Perito Moreno glacier - Glaciar Perito Moreno

Global warming consequence
Consecuencia del calentamiento global


The glacier broke earlier, the first time it breaks in winter

El desprendimiento del glaciar se hace por primera vez en invierno.


Ver video
See video

See it live
Ver en vivo

Photos- Fotos del proyecto en Medellin

Proyecto Fire and Ice en Medellín

Fire and Ice in Colombia (click on the photos to see them bigger)

Presentación de la escuela de Colombia- Colombian presentation

Y Andrés Felipe Morales.

How to make Biodiesel (Part 2)

This might ease all of the stress put into the production of Biodiesel
(Video showing steps on how to make Biodiesel)


Biodiesel Kits, Make Biodiesel Quick And Easy - Watch the best video clips here

Mahdi Siad
Langevin Science School

Average Fuel Costs around the World!

Yes, fuel prices have been increasing day by day, that's why I'm here to show you the average fuel cost around the world.


Canada: $1.33/L (Rounded)
United States of America: $3.97/G (Rounded)
Netherlands: $6.73/G (Including Tax)
Germany: $8.43/G (Rounded)
Ukraine: $6.45/G (Rounded)
Nigeria: $12.56/L (May increase, and due to inflation and restriction of resource)
Algeria: $9.56/L (May increase, and due to inflation and restriction of resource)
Saudi Arabia: 3.25/G (Rounded)
Dubai: $3.22/G (Rounded)



By" Mahdi Siad


Current Crude Oil Prices - Click here for more home videos

Kansas presentation- Presentación de Kansas 3º Parte

Aquí se ve el límite oeste de la escuela que limita con un terreno baldío.

Nuestro proyecto consiste en la plantación de pasturas altas autóctonas para mejorar la vista y contribuir al secuestro del dióxido de carbono.

La idea de plantar las pasturas del proyecto Fire and Ice se presentó a la Junta Escolar el día 12 de mayo.
Uno de los miembros de la junta es un científico que estudia el suelo en el Servicio de Conservación y Recursos Naturales.
Después de escuchar nuestra presentación sugirió que nos comuniquemos con el NRCS para que nos ayude a seleccionar las pasturas y para hacer una evaluación del suelo.


La producción de gas y de petróleo es la industria más importante en Greenwood County. Se ven muchas bombas y tanques a través de las pasturas de nuestra escuela. El agua salada es un desecho de la producción del petróleo que afecta la calidad del suelo.

Esta vitrina para plantas se compró con fondos destinados a nuestra sala exterior.
Se ha puesto en nuestro salón, allí pondremos las plantas hasta el otoño que es la mejor época para plantarlas. Usaremos semillas del NRCS para plantar especies autóctonas de pasturas. Voluntarios de la fundación Eureka van a ayudarnos a preparar el suelo una vez que tengamos los resultados de la evaluación del suelo del estado de Kansas.

Purple Coneflower

Another forb found on the prairie is the purple coneflower. Native Americans used this plant for medicinal purposes. The tallbread scurfpea 's roots can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked. Native Americans dried and ground them to be used as flour.

Prairie Forbs

In April and May various wildflowers start to bloom throughout the grasslands. The appearance of the flowers or forbs, as they are referred to by the range specialists, indicate a healthy pasture. The above picture is of spiderwort or "cowslobbers" the nickname was given because of what the sap of the flower resembles.

Big Bluestem Grass

Big bluestem grass will grow as tall as 12 feet. It is the characteristic plant species of the North American tallgrass prairie. The plant is also known as turkey foot in reference to the forked flower cluster. Cattle will gain on the average of one kilogram or 2.265 pounds per day while grazing on this forage.

Ethanol from Switch Grass

One of the warm season native grasses we have been studying is switch grass. It will grow to 8' tall in moist soil. The grass is toloerant of drought. This grass can be harvested without disturbing the soil and used in the production of ethanol. It will require less water and fertilizer to produce the fuel than corn.

