You and your family, as well as neighbors and friends fill up garbage pails for the trash man to take away at least once every week. Some of us separate items like plastic, paper, cans and bottles for recycling. This is a fairly new concept and is going a long way to help the environment. Instead of clogging up the earth with this non-biodegradable stuff, we recycle and use it over and over again.
But what about the other garbage that is not recycled; things like leftover food, wrappings, disposable diapers, and all the other products and materials that do not go into the recycle bin. Here is the basis for a good earth science project for science fair or just for general information purposes.
What you and your family do can make a difference. If everyone observed the best methods of helping to keep the environment clean, we will all go a long way towards being green. Garbage that is biodegradable is good for the environment. Garbage that is not biodegradable and is not recycled is very bad for the environment.
A "biodegradable" product has the ability to break down by biological means, into the raw materials of nature and disappear into the environment. These products can be solids biodegrading into the soil or liquids biodegrading into water. More good ideas for an earth science fair project or just for information.
In nature everything is biodegradable. Nature has perfected this system-we find new ways every day to screw it up.
The products we manufacture have been altered by industry in such a way that they are unrecognizable to the microorganisms and enzymes that return natural materials to their natural state. Instead of returning to the cycle of life, these products simply pollute and litter our land, air, and water. Look into this for an earth science project or for a science fair.
Leaves on trees are excellent examples of biodegradable products made in the spring, used by the plant for photosynthesis in the summer, and dropping to the ground in autumn, and assimilated into the soil to nourish the plant for the next season.
Soap is an organic product that is biodegradable. The soapy grey water from a single household may biodegrade easily in a backyard, however, if that soap went down a line that fed into a waterway with the soap used by a million residents that live along that waterway, there may be waves of soapsuds on the beaches, simply because more soap would be going into the waterway than it has microorganisms to biodegrade.
Here's how long it takes for some products to biodegrade:
Rags 1-5 months
Paper 2-5 months
Rope 3-14 months
Orange peel 6 months
Wool socks 1 to 5 years
Cigarettes 1 to 12 years
Leather shoes 25 to 40 years
Nylon fabric 30 to 40 years
Tin cans 50 to 100 years
Glass 1 million years
Plastic Forever
Try one of these interesting environment related science fair projects. You'll be surprised to learn what you can do about pollution.
Is solar energy really practical? Can this renewable energy source help get the planet back on track, and close the hole in the ozone layer?
Can the solar system turn a propeller? an you harness the energy of the solar system and get the sun to turn a propeller? Can be adapted to any grade.
Can I collect and store solar energy? You will attempt to use the sun to demonstrate just what solar energy can do. For lower grade levels.
What substance attracts and holds the most solar energy? All of you in the middle and lower grades who like to play in the sun will love this project. It's all about the sand and the water and other substances and how much sun they attract and hold.
What do people throw away? It's a garbage project! Learn how to sort, record, and calculate as you go through the trash. Great for elementary but offers lots of suggestions that could make this project very appropriate for middle school students as well.
Where in my neighborhood is it most polluted? This very enlightening project will help you to determine the most unpolluted area in your neighborhood. It will give you insights of how people are polluting the environment. Good for elementary grades.
How does environmentally friendly antifreeze perform compared to traditional antifreeze? Everyone should consider the impact of chemicals on our environment. In this experiment you can determine just how effective environmental antifreeze is! Great project for high school students.
How to set up an experiment in biogas (methane) production. Using organic wastes, a digester produces biogas that is similar to natural gas and can be used as a feasible energy alternative. This experiment will demonstrate the principals of a digester and the characteristics of biogas.
What are the effects of acid rain on seed germination and plant life? For all of you environmentalists who are aware that pollution is becoming a factor around the planet, here is a fascinating project that will enable you to really determine just what effect acid rain has on new plant life.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
An Environmental Science Degree
The world is changing faster now than at any time since the last ice-age 10,000 years ago and the major cause of that change is man. To allow the changes to continue unchecked is reckless at the least. Monitoring those changes and being able to convince others that we have to do or not do activities that affect the environment will take well qualified people with the relevant environmental science degree.
It has often been said that the education offered in colleges and universities are a direct response to the job market and the trends therein. If this is so then the future for professionals with an environmental science degree could not be much brighter.
After the industrial and the informational age, we are quickly entering the environmental age, where the environment and its characteristics are of paramount importance.
Never before, as a society, have we paid real attention to the environment and many would argue we still do not pay enough attention. Continuous exploitation of the earths natural resources and constant generation of heat and waste products have caused significant damage to the environment.
