Blog 7/ Great Barrier Reef part 2!!

Coral Bleaching
1) A polyp is a grown up coral larvae. A polyp needs zooxanthellae to be considered coral.
2) Corals are sensitive to temperature change.
3) Coral bleaching occurs when the temperature of the water rises, causing the zooxanthellae to leave and then the coral loses its color (coral bleaching).
4) Scientists believe that coral bleaching is happening now more then ever because of climate change.
5) People can reduce their impact on climate change by:

• turning off unused lights/appliances
• avoiding unnessasary car journeys (ride your bike/walk)
• using and recycling products whenever possible

Climate Change/Destruction of Coral Reef:
1) Species of:

• fish= 1500
• hard coral= 360
• soft coral= 1/3 of the world
• sea birds= 22
• shore birds= 32

2) Climate Change is responsible for warming our oceans.
3) Increased flooding affects the fish/birds living there by polluting everything.
4) People can reduce climate change by

• use less energy
• take public transport
• open windows instead of using air conditioning

Videos:
http://youtu.be/vcgLc3llEaE
This video would benefit people already living in Australia because it shows pictures of what its like and would make them more likely to go visit and learn about it.

http://youtu.be/uy-fi0RvqMA
This video would be great for foreigners not from Australia because it not only gives you info on the great barrier reef, but it relates it with Finding Nemo which everyone loves. :)

http://youtu.be/yw_WjN-4n3U
This video would be for the tourists visiting the great barrier reef because it just gived you the basic run down of the G.B.R and its from the travel channel (who doesn't love the travel channel).  This video also comes from a divers point of view which would make people want to visit it even more!

Blog 6/ Great Barrier Reef part 1 :)

1) The Great Barrier Reef is considered the largest living structure on Earth.

2) Coral extracts calcium carbonate to make solid tentacles.

3) Red algae impacts the structure by acting like a glue to help form structures.

4)The Great Barrier Reef became a national park in 1975.

5)  About 33% of the reef is protected from fishing.

6) Scientists believe that the current reef is 20,000 years old and the ancient reef, 500,000 years old.

Blog 5/ Technology

"Savor the Trip, Don't Tweet it" by Christopher Elliot is about people taking vacations and getting sucked into their phones, computers...etc.  He wrote this article because he thinks(and I agree) that too many people are taking vacations but not experiencing them truly because they are caught up with technology.  People are more concerned with what their peers will think about their picture/video/status updates, than actually traveling.  I think he wants the readers to think about how technology affects vacations.
I've always wanted to travel the world and my top destination is Australia/New Zealand because I've always wanted to experience their culture, see all of the wild life, and possibly visit the indigenious population.  The role technology will have in my travel will only be to document everything I do so that I can look back in 30 years or so and remember how great the trip was (will be).
When I read the article, i was a bit suprised on how much people actually do the things he talks about.  Some of the things he found were almost shocking! When he says that "one in ten men think they shouldn't have to switch off their mobile devices during weddings" I wanted to scream! Its ridiculous how much people rely on technology.  The article shed some light on this and made me think about how much I use.  I use my phone to make plans and talk to my dad(who lives in Rhode Island) and I use my computer to check my email/grades/school email.  I have a facebook but I don't really go on it ALL the time.  When I travel, my phone and computer stay off and the only piece of technology I carry is my camera.  I love taking pictures of things because I know that when I'm older, I can look back at them and see how much fun I had on that trip.  In the article, Elliot says that people only document things so that other people can see them.  When I take pictures, I might put a few up on FB but never all of them (too many pics).  I always go back and look at my pictures and delete the random ones I take (I can get alittle camera happy sometimes).
I think we should definatly set technology boundaries as a class.  We should just ban cell phones all together.  Cell phones are easy access to the internet so people can update their statuses one minute saying "in Australia" and then the next minute change it to "still in Australia".  Cell phones just lead to pointless facebook visits.  The only computer access we should get is for email/skyping our parents or for the project.  We don't need to check up on the latest gossip on FB while in AU/NZ.  When we travel, I kind of want to be, almost cut off from Grayslake.  The trip will be more memoriable if we aren't thinking about anything from back home.  When it comes to cameras, I think we should always be allowed a camera. I want to be able to document everything when we are down there.  When I say everything, I don't literally mean EVERYTHING!! I'm not gonna take pictures 24/7 but when we visit somewhere I definatly want to be able to remember it because I'm probably not going to be able to go back.

Blog 4/ Timelines

Out of the many things America and Australia have in common, one of the main things is that they were both invaded by Britain.  America was invaded when the British attempted to gain control over the thirteen colonies in the 1600s.  The people of the colonies didn’t start their own revolution until the late 1700s.  About the same time, Britain was also trying to claim Australia and control over the aboriginals that inhabited the area. (Wikipedia.com)

In 1848-1849, gold was discovered in California and Nevada.  Almost instantly, people all over America dropped everything, deserted their homes/jobs, and traveled all the way to California/Nevada to search for gold and make their fortune.  In the 1850s, gold was discovered in Australia.  In 1861, gold was also discovered in New Zealand by a man named Edward Hargraves.  He found the gold in Bathurst, a town in New South Wales.  Following the same pattern as the people in America, the people in Australia/New Zealand did the same thing and rushed over to search for gold. (cultureandcreation.gov.au)

When Britain was controlling the six colonies in Australia, their royalty only had a ceremonial role.  The colonies themselves had a democratic government.  New Zealand had a self-governing community under the British rule.  Britain had much more control over the American colonies.  The made laws, acts, and collected taxes.  There was an outrage and eventually, the American Revolution started.  America won and got independence from England in 1776.  New Zealand didn’t get independence England until 1947. (U.S History Book)

Aboriginals were not given the right to vote until 1962.  They were also not allowed to claim the lands on which they grew up on.  The Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed in 1976 to allow them their rights to lay claim on their lands. The aboriginals didn’t get a formal apology until 2008.   This is similar to the time period that women were not allowed to vote, but that was changed when the 19^th amendment was passed.(history-nz1)