Sunflower Diaries: The Mojo Experience

On Tuesday, February 25th, 2014, I was given a Styrofoam cup filled with fertile soil and a sunflower seed. Having no clue how to care for it, I looked up care instructions on line. Personally I did not think this sunflower would survive with the fickle weather, especially in the harsh cold temperatures. However, when I researched, I noticed that sunflowers can indeed survive in cold temperatures, accordingly.

The sunflower must be inserted into the soil as far as the first third of your index finger so it may have depth for the roots and only enough soil to surround it. It must not be fed water too much during this time, or else the roots will begin to mildew and rot. I noticed that on that the Thursday of the week I received it, the soil was pretty dry. So, I watered it; I put about seven or eight drops out of the sink faucet. It became apparent that the soil gets dry every other day, so that is how frequent I decided water it. I kept it in the window seal with the blinds turned upward, closed, and this was a perfect amount of sun. I noticed that it began to grow quickly by that Sunday. Below is Sunday, March 2nd's photo.

From then on, this sunflower started growing like an ivy! I was so excited.
After a couple days it began to twist and hung over the cup because it was getting so big. I noticed that it would turn wherever the sun was located in the sky. This compelled me to name it Mojo because it has its own mojo with the way it moves (see how I did that?). Here are more pictures that clearly illustrate his moves.

When packing my car for spring break, the sunflower's stem was hit in two areas and it looked pretty bad. Luckily, with some advice from my grandmother, I was told to find a stick to stand Mojo up and moved to a bigger pot. here is a picture after I inserted a stick for better stability.

Unfortunately, when transporting it to another flower pot, too much water was added, and it slowly died. There may have been other stress put upon it as it was transported and getting used to the new soil, which caused it to die as well. I am not showing a picture of dead Mojo.

 RIP Mojo, Feb 25, 2014-Mar 23, 2014.

Mapping Lab

Maps do more than give directions. They can also give you specific locations, give reference from a specific location to another location and give description of that location as well.
An interesting website that can give more information about story maps is provided below.
Story Maps!

Here are some different types of maps.

Chloropleth Map

- this map is a thematic map where certain areas are patterned in proportion to the statistical variable that is being measured that is illustrated on the map, such as crime rates or per-capita income. 

- They may compare a whole country, continent, or only a state.

 Here are a few examples:

This map, however, does not have a scale nor a North arrow or compass to show direction.

Isopleth Maps

This type of map is ideal for showing gradual change over space and avoids the abrupt changes 

which boundary lines produce on choropleth maps. Temperature, for example, is a phenomenon that should 

be mapped using isoplething, since temperature exists at every point (is continuous), yet does not change 

abruptly at any point (like population density may do as you cross into another census zone).

Here is an example.

This map contains a scale, but no North arrow or compass. All maps should have this.

Dot Density Map

A dot density, or dot distribution map is a map that uses a dot symbol to express a feature or phenomenon. 

 There are two different types of Dot Density Maps:

1. One-to-One Map

Each dot represents one single recording of a phenomenon.

2. One-to-Many Map

Each dot on the map represents more than one of the phenomena being mapped.

Here are some examples.

Both of these maps have scales and the North arrow. These are great examples of maps.

On Google Earth, software that is the technological form of a map, information at the bottom can give the 

elevation, altitude, and Cartesian coordinates of the location currently being viewed. Here is a screenshot of the path put on the elevated areas of Palm Springs, California.

Done in increments of 500 ft.

Dendrochronology Lab

The purpose of this lab is to identify the age of a tree by determining the number of rings it holds. In this lab, we will also determine the climate of the given region from which the tree examples came.

One tree came from Palm Springs, California. Below is displayed a picture of a tree's tree rings cut down from there.

Based on my observations, the tree rings are not perfect for multiple reasons.The reason the outer rings are somewhat marred could possibly be because the saw claws of cutting at the beginning were not consistent and a little unstable. Possibly a reason for the inner rings being quite narrow may be be because there was a drought or something similar at this time; it is around the first years of its life where it may require more water and care.
By counting the tree rings, this tree is between 30 and 35 years old.

The second tree rings come from Macon, GA. Here is a picture.

By counting the dark tree rings, this tree was around 50-55 years old. As aforementioned, the reason for the marred, blended rings on the outer rings could be the teeth of the saw inconsistently cutting at the beginning. towards the core of the tree, the rings are very defined, meaning it had a healthy weather conditions growing up.

