Rock and Soil Types

3 Types of Rocks:

- Igneous Rocks - This type of rock is formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten materials. These types of rock can be found beneath, or at, the Earth's surface as lava. An example of this type of rock is Pumice. Pumice is a light and porous rock formed by explosive volcanic eruptions. Below is a picture of Pumice.


- Metamorphic Rocks - A metamorphic rock is a rock that was once in one form and changed to another due to the exposure to eat, pressure, or some other experience. This process is called metamorphism. Much of the Earth's crust is made up of metamorphic rocks. Marble is a prime example of a metamorphic rock. Marble is composed of recrystallized carbonate materials, mostly dolomite or calcite. Below is a picture o marble.
 

- Sedimentary Rocks - This type of rock comes from the deposition and solidification of sediment. These rocks are often found in layers and commonly contain fossils. The Earth's crust is estimated to contain about 8% sedimentary rock. The study of this type of rock can provide useful information for civil engineers. An example of this rock would be Sandstone. Sandstone is a Clastic sedimentary rock formed mostly of sand-size minerals and rock grains. Below is a picture of Sandstone.


Types of Soils:
Gelisols, Histosols, Spodosols, Andisols, Oxisols, vertisols, aridisols, Ultisols, Mollisols, Alfisols, Inceptisols, Entisols

Maps Lab

In learning about maps the four we focused on were the choropleth, dot density, proportional symbol map and isopleth.

Choropleth Map:

Areas on a Choropleth map are shaded or patterned in order to differentiate the proportion of statistics the map is based off of. This type of map makes it easy to visualize the different proportions of studies over a geographic area on a big scale and also can bode easy for visualizing a region on a smaller scale. Below is an example of a Choropleth map.



Dot Density Map:

This type of map uses the dot symbol to give a visual example of a feature or phenomenon on a map. The heavier the dots in a given area, the greater the density of that feature. One dot can represent one unit or a single dot can represent many units. Below is an example of a Dot Density Map



Proportional Symbol Map:

These maps are used to represent Geographical data. The data is scaled proportionally and placed next to it's corresponding geographic location. One problem with these maps is that cartographers are not entirely sure viewers can decipher the size difference between values. Below is an example of a Proportional Symbol Map.



Isopleth Map:

This type of map shows data in a third dimension. For this reason most of these maps are used to show things such as elevation. This third dimension is shown by a series of lines called isopleths. Below is an example of an isopleth map.

Barometer Lab

For this lab we used homemade barometer to measure the pressure in the atmosphere. The purpose of the lab was to determine the pressure changes according to the different changes in weather.

In order to make the barometer we cut a balloon's top off and stretched the remainder of the balloon over a glass bowl. Once this procedure was done we cut a straw at the top into a pointed tip in order to read what I was pointing at. Then this pointed straw was taped to the top of the balloon covered glass bowl. Using the graph below, the atmospheric pressure on a given day could be recorded.

Based on the picture above of the homemade barometer on this given day, the atmospheric pressure is .8 ATM.

Pressure (ATM)	Ruler Reading (mm)
0.80	5
0.85	10
0.90	15
0.95	20
1.00	25
1.05	30

Sunflower diary

Day 36:

My sunflower now has four leaves. The bottom two are curling significantly and I'm not exactly sure if that indicates thirst or anything like that. The sunflower stem is nearly 10 inches long and can not stay straight by itself. I am still toying with the idea of making some sort of stilt for it, I just am not sure if that will do more harm to the health of the plant than help. 

Sunflower diary

Day 25:

 My sunflower is growing very fast. The original stem has sprouted into some more leaves. As the stem gets longer the plant is beginning to lean. I may need to get some more soil for it or possibly give it something to help it grow straight. 

Day 16: My sunflower made some significant changes almost overnight. Between the two leaves at the top of my plant sprouted what seems to be the beginning of an extension of the stem. I am no sunflower expert so for all I know it could soon open up to a big flower. Below is a picture of my plant, as you can see it is nice and happy sitting in the sun.

