A Turtle's Life Span

Hello! This'll be our last post. *Cries*  Let's start the end by starting the from the start. So let's go even before the blog. (So repetitive...But that IS what I'm trying to do...) Well, before the blog was our field trip. But what is even before that? Our teacher told us that we were going to a field trip by showing us a "teaser trailer". YAY! A fun field trip! But every field trip has to be connected to school. This will be our CEO. NOOO! Just kidding, this field trip was SUPER fun. 

After the assembly at school, we spent a few hours on the bus. This was one of the best parts of the field trip. We laughed, played games, talked, and enjoyed the beautiful sceneries. Then we went down for a quick break. 

Back on the bus, we continued playing games and laughing. Finally! We arrived at the Pawikan Conservation Center. Here we listened to a little lecture, released hatchlings, cleaned the coasts (Coastal clean-up), and bought souvenirs! Fluffy, stuffed turtles! We left the PCC and ate at the West Nuk beach, played Thermosci Dama, and went back on the bus. Most of the time we spent was actually on the bus. 

We arrived at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant after a short while. We went inside this building, it wasn't the power plant yet, and we were taught some stuff about nuclear energy and the like. We went inside the powerplant and saw some interesting stuff...

So... that's our field trip. After the field trip, our teacher explained to us the CEO.

During the field trip, we were told to take lots of pictures cause you'll never know what picture you may need. I took many pictures, so whenever I needed one, I'd have lots of pictures to choose from.


We encountered problems like communication and wifi problems. Sometimes we couldn't contact some of our group members and so I would have to do the whole post myself. Other group members have slow wifi and wifi that has time limits. But on the other hand, we were prepared in terms of pictures. 

This project was a great learning experience. It was very fun, writing these posts, and the going to field trip itself. If we were given a chance to redo this CEO, we would. It was very exciting to see what your grades are and how to improve your next post. Even if we didn't have to do it, we would make our own blog because we enjoy doing it.

We honestly think that this blogging project doesn't need any changes. It is fine the way it is. It was very fun! 

We wouldn't change anything in this blogging project. We like it the way it is. We do not have any other things to add to this perfectly fine blogging project. 

The most important lesson that we've learned is that without teamwork, we wouldn't get the best result. Every man or woman has a contribution to the progress of this blog.

Thanks for reading this blog! -TinCan

What Zefyron and TinCan has to say Science Field Trip, Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, Secret Admirers of the Pawikan, Any Changes in the Blog, and Lessons of Blogging.  

What Alphawolf has to say Message from Alphawolf

What Anonymous101 has to say

The fourth quarter CEO is a blogging project in which we record all facts about the field trip we've had. We explored the marine turtles in the Pawikan Conservation Center and the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. This project is made for keeping all the interesting facts, opinions, information, and especially the memories about the trip. 

During the field trip we had gather as much as information we can get in order to attain it to our blog. To get more information we had went through a lot of research to add more information for the whole blog

Creating a blog was difficult thing to do. And along the way we've encountered many problems. One is that creating or writing the blog was something you had to learn about if you don't know much about creating a blog. But with the help of my group mates, we've shared opinions and message that we can add on to our blog. 

Due to the problems we encountered and a lot of scores we weren't satisfied with, I would want to do this CEO all over again determined to make a better blog and to answer all the questions straight to the point.

In my opinion, this CEO can be improved by making this CEO more informative and entertaining by adding funny or hilarious pictures and GIFs that would make blogs more catchy and at the same time putting more info pertaining to the topic. 

In terms of handling this CEO, I wouldn't change anything since this CEO made us participate more in group works knowing how to spread the work. Because having a group works includes everyone in the group. It also made us do good in our blogging skills for us to be prepared for in high school. 

We've learned how to (of course) blog. We have been creative in most of our posts. But aside from that, it made us realize that mediocre work isn't satisfying, since we've crammed on most posts (*including this!) and that participating in a group work may get you into tangles but in which we may handle in order to make a successful output.

That's all! We hope you had fun reading our blog...the Turtle Gang!

The President's Dilemma

     Hello, folks! Let's talk about the BNPP. 
      
  Never mind, we'll just tell you a story. This is a story that could probably take place some decades later. This is a story if I were a newly elected president during a time of an oil crisis--- oil prices are high and the country is suffering. Let us tell you the story of:

The President's Dilemma

"Oil prices are so high! We need an alternative source of energy! What am I going to do? I'm the president, what can I do to save this country?" I pondered as I walked around in my office, troubled. "Aha! I can open the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant! Wait... Morong Beach is just 8 minutes away from here. That is the turtles' habitat. They might be affected by radiation from the BNPP." I had this question troubling my mind as I walked out of my office to get some fresh air. The fresh breeze might help me think. 

