Expedition+Antarctica

Amy Lin Period 2A

Expedition Antarctica was the theme of the seminar for this month's Teen Science Cafe. I learned about the adverse effects that climate change can have on local ecosystems, and more specifically, those in Antarctica. Hearing about the experiences that a marine biologist personally had in the depths of Antarctica really brought to light how global warming and climate change caused by humans is having a first-hand impact on the fish ecosystems of lands that we often perceive as too distant to matter. We played a game of Bingo to help put what the marine biologist, Mr. Rothburg, was talking about into context for the younger audience members, teaching the kids certain factors that could cause the extinction of certain species and their communities.

This Teen Science Cafe is related to APES because it talks about how the food chain is interconnected. When one species is affected by the climate or another reason, the entire balance is off, and other species in the ecosystem (prey and predator alike) will be affected. Species must be able to adapt to new conditions at a relatively fast rate, or else they risk extinction. Many of these new conditions are constantly surfacing as a result of human activities, so by learning what the different components of the ecosystem have to go through to cope with these challenges, the world can become more conscious of their actions and its indirect effects on the greater environmental community.