ActivPhysics motion simulations

For the Juniors

Click here to get to the ActivPhysics simulations. We need to go into Newton's Laws, and then simulation 1.3 Predicting motion from graphs.

WELCOME BACK, the 2019-20 School Year!!!

Welcome back to ETHS!! I hope you had a wonderful summer, and are looking forward to a fun, eventful and promising year!!

For juniors, everyday class materials will be on Doc V's school website, while the blog holds things like links to our how-to videos, research links and materials, extracurricular information, and more.

Looking forward to working with every one of you, as we pursue some physics and much more!!

Good research topic: Anything related to water-use efficiency

We now have one in four people on the planet living in regions that have dangerously high levels of water use compared to their water supply. This means some countries, including India with some 1.3 billion people, use 80% or more of its annual water resources each year. If there were to be an extended drought, for example, where the water resources do not refill from one year to the next, think about the consequences for the people living there. This has gotten to the point where organizations, including the U.S. military, run simulated war games to think about possible scenarios and consequences of mass migrations of people should water supplies literally dry up for major cities and regions. They also run similar simulations for coastal regions affected by rising oceans.

Clearly this is serious. Keep in mind that while climate change will be affecting plays some small role in this, the major factors are actually population growth and continued economic growth of the major countries along with increasing economic growth from developing and smaller countries. Since 1960, global population has gone from 3.0 billion to 7.5 billion presently. This is a 250% increase in population who need fresh water. Developing economies use enormous amounts of water for manufacturing plants of all kinds, as well as for agriculture and animals for our food supplies. Climate change will assist in making this a bigger challenge, but it is most heavily driven by population and economic factors.

If you want to help make the world better, any type of work or research into clean, fresh water resources and its efficient use are critical areas necessary for our survival that need smart, caring minds working on it!

Satellite technique to more accurately measure Antarctica ice movement

An interesting technique is now being used to measure the ice movement across the Antarctica continent, revealing a more accurate picture of what is happening over time. Check out this article and the map that has been produced. In the past, other techniques had large uncertainties, and therefore a range of best guesses of what would result over time. This satellite technique has greatly reduced uncertainties and scientists should be able to better predict and monitor what is going on with climate change and polar warming.