Ecology restoration

      On this field trip we were restoring order in the eyes of nature. In one station we were clearing out large chunks of unwanted vegetation, known as invasive species. Due to the nature of invasive species such as buck-thorn which contain thorns, which prevent animals from consuming them,  eventually nothing is there to slow the plant down from reproducing and spreading all through the environment, thus killing the plants that were naturally there first. We took a very thick area heavily populated by buck-thorn bushes and cleared it all out completely so that the natural plants such as oak and long grasses can begin to grow again. I honestly thought this project was a little strange. I understood the objective, which was to clear the invasive species out so that trees and grasses could re-grow in their natural habitat, but it seemed odd that we went to a nature center and started to viciously rip the vegetation out of the ground. Yes a forest needs a little maintenance to keep things healthy, but I do not think that people need to go destroy everything just so other plants can get a second chance at life. Life will find a way, and yes I understand that ecologists just try to speed up the process, but if those invasive species are there, there is probably a long-term reason for that.

      The next two stations we were at was concentrated on planting seeds to restore lost growth of certain grasses. In one of the stations we walked around a dry field dropping seeds for long grass so that it would repopulate a grass deprived area. I understand the objective on this one. We were trying to restore the growth of a depleted grass in that location. Invasive species took over that area, thus not allowing the grass to flourish properly. We were just trying to speed along the process of the grass reproducing and spreading quicker. On our last station we took a very rare seed, that can sell for $1000 an ounce, and were also planting those seeds in a similar dry field of various grasses. I understand the objective of this station as well. The seed that we were handling was extremely hard to come by, so we were helping nature out by planting the seeds in that field so the grass can get a head start on the germination process.














      All in all, I think that restoration ecology should not be as huge as it is. I understand that people are trying to restore balance to an ecosystem, but in a sense they are kind of messing with how nature wants it to be. It is essentially natural selection that certain plants and animals made it and other didn't. That being said I don't think that people need to stick their noses into things trying to restore it to the way they think it should be. Life will find a way.

Water lab

AP bio Blog Water Lab
Station 1:

 In this station droplets of water were dropped onto wax paper. When they were dropped they formed a little bubble on the wax paper instead of soaking into the wax paper like water normally would. This happens because the surface tension of the wax paper is stronger than the water, therefore the water forms the droplet. The entire water droplet is polar therefore it stays together. When a toothpick soaked in soap is put inside the water droplet, the water disperses because the soap is non polar. The two substances don't mix, so the water breaks its bubble that it was in.

Station 4:

                                                                         

 In this station there was a beaker of ice cold green colored water and another smaller beaker with room temperature water. When the ice cold water squeezed into the room temperature water on the BOTTOM, the water did NOT mix. This is due to the temperature moderation of the two liquids. Because of the hydrogen bonds that water has it is very resistant to temperature change, meaning water's temperature does not fluctuate easily. The two liquids therefore do not mix because their temperatures are so different. Also the cold water is denser than warm water so it stays on the bottom. In the second picture the ice water is squeezed on the TOP of the room temperature water and the water DID mix. The cold water is denser due to the hydrogen bonds and the warm water has loose molecules. Because of this the ice water floats down to the bottom.

Station 7:
 In this station Acetone was squirted on someones hand into a small puddle. At fist the chemical just sat on the hand but then all of a sudden is almost seemed to soak into the hand at a very rapid rate. What actually happened was the acetone molecules evaporated.  Acetone is a non polar chemical so the molecules do not stick together, thus moving around very quickly. By them moving around so much that makes them heat up. When they are heated up they being to evaporate from the hand into the air. This leaves the cooler molecules, water, which are polar so they stick together, behind. The cooler molecules left behind then eventually soak into hand or just stay on the surface