Mapping Lab

Choropleth 

         Choropleth maps show some kind of  average in different areas. They show the averages by using different colors, shading, or symbols. The above map shows world oil consumption.

Dot Density

     Dot density maps show a specific geographical occurrence by placing identical dots on the map. The above map shows the distances between the nearest McDonald's.

Proportional Symbol Map

     Proportional symbol maps use the size of symbols to show the relative amount of something in a given area. The above map shows the proportional amount of Walmarts per state.

Isarithmic Map

      Isarithmic maps show continuous occurrences like precipitation and elevation.The above map shows both precipitation and temperatures for the U.S.

In order for maps to be easily understood, they must have several components: a title, a compass rose, a key, and a scale. These tools make sure the map is read correctly. Another common map is the elevation map. Elevation maps show a elevations in an area. Below is an elevation map for the area around my house. The elevation in the orange area is about 360 ft above sea level.

Geology Lab

Fred FLINTstone

There are three main types of rocks, igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary, each unique in the way it is formed. For example, sedimentary rocks are created by broken down metamorphic and igneous rocks which have been re-cemented together. An interesting sedimentary rock is flint. Flint is a type of quartz with a microcrystalline structure. It typically forms as tiny nodules within other sedimentary rocks. The resilience of flint against wind and water means that it can often be found along riverbanks. Interestingly, these stones were very useful to prehistoric people. They could easily break the flint into sharp points, due to the fractures found running through the rock. This feature made it perfect for building arrowheads and other sharp tools. Not only can flint be used as a tool, but it can also start a fire. Striking a bit of flint against steel will start a spark. Early firearms utilized this characteristic of flint. A large deposit of flint is found in the Flint Ridge Quarries of Ohio. This flint quarry was a favorite of Native Americans due to the flint's beautiful colors.
         Metamorphic rocks are also created from other kinds of rocks, but for them to be metamorphic they must be subjected to extreme pressure. One of these rocks is Gneiss. Pronounced like "Gneiss to meet you," or "What a Gneiss day." Gneiss can easily be distinguished by the light and dark bands which run around it. It's typically formed when granite and diorite, along with several minerals, are put under pressure. Gneiss does not break into sharp points as easily as flint does, so it has much fewer practical uses. However, Gneiss found in western Greenland is the oldest crustal rocks that we know of. These rocks are nearly 3.5 billion years old. Now those are some "gneiss" old rocks.
        Igneous rocks that don't begin life as other rocks. They are formed by the cooling and crystallization of magma, and although the other rocks may be melted down again, their presence is not very apparent in igneous rocks. Pumice is one of the most distinct of the igneous rocks. It is a very porous and light rock, produced during volcanic explosions. Like flint, it can be used for several purposes, possibly even more than the sedimentary rock. It is used to make light weight concrete, to decorate a garden, and to exfoliate dead skin. When a volcano erupts, pumice will literally rain from the sky, which is what happened in the Pinatubo Eruption. This eruption was the second largest in the world and filled nearby valleys with pumice and ash that went nearly 660 feet deep.
         http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/orders.htm for a full list of the orders and a small description of each. Soil is typically distinguished by its particle size.  We use the social texture diagram to do this.

Soils are another factor in Geology. There are twelve different soil orders that are used to describe the types of soil. See

Barometric Pressure Lab

Down here in Georgia we love complaining about our bipolar weather. However, we need to give the weather a break, because he is under a lot of pressure! Atmospheric pressure that is. The pressure in our atmosphere moves in large circular systems, and it is these systems which control our daily forecast. During high pressure systems, we experience sunny, clear days. Low pressure systems are accompanied by clouds and precipitation. A way to measure the amount of pressure in the atmosphere is with a barometer. In this lab, we created a makeshift barometer out of a glass bowl, a balloon, a ruler, and a straw. When the pressure around the barometer changed, the balloon would either expand or contract, and we could measure the change using the straw and the ruler. Our barometer measured the pressure in centimeters, but actual ones use millimeters of Mercury (mm HG). The typical atmospheric pressure is 760 mm Hg or 1 atmosphere (Atm). The data shown below (provided by Dr. Rood) shows a few variations that we may possibly see in our atmosphere.

Baby Sunflower Project

February 11th, my child was conceived (my flower child that is). Yes, I became the proud mother of a little sunflower seed, named Bluma. Bluma may be small in her little Styrofoam cup, but she has a big future ahead of her. Once she grows nice and tall, and I can bear to part with her, she's going to join her siblings in the community garden. Sunflowers are the perfect additions to community gardens, because they can scavenge lead out of the urban soils. I'll be sure to keep you updated, week to week, on my little babies growth and on the importance of community gardens.

Feb. 18th 

February 18th: my baby has finally peeked her little head up out of the soil. It took her one week to sprout, but now she is in a sunnier location and will hopefully grow a little faster.

Feb. 25th 

February 25th: In just a short week after sprouting, Bluma is already 13 cm tall! She has two little leaves and is quite a curvy girl. Her favorite activity is following the direction of the sun. With her rapid growth she'll be ready for the community gardens in no time.

