Australia's energy resources

 1. Name three non-renewable energy resources. 
Coal reserves, oil and natural gas

2. Name three renewable energy resources.
Solar power, wind power and hydro-electricity

3. Why is Australia looking to develop clean energy sources?
Because with increasing concern over the environment, and climate change Australia wants not to have serious negative impacts on the economy. Also, to save money.

4. List the top four coal producers in the world.
China, the united States, India and Australia

5. How large are Australia's coal reserves?
76 billion tonnes which will last 200 years at current production levels

6. How much natural gas does Australia have?
5 billion worth


7. Describe the solar power plant to be built near Mildura.
It will use technology developed to power satellites and consists of fields of mirrors. The Sun's energy will be concentrated using cells that produce 1500 times more energy than a typical rooftop solar panel.

8. How can electricity be generated by the wind?
Large turbines are turned by the wind, generating electricity.

9. Draw a table showing the advantages and disadvantages of the Starfish Hill wind farm.

Advantages of the Starfish Hill wind farm	Disadvantages of the Starfish Hill wind farm
Supplies 18000 households with their energy needs	The farm cost $65 million
Represents 2 per cent of South Australia’s residential customers	Scenery won’t look as good because of all the turbines everywhere
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around two million tonnes	Turbines kill birds

10. All these types of energy sources are all clean.  All these energy sources are renewable so it will never run out. It will produce little or no waste products such as carbon dioxide or other chemical pollutants, so has minimal impact on the environment. These are really methods for energy however, these energy sources produce much less energy as for example fossil fuel generators. 

14. Refer to 1.63

a) i. 17 billion

ii. 6 billion

iii. 3.5 billion

b) i. 25 billion

ii. 7 billion

iii. 3 billion

c) coal

The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

1. Tell me all about the recent natural disaster in Japan: (nytimes.com has some great info)

• Where was the epicentre of the earthquake?

about 80 miles off the east coast of Honshu, Japan

• What was the size of the earthquake?

The size of the earthquake has a magnitude of 8.8 to 8.9. 

• What are some of the areas most effected? Describe the devastation and include an image.

The tsunami stuck Kamaishi, Kesennuma, Sendai, Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power plant, Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power plant, Iwaki City, Onahama, Takahagi, Ichihara and Tokyo.

• Describe the impending man-made disaster: what, where , why?

There is a tsunami warning for the entire Pacific basin coastline including California and Hawaii because of the earthquake in the sea making the coastline dangerous. 

Australia's Natural Resources

1. Who is Australia's largest export partner? What products do they export with them? How much of each product do they export? For what purpose does that country need the products they import from Australia?


Australia's largest export partner is Japan. They export about US$26.4 billion (up 24.2% from prior year). They export coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport equipment. I believe that they import these from China as it would be cheaper to import these from China. i believe that we export those goods because we are a rich country which these minerals and china does not have many minerals. 




2. Who is Australia's largest import partner? What do they import from them? How much? Why do you think that Australia imports these goods from this country?



Australia's largest import partner is the United States. They import about $22.4 billion (up 5.8% from 2004-5). Materials handling equipment, Civilian aircraft, Medicinal equipment, Minimum value shipments,Excavating equipment, Telecommunications equipment, Pharmaceutical preparations, Computer accessories,z Other vehicle parts & accessories. I believe that America imports these things from America because Australia is  not as good at manufacturing all of these items.

1. Materials handling equipment … US$876.9 million (4.9% of Australian from U.S. imports, up 46.6% from 2005)
2. Civilian aircraft … $744.6 million (4.2%, up 8.3%)
3. Medicinal equipment … $733 million (4.1%, up 18.3%)
4. Minimum value shipments … $718.6 million (4%, up 14%)
5. Excavating equipment … $714 million (4%, up 7.3%)
6. Telecommunications equipment … $710.9 million (4%, up 14.5%)
7. Pharmaceutical preparations … $663.7 million (3.7%, up 0.5%)
8. Computer accessories … $586 million (3.3%, up 15.3%)
9. Other vehicle parts & accessories … $478 million (2.7%, up 9.2%)
10. Other industrial machines … $469.8 million (2.6%, up 26.3%).

Australia's natural resources

1. What are resources?
are any materials that can  be used by humans

2. Define renewable and non-renewable resources.
Renewable resources - resources that can be reproduced within a human lifetime
Non-renewable - resources that take thousands or even millions of years to form there fore cannot be reproduced within our lifetime.

3. Explain how renewable resource can become non-renewable.
Through over-exploitation

4. Why is soil a valuable resource?
Because it is the basis for Australia's successful agricultural industries.

5. What is silviculture?
the branch of forestry dealing with the development and care of forests

6. What is the area of forest in Australia?
Nearly 1.7 million square kilometres of forest

7. How valuable are Australia's fishing and aquaculture industries?
It is worth more than $2 billion dollars

8. Describe one measure put in place to protect a fish species.
Australian Fisheries Management Authority set a limit of 5265 tonnes for the southern blue fin tuna.

