Science – Water Project – The Great Barrier Reef

Science

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Water Project – The Great Barrier Reef

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Links

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Good Websites:

Notes Taken/Done Note Taking:

–http://www.coral.org/resources/about_coral_reefs/coral_overview

–http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/greatbarrierreef/

–http://www.mesa.edu.au/habitat/gbr01.asp

http://www.mesa.edu.au/habitat/gbr02.asp

http://www2.eis.net.au/~nqtds/infocomm/5gbr1.txt

Not Useful Websites:

–http://sitemaker.umich.edu/gc2sec7labgroup3/over-fishing
Human Impact On Reef

–http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0101/feature2/index.html
All kinds of information!

–http://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/coralreefs/index.html
How Great Barrier Reef is disappearing, What are the corals, what are they made of, How are they made?

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Notes

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NOTE: GBR refers to “Great Barrier Reef”

-Great Barrier Reef is made of 2900 reefs, 940 islands, and cays

-Only Living Collection of Organisms seen from outer space

-Great Barrier Reef runs 2000 km by Australia’s north-eastern coast

-GBR is 348000 km^2

-GBR (which looks like GBR before 19th century) is 12000 years old

-150 years ago, European settlers started settling on what is now the Australian state of Queensland, and the GBR is being impacted because of people there. Water isn’t as clear as before, fish, animal and bird populations have declined, Phosphate and Nitrogen have increased by 200-1500% from rivers (which results in more phytoplankton)

-The GBR World’s biggest ecosystem of coral reefs

-Creatures that live in Reef: Sharks ( Eqaulette Sharks, Tiger Sharks), Dolphins, Whales, Lionfish, Blowfish, Sea Turtles (Green Turtles, Loggerhead Turtles),

-Billions or more polyps are in coral reef
-Coral is made of many tiny living organisms called coral polyps
-Coral polyp is invertebrate
-Polyps come together in colonies to make corals
-A polyp lives inside aragonite shell (type of calcium carbonate)
-Aragonite shell is coral
-Corals related to anemones

-Colours of coral made by algae. Living coral coloured, Dead coral white

-Coral reefs composed limestone produced by organisms

-Coral reefs have vast diversity of life and have 25% of all marine species

-Coral reefs have 4000+ different fish species, 700+ corals species, many other plants/animals, too.

-GBR has 1500 species fish, 360 species hard corals, 1/3 of world’s soft corals, 4000 species mollusks, 1500 species sponge, 800 species echinoderms (starfish, etc), 500 species seaweed, 23 species marine animals (whales, dolphins, etc), 6 species marine turtles (all still alive in reef are rare/threatened)

-There is Hard Coral, and Soft Coral

-Hard Corals make up coral reefs (like brain, elkhorn coral)
-Coral Shapes include brain coral, fan, antler, plate, elkhorn, boulder, etc

-Hard Corals live in colonies
-Hard coral skeletons comprised of calcium carbonate (limestone)

-Soft corals are soft (as the name implies) and can be easily morphed. Resemble plants.
-Soft corals no hard, rocky skeletons
-Soft corals have cores which help support the corals, and fleshy coverings for protection
-Soft corals range in location from hot, tropical, to temperate, to colder climates.

-Coral needs lots of light, 68-90 degrees Fahrenheit (20-32 degrees Celsius) , Less than 150 meters deep, salty water, less nutrients in water, clear water (not clouded by sediment and plankton)

-Some Corals grow to hundreds of years old

-Polyps make exact genetic copies of themselves

-The “Crown of Thorns” Starfish destroying corals beginning in 1960, repeats every 1 to 15 years

-Bleaching is when many, many numerous corals die
-Bleaching is thought to be caused by water temperature rising, due to El Nino.

Reef types:
-Barrier reefs near coast of islands/continents, separated from shore by wide/deep lagoons
The Australian Great Barrier Reef is the most famous Barrier Reef.
-Fringing reefs near coast of islands/continents, separated from shore by narrow/shallow lagoons. Most common reef that most people see.
-Patch reefs small reefs grow up on continental shelf. Usually occur between fringing and barrier reefs. Rarely reach water surface.
-Atolls rings of coral, mostly in middle of ocean/sea. Form when islands surrounded by fringing reefs sink into sea or sea level rises. Eventually they grow until circles are made with lagoons in the interior

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Note Filtering/Parsing Step 1

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Well… I haven’t finished note taking yet!

Custom C++ Trig Functions

This post is still under construction.

