Coral Reefs

            Coral reefs are found around the globe in warm waters. Coral reefs are more diverse in continents of the East Coast. Corals are found in the Carribean, Florida, Brazil, California, Chile, or any Pacific Coast. Corals are members of the phylum cnidaria which they also share with jellyfish, comb jellies and sea anemones. There are no freshwater corals. Temperature in the water for coral reefs can drop below to 18 degrees celcius. Corals are made up of individual coral polyps whom are carnivorous. They are not autotrophic meaning that an organism that is is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide. Zooxanthellae helps the coral by giving the coral the byproducts of their photosynthetic activity. Also, zooxanthellae provides corals with diverse colors. Without color, the corals are white. The corals help zooxanthellae by providing them with an environment to live in. The corals can reproduce both sexually and asexually. On a few nights every year, corals will have a massive spawning event. In conclusion, I have learned many facts about coral reefs and I liked learning about it.

Resources: Science Class

The Coastal Zone

           A coastline is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A coastal zone is where sea and land interacts. It is often used to describe a geographic location or region. The coast and its areas are mixtures of fresh water and salt water in estuaries that provide nutrients. There are different types of coastlines. An emergent coastline experiences a fall in sea level. They are identyifiable by the coastal landforms which are high tide marks. A submergent coastline is one where the sea level has risen. Submergent coastlines are identifiable by their drowned landforms. Then, there is a concordant or adjacent coastline. This is where different rock types run parallel to the shore. Lastly, there is the discordant coastline. This is the feature that is distinctive to landforms because the rocks are eroded by the waves. There are animals like puffins, sea turtles, and rock hopper penguins. Sea snails and various barnacles live on the coast. Most coastal animals are used to humans like dolphins and seagulls. There are many types of seabirds such as pelicans and cormorants. The plants that are found in coastal area are kelp beds and seaweed. Corals and anemones are true animals, but they live in a similar place to that of plants. Mangroves, seagrasses and salt marsh are important coastal vegetation types. The coastal waters that attract divers are often the "breeding grounds of storms," and other weather surprises. Temperatures are very hot in coastal waters. At night time, temperatures may cool down. These are all of the things that I have learned about coastal waters.

Resources: Science Class

The Abyssal Zone

               The abyssal zone is a layer in the pelagic zone. It is located under the Bathypalagic. It is one of the many benthic zones meaning that it is found in the bottom of the deep oceans. This zone can reach at depths from 6,560 to 19,680 feet. The zone is also very dark. It never receives daylight. The pressure of the water increases one atmosphere every 33 feet in depth and animals must stand the tremendous amounts of pressure. Animals in the deep ocean are very unique. The food is scarce in this zone because most animals have large gaps to ingest any possible food. There are animals like giant squid, black swallowers, tripod fish, and dead-sea anglerfish. The temperatures are often cold in this layer of water. It has temperatures of 2 degrees celcius to 3 degrees celcius or 35 degrees fahreinheit to 37 degrees fahreinheit. Well, these are all of the facts I have learned about the abyssal zone.

Resources: Science class

Estuaries

             An estuary is an area where fresh water from rivers and streams mix with salt water from the ocean. Many bays, sounds, and lagoons along coasts are estuaries. Estuaries come in all shapes and sizes. Bays, sounds, marshes, swamps, and inlets are all examples of estuaries. The life on land and in the water includes mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, shellfish, and plants. Estuaries provide habitat to tens of thousands birds, mammals, fish, and other wildlife depend on estuaries. They are critical and important for the survival of fish, birds, and other wildlife because they provide safe spawning grounds and nurseries for the wildlife. Estuaries can be found anywhere. Water freezes at 32 degrees and boils up to 104 degrees. Changes in temperature can be cues for some animals spawning or migrating. These are all of the things that I have learned about estuaries.

Resources: Science class

Wetlands

              Wetlands are areas of water that supports aquatic plants. Marshes, swamps, and bogs such as moss are found in wetlands. The plant species is adapted to the very moist and humid conditions and this includes pond lilies, cattails, sedges, tamarack, and black spruce. Wetlands have the highest species in the diversity of plants in all of the ecosystems. There are animals such as amphibeans, reptiles, birds, such as ducks, and mammals can be found in the wetlands. Wetlands are not freshwater ecosystems. But saltwater, and freshwater can be found. Temperatures vary depending on the location of the wetland. Many of the world's wetlands are in temperate zones like between the North/South Pole and the equator. In these zones, summers are warm and winters are cold but temperatures are not extreme.

Resources: Science class

Lakes and Ponds

             A lake is a large body of fresh water. Lakes can range in size from small ponds to huge bodies of water such as the Great Lakes in the United States. Many ponds are seasonal. They last for a couple of months while lakes may exist for many years. A pond is a body of water that is shallow enough to support rooted plants. Many times, plants grow all the way across a shallow pond. The water temperature is even from top to bottom and it changes with the air temperature. There is hardly wave action and the bottom is covered with mud. Plants can often grow along the pond edge. In really cold places, the entire pond can freeze solid. Lakes are bigger than ponds, and it is too deep to support rooted plants except near the shore. Some lakes are big enough for waves to be produced.

             Water temperatures in lakes during summer months are not the same from top to bottom. The top layer stays warm around 65-75 degrees. The middle layer drops to 45-65 degrees. The bottom layer is the coldest, staying around 39-45 degrees. Since lights does not make it to the bottom of the lake, photosynthesis is limited to the top layer of the lake. During spring and fall, the lake temperature is alright. Fish and other animals are found throughout the lake. In cold climates, most lakes are large enough, so they don't freeze solid, unlike ponds do. During the winter months, some animals hibernate in the bottom mud. Some fish continue to feed, but they hardly do it actively all the time. A layer of ice can form on the top of lakes during winter. Then, the ice will blockout sunlight and will prevent photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis, oxygen levels drop and some plants and animals may die.

