Earthquake

This week's news has been bombarded with varying reports on the destruction in Port-au-Prince after Tuesday's 7.0 earthquake. In light of this Mr. Prendergast announced after mass on Wednesday that all missions donations this month will go to the relief effort. In science this week we read an article about the earthquake, what people have lost, what they now need and how they are surviving. There were many repeted questions and thoughts after reading the article. You can read some of them below.

Questions:
Why is Haiti so poor?

What caused the earthquake?

Why wasn't it as bad in the Dominican Republic?

How can I help the people in Haiti?

What is the name of the plate that caused this earthquake?

Thoughts:
"Maybe this was God telling us to pay attention to Haiti and help them because they need it."

"We should help people after this disaster as much as we can."

"Haiti will need help being rebuilt. We should help them rebuild safe buildings."

"It's good that so many world leaders have responded as quickly as they did."

"It's a tragedy and I am sad for all the people trying to find their families."

"I hope rescue workers can get there quickly."

"I'm thankful that the this tragedy did not happen here."


In response to some of the questions here are a few details about Tectonic plates.

Tectonic plates are what make up the Earth's crust. The plates are on average about 50 miles thick and they float on top of the Earth's Mantle. The mantle is made up of liquid magma which has currents just like ocean waters do. These currents keep the plates in constant motion. Each year plates may move a few inches. There are three different ways the plates can move:

Divergent - apart from each other. This happens at mid ocean ridges (MOR). One of the most commonly known mid ocean ridges runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This is also called a spreading center. The Atlantic Ocean becomes a few inches wider each year because of this movement.

Convergent - closer together. This happens at subduction zones. An example of a subduction zone is the coast of California or Japan. In fact there are subduction zones on most edges of the Pacific Ocean. This circle is often referred to as the Ring of Fire because of the volcanic activity that subduction can create. Subduction zones often have the most violent earthquakes because one plate slides under another plate.

Strike-Slip Faults - parallel to each other. This is the type of fault involved in the earthquake in Haiti. The San Andreas Fault is also this type of fault line.

In the instance of Haiti, USGS reports that the Caribbean plate moved eastward creating the earthquake. The fault involved is called the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault. It has not produced much movement in past years, however has been involved in major earthquakes in the past. This is the worst earthquake Haiti has seen in the last 200 years.

Keep the people of Haiti and the aid workers in your prayers.

Science Fair

Science fair is hitting the home stretch. Students have completed their experiments and are formatting their results into charts, tables and graphs to present on their boards as well as in their written reports. We will take a brief break to review for mid-terms and then we will return to writing conclusions and an abstract.

Students are coming to class with great questions about their projects and about how to use the scientific method to draw logical conclusions. It's great to see the students excited about their projects and how much time they have put into researching and learning about their topic.

The Science Fair will be held during Catholic Schools Week and there will be some evening hours where parents are welcome to come view the projects with their students.

Review of Literature

A sigh of relief has been heard in each science class as students hand in their review of literature papers. As I read through the drafts I can see the time and effort students have put into researching and writing these papers. From descriptions of great physicists, chemists, and biologists to explanations of conductance and photosynthesis, each paper has gotten to the heart of the experiment. Congratulations to all the students who turned in their first review of literature!

Simple Science Ideas

Nelson Mandela decided it wasn't right that rights had been taken away from his tribe along with others who called their home South Africa. Why was he less capable than anyone else to take part in the government of his nation. Thus he began a life long journey dedicated to closing the gap of human rights that existed in South Africa.

Wangari Maathai, born in Nyeri, Kenya, became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. After earning this degree she returned to her community with the idea that forests were a necessary and relied upon natural resource and began planting trees with local communities. Her ideas spread throught Africa and many countries now participate in "Green Belt Movement" activities.

Muhammad Yunus provided micro-loans to basketweavers in Bangladesh from his personal funds on terms that they were able to hold themselves to. Thus allowing them to purchase equipment to build their bussiness and escape from poverty.

As you are brainstorming topic ideas for your science fair project I encourage you to follow in the footsteps of these Nobel Peace Laureates. Identify a simple problem, use the scientific method to quantify the problem and possible solutions. The best projects are origional and simple.

Wangari Maathai accepted the award indicating her intent was to teach people how to identify a problem, analyze the possible causes, decide on possible solutions and decide on one. This is the process science fair projects are intended to teach. Take a look around you and identify an issue in your community and consider what you can do to remidy the issue.

" I have always believed that solutions to most of our problems must come from us."
Wangari Maathai

The Full Lecture can be read here.

Science Fair

Science Fair is off to a great start. The 6th Graders are especially enthusiastic to investigate their questions. We are going step by step to develop stellar science fair projects that each student will be able to present with pride. Our school fair is set to occur during Catholic Schools Week in February. All students will present their projects for judging during the day. In the evening parents will be invited to see the great work the students completed.

On February 11th there will be a Catholic Schools Fair where the top three projects from each grade will have the opportunity to present for the next level of judging. It is a great honor to be invited to participate in this fair and a great opportunity for the students to showcase their abilities to the wider community.

I am looking forward to seeing the students progress through this process.

Clouds Today

I couldn't help but notice the clouds this afternoon while I was standing next the pool coaching swim team. We read in class that contrails, the clouds formed by airplanes disturbing the air, under the right conditions, can turn into large stratus clouds. I watched it before my eyes this afternoon. There were many persistent contrails, over time some of them were getting wider and becoming stratus clouds. Some cumulus clouds were also beginning to form. It must have been just the right conditions for clouds to form and expand. I wonder how often the conditions are right for contrails to expand into stratus clouds.

Energy

The 8th grade is researching different forms of energy and learning about renewable sources and non-renewable sources of energy. Each student has chosen a different source of energy to study and create a poster about. These posters will be shared with the class and hung in the lab and classroom. With the current focus on using renewable sources of energy it will be interesting to see the pros and cons the students discover for each energy source.