Lab 4

Part 1: Owl Pellet Dissection

Table 1: Pellet measurements:

       Length: 44.449 mm

       Width:  31.74 mm


Bones found in owl pellet:

Reconstructed rodent skeleton:

Table 2: Kinds and Number of Animals Found in Owl Pellets
	# Rodent	# Moles	#Shrews	#Birds	# Others
Your       Data	1	1	1	0	1

Bar Graph: Animals in Barn Owl pellet

Part 2: Ecological pyramids

Trophic (feeding) Pyramid for a 24-hour Period:

 

Equations for "Trophic Pyramid in a 24-hour Period":   

R = # 2˚ Consumers    

         # 3˚ Consumers  

            4  = 4 Ratio

            1

  # 1˚ Consumers = R (# 2˚ consumers)   

           4 (4)= 16    1˚ Consumers

  # Producers = R (# 1˚ consumers)  

            4 (16)= 64  producers

           

  1.   During the nesting season the young need an enormous amount of food for growth. If the nest contains three young and each of the young eat five mice per night for a month and the two adults eat four per night, how many mice would the parents have to capture in 30 days? 

              a.  690 mice would need to be captured to feed the family for 30 days.

        2.   The pellets are from what owl family?
              a.    Barn Owls

       3.   Environmentalists are concerned about the accumulation of certain poisons in predators. Why do you suppose owls, eagles, swordfish, humans and lions are often the most threatened organisms of a community that are exposed to DDT or mercury?
              a.  The process of biological magnification or substances that are bioaccumulators (toxic substances, e.g. DDT and mercury, that organisms absorb at a rate that is greater than that at which the substance can be processed out of the organism) cause concentrations of exposure to increase with each exposure.  The food that is consumed by the top feeders in a food chain may contain small amounts of toxins however these predators need to eat a lot of these organisms in order to survive which increases their toxic substance intake with every meal.     

Lab 3

9-09-15 

Part 1-Rachel Carson

1. Why do you think Carson titles this chapter “A Fable for Tomorrow?”

The first chapter of “Silent Spring” is appropriately named “A Fable of Tomorrow”.  I think Carson’s choice of words implies that there is a moral to the story and what may currently be a myth, tomorrow may not be a myth rather a reality.  So, we better heed the moral of her short story.

2. What did you know about pesticides before watching the Earth Days segment or reading part of Silent Spring?

My previous knowledge of pesticides is that these substances indiscriminately kill pests.  Killing some of these pests like roaches that spread diseases is necessary for the health of humans however at the same time these pesticides remove an important food supply or leaves a possibly dangerous food supply for invertebrates and vertebrates too eat.  They are also possibly still contaminating water and harming the organisms that live in these bodies of water.  In the past a pesticide DDT was being used in the U.S. and causing severe harm to many invertebrates and vertebrates and causing some species to become endangered.   Some countries still allow this substance to be utilized.

3. What do you feel so strongly about that you would want to fully dedicate yourself to it, producing a groundbreaking work of literature, film, music or other media, even if this risked your professional reputation and how others thought of you? Your answer can be hypothetical! Not everyone has a passion that they would carry this far.

I feel passionate about reducing greenhouse emissions and educating people about the recent data that has been collected via satellites.  This data provides us with a whole picture of the affects of greenhouse emissions.  I think this knowledge would help humans truly grasp how our Earth’s climate is globally interconnected and is directly affected by our actions or how we abuse our environment.  I think it would be equally important to provide knowledge of how to prevent greenhouse emissions in our daily lives.  I ultimately would like people to comprehend that we can prevent global warming and stop our Earth from reaching a tipping point in global climate change.

4. Name four places pesticides exist?

Pesticides exist in the soil and on crops in industrial agricultural farming and/or personal gardens. Genetically modified crops genetically have pesticides embedded in them.  As a result pesticides often end up in our food supply.  They also exist inside and outside of homes and businesses.  Rainfall run-off can leach soil of pesticides and flow into bodies of water.  Pesticides are absorbed and ingested by pests and other organisms.

5. What are two effects of DDT on birds and mammals?

DDT affected the food supply for birds through poisoning the food that birds ate.  DDT accumulates in fatty tissues causing it to move through the food chain.  Worms, fish and insects absorbed and/or ingested and accumulated DDT internally and this in turn caused many birds to die due to DDT poisoning.  A consequence of this was a population decline of some species of birds and that resulted in some species becoming endangered. DDT also affected the reproductive system of some birds and prevented certain species from producing healthy offspring through thinning of the eggshells and death of embryos.

DDT also affected mammals through ingestion that led to accumulation of DDT in the fatty tissues, e.g. fat cells and the brain.   In humans and other mammals it caused nausea, diarrhea, irritation and excitability and loss of muscle control through erratic movement or paralysis.  Liver damage occurred in humans and other mammals as well.  The reproductive system in some mammals, e.g. rats and bats, was affected making them sterile and/or they produced offspring that couldn’t survive.

