The movement of Earth and the movements on Earth are like a symphony. My favorite visual was the one where we could see the changes in plant life over six years. Of course my eyes kept being drawn to what is now Southeast Alaska, but in this and other videos, the movements of plants and currents and winds on the land and waters of Earth made plain that this planet corresponds and harmonizes with the greater symphony of the solar system and the galaxy whose images we’ve all seen. It made me want to think about the music created by all these movements, and about how suitably everything fits.
Available Hubble.org
Helpful Links:Here’s a great link to Nasa multimedia educational material—watch out! The live space video link made me dizzy.
As far as scientific subjects, I’m afraid that my speed is more suited to websites and explanations such as this one explaining tides, found at Oceanlink.island.net. But I did take a studious look at Ocean News’ History of Climate Change, and together with Module V’s information, I was able to overcome the dizziness that usually befalls me when thinking about the magnitude of our world, and scratch the surface of understanding.
The second video from this page of Encyclopedia Britannica online was a helpful reminder for me as well.
As a child in Juneau, when I would run and play all day long from one end of Juneau to the other, climbing mountains, exploring gold mines, splashing in pools, fishing off the docks, I do remember wading in the warm shallow water of the Gastineau Channel and being told that the water was warm because of a special current called the Japanese current that brought warm water all the way to our shores.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online Available http://www.britannica.com/bps/media-view?1
It turns out that the childhood pleasure of dipping my toes in warm water is related to the Kuroshio current, Western boundary currents, climate changes, and intertidal biodiversity. Somehow knowing that adds to my sense of the harmonics of creation.
Extend and Evaluate:
I’ve recently decided to explore ways that I might spend at least one more summer on the water, and all of these lessons will greatly contribute to my ability to answer questions and communicate with visitors to Alaska. In previous years, I managed to master the elements of long days and glacier movement and plate tectonics, but I’m confident that this series will increase and strengthen my knowledge and understanding.
There are two specific places along the Inside Passage where when we sailed by, the inevitable question always arose: what is that line of brown water? I would explain to the best of my ability that the brown water didn’t go all the way down, but in fact was fresh silt-bearing water from the Stikine or the Katzehin rivers floating on the denser saline water. Temperature and salinity! Thanks to this module, my understanding is stronger.
Three Colleagues:
I enjoyed Sandi’s blog for presenting a clear understanding of the science in this week’s module. The graphics in Kevin’s blog, along with his discussion, were also very helpful to me. Kenai Kathy’s blog was interesting and helpful for the same reasons.
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