Before I Save The Bay!

On Wednesday, November 19, my AP Biology class and I will be working with the organization “Save the Bay” to learn about how we can prevent polluting the San Francisco bay and how we can clean up the bay. We still have to go to school, but during lunch and collaboration (basically study hall) we board a bus and drive over to the Save the Bay facility.

This is the first fieldtrip that I have taken since eighth grade, when we went to the Of Mice and Men play in Mountain View with my English class. I believe that fieldtrips are a great way to have hands on experience with material that we are learning in class and apply these concepts to every day situations. Fieldtrips are also ways to unwind after a tough unit and treat the class with a more relaxed atmosphere.

On this particular field trip with Save the Bay, I hope to get a better understanding on what is really happening to our bay and what we can do to help preserve it for future generations. I want to be able to show my kids the bay and have it be the same bay that I grew up with.

The impact on the environment that I want to make is to allow future generations to have the same animals and species that we have today. I also want there to be less endangered species. We can do so by not destroying habitats for our own selfish reasons. I love to shop and be able to carry around shopping bags with the store logo on them, but I will sacrifice that to be able to make a small impact to our environment and cut down the wastefulness of our society.

I am so pumped to go to Save the Bay and help them clean up the bay and collect qualitative and quantitative data in order to measure how we affect the bay.

Top picture citation:
“San Francisco Bay Area.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Second picture was taken by me.

UC Berkeley Lecture: Ebola

At University of California Berkley, there are lectures a couple times a year held by prestigious professors, scientists and historians. On November 1, Donald P. Francis was the speaker who presented about Ebola.

He was qualified to speak because he has first hand experience of Ebola in Sudan. He first helped in Yambio with a small team of five members to assist in relief programs. He was there in 1976 when the first Ebola outbreak happened in Sudan.

During his talk, Dr. Francis showed statistics about how between 1976 and 2012 there have been 2,387 total Ebola cases. Working for the C.D.C. at the time, Dr. Francis set up the Ebola Isolation Hospital in Sudan’s capital, Maridi. There, local doctors would bury bodied in little huts until the C.D.C. set up the actual burial.
Dr. Francis’ PowerPoint presentation included a couple charts that I have reconstructed below:

Sources of Transmission
Nzara	67 total cases
Marial	203 total cases

This chart shows two states in Africa that were part of the initial transmission of Ebola.

	Cases	Got Ebola	Attack Rate (%)
Touching Patient	23	5	23
Nursing Patient	48	39	81

This second chart, included in his presentation, depicts two different contrction methods of Ebola, touching and nursing. As shown in the chart, touching an Ebola patient yields less risk than nursing the patient. This makes sense because nursing risks infection by means of accidental blood contact, spillage of bodily fluids, and getting coughed or sneezed on.

Dr. Francis also described the chain of animals that first had Ebola. The flow is shown below:

Bats (host)àVarious “Bush Meat” AnimalsàHumans (via butchering)

As shown above, bats are the origin host of Ebola and Ebola then spread through the butchering of infected “bush meat” animals.

The talk also covered how Ebola can be controlled. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have come up with a list of ways how the spread of Ebola can be limited.

1. Practice and experience
2. Resources from other countries and organizations
3. Effective public structures (hospitals, burial techniques)
4. International assistance

Resources and international assistance go hand-in-hand when dealing with Ebola because neighboring and foreign countries must lend their time, doctors and resources in order to help Africa fight this disease. People like Dr. Francis have experience with Ebola and other deadly diseases to contribute to Africa and the African community facing Ebola.
Going to UC Berkley for this lecture was very beneficial to me because the talk taught me that Ebola is not something that will go away on it’s own. The fight to stop Ebola is on going and will not stop until the world is Ebola-free. This lecture also opened my eyes to see how America is so lucky to have the resources and education that we have.

On a brighter note, here are some pictures from the lecture!

Part of my AP Bio class at the lecture:

Above is the end of the presentation by Dr. Francis.

Below is a message I saw inside the lecture hall girl’s bathroom stall: (weird huh)

Below is a picture taken of me after the lecture looking exhausted!!

Do Now: Ebola

The outbreak of the Ebola virus has raised alarms from neighboring countries. Ebola has been estimated to have killed 2,288 people and is expected to infect thousands more in the upcoming weeks. Ebola is contracted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids. This includes semen, urine, sweat, saliva, and blood.

Ebola is challenging to overcome for the effected countries and communities because of their lack of health infrastructure. This makes it near to impossible to control, contain, and purge the disease. In order to help control Ebola from spreading, the international community should send aid workers, medicine, supplies and information about proper burial techniques in order to help overcome the Ebola outbreak. Although there is no known cure or vaccine, the international community can help by sending medicine to treat the symptoms and make the victims of Ebola more comfortable and in less pain. It is vital for the international community to step in and lend a helping hand because if not, Ebola will continue to spread and eventually affect places and countries not apart of the African continent.

The spread of Ebola has affected my way of thinking my making me see how important doctors are. It has made me see how long vaccines take to be accepted and legalized in order to treat diseases. Ebola has caused companies and scientists to speed up the process of developing a vaccine and even so, it will take a long time. The spread of Ebola has also made me realize how vital it is to have clean hygiene and take the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of other diseases as well.