Making biodiesel

We all had a lot of fun making biodiesel yesterday. Even though we didn't get much we learned a lot and are now trying to work out the kinks. Biodiesel is made from a reaction of Sodium Hydroxide/Pottasium Hydroxide and Oil, with methanol to speed up the process. These two reactants are two of the key ingredients in soap. Luckily you will never get soap in the reaction unless the mixture is contaminated with water. Unfortunately as it turned out our reaction produced a goopy mixture, soap. Some way water must have gotten into the mixture, but how? We have tried several variables, but still fail to find the answer. Our efforts yesterday still yeilded us with a small amount of biodiesel which we managed to extract from amongst the goop. We are still exploring yet.

April

Session 3- Burkina Faso- Calgary Schools

Pabré is located in the centre of Burkina Faso and is less than 400 km from the largest desert in the world.
The desertification has been sped up by the climate change
Climate change has been sped up by harmful human activity.

The vegetation and trees in particular, help to slow down the desertification process by protecting the soil and fighting global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide.

Therefore those are the main reasons that lead us to choose to plant trees.

The seeds from different types of trees have been found in nature and planted in pots.

The young plants have already been growing and we water them regularly.

Between now and the middle of winter (meaning July/August), we will proceed to the actual planting from the pots to the soil. We will dig holes and place the plants, that will have grown some more by then, in the soil where we want them to grow.

It is an old tradition for the Petit Séminaire de Pabré to plant trees every year in the winter.

Several thousands of trees of different types are then planted each year.

However, it is regretable that after each tree planting, 30 à 40 % of the planted trees die because of:

- insufficient rain

- rambling of animal stock

- abusive cutting of trees by the villagers

Despite these losses, efforts made since dozens of years are resulting in the Petit Séminaire de Pabré being in a forest micro climate.

A certain biodiversity exists as much with plants as with animals (with birds, reptiles and other small rodents).

Biodiesel

Sahar and April

How to make Biodiesel

Yes it's true, you can make your own Biodiesel! With everyday household items, you can be set for life when it comes to expensive fuel! This fuel source will soon expand itself throughout the world, delaying global warming and GHG (Green House Gases). Anybody can make Biodiesel with proper safety and sources. Although the steps for making Biodiesel consume enormous amounts of time, helping the environment and saving money are bigger aspects.


Ingredients Required for Biodiesel
1) 1 liter of new vegetable oil (or another type of cooking oil)
2) 200 ml of methanol,
3) 99+% pure lye catalyst -- either potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide
4) Blender or mini-processor
5) Weight scales accurate to 0.1 grams, (or less)
6) Half-liter translucent container
7) 2-liter PET bottle (water or soft-drinks bottle) for settling two 2-liter PET bottles for washing
8) Duct tape
9) Thermometer


Method for producing Biodiesel
1. Lye You need to be quick when measuring out the lye because it very rapidly absorbs water from the atmosphere and water interferes with the biodiesel reaction. Measure the lye out into a handy-sized lightweight plastic bag on the scales (or even do the whole thing entirely inside a big clear plastic bag), then close the lid of the container firmly and close the plastic bag, winding it up so there's not much air in it with the lye and no more air can get in. Have exactly the same kind of bag on the other side of the scale to balance the weight, or adjust the scale for the weight of the bag. How much to use. NaOH must be at least 96% pure, use exactly 3.5 grams. If you're using KOH it depends on the strength. If it's 99% pure (rare) use exactly 4.9 grams (4.90875). If it's 92% pure (more common) use 5.3 grams (5.33). If it's 85% pure (also common) use 5.8 grams (5.775). Any strength of KOH from 85% or stronger will work.

2) Mixing the methoxide
Measure out 200 ml of methanol and pour it into the half-litre HDPE container via the funnel. Methanol also absorbs water from the atmosphere so do it quickly and replace the lid of the methanol container tightly. Carefully add the lye to the HDPE container via the second funnel. Replace the bung and the screw on the cap tightly. Shake the container a few times -- swirl it round rather than shaking it up and down. The mixture gets hot from the reaction. Dissolve in the methanol, forming sodium methoxide or potassium methoxide. As soon as the liquid is clear with no undissolved particles you can begin the process. The more you swirl the container the faster the lye will dissolve. With NaOH it can take from overnight to a few hours to as little as half-an-hour with lots of swirling.

