Motion in the Ocean

Today we played with wave tables (and yesterday, cause it took us so long). We learned that waves are caused by wind (we also said whales caused waves...) The waves then cause erosion, ect, ect (thats why you shouldn't build a hotel on a barrier reef).

So, after putting together the wave table, we first set up a "reflection." We did this by putting a barrier at an angle to the incoming waves, making the waves hit the surface and bounce off (at a consistent angle).

Then we made a "refraction" by sticking a shape under the water, making the waves bend as they travel over the objects. Note: waves bend because of water properties. As the wave goes over something, the water molecules stick to whatever surface their going over. Then the water molecules stick to the bottom molecules... all of this slowing each other down (the bottom is the slowest, the top is the fastest) (thats what makes a wave that comes on the shore).

Lastly, there was "diffraction," which is how a wave changes when passing through two objects.

The end!

Ecology and Chalk...

So yesterday we went out and brain dumped about food webs and all by drawing any marine animals...


We learned about autotrophs (consumers, eat things) and heterotrophs (producers, make their own food). 


Under autotrophs, there are: chemiautotrophs make their own food using chemicals, and photoautotroph make their food using sunlight.


Under heterotrophs, there are: carnivores (eat meat), omnivores (eat everything) and herbivores (eat grass).


There are also eukaryotic (multicellular) and prokaryotic (one-cellular).


A food web is with organisms eating each other... in a "logical pattern."


So here are the pics of our food web... :D

Photosynthesis

CO2 + H20 -> C6H12O6 + O2

Thats the equation for photosynthesis. 

Chlorophyll helps photosynthesis happen; and chlorophyll has many pigments: green (majorly), red, blue, yellow, orange...

To make photosynthesis start, you need light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet = white)

Green plants use most white light except green (that's why the plant is green).

-If a green plant is put in green light, then it will not do much photosynthesis (hypothesis).

In the ocean, light penetrates, right? So red, orange, yellow and purple goes out the first (which is what normal green plants use).  Blue goes the deepest (that's why the ocean is blue) (Blue penetrates and reflects the deepest). Therefor, because there isn't red or yellow or orange light, plants need to be a different color (not-green) to absorb the light. And thats why deeper algae is brown.

Coral Reefs, Deep Sea Vents, Estuaries...

If you want to see the other half of the  "reflections," visit this link: 
http://marinebiologyintersession.blogspot.com/

(done by my partner & BFF)

Cobble Beaches

OK, so yesterday, when our teacher was like "Hey, were going to observe cobble beaches today," I was 
like "Whaaat????" cause I have NO idea what cobble beaches are. Period. So, when we finally got to our mysterious cobble beach, I was actually surprised to learn that I already basically knew what a cobble beach is. Really, its a beach with a bunch of pebbles (for sand) and that hurts to step on.


Cobble Beaches are formed by glaciers, who "drive" through, and leave rocks behind.
 We saw many organisms, like sea lettuce, rock weeds, sugar kelp, periwinkle, mussels, dogwinkle, barnacles, beach fleas, shrimp, herring gulls, black-winged gulls, rock crabs, sea anemones...


This unique, with it's rocky beaches, are found in some Maine shorelines, in the upper West Coast (Washington, Oregon...) 

Well, tired from the trip, but it was wonderful and I'm happy I now now the real name for "rocky beaches"...

Rocky Intertidal Zones

We just came back from visiting rocky intertidal zones!! 
These ecosystems are found in coastlines of basically any country with a coastline (sorta redundant) (think like ship wrecks and lighthouses and crashing waves...) 


Oh, note: don't try climbing/walking among them, cause I slipped and fell on my butt and got all wet... yeah, NOT a good idea. 


ANYways, rocky intertidal zones are ecosystems that attracts many small animals (these rocks are obviously right where the tide comes in, so to live in the ecosystem, either you have to be okay with moving around with the tide, or you have to have super-clinging skills to be able to hold onto the rocks really well). Some animals would be: anemones, brown seaweed, crabs, green algae, limpets, mussels, nudibranchs, sculpin, sea cucumber, sea lettuce, sea palms, sea stars, sea urchins, shrimp, snails, sponges, surf grass, whelks...


Rocky intertidal zones are cut into 3 categories
1)littoral2)infralittoral
3)circalittoral 
(in order from shallowest to deepest)

Rocky Intertidal Ecosystems are pretty awesome, and I'm glad I visited the very end of Florida to see this super ecosystems!!!

Mangrove

Today we went and visited mangroves!! It was really cool! So mangroves are certain plants and shrubs that grow in tropical or subtropical coastlines and estuaries, basically in the water, and use their roots for support themselves and getting air. These mangroves are found in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia (all on the coast).. We found many on the Florida coastlines, with really cool roots that branched into the water. Those roots had A LOT of animals growing in them, making a "diverse ecosystem," as my teacher said. Some animals we saw in there were: algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, bryozoans, mud lobsters, shrimp, mangrove crabs... fishes also liked to swim through the roots... yep, there were a lot. 
Apparently, the mangroves are REALLY important for their ecosystem, cause they retain the soil from eroding, and in that way, basically form the banks and coastlines. Of course, they also give a home to many animals, especially baby animals (like a nursery). Mangroves ALSO filter out nasty chemicals from the water, helping the estuaries and shore lines...


There are also 3 types of mangroves: Red Mangrove, Black Mangroves, and White Mangroves.
We saw that the Red Mangroves, who had roots that stick up the most, and were the closest to the water. Black mangroves were the second closest, and had roots that went under and stuck up like fingers. White Mangroves grew the farthest away; we saw many in the parking lot as we pulled in.

Yep, that's about it!