Interdependence; How all Living Things are Connected

Kathryn Sisto
September 25, 2012
Interdependence; How all Living Things are Connected 
Andover NH 

Alan excitedly opens the door to the Proctor mini bus with a big smile and says, "Come on! We're going on our first AP Environmental Science field trip!" We all groan since it is a Thursday afternoon on our second week of school. We file on the bus and find our seats, and before we can think twice we're at our first destination. 

Tourist

Some important information he told us was that 99% of life is made of;                                  

• carbon
• sulfur
• phosphorus
• oxygen
• nitrogen
• carbon
• hydrogen

And a way of remembering each part of the ecosystem is through memorizing this:

A - Abiotic: non living
        Rock, air/gasses/nitrogen/phosphate

B - Biotic: living
        plants/trees
        us
        animals “they’re watching us”

C - Cycles

      every system is exchanging and moving

                rain

                life

D - Diversity
         how many different 
               plants

E - Energy

          sun
          different forms
          calories

E - Evolution
         supports all other letters

We exit the bus to see a small clearing in the woods we parked next to. We  follow Alan down the path and he begins the lecture as we rapidly take notes. "All living things are connected" he starts, "if you take someone's knee cap out, they won't work." Much like the human body, the environment depends on all parts of the ecosystem in order to sustain life. "As we walk, think about the parts" Alan says. And with that, we head off into the woods where we will see first hand exactly what Alan is talking about. 

We learned that rain falls, hits the landscape, pools and then rolls with gravity down into the river. Much like the veins in our circulatory system, all the rivers flows and empty into one mass body, the ocean. Every river is a watershed, and every watershed drains into the ocean. Some examples of other rivers are the Merrimack, Charles River and the Nashua River, which empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Factors that limit life are predators, pollution, shade (limits sunlight for animals and plants) and the amount of particles suspended in the water column. 





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Phosphate Test

First Area

Information we Obtained

Phosphate: 1 ppm (see picture)

       -an inorganic chemical

Temperature: 59.3 F  

pH: 6.3

What is pH? pH stands for "Per hydrogen ion." And is measured on a scale from 0-14. If the pH is greater than 7 the substance is considered basic. So if 7 is neutral, the water is a little acidic.

Primary Succession: the progressive growth of organisms in an area that had been bare. 

The most significant event that shaped this water shed was the Ice Age 12,000 years ago. There was 5,000 feet high ice glaciers that carved through the rocks to create this river.

Primary succession is important when observing this area because before the ice age, there was nothing here, no plants or living vegetation. However, after the river was formed, plants and living organisms began to appear. Soil was made by lichen, (a fungus "that has taken a 'lichen' to algae), and moss. 

We can’t have plants with out..?

         Jeremy: "seeds!"

         Alan: no, sunlight.

First Area

A : erosion, wind and rain

B : algae, trees, plants, small animals

C : Heating and cooling, cycles like a flood. Like the Nile, it deposits fertile soil.

D : a lot of species of plants and animals

E : sun's energy
      evolution helps all other letters move forward
________________________________________________________________________

Second Area

pH: 6.4

    -the pH is about normal. 

Phosphate: 0 (all being used, see picture)

Temperature: 62.5 F

The second place we went was different than the first because the water was shallower and the river was wider, so the water could warm up more quickly and had the ability to hold the warmth. This was evident not only because of the feel, but there was plant life on the bottom, and the rocks were black because they were covered in algae. So, why don't we see the normal levels of pH down stream? Well, because they are being filtered off and also used by all the life. 

Phosphate Test

A: rocks, nitrogen and phosphate  

B: algae, plants, animals

C: rain, life cycle

D: a lot of different plant species

E: sun's energy  _______________________________________________________________________

Pleasant Lake

Third Area

pH: 6.8

Phosphate: 2

Temperature: 67.7 F (not moving, shallow)

The third and final place was described by Alan as "beachy."  Up a ways on Route 11, there is a small beach on a body of water  named Pleasant Lake. Alan explained the environmental impact the beautiful scenery had on the lake. All the rain water runs down the mountains and deposits into the lake, bringing with it anything it may wash down (see picture below). The houses on the lake could be troublesome if the owners use phosphate based fertilizers, which can pollute the water and endanger the living species. Also, things that happen here could effect what happens down further in the other spots visited. There was algae on rocks and little fish swimming around the shallow water, making it clear that life was in danger if humans did not watch what they were putting into the lake. 

Mountains cause rain water to run into lake

A: rocks, nitrogen and phosphate

B: algae, plants, fish

C: rain, life cycle

D: a lot of different plant and animal species

E: Sun's energy, as well as the life cycle

Phosphate Test