My Research Proposal:
The goal of my research essay will be to find out if there was even a small difference in the size or location of the sun, how might it make life on Earth unsustainable for more than 100 years. Sustainability offers opportunities to people who want to take control of their own lifestyles and make better choices for the rest of their lives and the lives coming after them. Observations from the University of California depict that the earth’s tilt in orbit affects how much solar energy is provided by the sun and any angle or position causes rapid climate change, affects glacial periods, and disturbs the carbon that’s transferred between the ocean, atmosphere, and organisms on earth. My intention for this research is to provide a perception of how life on Earth could go from a sustainable, flourishing, naturally resourceful habitat to a polluted, radiation-imbalanced, floating rock that makes life difficult for more than 100 years.
My Sources:
1.) https://ugc.berkeley.edu/background-content/earths-spin-tilt-orbit/
Background and Usage
This source helps the viewer understand what Earth’s spin, tilt, and orbit has influence over. The spin, tilt, and orbit influences the amount of solar energy and radiation also referred to as “insolation, a part of the globe receives, the small changes in the Earth’s position could change the climate. This includes alterations in the length and intensity a season could have, reduction of the amount of energy absorbed on the surface of the planet causing severe temperature fluctuation, and more. I intend to use this source to show how position change of the planet could affect the temperature, duration of seasons and a basic cause and effect the decreased distance between the sun and the Earth would cause.
2.) https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/power-sun/
Background and Usage
The sun has to be the closest star to Earth and produces sun rays to create solar energy, light, heat, and photosynthesis to flora seeking a home on Earth. Photosynthesis is a crucial tool for a plant to stay alive and reproduce, the existence of plants ultimately effect how animals reproduce and thrive while also supporting clean air and food for humans to consume. Without the heat’s presence, winds would cease and there would not be any formation of clouds or ocean currents, this results in no transportation for water anywhere. I intend to use this source to show the basic “domino” effect the retraction from the Sun would cause for different organisms using the world as a home. Take away one resource, everything dependent on it will suffer.
Background and Usage
This source explains that the world is moving as we are living on it, we just can’t feel the movement. A force called the “gravitational pull” keeps human beings from flying off the surface of the Earth and into the orbit of space, it keeps matter of any form grounded. Without the orbit, the Earth will be directly pulled towards the Sun since the Sun’s gravitational pull is 274 m/s^2, it overpowers the Earth’s gravitational pull being a mere 9.807 m/s^2. My intention for this source is to support the fact that the world would potentially cool and freeze resulting in iced-over oceans affecting vapor and carbon dioxide release and making years longer. It also supports the claim that the world would become uninhabitable in 100 years time.
4.) https://www.livescience.com/is-earth-moving-closer-farther-sun
Background and Usage
This source explains how the sun controls the tide activity through a gravitational “tidal Bulge” that occurs on Earth, it slowly pulls the Earth further from the sun. The source also informs the reader that if the world was ever a far distance from the sun, the light seen from the sun would be dimmer, as a result of this, a 0.4% reduction of radiation and reduction of solar energy in terms of hitting the Earth’s surface. I intend to use this source to emphasize the effects that would occur on the Earth if the sun were to be further away.
5.) https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/resource-library-earth-sun-relationships/
Background and Usage
This source depicts the relationship the Earth has with the sun, explaining the different things the sun can affect. It controls and regulates the Earth’s properties such as biodiversity, seasons, photosynthesis, and climate. I intend to use this source to further show the relationship the Earth has with the Sun while driving my point as to why any changes regarding the Sun or Earth’s position can greatly affect how sutible earth is to preserve life.
6.) Johnson, Yvonne. “The Effect of Sunlight on Animals & Plants.” Sciencing, https://sciencing.com/the-effect-of-sunlight-on-animals-plants-13427960.html. Accessed 7 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source goes into detail on how sunlight provides positive effects on plants and animals. Everything directly and indirectly relies on each other so it’s like a cursed domino effect, If one system goes down, the rest will follow. The sun provides energy and light to the plant to help them produce sugars that help them survive and store energy. For animals, the sun provides vitamin D for the skin. Herbivores benefit from the plants because when they digest something full of energy, they too receive energy to carry on.
7.) Kon, Rebecca. “Food from Sunlight | The Huntington.” Huntington Library, https://huntington.org/educators/learning-resources/survival-through-adaptation/getting-food/food-sunlight. Accessed 7 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source educates readers about the “food” the sun can provide to plants to continue existing. Plants make their own food, using the sun rays and water provided. They also produce carbon dioxide to support a necessary system called Photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is when living organisms and plants use sunlight to synthesize nutrients from the sun, water, and carbon dioxide.
8.) “The light in the ocean, much more than the engine of photosynthesis.” Institut de Ciències del Mar, 4 March 2021, https://www.icm.csic.es/en/news/light-ocean-much-more-engine-photosynthesis. Accessed 7 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source was chosen to emphasize the sun’s importance to the ocean. The light from the sun’s rays can penetrate water molecules found in the ocean and disperse their forces. This gives the ocean the ability to be heated. Not only can the sun be used as a source for the photosynthesis process, but it also provides living organisms with a source of light that helps them adapt to the spaces around them. Animal displacement could cause issues for different habitats because becoming an invasive species could lead to a demise.
