Winter Break Bordem - Science Videos

This summer I had the wonderful joy of watching many talented YouTube artists make videos on our favorite topic: SCIENCE! Sure, we're a little late for the beginning of the year but just in time for Winter Break!

Here are a few of my favorite videos from this summer. If you find yourself wanting to learn some science this Winter Break but don't want to read those dusty textbooks check out some of these Youtuber's other videos.

1.) Paul G. Hewitt teaches the "Conservation of Momentum"
This video isn't new (2008) but it does show an entertaining way to teach a physics concept that can be difficult for students to grasp. Hewitt is a physics teacher, among other things, who is well known in the  science education world for writing a physics textbook that helped teach through analogies. His analogies and demonstrations not only make science more interesting and easy to understand but they are fun too!

2.) NPR (National Public Radio) is absolutely wonderful. They have a website and YouTube channel and their content ranges from politics to music and even science! This video here from NPR answers the question "How heavy is a hurricane?" Can you guess the weight of a hurricane in whales? The answer may surprise you.

3.)Vsauce- Michael Stevens is a science writer and the host of Vsauce. This channel has many interesting videos; some on video games, science news, fun things to-do online and nifty things people have created. Vsauce has a few side channels as well, including vsauce2, (new) vsauce3, and vsaucegaming. This video explains why people are ticklish and why some people think it is actually painful.

4.)Veritasium- America is definitely not the only country with scientists. This vlogger is from Australia and did his Ph.d on teaching science through videos. This video explains common misconceptions about temperature by interviewing people on the streets in Australia. Go ahead, watch this video and learn why some materials feel colder than others.

5.) Crashcourse is a new Youtube channel created by two brothers. Each brother tackles an AP subject. The first two subjects were World History and Biology. This is the first video in the Biology segment. (Just now starting is a segment on Ecology.) If biology is your thing you should watch these videos that are done by Hank Green, who got his Ph.D in environmental biology.

6.)ASAPscience - I recently came upon this science channel. Their tagline is "Got a burning question?" They have about 50 videos on many different topics in science. Ever wonder why people get hangovers? Want to know know about the age of earth? Or maybe you just wondered how Spiderman's powers work, this is the channel to keep an eye on.

7.) Is astronomy more your thing? SpaceLab is a youtube channel that has playlists of astronomy related things. They also have connections with the International Space Station. Neil DeGrasse Tyson has been interviewed a few times on their channel and their normal host is... Bill Nye the Science guy!

8.)SciShow is the place to go for science news. This channel is written and hosted by Hank Green (of CrashCourse) and mainly focuses on science news. There are some videos of explanation and even a few on labs you can do at home.

9.) MelodySheep - Lastly, this channel takes clips from movies, documentaries and speeches about different topics and turns them into a catchy auto-tune song of science! 

Pop-able Pollutants Explained

It is best to say that people around the world are finding ways to go green.  We are noticing that most products we consume affects our Earth.  Through observations and experiences we've seen how our future generations are also affected.  One of the common environmental problems is water pollution.  Many water sources are being filled with toxins.  Our lakes, oceans, rivers, streams, and ground water are being contaminated with a toxin known as phosphate (pronounced fos-fate).  This white powdery (in)organic nutrient can be dissolved in water.  Similar to nitrogen, it is commonly found in fertilizers and detergents.  When too much phosphate is being drained into the water, it becomes hazardous.

Courtesy of http://fairforall.org.

When phosphate finds its way into water sources, it begins to feed many organisms.  It fertilizes many of the plants causing an exponential growth of algae, known as algal bloom.

China algae out break.  Courtesy of http://www.ctv.ca

 Algae's function in the water system is to collect and provide oxygen in the water. When there is too much algae, two things can happen. 
One:  An excessive amount of oxygen is produced and suffocates aquatic creatures.  
Two:  Sunlight will not reach certain algae to produce energy or nutrients which causes them to die.  As the algae decompose (or die) at the bottom of the water bed, it releases toxins which eliminates the oxygen in the water.  No oxygen means no life for any of the water plants or creatures. 


Can you imagine all the areas affected by algal blooms?

Resources:
Photo of phosphate.  Retrieved from http://fairforall.org/2011/01/28/the-western-sahara-conflict-is-closer-than-you-think/

Algae Alternative Inc.  (2005).  Laundry detergent ingredients. Retrieved from http://www.laundry-alternative.com/detergentsinfo.htm

City of London. (2012).  Understanding phosphorus, the need for reduction and the effect of too much phosphorus on the environment. [24 January 2012]  Retrieved from  http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Sewer_and_Wastewater/Phosphorus.htm

The Associated Press.  (2010).  Big algae bloom expanding off China's east coast.  Retrieved from –http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20100625/algae-bloom-china-100625#ixzz1kM3uiZj5


Additional Websites:
National Geographic (2010).  World's largest dead zone. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100305-baltic-sea-algae-dead-zones-water/

Making an algal bloom.  http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/fisheries/7_a.html

Pop-able Pollutants

Before consumers knew that their products affected the environment, many laundry detergents contained an ingredient called phosphate. Phosphate minerals remove hard water minerals, prevent dirt from clinging back to clothes, and create suds; but phosphate is bad for the environment. This experiment helps us observe the amount of phosphate that could be in the detergent by the suds buildup in the container.

*Phosphates is no longer found in laundry detergent, but there are other detergents that might still contain phosphate in their ingredients.*

Materials:

(1) Three clear containers of the same size with a lid 
(jars or water bottle)

(2) Three detergents (with various percentage of phosphate)  

(3) Water

(4) Scissors, ruler, permanent marker, teaspoon, and paper

Procedure:

[Step 1] 

Take a blank piece of paper and a ruler.  Draw points in 1 centimeter increments. 

[Step 2]

Cut out a strip to use as a bendable ruler.

[Step 3]

Place the marked paper against the bottle.  Make sure  0 centimeters is aligned with the bottom of the bottle or jar.

[Step 4]

Mark the centimeter increments on the the bottle or jar using the permanent marker.

[Step 5]

Fill the bottles with water to the halfway mark. 

[Step 6]

Fill each bottle with a teaspoon or proportionate amount of  specific detergent.

For these 14 oz. bottles we added half a teaspoon or less of detergent. For 16 oz. bottles it is suggested to use a teaspoon of detergent.

[Step 7]

Seal the bottle and shake the solution. 

For the experiment there should be 3 trials.
Trial 1:  Shake for 1 minute.
Trial 2:  Shake for 5 minutes.
Trial 3:  Shake for 10 minutes.

[Step 8]

After mixing the solutions, observe the amount of bubbles that have been created.