Here are my own trig functions. They use the Taylor Series to calculate the result.

They are all currently floats, but you can change the variables’/functions types, so they can be doubles, etc. Of course, you must do this accordingly to each function’s needs.

The float input is the input. You can change the accuracy of the result by changing the int accuracy parameter. The return value (output) is the result.
Also included are the factf(), or factorial, and basicpowf(), or power in which the exponent is a long, functions. These functions are needed to calculate the answer in the trig functions.
Also included, for no particular reason are f(), or square root, powf(),

custommath.cpp:

/* sqrtf(float input, unsigned long accuracy):
Returns the Square Root of input; increasing the unsigned long accuracy increases the accuracy, as long as accuracy is a small number, but greater than 3, higher numbers may result in wrong return values, so best number to choose would be around 10
*/
float sqrtf(float input, unsigned long accuracy)
{
float answer = ;

return answer;
}

/* float factf(float input):
Returns the factorial of input
*/
float factf(float input)
{
if(!(input)) return 1;
return (input * factf(input - 1));
}

/* float basicpowf(float base, long exponent):
Returns, in "calculator notation", base^exponent, not to be confused with the C/C++ '^' operator
*/
float basicpowf(float base, long exponent)
{
if(exponent > 0)
return (base * basicpowf(base, exponent - 1));
else
return (1 / basicpowf(base, -(exponent)));
return 1;
}

float sinf(float input, unsigned long accuracy)
{
//Simplify: sin(x)==sin(x+360n), so sin(x)==sin(x%360)
float answer = input % 360.0;


// implement accuracy
while(accuracy)
{

answer = answer -  + ;
accuracy -= 1;
/*- (basicpowf(input, 3) / factf(3)) + (basicpowf(input, 5) / factf(5)) - (basicpowf(input, 7) / factf(7)) + basicpowf(input, 9) / factf(9);*/
}
return answer;
}

/*
//Without accuracy:
float sinf(float input)
{
float answer = input - (powf(input, 3) / factf(3)) + (powf(input, 5) / factf(5)) - (powf(input, 7) / factf(7)) + powf(input, 9) / factf(9);
return answer;
}
*/

float cosf(float input, unsigned long accuracy)
{

}

float tanf(float input, unsigned long accuracy)
{

}

float sinhf(float input, unsigned long accuracy)
{
float answer = input;
while(accuracy)(basicpowf(input, 3) / factf(3)) + (basicpowf(input, 5) / factf(5)) + (basicpowf(input, 7) / factf(7)) + basicpowf(input, 9) / factf(9);
return answer;
}

Example Program:

#include <iostream>
#include <custommath.cpp>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
cout << "Factorial(10) is " << factf(10.0);

cout << "Sin(10) is " << sinf(90.0, 5)<<endl;

return(0);
}

There Is No Last Prime Number

NOTE to Mr. Stoffberg: This does not count as my weekly blog entry. See “E=mc^2 and m=m0/sqrt(1-(v/c)^2)” for my weekly blog entry.

Here is another interesting thing that I saw, like an year ago. Here’s the link:

Prime Numbers

Excerpt from http://www.themathpage.com/Arith/prime-numbers.htm#last:

As the numbers get larger, the greater the possibility that they will have a divisor, so that there might in fact be a last prime.

We will now prove that there is no last prime. And we will enunciate that theorem as follows:

Given any list of prime numbers, there will always be a prime number
that is not on the list.

(Euclid, IX. 20.)

Now, if there were a last prime, then we could imagine a list that contains every prime up to and including the last one. The theorem therefore implies, There is no last prime.

Let the following, then, be any list of prime numbers:

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, . . . , P.

Now construct the number N which will be the product of every prime on that list:

N = 2 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × . . . × P.

Every prime on the list is thus a divisor of N.

Add 1 to N:

N + 1 = (2 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × . . . × P) + 1.

Now, N + 1 a number that is not on the list, because it is greater than every number on the list. And N + 1 is either prime or composite. If it is prime, then we have found a prime that is not on the list, and the theorem is proved.

If N + 1 is composite, then it has a prime factor p. But p is not one of the primes on the list For if it were, then p would be a divisor of both N and N + 1. But that would imply that p divides their difference (Lesson 10), namely 1 — which is absurd.

Therefore p is not one of the primes of N, which is to say, p is not a prime on the list.

Therefore, given any list of primes, there will always be a prime that is not on the list. Which is what we wanted to prove.