We live in an age where knowing, understanding and adapting to the environment is no longer a choice – it is the only way ahead. This age demands qualified professionals, especially those with professional environmental science degrees.
A number of allied degrees find their place alongside conventional environmental science degrees. Big business has, for a long time, been required to comply with safety and industrial security requirements. In industries like biotechnology, due to the nature of the products, there are numerous opportunities for disaster.
Disaster management and hazardous material management are fields of study that are very much in demand by today’s high technology industries. While often these studies are not comprehensive enough to be offered as science degrees by themselves, these courses are more often than not partnered with environmental science degrees as part of a package deal.
For the environmental science degree student, it can be an advantage. While pursuing their main course of study, they can get qualifications in a number of allied fields. This makes them thorough professionals and capable of entering a wide range of industries when they graduate with their environmental science degree.
As a result of the long-standing lobbying activities, the United States is home to some of the worlds largest and best funded environmental groups and many professionals, working for these groups, have environmental science degrees.
Jobs exist with government bodies, lobbying positions with political groups and corporate organizations, research positions with foundations and other research organizations. More opportunities exist in the environmental safety departments of leading oil majors and even faculty positions at colleges offering environmental science degrees. They all offer lucrative positions that professionals with an environmental science degree can hope to secure.
An environmental science degree does not deal with environmental topics alone. Due to the very nature of their work, professionals who acquire an environmental science degree need to be equipped with allied subjects like compliance, law, criminal justice, and public communication.
The courses of study that ultimately lead to a environmental science degree are varied and interesting. Someone with an environmental science degree is likely to be tasked with protecting our environment as a result we need the very best!
If you have a concern about the World we live in or a desire and determination to do something to improve a steadily deteriorating habitat, then an environmental science degree would be an excellent place to start.
Anyone aspiring to be an environmental professional would typically need to go in for a BS Environmental Science Degree before going for an MS or a PhD in Environmental Studies.
Environment science degrees are offered in all major colleges and universities across the United States and the Western World. An environmental science degree can be taken full-time, part-time or by distance learning so whatever your circumstances you can contribute.
It has often been said that the education offered in colleges and universities are a direct response to the job market and the trends therein. If this is so then the future for professionals with an environmental science degree could not be much brighter.
After the industrial and the informational age, we are quickly entering the environmental age, where the environment and its characteristics are of paramount importance.
Never before, as a society, have we paid real attention to the environment and many would argue we still do not pay enough attention. Continuous exploitation of the earths natural resources and constant generation of heat and waste products have caused significant damage to the environment.
We live in an age where knowing, understanding and adapting to the environment is no longer a choice – it is the only way ahead. This age demands qualified professionals, especially those with professional environmental science degrees.
A number of allied degrees find their place alongside conventional environmental science degrees. Big business has, for a long time, been required to comply with safety and industrial security requirements. In industries like biotechnology, due to the nature of the products, there are numerous opportunities for disaster.
Disaster management and hazardous material management are fields of study that are very much in demand by today’s high technology industries. While often these studies are not comprehensive enough to be offered as science degrees by themselves, these courses are more often than not partnered with environmental science degrees as part of a package deal.
For the environmental science degree student, it can be an advantage. While pursuing their main course of study, they can get qualifications in a number of allied fields. This makes them thorough professionals and capable of entering a wide range of industries when they graduate with their environmental science degree.
As a result of the long-standing lobbying activities, the United States is home to some of the worlds largest and best funded environmental groups and many professionals, working for these groups, have environmental science degrees.
Jobs exist with government bodies, lobbying positions with political groups and corporate organizations, research positions with foundations and other research organizations. More opportunities exist in the environmental safety departments of leading oil majors and even faculty positions at colleges offering environmental science degrees. They all offer lucrative positions that professionals with an environmental science degree can hope to secure.
An environmental science degree does not deal with environmental topics alone. Due to the very nature of their work, professionals who acquire an environmental science degree need to be equipped with allied subjects like compliance, law, criminal justice, and public communication.
The courses of study that ultimately lead to a environmental science degree are varied and interesting. Someone with an environmental science degree is likely to be tasked with protecting our environment as a result we need the very best!
If you have a concern about the World we live in or a desire and determination to do something to improve a steadily deteriorating habitat, then an environmental science degree would be an excellent place to start.
Anyone aspiring to be an environmental professional would typically need to go in for a BS Environmental Science Degree before going for an MS or a PhD in Environmental Studies.
Environment science degrees are offered in all major colleges and universities across the United States and the Western World. An environmental science degree can be taken full-time, part-time or by distance learning so whatever your circumstances you can contribute.
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