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.
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
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.
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
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.
In this lab we first spent time in the community based garden. It was really cool because the garden had all kinds of food growing in it including peppers, okra, lima beans, lettuce, eggplant, beans and herbs. I love fresh vegitables and it reminded me of my moms own container garden. All the gardens were in boxes because the planters were concerned about the levels of lead the soil may have in it due to old houses that rested on the land 30-50 years ago.
A community based garden.
We met Mark Vanderhoek who helped get Macon Roots started, which "is non-profit established in 2010 to promote a sustainable food system in Macon and Middle Georgia by celebrating the local food cultures, supporting food and garden education programs, creating networking opportunities in the local food system, and increasing availability of locally grown food for all Middle Georgians," (as stated on their website->.Macon Roots). Mark is also working with creating composts with local businesses such as Jittery Joes and Francars, another cool way to get the community involved in a positive outlet. I found the idea of a community based garden really interesting and a really cool idea of how to bring a community together and educate them on the science of growing their own food. It is something I would definitly like to become a part of in the future. Website to help one start up a community garden
Mark Vanderhoek.
A community based garden short clip.
During the lab we also ysed a soil dichtomous key to discover the type of soil we found in the area. The soil we found was actually Loamy sand, so we did not get very far down on the flow chart.
This is the chart that we used to identify the soil
We also used a Sieves to sift the fine particles of the soil through and seperate them. The finer particles like those of clay sifted further to the bottom of the sieves due to their fine matter.
This is what the a sieve looks like.
In class we also learned tha there are 12 soil orders of the world. Here is a chart listing of all them.
One interestng soil type is Ultisols which is found all over the beautiful state of Georgia. Ultisols is commonly known as red clay soils. Ultisols "are strongly leached, acid forest sols with pretty low native fertility. They are usually found in humid temperate and trpoical areas. Ultisols vary in color from purplish-red, to a blindingly bright reddish-orange, to pale yellowish-orange and even some subdued yellowish-brown tones. It usually quite acidic, having a pH level of less than 5. Ultisols usually support very prodcutive forests.
Suborders of Ultisols
Aquults - Ultisols with a water table at or near the surface for much of the year
Humults - well-drained Ultisols that have high organic matter content
Udults - Ultisols of humid climates
Ustults - Ultisols of semiarid and subhumid climates
Xerults - temperate Ultisols with very dry summers and moist winters
On this lab we walked around campus identifying trees, plants and shrubs. It was cool to learn their genus names and how different species of trees were similar and different. Trees
1. Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera ) Birches are distinct because of their flakey like trunks.
Paper Birch
2. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) A prehistoric tree (OLD). There are male trees and female trees. The female trees are cheaper to buy than the males because the females give off a fowl smell.
3. Willow Oak, Quercus phellos- Different than other oaks due to its willow like leaves. Foliage is light to bright green in summer and yellow, yellow-brown and russet in fall.
4.
Sycamore (
Platanus occidentalis)- Leaves grow sticky green buds. Has flowers that bloom around May. Makes a great shade tree.
5. Crape myrtl (Lagerstroemia )- Fast growing tree. Has colorful and long lasting flowers. Its barks sheds throughout the year.
Plants
6. Junipers (Juniperus)- of the cypress family. Ever green with needle like leaves. Has distinct female seed cones.
7. Monkey grass (Ophiopogon japonicus)- Native to Japan. An evergreen, sod-forming perennial plant.
8.Mexican petunia, (Ruellia brittoniana)- new, nonnative cultivar to America. Evergreen with trumpet shaped flowers. Dr. Rood loves these.
9. Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)- 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. I am SOOOO allergic to this. Can grow as a shrub, a trailing vine and as a climbing vine. Not actually a true ivy.