Memes

     One of my friends, Jensen, approached me, noticing my troubled looks. "What's bothering you?" He asked. 

     "Well... our country is facing an oil crisis. The price of oil rose so high. We need an alternative." I answered sadly. 

     "Open the BNPP then." He answered. 

     "That was what I was thinking, but there are turtles nearby. It is not even a 10-minute ride from the BNPP to the Morong Beach. You know that's where the turtles live." I replied, facing another question that has to be answered. 

     "Opening the Power Plant is safe. Just make sure that it is always secure. Make sure that the workers follow the necessary precautions and keep it safe. That's all you have to do." He said, answering the dilemma I had for the past few hours, but not every question I had. 

     "But if we fail to maintain the power plant, it will cause damage and kill life. Then I'll be blamed for not being responsible of the maintenance of the power plant." I said. 

     "You can always assign trusted officials to oversee and manage the power plant. And if ever it does happen, you just have to face it. Plus, that is not very likely to happen. Power plants in other countries don't even affect nearby places and people. This means that it is safe and wouldn't affect the turtles. Ah! Look at the time, it flies so fast. I have a meeting to attend to. Hope you can solve this problem!" He left before I could say my goodbyes. 

Memes 

     After this talk, I decided to consult the people of Bataan directly. I left at once. After hours of traveling in my car, I finally arrived in Bataan. I called for a meeting among the officials of Bataan.

     I felt a little nervous just being a newly elected president. It was silent. I cleared my throat and I started by asking them a question. "Are you in favor of opening the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant?"

     They started talking among themselves, arguing about this issue. "Why do we need to open this power plant, Mr. President? It has stayed dormant for all these years. Why are we opening it now?" One official said.

     "Well-" I started to say when another voice suddenly interrupted. 

     "Our country is facing an Oil Crisis. We need another supply of energy and so we should open the BNPP." 

     They started to argue. So, I finally said. "Since we are a democratic country, let us just decide on this through a friendly voting." All of them nodded in agreement. 

    "Let us start then, shall we? Okay, who is in favor of opening the BNPP?" 16 people raised their hands. "Who is not in favor of opening the power plant?" 5 people raised their hands. 


     "Why are you not in favor of opening the power plant?" I asked them in order to see their opinions. 

     "Well, the turtles would be affected." The first man said. 

     "If something happens to the BNPP it will cause great damage." Another man said. 

     "I'm not in favor because the thing has not been used since it was built; its material is not as stable from modern materials and is most likely old," the third official said. Other reasons came after these three answers. 

     I was more troubled now. At first, I wasn't in favor. The next time, I was convinced. And now, I don't know anymore. I thought for a while about these reasons and found an answer and solution to each one. I smiled as I finally decided what side I am on, to open it! 

     "For the first reason, turtles wouldn't be affected by the radiation of the power plant. Look at the power plant in Korea. It is so close to Busan City, a tourist destination, and yet the people are not affected. We will maintain the power plant well and secure it well. Take extra precautions and choose workers that are qualified and trustworthy. If the parts are old, we can replace it with modern ones. The power plant is maintained so anytime we can just open it. We still have some nuclear pellets to power the plant. So is every one with me?" 

     "Yes!" Everyone shouted. 

     "Let's do it then." 

     I went to other meetings convincing them to open the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. After all the people agreed to this decision, we started right away, choosing officials and workers to do the job. 

     After a month the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant is operational again. Thanks to my friend who first convinced me, the Philippines survived the oil crisis.

~Fin~

     That's all, folks! This is a story of how and why the BNPP might be opened.

Thanks for reading! See you next time!

"Ang buhay ay parang gulong, minsang nasa ibabaw, minsang nasa ilalim."

-Tagalog Saying

(Be a president while the wheel is up!)

"Ang maniwala sa sabi-sabi'y walang bait sa sarili."

-Tagalog Saying

(So why did the president trust what his friend told him? Just kidding!)

Photos by: TinCan and Meme Maker

From the Water Into Radioactivity

Annyeong friends! Turtle gang is back with our next post---

the second part of the field trip: Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. 

      So, first of all, what exactly is nuclear energy? Well, nuclear energy is the energy of an atomic nucleus released by fusion or fission or radioactive decay. While nuclear power is the use of the sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and the good-old electricity we use every day. 

