Maya's+Journal

 ** Welcome to Maya's Journal!!!

October 6th - cycle 5B** __Free Journaling__ Picture 1: Two female ducks swimming in the lily pond and three leopard pigeon. Picture 2: Coy fish swimming in lily pond. Picture 3: Lily pads. Picture 4: The bud of a lily. Picture 5: White lily. Picture 6: Weeds growing on the side of the lily pond. Picture 7: Bush growing half in the water and half out of the water. Picture 8: Bush growing in and out of the water and shrub with yellow flowers growing at the edge of the pond, out of water.

Punahou Lily Pond Observations- October 14, 2008 • Weather - Sunny - Blue sky, large white clouds - Raining • 2 female ducks - Brown feathers - Bright orange feet • Fish - White, yellow, orange, red, black coy fish (small, medium, large) - Small grey fish (they look like tadpoles) - 1 turtle out of water - 1 turtle in water (hiding underneath lily pad) • Lily pads - Neon yellow buds and flowers attached to some lily pads - Lily pads are heart shaped - Green, yellow, brown - Lily pads cover most of lily pond - Lily pads are the only plants in the lily pond • Birds - Mourning Doves - Small brown birds (smaller than the mourning doves) • Water - Not clear - Brown particles floating in water - Can see the fish that swim at the surface - Difficult to see that swim at the bottom - Can’t see the bottom of the pond • Small grey fish eating algae growing on the side of the pond • Algae grows below the surface not above • Algae is brown • Weeds growing on the side of the pond • Vegetation growing on the edge of the pond - Green plants growing half in the water, half out of the water - Plants with yellow flowers growing on the edge of the pond, out of the pond

I think the Punahou Lily Pond is going to be a good place to "study" for the rest of the semester because there are so many different organisms, with different niches, that live together in the Punahou Lily Pond. It will be very interesting to see what type of community interactions (predator-prey relationships, symbioses, competition, invasive species, etc.) there are in the Punahou Lily Pond. The Punahou Lily Pond is also going to be a good place to "study" because it's location is so convinient. My other three partners do not live near Punahou so it's very convinient that we can all go together after school and make our observations together.

__Assigned Journal Entry #1__ The niches of organisms are their occupation, which is what they do, and their home, which is where they live. The spider-like insects' niche includes keeping the lily pad population from over growing and taking over the lily pond. They keep the lily pad population from over growing by eating the lily pads. But because they are so small they are only able to keep the lily pad population from overgrowing, they are not able to wipe out the entire lily pad population. The spider-like insects' niche also includes lily pads and lilies (which are usually damaged b/c of the spider-like insects) because lily pads and lilies are their homes. The koi's niche includes eating the algae that grows in the lily pond. Because the koi are not fed they have to eat something and by eating the algae the fish are not only get the nutrition they need but they also keep the algae from overgrowing and taking over the lily pond. If there weren't any koi think about what the lily pond would look like. The entire lily pond would probably be green and you wouldn't be able to see anything that was underneath the surface. The koi's niche also includes the lily pond because the lily pond is their home. If there were no lily pond the koi fish obviously would no be able to survive. The turtle's niche includes eating insects that could cause herbivority, including the spider-like insects that eat the lily pads. The turtles are important because if they did not eat these insects that could cause herbivority, then they would wipe out the lily pad population. The turtle’s niche also includes the lily pond, just like the koi fish, because the lily pond is their home. If there were no lily pond the turtles obviously would not be able to survive.  __Free Journaling__ Plant Observations- October 16, 2008 Damaged Lily Pad: • Not heart shaped (like most lily pads) • Edges of the lily pad look eaten • Edges are brown • Texture is slimy • Surface is not waxy (shiny) • This lily pad is decomposing • Colored green, yellow, brown • Lily pad is very flimsy • Seems very weak and fragile • Small organisms living on half of the decomposing lily pad
 * October 21st - cycle 6F**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">         Mature Lily Pad: • Lily pad is heart shaped • Lily pad is large • Texture is smooth • Surface is waxy • Front of the lily pad is green - Cannot see veins from the front • Back of the lily pad is light green towards the middle and purple/red toward the edges - Can clearly see the veins from the back • Lily pad is healthy looking - Not flimsy - No visible damage - No signs of herbivority (small organisms weren’t living on the lily pad)

Baby Lily Pad: • Much smaller than the mature lily pad (mature lily pad is about 2x larger) • Front and back of Lily pad is green • Texture is smooth • Surface is waxy • Baby lily pad is heat shaped • Lily pad is healthy looking - Not flimsy (not as strong as the mature lily pad) - No visible damage - No signs of herbivority (small organisms weren’t living on the lily pad)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">        Lily: • The lilies are attached to the lily pads • The lily has many petals • Petals are paper thin • Petals are ivory colored • Outer petals are light green • Petals have a smooth texture • Stem is light green (medium thickness) • No fragrance • Compared to the amount of lily pads in the lily pond there aren’t many lilies <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">       Bud: • The bud of a lily looks like a light bulb • Many small organisms living on the bud of the lily - These small organisms looked like spiders • The outside of the bud is light green • When opened up the inside petals are ivory colored • The edges of some of the outside petals are brown and yellow • Stem is light green (medium thickness) • No fragrance <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Biodiversity • Lily pads- they are the only plant species that we could see from one spot.

