Water Cycle Blog

This is a picture of the water cycle. Also known as the hydrologic cycle, this is the continuous movement of water from sources like ground water, lakes, oceans and rivers to the air and back again. Without evaporative cooling, we would have a much higher surface temperature due to greenhouse gasses and a much hotter planet.

Soils Blog

http://soils.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/

Link to the 12 soil orders of the world.

This is an example of red clay, a prominent soil type in Georgia.

The Munsell soil chart is used to determine the hue, value, and chroma of soil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsell_color_system

This is a soil map of Georgia.

http://www.landhelp.info/documents/DichotomusKey6.pdf?PHPSESSID=f78117b04cbe1d39e82c3dc3cf85cf1e

Soil dichotomous key.

Soil texture chart.

Extremophile Blog

An acidophile is an organism that thrives in extremely acidic environments, usually at pH 2.0 or below. Lactobacillus is important in producing lactic acid and is found in the human body in mouth and intestines.

Geology Blog

Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. Some examples of igneous rocks include granite, diorite, and basalt.

Granite is an intrusive igneous rock, which means that it results from the crystallization of magma underground.

The dark color and texture of basalt makes it easy to see that it came from magma.

Sedimentary rocks are formed by sedimentation of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Some examples of sedimentary rocks include quartz, sandstone, and coquina.


This picture shows that quartz can come in different colors.


Coquina is a rock formed when coral and seashells are fused together by calcite.


Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have been changed from their original form through a process called metamorphism. Some examples of metamorphic rocks include marble, slate, and gneiss.


Gneiss typically contains bands of feldspar and quartz.


Marble is produced from the metamorphism of limestone.

Nathaniel's journey from seed to tomato

Day 12: I've been a little lax with keeping up with poor Nathaniel's growth, but, like any good parent, I'm hoping to make up for lost time! Nathaniel survived a stressful ride home from class in my car in which a little bit of his soil spilled and ended up comfortable watered at his new home on my kitchen table (where he gets plenty of sunlight). He sprouted around day 4, and he's been growing ever since. I had twins at first, but, due to unknown circumstances (but probably because of my cats), Nathaniel's twin is no longer with us. Nathaniel has pushed through the pain, however, and seems to be in good health. I'm a bit afraid that he's living in constant fear, though, because one of my cats has an extreme affection for plants (particularly for how they taste). I caught her chewing on him yesterday and chastised her, but I was so concerned about him that I moved him to the windowsill in my kitchen. Then in class yesterday, Dr. Rood told us that there is great potential for him to dry out on a windowsill, so I'm thinking of relocating him to my desk in my room, since it is next to a window and the cats are rarely in there.

Days 13-19: No big changes with Nathaniel over the past week. He's not drying up and dying, but he doesn't seem to be growing any bigger either. I'm not sure when I'm going to need to move him to a bigger pot. He has been relocated to the windowsill, though, and he's in the company of some Marigold seedlings we're growing. So he's now safe from the cats, but I'm having to make sure to keep a closer eye on watering him. I went out of town last weekend and will be gone again this weekend, but the person who's babysitting our cats is looking out for him as well.

Day 25: RIP Nathaniel :( Unfortunately, it seems that my cat got to Nathaniel after all. Not to give too much information, but she is in heat and has taken to peeing everywhere (our couch, our shoes, etc). So she actually went to the length of getting up on our counter and peeing, and poor Nathaniel was caught victim to it. He was a wonderful tomato; may he rest in peace.

Day 1: I have a new baby! Today I planted Larry the Cucumber (like from Veggie Tales!). Hopefully he'll fare better than poor Nathaniel. He's been moved to my room where the cats can't get to him!

Day 6: Larry has sprouted! Nothing of note to report yet, but I planted three seeds, and there are two sprouts.