Module VI: The Atmosphere

Before getting into the meat of this week's essential question, I had a few thoughts about the relevancy of the course as a whole. A couple weeks ago when we did our module covering earthquakes, I spoke of living in Los Angeles and Anchorage, both plate boundary areas. At the time I did not mention living in Chile, for whatever reason it did not pop into my head. Of course, the 8.8 quake of this last week reminded me, quite tragically, of the Nazca-South American-Antarctic plate boundary. The contrast between the recent Haitian and Chilean earthquakes also highlights the cultural link with catastrophic events. How two events can have such different results really boils down to the culture of the area - especially when the one with a significantly lower loss of human life was 500 times MORE energetic. Chile is toward the top of the so-called "developing nations" and many multi-national corporations have their South American offices there. This has bled over into the infrastructure of many parts of the country, especially those with a higher population density. This is in contrast to the economics of Haiti, where one of the unfortunate parts of their culture is continuous poverty and, often times, mere survival. This contrast clearly illuminates the human side of catastrophic events and not only do they continually change the Earth in drastic and immediate ways, but also change us. Now for Module VI: The Atmosphere...

Module VI, Essential Question:
How are the Earth, atmosphere and cultures all connected?

"Everybody lives downstream from somebody else."
- Dr. Jim Crawford

While studying the physics of the atmosphere this week, especially the Contaminents in the Food Chain video, I was reminded of a lesson taught to elementary school students, one variation of which is called, "There is no such thing as away..." During this lesson elementary-aged students study what happens to their trash after they throw it "away." They follow the life cycle of a product to the landfill and then years down the line as it decomposes (or doesn't). This is a great introduction to the law of the conservation of mass and begins to highlight the interconnectedness of populations from a materials perspective. If you remove it from your house, it has to go somewhere. It seems to me that industry could have used this simple lesson years ago as it applies to global atmospheric physics. We have continually put materials into the atmosphere thinking they simply "go away." As the ARCTAS video surprisingly shared, we have measured air quality locally (both industrial and things like I/M tests) and come to live with that, thinking the "pristine" Arctic and Antarctic were unaffected. If you live in Los Angeles, for example, you know that you will have hazy days, but the studies have been done and you've come to live with it, not realizing that level of contamination is reached because much of material is being transported to other places.

A particulary hazy day in Los Angeles. (photo: wunderground.com)

As we have studied the physics of the atmosphere more carefully, we have discovered that the differences in pressure and temperature across the globe have created gigantic conveyor belts that, in some cases, can carry materials to the other side of the world in days and have them enter the food chain within a matter of weeks. I cannot think of a more glaring example of how the Earth, atmosphere, and cultures are connected than a pollutant from industry in Europe showing up in an Arctic mammal relied on for hundreds of years by subsistence hunters - which of course would lead to it showing up in the subsistence population itself. This, in particular, is a powerful extension of "there's no such thing as away," and a great way to get students thinking about the interconnectedness of the globe.

Studying the mechanisms and effects of climate change is also a good way to show the interconnectedness of the atmosphere and culture. Many of the places most drastically affected by increased global temperatures are places that have had very little contribution to the pollutant agents of such change. In addition to more energy being absorbed and radiated back in our atmosphere, pollutants also reduce the albedo of our planet by darkening highly reflective ice and snow. Another big question is, when the Arctic opens up for industrial transportation and much of the area becomes nothing more than ocean highway, what kind of effects will that have on the human and non-human populations in the area and how will it further exacerbate change? And again, are the populations most benefiting from the industry the same as the ones most suffering?

All students have experienced the physics of the atmosphere, whether it was a quick change in weather, a steady wind in a certain area, or even a beautiful sunrise or sunset.

A massive burst of rain in Cabo Pulmo, BCS, Mexico, depositing over an inch of rain in 24 hours in a region that gets less than 10 inches a year. Video: B. Walker

These experiences are a good jumping off point to get into the basics, such as the Six Principles of Weather video in the module. By having students pick a certain weather event they have experienced and then tracing its origins using atmospheric physics and the transfer of energy, one can use constructivism and inquiry to help students understand an otherwise very dry concept (no pun intended.) Additionally, each facet of weather, such as pressure, can be taught separately through such engaging demonstrations as boiling and freezing water with a vacuum or showing students that air does have mass, which causes pressure pushing down on us, also using by using a vacuum and putting a student in a garbage bag and sucking out the air inside. Another way to study the mass of air involves balloons and a ruler. The National Geographic video with the guy surfing is also a good way to show this as the physics of such a feat clearly demonstrate air being a substance and therefore having a mass. Another way is to set the classroom up like the Earth system and show how pollutants, such as lighting a match on one side of the room, travel to other parts of the system. You can experiment with different temperatures and pressures as well by using various household things like heaters, vacuums, and open/closed doors and windows.

Although the physics of how the atmosphere operates are complicated, like those of the oceans, the general idea of the law of conservation of mass shines through lessons such as "There's no such thing as away," and illuminate the simple fact of the interconnectedness of the Earth and how this influences other cultures, whether its pollutants from one place actually showing up in another or the effects of global climate change having a disproportionate impact on certain areas. How we deal with this is a whole other issue and one that deals with many facets of our global culture, including economics, psychology, sociology, politics... the list goes on and on. It is imperative, however, that when we teach these units in science we bring up the cultural parts of the nature of science. Sometimes this can be taught in tandem with a social studies teacher, other times it is worth the class time to remind students that science is, after all, a human endeavor. In regards to climate change, for example, we have used abridged versions of Tragedy of the Commons and the Kyoto protocol as seminar documents during an interdisciplinary unit.