היומן של ebartkowski

We deployed our BioCube today! Here are some observations related to its location:

• In a grassy area just west of a metal chain link fence and a tree line.
• The school's driveway runs north/south parallel to it.
• It is approximately 100 yards from the school building.
• It sits at the top of a drainage ditch.

The spot was chosen because the BioCube sits directly on the decaying remains of a tree stump, and we thought that this particular location might be a good location to find insect biodiversity come spring.

Today's conditions:

Temperature: Cold, 34 degrees

Light Levels: Pretty light

Humidity: 76%

Wind Speed: 16mph

Wind Direction: NW

Weather Conditions: Cloudy

Cloud cover: Pretty cloudy

Canopy/Leaf Cover of Cube Site: Low

Cube Composition: Rotting wood, mulch, snow, leaf litter

After a little over 3 months, we are back to our BioCube!

We are beginning to collect observations and data that are directly related to our 4 research questions. Summaries of our findings are recorded below.

Today's conditions
*Temperature: 28 Degrees Fahrenheit
*Light Levels: Medium
*Humidity:91%
*Wind Speed: 10 mph
*Wind Direction: East/ South East
*Weather Conditions: Sunny
*Cloud cover: 3,000 ft Medium
*Canopy/Leaf Cover of Cube Site: No leaves just branches
*Cube Composition.Dead Stump, Dead Leaves, Dead Grass

1st Period's Research Question: What evidence of a food chain can we find in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: We observed decaying leaves, Fungus, Patches of grass. Could not get clear pictures for identification.

2nd Period's Research Question: What evidence of living things can we find in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: We saw some dog and deer scat near our BioCube location. We saw some tree roots and fungi inside our BioCube. Could not get clear pictures for identification.

3rd Period's Research Question: What species of insects can we identify in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: None, because the weather is cold and the ground is frozen. There was a little hole in the ground for animals, so there might be some under the ground like worms or other animals.

5th Period's Research Question: What living things can we identify in our BioCube in different seasons?
Data/Observations: No observations recorded.

A great visit to our BioCube today! It did get muddier as the day went on :)

The birds were very active near our BioCube, but we were unable to identify any through photo or song. We will try to learn some bird songs and hopefully ID some birds on our next visit.

Today's conditions (1st Period / 2nd / 3rd / 5th)
Temperature: 40 / 43* / 46* / 54*
*Light Levels: High / UV index: 1 / High / High
*Humidity: 55% / 52% / 50% / 45%
*Wind Speed: 12mph / 13mph / 14mph / 13mph
*Wind Direction: SW / SW / WSW /W
*Weather Conditions: Sunny /Sunny / Sunny /Sunny
*Cloud cover: None / None / None / None
*Canopy/Leaf Cover of Cube Site: Branch coverings, not leaves
*Cube Composition: Air, leaves, grasses, dead tree stump

1st Period's Research Question: What evidence of a food chain can we find in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: Identified poverty oatgrass and dead man's fingers.

2nd Period's Research Question: What evidence of living things can we find in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: Identified Hedwig's fringeleaf moss and Wolf's Milk fungi.

3rd Period's Research Question: What species of insects can we identify in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: We observed a worm next to the BioCube

5th Period's Research Question: What living things can we identify in our BioCube in different seasons?
Data/Observations: We observed 2 Rathke's Woodlouses, a small wild geranium poking up through the leaf litter, and some woodland stonecrop.

Pretty muddy.

Today's conditions (1st Period / 2nd / 3rd / 5th)
Temperature: 52* / 59* / 62* / 67*
*Light Levels: Medium / UV Index 2 / UV Index 3 / UV Index 4
*Humidity: 37% / 31% / 29% / 30%
*Wind Speed: 11 mph / 13 mph / 14mph / 21mph
*Wind Direction: S / S / S / S SW
*Weather Conditions: Partly Sunny / Partly Cloudy / Partly Sunny / Partly Cloudy
*Cloud cover: Medium / Medium-High / Medium / Medium-High
*Canopy/Leaf Cover of Cube Site: Dried leaves attached to branches
*Cube Composition: Tree bark, Air, Pill bug (?), grasses

1st Period's Research Question: What evidence of a food chain can we find in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: Lots of grasses and fungi in an around our BioCube. Several students observed tiny insects crawling in and around the BioCube, but primarily we only observed producers and decomposers today.

2nd Period's Research Question: What evidence of living things can we find in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: Lots of bird activity; heard a woodpecker.
"Things move which shows that maybe birds or things are around."
"I saw a lot of grass, birds, also some deer tracks around the biocube. "
"I noticed that the tree stump looked like it was a little brownish orange for some reason. I think it might be fungus"

3rd Period's Research Question: What species of insects can we identify in our BioCube?
Data/Observations: Heard the following birds: northern cardinal, red-winged blackbird, house sparrow.
"there where these little grey bugs that were under leaves plants."
"did not see any insects but possible inside the starting decomposed log."
"There were gusts of wind in the air. There was lots of trash around the biocube. I could hear sounds birds but I couldn't see any."

5th Period's Research Question: What living things can we identify in our BioCube in different seasons?
Data/Observations: Hard time hearing bird songs; very noisy. Observed a spider and a lady bug in our BioCube (hopefully we will ID)
"there was a spider in the BioCube today, outside the BioCube farther down there was a spiders nest on a log, the ground was muddy"
"There were a couple bugs in our biocube due to the warmer weather. It was around 66-68 degrees. there was a moss type in our biocube. It was muddy around the biocube."
"I found a eagle or hawk of some sort but i couldn't take a photo of it because it was moving around ."