Date: 5/5/2017
Time: 2:20pm Weather: Rainy, 50* F Site Alpha and Site Beta have changed a lot since I first started to observe them. Site Alpha has changed the most because I have been observing it for longer. The grass is much greener and more abundant. The tree has also begun to bloom and there are now leaves growing on it. Site Beta's trees were already leafy when I began observing but the grass is much greener than when I started observing. Themes of the Class in Site Alpha and Beta Ecology: Site Alpha and Beta have all the levels of ecological organization up to ecosystem. The Public Garden where both sites are located is an ecosystem. There are multiple species of plants and animals as well as air and bodies of water. Properties of Life: I noticed many properties of life in my Sites. Reproduction was prevalent in Site Beta because I often noticed male ducks following female ducks and came to the conclusion that the males would want to mate with the female they were following. Organisms acquiring and using energy was present because of the plants (trees & grass) in both sites because they maintained aliveness as well as being green which means they are healthy and converting sunlight and water into energy. Properties of Water: The Duck Pond in the Public Garden demonstrated properties of water. I observed very small birds sit a top the pond, demonstrating surface tension. Also the pond does not evaporate when it's hot out because of the high boiling/evaporation point. Genetic Mutations: I discussed the Grey Squirrel mutation in a previous assignment. The mutation where squirrels are black instead of grey. I saw one black squirrel in my observations. Though it was not directly in Site Alpha or Beta, it was near them and in the Public Garden. Emergent Properties: Similar to ecology, in my Sites there were microorganisms that I could not see with the naked eye all the way to recognizable animals and humans. Explanation of Photos 1: The tree I observed throughout this project in Site Alpha 2: The grass in my transect in Site Alpha 3: The grass in my transect in Site Beta
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For this assignment, I wanted to examine a different species than I did in Assignment 6. So I chose the Mallard Duck which I have seen in Site Beta. Unfortunately, when I started to do research on this species I couldn't find much on it's evolutionary history. I figured squirrels have been around for a very long time (partly because of the movie Ice Age), so I went back to examining them.
Squirrels evolved originally from bacteria just like most species and plants. However, the first time something somewhat resembling what we know now as a squirrel was about 200 million years ago. Though these creatures were not officially squirrels they were what squirrels evolved from. The Eastern Grey Squirrel isn't the only species derived from the same family but species like chipmunks, marmots and prairie dogs also come from the same evolutionary line. Red squirrels used to be a lot more common in our area of the world than they are now. This is due to group selection. I mentioned it in my previous assignment but Red Squirrels are more susceptible to disease and also to hunting so they no longer are as common as the Eastern Grey Squirrel. The video inserted above goes through the evolution of squirrels and related species. Date: 4/29/2017
Time: 5:10 pm Weather: Sunny, breezy, 81* F Site Alpha and Site Beta have many differences and similarities. Site Alpha has changed a lot since I first started observing it. The tree has started to bloom and the grass is no longer dead. Site Beta has not changed much since I have only been observing it for a couple weeks now. The trees in the area are more flowery and the grass is greener. Since both sites are in the Public Garden they have a lot of human activity. The main difference is that Site Beta is close to water and Site Alpha is not. This causes for species like ducks and geese to be in Site Beta when they are not in Site Alpha. Explanation of Photos 1: First visit to Site Alpha 2: Most recent visit to Site Alpha 3: First visit to Site Beta 4: Most recent visit to Site Beta Date: 4/14/2017
Time: 2:45pm Weather: Sunny, breezy, 56*F For Site Beta, I chose a spot close to Site Alpha so I could easily compare the two places. Site Beta is still in the Public Garden. It is at the edge of the duck pond in the Garden across from the green gazebo in the middle of the pond, on the side closest to Newbury St. Observations There are a lot of birds in this area, probably because of the proximity to the water. I saw geese, ducks, and pigeons. The ducks were in the water while the geese and pigeons were typically on the land. Something that differed in Site Beta compared to Site Alpha, was that in Site Beta the grass was more abundant as well as greener. Since this is probably only 50 meters away from each other, I am assuming it is not environmental and probably due to human activity. More people probably walk on Site Alpha than Site Beta Explanations of pictures 1: Site Beta 2: The tree in my Site Beta 3: Some of the ducks I saw while observing and how green the grass is Date: 4/14/2017
