Three uses of direct quotation from Paper 3 to consider

The objective was, “to build the most energy efficient building in the country, if not the world,” stated engineering professor Phillip Krein (Krein, 2014).

 

“Currently the Department of energy reports only eight net-zero energy buildings in the U.S., and the largest is only 14,000 square feet,” ECE Professor Phil Krein explains. “To achieve this in a building nearly 20 times that size reflects the University’s sincere commitment to sustainable design while capturing the spirit of a department that’ always pushing the limits of technological innovation.”

 

In a presentation by Professor Philip Krein, a major player in getting this structure built, he addressed concerns over whether or not gathering energy off-site was a dishonest way to achieve environmental certification. He told the audience, “Somebody said to me, ‘Isn’t that cheating? All I need is an area big enough to cover with solar panels to be zero net energy,’ and the answer is ‘Go for it! Good idea.’”

 

Selected bits from today’s blog posts that describe physical aspects of animals

The snakes are not that large, adults range from 18 to 30 inches. The snake is a gray color with a tan circular pattern on the entire body.

–Brahmamdam

Human sized, at around 4 to 6 feet from its tan colored snout to its small little nub of a tail. It has short stubby legs paired with a thick, 200-500 pound body giving it a round and almost cuddly look. It stands 2-3 feet tall when standing on all four cereal bowl-sized paw. The front paws are smaller than the rear, with the rear paws being nearly two times the size of the front ones. Dangerous inch long curved claws lie in each of the five toes, on each of the paws. Its thick glossy coat is typically a bluish-black or dark brown but can also be found, on occasion, with hints of a reddish color. Two round ears stand tall on its large head. Like humans, it too is an omnivore, munching on both animals and plants.

–Greetis

The peregrine falcon’s wingspan ranges from 29 to 47 inches. It is a sexually dimorphic species, with females being considerably larger than males. . . . These birds have been admired for millennia for their majestic colors and predatory ability. Their coat usually ranges from dark brown to black yet there are subspecies that are found with blue and grey coats.

–Kochnar

An undisturbed circle silhouettes the barn owl’s head. Smooth and deadly, the ears are hidden in the feathers as they listen for their next meal among the grasses. Black eyes present a stark contrast to the white feathers that fill the face. The only other characteristic on the almost perfectly circular head is the outline of a yellow beak, creating a deep V from the inside corners of the eyes to almost the bottom of the face. This deep outline is mirrored in a subtle imitation by a widows peak on the top of the head, a subtle indent that seems almost as if the beak brought down the forehead slightly. The white chest is not covered in only a small number of striking features like the face. It is covered with many small dots of red, which go almost unnoticed in the white feathers if not looked at closely. The wings are a mix of beautiful burnt orange, white, and brown. The short tail feathers curve slightly up, emphasizing the dramatic curve and fullness of the chest. When not in flight, the bird stands on white legs that appear to be the same length at its beak, with sprawling burnt-orange talons. When its eyes are fully open, it has a look of innocent inquiry.   When they are squinting, giving an upward slant the to the blackness, it stairs as if it knows something you don’t. Purely an intimidation factor, the owl’s expressive eyes are completely unnecessary as it swoops down toward the sound of a scurrying mouse.

–Krone

the eastern massasauga rattlesnake is a small, brown-grey snake with a thick body . . . This slow moving snake ranges in length from 45 to 75 cm, or 18 to 30 inches, and consists of large brown spots all over its body. It has a triangular shaped head with pupils shaped like slits. The snake’s skin is smooth and consists of small bumps, and it covers a tough, thick body underneath. Known to be venomous, the eastern massasauga is also a pit viper and possesses heat-sensing pit organs between the eye and nostril on either side of its head, allowing the snake to recognize its surroundings and potential prey in its vicinity.

–Shah

Clown Fish are orange in color with three thick white stripes, and range in length from about 3.9 inches to 7.1 inches.

–Solner

So, how would you know this bird if you saw it? It is a rather large bird at 13-15 inches in length and with a wingspan of 31-37inches. Size-wise, it is far from little. If its size didn’t catch your eye, the distinctive coloring is something to look for. The head to the back is a shade that ranges from gray to brown while the underbody is a shade of white with dark spots. Yet, the most notable feature is certainly the white heart-shaped face. This unique and charismatic look makes them quite distinctive among other owl species.