  Now, you would ask, why is it important? Well, in lots of countries, Nuclear Power Plants are used as sources of electricity such as in Japan, China, and U.S.A., with U.S.A. producing the greatest amount of nuclear energy.  Since it runs on Uranium pellets it does not release carbon emissions. Uranium pellets are highly radioactive and is equivalent to 1 ton of coal or 169 gallons of oil. Not that this is not harmful, but if maintained and supervised, nuclear power plants could be helpful in our work and health. 

  But just like anything else in this world, nuclear energy also has its disadvantages. If being processed in power plants, it must always be secured. Workers should always take primary precautions in working and thinking about safety first. Also, maintaining a nuclear power plant is a little too hard and expensive for a country like ours. If a power plant is not maintained, this could cause great damage and could kill life. But look at one of the Nuclear Power Plants in Korea, it's only minutes or hours away from Busan, a famous tourist destination, yet has not yet endangered lives. As long as we know how and can maintain a nuclear power plant, we could probably, again, PROBABLY, re-open BNPP (of course with some replacements of metal, equipment, and all). And for fact the 2 most devastating nuclear disasters, Fukushima and Chernobyl disaster, were actually caused by their structure. Fukushima's cooling system was underground, so when it was flooded the cooling system broke down. Because of that the nuclear reactor itself overheated and ended up exploding. The Chernobyl disaster was actually caused by flawed reactor design. The power of the Main Circulating Pumps was decreasing ;therefore, the momentum of the water flow decreased. With not enough cooling the nuclear reactor overheated and exploded just like the Fukushima accident.

   
     We, the Turtle Gang honestly think that harnessing energy from nuclear power plants is not really that bad. It’s actually how we manage the situation, whether or not we are ready and are capable of doing so. Harnessing energy from nuclear power plants is actually helpful to the environment (but not to the budget of the government XP) But it is also hard to find a site for the power plant, to build the power plant, to buy the materials, etc.




     So, as stated a while ago, we went to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant or BNPP. BNPP was a power plant built in the time of President Ferdinand Marcos. It was his response to the oil crisis in 1973, thinking that it will be the solution to meeting the country’s energy demands and decreasing dependence on imported oil. By 1984, BNPP was nearly complete, costing $US 2.3 BILLION. However, when Marcos was overthrown by the People Power Revolution, the following administration of President Corazon Aquino decided not to operate the plant. 

     We all expected to learn how nuclear energy is processed and distributed throughout the community. Also, we wanted  to learn the importance and history of the BNPP and how it came to be. And, this we learned! We even got an exclusive tour around the place ---gaining facts from our awesome tour guide who explained to us what happens in each part of the power plant.

All of us got excited over one part of the nuclear power plant, the control room. Why? Well, it is plain epic! It's like the main command center of the whole place, even having a direct line to the president in Malacanang. It gives off a very, alien-like space ship feel. It’s very eye-catching and makes our inner curiosity spark, wondering what that red button does…*sigh*. A mystery which will never be solved. XD 

Factoids:
1) Did you know that our everyday cellphones produces more radiation than just standing outside a nuclear power plant?
2) Did you know that all nuclear reactors are covered with 1.5 meter thick walls?
3) Did you know that bananas are naturally radioactive?

Well, that’s all my friends! I hope you enjoyed this post! Stay tuned for more updates! So,’til the next post! Tah-tah my friends! *swims with turtles to the sea*

We would like to give special thanks to Pastor Eryche and his work about nuclear energy for further explaining it to us and giving us a lot of facts! =) 

"Bago mo sabihin at gawin, makapitong iisipin."

-Tagalog Saying

(That's why until now they haven't opened the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Just Kidding! I don't exactly know why...)

Photos by: TinCan and Zefyron

Written by: Alphawolf and Zefyron

Out of the Beach and Under the Sea

Hello there, dear readers! You may start seeing how wonderful and colorful the world of the pawikan is. 

Still can't see it? OK... then let's talk about the pawikan more. First off, let us talk about the effects of global warming on our dear pawikan. But, what is global warming? It is sorta self-explanatory. Global warming refers to a continuing rise in the average temperature of Earth's climate system. 

Global warming has a big impact and effect on marine turtles. The melting of polar caps causes the sea level to rise, which results in smaller beaches. Smaller beaches means less nesting habitat for the sea turtle. Climate change also means more frequent and severe storms which cause beach erosion and floods in the sea turtle's nest. 

As I said before, temperature is what determines a hatchling's gender and when it will hatch. With global warming, the sand's temperature will rise, resulting in decreased hatching rates or complete nest failure. Hotter sand temperatures affects the hatchling's natural sex ratios.  With hotter temperatures, more female hatchlings will be produced. 

