Dendrology

Dendrology is the study and science of wooded plants. In this lab, we examined a pine tree from Georgia and a palm tree in Palm Springs. By counting the tree rings, you can mark important events that were happening in the world.

Elm Tree: By counting the tree rings, this tree is between 30 and 35 years old. After counting and measuring the rings and seeing the discrepancies in size I decided to look into why they were that way. It could be because of droughts and extreme heat or a lot of rain. the outer ones could be due to the saw being cut unevenly. There are many many many things that could attribute to the changes in the rings.

Pine Tree: By counting the tree rings, this tree was around 50-55 years old. This tree has very defined rings which means it probably had a healthy life and was a strong beautiful tree. although the edges are a little rough it could once again be because of a saw unevenly cutting.

Temperature:

now we will look at the climate conditions of the georgia pine and the California elm. this data goes all the way back to the 1960s and because the pine is older than the elm there is more data for it. This chart is looking at the temperatures of the state and the thickness of the tree rings

With this information, we can graph the data to deduct if there is a correlation between the rings thickness and their temperatures.

From this graph, we may conclude that there is a huge difference in temperatures between the two trees, obviously since they are located in two different climate conditions. However, there is not too much difference in their ring thickness, meaning temperature must not be a crucial factor in determining what gives tree rings their characteristics.

Below is a chart of comparing tree thickness to precipitation to see if there may be a correlation there.

Now, a graph will be made from this data to visually illustrate a correlation.

It is still apparent that there are differences in precipitation based on location of the two trees, but there is still no correlation with the tree rings' characteristics. Therefore, the tree rings may have their characteristics based on other climate conditions.

It is an interesting concept to ponder on what events have happened while the tree has been a live. Here are a few events that have happened during both trees lives.

ALL CREDIT FOR THIS BLOG ARE FOR AKG

Trees and Shrubs

Evergreens 

Evergreens are a wonderful addition to your landscape. Even in Wisconsin snows you can enjoy something green in your yard. Not to mention evergreens are simply beautiful trees. They provide excellent privacy, provide shelter for small animals and birds in winter, and are relatively fast growing and insect resistant.

Shade & Ornamental Trees

Shade and ornamental trees add beauty to your yard. Birch, Maple and Oak provide towering, majestic splendor and are well suited to the Wisconsin climate. Shade trees can help keep air conditioning costs down. And of course sitting under a shade tree is almost a rite of summer.

Fruit Trees

Fruit trees offer spectacular spring blossoms and then provide nutritious fruit for you to enjoy in season. Bayside Garden Center carries a wide range of apple and cherry trees in addition to Peach, Pear, Apricot and Plum varieties that are best suited to the Wisconsin climate. With proper care, fruit trees will grow and produce for many years.

Shrubs and Bushes

Shrubs are a staple in landscaping. They can create additional privacy, hide foundations or utilities, accent a path, driveway, or doorway, and provide food and shelter for desired birds and wildlife. Some Shrubs are create a wonderful ground cover.

Topographic Map

Traffic Study

Type                 Number             Number of people (1)       Number of People (+1)           Texting

Sedan               38                      30                                       8                                              0

Truck              22                        8                                         14                                            0

Bike              3                            3                                         0                                              0


I live in the Lofts, and my room faces the street, so I sat down in front of my window and started taking the data. I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed that none of the drivers were texting. Also, I realized that truck drivers were less likely to drive by themselves rather than sedan drivers, which I found completely shocking, because I thought the opposite would have happened. Another funny factor that I realized, is that I did not see one minivan during the two hours I was collecting the datas.

Mitochondrial Eve and Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use. Although most DNA is packaged in chromosomes within the nucleus, mitochondria also have a small amount of their own DNA. This genetic material is known as mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA. In humans, mitochondrial DNA spans about 16,500 DNA building blocks (base pairs), representing a small fraction of the total DNA in cells.
Mitochondrial DNA contains 37 genes, all of which are essential for normal mitochondrial function. Thirteen of these genes provide instructions for making enzymes involved in oxidative phosphorylation. Oxidative phosphorylation is a process that uses oxygen and simple sugars to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell's main energy source. The remaining genes provide instructions for making molecules called transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), which are chemical cousins of DNA. These types of RNA help assemble protein building blocks (amino acids) into functioning proteins.

In the field of human genetics, the name Mitochondrial Eve refers to the matrilineal most recent common ancestor of all currently living anatomically modern humans, who is estimated to have lived approximately 100,000–200,000 years ago.

Here are 5 pictures of 5 different ethnicities around the world:

HAITIAN

FRENCH

ITALIAN

INDIAN

EGYPTIAN

The first map is an example of a dot density map.  A dot density, or dot distribution map is a map that uses a dot symbol to express a feature or phenomenon. 

The following is an Isopleth Maps. This type of map is ideal for showing gradual change over space and avoids the abrupt changes which boundary lines produce on choropleth maps. Temperature, for example, is a phenomenon that should be mapped using isoplething, since temperature exists at every point (is continuous), yet does not change abruptly at any point (like population density may do as you cross into another census zone).

