Last Friday, we discussed about our field trip and where we went. Today we are going to discuss the importance of sea turtles, what's happening to them and what can we, The students, can do!
Sea turtles are important (and created) because they, like all other animals, are part of the ecosystem and food web (It's roles is that it eats jellyfish, sea cucumber, crustaceans, and corals and eats a certain amount of sea grass) and if they just, suddenly disappear, then, the ecosystem will break down because one, then two, then four, then a lot more will become extinct because just one species disappeared. This happens because usually one species is dependent of another (usually for food) and if one is extinct, then the other species has no other way to get food (unless they are omnivores). Yet changing main food source also has a complication, the ecosystem becomes imbalanced, just like when the dinosaurs became extinct, the ecosystem became imbalanced then. More information here: Ecosystem: Anthropogenic threats; Planetary Boundaries: Biodiversity Loss; Balance of Nature
Yet, they are made extinct slowly by us, the humans! This is because we hunt, steal their eggs, litter, etc. just for our benefit (although littering isn't to our benefit). One of why they are dying is Global Warming, the heating of our planet, caused by greenhouse gases (like water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone). These greenhouse gases trap the heat, heating the planet.
But wait, why are they dying of Global Warming? Global Warming heats the ice caps, thus making the sea level rise and submerging the beaches and then, there will be no more nesting ground for the sea turtles. Also, sea turtles are sensitive to heat. Once the heat exceeds a level, they die.
Only 1% of the baby sea turtles get to live because of natural predators. Even a smaller percent get to live if you include humans. As 6th Graders, We can increase the percentage by:
1. Turning off lights near the beach
Baby sea turtles are attracted by any form of light (supposedly only moon light) to get to the ocean. Light bulbs can confuse the baby hatchlings to go there instead of the ocean. Even worse, they get attracted to light from fire and go into the fire and going to a fiery grave.
2. Reducing the amount of garbage we throw and cleaning up trash we see on the beach
Sea turtles can become tangled in plastic and trash both on the shore and in the water. Discarded items such as fishing lines, balloons and plastic bags may also be confused for food and eaten by sea turtles, usually killing them.
3. Being aware of sea turtle nesting areas and avoiding nesting and hatching turtles
Sea turtles are cute, and therefore tempting to touch and observe – but flashlights and people disturb turtles when they are nesting, or trying to nest, on the beach. Make sure to give nesting areas plenty of space, and do not disturb females as they come from the ocean looking for a place to nest. Also be conscious of where nesting areas are so that you can avoid stepping on the hatchlings as they head to the water.
4. Reducing the amount of chemicals you use
The chemicals you use in your home can actually wash into the coastal waters – killing plants and animals. It is extremely important to properly dispose of toxic chemicals and, even better, find products with less or no chemicals such as biodegradable solutions.
5. Lessening waste and pollution emission
Waste and pollution are the sole purpose why there is Global Warming. Using alternatives to the car can lessen the pollution emission and recycling can lessen the waste emission.
6. Not siding the opponent
Products made using sea turtle shells may be beautiful and sea turtle eggs may seem tasty, but this ensures the production of more products similar to these and the extinction of the species. Avoid these at ALL costs.
So, are you the pawikan saver, or the Grim Reaper of sea turtles? That's it for now! Cheers, Hope you had fun, Thank you for reading and PEACE!
External Sources:
http://www.ask.com/question/ecosystem-imbalance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas
http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?%20page=whycareaboutseaturtles
http://www.fws.gov/northflorida/SeaTurtles/Turtle%20Factsheets/you-can-help.htm
http://www.defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/five-things-you-can-do-to-save-sea-turtles.pdf
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Our field trip to... (Pt. 2) - Save Them All!
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From Mass:
ReplyDeleteContent - 7/10
Coherence - 5/5
Creativity - 4/5
Voice - 5/5
Mechanics - 5/5
Text Layout - 5/5
Graphics & Multimedia - 4/5
Intellectual Honesty - 5/5
Total: 40/45
I am not as good as grading as I hoped, so i'll do my best. 1st of all, punctuation. Too many commas and ands in the second paragraph(counting the short one before it). 2nd, how to help increase percentage of marine turtles no. 1, RO last sentence and grammatically incorrect. No. 5 the 'why' is grammatically incorrect and it should be 'purposes'. No. 6 Not siding 'with' the opponent. Aside from all that, it was good, you didn't stray from the main topic and it was a good idea to add the links instead of just URLs. Sound like only one person writing, eliminating the plausible chance that it might all of a sudden sound different. You could have added more pics or possibly a gif(if you wanted). Overall, it was good and i hope your posts come out better and more appealing to the eye.
Here is your score:
ReplyDeleteContent - 10/10
Coherence - 4/5
Creativity - 4/5
Voice - 4/5
Mechanics - 3/5
Text Layout - 4/5
Graphics & Multimedia - 5/5
Intellectual Honesty - 5/5
Comments - 8/10
Peer - 40/45
TOTAL: 87/100
Your post is rich in information. However, you have to improve on the mechanics of capitalization, use of punctuation marks, subject-verb agreement, and syntax. You should have hyperlinked also the sources of your answers to question 3. It was very obvious that they were cut and pasted.