Understanding Measurements in Environmental Science

Transcription

1 Understanding Measurements in Environmental Science After completing this lab, a student will Have a reference for distance using a natural stride Be able to pace out an acre Apply understanding of land area to environmental issues Calculate the volume of the clock tower Apply understanding of volume to environmental issues Describe an estimate of the relationship between volume and weight Apply understanding of weight to environmental issues How to use your body to estimate lengths. 1) Using a tape measure, measure out 30 feet. Starting at one end, place your heel at the end of the tape measure. Walking normally, take 10 steps forward. Note the distance to your toe on the front foot and record it below. Repeat that 2 more times. Take the average. You will use this measurement later in the lab. Also figure the length of one stride by dividing the average by 10. Trial Length of 10 strides average Length of 1 stride 1

2 Understanding an Acre An acre is equal to - 1/640 of a square mile or 43,560 square feet - A rectangle that measures 66 ft. x 660 ft. o Or approximately ft. x ft. o Or approximately 104 ft. x ft. Estimating an acre using your stride: 1) We will measure out a square acre. That means you need to determine how many strides it will take you to walk 208.7ft. Put that number here: 2) Using flags, have your first group member plant a flag and walk ft. Plant a second flag. 3) Have that group member turn 90 degrees and walk 208.7ft perpendicular to the first line. Plant a 3 rd flag. 4) Have that same group member turn in 90 degrees and walk another 208.7ft. Plant the 4 th flag. 5) The walking group member should now walk back to the first flag and verify that it is 208.7ft between the first and 4 th flag. 6) The dimensions should be verified by all group members. Each group member should walk the perimeter of the square and double check the dimension of each side of the square. 7) Are you all in agreement? Why or why not? Applying land area to agriculture 1) A typical American diet for one whole year can be grown on this one acre. If there are 24 students in your lab, how many of these acres are needed to feed the class for the year? 2) In Spring 2016, there are about 1900 students attending FM. How many acres would it take to feed this community? 3) A vegetarian diet requires about 1/6 acre. How many acres would be needed to feed the students at FM if they all were vegetarian? 4) Fill in the table at the end of the lab with your figures for this section of the lab. 5) PICK UP THE STAKES!! Estimating volumes 1) What is the volume of the clock tower? a. First measure the foot print of the tower in feet. i. How wide is the tower? ii. How long is the tower? b. The tower is about 57 ft. from the side walk to the top of the brick. What is the volume of the tower in cubic feet? c. 1 cubic foot is about 7.5 gallons. How many gallons would fit in the clock tower? Applying volume to agriculture 2

3 2) From the movie cowspiracy, how many gallons of water did it take to produce a hamburger? 3) How many burgers could be produced by a column of water the size of the clock tower? 4) If one student ate a burger each day for a year, how many clock towers full of water would be needed? 5) If all students at FM ate a burger each day for a year, how many clock towers full of water would be needed? 6) Fill in the table at the end of the lab with your figures for this section of the lab. Applying volume to oil 7) A barrel of oil is 42 gallons. How many barrels of oil would fit in the clock tower? 8) In 2015, the US consumed 7 billion barrels of oil. The population of the country in 2015 was about 320 million people. How many barrels of oil per person were consumed in 2015? 9) If each student at FM used this amount of oil in 2016, how many barrels of oil would be required? 10) How many clock towers full of oil would this be? 11) Fill in the table at the end of the lab with your figures for this section of the lab. Estimating weights 1) A basic rule of weight is a pint s a pound the world around. How many pints are in a gallon? 2) About how much does a gallon weigh? (Remember this is a rough estimate some material weighs more than this, and some material weighs less). 3) How many pounds of material would be represented by a mass the size of the clock tower? 4) 1 ton = 2000 pounds. How many tons of material can the clock tower hold? Applying weights to coal 1) In 2014, the US consumed 918 million tons of coal. How many tons of coal per person is this? How many pounds of coal per person is this? 2) How many pounds of coal were consumed for all the students on campus? 3) How many clock towers would it take to enclose this amount of coal? 4) Fill in the table at the end of the lab with your figures for this section of the lab. Applying weights to municipal solid waste 5) In 2013, the average American produced 4.4 pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) each day. How many pounds of MSW is this for a year? 3

4 6) For all the students on campus, how many pounds of MSW is this? 7) How many clock towers would it take to enclose this amount of material? 8) Fill in the table at the end of the lab with your figures for this section of the lab. Applying weights to industrial solid waste and total waste production 9) Another 137 pounds of industrial solid waste (ISW) is produced per person per day in the US. How many total pounds of solid waste are produced per person in the US? 10) How many pounds of solid waste (MSW and ISW) are produce per person each year? 11) For all the students on campus, how many pounds of solid waste is this? 12) How many clock towers would it take to enclose this amount of material? 13) Fill in the table at the end of the lab with your figures for this section of the lab. Applying your knowledge to the US and the world. 1) There are currently about 320 million people in the United States today. Fill in the column for the US in your table. 2) The world population is currently 7.4 billion. Assuming each person in the world required the same resources as the average American, fill in the World column in your table. 4

5 Complete the following table: Acres required to grow a typical American diet Acres required to grow a vegetarian diet Gallons of water required if each person at one hamburger/day/year Clock towers full of water needed to supply a burger a day for a year Barrels of oil consumed 1 student All FM students (population 1900) United States (population 320 million) World (population 7.4 billion) Clock towers full of oil required each year if each person used as much as a typical American Pounds of coal consumed Clock towers full of coal consumed if each person used as much as a typical American Pounds of MSW produced Clock towers full of MSW produced each year if each person used as much as a typical American Pounds of total waste (MSW and ISW) produced Clock towers full of total waste (both MSW and ISW) produced each year if each person used as much as a typical American 5

6 Answer the following questions in Google Drive: 1) Fill in the table. 2) There are about 323 million acres of arable land in the US. Is this enough to grow food for the US population? Why or why not? 3) There are 3465 million acres of arable land in the world. Is this enough to grow food for the world population? Why or why not? 4) What is the most surprising thing see when you look at the data in the table? Why is this surprising to you? You will be graded using the following rubric: Follows instructions Table Quality of answers 2 points 1 point 0 points Assignment completed on time. All questions completed and all parts of each question are addressed fully. All cells are completed and correct Questions are answered directly using the information shown in the table. Most questions are answered; some parts of some questions are not answered fully; and/or Assignment is late (lose 0.5pts/day points will continue to be taken off the entire assignment for each day late; including points from other rubric categories). All cells are completed; most are correct Most questions are answered directly using the information shown in the table. Assignment is more than 4 days late and/or most questions are not completed. Some cells are completed or most cells are incorrect Most questions are not answered directly and/or do not include information shown in the table. 6