Resources: Science class

Streams & Rivers

                Rivers come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all have things in common. All rivers and streams start at a high point. The high point can be a mountain, hill or other elevated area. The water source comes from a spring, snow melt, or a lake starts at this high point and begins to flow down to lower points. The characteristics of a river or stream change during the journey from the source to the mouth. The temperature is cooler at the source. Eventually, all this water from rivers and streams will flow down into the ocean or an inland body of water like a lake. Streams and rivers can be found everywhere. The water is clear. It has high oxygen levels and freshwater fish such as trout and heterotrophs can be found there. Towards the middle of the stream or river, the width gets bigger, as does the species such as aquatic green plants and algae can be found. There is less diversity of flora because of the lower oxygen levels, fish that require less oxygen, such as catfish and carp can be found.    These are all the things that I have learned in class today.

Resources: Science class

Intertidal Zone

            The intertidal zone is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide. This area can include many different types of habitats. There are many types of animals such as starfish, sea urchins, and many species of coral. The areas where intertidal zones can be at steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, or wetlands. The temperature may range from hot to near freezing in colder climates. The intertidal zone is divided into three zones; low, middle, and high. The low intertidal zone, which borders on the shallow side is the subtidal zone. This zone is only exposed to air at the lowest of low tides. The mid intertidal zone is exposed to regular and average tides. The high intertidal zone is the splash zone where the zone receives splashes of waves from the tide. Where there are heavy waves, the intertidal zone will be affected and influenced by waves. There can be hazards like being smashed or carried away by rough waves. There is exposure to very harsh and warm temperatures. Typical organisms that could be washed up onto shore are urchins, sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, mussels, sea stars, and many gastropod mollusks. These are all the things that I have learned about intertidal zones. 

Resources: Science Class

Aging and Wrinkles

           My birthday is in eleven days on February 21. I am going to be 18 years old. I'm going to be an official adult. I can't wait, but I'm just getting older so that is not so exciting. My friends birthday is today and she is fourteen years old now. We all age everyday and year. Every year we have our birthday. We were all born a newborn. All of us were growing in our mothers' womb and then nine months later we come out as a baby.
           As we get older, we start to look older and some people get wrinkles and some have gray or white hair. There are many things to fix how old you look. Make up can fix how old you look and hair dye could fix your hair from grey to whatever color or white to whatever color. For wrinkles, you can probably fix it by make up or botox if you want to be on the risky side. Also, as we age, our hearing or eye sight can change because we are getting to that age where everything changes. So, basically we all age and get wrinkles some day in our lives.

       

The Maze Runner Ending

          When I finished The Maze Runner in class, there was a surprising turn of events in the movie. Alby was stung by a Griever in the maze and Minho tried to help him back before the gates to the Gladers were closing. Thomas rushes through the maze to help them, but the door closed behind them. Minho and Thomas picked up Alby and walked with him to try and keep him safe from the Grievers. Then, one Griever spotted Thomas and Minho and Minho ran but Thomas stayed and tried to help Alby over the wall. The Griever chased Thomas around the maze and the maze was changing and finally Thomas somehow killed the Griever. The Griever got caught between the closing walls and it died instantly.
         The next day Gally called for a meeting of the Gladers. Most of the group were excited that Thomas killed a Griever. There's another group though that felt that ever since Thomas got there, rules and things have changed. Grievers were attacking during the day. Then, the elevator arrived. The boys run to the elevator and there are no supplies, only a girl. She looks up and says, "Thomas." She passed out and in her hand there was a note that said, "She's the last one ever."
         Gally calls for Thomas to be punished because non Runners are not allowed to run in the maze when ever they want. He didn't like the fact that the girl knew who Thomas was. Newt said that Thomas can be locked up overnight without any food and starting the next day, he will be a Runner.
         A bunch of the boys go back into the maze. They took a look at the carcass of the Griever and what they found was a weird looking device that had an electronic display reading the number 7. The device also was marked with WCKD. They realize whoever sends the supplies also made the Grievers. Minho shows Thomas a map of the maze. There are different sections that open each day as the maze changes. Each outer section is numbered.
        Later the girl wakes up and she was on top of the tower throwing stuff at the boys on the ground. Thomas yells up at her and tells her it is him and she stops and lets him up. They start talking and he reassures her about all of their memories being erased. She remembers her name and her name is Teresa. They both have the same dreams where a lady is saying that, "Wicked is Good." When Teresa woke up she found two syringes in her pocket.
        The next morning Thomas and Minho go into the maze with the device they retrieved from the Griever. The device started making beeping noises and it guides them to a new section that Minho has never seen before. They get to a place where it is marked WCKD Loading Dock that ends up in a dead end but the device turned from red to green and it opened a new path. It leads to a tunnel. They go back to the Glade.
         Thomas decided to use one of the syringes on Alby for his injury from the Griever. It ends up making him better. Alby tells Thomas, "You were their favorite." Then, all the outside doors of the maze opened and a lot of Grievers come in and killed most of the boys and they destroyed most of their village. The Gladers use the second syringe and Thomas remembers how he got to the village. He confessed to everyone that he is one of the people responsible for everyone being there. After, the Gladers become divided into two sides. Thomas and his side and Gally and his side. Thomas and his group left out to the maze.
         Luckily, they found a way out. They look around and explore the place that they got to after the danger with Grievers. They watched a video of a woman and she told them all about why they were put there in the first place. Gally came after and he was stung. He pointed his gun at the group and was talking. Then, he shot and the bullet shot Chuck, a young boy, who was Thomas's friend. Gally was killed by a spear. In the end, guys that look like army men or special team guys came and took the group in a helicopter and they were taken to a safe place.