Graveyard Life Table Lab

Riverside Historic Cemetry

For this lab we went to the Riverside Historic Cemetery. When I first found out that our ENB lab was going to be at a cemetery I was a little confused and (I'm not going to lie) A little freaked out. Once Dr. Rood explained our purpose of being there it made much more sense. We are studying populations and how our population has changed over the years and what can cause our population size to change. We were there to gather information to create a life table. We were told to look for grave stones where the person died in 1918. This year in specific because this was the year of the Spanish Flu epidemic. The Spanish Flu was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. It can be predicted that there will be a lot more deaths in the year of 1918 compared to other years near to it. Also we wanted to see what age group and sex was most effected by the spanish flu. We can do this by creating a life table.

People were quarantined during the Spanish Flu epidemic

Poster warning of the Epidemic 

A life table aka a mortality table is a table which shows, for each age, what the probability is that a person of that age will die before his or her next birthday. From this starting point, a number of inferences can be derived.
From the information I gathered (which can be seen in my table at the bottom if the page) More men than women died in 1918. This could possibly mean that men were effected more than women by the spanish flu. The females that did die in 1918 were either very old or very young, and this makes sense because the old and the young are the ones most effected my pandemics. MOst of the men who died were in their 40's and older but a few dies in their 20's and 30's. It is very interesting to see and compare all those who died in Macon during the year of 1918.


Heres my life table of those who died in 1818.

Sex	Year of Birth	Year of Death	Age
Female	1850	1918	68
Male	1872	1918	46
Male	1842	1918	76
Male	1868	1918	50
Male	1861	1918	57
Male	1852	1918	66
Male	1855	1918	63
Female	1917	1918	1
Male	1880	1918	38
Male	1842	1918	76
Female	1897	1918	21
Male	1886	1918	32
Female	1911	1918	7
Male	1874	1918	44
	Video about the Spanish Flu Epidemic Video about some biology students creating life tables

Bio Ethanol Lab

In this lab we discussed how to produce bio ethanol. Bio ethanol can be used as fuel. Bio ethanol is a type of ethanol fuel that is ethanol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. Its is most often used as motor fuel, mainly as  a biofuel addictive for gasoline. Bioethanol is a form of renewable energy that can be produced from agricultural feedstocks. It can also be made from common crops such as corn, sugar cane, potato and manioc. The basic steps fro large scale production of ethanol are yeast fermentation of sugars, distillation, dehydration and denaturing. Bioethanol fuel can be used in car petrol car engines and fireplaces.

Benefits of Bio Ethanol:
-Bioethanol has a number of advantages over conventional fuels. It comes from a renewable resource i.e. crops and not from a finite resource 
-Reduce dependence on Oil
- By encouraging bioethanol’s use, the rural economy would also receive a boost from growing the necessary crops. 
-through the use of bioethanol, some of these CO2 Green house emissions will be reduced as the fuel crops absorb the CO2 they emit through growing.

Bioethanol Fire place!

Cons:
-It has a high corrosive capacity, bioethanol can be corrosive to metals such as aluminum.
-oethanol may require the use of too much arable land (to grow the required crops) and too much energy input during production to justify it.

"Can we make bioethanol from waste?" Cool video!

Mitochondrial eve

Also known as the mother of all humans, lived 2000 years ago. She is the most recent common ancestor MRCA.  In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person. Because all mitocgondrial DNA is generally passed from mother to offspring without recombination, all mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in every living person is directly descended from hers by definition. Mitochondrial Eve is the female counterpart of Y-Chromosomal Adam, the patrilineal most recent common ancestor, although they lived thousands of years apart. She most likely lived in east Africa.

While we are all descendants of Mitochondrial eve, we are quite diverse.

French Woman

Japanese woman

Senegalese woman

Swedish woman

Native American Woman

The decedents of mitichrondrial eve all look different because through out the years they migrated to other parts of the world. Experiencing different environments and environmental conditions. Depending on exposure to sun, their skin pigmentation began to change colors.

Estimated Migration Patterns of her decedents 

This video explains the concept of Mitochondrial Eve in a bit more detail!

Dog Park Labl

This week for lab we went to the Dog Park in Macon called Tyler's Place to take samples of the water in the park and discover if there are any parasites or bacteria in the water. While there we discussed the impact dog parks have on communities. Dog Parks can be quite central to a community. Dog parks can really bring people together, people who share at least one thing in common: their love for dogs. . There are many benefits of dog parks such as they provide dogs with an excellent source of dog-dog and dog-people social interaction. They also provide the dogs a place where they can have off-leash exercise experience. There are also community advantages such as their presence would decrease the chances of dog owners letting their dogs off of their leashes in public places, people are more likely to encounter people who enjoy dogs and it could potentially provide a good location for dog community events (like we saw at the Macon dog park).

The water source that runs through the dog park. (Where we took the water samples).

The even have water fountians for the dogs!