9. Which minerals does Australia have the largest reserves of in the world?
Bauxite, iron ore, lead, zinc, silver, uranium, industrial diamonds and mineral sands.

10. Why are Australia's mineral reserves increasing?
Because of improved prospecting and extraction technologies.

11. Refer to 1.54 to write a paragraph describing Australia's forest resources.


12. Explain why uranium is a valuable resource
Because it can be used for power generation and also for nuclear weapons.

13. Explain why World Heritage site are valuable resources.
Because it relects the enormous diversity and rich natural and cultural heritage

14.  How do you think uranium mining impacts on the landscape?
Uranium mining would impact on landscape as the scenery would ruin by ming fields

15. Describe the location of the Australian fishing grounds shown in 1.55
It is located all around Australia's coastline.

16. Refer to 1.59:
a)
b) Beverly and Olympic Dam
c) Ranger

17.

18. Refer to 1.60:
a) i. about 209 million dollars
ii. about 250 million
iii. about 550 million

b) about 385 million
c) the value of uranium exports is increasing every few years.

Endemic Plants to Australia

Create a diagram of an endemic plant to Australia. You can use an existing photo of the plant. Label the import features of this plant which are clearly linked to the uniques climate of Australia.

1.7 Australia's unique flora and fauna

1. Why are so many of Australia's plants and animals unique?
Australia's plants and animals are unique because Australia is 50 million years old therefore plants and animals have evolved separately from those in other parts of the world.

2. Why have many species in Australia survived for millions of years?

3. What does endemic mean?
Species that are found nowhere else in the world

4. What percentage of Australia's reptiles are thought to be endemic?
89 per cent

5. Name three areas in Australia with great biodiversity.
The Great Barrier Reef, The Tropical rainforest and the South-west Botanical Province of Western Australia

6. Where can the richest insect fauna be found?
The tropical rainforest of Queensland

7. What are marsupials? Name an example.
infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive pouch (called the marsupium), in which females carry their young through early infancy. An example would be a kangaroo

8. What are monotremes?
mammals that lay eggs  instead of givings birth to live young like marsupials

9. What is the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby? 
A wallaby are generally smaller than kangaroos and prefer more rugged terrain, whereas the larger kangaroos are found on grassy plains.

10. Write a paragraph describing the duck-billed platypus. 
The duck-billed platypus belongs to the monotreme group as it is a mammal and lays eggs. The female lays 2-3 eggs in it's burrow while the eggs are rubber shells like reptile eggs. The duck-billed platypus can grow up to 50 cm long and weigh 1-2 kg. The male is larger than the female. It has very dense,dark brown, waterproof fur in three layers that helps withstand cold temperatures.

Predicting the Weather

1. You have an exchange student coming to visit for the next 3 months from a country in the northern hemisphere.
2. You need to explain to them what the weather is going to be like. Compare the average temperatures between the countries for the next 3 months and the average precipitation. Find an image of a average temp and precipitation graph for your two locations.
3. You are also going to take him to Thredbo in May. Explain to him what it will be like in Thredbo and what clothing he'll need.
4. Make sure you explain the type of clothing your exchange will need and how it is the same/different from what he would normally wear at home.



I have a exchange student coming to visit me in Australia Sydney for the next 3 months. This exchange student comes from Fort Yukon, Alaska in North America. He going is coming over and I need to email him and tell him what the weather is like over here and tell him would clothes to bring etc. He has already told me the current weather in Fort Yukon Alaska. He tells me that it is currently -18 degrees Celsius and the next few days the weather is going to be rise up to -35 degrees. He sent me this graph bellow telling the average high and low temperatures in Fort Yukon.

This is what I said in my email


I would like to tell you the weather in Sydney in Australia. It is currently Summer and the temperature is very hot right now. This means most of the clothes you have over there will probably weren't need it in Sydney but you may need it when we go to Thredbo which  is quite cold, but not as cold where you are. It is currently 22 degrees Celsius which will remain like that for the next few days. It occasionally rains but its mainly sunny and hot. I would like to show you a graph of outlining the average temperatures in Sydney.

I can imagine what clothing you would wear over in Alaska, incredibly thick woolen coats to keep yourself warm with thick pants and boots. The clothing in Australia is very casual we would only need a t-shirt and short pants for Summer. All that thick clothing you probably won't need besides the trip to Threbo. Thredbo is a much colder part of NSW which is about 500 kilometres of Sydney. It is not as cold as where you live though, you may still need to bring warm clothing which I guess you have plenty of. Though it only snows in Winter not in Summer but it's still quite cold, but I assume you would be fine with it.  I hope you make it safety to Sydney and I hope you enjoy Australia.