The sea turtle use ocean currents to travel and find prey. Rise in ocean temperatures influence migratory species by changing currents and affecting the abundance of prey species. "Warmer water temperatures also affect coral reefs through coral bleaching which are crucial to the survival of turtle species like the hawksbill," according to global warming and turtles.

If turtles are affected by global warming, so what? Why exactly ARE sea turtles important? One reason is that they help maintain the ecological balance by eating and by being eaten. Another reason is because they provide nutrients for the beaches. Beaches do not get many nutrients and so it needs the hatchling eggs, egg shell, and the trapped hatchlings there. Learn more about the turtle's importance from this link.

Let's help in saving these turtle's lives! How do we do that? By joining coastal clean-ups. If ever you find trash on the shores... well, pick it up. Restrain yourself and others from eating or buying turtle products such as eggs, meat, and carapace. Save turtle habitats --- beaches, coral reefs, pelagic (open ocean), and brackish. Don't eat swordfish and tuna. Why? Because these are caught on long lines, which also catch and kill sea turtles). Info from turtle habitats and save turtles. 

Can you see how colorful the world of the pawikan now? Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope to meet you again in the next post!  

"Pag may tiyaga, may nilaga."

-Tagalog saying

(If we save turtle lives, there will be more for us to eat "Mmm...". Just kidding, don't eat turtles!)

Photos by: TinCan

Out of the Nest and into the Beach

In case you ask why we had this field trip: Well, our school organized this field trip exclusively for us, 6th graders. Its aim is for us to learn more about turtles, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, and to help hatchlings and turtles. By having this field trip we would help the turtles and learn how a nuclear power plant works. We would be inspired in helping the endangered species of the turtle. The idea of having a field trip to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and the Pawikan Conservation Center is a great idea. This place is a great place to have a field trip in and a good place to learn in.

 The Turtle Gang went to this field trip to learn, experience, and have fun. To learn about turtles and about the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). To experience the releasing of baby turtles and to experience being inside of a Nuclear Power Plant. We'd have fun with our teachers, classmates, food, turtles, and the sand on the beach. (Especially one batch love pair.) It is always fun to be with friends. This field trip will be a great adventure for the Gang!

Before the field trip we expected to enjoy many things in our field trip. We hoped it to be a fun exciting field trip. We expected a good weather and a good number of hatchlings, sure enough there were just an adequate number of hatchlings for the batch! Our field trip turned out to be just as we expected!

Before the field trip Zefyron felt very excited and "kinikilig" because of what LOVE might happen. 

(#AYEEE XD)

The rest of the Turtle Gang felt excited too for the field trip, we were all excited on what we will see, what we will do, and on the things we will learn. The ThermoSci Dama competition was also started during our field trip, so that is another thing we were looking out for.  

The Pawikan Conservation Center (PCC), this is the first site our bus took us to. On are way to the Pawikan Conservation Center we expected to learn about turtles, how they are got, bred, and how they are released. We wanted to know how and why the PCC was founded and started. 









The PCC is a conservation center to save the endangered turtles. It was founded by people who want to help the pawikans (turtles). They are all volunteers and receives no pay. We should thank these people because of their heroic acts but they say it is just a debt being repaid. These are the people who killed and ate many many turtles and turtle eggs. 

Here we are at the Pawikan Conservation Center. We went in and we sat around in chairs like a classroom. Here we learned a lot of things about turtles and about the Pawikan Conservation Center. We learned about the seven turtle species and about what they eat. We learned about the different varieties of food that turtles eat. The largest species, the leatherback turtle mainly eats jellyfishes. The smallest one, the olive ridley turtle, based on what we learned during our field trip, mainly eats sea grass. Other sources say that it is mostly carnivorous and eats jellyfishes,

snails, and crabs. To learn more about the Olive Ridley turtle click on this link. Here at the PCC we also learned about the PCC, why they made it, who made it, and what they do here. We were told that temperature is what determines these hatchling's gender and when they will hatch. We were each given a hatchling to release. We all released a lepidochelys olivacea or an Olive Ridley turtle. We needed to released them 5 meters away so the hachlings to remember where they came from, this is a process called imprint. To learn more about the PCC click this. After releasing the hatchlings, we 

all started our coastal clean up. For every 
piece of trash we pick up one turtle life we save. This is what the people there told us.
We had fun in our trip to the Pawikan Conservation Center, we learned many things and we helped the hatchlings. We had a chance to buy our own stuffed turtles and other souvenirs.