 While dog parks one their face appear good(which they may very well be), there is some controversy over dog parks. There are some disadvantages of dog parks for people, dogs, and the community. For people dog parks can be disadvantageous because of the potential for dog fights, danger of aggressive dogs, dog related injuries and the potential for parasites. For dogs dog parks have the disadvantage of the potential of parasites and disease, potential of being over excited and lack of impulse control. Also there is the potential for injury and the interaction of small and big dogs which may be dangerous. For the community dog parks have the disadvantage of the potential for people to abuse the park including not picking up their dogs poo, leaving the dog unattended or allowing their dog to indulge in inappropriate behavior. Also their is the potential of loud niose and liability issues.

Its like a play ground for dogs!

Here is a great website that addresses dog park etiquette, body language,  tips ad more!

Video about the dog park!

For more information regarding dog parks check out this website.

Resource: APDT

Darwins Decision

The film Darwin's Dilemma examines what many consider to be the most powerful refutation of Darwinian evolution, the Cambrian fossil record. Charles Darwin realized that the fossil evidence did not support his theory of gradual, step-by-step evolutionary development. He hoped that future generations of scientists would make the discoveries necessary to validate his ideas. A robust Cambrian Explosion destroys the concept of evolution by gradual natural selection. If anything, the Cambrian event seems even more abrupt than it did in Darwin's day. The movie shows how the Precambrian layer contains single-celled creatures but no obvious ancestors of the Cambrian Phyla. By looking at the Burgess Shale of BC and the Chengjiang fossils of China the film shows how soft-bodied and microscopic creatures are exquisitely well preserved in the rocks but no transitional forms connect the animal phyla. Thus, the old Darwinist excuse that the transitional really did exist but were too small and soft-bodied to be preserved is untenable.

The Walcot Query of the Burgess Shale

I found it very interesting that this film was kinda of going against Darwins Theory of evolution. It is interesting to think about the possibility of another explanation to the creation of human beings that has some scientific evidence that is not the theory of evolution.

Some Burgess Shale Fauna

Great Fossil Fauna's: The Burgess Shale

Darwin's Dilemma Trailer:

amphioxus

Amphioxus, also known as lancelet's, are usually found buried in sand in shallow parts of temperate and tropical seas. Amphioxus is believed to be the most primitive example of vertebrate . It is believed to be the ancestral precursor for all other vertebrates. It is important in zoology and may provide indications about the origins of vertebrates.  Amphioxus serve as an intriguing comparison point for tracing how vertebrates have evolved and adapted. Although Amphioxus split from vertebrates more than 520 million years ago, their genomes hold clues about evolution, particularly how vertebrates have employed old genes for new functions. Lancelets grow up to about 2.0 in long, reaching 2.8 in at the longest. They have a translucent, somewhat fish-like body, but without any paired fins or other limbs.

an amphioxus

Amphioxi spend much of their time buried in gravel or mud on the ocean bottom, although they are able to swim. When feeding, they let the anterior part of the body project from the surface of the gravel so that they can filter food particles from water passing through their gill slits. At night they often swim near the bottom. They burrow into sand using rapid movements of the body, which is tapered at both ends and is covered by a sheath (the cuticle).

Labels of the parts of an Amphioxus

Video about the theory of amphioxus

Sources:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/21580/amphioxus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancelet

Hitchiti Experimental Forest Lab

River along Hitchiti Forest

For this lab we went to the Hitchiti Experimental Forest. It is called an experimental forest because scientist will set parts of the forest on fire to learn and understand how forests recover from fires and what sorts of plants and animals live in such areas. We went on a nice long hike and say some beautiful aspects of nature. We also learned a lot about different types of plants. 

experimental forest fire

Wild Ginger

One plant we learned about was Wild Ginger aka Asarum. Wild Ginger is a low growing herb that the natives of this area would eat. It is called wild ginger because its tatste is very similiar to the taste of ginger root. Wild ginger favors moist, shaded sites with humus-rich soil.

Me hugging a tree

Another plant we learned about Sassafras, which is a tree. Sassafras is really interesting because it actually has 3 differernt leaf types. It has a leaf shaped like a glove, a mitten and a typical leaf shape. assafras leaves and twigs are consumed by white-tailed deer in both summer and winter. 

The different leaves of a sassafras tree!

Dr. Rood sticking his hand in a random hole, hes crazy!

Jackson Springs Lab

Jacksons Springs Park was really cool. It was really interesting to learn all the history of the area, including the Baconsfield area and how these nieghborhoods developed around Macon. It was cool to learn that jacksons Springs park was actually much larger back in the day and extended all the way over to the Baconsfields kroger. A man named Bacon or Baconsfield owned a all of this way back in the day. He had most of this land made into a huge private park that even had a zoo in it! Apparrantly after he died he left the park to the white women and children of Macon, Ga. Obviously this caused some tension since this was racist. Parts of the park have now been converted into commercial areas but the Jackson Springs park remains. I found this all very interesting.

Jackson Springs Park

We also learned about a lot of geology while we were there. We looked at rocks in its creek. We learned the difference between Feldspar and Quartz. Feldspar breaks into geometric shapes. The pink in granite is feldspar. We also say sandstone, which is very fragile and soapstone.  We also learned that metamophic rock looks squashed and has white viens in it. 

