Negative Feedback Loops

Negative feedback loops eventually revert back to their original state.  They are also known as self-correcting loops.

A system with an overall negative feedback is stable.

Dog Parks

Dog parks are a very common thing in the United States.  They provide a place for people to bring their dogs so that the dogs can exercise and play with other dogs.  However, there are a few downsides.  For one, diseases can be spread easily from dog to dog, so bringing puppies to dog parks is not recommended.  Also, at the Macon Dog Park, we tested the creek water for dangerous chemicals.  These chemicals could be harmful when dogs drink from the creek.

Diversity Among World Peoples

Different people groups around the world exhibit specific physical traits that make them different from others.

Chinese person

Ethiopian person

Russian person

Scandinavian people

Nigerian family

Native American

Irish child

Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve, "The Mother of all humans"

Because mitochondrial DNA is only passed through the mother, scientists have been able to trace everyone's ancestry back to a specific point, about 200,000 years ago.  Know as Mitochondrial Eve, this early human represents the mother of us all.

Burgess Shale

Around 545 to 525 million years ago, the Earth experienced an explosion of new animal species that had not been known before.  This is now known as the Cambrian Explosion.  The Burgess Shale, located in present-day British Columbia, is home to fossils that contain evidence of this Explosion.  Charles D. Walcott discovered the Burgess Shale in 1909.  The large number of fossils found were created in a unique way.  Events like mudslides froze organisms in time, allowing for a glimpse into the past.

The Burgess Shale

Amphioxus

An amphioxus is a small vertebrate that lives in warm waters.  It is believed to be the most primitive example of a vertebrate and the ancestral precursor to all future vertebrates.  Being very small (usually less than 8cm), they spend much of their time at the bottom of the ocean, coming out at night to filter food through their gills.

Wild Ginger

Wild Ginger is found in North America, Asia, and Europe. It grows in rich soils and has a potent ginger smell. We found some of these plants during our hike through the Hitchiti Experimental Forest. Wild ginger, or asarum caudatum, is not related to the ginger root from which Ginger is derived, however. No matter the size, most wild ginger leaves have roughly the same shape.

Canadian wild ginger, found in Canada and the Eastern US

Chinese giant wild ginger

European wild ginger

Panda face ginger

Click here for more info on all the different types of wild ginger around the world.

Jackson Springs Park, Macon, GA

Our class visited Jackson Springs Park and explored the different types of rocks that could be found in the creek bed.

Gneiss (notice the lines from the compression of minerals)

Feldspar (notice the pink color)

Granite (consisting of black hornblende, pink feldspar, and white quartz)

Quartz

We also discussed the Macon Flood of 1994 that left many neighborhoods and other areas around Macon under water.

Tropical Storm Alberto brought too much rain to the area. As a result, 18 people were killed because the levee broke.

Hugging a tree in Hichiti Experimental Forest

Fall Line Cities and the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds

Fall Lines and Fall Line Cities
Macon, GA is listed as a Fall Line city.  This qualification has many important impacts.  Indigenous peoples would have found this area very useful because of the abundance of fish and other means of nutrition. Fall line cities represent a point where travel by riverboats is not possible anymore.  Riverboats began traveling and bringing goods into to Georgia at the mouth of the Ocmulgee River around Hazelhurst, GA, on the coast.  They found that the trip was no longer possible around the area that is now Macon.  This is because of the fall line.  A fall line is an area where the hard "basement rock" of the Piedmont transitions to "a softer sedimentary rock." In the past, this was where the ocean met the shoreline of prehistoric North America.  Places like Macon, Columbus, and Augusta (all on different rivers) became the final port for transferring goods into the state by water.  From Macon, goods would be shipped out via land.

This is a picture of the Eastern Seaboard Fall Line with the coast of North Carolina on the right of the picture.  The gray coastal plain transitions into the bright colors of the Piedmont (literally: foot of the mountain).

Ocmulgee National Monument 
We also explored the Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon.  This a place where Native Americans built mounds of Earth that served many different purposes.  The mounds were built by hand by the people of the local Mississippi culture.  The largest (The Great Temple Mound) was built as a plateau that overlooked the town.  Earth lodges were also built for public meetings. Various burial and ceremonial mounds are also present.  According to the National Parks website, this site shows 17,000 years of continuous human presence.

