YellowStone

In Yellowstone National Park, in America, wolves were eradicated from the environment. This had a detrimental effect on the land as the elk were taking over, eating the shrubs and damaging the environment. The National Park was becoming barren mand exposed. In 1995, wolves were reintroduced into the park where they began a trophic cascade. This is where other species benefit from their presence and the environment flourishes and regenerates. Because of the wolves in the park, the elk weren’t grazing by the rivers as they could be easily hunted. Some of them were killed for food by the wolves and the elk population slowed. With less elk, the trees could regenerate, and in some places their growth quintupled. More trees meant more migratory birds arrived,as well as song birds and more trees meant more beavers and otters. Bears returned to the area as there were berries and carrion to eat. The carrion that the wolves left behind was attracting rodents and hawks. The reintroduction of wolves also affected the course of the rivers as the banks became more stable and so they meandered less. Having wolves back in the park had a positive impact on Yellowstone National Park

oil spill

 Oil is in and around our world, even in places you wouldn’t imagine. We use oil for cooking but we also use crude oil. The pumping and transporting of crude oil around the globe often have environmental effects. We have looked at various texts and videos to learn about some of these effects, and it ‘good’ timing as there was a recent oil spill (24 July 2020) in Mauritius that we could investigate.

Check out my video to learn more about oil, and see the simulation we did in class about cleaning oil from water.