Naturalist Perspectives Assignment 5

Location: Between the park and a house on the way back from Winter Hill Community Innovation School
Date: 4/18/17
Time: 12:40 pm
Weather Conditions: Sunny. Slight breeze. 48℉.

There are mostly plant cells nearby, but also probably micro-organisms and bacteria. I can't actually see any, but there are generally loads of bacteria in nature, since they are an essential part of the larger ecosystem. There aren't a lot of trees, but there are lots of smaller plants and flowers, like the yellow ones in the picture below.

The cells in my body are doing their usual thing, receiving and sending out signals, and carrying essential nutrients and oxygen through my body. Some of my cells are reacting to the sensory input of the feel of the flower petals and the warmth of the sun. Cells in my eyes are part of translating the light waves reflecting of of the things around me and communicating the colors to my brain.

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Naturalist Perspectives Assignment 7

Location: 29 Harrison St, Newton, MA Date: 4/23/2017 Time: 2:00 PM Weather: Sunny with some cloud cover. 54℉. While walking my aunt and uncle's dog back from the dog park, I came across a wild turkey. The picture is blurry because I didn't want to get closer and risk being attacked and also because the dog was pulling at the leash, so it was hard to keep my hand steady. My aunt and uncle told me that, while one of their neighbors does keep pet turkeys, it is someone in a different house. This one is probably wild. Turkeys were rampant in Massachusetts during colonial times, which is why turkey is a part of Thanksgiving traditions. For Native Americans in the area, turkeys were a source of food, apparel, and artifacts. When the settlers came, they exerted undue pressures on the turkey population by hunting them year round and razzing the forests in order to set up farms and villages. Due to these selective pressures, the turkeys began to disappear. The ones we see no...

Naturalist Perspectives: Invasive Species

Location: 29 Harrison St, Newton, MA Date: 4/23/2017 Time: 2:00 PM Weather: Sunny with some cloud cover. 54℉. If you look in the background of this picture, you will see a large yellow mass covered in flowers. This plant is called the forsythia tree and it is an invasive species that can be found here and in my hometown of Armonk, N.Y.. It can be recognized by its lack of leaves, rounded overall shape, and vibrant yellow flower. Forsythia are described as colonizing plants. They are native to Asia but will grow in almost any sunny location. It does not support insects or birds native to the Northeastern US in any way. Its roots have colonizing suckers that can push out other species of plant nearby and change the topography of a landscape. For this reason, they are often planted on hills (as pictured above). Over time, they can help level out the area. Many landscapers recommend replacing forsythia with spicebush, which can better support the other forms of life.

Naturalist Perspectives Assignment 8

Location: Site Alpha Date: 5/2/2017 Time: 2:00 PM Weather: Sunny and windy. 57℉. The plants at Site Alpha are growing more. Lots of little shoots of things are popping up. Some of the flowers are beginning to wilt. Location: Site Beta Date: 5/2/2017 Time: 6:00 PM Weather: Sun getting low, 54℉ I don't have a picture of this one because my phone died. There are now some tulips there, though and the trees are covered in flowers. There is a strong floral scent in the air, but I am not sure that it is coming from the flowers in this particular flower bed. 1. Evolution - The flowers here have been artificially selected. This has been done mostly based on aesthetic, smell, and ability to withstand the weather conditions of Cambridge. 2. Cell Biology - The cell structures in different parts of the plants correspond to the role they play in the overall life of the plant. Because they are plant cells, they contain chloroplasts, which enable the plant to photosynthesize- get...

Biology Spring 2017 - Naturalist Perspectives

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