Restoration ecology

I think that restoration ecology is necessary and definitely worthwhile for our environment. I have always been conscious of the problems that humans have caused in the environment, but have always felt that the only thing I could do to help was recycling and not littering. Restoration ecology is something that everyone can help with, and it immediately shows you that you are making a difference. 

Restoration ecology has several benefits. It increases the productivity of the ecosystem, and also the ecosystems level of health. When we cleared the invasive species (and got cut up by their thorns) our progress was evident at the end when we saw the oak trees that we freed from the invasive species. Those oak trees can now grow more and seeds that are dropped from them have a greater chance of surviving, and then reproducing. The grasses that we planted were originally native to Illinois, and therefore would flourish in the bare areas that we needed to cover. 

Restoration ecology does have a down side, I think. Although we freed the oak trees, we also cut down a lot of other plants and trees that would've otherwise grown. When we scattered the seeds, I noticed that we were stepping and crushing a lot of plants. Those who don't agree with restoration ecology could argue that invasive species killing native species is the circle of life, or in other words survival of the fittest. 

Personally, I enjoyed this field trip. I think that not only the AP biology class and environmental studies classes should embark on this, but also biology and earn science. Kids need to know that we can do more than just the bare minimum to help our earth. 

It was crazy to find out how much the seeds cost for the grass needed in the wet lands. I thought it was awesome how much money our helping out saved. And in saving money crushing up he seeds, we also saved the environment! 

I really enjoyed the tree part, because I know that the oak trees are now in much better shape than before. It was really cool to be able to see the progress in just that short time that we were there. It made me think about how much progress humans could make if more people decided to help in restoration ecology. 

Penny water holder

Filling up this penny with water up to the bronze brim was surprisingly easy. After remembering what I had learned previously, I realized that cohesion and adhesion were responsible for this cool bubble of water sitting on the face of Abe. Adhesion is a property when water molecules stick to an other object. The molecules stuck to the penny, which then allowed cohesion to happen. Cohesion is a property when molecules attract to each other or "stick together." The molecules are holding each others little molecule hands to stay in a bubble like stack on top of the penny. Although this interlock is pretty cool, it isn't very strong, and can be broken and spill just by adding a little too much water to the brim of the penny. Also, if any non polar substance touched the water, the bubble would collapse as well. This is because water is polar. 

     Carefully putting more water onto the penny, too much and it could all be over!

Interesting water fountain

Unfortunately, I couldn't personally get the magic water bowl to sprout when I was the one rubbing it. Luckily, my lab group had Jessica, who was a real natural at it and kept it going for a while so that we could observe it. 

While rubbing the handles, the handles begin to vibrate, and they also make this little noise along with it. The vibrations of the handles then enter resonance with the bronze material that is inside the bowl. This creates the waves/little crinkles in the water. And also that low noise. 

Resonance is the natural occurring vibration that is determined by the object at hand. So the reason that only some people can get the bowl to work is because they do the correct rhythm of vibrations, while others are off, thus not matching the natural vibration pattern that the objects material already has programmed. Also, it is the concept responsible for the noise that we hears through out the lab. 

This snapshot from the video shows the little ripples forming in the water as she finds the materials natural vibration.

Boiling water in paper cup

The boiling water in the paper cup lab was one of the coolest. It seems ridiculous going into it, but coming out you get a great example of science.

The water inside the cup moves the heat away from the source (Bunsen burner flame.) This happens through convection. It continues to happen until the water reaches 100 degrees C, boiling point. While the water heats up to eventually boil, it draws heat away from the paper cup which allows the cup to not reach the temperature of burning.  

Convection is heat transfer by motion, when the fluid being heated moves away from the source of heat, taking the energy with it.  It explains why hot air rises and why hot water is less dense than cold water. It also is responsible for why water can boil. As warm water already heated by the heat source rises, colder water at the surface descends, and the cycle continues until boiling. 

Measuring the water after it has started boiling

Although the cup was burnt at the bottom, it did not catch fire due to convection.