choice from this particular chapter. Please let me know what your focus will be - explore an environmental issue that truly interests you.
Feel free to explore any of the suggestions listed below OR any topic of your choice from this particular chapter. Please let me know what your focus will be - explore an environmental issue that truly interests you.
·
LAND: With every new residential,
commercial and industrial development that expands Toronto, a city becomes an
artificial ecosystem – what was there before? what is there now? What’s
natural? What’s artificial? Find some real examples of the effects of urbanization.
Land contamination Toronto Star articles:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/1220470--contaminated-soil-found-at-toronto-school
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1292869--old-oaks-face-the-axe-a-major-loss-to-the-city-s-ecosystem
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1292869--old-oaks-face-the-axe-a-major-loss-to-the-city-s-ecosystem
·
AIR: What have vehicle emissions (cars,
trucks, trains, planes) done to our city’s air quality? Why does the weather
channel talk about smog advisory & air quality index particularly in the
summer months? What does our province do
to control emissions?
Air quality issues in Toronto:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/521720---good-air-never-gets-downtown
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/931177--air-quality-carbon-emissions-improve-in-gta-report-card
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/521720---good-air-never-gets-downtown
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/931177--air-quality-carbon-emissions-improve-in-gta-report-card
·
WATER: Where and how many water filtration
plants do we have in Toronto? How and what do our treatment plants filter out
of our water? What steps are taken? (See separation of mechanical mixtures in
your science text pg.64-65)
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1022104--lake-of-shame-ontario-s-pollution-problem
http://prezi.com/nlp7bpbzlmyj/lake-ontarios-pollution-problem/
http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1022104--lake-of-shame-ontario-s-pollution-problem
http://prezi.com/nlp7bpbzlmyj/lake-ontarios-pollution-problem/
·GARBAGE: Where does our garbage go? Land
fill? Burnt? Trucked out of the city? How much is our city recycling? Do
Torontonians litter?
Recycling issues in Toronto:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1146393--toronto-recycling-what-does-it-take-to-get-citizens-to-recycle-properly
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1142892--20-of-toronto-s-garbage-recycling-winds-up-in-landfill
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1263589---recycled-glass-out-of-sight-it-may-end-up-in-landfill-or-polluting-someone-else-s-air
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1106500--time-for-businesses-to-recycle-the-packaging
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1142892--20-of-toronto-s-garbage-recycling-winds-up-in-landfill
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1263589---recycled-glass-out-of-sight-it-may-end-up-in-landfill-or-polluting-someone-else-s-air
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1106500--time-for-businesses-to-recycle-the-packaging
Helpful link