Now let's focus more on the Olive Ridley turtle. The Olive Ridley is a vulnerable species, it came from the Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Lauan, Order: Chicken Wings, wait what? Sorry, wrong place, Class: Reptilia, Order: Testudines, Family: Cheloniidae, Genus: Lepidochelys, and Finally species: lepidochelys olivacea, wait but how did it get this scientific name? Let's go to it's taxonomy, The olive ridley was first described as Testudo mydas minor, Suckhow, 1798. It was later renamed Chelonian olivacea, Eschscholtz, 1829, and eventually Lepidochelys olivacea Fitzinger, 1843. Because Eschscholtz was the first to propose the specific epithet olivacea, though, he was credited with the valid name Lepidochelys olivacea Eschscholtz, 1829.

The genus name is derived from the Greek words lepidos, meaning scale, and chelys, which translates to turtle. Information from Wikipidea Olive Ridley. The Olive Ridley is a small sea turtle, it has a heart-shaped carapace, it's upper parts are grayish green to olive in color, it has a medium-sized, broad head. It has a short snout and paddle-like forelimbs, each having two anterior claws. 

If you look at the baby hatchlings, you can see that the turtle's snout seems pointed. The baby hatchling in the picture above looks like it has loose skin on its neck. This creature also has claws on its forelimbs according to the source. That feature is interesting on this, Olive Ridley. That makes me wonder, what are these claws for? Another interesting thing about his species is that it changes color in different periods of their lives according to this source.

Why did we focus on this turtle? Well, it is the one we released. The Olive Ridley is a small sea turtle, and yet it has many interesting features. In our gallery below, you can find a picture of the whole body of the baby Olive Ridley we released. 

The Olive Ridley is an omnivorous consumer, it eats jellyfishes, snails, crabs, shrimps, sea urchins and it also eats seagrass. To learn more about it's food and predators. Okay, so the Olive Ridley does it's role by lessening the population of these said "food" of the Olive Ridley. Hatchlings are the usual prey of predators such as:  vultures, frigate birds, crabs, raccoons, coyotes, iguanas, and snakes. In the water, predators of the Olive Ridley hatchlings are oceanic fishes, sharks, and crocodiles. Adult Olive Ridley turtles has less predators than a hatchling. These include the sharks and killer whales. Olive Ridley turtles should also watch out for human predators. 

Turtle Gang's Gallery

On are way to the Pawikan Conservation Center

 TinCan's picture of the sunset that took place

  On the bus traveling...

Half of the Turtle Gang standing up Zefyron and Alphawolf (Photo by: TinCan)

Teacher Rye's beloved doll, Chewie sitting on the sand. (Photo by: Zefyron)

TinCan's hatchling trying to get out to the sea

the beach where the hatchlings were released 

Anonymous101 taking a picture







Here is a short video taken by alphawolf

"Huwag kang magtiwala sa 'di mo kakilala"

-Tagalog saying

(Do this to survive hatchlings!)

Photos by: Zefyron and TinCan

The Hatchlings

Hey there! This is the page of the Turtle Gang. Here we write down our adventures in science, both at school and during our field trip. We also teach concepts and lessons in science to educate young readers and to further educate the minds of adult readers. Our blog is meant for everyone,  whether you are a girl or a boy if you are young or old. We would like to thank our teacher, Rye, who is our beloved Guru. He is the one who administered this activity for us to have fun. We, the "Hatchlings," that make up this, "Turtle Gang" are TinCan, Zefyron, Alphawolf, and Anonymous101. We wish you learn something from this blog! Thanks!

Zefyron

He is Zefyron, our administrator, he created this blog and prepared it for us. He is our adventurous writer and lead photographer. He is the one who took the photos in our field trip and searches photos in the internet when needed. He is a smart, fun-loving, daring adventurer!








                                                                                                                                         

This is Alphawolf, our lead editor. She corrects our wrong grammar or spelling in our blog posts. She also tells us what we should change, add, and remove. She also takes note of what the comments say and improve our blog when needed. She is a funny, artistic and very, very creative Internet Surfer!





                                                                                                                   
Anonymous101
She is Anonymous101, she is our lead designer. She is in charge of formatting and designing our blog. She dazzles our blog into something known as a Work of Art. She is a creative, persevering and fun, fashionista!
                                          







                                                                                                                                      
He is TinCan, our blog poster. He is the one who edits the post that are to be posted. He is the one that finalizes the posts. He makes sure that everything is flawless and beautiful. (like his crush). He is a smart, kind and always fun to be with Math Master

"Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan"

-Tagalog Saying (For the hatchlings)

Photos By: Zefyron