Mar. 4th 

March 4th: Happy Mardi Gras from Bluma and I!  Bluma is still going strong today. She has grown to about 16 cm and has sprouted two more leaves. On a cold, cloudy day like this one, she can't help but peak out the window and look for her friend, the sun. Maybe she'll get some Mardi Gras beads to brighten her mood.

Mar. 11th

March 11th: Spring Break Time! That means Bluma and I had a change of scenery for the week. We headed home for a little relaxation. Of course Bluma's grandmother pampered her a bit, giving her a nice sturdy stick and cute clip to make sure she doesn't keep falling over. Bluma is just getting too big for her little cup at a whole 20 cm! She definitely enjoyed being around a few other plants for the week.

Mar. 25th

March 25th: Sorry to skip a week on ya'll, but it has been a busy time lately. Bluma and I are back at her grandma's house for a little bit, but I think she likes it better here anyways. She gets to be around other plants and the water doesn't make her soil moldy. Bluma's two baby leaves have been shed and now she has four brand new ones. She is standing at 26 cm tall, and although her leaves aren't quite as big as some of the other class plant's, I'm sure she will be fine in time to head to the community gardens.

April 8th

April 8th: My April Fool's joke was that I didn't post a picture of Bluma for that day. Good one, right? Bluma is growing like crazy right now. She's already up to 36 cm with lots of leaves. We are just hoping Dr. Rood hasn't forgotten about her. She really wants to go to the community garden. . .

Sun Trajectory Lab

      When the sun makes its way across the sky everyday, its path isn't always the same. Sometimes it rises in the Southeast and sets in the Southwest or the Northeast and Northwest, it all depends on the season and time of the year. This phenomenon is due to the Earth's tilt. The Earth, which rotates around the Sun on its axis, does so at a 23.5 degree angle. The axis tilt is what causes the different seasons and the lengths of days.

       Right now, since it is winter, the sun rises in the Southeast and sets in the Southwest in the Northern Hemisphere. Tracking this path is actually pretty easy. One possible method is the one used in this lab. All it requires is a stick, a ruler, and a compass. First, the stick must be placed in the ground and measured. This stick is now our reference. Then the shadow of the stick is also measured, along with the direction of the sun. We repeat this process a couple of times a day. Once we have all of this data, we can find the tangent of the angle the sun and stick create, which would be the stick's height divided by the shadow's length. By plotting this data on a radial graph, we have a nice visual of the sun's path. There is also an electronic version of this process called suncalc.net. On suncalc you can chose any day and location, and it will give you a visual of the Sun's path.
     At Mercer University, the Sun's path may not be noticeably different from month to month. However, some places around the world experience extreme changes in the sun's path from season to season. For this reason, places like Alaska will have sunlight all summer long and darkness all winter. This magnificent occurrence is so interesting and easy to track.

Here is the data collected by Olivia Williams:

Height	Length	Tangent	Degree	Direction
27	32	0.844	40	N
27	49	0.551	29	NE
27	134	0.202	11	NE
27	100	0.27	15	NW
27	56	0.482	26	NW
27	35	0.771	38	NW

Parking in a Pool

The Importance of Proper Drainage              

       When we sprint to our cars after class during a rainstorm, we might be a little irked by the amount of water that we're splashing up as we run. These little puddles of water can be a real nuisance, but do you ever wonder how much water could actually be standing in your way if proper drainage was lacking? I discovered the amount of water that lands on a college parking lot in a recent lab, and the number may        surprise you.

       The test site was the Willett Science Center Parking lot of Mercer University (seen in the picture to the left, and outlined on the Google Earth image to the right). It's a pretty large parking lot-- I paced it at being 242 x 231 ft-- located in front of the science building, and behind the University Center and business school, so you can assume it sees a lot of foot and auto traffic. Calculating the volume (lxwxh) of water which would land on this parking lot during a 2 inch rainstorm, I found the number to be nearly 70,000 gallons. Seventy thousand gallons is enough to fill 7 standard sized swimming pools! Luckily the engineers have made our lives a little easier and designed the parking lot in a way to allow all of that water to be drained out. This drainage protects us from hydroplaning ours cars when trying to make a quick getaway, slipping as we scurry to the building, and keeps us from having to bring floaties on a cloudy day. 

Mother of a Movement 

                A Brief Look at the Late Rachel Carson 

        Rachel Carson was a courageous fighter for our planet. She did not fight with a clenched fist or with shouts in protests and rallies. She fought injustices armed only with a pen and paper. Writing was her lifelong passion, and shortly after graduating with an MA in zoology, Carson began her career as an environmental writer. She wrote scripts for radio shows, articles for the paper, various pamphlets for the government, and even several books. All of her publications were centered around the conservation of natural resources and the role people played with their environment. Her most famous book, Silent Spring, was an expose on the government's use of pesticides. The work not only opened people's eyes to the government's abuse of pesticides and other harsh chemicals, but is also credited to launching the modern environmental movement. Rachel dedicated her life to inspiring others to protect the beautiful Earth on which we live, a beauty she witnessed from a young age while exploring the streams of rural Pennsylvania, a beauty which is still being threatened today. 

sources: 

http://www.rachelcarson.org/

http://www.fws.gov/northeast/rachelcarson/carsonbio.htm

lhttp://www.nndb.com/people/843/000031750/rachel-carson-3-sized.jpg