Group Members: Demir Mcrae and Weihang Ke

  1. What is the final version of the question you are interested in asking?
    • How do the rising temperatures from climate change impact the species found in NYC parks?
  2. List some keywords to use when searching for related scientific literature. Be specific!
    • The temperature of past summers, Species in Inwood Hill Park, Effects of climate change, Species affected by temperature
  3. Where will your data come from? Do you need to collect new data? Please describe.
    • Our data would mostly come from different parks in NYC, specifically Inwood Hill Park. Also, our data would come from the internet and database through Baruch. We will need to collect some new data because we haven’t really paid attention to the species in NYC parks before. Therefore, we need to know how many different species are in the park, and the number of each species. Additionally, we will also take notes of the approximate location the species are in. We will also need to know the temperature that time so that comparison can be made.
  4. What will you be measuring or comparing? What are the dependent and independent variables?
    • We will be measuring the types of species that we see in the park and the change temperatures throughout the year. Depending on how the temperature changes, we will see what the cross-section of species is in the park. The independent variable is the temperature. The dependent variables are the species.
  5. Please make a list of your methods. If you are using existing BioBlitz data, you do not need to describe those data collection methods on this worksheet, but you do need to describe how you are extracting the relevant data from the entire BioBlitz data set.
    • As we are comparing the temperature over time, we will need to research the average temperature and how it has changed over time for both NYC itself as well as the average temperature recorded in specific parks (if available).  Then, we will compare our research to research found on the animals in the park. This will include the number of species, the count of animals of that species, etc. to determine the overall well being of species found in these city parks.  By comparing the average temperature changes to the possible changes in the overall well being of the species of the parks, we will be able to conclude how a rising temperature from climate change has impacted the species found in NYC parks.
  6. Why is this question interesting to you? Why should others care about this topic?
    • Our group members have always been concerned about climate change because global warming has been such a serious issue that needs everyone’s attention and action. We assume that no one is unfamiliar with global warming and the devastating consequences it can bring to our lives and to “Mother Earth”, including rising sea levels and causing severe droughts. New York, a city with different opportunities in different industries, inevitably contributes to the phenomenon of global warming. Since it is already so rare to see different organisms in NYC, we wonder in what ways rising temperature would harm the species in NYC parks. Rather than being interested in this question, we would say that it is our responsibility to learn about it and do whatever to minimize the negative impacts so that nature would continue being prolific with species. In terms of why others should care, we are all parts of Earth, and it would be so beautiful to stop to see the nature in such an overwhelming city.