The third one is an example of choropleth map. 

The last type of map is a proportional symbol map. 

Geology Lab

The purpose of this lab is to identify a rock that you like in each of the three main categories, which are igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary.

According to geology.com, Igneous rocks are formed from the solidification of molten rock material. There are two basic types which are intrusive igneous rocks that solidify below Earth's surface and extrusive igneous rocks that solidify above Earth's surface. For the igneous rock, I chose to do it on Basalt. Basalt is a dark-colored, fine-grained igneous rock composed mainly of plagioclase and pyroxene minerals. It most commonly forms as an extrusive rock, such as lava  flow, but can also form in small intrusive bodies, such as an igneous dike or or a thin sill. The following is a picture of basalt.

The second type of rocks are metamorphic rocks. They are rocks that have been modified by heat, pressure and chemical process usually while buried deep below Earth's surface. Exposure to these extreme conditions has altered the mineralogy, texture and chemical composition of the rocks. There are two types of metamorphic rocks, which are foliated metamorphic rocks, and non-foliated metamorphic rocks. The metamorphic rock I chose for today's lab is quartzite, which is a non-foliated metamorphic rock that is produced by the metamorphism of sandstone. It is composed primarily of quartz. The following picture is a picture of quartzite:

The last type of rock which I am going to talk about is the sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks are formed by the accumulation of sediments. There are three types, which are clastic sedimentary that are formed from mechanical weathering debris, chemical sedimentary rocks that form when dissolved material precipitate from solution, and finally, organic sedimentary rocks which form from the accumulation of plant or animal debris. I chose coal, which is an organic sedimentary rock that forms from the accumulation and preservation of plant materials, usually in a swamp environment. The following is a picture of a coal rock.

All of those information were found on www.geology.com

Barometer Lab

The purpose of today's lab is to learn about the measurements of barometric pressure manually, by making a homemade barometer from instruments provided by Dr. Rood.  In order to take the measurements, the students had to use a bowl, a balloon, a straw, and finally, a ruler and a pencil to take the measurements. The following picture is an approximation of how the homemade barometer looks like:

Here are the results:

The previous images are images of wind rose data for the Atlanta International Airport. The data are divided into four different branches. (January-March)/ (April-June)/ (July-September)/ (October-December). Enjoy! 

Sun/Shadow Experiment

Time   Height             Length                        Tangent                        Degrees

10       7.5                   16.49                            0.455                           24

11       7.5                   11.95                            0.628                           32

12       7.5                   9.97                              0.752                           37

13       7.5                   9.55                              0.785                           38

14       7.5                   10.52                            0.713                           35

15       7.5                   13.29                            0.564                           29

16       7.5                   19.62                            0.382                           21

The purpose of this lab was to figure out the trajectory of the sun based on datas collected. In order to collect my data, I personally glued a pencil to a paper, and from 10 am to 16 pm on January 26th, I collected the length of the shadow. Attached is an approximation of the trajectory of the sun based on those data*

* During the experiment, I forgot to use a compass, therefore I had to use SunCalc in order to draw the trajectory.

Finally, here is the actual trajectory of the sun during January 26th, 2014. 

The picture above shows the Willet Science Parking Lot, which was the study site for out first lab this semester. The objective of this study was to determine the volume of rain that falls on Willet Science Parking lot during a 2-inch rainstorm. Because I am from Haiti, I know how important it is to have good drained system. The fact that we don't have any in Haiti has caused many big floods that could have easily been avoided. In this case, the importance of having a good drainage in a parking lot is to avoid icing condition that can occur during the winter. This will prevent the school from being sued, because they were negligent in that regards, thus saving millions that can be re-invested in the school rather than in court cases. 

Today's blog is about Gifford Pinchot who lived from 1865 to 1946. If you are expecting to read about Gifford Pinchot's life, this is not the place. I am rather going to focus on the significant roles he played in the Environmental movement during this time on this earth.

He was encouraged by his dad to study the profession of forestry, and since that did not yet exist in the United States, after graduating from Yale, he went to study in Nancy, France at L'Ecole Nationale Forestiere, which he dropped out after a year. His accomplishments in the environmental movement started when he came back. He was able to raise forestry and conservation of natural resources in the United States from an unknown experiment to a nationwide movement. After being named Chief Forester of the redefined U.S. Forest Service, the number of national forests increased from 32 in 1898 to 149 in 1910 for a total of193 million acres under Pinchot's management. In 1908, the Governor'a Conference on Conservation which was largely financed from his personal income brought conservation fully into public view. It was the first of its kind. Based on that alone, we can say that Pinchot educated the public, hence what his one of his roles in the environmental movement.

Gifford Pinchot was heavily involved in politics, and that's actually how he accomplished many of his achievements. He turned down to work with the family business and the fortune that came with it to defend a cause he believed in, which made him one of the biggest names in the environmental movement world. Here's a picture of Mr. Gifford Pinchot.

Following is a link if you would like to know more about Gifford Pinchot:

http://www.fs.fed.us/gt/local-links/historical-info/gifford/gifford.shtml