1st & 2nd Law of Thermondynamics Proposal.

I  think that we should do a video on the parts of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics explaining reversable, and irreversable processes. There are many types of processes a system can go through, and it is divided into the two groups reversable and irreversable processes. A reversable process is a process that after it is finished can go backwards and end up where it started. A irreversable process is a process that can’t go back and restore itself. Processes that occur in nature are irreversable. 2nd Law of Thermondynamics says that heat flows naturally from a hot object to a cold object. Heat won’t flow from cold to hot. I think in the video we should expand on this & give examples of certain types of irreversable and reversable processes. As well as explain the two laws in detail.

energy.

1 – Which forms of energy are involved?

2 – How is entropy illustrated in each example?

Example : A glass cup sitting on a table is at its potential energy. As the glass falls to the floor it is in motion, kinetic energy. When the glass hits the floor it shatters, and is dispersed. The only way for this shattered glass to be restored is to pick it up and put it back together, requiring additional energy.

Example : A handful of change (pennies, nickels, etc.) is being held level. Once you separate your hands the change falls to the ground and is scattered everywhere. As it falls it has kinetic energy, while as when in the handful it was at its potential energy. After the change is scattered about it requires extra energy to restore it to its original state.

Example : A hose to fill up a bucket of water. The hose is placed in the bucket. As you turn on the water it takes energy, and the water is at its potential energy before it starts moving turning it into kinetic energy. The water then flows through the hose and drops into the bucket, falling and hitting the bottom. The water was then dispersed throughout the bucket, leaving it in a different state then it started. Extra energy would be required to get the water back to where it started.

1. Q – What energy contributes to greenhouse gas emmision?

A – Direct use of fossil fuels at home, buildings, industries, electric power sectors, and transportation.

(http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/greenhouse_gas.cfm)

2. Q – What do greenhouse gases do?

A – They trap solar energy, using it to heat the earth.

(http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-greenhouse-hamburger)

3. Q – Has anything been developed to reduce greenhouse gases?

A – Yes, a renewable energy source, but it is contributing more to global warming than fossil fuels.

(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2507851.ece)

4. Q – How much has greenhouse gases effected the earth so far?

A – In the last century it has raised the temperature of the earth about .5 degrees C.

(http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/greenhouse.htm)

5. Q – Is nuclear power higher or lower than renewable sources of energy?

A – Higher, but lower than all fossil fuels.

(http://a4nr.org/library/globalwarmingclimatechange/07.2008-bsovacool/view)

Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District

Nicewicz Farm.

Nicewicz Farm was bought by the owner’s grandmother in 1929. It has been around for quite a while. At first the farm was a peach farm rather than an apple farm. Now and then at the farm there were enormous amounts of cranberries located at a nearby bog. Once there were also cows at the farm where they could sell milk. When the farm hit a hard time they had to sell wild blueberries to keep the farm. After awhile the owner got serious with the farm and started selling to stores. At first all of the items were sold as whole sale , not retail. Now everything is sold retail. Peaches, plums, nectarines, pumpkins, corn, squash, beans, and other vegetables are all grown there. This farm cut its pesticide use in half. They use a red croquet ball coated with a sticky substance to catch pests. At the farm they use these to catch bugs so they can identify them. The farm needs certain pesticides for different kinds of bugs rather than just using a wide range pesticide. The pesticides are alternated because the bugs or insects could eventually become immune. Every time a generation is immune to a certain pesticide, more are released. (1) The apple maggot is a big concern on the farm. Apple maggots that are female will lay their eggs just under the surface of the skin of the apple. Bacterial decay is in the apple after these insects leave trails and tunnels. On the outside the apple looks distorted and soft, even rotten. This is why farms use red spheres that mimic apples. The sticky coating on the outside of the apple catches many bugs as they land. These spheres catch the majority of insects before they lay their eggs on the real fruits. (2) Also, in Massachusetts, no organic apples are grown. There are a lot of damages from pesticides and such. The old insecticides killed a broad spectrum of insects whereas the new ones target specific insects. This helps to kill more insects but also requires more use. On site, there is a 500 gallon tank of pesticide for the farm. The farm is about 100 acres, using 30 acres to farm. There are about 110 peach trees on the farm, and you can pick those in august. There are also fifteen different varieties of peaches grown on the farm. (3)

 

(1) http://www.seedman.com/pest.htm

(2) http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suffolk/grownet/Tfrinsct/eatapple.htm

(3) http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2007/08/22/keeping_georgia_off_your_mind/

buffone garden.