The Great Temple Mound

The Earth Lodge

Soil Types and Community Gardens

12 Orders of Soil Taxonomy
(links containing maps)

There are 12 orders of soil taxonomy:

• Gelisols
• Histosols
• Spodosols
• Andisols
• Oxisols
• Vertisols
• Aridisols
• Ultisols
• Mollisols
• Alfisols
• Inceptisols
• Entisols

Ultisols
Ultisols are soils found mainly in the southeastern United States, lower west Africa, and south-central Asia.  They are low in nutrients because they are so highly weathered.  Often, ultisols are red in color because of the presence of iron oxides.  The clay-enriched subsoil acts as a storehouse of water for plants.  These soils are found in humid climates and show a dominance of iron and aluminum oxides.

Community Gardens
Community gardens are an important part of many towns and cities.  In a world where urban landscapes dominate, many people have begun creating green-spaces with the hopes of growing fruits, vegetables, and an area where people can enjoy nature.
Macon Roots is a good example of a community garden. Their mission statement:
Macon Roots promotes a diverse, sustainable, and local food system for Middle Georgia.  We 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.

In our lab on 9/26, we examined different types of soils.  We used a sieve to sort through all of the textures.  We also added water to the dirt and decided that it was a loamy sand. We determined this by using the following key:

Nature walk around campus of Mercer University - Bushes

Rhododendron calendulaceum (Azalea)

Phlox adsurgens

Reullia brittoniana (Mexican petunia)

Brugmansia arborea (Angel trumpets)

Conium chaerophylloides (Hemlock)

Nature walk around campus of Mercer University - Trees

Ginko Bilboa

Betula nigra (River Birch)

Cornus florida (Dogwood)

Magnolia gradiflora

Quercus phellos (Willow oak)

River Map

This is a picture of a section of the Ocmulgee River in Macon. We tested the amount of clams in different parts of the river. We also measured river depth from a starting point at the top of the hill.  Each pin color means something:
Maroon: 0 clams found
Yellow: 1-4 clams found
Green: 5-9 clams found
Orange: clams found, but most or all were dead
Red: elevations of the river from the top of the hill above the river all the way across to the other bank.
The white line is the path of the measurements.  The opaque polygon shows where there is now a high growth of bamboo on the sandbar.

Isarithmic Map of Georgia

My Favorite Place

My favorite place is in Baton Rouge, LA when I would take time each day to run the lakes on the campus of LSU. The yellow pushpin is located right in the middle of the bridge on Dalrymple Drive.  This section of my path was always my favorite because there were always other people fishing, running, or just being together. The red line represents my running path. The polygon is City Park Lake that passes under I10 to become University Lake.

Favorite Animal - Dalmatian

The dalmatian is one of the most recognizable dogs.  Its distinctive black spots on a white background have gained it much popularity.  These dogs are often associated with firetrucks because of their use in the early 20th century. Their job was to run in front of the primitive fire engines and warn people to get out of the way.

And of course who could forget Disney's 101 Dalmatians!

Proportional Symbol Map

A propotional symbol map uses varying sizes of a shape to show differing data. In the map above, smaller circles represent less forestry production. On the other hand, larger circles show higher forestry output.  Based on the map, Germany seems to have a rather large forestry production industry, whereas countries like Greece and Croatia cannot match the scale of Germany and France.

Dot Density Map

A dot density map is used to show specific data for a given area. Each dot represents a certain feature.  For example, this map uses one dot to represent 200 poor persons living in nonmetro areas around the United States.  The term "poor persons" and how far it extends is not specified, however.

Choropleth Map

A choropleth map shows different kinds of data based on different geographical areas using a colored system. The map above shows a gauge of world happiness.  The darker shaded areas mean the people that were polled ranked their "average happiness" high on the scale.  It can also be deduced that nations that are considered more developed also contained happier citizens. 

Isarithmic Map of Ohio

This is an isarithmic map of average high temperatures in the state of Ohio between 1971 and 2000.  These types of maps are used to show differing areas and collection points based on data collected through use of a colored system.  For example, the southern part of Ohio experienced, on average, higher temperatures during the 29 years than did the nothern part of the state.