green machine
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Origins of Sand Lab part3
My research question for this lab was, "What environmental characteristics make a beach biogenic or detrital?" I thought the answer would be, "I think that beaches with allot of coral in the water around it will be biogenic, while beaches with rocks in the water will be detrital. If I find coral at a biogenic beach and rock at a detrital beach then my hypothesis will be correct."
We found that all of the biogenic beaches had coral in the water but some of them also had rocks in the water. We did not find a true detrital beach, though we did find a combination of mostly detrital but still biogenic. The beach in question had a cinder cone on one side but some coral in the water. The answer to this lab is, yes, you need coral in the water for a beach to be biogenic but it takes more than just rocks in the water to make a beach detrital. I will now recite some possible sources of error that could have skewed the results. We did not go to a truly detrital beach so our comparison was incomplete. There was no control sample for the sand analysis so the information gained from the experiment might not have been consistent.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Origins of Sand Lab part3
Big Beach:
sand color and characteristics; large with grains of white and black but mostly tan
surounding area; cinder cone on one side and reefs off shore
reaction; a good abount of crackling
conclusion; boigenic
Wailea Beach:
sand color and characteristics; very fine grains with a small amount of black and white grains but mostly tan
surounding area; rocks on either side and coral off shore
reaction; lots of fizing and bubbling
conclusion; biogenic
Black Sand Beach:
sand color and characteristics; rather round grains of mostly black but with grains of white
surounding area; cinder cone on one side
reaction; some crackling
conclusion; combination of biogenic and detrital
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Origins of Sand Lab part2
Big Beach: The sand; not uniform in color but is mostly tan, there are rather large (for sand)grains of white and rather small grains of black.
The area around the beach; there is a mosly dead reef off shore and a cinder cone on one side of the beach.
Wailea Beach: The sand; tan and fine with a rather even color, though there are small grains of black and white.
The area around the beach; lava rocks on either end of the beach, some coral off shore.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Origin of Sand Lab part1
Intro: There are two types of beaches; detrital and biogenic. Detrital is a beach that comes from rocks, here they are made from lava rocks so they are usually black or red. Biogenic beaches originate from organic sources like fish feces and dead coral. We will test if a beach is biogenic by testing for calcium carbonate by pouring vinegar in a sample. The chemical reaction that will ensue is as such; vinegar (acetic acid) + calcium carbonate ----> calcium acetate + water + carbon dioxide 2CH3COOH + CaCO3 ----> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2 . Question: What enviormental characteristics make a beach biogenic or detrital?
H: I think that beaches with alot of coral in the water around it will be biogenic, while beaches with rocks in the water will be detrital. If I find coral at a biogenic beach and rock at a detrital beach then my hypothesis will be correct.
Materials: Journal
Writing implement
sample cups (2)
vinegar
pipette
transportation
appropriate clothing
Procedure: 1)drive to Waipuilani beach
2) collect sample in sample cup
3) record enviormental observations in journal
4) go to Oneuli beach
5) collect sample in sample cup
6) record enviormental observation in journal 7) go to lab
8) perform vinegar test on samples For your reference: vinegar (acetic acid) + calcium carbonate ----> calcium acetate + water + carbon dioxide 2CH3COOH + CaCO3 ----> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2
9) record results
10) make conclusion
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Whale Lab continuation
We had fun on the whalewatch and it was cool chillin with my friends. At one point everyone was clustered around one part of the boat because there was a whale swiming around nut i was just siting on my bench chilling out when i saw this grate breach i looked around and i was the only one who had seen it.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
whale lab
Whales are very complex and mysterious animals and we still don't know all about them. Many people for many reasons come to Hawaii to see them. As Tiffany Kidder from the Kai Kanani said, "As the new generations of whales come in to adult hood the whale population becomes less scared of humans."(2010)
What type of pod is most frequent for whales to be in at different times in the season?
For first observation we went out to McGregor's point. For my partner(Lindsey) and I the observing went rather well, we saw many whales and completely filled our data sheet. My personal favorite part was working with my friend because she is fun to fork with and we were able to joke around and still get alot of work done. I would say that the most chalenging part is probably the fact that i forgot that we were going out side so i wore three inch heels and those of you that have been to McGrogors point you know that is a very bad place to wear heals because it is so rocky and un even. I love watching whales because it is so incredible to me that they can throw themselves in the air like they do.
Procedure:
0. record location and weather observations
1. find whale(s)
2. spot whale through clinometer and have buddie record angle
3. record all aspects outlined on data sheet
4. repeat for every whale (group)
5. once all whales recorded calculate distances
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tide Pools



our research question was: which phyla most present in divercity and sheer amount in the south maui tide pool? I thought that molluskc would be the modst plentifull while cnidarians would be the most diverse. I was only half wrong, mollusks were the most plentiful but arthropoda was the most diverse. some sources of error weresplashing around and scaring away some of the creatures, not getting an exact count from not diging around in the muck and finding all of the animals.
I had lots of scientific fun during this lab especialy in the field. my team worked verry eficently together in the field. I love science so its hard for me to pick my favorite part but i would have to say that in this lab it was being in the water and colecting the data itself. I gained the skill of identifying animals and placing them in their phylum.

