Download Independent Study Projects

Independent Study Projects
Finding Answers to Questions
And Making a Difference in
Sweat Mountain Park
We began with observations and inferences in the park.
Our observations led us to questions:
Why are there so many mushrooms in the park?
How old is the park?
What is the origin of the terraces in the park?
Where did the large rocks come from?
Why is the stream bank so steep in some places?
What caused some of the trees to fall over?
Some questions suggest experimentation and data collection as a
part of the research to find the answer. These questions are better
for your project. Can you tell the difference? Can some of the other
questions be re-worded to better meet the criteria for this project?
Is there a relationship between the amount of intensity of light and the
type of vegetation?
After observing salamanders in the stream:
How are they classified? What species of salamanders live in
the stream?
Is their life cycle seasonal?
Are they entirely aquatic or do they eventually come out of the
water to live on the land?
What is their niche in the food web?
How does the size of salamanders vary in the creek?
Do more salamanders live in riffles, runs, or pools?
Is this a healthy population of salamanders?
How do they compare with salamanders found in other local
creeks?
After observing crayfish in the stream:
How are they classified? … What species of the crayfish live in
the stream?
What is their niche in the food web?
What is their life cycle? What is their life span?
How does their number and size compare with different parts
of the creek? …with other populations in various streams in the
watershed?
Mushrooms and other fungi in the park:
What varieties of fungi can be found in Sweat Mountain Park in
the fall, winter…?
Where are they found? Is it random or specific to a spot in the
park?
Does the emergence of mushrooms follow a rain event?
Does applying water to a specific area affect the number and
variety of mushrooms or other organisms that are found there?
Other questions:
Does light intensity and temperature vary at different places in the
park?
Do the organisms found at specific different places in the park vary
through the year? (population study)
Does the flow rate of the creek change or remain the same? What
factors affect the flow rate?
What kind of data could you collect? How could you determine this?
What is the origin of the water from the pipe that begins our stream?
I’ve noticed an area that looks to be a gully formed during heavy rain
events that flows from the parking lot to the creek…why? What
volume of water is directed from the bus parking area to the stream if
we have one half inch of rain…or one inch of rain? Is this a problem?
How long has the park been there? Have the stream banks always
been that steep? What factors contribute to the shape of a stream?
Is the stream stable or is it continuing to erode the banks? How could
you find this information? What experiment could you conduct to find
out?
What are the rules that protect surface waters?
How healthy is the water in other parts of the watershed? Are there
any permitted discharges in the water in our Rubes Creek
watershed? Are there any issues relating to use of the water?
Where does our drinking water come from?
Does the water temperature change through the day? What about
the levels of dissolved oxygen and pH, do they also change?
What is the food web for our creek? …for other areas in the park?
What are the producers, consumers, and decomposers?
What mammals live in the park? How could you find out? What
indirect evidence could you collect to determine this?
What species of trees live in the park? Is there some relationship
between the circumference and location in the park? What about
along a transect (a line across the park)? Why is this information
interesting or useful? Is this a natural stand of trees or planted?
How old are the trees in the park?
Is this variety of trees unique in some way? Are the trees that are
being removed for development the same varieties? Is this typical of
the piedmont region of Georgia? How long does it take to restore a
woodland area such as this? What is the value of this area?
From Explore the World Using Protozoa:
Collect protozoa from the creek using a variety of methods. Compare
those found at different places in the stream, rock scrapings, bottom
sediments, submerged vegetation, surface water, etc. See Appendix
Compare protists found in different locations in the stream. Compare
stream water with pond water (from another location). This collection
should be done before a freeze.
Investigation 1.2 Determining Abundance and Diversity- compare in
different environments (soil, leaf litter, etc.)
See pages 28-29 for Morphology and Natural Habitats
How are protozoa physically adapted to their natural habitats? Does
protozoan morphology relate to habitat structure?
Chapter 4 Comparative ecology:
Investigation 4.1 Species Colonization or 4.2Ecological Succession
Soil Types in the park
What type of soils are there in the park? Does soil type vary by
location? How does the soil type affect the types of plants or other
organisms found there?
There are several good experiments and background information that
might help you plan your investigation in Biology is Outdoors!:
See investigation 4: Soil Analysis pages 22-30
Soil Organisms are also interesting study subjects. How do the soil
organisms at different depth compare? What about comparing the soil
organisms in different parts of the park (on the path, near a rotting
log, beside the path, in a grassy area)?
Investigation 5: Soil Organisms pages 31-50
Instructions are included for how to collect soil nematodes with a
Baermann Funnel, how to collect soil arthropods with a Berlese Funnel,
and how to collect surface arthroods with a Pitfall Trap.
This section also includes several spin-off investigations and
concludes with the formula and for how to calculate the diversity index
(a method that ecologists use to compare the numbers of individuals
of different species found in different locations).
Microenvironments: Investigation 7 pages 65-79
Have you considered investigating a specific microenvironment in the
park? These are small areas with specific living conditions that are
usually temporary. The book lists pavement cracks, puddles, or a
shrub. What about a rotting log or under a large rock? Can you think
of others?
Investigation 10: Natural Areas pages 102-130
See this section for definitions of the various terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems. There is an investigation for streams here.
See the spinoff idea on page 130 if you are interested in how people
affect an area. What are some of the kinds of effects that people
have on the environment?
The Amateur Biologists Chapter 7 Museum Secrets for Preserving
Plants (beginning on page 49) may be of interest to some of you
interested in the changing leaves of fall. What causes this change in
colors? How can you best preserve some of the specimens for
identification and further study?
Are you interested in animal behavior? Chapter 22 Learning in Sow
Bugs (beginning on page 170) sounds interesting. Porcellio laevia
(sow bugs) may be just the organisms for you. Read about them.
You will need to collect a population to maintain and study.
Exploring Ecology
Activity 15, page 82 has some suggestions for studying populations
within the community of living things in a region, like the park.
Surveying Small Communities (Activity 18) and Using the Line
Transect (Activity 21- pages 114-119) may also be useful for planning
a study. You could establish a transect and collect data about the
populations in the community and revisit the same transect to
determine if and how the community changes.
Activity 22 Soil (organisms -page 120-)
Activity 23 Naming Soils – p.125—
Activity Classifying Soil Samples – p. 129—
Activity 25 Determining Soil Porosity – p. 133—
Activity 26 Temperature Influences on a Community- p. 139—
(Food Web and Energy Flow activities are also included in Part 4)