9.) “Sun Safety.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/sun-safety . Accessed 7 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source supplies information about sun safety and the precautions to take when dealing with the sun’s rays. Even though the sun provides humans, animals, and living organisms with nutrients of vitamin D, unprotected exposure to the UV Rays could lead to severe damage to the eyes, skin, and immune systems and could eventually lead to cancer. A lot of people tan to get more melanin, as a result, excessive color pigmentation occurs giving that “tan” look. Having darker skin doesn’t automatically mean your skin cannot get damaged, and it doesn’t prevent cancer either. This source supports my thesis by stating, too much sun exposure could have deadly affects. If the Sun’s position was too close, we would all be getting a free ticket for cancer.
10.) Culver, R. (2017, August 17). How ancient cultures explained eclipses. Colorado State University News. Retrieved March 6, 2024, from https://source.colostate.edu/ancient-cultures-explained-eclipses/
Background and Usage
This source is important to my research because it supports the idea of how important the sun is as a resource and the benefits that it provides. Ancient cultures in Vietnam, China, Egypt, Mayas, and more have all provided examples as to why the sun is seen as a “divine power” to the community. Because eclipses were seen as some sort of evil, a time when monsters come to take bites out of the moon, they adapted to producing large amounts of sound to help the sun overcome this evil.
11.) Martin, J. B. (n.d.). The Plant-Soil Relationship – KidsGardening. Kids Gardening. Retrieved March 10, 2024, from https://kidsgardening.org/resources/lesson-plans-the-plant-soil-relationship/
Background and Usage
I chose this source because it provides information about the relationship between plants and soil. Soil is used to keep plants in place on the ground to help them absorb nutrients found in the soil. If the sun was too close, the soil would dry up very quickly and any water or food in the soil would not be sustainable. If the sun was too far away, the soil would freeze, the roots of the plant would freeze and break, and plants would essentially die because of the lack of sunlight, and their anchor in the ground would be gone.
12.) National Weather Service. “Solar and Lunar Eclipses – Sioux Falls.” National Weather Service, https://www.weather.gov/fsd/suneclipse . Accessed 12 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source basically talks about how the Sun’s change in position would cause eclipses to occur more and less frequently. The sun’s size and position could definitely affect whether eclipses are total or annular.
13.) 2A: Solar Energy and the Water Cycle. (n.d.). SERC. Retrieved March 11, 2024, from https://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/weather/2a.html
Background and Usage
The purpose of this source is to define the climate- Earth’s energy balance. it goes into how the water cycle occurs, what processes go into, and what gets affected during or after this. Energy from the sun drives how the water cycle operates, where it happens, and how the process supports living organisms on Earth. The water cycle is that the sun’s rays heat up the affected water, causing evaporation, this goes into the clouds, when the clouds move around while full and heavy gravity eventually makes all the water come out to different areas. If the Sun was too close, the water would evaporate rapidly to the point of boiling. This will heat up the water to dangerous temperatures, eventually killing everything inside the body of water. The water cycle will stop. If the sun was too far, the process will reduce tremendously in power, less to no water will be collected, and the habitats and organisms dependent on the transported water would die.
14.) Science Learning Hub. “Light and shadows — Science Learning Hub.” Science Learning Hub, 23 May 2019, https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/2771-light-and-shadows. Accessed 12 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source explains how the Sun’s change in position would shorten and lengthen the days and seasons, drastically changing how time and seasons are perceived on Earth. The way the Earth is set on a tilt affects how the sun’s angle changes seasonally. If the Sun moves farther, at a lower angle, the heat source will be spread out broadly, and less heat gets to the floor. If the sun was closer and higher to the Earth, more heat would be generated at a more intense volume and this would cause overheating and drying out of certain areas.
15.) NASA. “Our Sun: Facts.” NASA Science, https://science.nasa.gov/sun/facts/. Accessed 12 April 2024.
Background and Usage
This source is solely to express how important the sun is to our solar system. The sun is 4.5 billion years old made of hydrogen and helium, and a lengthy 93 million miles away from the Earth. With a diameter of 865,000 miles and about 1.4 million kilometers, the sun holds the solar system together by gravity, keeping everything in equilibrium. If there was a shift change in the sun, the whole solar system would basically collapse and all life forces on all planets would suffer negative effects.
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
I’m fascinated but just a bit confused about your Proposal, NatureChild.
I love the audacity of speculating how the world would spin into catastrophe following even a small shift in our relationship with the sun, but I’m unsure why you feel the need to specify that the drastic change would last for 100 years (or for ONLY 100 years, whichever one you’re arguing).
It makes me wonder whether you’re going to speculate about a MOMENTARY EVENT on the sun, whose impact would be felt immediately but which would not persist and whose consequences would last for 100 years until they dissipated. That’s one scenario. I’m not sure I see the value of making either the event OR the consequences transitory.
You might benefit for the time being from simply speculating that a small change to the sun would spoil the Sun/Earth symbiosis for as long as the Earth stays in the Sun’s orbit.
Maybe it’s the their source that put the 100-year timespan in your mind. If it turns out to be your most compelling narrative, of course, you should follow the evidence where it goes.
Your sources are fine so far, but light on academics. These general-reader publications will give you a good start for understanding the terms and explaining them to readers who, like yourself, will be learning a lot from your essay about the relationship we have with our sun. Be ready to stretch yourself beyond those basic sources, though, if you need some hard science to support your surprising claims.
Provisionally graded. Grades on this assignment are subject to change all the way to the portfolio, when it will become the “Annotated Bibliography.”
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