Feldspar

Quartz

Sandstone

My Favorite Lake: Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier is one of my favorite lakes because it is a lake that I live very near to and visit a lot. A lot of my friends live on this lake or have homes on this lake so I have spent many summers out on Lake Lanier. It is a reservoir in the northern part of Georgia.  It was created by the completion of the Buford Dam (which is right by my house!) on the Chattahoochee River (which runs through my neighborhood) in 1956.  It was named after the Poet Sidney Lanier. he lake encompasses 38,000 acres (150 km²) of water, and 692 miles (1,114 km) of shoreline at normal level. One of the main purposes of the lake is flood control down stream of the lake. Although there was a recent flooding incident in 2009. Lake Lanier receives approximately eight million visits per year and has a recreation economic impact of $5.5 billion. Lake levels have been impacted by the Tri-States Water Wars have been going on for 13+ years, without agreement between Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Over view of lake Lanier

Lake Lanier during the drought.

A few summers ago Atlanta had a huge drought and it caused the water level to go down severely on Lake Lanier. It got so bad that we couldn’t go out in the boats and play water sports because it was so shallow. In some parts of the lake you could see old homes emerging from the water that were there in the 1950’s before the area was flooded by the creation of the lake. 

Before the drought and the during the drought on lake lanier.

My Sunflower!

My Sunflower Daisy

This is my sunflower whom I have named Daisy. I have come close to losing Daisy a few times now due to the cold weather and my forgetful pattern of watering her (its a girl). I keep her on my window sill in my room but I am concerned for Daisy's well being because it is beginning to get very cold outside and I am worried my window sill will be too cold for her. I may have to find her a new home.

This is a brief idea of how Daisy will grow.

This is what Daisy strives to be one day.

This is a time lapse of a dwarf sunflower growing.

Here are some gardening tips on growing sunflowers.

Here is a website that is completely dedicated to sunflowers: Sunflower NSA

My Happy place

Ok I thought I posted this a long time ago but evidently not.

My happy place is bench by the chattahoochee river along a nature trail in my neighborhood. This google map shows the way I would take to get to my happy place from my house. I would go here to read, paint and draw. It was a perfect place to get away from everything and just relax. The yellow shaded area shows where an old bridge is that crosses the River. This was a popular spot for my friends and I to hang out and climb and jump off the bridge into the river (the police did not like this). The blue shaded area is a soccer field in my neighborhood where I would go to release frustration and kick around the ball. I love where I grew up, it is close to atlanta but also very close to north georgia, which has lots of hiking trails and offers great activities to do outside.

Lab #5: Creek Bed

It was really cool to see the creek bed at the Ocmulgee Memorial. The creek bed almost looked like a miniature Grand Canyon. It was quite pretty with the rock painted so many different colors by nature.  It was also really cool to see all the layers of soil development in the creek bed. It gave us a first hand view of exactly what is below our feet when we walk in nature. It was cool to get a better look at how nature works.

The creek bed is very similar to Providence Canyon, which is much larger, but still not as big as the Grand Canyon, though it has been called "Georgia's Little Grand Canyon." While the creek i saw was formed, I believe, from a river and erosion the Providence Canyon gullies were formed from poor farming practices back in the 1800s. The poor farming practices sure did create a piece of art. The poor farming practices actually caused erosion of the soft, multicolored soils.  What makes Providence Canyon different is that unlike the Grand Canyon, which was formed by being cut out by a river, is that is that it was sculpted of soil by runoff from farm fields.

Providence Canyon

Providence Canyon, how B E A utiful!

I really found Olcmulgee Memorial interesting because of all the history the place had. So much has happened in Macon, Indians, European Settlers, Civil War, etc, yet this place has been preserved through it all. Its really cool that nature has grown over and with all this history.

Olcmulgee Memorial, Indian Mounds

Videos about leaf litter decomposition

It was also cool to see how the decomposition of the leaves and even the trees is what creates nutrient rich soil. "Decomposition of leaf litter is a major source of nutrients in forest ecosystems. As leaves are broken down by insect and microbial decomposers, organically-bound nutrients are released as free ions to the soil solution which are then available for uptake by plants. In this exercise students will measure the rate of decomposition of leaf litter during winter, spring, and summer at contrasting sites using the litter bag technique."Resource

Leaf Litter to Soil!

Insulin response: a negative feedback loop

So from what I can gather, blood sugar levels are regulated by a negative feedback loop in order to keep the body in homeostasis. Your hypothalamus has glucose detecting neurones. When your blood sugar level is high the hypothalamus stimulates insulin production. Insulin converts glucose to glycogen. This decreases the blood sugar level and the change is detected by the hypothalamus. It then stops stimulating insulin production. This 'switching off' of the hormone is negative feedback. I think this is how it works but it was difficult to put it all together.


  

  Yo u can see the negative feedback loop in this graph. The graph displays how Dr. Roods Blood sugar reacted after consuming a candy bar and a soda. You can tell by the upside down U shape of the graph that while the sugar first made it go up the change was then leveled by the insulin response. Through this process the body is able to reach homeostasis.