Lab #4

Today we went to one of the Macon Roots community gardens to look at different types of soil and plants. The Macon Roots program was established to help promote a sense of community, local farmers markets, and healthy food choices. The Roots program is also focused on creating a sustainable food system for Middle Ga. After more research through their webpage, I found that they hold events downtown that provide fresh food from local markets. They are also responsible for helping the farmers market to get debut card machines at their events, to allow better connivence for the people who go to the markets. Macon Roots also held a lecture concerning obesity and malnutrition that occurs in Macon, allowing people to gain education about the foods they eat and how it affects their body. The Roots webpage also has a separate tab for information about food markets.

Although what the Macon Roots is working towards is good, there are many concerns about the soil. The problem is that since Macon is a major city, they can have what's called urban soil. Urban soil is a potential problem because pollution form the city can be in the soil, which in turn can be in the food that is grown from the soil. The reason this could be a potential problem, is because the people who work in the gardens, may not know to look for this, or that the problem exists. To prevent this, community gardeners need to be educated about the health of the soil they are planting in.

Below is a picture of the gardens from their webpage.

Macon Roots

Type of Soil

The type of soil I chose to look at is Andisol. This type of soil is formed from volcanic ash. because its formed with ash and other volcanic components, it is found to have andic properties (high in water-holding capacity). This type of soil is almost rare, it is only found in ~1%of the ice free land area. Below is map of where this type of soil can be found.

I think this type of soil is very interesting, because the fact that it comes from volcanic ash. I find it pretty amazing that something so destructive can benefit the land.

The picture above is a picture of Andisol on North Island, New Zealand.

Soil Source/ Picture Source
12 Types of Soil

Lab #3

In this lab we walked around campus and identified many different types of trees, shrubs, and plants. Here are a few of each we found.

Trees:

 This is a Sugar Maple tree (Acer, saccharum).

 This is a Pecan tree (Carya illinoinensis).

 This is a Sycamore tree (Acer, pseudoplatanus).

 This is a Magnolia tree (Magnolia grandiflora). 

 This is a Laurel Oak ( Quercus virginiana). 

Shrubs:

 This is a Holley (Ilex opaca).

 This is a Rhododendron ( Rhododendron maximum).

 This is a Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla). 

  This is a Japanese Privet (Ligustrum japonicum).

  This is a Lingustrum ( Ligustrum lucidum).

Plants:

Ophiopogon japonicus

 This is an aloe plant (Aloe vera).

 This is Monkey grass (Ophiopogon japonicus).

 This is poison ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans).

 This is a mexican petunia (Ruellia tweediana).

 This is a crysanthamum ( Chrysanthemum morifolium).

Lab #2

In lab #2 we went to the Ocmulgee River in Macon.  The map above is a picture from Google Earth. The white box marks the outline of shallow water/ sand.  Based on the time of year this level changes, however this is what the land looked like during our lab. During our Lab we looked at the number of clams in different areas of the river as well as the difference in elevation across the river.

The blue balloons are used to represent the places that clams were dug up. We used a shovel to dig under the surface, and then placed to dug up dirt in a pan, allowing us to find the clams. The blue number next to the icon is the number of live clams that were found. By mapping out the number of clams we are able to infer that clams prefer to live in areas that are neither shallow nor deep, and in medium water flow areas. They do not want to live too far under the water, but not on top in the sand. The slower currents, close to the shallow water level, provided a better living environment for them, which is why more were found in the slow current area.

The red line across the river represents the place that elevation measurements were taken. Each red thumb tact is placed 100 feet apart from each other. The red number next to the tact is the depth of the land from the staring point, the river walk. The First red point is closest to the starting point, representing 100 feet out, then second point being 200 feet out, and so on. 

Lab #1

Three Maps

Isarithmic Map:

Isarithmic maps are maps that allow you see contours of an area and distinguish different zones. The map above is a map of the different temperatures across the United States. It allows you to distinguish between the variations in temperature. Isarithmic maps can also show rainfall patterns, weather patterns, and air pressure. 

Chloropleth Map:

Chloropleth maps are used to display different percents of individuals in different areas, based on a color scheme for different groups of percents of people. The red and blue maps used during the US Presidential election are considered chloropleth maps. 

Dot Density Map:

A dot density map uses dots to distinguish areas of concentration. Factors that can be mapped out through dot density can be concentrations of age, cancer rates, or population. 

Google Earth Photos

This first picture is a view of my home in Dacula, GA. I have lived my entire life  in this one house. What I love about my house is that we have over an acre and a half of land, along with a pool in the back yard. 

This second picture is of my first happy place. The happy place is a trail in the woods behind my neighborhood. On the trail there is an old graveyard, most of the headstones dating back to the Civil War. My favorite spot on the trail is the waterfall. It's only about 20 feet high, but there are tons of pool areas you can hang out in, and you can always sun tan. We usually took four wheelers back there and would ride around in a giant field, or cut out onto the main roads to go hang out with other people. 

This third picture is of my second happy place. The first happy place got blocked off during my second year of high school. The county wanted to turn it into some kind of park so they put huge trees down on the trail path and fenced off the road access areas. So I got a new happy place, which is located on top of my high school's gym. I loved to go up there because you could just lay down and look at the stars. The stars were actually pretty bright considering the school is in the middle of the city. This happy place was much more popular than my first place, and I would sometimes run into other people while up there.

Ga Isarithmic Map:

Favorite Animal

*My favorite animal is a penguin. I actually have no specific reason for why they are my favorite, other than I find them super cute and adorable. The pictures I posted are pictures from one of my visits to the Georgia Aquarium. There are many different species of penguins that live in places such as Southern Africa, New Zealand, and Antarctica. Penguins usually feed on krill, fish, and shrimp. Although penguins have wings, they are not able to fly; they instead use their wings to swim. Penguins have such thick layers of blubber that as soon as they stop using their wings while swimming, they shoot straight up to the surface. The tuxedo pattern is used as a defense mechanism. If animals are above penguins in the water, the top of their feathers blend in with the dark bottom of the ocean; if animals are below the penguins, the white of their bellies blend in with the light from the surface. Also, shiny objects distract penguins very easily. At the Aquarium if you want a penguin to swim towards the glass all you have to do is place your keys against the glass and they’ll swim towards you.

Penguin Fact Site

Penguin Laughing

Penguins VS. Iceberg 

Leap of Faith Penguin