Aug 24, 2012  

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

IF YOU MISSED CLASS TODAY

In class today we did the following:  

1. Dr H reviewed some points from Topic #1 and Topic #2 which we covered on Monday & Wednesday . . . then gave a presentation on Topic #3 Quantifying Global Change.  
It included answers to Part B on Science Quotes from Wednesday's handout.

   Topic #3 On Quantifying Global Change: Scales, Rates & Time Series  [ PDF

2. As part of the presentation we watched a You Tube video from the 350.ORG website http://www.350.org/mission

 

3.  We also watched part of the classic POWERS OF 10 VIDEO. See the entire film here: http://www.powersof10.com/film 
Also visit the  Powers of 10 website - is a companion to the classic video by Charles & Ray Eames - has a blog

See additional Powers of 10 links on the GC 170A Webpage under GLOBAL CHANGE LINKS

4.  Lastly we began a class activity on Plotting Change over Time, Recognizing & Describing Different Types of Change as Depicted in Time Series Plots (on page 15-16 of CLASS NOTES).
     
  We started by drawing in the "mean line" for each type of plot -- finish it up on your own and we'll wrap it up in class on Wed.

 

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  P.S.  SCIENTIFIC NOTATION REVIEW:   Students were urged to "brush up" on the scientific notation rules on the bottom of  p 14 of CLASS NOTES.
            SGC-E-text Chapter 2  on Atoms also has a review and some practice questions.

Here are some more questions to brush up on your Scientific Notation (see bottom of p 14 in Class Notes and the chapter on Atoms in the SGC E-test for review)


REVIEW

Scientific Notation: (Brief review of the rules for those who need a "brush up")

Examples: 10 4  = 10 x 10 x 10 x 10

2, 578,000 = 2.578 x 10 6

0.000002578 = 2.578 x 10 –6

(2.5 x 10 6 ) x (3 x 10 -4 ) = 7.5 x 102

 PRACTICE QUESTIONS

 #
1  
(7.5 x 10 5) / (2.5 x 10 2 ) = 3.0 x 10 <=== what is the exponent? 

#2  The wavelength of ultraviolet radiation is 10 -7 meters = _____________ m

#3  The population of the world is ~ 6,000,000,000 people = _____________people

#4 The ratio of the diameter of the Earth (use “whole globe” on the Powers of Ten chart) to the diameter of a carbon atom (use “outer electron shell of C atom” in chart) is: ____________

Click HERE for the answers

 


ANNOUNCEMENTS:  

ALSO:

Be sure you've filled out and turned in your short background form.  You will be administratively dropped from the course if I don't get your form in soon.  
See previous Class Follow Up links for access to the background form.


IF YOU MISSED CLASS TODAY:  

  • Review the presentation for Topic #3 that you missed (by clicking on the presentation link above) & view the 350.org video (linked above) and the entire   Powers of 10 Video  (also linked above).

  • Review CLASS NOTES pp 13-16 and draw in the mean line on the plots in the Class Activity on Plotting Change Over Time on pp 15-16 in CLASS NOTES.   Try to write your own descriptions of each of the other plots, using Dr H's example for Plot 1.  We'll finish this up in class on Monday.