Paleo-Indian Mounds

Ocmulgee National Monument

Ocmulgee National Monument preserves traces of over ten millennia of Southeastern Native American culture, including mounds built more than 1,000 years ago by the South Appalachian Mississippian culture.These include the Great Temple and other ceremonial mounds, a burial mound, and defensive trenches. They represented highly skilled engineering techniques and soil knowledge, and the organization of many laborers. The site has evidence of "17,000 years of continuous human habitation." The park is located on the east bank of the  Ocmulgee River.  

learn more: National Monument

Sunflower Project

Sunflower Project

Towards the end of the semester we were given a sunflower seed to grow. Unfortunately, my sunflower did not grow. I watered it daily and left it in the windowsill, but it still did not grow. Now it is all dried out and definitely dead. I don't think that my flower received enough sunlight to grow healthily. This was supposed to be our "child" and we were supposed to look after it. I guess this means I will not be a good mom. 

This is what my sunflower should have looked like:

Mitochondrial Eve

Mitochondrial Eve- the theory geneticists concluded that every person on Earth right now can trace his or her lineage back to a single common female ancestor who lived around 200,000 years ago. Because one entire branch of human lineage is of African origin and the other contains African lineage as well, the study's authors concluded Africa is the place where this woman lived.

Chinese 

You can tell this woman is Chinese and from asian decent mainly from her almond eyes. Also, her hair is black, which is another trait that the Chinese carry. Her eyes are dark dark brown, or maybe even black, which also accompanies the dark hair. Her skin complexion is tan. 

 African 

This girl is from an African tribe. You can tell by the way she is dressed, which is a very big part of the culture in Africa. She has black skin, black hair, and black eyes. Also, her lips are bigger than an average american person.  

 Indian

 This is an Indian woman. You can tell by her dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin. Indian people look unique. They have bigger features, like their nose. Indian women a lot of times have a red dot on their forehead, which makes them very distinguishable. 

Mexican 

Mexican people are very easy to point out among other Spanish people. They have very tan skin and dark features. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark eyebrows. 

 Swedish 

The Swedish people are usually blonde hair with blue eyes and tan skin. As depicted in this picture, they are all blonde. 

Rose Hill Cemetery

Duane Allman (1946-1971) 

Duane Allman was born Nov. 20, 1946 in Nashville, Tennessee. He died Oct. 29, 1971 in Macon, Ga. Duane was buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Ga. His death was caused by a motorcycle accident. Duane was trying to swerve to avoid striking a truck at an intersection, and ended up striking the back of the truck. Duane Allman was part of the Allman Brothers Band. The brothers got the inspiration to start the band after taking a family vacation and stopping to see B.B. King. There is now a road in Macon called the Duane Allman Boulevard. For more information on Duane Allman go to this link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1189.

Mineral Soil

MINERAL SOILS:

Soil Texture Diagram

Soil Texture Identification Diagram

12 Soil Orders of the World

To find out the names and meanings of the 12 orders of soil taxonomy, click HERE.

12 Orders of Soil Taxonomy

The predominant soil in Georgia is said to be sand, clay, and loam.  To find out about this, click this link:  Predominant Soil Type in Georgia, USA.

Minerals and Rocks

MINERALS:

Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.  The main minerals of Earth include quartz, feldspar, hornblende, and mica.

This mineral is Quartz. I chose it because it is the most common mineral. 

Quartz Mineral

Quartz Mineral Structure

To find out more about the mineral quartz, you can click HERE.

Rocks: 

Rocks are the more complex structures, being made of minerals.  The main rocks we see are granite, diorite, sandstone, kaleonite, coquinas, and limestone.  However, there are three types of rocks: igneous rocks (rocks cooled from lava or magma), metamorphic rocks (igneous rocks that go through changes to make a re-crystalized rock), and sedimentary rocks (sediment that molds together to turn into rock).

This igneous rock is granite, which is a mix of the minerals quartz, feldspar, and hornblende.  The metamorphic rock I chose is gneiss, which is a metamorphosis of granite.  This sedimentary rock is the coquina rock, which is made of sand and shells.

Igneous Rock Granite

Metamorphic Rock Gneiss

Sedimentary Rock Coquina

Igneous rocks: click HERE.  Metamorphic rocks, click THIS LINK.  Sedimentary rocks, click HERE.

Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers

Trees:

Cabbage Palm: http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/4h/cabbage_palm/cabbpalm.htm

Yoshino cherry tree: http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/treeDetail.cfm?id=9

Pecan Tree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan

Shrubs:

Lorapetalum: http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/specialty/loropetalum.html 

Sago Palm: http://www.sunpalmtrees.com/Cold-Hardy-Palm-Trees-Sago-Palms.htm

Crape myrtle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerstroemia

Flowers:

Day lilies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylily

Lantana: http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/223

Marigold: http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/flowers/marigold.htm

Ocmulgee River

This is where we went at the Ocmulgee River in Macon, GA. 

While we were at the Ocmulgee River, we learned how to measure different elevations along the river transect. To do this you have two poles and first measure the initial height of the riverbank. Then you move the pole to a different spot along the river and if the string moves, you have to count how many levels the string rose or fell. You do this all the way across the river to the other riverbank.

We also counted clams while at the river. To do this we shoveled sand from different depths of the river sand and then sifted the sand away in some water. After the sand is sifted out of the sifter, you count the number of clams. There were more clams in the shallow to mid portion of the sand. Here it tends to be wet and also not too shallow. I think that there are not as many really deep because it is hard to live that deep in the sand. Also, if they are too shallow they will get too hot and dry out from the sun.  Unfortunately, there were not too many clams during the sifting, but it was still cool to see. 

Another thing we measured while at the river was the flow rate. To measure flow rate you take the distance divided by the time it took for the bottle to float down the river. The river is split up into three different channels. The middle channel had the quickest flow rate, whereas the other two channels had little to no flow at all. 

Different Maps

Isopleth Map:

This map shows the amount of people who died in California from the H1N1 virus, which is also known as Swine Flu. The majority of deaths that occurred were in Southern California towards the Los Angeles area which is heavily populated. 

Population Density Map: 

This population density map shows the growth in population of each county in the United States. From the map, you can see that New York's population is projected to decrease. The blue shows a decrease whereas the orange shows increases in population. 

Chloropleth Map 

This chloropleth map shows how much purchasing power each country has in relation to US dollars. From the map you can see that US, Europe, and Asia hold the majority of purchasing power in the world. 

Dot Density Map: 

This dot density map shows where the majority of people in China live by the use of dots. As you can see, many of the people live on the coast, which is interesting. 

Topographic Map:

This map shows the Floridian Aquifer system. The topographic lines show the thickness in feet of how deep the aquifers are in Florida. The blue shows the thicker aquifer and the lighter colors shows where the aquifer isn't as thick or deep. 

Proportional Symbol Map: 

This map shows the amount of people killed in traffic accidents in the United States in 2009. The bigger the scull, the more fatalities. California and Texas had the most fatalities, but that could also be due to their large populations. 

Hurricane Leslie: 

This is the projected path for Hurricane Leslie, which is in the Atlantic Ocean right now. 

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at2.shtml?5-daynl#contents