Bailie Kroll- Science Methods

      Week 14: Science of Climate Change Learning in Lab : This week in lab we looked at the science behind climate change and how it affects the atmosphere. We started by viewing a video that explains a background of the science behind climate change and how the greenhouse gases that are present in our atmosphere both help and contribute to the effects. The greenhouse effect looks at how solar radiation is either absorbed or reflected within Earth's atmosphere. A greenhouse gas such as Carbon Dioxide, absorbs the infrared light from the sun's rays and re-emits it throughout Earth, therefore this heat does not leave the atmosphere and creates a "blanket". We interacted with this concept through a Phet simulation where we tested how infrared light interacts with different greenhouse gases. Our results show that the following gases absorb and re-emit infrared light in differing amounts. We then looked at how the massive influx of CO2 in the atmosphere since the Industri...

     Week 13: Climate in Iowa Learning in Lab : This week in lab we continued our discussion over climate change and the immediate implications that it will bring within the next decade. We started our section by discussing the pedagogical approach of coupled inquiry and how it benefits student learning. We were presented with data from Iowa statewide testing scores that show the students who used inquiry-based learning performed better than their peers who experienced a traditional style of instruction. Then, we practiced this idea of couple inquiry through investigating how climate change is affecting those right here in Iowa. My group worked with five different articles along with a series of graphs to develop a claim. It was interesting to see how climate change is affecting Americans, the CDC reported that over 600 people died weather related deaths last year. Iowa is also experiencing changes in climate such as a few number of snowy Decembers, higher rates of precip...