integers 6.1 corrections & hmwrk

geography big ideas environment & ecosystems

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.

·         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. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9AZfwfyATI  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPqfGQTPqEU  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYwZiiORYG8

  Land contamination Toronto Star articles:

http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/article/856342

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

·         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?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7T37Y1cwc

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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

·         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/

·GARBAGE: Where does our garbage go? Land fill? Burnt? Trucked out of the city? How much is our city recycling? Do Torontonians litter? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZaDemRzJ10   

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

Helpful link

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/environment/pdf/gds_discussionpaper_2.pdf