Ecological Restoration

When you're asked to think of the state of the world, you don't really think it's all that bad. I mean, we're breathing air, the world is still turning, and I can still go to McDonald's and order my McNuggets without questioning if I'm eating the very last chicken on the planet. But, when we got to Glacial Park, I was able to see what kind of affect Ecological Restoration is really having out our world. Over thirty-five hundred acres of purely restored earth lies in Glacial Park. It's hard to imagine that about 20 years ago, all that vegetation we got to see was just grazing land. This is what makes Ecological Restoration necessary. To be able to breathe in the life and hear all the wildlife throughout a forest. Hundreds of years ago our ancestors tore apart this land and brought with them bacteria and disease that have been slowly but surely killing the nature around us. 

Restoration ecologists are looking to speed up the process of the recovery of our degraded ecosystems. They identify the problems in an ecosystem and work to resolve the disturbances within it. During our visit, we planted seeds, which helped to speed up the growth process rather than the seeds naturally being planted into the earth. The ecologists will then do burning to help spread nutrients and help the earth to grow. 

The only downside would be that it takes a lot of work to restore even an acre of land, let alone thousands. But, the hard work pays off in the long run when we are able to bring life back to the earth and give it the nutrients it needs. 

A great and fulfilling day!

Water Lab

Evaporative Cooling 

In the Evaporative Cooling lab, my partner and I tested the acetone by dropping small amounts onto the back of our hands and our palms. Our findings were that:

• the acetone got colder the longer it stayed on our hands until it eventually evaporated.

The cooling sensation we felt was due to the acetone vaporizing from a liquid into a gas. As the acetone evaporated, the liquid remaining on our hands cooled down because the molecules with the greatest kinetic energy turn to gas faster. Acetone is a product of nail polish, so this explains the cooling affect the occurs when it drys from fingers. 

Polarity of Water Molecules 

http://youtu.be/HR3-NBlr8Uc

In the Polarity of Water Molecules lab, my partner and I tested the polarity of water in different aspects:

• when the drop of water was placed on the wax paper, it slides freely across it
• when two separate drops of water are placed on the paper and rolled towards each other, they combine into a bigger drop
• when soapy solution is added to the drop of water, the water seems to collapse on the paper
• when soapy solution is added to water on top of a penny, it causes the water to collapse/flow off of the penny. 

There is no cohesion between water and wax, instead of the water molecules sticking to the wax they stick to the other water molecules, which causes the water droplets to merge when there is two seperate ones on the wax paper. The molecules form hydrogen bonds with eachother rather than trying to bond with the wax. When soap solution is put into the water it disrupts the formation of the hydrogen bonds because it is nonpolar while water is polar, the two can not bond so they stay seperate.

Surface Tension

http://youtu.be/eRS69dNLIys

In the Surface Tension lab, my partner and I tested the ability of surface tension on different materials (paper clips and sulfur):

• When the paper clip is slid onto the water it floats at the top
• Once a drop of soapy solution is added the paper clip drops to the bottom
• Sulfur floats on the surface when added to the water
• When the soap solution is added the sulfur sinks to the bottom and disperses

Surface tension is the measurment of how easy it is to break the surface of a liquid. When the paper clip and the sulfur are added to the surface, the hydrogen bonding of the water molecules on the surface is stronger than normal and gives them the ability to float. The soap solution is nonpolar so they weaken the hydrogen bonds that hold the water together at the surface a break the surface, which causes the paper clip and sulfur to go to the bottom. 

Density of Water

http://youtu.be/MCXMGzMZ8a0

In the Density of Water lab, my partner and I tested the density but adding dyed green cold water to water that is room temperature and also adding ice to the room temperature water: 

• Ice water added to the bottom of the room temperature water stays at the bottom and doesnt mix
• Ice water added to the top of the room temperature water sinks to the bottom 
• Ice added to the water floats to at the top

When water is above 4 degrees celsius it behaves normally but at temperatures below 4 degrees celsius to 0 degrees celsius water begins to freeze because the hydrogen bonded molecules stop their rapid movement. The water become dense because the bonds are strong and more spread out when it turns into ice. When cold water is added with room temperature water it sinks because the warm water molecules are less dense and take up less space then cold water does.