*

A modern enunciation of this theorem is: The number of primes is infinite. Euclid thus teaches us what we mean, or rather what we should mean, when we say that a collection is “infinite.” It means: “more than any number that we might name.” That is something that we can actually experience. It does not have a meaning that we cannot experience, namely “goes on and on forever.”

Thus if we say that the number of primes is infinite, we mean they are potentially infinite, not actually infinite.

If you think however that the list of prime numbers is actually infinite, that the list goes on and on forever and is never complete, then does it go on and on forever in space, or on and on forever in time? Is either concept intelligible?

[Here one last interesting thing is explained, but since this post was supposed to be on “There Is No Last Prime”, I will not post it. I recommend that you visit the link I provided above, and read the near-bottom part of the page.]

E=mc^2 and m=m0/sqrt(1-(v/c)^2)

The caveman version of Albert Einstien

Did you know: The General Theory of Relativity and The Special Theory of Relativity are two separate theories! (That’s why they have two separate names, duh!)

E=mc^2: Everyone knows that, right? Well, they know how to say it. Most people don’t understand the concept behind it. It’s easy to understand what it means. It’s harder to really understand it (why/how it works).

E=mc^2
This shows that energy and matter have something in common. (I forgot the rest… Hey! I read a book on it like, in Grade 6, so I can’t remember anything! Other than something about a train travelling at the speed of light, firing a cannonball…???)

Less known is:
m = m0 / sqrt(1 – (v / c)^2)
This means that as your velocity (speed) increases, and gets closer and closer to the speed of light, your mass increases (therefore, mass is related to velocity). It also proves, that it is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light. If an object were to do that, its mass would reach infinity, and that is impossible, so travelling faster than the speed of light is impossible.

m means mass

v means velocity

m0 means mass of the object when it is at rest (i.e. not moving at all [, which is impossible???])

c means the speed of light in a vacumn

For example:
Variables:
v=1/3c (v=100000km/s) (speed of object is 100000km/s)
m0=me (m0=9.109382E-031) (the object is an electron)

Constants:
c=300000km/s
me=9.109382E-31 kg (mass of an electron when it is at rest)

Solve for current (or is it called relativic, or something like that) mass (mass of object as it is travelling):
m=m0/sqrt(1-(v/c)^2)
m=9.109382E-31/sqrt(1-((1/3c)/c)^2)
m=9.109382E-31/sqrt(1-(1/3)^2)
m=9.109382E-31/sqrt(1-1/9)
m=9.109382E-31/sqrt(8/9)
m=9.109382E-31/0.94
m=9.66E-031

m>=m0

This shows that an electron traveling at 0km/s has less mass than an electron travelling at 1/3 the speed of light (100000km/s). There is a 6% increase in mass, in relation to if it were at rest.

6% is a huge difference, believe it or not. If you weigh 100 pounds now, be happy to know that you are 106 pounds now if you travel at 1/3 the speed of light. 6% can make a difference between 95 votes and 100 votes (Unfortunately, that’s not enough to win an election).

Here’s some more stuff I calculated using this equation:

If you are travelling at v, your mass will increase by p
v, p
0km/s, 0%
50000km/s, 1.4%
100000km/s, 6%
200000km/s, 34.2%
300000km/s, infinity% (sure, division by zero occurs, but according to Einstein, m0/0=infinity; makes no sense as light travels at this speed, and its mass isn’t infinity [unless light has no mass [also impossible???] and therefore 0*infinity%=0]; I’ll have to look this one up)

This graph represents the velocity of the object on the X axis, and the mass to rest mass percentage on the Y axis:

This graph represents the velocity of the object on the X axis, and the mass to rest mass percentage on the Y axis. The blue line is Y=f(x)=1/sqrt(1-(x/300000)^2).

Near the end (c-1), it starts increasing drastically. The changes are so different that x=(c-0.1) is approximately 10 times greater than x=(c-1) !!!! x=(c-0.01) is approximately 100 times greater than x(c-1) !!!! So you can see how it eventually reaches infinity.

Also, as you can see it is similar to an x^z, where z>=3

This graph is the same as the last, though the red line represents Y=f(x)=(x/230000)^32:

This graph represents the velocity of the object on the X axis, and the mass to rest mass percentage on the Y axis. The blue line is Y=f(x)=1/sqrt(1-(x/300000)^2). The red line is Y=f(x)=(x/230000)^32.

Wow, that was a huge brain workout. I hope you actually understood/read all that I said, so I didn’t waste my time (well, it’s not really wasting time, but…).

