Ocmulgee National Monument

Awhile ago we went to the Ocmulgee National Monument, as known as the Indian Mounds. While we exploring the park and avoiding snakes, because they are super creepy animals we discovered a few things

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1. The decomposition of leaf litter has several layers before it gets to the actual dirt floor of the forest.  There is the top layer of freshly fallen leaves, or at least relatively fresh and as you move away those there are more leaves that are slightly decomposed. That continues until the leaves are so old that they have become incorporated into the soil. All together it is at least an inch thick for the actual dirt of the ground to the top layer of leaves. That is something to think about.

2. Also on our trek in the forest we found a creek bed that showed quite beautifully layers of soil. They were different colors suggesting different time periods with different events occurring that would cause changes in soil pigmentation. There were whites, red, oranges, and some pinks I believe. It reminds me of Providence Canyon also in Georgia, with the colors

3. Before we went on our trek, we were able to listen to a brief overview of the area's history from one of the Rangers. I learned that Macon is on the fall line between the Piedmont and the Coastal Plains regions of Georgia. Cities that fall on this line like Columbus, Macon, and Augusta popped up because these are places where the river stopped being navigable from the sea.

4. What I enjoyed most about the Indian Mounds was the view of the Macon skyline from the Great Temple Mound. It is quite a sight.

We Now Interrupt This Lack of Blogs...

So sorry for the delay of the bloggage...yes I just made that word up....but I am now here to remedy that and get super caught-up on all of them!

Go Bears! and UCONN Huskies!

Blood Sugar Graph

Negative Feedback Loops

Though possessing a less than appealing name these feedback loops are actually good for us and the environment! By definition, at least the one in our textbook "Environmental Science Fundamentals and Applications" it is "A feedback loop in which a system responds to a change by returning to its original state, or by decreasing the rate at which the change is occurring" 

For example, Dr. Rood did an example in class with his blood sugar by measuring it before eating a Snickers and measuring it for about 45 minutes afterwards. 

Another example of this is when your body is attacked by an infection, in order to fight it, the antibodies start attacking the infection and raises body temperature. This causes a fever, and when the fever breaks that means that the infection has been beaten and your body returns to normal body temperature. 

My Favorite Lake

My favorite lake in the world would have to be Loch Ness in Scotland. The word "loch" is pronounced like lock but with a Scottish accent, and in Gaelic means lake. Beyond this lake being in the super awesome country of Scotland and having the legend of the Loch Ness monster, Nessie, it also has a castle nearby, Urquhart Castle.

This is Urquhart Castle

This is Loch Ness

And this is supposedly the Loch Ness monster...

Fun Facts about Loch Ness

• It is the second largest lake in Scotland, behind Loch Lomond
• It has more fresh water in it than in England and Wales combined.
• Is one of the deepest lochs in all of Scotland, behind Loch Morar
• The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid, meaning that it's existence is scientifically unlikely, but has been suggested. 

Hitichi Experimental Forest

These are some pictures that I took while we were on our trek in the Hitichi Experimental Forest near Lake Juliette. 

This I believe is the wild ginger that we saw while traversing the forest. Asarum Asarum I think is the genus and species name for this plant. It smelt interesting.

This is me being a total tree-hugger!

These are some panoramic photos that I made in Photoshop for my digital photography class

And this one was just beautiful!

And this is Dr. Rood swinging from a vine!!

Jackson Springs Park

            I really enjoyed our time at Jackson Springs Park. It is such a nice getaway place in the middle of Macon. It's like your in another world down there. My favorite part of the lab was learning about the history of the area : Shirley Hills (the most affluent), Highland Hills (the more middle class but still really nice), and Fort Hill (what became the projects in Macon), and learning that there used to be a zoo where the Baconsfield Kroger is located. How bizarre is that? Macon used to have a zoo! I'm glad this little part was saved. It would be a beautiful place for a photo shoot.

             I also enjoy breaking apart the rocks and seeing the different make ups of them. With the pick axes it almost felt like we were in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, despite its lack of political correctness. And going through the tunnel to and coming out on the other side of the road was pretty awesome too!