–Spence

Sort of squat in nature, ring-billed gulls are around 18 inches from black-tipped golden beak to black-tipped square tail, and about 6 inches wide across the chest, Adults have clean, cloudy gray backs and wings with black wing tips. Slender and pointed wings, stretching a span of nearly 48 inches, allow the gulls to be graceful and speedy fliers. When fully extended, they resemble boomerangs. They have a snow white head, body and belly. It takes three years for this breeding coloration to emerge. Non-breeding adults can have brown or pinkish mottling on the head and belly. The most captivating part of the bird is the piercing eye. Round to oval in shape, the jet black rimmed eyes can be yellow, red-orange, or blue in color. The black pupil is like a dot of ink in a glassy marble. Hardly ever do you see them blink and they seem to stare you down intimidatingly. Gulls don’t have long necks, only 3 or 4 inches when fully extended. Often, the birds will nestle their necks into their shoulders in a relaxed state, lending to their stocky stature. They sit on spindly yellow legs that make up almost half their height. Since they don’t have any plumage covering their legs, you can see that they have knobbly knees. Three, black clawed, webbed toes are perfect for swimming or traversing sand.

–Taria

Fluffy grey tails. Ears that stiffens up when they hear your footsteps. They run in blurs across the quad on campus. . . . Looking closer at the squirrels on campus, they’re mostly of the single variety, the Eastern Grey (Sciurus carolinensis) species. The average size of such as squirrel grows to approximately a foot and a half in length, surprisingly long for an animal that sometimes see so swiftly running on the quad’s grass field. The average life span for the squirrel is around 11 to 12 months. Most squirrels of this type has grey fur on its back and the belly is composed of white fur. There is a gradation of colors going from white to grey for the species.

–Wang

Pigeon are easily recognizable and wide spread. Usually, they got grey and brown color; however, the ones I saw in Korea and urban areas in U.S are grey.

–Yang

Why protect individual species?

Last Friday I found and photographed this pair of whooping cranes at a Champaign County Forest Preserve. There are about 600 whooping cranes alive today, which is great compared to the 1940s and 50s, when there were only 23 of them at a couple of points. Enormous federal, state and private resources have been (and continue to be) expended to prevent whooping cranes from becoming extinct.

For class discussion tomorrow please consider these questions: Does this make sense based on your best argument for preserving biodiversity from last week? If not, how would you justify efforts to preserve whooping cranes?

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Selections from responses to “What’s the strongest argument to value and protect biodiversity?”

I’d like to assume that most people on this earth care about their lives and want to live. Therefore, I believe that it is in their highest interest to care, value, and protect biodiversity, plants, and animals.

–Charnes

plants and animals are essential to our survival. They are a part of a delicate balance that provides us with the environment we live in today.

–Greetis

We are so dependent on biodiversity for our own life in ways that we don’t even know of. Not saving them is like killing ourselves. . . . My hope is that somebody would be able to see this argument and even if they were as anti-‘save the rainforest’ as it gets, they would still see the value in saving biodiversity out of their own self interest.

–Grisco

Nature supports every aspect of our lives from what we eat to protecting us from damaging floods. If we weaken nature by reducing biodiversity, we weaken our own support system.

–Krone

. . . the thing that most people care about is, well, themselves. Not only do we need biodiversity for our individual well-being, but also we need it for the self-preservation of our species.

–Martin

The strongest argument to value and protect biodiversity is that all life has intrinsic value, therefore all plants/animals/insects have the right to live for their own sake.

–MacDonald

All species have intrinsic value; they are living, breathing creatures and plants that are not placed on earth simply to provide humans with enjoyment and profit. Just as humans enjoy freedom to do as they want (and to basically dominate the entire world), other beings on the planet deserve the right to live freely as well.

–Shah

of all adverse environmental impacts man has made to the planet, the irreversible damage done to biodiversity is by far the largest. . . . In nature, everything intertwines, so when any one aspect is damaged or inhibited, the domino effect kicks in and as a result, we see other sectors of the environment suffer as a result.’

–Solner

Basically, I know preserving nature and protecting biodiversity is important, but I can’t put into words why we should care.  Most of the reasons I could come up with are selfish: humans want to see different species, kids like zoos, ecotourism is emerging, and “nature is healing” (whatever that means).  None of these reasons take into account why wildlife might want to be preserved.

–Taria

If we do not preserve organisms of other kind in the world, we will be attempting to live in a society all by ourselves. To me this picture of the existence of the human culture alone itself is unnatural.

–Wang