Alternative Fuels

One new and upcoming fuel source that is being developed and used is the production of Bioethanol. This is a renewable form of ethanol that can be made from agricultural products such as corn, sugar cane, and potatoes. There are a lot of upsides to this fuel. There are some concerns however. The fuel is renewable source and considered "green." Some of the downsides and cons associated with this fuel are the increase in food cost. If crops were to start being used for fuel as well as food then the demand for these crops would rise and probably drive up the costs. There is also a concern for the balance or energy and pollution that comes with the production of bioethanol. Another con is that this process can have excess wastes that are largely useless. There is research being done into uses for the waste. One example of this is using different types of grasses to make the fuel and then using the waste produced to make things like paper.

Amphioxus

This small organism known as Amphioxus, or as Lancelet is believed to be the precursor to modern vertebrates. This is believed because this organism has been around for millions of years. It has a basic structure but it has many of the basic parts that set apart vertebrates from other organisms. Its basic structure and its old origins have led to the belief that it is an early basis for what evolved into modern vertebrates. Another characteristic that supports this theory is the study of the Lanelet genome. When studying the genome scientist find that it is by far the most basic chordate identified. This means that it was the first to split from the common ancestor from all chordates that predates the Cambrian Era. It being the first split shows that it is the origin of today's vertebrates.

Mitochondrial Eve

There is a belief and theory that all people have a common ancestor in a figure known as, Mitochondrial Eve. This woman was believed to live somewhere in Northern Africa. From her offspring was the basis for all of the world's population. As the population is this area began to grow different groups began to migrate to different areas. As these people migrated over time they began to develop differently based on their new environments. This is why people of different races look differently even though they all have a common ancestor.

Below are examples of how people have developed differently, and the different characteristics of different races.

Mexican

Ugandan

British

Italian

Japanese

Macon Dog Park Lab

In our last lab we ventured to the Macon Dog Park and took water samples from the urban creek that ran through it. We also talked about the value of dog parks to people and the communities that they are a part of. Dog parks would overall greatly increase a sense of community in an area. They provide an area where families can come together with their pets and just enjoy being outdoors. It provides a great place for recreation. A dog park generally draws the same type of audience. This brings people together who have similar interest. Their love of their pet and a desire for recreation will bring people to the park from all around the community. This will have a large amount of people with the same interest in the same place. This can lead to the rise of relationships and friendships centered around the dog park. These connections would not have been made had the dog park not been there. The dog parks can also help lower the crime rate in an area. Dog parks generally draw a lot of people and a lot of families with children. When all of these people are present the crime rate tends to drop. Criminals tend to shy away from areas that are heavily populated with these people and families with children.

There is however one downside to dog parks is sanitation. Generally dog parks are kept clean to the naked eye, but just as when a lot of different kids are present in a daycare all of the different dogs coming and going in the park can allow for the spread of diseases and sickness. These diseases and bacteria are not necessarily harmful to humans, but they can be very harmful to dogs. If the bacteria level becomes high enough it can lead to the closing of a dog park. An Austin Dog Park is a perfect example of this. So it is very important that in a park people take responsibility for the animals. They need to clean up after them and make sure they are vaccinated before visiting a public setting like a dog park. If they don't and bacteria start to spread it could cause the closure of the park and the sense of community in the area could be hurt and damaged.

Jackson Springs Park Lab

In this lab we walked around Jackson Springs Park and examined the rocks along its creek bed going through the middle of the park. We discussed the history of the park and its development form the much larger Baconsfield Park to the smaller Jackson Springs Park that it is today. We also discussed how the neighborhoods in the surrounding areas developed according to the social class of the people and their needs or wants. Some neighborhoods developed with lots of land and large houses for the wealthy. Some developed cheaper houses for the working class, and some developed for the middle class with children.
After talking about the history we got hammers and started to examine the geology of the area. We looked at the rich soil around the edge of the stream and we studied rocks. We found lots of sandstone, quartz, and even some gneiss along the bank. We sifted the soil and found that it was very silty in some areas and also contained a lot of clay in others.

Hitchiti Experimental Forest

In lab we visited the Hitchiti Experimental Forest and hiked along the Hitchiti or Ernst Brendner Trail. This forest is called experimental because certain parts of it are subject to experimental burning at different intervals to study the growth and recovery of the ecosystem after an event such as a burning.

Along the hike we saw a number of different plants and soil types. Parts of the trail ran in old, dried river banks and along the side of a river. This allowed us to see very rich organic soil. We also were able to find large rocks that were in the ground that would had a number of different mosses growing on them. Two plants that we came across were wild ginger and sassafras. Wild ginger is a small root-like plant that grew out of the ground. This plant tends to prefer shaded, rich, organic soil. This makes the forest floor of Hitchiti that was shaded by large pine and oak trees an ideal place for this plant. One interesting feature of this plant is that it smells like licorice. The other plant we took special notice of is sassafras. One particular interesting point about this plant is that it expresses three different leaf strategies on the same tree. It has an oval unlobed leaf, a bilobed or mitten-shaped, and a trilobed  or three pronged leaf.

Ginger

Sassafras Leaf Strategies

Lake Sidney Lanier

Lake Lanier officially called Lake Sidney Lanier is my favorite lake. It is located in Hall County Georgia. It is a man made lake that was created with the completion of the Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956. Today this lake is used for a number of different recreational activities. It is also used as a food and water source for the surrounding areas. The major use for this area is recreation. There is a large country club with a beach and its own amusement park on the lake side.