P.S. Yo, Albert E=mc^2stien, can you explain what I just wrote? Confusing stuff.

Albert E=mc^2stien:
“Sure, I’ll help”:

Cartoon of Albert Einstien showing E=mc^2

1+1=1

1+1=1

This is something interesting I saw last year, and I’m still thinking of something to write for my weekly post, so… here’s the link:

http://www.themathpage.com/alg/1+1.htm

Excerpt from http://www.themathpage.com/alg/1+1.htm:

1) Let x = 1.

Multiply both sides by x:

2) x² = x

Subtract 1 from both sides:

3) x² − 1 = x − 1

Factor:

4) (x − 1)(x + 1) = x − 1

Divide both sides by x − 1:

5) x + 1 = 1

But x = 1 — Line 1. Therefore

6) 1 + 1 = 1.

Where is the error?

To see the answer, pass your mouse over the colored area.
To cover the answer again, click “Refresh” (“Reload”).
Consider the problem yourself first!

The error is in going from Line 4) to Line 5). Since x = 1, then x −1 = 0. We have divided by 0, an operation that is not permitted. See Lesson 5.

The Trumpet (1)

A trumpet is an instrument that can play way, way louder than a violin. Trumpet players are very, very intelligent, and their violin-playing-friends aren’t that smart. (Take Bryce Wu for example. He thinks {a^2+b^2=75}!!!!! Wait. That’s what I used to think (and still think that!)… Hmmmm…. Must study more math!!!)

Trumpets are in the brass family, and are very old. They came into existence far before the violin. By the way, did you know that trumpets are way better than violins? It’s true. Also, trumpets are just pure awesome. They’re so awesome that I can’t describe the awesomeness of the awesome power of the awesomely awesomefully awesome master of being awesomely awesome trumpet.

Hello World Program

These are programs that I created in C++ (sorry about the lack of comments):

/* This is Console Application Code: This program outputs "Hello World!" onto the Screen in a Console Application Window (Like MS-DOS.exe) */

#include "iostream.h"
#include "stdio.h"

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
	printf("Hello World!\n");
	cin.ignore();

	return(0);
}

/* This is Win32 Application Code (Simple Version): This program outputs "Hello World!" onto the Screen in a Message Box in a window */

#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
#include "windows.h"
#include "windowsx.h"

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hinstance, HINSTANCE hprevinstance, LPSTR lpcmdline, int ncmdshow)
{
	MessageBox(NULL, "Hello World!", "Hello World!", MB_OK);

	return(0);
}

/* This is Win32 Application Code (Advanced Version): This program outputs "Hello World!" onto the Screen in a Message Box in a window */

#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN  
#include "windows.h"
#include "windowsx.h"

LRESULT CALLBACK WindowProc(HWND hwnd, UINT msg, WPARAM wparam, LPARAM lparam)
{
	PAINTSTRUCT ps;
	HDC hdc;

	switch(msg)
	{	
		case WM_CREATE:
			{
				SetTextColor(hdc, (COLORREF)GetStockObject(BLACK_BRUSH));
				SetBkColor(hdc, (COLORREF)GetStockObject(WHITE_BRUSH));
				SetBkMode(hdc, TRANSPARENT);

				return(0);
			}
			break;

		case WM_PAINT: 
			{
				hdc = BeginPaint(hwnd,&ps);

				TextOut(hdc, 400, 300, "Hello World!", strlen("Hello World!"));

				EndPaint(hwnd,&ps);

				return(0);
			}
			break;

		case WM_DESTROY: 
			{
				PostQuitMessage(0);

				return(0);
			}
			break;

		default:
			break;
	}

	return(DefWindowProc(hwnd, msg, wparam, lparam));
}

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hinstance, HINSTANCE hprevinstance, LPSTR lpcmdline, int ncmdshow)
{
	WNDCLASS winclass;
	HWND hwnd;
	MSG msg;

	winclass.style = CS_DBLCLKS | CS_OWNDC | CS_HREDRAW | CS_VREDRAW;
	winclass.lpfnWndProc = WindowProc;
	winclass.cbClsExtra = 0;
	winclass.cbWndExtra = 0;
	winclass.hInstance = hinstance;
	winclass.lpszClassName = "WINCLASS";
	winclass.hIcon = LoadIcon(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);
	winclass.hCursor = LoadCursor(NULL, IDC_ARROW);
	winclass.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH)GetStockObject(WHITE_BRUSH);
	winclass.lpszMenuName = NULL;

	if (!RegisterClass(&winclass))
		return(0);

	if (!(hwnd = CreateWindow("WINCLASS", "Hello World!", WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW | WS_VISIBLE, 0, 0, 800, 600, NULL, NULL, hinstance, NULL)))
		return(0);

	while(1)
	{
		if (PeekMessage(&msg,NULL,0,0,PM_REMOVE))
		{
			if (msg.message == WM_QUIT)
				break;

