Lab # 5

High Falls

The fall line is a geological boundary about twenty miles wide that runs across Georgia northeastward from Columbus to Augusta. As the Mesozoic shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, it separates Upper Coastal Plain sedimentary rocks to the south from Piedmont crystalline rocks to the north. The fall line is notable not only for the geological relationship but also for the impact that the geology had on early transportation and consequently on commerce and society.

The falls that give rise to the term fall line are the shoals or waterfalls caused by the first exposure of crystalline rocks encountered when traveling upstream in rivers of the Coastal Plain. These falls represent a barrier to navigation.

Rivers of the Coastal Plain were a major means of commercial transportation during the 1700s and early 1800s. The cities of Columbus, Macon, Milledgeville, and Augusta were located at the fall lines of the Chattahoochee, Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Savannah rivers, respectively. They became early centers of commerce because of their positions at the upstream limit of navigation.

The differences in geology to the north and south of the fall line give rise to differences in soil types, hydrology, and stream morphology. Sandy soils predominate to the south of the fall line, whereas clay soils are the rule to the north. Wide floodplains have developed along many of the streams south of the fall line. Narrower stream valleys are present north of the fall line. A consequence of these differences is that the fall line separates significantly different plant and animal communities.

information was acquired from the new Georgia Encylopedia  

Negative Feedback Loops

Negative feedback occurs when the output of a system acts to oppose changes to the input of the system, with the result that the changes are attenuated. If the overall feedback of the system is negative, then the system will tend to be stable.  That being said negative feedback loops occur all around us in the environment and in mechanisms such as thermostats. When the temperature in a heated room reaches a certain upper limit the room heating is switched off so that the temperature begins to fall. When the temperature drops to a lower limit, the heating is switched on again. Provided the limits are close to each other, a steady room temperature is maintained. 

 Another great example of a negative feedback loop is in our bodies and this would be the physiological mechanism that causes blood sugar to return a baseline concentration after eating large amounts of sugar.  

The graph above is what Dr. Rood compiled after recording his blood sugar and then eating a snickers bar and drinking a sprite and continuing to take his blood sugar.  The graph displays to how his blood sugar increased and then started to return to a baseline after it peaked 190 mg/dL.  These are both great examples as to how negative feedback loops function.  

Lab #4

For lab 4 we went to the community gardens which are across the street and checked out all of the different plants that the local community was growing here in Macon.  This push for local gardens is from the foundation of Macon Roots which promotes community gardens as a way for people to grow their own gardens and tend to them in urban areas. It is pretty cool. 

The soil type that I chose was the Oxisol soils which are very highly weathered soils that are found primarily in the intertropical regions of the world. These soils contain few weatherable minerals and are often rich in Fe and Al oxide minerals. Most of these soils are characterized by extremely low native fertility, resulting from very low nutrient reserves, high phosphorus retention by oxide minerals, and low cation exchange capacity (CEC). Most nutrients in Oxisol ecosystems are contained in the standing vegetation and decomposing plant material. Despite low fertility, Oxisols can be quite productive with inputs of lime and fertilizers.

I find it interesting that even though it is not very fertile many plants can still grow in it. 

Lab #3

This lab we walked around campus and identified various trees, plants, and shrubs. Also one hallucinogenic plant that people die from.


Trees:
Sycamore(Platanus Occidentalis)- An American sycamore tree can often be easily distinguished from other trees by its mottled exfoliating bark, which flakes off in great irregular masses, leaving the surface mottled, and greenish-white, gray and brown.

Crape Myrtle(Lagerstroemia)-Most species of Lagerstroemia have sinewy, fluted stems and branches with a mottled appearance that arises from having bark that sheds throughout the year. 

Ginkgo Tree(Ginkgo Biloba)-The tree is widely cultivated and introduced, since an early period in human history, and has various uses as a food and traditional medicine.

 Shrubs:


Angel's Trumpet(Brugmansia)-Brugmansia are long-lived, woody trees or bushes, with pendulous, not erect, flowers, that have no spines on their fruit

Rhododendron ( Rhododendron maximum)-R. maximum is an evergreen shrub growing to 4 m (13 ft), rarely 10 m (33 ft), tall. The leaves are 9-19 cm (3-8 in) long and 2-4 cm (0.75-1.5 in) broad. The flowers are 2.5-3 cm (1 in) diameter, white, pink or pale purple, often with small greenish-yellow spots.

Hydrangea(Hydrangea Macriohylla)- In climates where hydrangea flowers, place in a mixed shrub border or at the back of a flower bed. Its rich foliage and large size make it a wonderful background for white or light colored flowers, even tall growing perennials and annuals.

Plants:

Mexican Petunia(Ruellia Brittonianiana)- The Mexican petunia is a tender evergreen perennial that forms colonies of stemmy stalks standing 3 ft (0.9 m) in height and of indeterminate width. The strong semi-woody stalks are distinctly vertical in aspect and hold attractive dark green, leaves oppositely at the nodes.

Aloe(aloe vera)-The species is frequently cited as being used in herbal medicine. Many scientific studies on the use of extracts of Aloe vera have been undertaken, some of them conflicting.

Poison Ivey(Toxicodendron radicans)- better known as poison ivy (older synonyms are Rhus toxicodendron and Rhus radicans), is a poisonous North American plant that is well known for its production of urushiol, a clear liquid compound found within the sap of the plant that causes an itching rash in most people who touch it. The plant is not a true ivy (Hedera).

Lab # 2

The map above is of the Ocmulgee River and this is where lab # 2 occurred.  We took measurements of how many clams were in one area by sifting through the sand, took measurements of the elevation of the water as well and used a ball to discover how fast the current was. I was the one who tool the measurements and it took 48 seconds in the middle of the river and 1:05 .....I probably should have shared that sorry Dr. Rood.

 Above is the river transect data chart.