Sunflower

My sunflowers got off to a great start. I planted three seeds and two started growing. One seed particularly was sprouting up very fast, but the plant started to lean over. Because of the lean the stem became very weak. One day my roommate picked up his phone charger and it swung and hit my plant. Needless to say the plant split in half and died. My other plant that sprouted also died because of a weak stem and roots. I have since then gotten three new seeds. I have just planted two of those seeds and I am keeping the thrid as a back up if another accident happens. Let's hope the growing process goes better this time around.

Indian Mounds Lab

The creek bed that we encountered in lab was quite remarkable. It was really interesting to see all the different shades and colors of the stone along the bank. It was also interesting how the water had carved through it. The rock looked very solid and sturdy but it was actually just a sand stone that was easy to break apart and therefore easy for the water to cut through. This phenomenon can be seen on a much larger scale at Providence Canyon in Lumpkin, GA.

We also talked about the transition from the Piedmont region to the Coastal Plain region that occurs in this area. From the top of the temple mound we could physically see the change from hills to flat plains. This made the area of macon and other fall line cities such as Augusta a prime location for early civilizations. One major reason for this is the water access. The rivers in this area connect to the coast and were the fartherst point north that laarge ships could navigate inland. Any farther north than this and the rivers became too small for a lot of boats. This made these areas major areas of trade and commerce which aided in the development of civilizations.

Georgia Zones and Fall Line

Blood Sugar Negative Feedback Loop

Human bodies tend to prefer to stay in a steady state or homeostasis with almost every substance in their body. Blood sugar or glucose is no exception to this. A person's blood sugar will raise and lower periodically based on their activity. Suppose someone were to eat a sugary candy bar and drink a sugar rich drink such as Mtn. Dew. This would cause a major spike in their blood sugar level. The body has a physiological mechanism that helps it to reduce this spike in blood sugar and reach that steady state again. When there is a high level of glucose in the blood the pancreas trigger their Beta cells to produce the hormone insulin. This hormone helps to convert glucose into a form that it can be stored in the body known as glycogen. Insulin also stimulates about 2/3 of body cells such as muscle and fat tissue cells to absorb glucose These two processes of body cells absorbing glucose and converting glucose to glycogen for storage help to lower the level of glucose in the blood. This will continue until blood sugar levels reach the steady state or homeostasis again. This is an example of a negative feedback loop in the body. The graph above gives a graphical representation of the spike in blood sugar and then the decent back to the bodies' steady state.

Soil Types

There are 12 soil types found throughout the world.

1. Gelisols
2. Histosols
3. Spodosols
4. Andisols
5. Oxisols
6. Vertisols
7. Aridisols
8. Ultisols
9. Mollisols
10. Alfisols
11. Inceptisols
12. Entisols

A description of each type can be found here: http://soils.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/orders.htm


Soil spotlight: Oxisols
These soils are characteristically highly weathered soils. It is mainly found in inter tropical regions. It is often rich in Fe and Al oxide materials. Naturally this soil has very low fertility unless fertilizers and foreign minerals are added.

Community Garden Lab

In lab this week our class a community garden behind Centenary Methodist Church. This specific garden was built by a company called Macon Roots. (Macon Roots) This is a company that was started by a man named Mark Vanderhoek. This company has set up community gardens in urban areas all over Macon. These gardens help people to get more involved with growing their own food. These gardens face a lot of challenges when getting started. When starting these gardens the planters and planners have to deal with contaminated soil and come up with ways to either clean up the soil or use raised boxes to get around the contaminates. These contaminants can include things like lead from cars and old houses. In our lab we used several different tools to examine the soil in the area. We used a split spoon corer and dug a hole to look at the different soil layers. We also used sieves and a dichotomous key to determine what type of soil was in the area.

Sieve

Soil Types Dichotomous Key

Plant Identifications

Ageratum (Ageratum houstonianum)

Aloe (Aloe vera)

Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia vulcanicola)

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

Long Leaf Pine (Pinus palustris)

Mexican Petunia (Ruellia brittoniana)

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans formerly called Rhus radicans)

Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta)

Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Willow Oak (Quercus phellos)

River Lab

   Above is a map of the area we did our tests in the river at. Below is a table that shows how many clams were found in each place and then below that is a graph that shows the land depth below the bank on the side of the river.  

3 Maps!!

Chloropleth Map

This is a map in which areas are shaded to show the measurement of a statistical variable. An example of this are maps used during presidential elections to show which states are controlled by which candidates.

Dot Density Map

This type of map uses dots or another unifrom symbols to portray the geographic distribution of different factors of an area such as population.

Proportional Symbol Map

This map uses a uniform symbol at different sizes to represent different amounts of a factor in an area.

My Happy Place

In this map I included my house, my happy place, and the path to my happy place. The spot I chose for my happy place is my high school wrestling gym. Wrestling is a huge part of my life. It has taught me a lot of things such as discipline and hard work. The wrestling gym is somewhere I have always felt comfortable, relaxed, and confident.


Large View



Close View of Happy Place



Isarithmic Map of Precipitation in Georgia

Sugar Glider!



This little guy is known as a Sugar Glider or scientifically named Petaurus Breviceps. This animal is a small nocturnal marsupial native to Australia and Indonesia. They have similar features to that of a Flying Squirrel. The gliders have a gliding membrane that stretches from their wrists to their ankles. This membrane allows them to glide from tree to tree in their natural habitats.

A recent trend in the U.S. and many other parts of the world is to domesticate these animals and keep them as pets. In Australia there are laws put in place to help protect the animals that are in their natural habitat, but in the U.S. these gliders are kept and bred on a large scale by businesses to sell as home pets. They have become popular in many places and are continuing to become more and more popular among pet owners every day.