			TranslateMessage(&msg);
			DispatchMessage(&msg);
		}
	}

	return(msg.wParam);
}

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

The Book Cover For The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson & The Olympians is a book series (my third favourite series, next to the Hunger Games and His Dark Materials) by Rick Riordan. The first book in this series is The Lightning Thief. It was published by Hyperion Books in 2005. The Scott Creek Library houses 15 copies of this book, reason being that, in the 2007/08 school year, everyone wanted to read this book, as it was on the “Battle of the Books” list and very popular, so Ms. Treiu bought as many copies as needed to keep the students occupied (and not have to wait long). Still, all the books remained out for a period of time, and now that all the fuss is over, Ms. Treiu keeps the extra copies in the back (Library Monitors Only! [I think… I forgot; I never go there]). The Lightning Thief, along with the rest of the books in the series, is on the Scott Creek Library Web Catalogue’s Top Ten List.

 

(Picture has been scaled smaller than the original size. Click on it to see the larger image.)

 

 

 

Currently it is being made (actually, it has been made [I think] but it will be released later, as with all movies) into a feature film, starred by Logan Leerman (who had the leading role in Hoot as Roy Eberhardt) playing Percy Jackson, the first person narrator and main character in all the books. The movie is directed by Chris Columbus, the same person who directed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The movie will be released on President’s Day (USA, 12 February 2010).

P.S. See both Trailers; they are AWESOME!!!!

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Trailer 1 From IMBd:
[http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3202220569/]

Catching Fire

Catching Fire is a book by Suzanne Collins, and is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy (See Previous Post). As I mention in my previous post, there are 4 copies of this book in the Scott Creek Library, and they are very popular, and 20 or more holds were in queue, at its peak. Catching Fire was released on September 6th (or 3rd?), 2009. As I am a Hunger Games fan (fan level rank 5/total possible rank 10 ??? [Rank 10 would be creating a fan video; Rank 5 is yelling at people till they admit the Hunger Games is good, wacking people [and getting away with it!] if they haven’t read the Hunger Games, and in every other possible for a “normal” person way to be obsessed with a book]), I read the book within 5 days of its release (I think…); I managed to avoid the chaos created in the next few weeks, and the chaos is still continuing now (not as much, though, because 100s of people in our school have already read the book). It has a many number of awards, New York Times Bestseller, Booklist something, Library Journal Something, Horn Book Something, 10 more things, Blah Blah Blah, and something for Twilight fans: Stephanie Meyer said that “I can’t stop reading it. I went out to dinner with it, and read it under the table”, or something like that.

Well, I can’t think of anything else to say, but: “If you haven’t read Catching Fire, read it now! …What!? You haven’t even read the Hunger Games? Well, read it now!”

Poster (pdf):
[You may be able to roll over the link to view a better preview.]
catching_fire_poster
[Partial Preview Of Poster]

Hunger Games

“The Hunger Games” is a book by Suzanne Collins. She is also the author of the Gregor The Overlander Series, although those started in the late 20th century, and are not as popular as her recent success, the Hunger Games Trilogy. The Hunger Games is very popular at Scott Creek Middle School, and since Early September, all copies (6 Hunger Games’s and 4 Catching Fire’s) of the Hunger Games Trilogy books are on hold (the number of holds was at it peak in October, with each book in the trilogy with at least 20 holds each). The Hunger Games is number #2 on the Scott Creek Library Top Ten List, and Catching Fire is on #5 (As of November 13, 2009). And that’s not to mention the number of copies (I saw about 10 or more) bought/ordered from scholastic (here’s the link to their Hunger Games fansite: http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/). Fortunately for me, I read the Hunger Games in Early Grade 7, so I didn’t have to be in the chaos. (Or actually, I choose to be: if you ever mention ‘Hunger Games’ or ‘Catching Fire’, I will zombifily [not a word] say ‘HUNGER GAMES!’… well sometimes, anyways.) The Hunger Games is my second favourite book (Catching Fire is my first). It is an awesome book; you should check it out!

The book cover for The Hunger Games.