Tommy's+Journals


 * Ecosystem - Animals

Free Journal** Our site is a little cove near Pearl Harbor. There is a park next to it and there are very few trees scattered around it. The grass in the park is kind of parched, but the weeds near the water are very green. There is a lot of life in the water, and you usually can see a fish surface every couple minutes. The mud near the bank has a few small green plants growing in it. There is a very strange smell in the general area, possibly because of lots of fish. I think this site is a good place to study for the rest of the semester because it seems to be thriving with wildlife in the water. Also, you can see the tide come in and out which might affect the fish and crabs in the area. The cove is fed from Pearl Harbor.

Our ecosystem has crabs, fish, moths, and birds. It is usually sunny with light trade winds blowing. There is a little bit of humidity and there is lots of rocks and mud around the bank and in the cove. The crabs live in the mud at the bottom of the cove or near the bank of the cove. They are fairly large and are able to be eaten because there are some fishermen who fish for them. You can’t see the crabs but if you dig around the mud, there are a few. Also, there are some fish that are in the cove. You can see them surface every couple minutes. The water is kind of murky and shallow, and there is a lot of mud. The birds are usually in the trees or in the grass around the park. They don't seem to feed on the fish. The moths live in the weeds around the bank of the cove.
 * Assigned Journal #1**



Today it is a nice cool morning at high tide. There are very few fish jumping in the water and there are birds flying around the park. The birds also are landing in the trees and the ground. I think they are looking for food, like seeds or ants (mostly on the ground). They don't hunt the fish in the cove. Also, I saw three mongooses running straight through the park. There are crabs on the bottom of the cove near the mud. There was a barracuda near the bridge and also a baby barracuda near the edge of water. The adult barracuda was chasing after a fish. Possibly, the fish are jumping to avoid predators such as the barracuda? Also, the barracuda population must be thriving and reproducing in this water because of all the fish. I think the normal fish in the water are Talapia and also there are other fish such as mullet. The water is brackish because the water from the sea is mixing with the freshwater from a stream coming from the valley. There are not many visible bugs, but judging from the amount of birds, there must be many bugs or seeds on the ground.
 * Free Journal #2**

**Assigned Journal #2** The birds in our ecosystem are feeding on the seeds or insects in the park and also near the shoreline. They seem to be thriving and there are lots of birds in the trees. There must be enough seeds or insects to sustain their population. I have seen two different looking bird groups in the park competing for an area. In the cove, there is a predator-prey relationship between the barracuda and the regular fish in the cove. Every now and then you can see the splashes of fish in the water possibly to get away from the predators. The regular fish in the water are mostly scroungers and they eat whatever they can (mostly what they can find on the bottom). Also, the crabs scrounge on the bottom as well. There are many baby mullet near the side of the water and they dart every once in a while possibly because of predators. Today was a very wet and rainy day. We went fishing. It was low tide and lots of mud near the bank of the cove was exposed. Also, in the shallower waters mud was exposed. I could see small crabs running back and forth on the exposed mud. There were also many small fish such as baby talapia and a few small mullet near the bank of the cove. I think there were not many big fish compared to the last time we came, because the tide brings the bigger fish in, and it was low tide. The small fish usually swam in groups. In the park adjacent to the cove there were many birds singing. I didn't see any mongoose. After observing today, I think that high tide affects the amount of fish in the cove. Also, I think that the tide affects the size of the fish in the cove (smaller fish at low tide, larger at high).
 * Free Journaling #3**

If the tide is at high tide, then there will be bigger organisms and more predators such as barracuda in the cove. If the tide is at low tide, then there will be smaller organisms and less large fish in the cove. If the tide is at high tide, there will be more saltwater fish than freshwater fish in the cove of brackish water.

Some environmental pressures that could be driving Natural Selection in my eco-zone could be the tide, the mud, the color of the water in the cove. The tide could affect natural selection because smaller fish might do better. The bigger fish might have to go out into the sea and face the chances of getting eaten, while the smaller fish can stay inside the protective cove and peacefully reproduce and live. However, some predators come into the cove at high tide, and may eat some of the smaller fish. The smaller fish would reproduce more, but not live as long as the bigger fish, who would have to deal with predation in the sea and reproduce less. The mud could drive Natural Selection because some crabs bury themselves in the mud to hide from predators, and also to find food. The crabs that blend into the mud and the crabs that have the abilities to find food in the mud would survive and reproduce. The color of the water can also affect the Natural Selection in the eco-zone. The organisms that camouflage themselves better, might not get eaten, and survive to reproduce more.
 * Assigned Journaling #3**

Today was a sunny day at high tide. There was a lot of life in the water and fish were splashing every couple minutes. I saw a lot of talapia in the water today. There was much more life in the cove at high tide than at low tide. I saw many of the same types of organisms in the cove. In the park, there were still many birds hopping around on the ground. I saw two mongooses.
 * Free Journaling #4**

Procedure 1. Go to site and observe amount of life for an hour in cove at high tide and low tide for two days. 2. Record how much life you see in cove in data table on each day. 3. Average out and draw conclusion.

Hypothesis I think that there will be more life in the cove at high tide because the tide will bring in more fish and possibly more crabs. Also, there will be less life in the cove at low tide because the bigger fish and crabs will go out with the tide.

After conducting the experiment, I conclude that the tide does affect the number of organisms in the cove. There is more fish at high tide than at low tide. In my ecosystem there are many animals that produce CO2, but also, there are many plants, weeds, and there is also water that takes in CO2. The animals in my ecosystem that produce CO2 are the birds, mongooses, insects and the fish. All of these animals produce CO2 and take in oxygen. However, there are also plants, grass, and weeds that take in CO2 and exert CO2 at night through the process of respiration. Finally, the water in the cove and ocean takes in CO2 and also releases some CO2.
 * Assigned Journaling #4**