Burgess Shale

We watched a video for lab called Darwin's Dilemma about the Burgess Shale. The video itself was not all that enthralling, but the pictures of the landscapes were beautiful! The Burgess Shale is located in British Columbia and it is most famous for its fossilization of the soft parts of ancient organisms. Dating back to the Middle Cambrian Period, the Burgess Shale is as old as 505 million years. It was discovered by the paleontologist Charles Walcott in 1909. Since then the giant fossil field has produced more anatomically odd creatures than they can even be studied!

Amphioxus...yuck

This gross-looking little thing is called Amphioxus, or more commonly a lancelet. It is a marine critter from the phylum Chordata. Although it is an invertebrate, evidence shows that it is a close relative of the vertebrates. They are found abundantly in warmer coastal waters. Recently, fossils have been found that suggest they were around 525 million years ago. Now, I am not so sure I believe that...

Hitchiti Wild Ginger!

While at the Hitchiti Experimental Forest, we looked at wild ginger. Wild ginger is from the species Asarum. Its leaves are shaped like kidneys or hearts, and in the spring they have a purple hue! It gets its common name because it tastes and smells similiar to a ginger root, although it is not the same. Oddly enough, at the root of the plant one will find a small purplish/brown flower.

Clarks Hill Lake. My Favorite!

Although I have not had the opportunity to visit many lakes in my lifetime, I have spent a significant amount of time at the lake in my hometown, Clarks Hill Lake. Every summer we used to go with friends or family to sunbathe, picnic, or swim. When we had the time to make a day out of it, we would take the boat out and tube until our arms fell off!  Another popular summer activity  was tying up under the Little River Bridge during the evenings and fishing and eating pimento cheese sandwiches until the boat rocking made us nauseous (They say there are catfish as big as Volkswagens under there!). By far my favorite though, was the whole family taking their RVs to the lake campground every Thanksgiving and riding bikes through the trails, sitting around a campfire, playing with all the younger cousins, and (sort of) enjoying the almost annual low country boil! My childhood wouldn't have been the same without Clarks Hill!

Mitochondrial Eve!

According to genetics, Mitochondrial Eve is supposedly our most recent common female ancestor. Since mitochondrial DNA is passed down through the mother without any recombination, it is possible that every living human now would have the same mitchondrial DNA as her. She would have lived about 200,000 years ago in East Africa. She is also the female counterpart to the most recent common male ancestor Y-Chromosomal Adam.

Negative Feedback loops. (Ouch!)

Dr. Rood decided to make everyone cringe in his attempt to demonstrate negative feedback loops during class one day. First he scarfed down an entire Snickers Bar. Then, as diabetics do on a regular basis, Dr. Rood pricked his finger and tested his blood sugar at 5 minute intervals during our 75 minute class period. We used the data in a chart to display the negative feedback loops. Here are a couple more examples of negative feedback loops!

This seems to be a familiar cycle for me.

Jackson Springs Lab!

For this lab we traveled a ways down the road to Jackson Springs Park behind the Baconsfield shopping center. Considering our study of geology, we looked at some of the different rocks that are found in the park. A few of these include quartz, granite, and feldspar. Below are some example pictures of the rocks.

This looks just like our countertops at home!

I remember finding quartz as a kid and thinking I had found some sort of treasure!

Macon Dog Park!! (Almost.)

For our last lab we experienced some unfortunate weather that thwarted our trip to the Macon Dog Park. Although I was not exactly chomping at the bit to examine fecal matter cultures from the creek, I was rather excited to see the dog park. In my mind, dog parks only seem to exist in movies, when the beautiful and conveniently single girl takes her dog to the park only to magically stumble upon Mr. Tall Dark Handsome and Perfect when his dog's leash gets tangled in hers. Now that I know there is a dog park only a block away, all I need is a dog to make this fantasy a reality right here in Macon! Right?
  All the health risks aside, the idea of a dog park seems like it would be great for the community. If there was one at home, I would definitely utilize it! (That is if my 80 pound black lab did not try to rip my arm out of socket at any given opportunity for freedom!) Here is a picture of my dog Dallas. He is a black Labrador Retriever and he will be 5 years old this year. His favorite things to do are eat our shoes and chase squirrels. He is constantly causing mischief, but we love him anyway!

Indian Mounds!

I find it so interesting that right here in Macon we have something as historically significant as Indian mounds! On our field trip we were able to listen to a detailed timeline of how Macon developed the way it did. My favorite part was exploring the inside of the ancient Indian meeting place where they conducted council meetings and possibly religious gatherings. The inside was completely reconstructed to resemble what it would have looked like hundreds of years ago. Seating inside the mound is clearly defined, and there is an elevated surface in the middle that is obviously for three people in superior positions! I also really enjoyed making the trek to the top of the mound that overlooks almost all of Macon! The view was spectacular!

Here are a couple pictures.

The 12 Soil Orders!

There are twelve different soil types that can be found on Earth. Below is a link that gives a description and picture of all twelve types.
http://soils.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/orders.htm

The type that I am going to specifically focus on is the order predominantly found here in Georgia. This order is ultisols. Ultisols are more commonly known as red clay soils. They are found in temperate and tropical regions. Besides Georgia, Ultisols can be found on other continents such as Asia, Africa, and South America. The red clay we see in Georgia that gets tracked into our houses and stains our carpet is that color because of iron oxide (or rust). Ultisols are also typically acidic. They can be easily exhausted, and therefore need the aid of fertilizers for successful cultivation. Fortunately, ultisols can be successful in a large range of moisture conditions.
For more interesting information on ultisols, you can check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultisols

Community Gardens.

I love the idea of community gardens. Gardening has always been a hobby that I wish I could learn, but I have never had the opportunity. The knowledge of plants and vegetables and their growth processes is an incredibly valuable skill. Not only does a community garden help those in need economically, but I believe a community garden would also help them mentally. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes from eating something that you grew yourself! We learned there is a community garden right here in Macon at the Macon Outreach on Mulberry that is having a positive influence on our local community. Below is a picture of the community garden found in downtown Macon.

Mercer has beautiful shrubs, plants, and trees!

As we strolled around campus with Dr. Rood, he pointed out dozens of plants, trees, and shrubs that we can find right here on Mercer's campus! Below are just a few of the many Mercer has to offer.

The Aloe plant can help soothe burns!

This is a Birch

Bradford Pears give off a terrible odor in the spring!

Camellia

Chrysanthemum

Crepe Myrtle

Hawthorn

Holly

Hydrangea

Juniper

Loropetalum

Magnolia Grand Deflora

Mexican Petunia

Monkey Grass

Verbena

Ocmulgee River Lab Data!

Lab 1

This is a dot density map that shows corn production in the United States.

This is an isarithmic map that represents the range of barometric pressure in the United States.

This is a choropleth map representing population density across the earth.





Below is an isarithmic map I made representing average annual rainfall in the state of Georgia.

Below is a picture from Google Earth of my hometown, Martinez, GA. My place mark is my house. My path is my 2 mile commute to the river. And the polygon is Savannah Rapids Pavillion and canal where I love to spend my free time when the weather is nice!

The Mercer Bear

I guess it would be appropriate to be interested in the animal that is our University's mascot. The black bear is the most common bear found in North America. Even though they are named "black" bears they can be all sorts of colors, including brown, bluish gray, or even white! They grow to be up to 6 feet tall and 600 pounds.  Their diet consists of grasses, insects, berries, fish, small mammals, and of course, human food found at campsites.