3) The Process
Check that the blender seals are in good order. Make sure all parts of the blender are clean and dry and that the blender components are tightly fitted. Pre-heat the oil to 55 deg C (130 deg F) and pour it into the blender. With the blender still switched off, carefully pour the prepared methoxide from the container into the oil. Secure the blender lid tightly and switch on. Lower speeds should be enough. Blend for at least 20 minutes.

4) The Transfer
As soon as the process is completed, pour the mixture from the blender or the mini-processor into the 2-litre bottle for settling and screw on the lid tightly. (As the mixture cools it will contract and you might have to let some more air into the bottle later.)

5) Settling
Freshly made biodiesel, 20 minutes after processing Allow to settle for 12-24 hours. Darker-coloured glycerine by-product will collect in a distinct layer at the bottom of the bottle, with a clear line of separation from the pale liquid above, which is the biodiesel. The biodiesel varies somewhat in colour according to the oil used (and so does the by-product layer at the bottom) but usually it's pale and yellowish (used-oil biodiesel can be darker and more amber). The biodiesel might be clear or it might still be cloudy, which is not a problem. It will clear eventually but there's no need to wait. Carefully decant the top layer of biodiesel into a clean jar, making sure not to get any of the glycerine layer mixed up with the biodiesel

6) Drying
When it's clear (not colourless but translucent) it's dry and ready to use. It might clear quickly, or it might take a few days or up to a week.

Congratulation you've just created your first batch of environment-friendly Biodiesel!


Links for Extra-Information:
http://biodieseloil.com/article1.html
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html
http://biodieseloil.com/

Mahdi Siad
Langevin Science School

Note from Mayte:
Many thanks Mahdi, very interesting comment!
I have seen Colombian students can read about this in Spanish in this Link:

Mensaje para la Institución Gabriel García Márquez:
El artículo que escribió Mahdi es muy interesante.
Pueden leer en español sobre el tema haciendo clic aquí.
En este artículo se explican las ventajas del uso del biodiesel y cómo puedes hacerlo en tu casa!

Food vs Fuel

Currently one of the biggest arguments against Biofuels is that it is taking away from our food supply . Biodiesel does not have to be made from food crops, however it is often easiest. In Alberta the number one source of biodiesel is currently Canola. Therefore the amount of food produced would be less, increasing food costs. This means we need to turn more towards non-food crops for our biodiesel. Plants such as canolini and the jatropha nut are examples of these.

April

Uno de los argumentos más fuertes contra el biodiesel es que se obtiene de alimentos. El biodiesel no se debe hacer con cereales aunque resulte lo más fácil. En Alberta, el recurso más usado es la canola. Esto trae como consecuencia que disminuya la producción de alimentos y que aumenten los costos. Esta situación debe revertirse usando canolini y piñones de tempate. (jatrofa)

Reciclemos y Ganemos

En el video siguiente se verá todo el proceso de reciclaje
The video shows the recycling process

Cada día se recicló un material diferente
Everyday a different material was recycled.

Comenzamos con el vidrio
We started with glass

Los estudiantes consultaron cómo se recicla el vidrio e hicieron una exposición delante de sus compañeros
Students researched on glass and exposed it to the rest of the class.

Otros estudiantes consultaron por el reciclaje del plástico
Other students researched on plastic

Se recolectaron materiales reciclables e hicimos vestidos
Material was collected to make dresses

Todos trabajaron, se puede ver a los profesores con aguja en mano y a la rectora con su vestido de papel.
Everybody worked, you can see the teachers sewing and the headmistress with a dress made of paper.

Música del video: Carlos Vives, cantante colombiano
Music by Carlos Vives, Colombian singer

Langevin School- Canada