Sunday, October 11, 2015

FIELD METHODS and MEASUREMENT LAB

Part I Qualitative vs. Quantitative, Dimensional Analysis, and Growth

A.     Qualitative vs. Quantitative

Two Examples of Qualitative observations are: shapes and colors. Two Examples of Quantitative Observations are: Numbers and Distance.

Give two examples of qualitative observation and two of quantitative observation.

Qualitative
1. My Cell phone case has blue flowers on it.
2. The trees leaves are changing from Green to Red.

Quantitative
1.  My houseplant grew 3 inches this week
2.  The boy ran 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym today.

B.     Dimensional Analysis

Question: A four-pound bass weighs how many grams? A 4 pound bass = 1814.37 grams
4lb ÷ .0022046 = 1814.37 grams


C.     Linear vs. Exponential Growth

You were offered a job and your potential supervisor said, “We can pay you in two different ways:  you can earn $6.00 a day with a $6.00 a day raise, or you can earn $1.00 a day with a 25% increase each day.  Carry out to at least 35 days to see the characteristic patterns.

$6.00 a day with a $6.00 a day raises





Both amounts side by side



   a.     Which earning strategy is the most profitable? The $1.00 a day rise ends up being more profitable over time.
     b.     Which would have seemed most profitable if you had stopped at six days? At six days the $6.00 a day raise seemed more profitable. Until you reach about 20 days the $6.00 a day raise seemed like it was going to end up more profitable. 


Part II Measurements of Biodiversity, Field Methods, Soil Testing



Before the Quadrant 

               After the Quadrant 














                                                       







1.     Form your quadrant by tying the ends of your string together and forming it into a 4-meter by 4-meter square over your area.

Table 1













11.
This exercise did not require random sampling to chose your site. State how you chose your site and explain any biases you discovered in yourself while doing so. I live in an area where we have lots of open lot’s and one happens to be right next-door. I figured this would be the best area to conduct this experiment. 



1.     Take 2 photos of the process of soil testing.
Soil from Square 1
Soil from Square 1


Soil from Square 16

Soil from Square 16
Table 2. Complete the “rating” part of this table using information in the instruction pamphlet.

                                        

1.     Answer these questions.

a.     What nutrient/chemical cycles are related to soil formation? Give two specific examples. Nutrient cycling along with nitrogen and carbon cycling. Nutrient cycling is the cycling of a single element. The nitrogen and carbon cycle are a chain of thermonuclear reactions in which nitrogen isotopes are formed in intermediate stages and carbon acts essentially as a catalyst to convert four hydrogen atoms into one helium atom with the emission of two positrons.
b.     Why is soil important? Soil is a mixture of rock, organic matter air and water. It can be any type of rock; the organic matter is made up of old plants dead animals and tiny organisms. Without the air and water tiny organisms cannot live in soil.
c.     How is soil type related to biodiversity and biomes? Soil has many different organisms that interact directly with the biosphere. Because different soils have a different ecosystem depending on climate and such this then controls the biomes for that area.
d.     Name 3 factors that might cause soil type to change over time in short term (days to hundred of years) or long (geologic) term.  3 factors that might cause soil to change over time in days to hundreds of years would be; Volcano’s and Earthquakes, Erosion from stripping the land of any vegetation it has and flooding. 


   




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