Sunflower diary

Initially I was very skeptical on whether or not my sunflower seed would ever sprout. I left on Thursday morning in order to go to Detroit with my lacrosse team for the weekend. When I returned my seed had still not sprouted at all. This was about 6-7 days in. A few days later, day 10, my sunflower showed signs of life and popped out of the soil!

Day 10: My sunflower popped out about an inch. The soil looked a little more dry than usual and I would imagine that the little guy was very thirsty.

Solar Trajectory

Eric Yoggy

2/11/14

 

Objective:        To determine the location of the sun in the sky by measuring a fixed object. In this case, I used a light pole and measured the shadow it cast. Throughout the day I recorded the changes in the shadow.

 

Study Site:      We found a light pole on College Street and used its shadow for measurement.

 

Materials:        1. Notebook

2. Pen

3. Tape measure

4. Light pole

5. Compass application on the iPhone

6. Suncalc.net

7. Lab Partner: Cole Mitchell and Sarah Brown

 

Methods:         1. We found a light pole

2. We measured the height of the light pole

3. We measured the shadow of the light pole six times on January 25.

4. We used the compass application on my iPhone to measure the direction the sun was shining

5. We recorded the information and used tangent to find the angle of the sun at each point during the day.

 

Calculations:   The pole height and shadow length are measured in inches. I used the tangent function, which is the length of the side opposite of the hypotenuse divided by the length of the side adjacent to the hypotenuse multiplied times tangent.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                   

TIME	POLE HEIGHT	SHADOW LENGTH	DIRECTION (DEGREES)	SUN ANGLE (DEGREES)
9:45	210	274	217	37.46
10:45	210	204	196	45.83
11:45	210	157	192	53.21
12:47	210	140	116	56.3
1:42	210	158	118	53.04
4:40	210	383	68	28.73

 

 

Conclusion:     At 12:47 pm, the sun was close to directly over our heads. I put our measurements into suncalc.net, which showed me that the sun was never directly over our heads because of the season we are in and the tilt of the Earth. Logically thinking as well, if the sun were to be directly over the pole, there would be no shadow.

 

http://www.suncalc.net/#/32.8407,-83.6324,10/2014.02.06/16:27

Calculation of rain fall on the Willet Science Center Parking lot

During our first lab we measured the volume of rainfall that the Willet Science Center parking lot experiences during a 2 inch rainstorm. Once we discovered this amount we were asked to convert it to gallons in order to give a more realistic unit.



The measurements were:
Length = 240 feet
Width = 250 feet
Rainfall = 0.17 feet


The formula for volume is V=L*W*H
I found that the volume came to be 10,200 ft^3 and with the help of www.metric-conversion.org I discovered that this was equivalent to 76,301 gallons of water. Given these amounts we can detect that during a 2 inch rain storm on the Willet Science Center parking lot the rain fall induced would be enough to fill nearly 8 common swimming pools. Below you will find a picture of the study site via Google Earth.

 

 

 

John Muir

"When we try to pick anything out by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."

This was a quote by John Muir who was an American naturalist, author, and supporter of the preservation of the wilderness. John Muir has written several essays, letters, and novels of his travels. Many of these works have to do with the Sierra Nevada area. The Sierra Nevada is the central area in  California east of Sacramento and San Francisco. When I learned this about him I became very interested due to the fact most of my family lives just outside this area and I travel there on an annual basis. Whenever I drive through this area I always bask in the grandeur of the mountains and can really see why Muir found this area so moving. He found this area so important it drove him to create the Sierra Club. This organization is one of the largest, oldest, and most influential environmental organizations in the United States. Some refer to him as the "Father of National Parks" for all of his work in preservation. The above quote stuck out to me because it really defines why I feel that Muir traveled as much as he did. He felt that everything was linked together on our planet and wanted to have a little taste of all he could and do everything in his power to preserve the beauty that connects everything on our planet.

John Muir also founded the hiking trail known as the "John Muir Trail", the video below gives a short documentary on some students who took on this trail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_2GASM1XS0