We recently visited the Buffone Garden and learned about composting. We started to compost brown paper napkins in the dining hall. We took all of the napkins, sorted out everything that wasn’t supposed to be in the compost bins, and dumped all of the paper napkins into a composting bin at the garden. Along with leaves that were picked up from the ground around and in the garden. We discovered that worms like to hide in dark places. There are thousands of different kinds of warms living today. Worms live in soil and eat small plants, small animals, and some eat decaying matter. (1) We use worms to compost at the Buffone Garden. There are three different types of composting, Worm composting, Backyard composting, and Grasscycling. All three are good ways of composting with your surroundings. (2) We also found out at the Buffone Garden that 11 degrees Celsius is where the temperature of the compost stood, as well as the outside temperature. The sun was not shining directly on the compost bin, making it harder for it to warm up. If the sun had been on the compost bin it would have heated more. The bin would have reflected some of the rays, and absorbed the rest.  Before I learned about compost I didn’t really know what it was all about. Composting really helps with the growing of fruits and vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Composting provides rick nutrients which reduces the need for fertilizers that are harmful. Composting also holds moisture better in the soil, preventing drought. (3) At the garden there was also frost. The frost really dried out the leaves of the plants. They were brittle and were broken and torn very easily. Most of the flowers were droopy and falling apart on the plants also. There are hardly any plants left in the garden, some eggplant and squash. Lettuce is still there also. The Buffone Garden looks like it has changed very much since we started there. The environment has too, getting colder and the foliage.

(1) http://42explore.com/worms.htm

(2) http://www.recycleworks.org/compost/index.html

(3) http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/compost.htm

Coopers Hilltop Dairy Farm.

We had been learning in class all different things about milk. By going to the farm, we saw how the everyday process works. Cows are milked twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. On the farm, they use electricty to milk the cows because it is more efficient. They also use electricity to run the freezers and refrigerators, can the milk, wash the milk bottles, wash the cows, electric fencing, etc. The cows are in very close quarters in a barn where they are fed a mixture of corn and grains. After milk is collected from the cows, it is heated to get out any unwanted bacteria in the milk and then is sent through a small tube that is very cold, which cools the milk. After the milk is all bottled up and ready to go, a truck picks up the milk from the back end of the freezer outside of the farm. This milk is transferred to places that may not have milk or need milk. Orange juice from Florida is shipped up to the dairy farm also. Cows only have bottom teeth, and since they don’t always chew their food the best the first time, they need to regurgitate it. They chew their food, swallow it, and then do the process over with that same food to make sure it is chewed well. Cows also produce milk from what they eat. They have two stomachs to do so. At the farm they do not let the cows outside a lot because most of the cows will eat and eat the grass and not stop, which would make them very sick. Once there is a disease upon the cows, that one cow that has the disease is removed and isolated hoping not to spread to other cows. They also don’t use a ton of antibiotics at the farm, they like to keep it at a minimum. On the farm, the ideal is one inch of a rain a week and the rest sunshine. They also breed cows depending on weaknesses between the cows. If a mother cow is weak they will breed her with a strong male cow to make up for her weakness. The goal is to keep making better cows to produce milk. Every cow has a baby about every year. After one is born they start the process over.

the garden.

Today at the garden I saw some of the different kinds of foods that could be grown in New England. I also learned that locally, it can be used. The food is given to the elderly, helping them, and is also picked by the people around the garden. The vegetables and fruits are also for the people who plant them. To see a garden in the area that it was in was kind of out of the ordinary, and I never knew there was a garden there until today. There were tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans, sunflowers, squash, corn, pumpkins, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and other vegetables and fruits in the garden. There were also bees & ladybugs in the garden, helping to pollinate the plants. I saw that some of the plants need very close attention and constant care because some of the plants were growing out of there boundaries. Some plants also needed different caring systems then others, like fences and sticks to hold up plants. I also learned that lettuce can regrow if you cut them from the bottom, as well as if the seeds of the sunflowers are replanted.

 

1) Soap sticks are used to keep animals like deer away from the crops. Giving a human scent tells them that it’s a bad area to be in, so they turn around and go back.

 

2) Honeybees & grasshoppers are two of the insects shown. The honeybees help pollinate the crops and they produce honey. Grasshoppers are not very good for gardens; they destroy and eat the crops.

(http://michigan.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-2961_2971-69227–,00.html)

 

3)  Decorative flowers don’t do much but look nice unless you don’t want any type of insect near your home. The insects that usually feed off the pollen of real flowers will need to find other flowers to pollinate off of.

 

 

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1) Tomatoes have source of Vitamin A. Broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and lettuce all provide Vitamin C. Sources of folate are in romaine lettuce and beans also.

(http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883599.html)

 

2) Beans bring nitrogen to the soil, which benefits corn and keeps the soil from being stripped from nutrients for future planting. Squash leaves are large and grow low to ground, helping to keep weeds from growing and the soil from drying out. The three plants also attract insects that eat the bad insects and keep them from ruining the crops. All three crops help each other grow.

(http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/Wampanoag_Education/corn)

 

3) The three sisters method originated when the Native Americans began to use it.

 

4) Sun, water, soil, and close attention are needed to grow fruits and vegetables.

 

5) Soil for the growth of fruits and vegetables can be any kind but needs to have nutrients for the plants to grow.

 

6) When there are smaller gardens and less man power needed there are less green house gas emissions. On larger farms where machinery is used, more gasses are released into the air. The more labor, the less man wants to do the work, so it results in the use of tractors to pull up crops and other ways of doing the work other than man power. Although we are growing our own plants, we are still weakening the ozone layer.