Hitachi Experimental Forest

I really enjoyed this lab the most out of all the labs. For this lab we went to the experimental forest a couple miles north of Macon. The hike through the woods down to the river was not only a relaxting break from classes but also a learning experience about many different plants and about the controlled burning of forests to preserve them.


 The pine beetle has been a large factor in the decreasing number of pine trees in the last decade. the controlled burning not only rids the area of pine beetles but also clears out the underbrush, allowing for more light to reach the forest floor and for other plants and animals to live. We walked all the way down to the river and spent a couple minutes at the edge of the river relaxing. Several different pictures were taken on this trip, unfortunately i don't have any of them so i don't have a picture for this post.

Jackson Springs

For this lab we crossed the Ocmulgee and went to Jackson springs park. We were given chisels and hammers to break off rock samples to evaluate and classify them. Among some of the rock samples found were both regular and rose quartz, granite, and feldspar. Also we saw the line on the road bridge across the river where the river waters from the flood rose too. 


After the walk to the river, we filtered sand and dirt from the bottom of the creek to find small samples of inorganic and organic materials. Below is a picture of the creek and the tunnel under the road.

Lake Peigneur

I chose this lake as my favorite lake because it is the only lake in the world that went from being an 11 foot deep fresh water lake to a 1300 foot deep salt water lake in a matter of days. The lake had several oil rigs on it, one of the oil rigs hit a salt mine that was way below the lake, causeing all the water to drain in a whirlpool out of the lake. the passage that the water was traveling down made by the drill was quickly eroded into a larger channel because the water disolved the salt away almost instantly. The vortex sucked up other oil rigs on the lake and everything on the lake. Becuase the lake drained so quickly it caused the canal from the lake to the ocean to reverse its direction and it filled the deep eroded crater left behind with salt water from the ocean. This process completely changed the ecosystem of the entire lake in a matter of hours. EVery living thing in the lake was quickly replaced. Also the lake was made much deeper, making for greater temperature change from the surface to the lake floor.

LAKE PEIGNEUR ARTICLE

Negative Feedback Loops

For negative feedback loops, I decided to elaborate using terminology and illustrations from a
feedback and systems class I took last semester. Consider the diagram shown below.

G represents a function or system operator of a medium "R". "H" represents a negative feedback
operator that sends information back to the source through route "B", then subtracts from "R"
to create "E". "H" must be negative or else the system will rapidly become unstable and will
explode and or collapse. An example of this could be population of a certain species "R". As
population "G" increases, it will forever increase without a negative feedback function from "H"
such as widespread disease or insufficient food sources. this negative feedback function
causes the population to drop back to a lower level because it subtracts population from "R" to
create "E" where the system becomes more stable. The population will continue to settle until it
reaches a stable level.

Indian Mounds Lab

This lab was fun because we got to take a field trip to the indian mounds and see where the ancient people used to live. Macon is and was a prime spot for trade due to the ocmulgee river, making it a good place for early people to live. We walked through the woods and discussed the different layers of the forest floor due to decomposition and looked at a creek that had eroded away multiple layers of soil showing many different sol types.

Below are some pictures of the views from on top of the temple mound.

Blood Glucose Levels

The following chart represents the blood glucose levels over a 45 minute period after someone eats a snickers bar.

12 Soil Types

For one of our labs, we went across the street from Mercer and dug into the groud to observe the different types of soil. There are 12 different soil orders in the world and below is a chart that shows where the 12 different orders are generally located.

One interesting soil order is called the vertisols, it is a clayey soil that has the capacity to absorb alot of water. this soil is usually found at the bottom of a lake. and when the lake is dry, it is usually the cracked soil at the lakebed.