Climate Conditions

In this section, we will examine the different climate conditions starting back from 1980 and in intervals of 5 years. A chart below will show the data for both the Palm Springs and Macon temperatures dated back to the 1960s.

With this information, we can graph the data to deduct if there is a correlation between the rings thickness and their temperatures.

From this graph, we may conclude that there is a huge difference in temperatures between the two trees, obviously since they are located in two different climate conditions. However, there is not too much difference in their ring thickness, meaning temperature must not be a crucial factor in determining what gives tree rings their characteristics.

Below is a chart of comparing tree thickness to precipitation to see if there may be a correlation there.

Now, a graph will be made from this data to visually illustrate a correlation.

It is still apparent that there are differences in precipitation based on location of the two trees, but there is still no correlation with the tree rings' characteristics. Therefore, the tree rings may have their characteristics based on other climate conditions.

It is an interesting concept to ponder on what events have happened while the tree has been a live. Here are a few events that have happened during both trees lives.

These events can be visualized on the tree rings.

To conclude, there is a lot that can be learned from dendrochronology, including age and climates during certain time periods, which show how that affected that location at that time.

Classification of Rocks and Soil Identification

There are 3 specific types of rocks: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rocks. In this lab, these three different rocks will be exhibited through the process that forms them and show how they look as a result.

Igneous Rocks

Igneous rocks are crystalline solids which form directly from the cooling of magma. this is called an exothermic process, or when heat leaves the substance. As it cools, it turns from hot magma to cool solid rock. 

Even the Earth's outer surface is made from igneous rock, as it is hotter the closer it is to the Earth's core.

Obsidian Rock

This type of rock is a volcanic glass naturally formed from magma. It has a sleek black look to it  Below is a picture. 

Sedimentary Rocks

These rocks form from a thin layer that covers the Earth's igneous crust. This layer consists of debris from different layers of loose sediment that get compacted and cemented together. There are three different types of sedimentary rocks: 

Clastic- 

form from little pieces of broken up rock which have piled up and been "lithified" by compaction and cementation.

Chemical-

form when standing water evaporates, leaving dissolved minerals behind.

Organic-

form from  any accumulation of sedimentary debris caused by organic processes.

Shale 

These rocks are classified as clastic. It is composed of mud that is a mix of clay flakes and tiny fragments of specifically quartz and calcite. Below is a picture.

Metamorphic Rocks

Based on the origin of the name, any rock can be metamorphic. "meta" means "change" and "morph" means "from". In order for the process to take place, a rock must composed of minerals and be moved into an unstable environment that causes it change. Ultimately, it would need to be buried deep enough where pressure and heat are more crucial and cause the rock to break down. Then, it will cool and reform as it surfaces.

Gneiss

This rock is formed by  regional metamorphic processes based upon region  from preexisting formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks. It contains foliations, containing alternating lighter and darker bands, or gneissic bands. A photo is shown below.

To learn more about rocks, click here.

The characteristics of these rocks and where they were formed from can be identified through the soil triangle. These different types of soils can be defined in the 12 soil orders of the world.

Soil Triangle

Soil Orders

Soil Orders (Original size for a better visual)

Barometric Pressure Lab

A barometer is an instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure. Evangelista Torricelli became the first scientist to create a sustained vacuum and to discover the principle of a barometer. Torricelli realized that the variation of the height of the mercury from day to day was caused by changes in the atmospheric pressure. Torricelli built the first mercury barometer around 1644. Galileo was the scientist who suggested that he use mercury in his vacuum experiments. Below is a picture of the first water-based barometer.

The purpose of this lab is to learn about measurements of barometric pressure by making a homemade barometer.  Also, this lab will distribute the data found through a graph made by excel to professionally describe the data.

The homemade barometer consists of a glass bowl, a balloon and a straw. The balloon is cut at the top of the shaft so only the bulb is available and is then stretched over the glass bowl. The straw, or pressure indicator is then taped at the center of the bowl and will jut out past the bowl against a measuring tool, like a ruler for measurements. This is illustrated in pictures below.

Here is a table of the measurements.

Here is a picture of the graph.

If the pressure rises, the pressure in the bowl lowers, causing the taped straw end to lower as well, resulting in the opposite straw end to rise.

If the pressure lowers, the pressure in the bowl rises, causing the taped straw end to rise as well, resulting in the opposite straw end to lower. So, high pressure means high measurements, and vice versa.

For more information about barometers and their history, visit https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Barometer