Herbivority • Many lily pads are damaged • Hypothesis #1: the fish are eating the lily pads because the fish are not fed (they need to eat something). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">       <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">• Hypothesis #2: the spider-like insects are <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">eating the lily pads. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Questions: 1. Why are lily pads the only plant species in the lily pond? 2. Why are there so little lilies and so many lily pads? 3. Why is the front of the lily pad green and the back of the lily pad purple/red? 4. Why are the mature lily pads less flimsy than the baby lily pads and the damaged lily pads? 5. What organism(s) are eating the lily pads? 6. Why are these small organisms, which look like spiders,      <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">only found on damaged lily pads and damaged lilies?

__Assigned Journal Entry #2__ A community interaction that I see evidence of is Parasitism. In parasitism one organism lives on or inside another organism and harms it. The parasite obtains all or part of its nutritional needs from the other organism, called the host. Generally, parasites weaken but do not kill their host, which is usually larger than the parasite. In this case the parasites are these spider-like insects and the hosts are lily pads and lilies. These spider-like insects were found on damaged lily pads and lilies, not on healthy lily pads and lilies. This leads us to believe that these insects are killing lily pads and lilies and receiving all or part of their nutritional needs as well.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> **November 12th - cycle 9B** __Free Journaling__ Plant Observations- November 25, 2008

<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Weather • Overcast like weather - Definition of overcast: (of the sky or weather) marked by a covering of gray clouds; dull • Not a lot of sunlight • Gray sky • Drizzling

<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> • There are less lilies than there were on my last trip to the lily pond • This is probably because the lack of sunlight over this past month <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> • The lilies are scattered around the lily pond • There are more buds than there are flowers <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> • There are a lot less lily pads than there were on my last trip to the lily pond • About half of the lily pads in the lily pond are damaged - They are brown and yellow - They look like were eaten • The majority of the lily pads are small, or at least smaller than they were on my last trip to the lily pond • There are a lot of lilies that have holes in them <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> • The majority of the lily pads are located off to the side of the lily pond • There aren’t a lot of lily pads located towards the center of the lily pond

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">      Questions: 1. Why is the front side of the lily pad green and the back side of the lily pad purple/red? 2. Why are the mature lily pads less flimsy than the baby lily pads and the damaged lily pads? 3. What organism(s) are eating the lily pads? 4. Why are these small organisms, which look like spiders,      <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">only found on damaged lily pads and damaged lilies?

Proposed answers to my questions:      <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> 1. Why is the front side of the lily pad green and the backs side of the lily pad purple/red? Chlorophyll is what makes plants green. In order to make chlorophyll, plants need sunlight. If there isn't any sunlight, then plants won't make any chlorophyll and they won't be green. The front side of the lily pad is exposed to light and as a result the plant makes chlorophyll and turns green. The back side of the lily pad is not exposed to light and as a result the plant does not make chlorophyll and does not turn green. This is why the front side of the lily pad is green and the back side of the lily pad is purple/red.

2. Why are mature lily pads less flimsy than baby lily pads and damaged lily pads? A leaf's toughness depends on certain substances in its cells. Some substances that add strength and rigidity to leaves and other plant structures are cellulose, a fibrous material which makes up the cell walls of plant cells, and lignin, a tougher fiber. Mature lily pads are tougher than baby lily pads and damaged lily pads because the cell walls of baby lily pads and damaged lily pads aren't yet made up of tough fibers such as, cellulose and lignin, or have lost the tough fibers that add strength and rigidity to leaves and other plant structures.

3. What organism(s) are eating the lily pads? The organisms that are eating the lily pads are these small organisms, that look like spiders, that we could only find on damaged lily pads and damaged lilies.

4. Why are these small organisms, that look like spiders,      <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">only found on damaged lily pads and damaged lilies? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">These small organisms, that look like spider, are only found on damaged lily pads and damaged lilies because they are the ones eating the lily pads and lilies. The damaged lily pads and damaged lilies are these small organisms' food, as well as their home.

Hypotheses: 1. If one side of a leaf is exposed to light and the other side is not exposed to light then the side of the leaf exposed to light will be green and the side not exposed to light will not be green.

2. If you were to compare the toughness of a mature lily pad to the toughness of a baby lily pad and a damaged lily pad then the mature lily pad would be tougher than the baby lily pad and the damaged lily pad.

3. The cause for most of the damaged lily pads and damaged lilies is most likely linked to the presence of the small organisms, that look like spiders.