Information Source: http://blogs.kqed.org/education/2014/09/12/how-can-we-help-fight-the-ebola-outbreak/

Image Source: W, R. L. “Ebola’s Spread.” Weblog post. N.p., n.d. Web.

California is Not FLOW-ing

Californians are biased towards our state because of many reasons. But, the most important reason is our weather! California experiences all four seasons: a warm summer, a leaf-changing fall, a cold winter, and a fresh spring. California is also acknowledged for it’s “Mediterranean” climate, which describes the rainy season during early October till early March followed by a long temperate climate outside of those months. Unfortunately, for the last three years, California has had little to know rainfall. Most places determine droughts differently. But no one has denied the fact that California is indeed in a severe and unpredictable drought.

Droughts are natural responses to the changes in our climate and the response to global warming. Permanent changes are the only way to prepare for unpredictable climate changes and prevent people from being vulnerable during these changes. Relating to California, California is known for being an environmental leader in many issues and topics concerning how the world and country should protect the environment. Sadly, California is still wasteful and inefficient when dealing with water usage. Heavy flow toilets, old shower heads and washing machines, and water thirsty plants and crops are just a couple factors that affect the environment and the future droughts.

The California drought has affected many counties and cities in California. The map to the right shows the areas most affected and in the worst conditions due to the drought. The Bay Area is highlighted in the maroon color showing how damaging and intense the drought is in my area.

The documentary FLOW shows how water has been made to economically benefit the country and has been used for our financial advantage. Doing so, this does not take into consideration the health disadvantages and the contribution the over consumption of water has on the environment. FLOW demonstrates how wasteful everyone is and how the world needs to take steps to change their behaviors.

Some things individuals everywhere, especially in California, can do to help the environment and the draught are:

1. Turn off the sink while brushing your teeth.
2. Fill up water bottles at home instead of buying pre-packaged water bottles from the grocery store.
3. Take shorter showers.
4. Combine loads of laundry to minimize the use of the washing machine.
5. Switch to low flow toilets
6. Save clean bathwater in a bucket to water plants and trees.
7. Turn off the tap while washing dishes

FLOW also expresses how tap water is significantly healthier for the human body than store bought water bottles. I know personally that store bought bottled water is very convenient, easily accessible, and the “cool” thing to do, but bottled water is unregulated and most companies do not even know what is in the water concerning chemicals and toxins. Families in the Bay Area are very health and environment conscious so knowing this information and experiencing the drought first hand gives them plenty of reasons to improve their households and improve water usage.

Works Cited

“Bottled Water vs Tap Water: Advantages and Disadvantages.” Bottled Water vs Tap Water: Advantages and Disadvantages. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

“CDQAP’s DROUGHT INFO PAGE for California Dairy Producers.” California Dairy Research Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

“Current Conditions.” California Drought RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

Nijhuis, Michelle. “Amid Drought, New California Law Will Limit Groundwater Pumping for First Time.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2014.

Ebola 2014- Should We Be Worried?

This Summer, as we were all going on lavish vacations, getting tagged in “ALS Ice Bucket” challenges, and procrastinating on summer homework, West Africa was experiencing one of the largest Ebola outbreaks in history. Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever is a disease of humans and other primates. This virus is only transmitted through direct contact with the infected person who has shown symptoms. This means contact with bodily fluids, syringes, and the blood of infected animals. Ebola originated from fruit bats and spread from then on. There are three reasons why we should be worried about Ebola. The reasons are the late visibility of symptoms, the similarities to the average flu, and the largest outbreak of Ebola is the current 2014 outbreak in Africa.

One reason to be worried about Ebola is because Ebola symptoms show between 2-21 days after exposure. This means that one does not know he or she has Ebola until the disease has progresses. Another reason to be worried about Ebola is because the symptoms of Ebola mirror those of the average flu. Ebola symptoms include fever, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and abdominal pain.

Unfortunately for those infected, there is no known cure or treatment that treats Ebola. Due to this, between 50-90% of people with Ebola die. In order to help control this disease, doctors treat the symptoms of Ebola rather than the disease itself. Victims to this disease are hospitalized and their blood oxygen levels are monitored. Also, their electrolytes are balanced, and if present, their other infections are treated.

Health workers are the most in danger for being infected by this disease because they are always in close contact with the sick patients. When these health workers return to their countries to be treated, many people are scared of the risk of exposure and the spread of this deadly virus outside of Africa.

The last reason that we should be worried about Ebola is because to date, the largest outbreak is the ongoing 2014 West Africa outbreak. This outbreak is affecting Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. Recent polls have been administered and as of August 22, 2014, 1,427 deaths have occurred due to Ebola out of 2,615 cases.

In conclusion, we as the international community should be worried about the Ebola outbreak because of the late arrival of symptoms, the similarities of the symptoms to the average flu, and the fact that the largest outbreak of Ebola is the current 2014 outbreak in Africa.

Save the children in Africa by clicking here and donating! Remember, every dollar counts.

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Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 08 Dec. 2014. Web.

08 Dec. 2014.

“Five Ways UNICEF Is Fighting Ebola.” UNICEF Connect UNICEF BLOG. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.

“Muerte Africana: El Virus Del Ébola.” Alternos.la. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.