Time: 2:30pm Weather: Sunny, breezy, 56*F I used Site Alpha for this assignment. The cells that I noted were plant cells and animal cells. The plant cells were present in the tree in Site Alpha and the grass. The animal cells were found in the squirrels and pigeons that frequent Site Alpha It is common knowledge that plant and animal cells have different cell walls. Plant cells have a rigid cell wall. The purpose for this is that it allows for tree trunks and leaves to feel the way that they do. Tree trunks are hard and protective and leaves are flexible and not easily broken or ripped. Animal cells do not have a cell wall, they just have a flexible cell membrane. This allows for them to have different shapes, while plant cells can only have one boxy shape. The boxy shape is important because thats what allows them to gross towards the sun so they can get their nutrients. My body responded to the environment by expressing goose bumps. I was a little chilly and windy so I felt cold. My body responded by giving me goose bumps. My pupils were also smaller than normal. It was very bright out so they did not need to dilate in order to let light in because theres was plenty of light. References http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2639 https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/plant-cells-chloroplasts-and-cell-walls-14053956 Date: April 9th, 2017
Time: 4:10 pm Weather: Sunny, 67*F, 19*C, 292*K I went to the Esplanade to observe land and water. I noticed that the closer to the water you get, the windier it is. It is only a small change but it is noticeable. Because of this, the closer to the water, the slightly colder it feels. I did not check the temperature of the water because I do not have a thermometer. I also was uncomfortable sticking my hand in it because of how notoriously dirty the Charles River is. Using a pH strip, I found the pH of the water to be about six. Since this is just one step below the neutral ph 7, the Charles has slightly more hydrogen ions than pure water. The main difference I noticed about the terrain close to the water's edge versus further away, was that there's a lot of tall weeds right along the water's edge and further away it is just grass. Date: April 2nd, 2017
Time: 1:15pm Weather: Sunny, windy. Approximately 47*F, 8*C, 281.5*K Observations Some things have definitely stayed the same in my Site Alpha. There is still no budding on the tree, and there are still a lot of sticks surrounding the tree. Also, it is still frequented by squirrels. In addition to things staying the same things have also changed. The grass is now greener and slightly less muddy. Also, a few birds were in my site alpha including pigeons and crows. Properties of Life
Explanation of pictures 1: In this photo you can see how the grass is greener than before. This photo also demonstrates some properties of life as previously discussed. 2: This photo is of the tree branches, showing how they have not yet begin to form buds. 3: This is just a overall photo of Site Alpha showing multiple things. It shows the greener grass, the sticks surrounding the trunk, as well as the weather on the day I did my observations. Date: March, 26th, 2017
Time: 1:30pm Weather: Overcast, chilly. Approximately 40* F/4* C/277.5* K Observations My transect is the area surrounding the tree pictured above. The tree type is a Quercus macrocarpa, or a Bur Oak. There was a small sign on the tree indicating this. The area directly around the tree was all soil, not grass, but the area of soil as well as the grassy areas were damp. The grass is very short and mostly dead since winter is just barely behind us. Squirrels seemed to frequent this tree, one in particular was there the entire time I was observing. There were shells of various nuts surrounding the tree. They appeared to be peanut shells, pistachio shells, and walnut shells. Since the Bur Oak does not produce any of these, I used inductive reasoning to come to the conclusion that these were left by humans. Another thing I noticed was that there were a surplus of small branches and twigs scattered around this tree. I am unsure at this moment if they fell from the tree naturally in the pattern they appear in, or if an animal or human placed them. Doing a little research once I returned home from my observations, I found that the Bur Oak blooms in April, so I will hopefully get to see the stages of it blooming during the course of this project. Explanation of pictures 1: Trunk of tree showing the type of tree 2: Portion of transect showing the twigs as well as squirrel 3: Portion of transect showing the muddy area and the grassy area 4: Squirrel that was in the area of the transect for the entirety of observation References: www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a902 |
AuthorSophomore Intro to Biology student at Lesley University Archives
May 2017
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