__Assigned Journal Entry #3__ Some of the environmental pressures that could be driving Natural Selection are the amount of sun in my ecosystem and the temperature of the water in my ecosystem. The amount of sun could be driving Natural Selection in my ecosystem because lily pads, which are the majority of plants in my ecosystem, need sun in order to live. Lily pads, and plants in general, need sun in order to live because they need sun in order to photosynthesize and make food. So, if there were no sun then the lily pads wouldn't be able to photosynthesize and if they couldn't photosynthesize then they wouldn't be able to make food and as a result of malnourishment the lily pads would die. If there is a lot of sun then the lily pads would be able to photosynthesize and they would be able to make food and as a result they would be very healthy and they would be able to reproduce. The temperature of the water could be driving Natural Selection in my ecosystem because it's possible that some organisms living in the lily pond are more adapted to colder water and some organisms living in the lily pond are more adapted to warmer water. If this is true, then if the temperature of the water was a lot colder than it usually is, the organisms more adapted to colder water would be considered more "fit" than organisms more adapted to warmer water because they have inherited characteristics that increases their chance of survival in colder water. This works both ways, if the temperature of the water was a lot warmer than it usually is, the organisms more adapted to warmer water would be considered more "fit" than organisms more adapted to colder water because they have inherited characteristics that increase their chance of survival in warmer water. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">     <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">       <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> **December 3rd - cycle 11C** __Free Journaling__ Plant Observations-    December 2, 2008

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Lily Flowers and Lily Buds • There are a lot more lilies than there were at my last visit • This is probably because at my last visit the lilies hadn’t bloomed yet • There are a lot less buds than there were at my last visit • This is probably because all the buds have bloomed

Lily pads • Unlike at my last visit there is no major concentration of lily pads • The lily pads are pretty evenly spaced out, except for by the island where there are very little pads there • There are a lot of damaged lily pads • About 25% of all the lily pads in the lily pond are damaged • About 75% of all the lily pads in the lily pond are healthy • The damaged lily pads are brown and yellow and they look like something has taken a bite out of it • Some of the damaged lily pads have wholes in them - The wholes in the damaged lily pads are small holes - There are numerous holes in each damaged lily pad <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Rip-o-Meter Experiment  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

__Hypothesis__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">If you were to compare the toughness of a mature lily pad to the toughness of a baby lily pad and a damaged lily pad then the mature lily pad would be tougher than the baby lily pad and the damaged lily pad. __Materials__ • Paper cup • Paper clip • Approximately 150 pennies • Leaves - 3 mature lily pads - 3 baby lily pads - 3 damaged lily pads

__Procedure__ 1. Collect leaves, three adult lily pads, three baby lily pads, and three damaged lily pads. 2. Build rip-o-meter, following the description and illustration below.

Hang a paper cup from a leaf by a paper clip.

3. Add pennies to the cup until the paper clip rips through the leaf. 4. Record the number of pennies it took to rip through each leaf in the data table below. __ Data Table __ The Leaf Toughness of Adult Lily Pads, Baby Lily Pads, and Damaged Lily Pads

__Conclusion__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">               <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  The hypothesis I created for this experiment was,   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">            <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"If you were to compare the toughness of a mature lily pad to the toughness of a baby lily pad and a damaged lily pad then the mature lily pad would be tougher than the baby lily pad and the damaged lily pad." <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">             <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Based on the results of my experiment this hypothesis                    was supported. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">   <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">  The average number of pennies it took to rip through an adult lily pad was 121 pennies. The average number of pennies it took to rip through a baby lily pad was 60 pennies. The average number of pennies it took to rip through a damaged lily pad was 111. These results show that adult lily pads are the toughest, damaged lily pads are the second toughest, and baby lily pads are the third toughest. Therefore, adult lily pads are tougher than damaged lily pads and baby lily pads. <span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

__Assigned Journal Entry #4__ When the sun is out, plants and some other organisms in my ecosystem carry out photosynthesis. This process is responsible for adding oxygen to—and removing carbon dioxide from—Earth’s atmosphere. Since the population of lily pads in my ecosystem is so enormous a lot of carbon is removed from the atmosphere, in the form of carbon dioxide. All plants carry out photosynthesis but some other plants in my ecosystem that carry out photosynthesis are the pal trees that surround the lily pond and the hala tree on the island.

In my ecosystem, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, both plants and animals carry out cellular respiration, which is the process that releases carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Some plants and animals in my ecosystem that carry out cellular respiration are lily pads, the hala tree on the island, koi fish, and turtles.

When plants and animals die, bacteria break down the tissues, and the plants and animals decompose. Their carbon is returned to the ground and atmosphere. Also the bacteria that breaks down the remains of plants and animals respire aerobically, which means they too release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is a water-soluble gas. Two thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, and large amounts of carbon dioxide are dissolved within in it. Therefore, the lily pond soaks up a lot of carbon dioxide. In addition, the bottom of the lily pond is littered with the skeletons of creatures, which contain large amounts of carbon.