6. “Our aim should be to guide natural processes as cautiously as possible in the desired direction rather than to use brute force...Life is a miracle beyond our comprehension, and we should reverence it even when we have to struggle against it...Humbleness is in order; there is no excuse for scientific conceit here.” – Rachel Carson in Silent Spring.  How can we exhibit humbleness in terms of our relationship to nature?

We can exhibit humbleness in our relationship with nature through performing extensive tests in new scientific advances.  Rather than allowing prideful and excited scientists to force their new ideas into action in our environment before we are aware of the consequences of those actions.  We can aim to aid natural processes rather than control and/or change natural processes.  Genetically modified crop seeds are a great example of scientific conceit and forcing nature’s natural process to change.

 Part 2-Biological Magnification diagram:

 Part 3-Birds of a Prey Make a Comeback

      The overall trend in the state of Georgia’s Bald Eagles population growth from 1990 to 2006 surveys and my graph above illustrates a consistent population growth! In the years 2004 and 2006 the state of Georgia didn’t do a survey on the population of Bald Eagles however in 2005 the graph displays that the population was stable.

     The average increase in the Bald Eagle population from 1990 to 2006 was 40.2. This represents a 583.333 percentage increase.

     Two programs that protect bald eagles: The Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940 prohibits except under certain specified conditions the taking, possession and commerce in bald and golden eagles. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 is a U.S. Federal Law that was enacted in order to implement international conventions with four countries that protects migratory birds. This law and international convention makes it unlawful without a permit to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell migratory birds, their eggs, parts and nests. This law includes migratory birds that are alive as well as dead.

Part 4-Ecological Footprint

    If everyone lived my lifestyle I predict that each person would need 2 Earth’s in order for there to be enough resources!

    My ecological footprint is 1.7 more Earth’s than my prediction. My lifestyle requires the use of 16.6 global acres of the Earth’s productive areas. If I keep up this lifestyle I am knowingly utilizing the Earth’s resources at an unsustainable rate. These results have humbled me and helped me realize my current negative impact on the Earth. There are many changes that I can make however I will only mention a couple. I am capable of reducing the amount of driving I do through carpooling when I leave town for groceries and other errands. I can start my own garden again so that I don’t have to drive to town for vegetables as often. All in all, I must improve my lifestyle to benefit my local and global environment.

Lab 2: The Cube

Question: “What numbers, letters, and color is printed on the bottom of the cube?”

Observations:
1. Two opposing sides are red.
2. Two opposing sides are white.
3. The top of the cube is the only red side and has the only name that starts with the letter F.
4. The two blue opposing sides have names that begin with the letter R.
5. The two white opposing sides have names that begin with the letter A.
6.  The top right number in each section of the cube represents the number of letters in the name.  7. The numbers on the bottom left of opposing sides are the same.
8. No one name on each side of the cube has the same amount of letters.
9. The names in each section of the cube increase by one letter: “Rob” starts this pattern.
10.  All of the names have vowels: white opposing sides names have two syllables; the blue opposing sides do not have the same number of syllables, however rob and frank both have one syllable; each name except, Roberta, has a partner with the same amount of syllables.
11. On the opposing sides one name is female and the other is male.


Hypothesis:

The numbers on the bottom are 8 and 4, the color is red, and the name will be a female name that starts with the letter F and it will have 8 letters and 3 syllables, e.g. Fantasia and Fayelynn.

The existing color patterns on the cube support my hypothesis that  the bottom of the cube is red. The evidence supporting this is that four of the six sides have an opposing side of the same color except the top red side whose opposing side is the bottom of the cube.

I can conclude that eight is the top right number on the bottom side because the number pattern is consistent and accurate on the five sides that have numbers.  I observed that each of the five sides has a name and a top right number, each sides number accurately accounts for the letters on that particular side.  Starting with the name “Rob”, containing three letters (which is represented by the number 3 located above the name) and ending with “Roberta”, containing seven letters (which is represented by the number 7 located above the name) and every name on each side increases by one letter but never decreases by one letter.

My conclusion about the name on the bottom of the cube being female, starting with the letter F and the name having to contain three syllables is supported by these three patterns I observed.  Pattern one: on both the opposing blue and white sides of the cube one name is female and the other is male.  Pattern two: The opposing sides that contain names start with the same letter, i.e., the opposing blue sides both start with “R”, Rob and Roberta, and the opposing white sides both start with the letter “A”, Alma and Alfred.  This indicates that the only side without an opposing name, the top of the cube with the name Frank, will have an opposing name that starts with the same letter. Pattern three: Each name except, Roberta, has a partner with the same amount of syllables: Rob and Frank, have one syllable each and Alma and Alfred have two syllables each.  Roberta has three syllables and no partner which supports the hypothesis that the bottom name will have three syllables.