Traffic Study

For this traffic study, I spent twenty minutes watching cars go by on I75-southbound. I recorded the number of people in each type of vehicle and found the average number of people in each type of vehicle. I also marked whether the driver was multitasking or not, and plugged in those numbers to find the percentage of people n each type of vehicle multitasking. Single drivers in cars were most likely to be on their cell phones.

Notes on Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve is the closest common ancestor to which all humans are related. She lived about 100,000 to 200,000 years ago and we can trace her DNA through female lines. It is neat to explore the implications of Mitochondrial Eve because she shows us that humans are a lot more related than we might initially think. We're not too different after all! It is very important for our understanding of human relations to realize that no matter how "different" people look, we're actually all related!

A reconstruction of how Mitochondrial Eve could have looked.

 Lakota Sioux Woman

South Korean Man Pakistani Man Australian Woman

Native Trees of Georgia

Here are some common trees found around the Macon, Georgia area and the Mercer University campus.

Red Maple - Deciduous trees that grow in swampy, low-lying areas. They are naturally found near sources of water. Part of the Maple/Acaracea family.

Southern Magnolia (magnolia grandiflora) - Broadleaf evergreen with dark, glossy leaves that grows into an oval shape as it reached adulthood. Has fragrant, white flowers during the summer months.

Japanese Flowering (Yoshino) (prunus x yedoensis) - Fragrant white or pink blossoms with glossy bark and dark green leaves. Likes to grow in the full sun.

Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) - Deciduous tree, and also dioecious, meaning it has male and female flowers on different trees. The female trees sprout small flowers in certain months, as well as small fruit sometimes.

Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata) - A fast-growing medium or tall tree with dark-bluish green needles that exist in bundles of two or three. Commonly found in grassy areas or abandoned agricultural land.

Sources:
http://www.acorntreecare.com/learning-center/types-of-trees-in-georgia.html
http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/treeDetail.cfm?ID=9

Tree Rings

Dendrochronology is the study of tree rings. This tree was cut down in Palm Springs, California. We can count backwards from the outermost tree ring to figure out how old a tree is. This tree was about 33 years old when it was cut. I have counted the rings back to list some important events in history.

Topographic Map

A topographic map shows us the elevation of certain areas. I chose Clingman's Dome to create my map, which is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. To create the lines, I chose specific values in feet, and used tools in Google Earth to trace out the elevations. This process was complicated the different ridges in the area that sometimes led to odd lines being traced out. Overall, the lines retain similar shapes. 

Map Types

There are four major kinds of maps that we see. They are isopleth, dot-density, proportional symbol, and chloropleth maps.

Chloropleth maps are shaded so that each shaded area represents a range of values.

Isopleth maps show range of quantity, and are not grouped to a predefined region like a state or country. Data ranges with similar values can be drawn in similar colors, or lines can be drawn so the values are shown as higher or lower than the isopline value. Temperature is commonly displayed using this type of map.

Dot-density maps show the geographic distribution of data using an arrangement of identical symbols, usually dots. Cell-phone usage is one popular example of this type of map. 

Proportional symbol maps display sets of data using proportionally sized symbols to illustrate the data. A higher numerical value or range would call for a larger symbol, and vice-versa. 

Rocks and Soils

For this lab, I will be choosing a type of rock from the sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous groups that I like and describing the rock.

Sedimentary Rocks: These rocks are formed via the accumulation of sediment over time, typically with erosion as one of the major factors here. Sedimentary rocks can be broken down into three subcategories. These subcategories are clastic (formed by weathering), chemical (from dissolution) and organic (from the accumulation of plant or animal debris). Breccia is an example of a clastic sedimentary rock. The spaces between the largest fragments can be filled with a variety of different mineral materials. These help bind the rock together.

Metamorphic Rocks: These rocks have been formed and modified by heat, pressure, and chemical processes while buried deep below the Earth's surface (generally speaking). The two subcategories of metamorphic rocks are foliated (produced by heat exposure and pressure, with a layered or banded appearance) and non-foliated (no layered or banded appearance). One interesting example of a metamorphic rock is schist, which is foliated. It can contain large amounts of mica, which causes the rock to be split into thin pieces. 

Igneous Rocks: These rocks are formed from the solidification of molten rocks as a result of extreme heat and then cooling. The two basic kinds of igneous rocks are intrusive, which solidify below the Earth's surface and extrusive, which form above the Earth's surface. Obsidian is my favorite kind of igneous rock due to its glossy appearance. It gets this appearance as a result of very rapid cooling to the point where crystals do not form. 

Source for All: www.geology.com 

There are also twelve soil orders in the world. These are: 

Meet Gustav

Personal Photo

Please excuse the shot glasses

For an ongoing class lab, we are each growing our own sunflowers in cups. These sunflowers will ultimately be transplanted into a community garden near campus because they are thought to remove lead from the soil. Since our community garden is located in an urban area, it possibly contains lead as a result of many years of vehicle pollution. 

I think Gustav (my sunflower) was a late bloomer and I thought I was going to have to  get another seed. When I left for a debate trip on February 19th, he still had not sprouted and just looked like an empty cup. I came home to this after the trip! 

I have been watering Gustav faithfully and leaving him where he can get some sunlight during the day. As of today, Gustav measures eighteen inches tall! 

Windrose Plots

These windrose plots are from the four seasons of 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee. I was born in Nashville during this year.

Here is an aerial view of the Nashville International Airport:

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

Winter:

From these graphs, we can see that seasons have a massive impact on the wind speed and direction. On August 27 of this year, three F0 tornadoes touched down in Middle Tennessee, which could have impacted the data in the summer section. 

Solar Trajectory Lab

In this lab, I determined the trajectory of the sun by using an 8 inch stick, the length of its shadow, and the direction of the shadow cast. 

Rainfall in Willet Science Center Parking Lot

For last week's lab, we calculated how many gallons of rainwater fall on the Willet Sciene Center parking lot during a 2 inch rainstorm. This type of calculation could be important to determining how to best construct a parking lot for optimum drainage of stormwater. A space that is designed so that water that accumulates quickly stagnates instead of drains can breed pests like mosquitoes or even cause a flood hazard during a big rainstorm. This is actually a pretty big concern on campus when it rains. 

This is a photo I took last year by the Adams-Winship Apartments after a rainstorm. Although it is difficult to tell from the darkness of the picture, the water had created a small pool about nine feet across and probably six inches deep in some places. The pool extended from the improperly drained parking lot. 

Rachel Carson: A Short Biography

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” 

― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

 

ALFRED EISENSTAEDT / Time Life Pictures

Rachel Carson lived from 1907 to 1964. She grew up in Maryland, attended college, and ultimately earned her MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins during a time where few women were achieving any sort of higher education. Her work in the environmental science field began as a writer for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. She was the second woman ever to be hired by the organization. Eventually, she published several works designed to increase interest and awareness in the environment, including The Sea Around Us, which won the 1952 National Book Award for Nonfiction and launched her into the academic and public eye as a respected conservationist. 

Her most famous book was Silent Spring, which challenged the use of pesticides. Many credit the book with launching the environmental movement because it was so widely read by the public. The book was also one of the first widely-read pieces to illustrate the links between pesticides with cancer and other health problems in humans. Much of its focus was on DDT, a pesticide that was ultimately banned by the EPA. 

Rachel Carson died from breast cancer in 1964. She received a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom from Jimmy Carter. In 2010, she was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the top 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century. 

Read More: 

http://www.rachelcarson.org/Biography.aspx#.UtSWpJ5dXw0