Ch-ch-ch-Changin'!

This week's assignment is about stability and change.  Ecosystems change on a daily basis.  Most of these changes are small, but when you put a bunch of small changes together, you can see some larger differences as the seasons or years go by.  Our assignment was to find pictures in a habitat of something that changes in one day, something that changes in one season, something that changes in one year, and something that changes in 20 years.  All of my pictures were taken at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  I love that I live so close!

1.  Something that will change in One Day

From this.......

To this.....

 

These are pictures of a sassafras tree.  In one day's time, the bud of a sassafras can be closed like the first picture to open with seed pods like the second picture.  It's amazing to see how quickly plants can change.

 

 

2.  Something that will change in one season

 

Here we see a gravel bar at a cove of Lake of the Ozarks on the edge of Ha Ha Tonka.  Over the course of the spring and summer, more rain will come and they will change the flood gate flow on the Bagnell Dam.  This gravel bar will disappear as the water levels rise.


3.  Something that will change in One Year

This picture reminds me that life will find a way.  This oak tree has lost all of its limbs, and yet, new limbs grow.  They are all small and thin, but they are producing leaves so the tree can go through photosynthesis.  By next year, the current limbs will be bigger, and we may be able to see some new limb growth.


4.  Something that will change in 20 Years

My original thought was to take a picture of a seedling of some kind and talk about how it will grow and become a large tree.  But then I saw this lying in the woods off the walking path.  This fallen tree has obviously been down for awhile, and in twenty years, it will be even more decomposed.  We may even be able to see pieces that have rotted off - chunks of wood lying on the ground next to the original log.  It's amazing how the life cycles.

Until next time,

Clara



I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends.... Or Maybe Not.....

The second assignment for this week was to show how organisms interact in our ecosystem.  There are multiple types of ecological interactions.  In some of them, both organisms benefit.  In others, one benefits and the other is either not affected or negatively affected.

I was able to catch a perfect example of mutualism when I got home from school.  Mutualism is the interaction where both species are able to benefit from the relationship.  In this picture, you see a yellow swallowtail butterfly lit on a lilac bush.  The butterfly was flitting all around the bush collecting nectar from this bunch of flowers and then on to another bunch.  It was fascinating to watch.  With each landing, it would quickly dart its proboscis into the flower to collect the nectar. 

Now this sounds all well and good for the butterfly, but how does the lilac benefit?  While the butterfly is drinking, pollen sticks to its legs.  As the butterfly moves around the flowers, the pollen is transferred to the other flowers.  Pollination takes place and new seeds are produced enabling the  plant to reproduce.  In this case, it's a colorful (and fragrant) example of mutualism.

Until next time,

Clara

What's That, You Say?

The first assignment for this week was to find something that is "unknown" to me and to provide clues about it so that others may be able to identify it.  Sometimes our "unknowns" are easy for others to identify; other times, we may need to consult our field guides.  So here is my unknown...

 

I found this in my backyard, however, I have seen them growing in pastures.  As you can see, the purple flowers are rather small, but the entire head of the plant is larger in size.  These two pictures only show two of the plant, but they were growing all over in groups, or patches, mostly under the hickory trees.  They weren't there just a few days ago; they seem to have sprouted quickly after the rain we've had during the last couple of days.

 

So.....  What's your guess?

Movin' Up The Food Chain

This week's assignment was to photograph and blog about a food chain.  Being in town, I don't see a lot of larger predators, so I focused my food chain on what I see in my backyard.





 

Producer



Primary Consumer

Secondary Consumer

A food chain shows the energy flow from one organism to another. It starts with a producer - a green plant of some kind that gets its energy from the sun through photosynthesis. Therefore, my first picture starts with my garden, which is contains onions and potatoes right now. We've just started planting and tilling up the dirt for the other beds.

 

The second level of the food chain is a primary consumer - an organism that eats a producer.  Looking in the freshly tilled dirt, I was able to find earthworms.  The earthworms in my raised garden beds are compliments of my children.  Whenever they are helping with yardwork and find earthworms, they take them to one of the raised beds.  They are great for the garden.  :)  They eat decaying plant matter and help to add nutrients to the soil for the plants.  Because they eat dead and decaying materials, they are called decomposers.



The third level of the food chain is a secondary consumer - an organism that eats a primary consumer.  In the center of the picture, you will see a soil centipede.  Soil centipedes are carnivorous and will eat earthworms.  (A little picture bonus:  Also making an appearance are a couple of pill bugs.  These are primary consumers.  They, like the earthworms, eat decaying plant matter, but are also known to eat vegetation at ground level and small roots.

I really liked this assignment.  Many times when we think of a food chain, it involves much larger predators.  It was a great way to show that energy flow happens even in very small areas and with very small organisms.

Until next time,

Clara

Life - It Is A-Changin'....

This week's assignment was to find examples of adaptation in nature.  Adaptations are characteristics that help an individual to survive to adulthood and reproduce.  We're talking animals and plants.  The organisms with the adaptations that are best suited to their environment are able to survive.  They compete with members of their own species for resources and mating rights.  They compete with members of other species for even more resources and their niche in the ecosystem.

There were five different categories to search for photos - size, warning coloration, hidden or blended coloration, shape and showy display behavior.  We were to take photos of three of the categories with the possibility of a bonus category for any behavior that depicts nesting, food gathering, advertising or warning.  So let's see what I found....

1. Hidden or Blended Coloration

My first photo is at the railing near the spring at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  Can you see the tiny insect?  I haven't been able to identify the insect, but it is a perfect example of hidden or blended coloration.  Camouflage enables an organism to remain hidden from view.  It's a mechanism that is used for protection from predators.

2. Shape

This was also taken at Ha Ha Tonka State Park as I was walking on the Spring Trail.  Turtles are a great example of shape as an adaptation.  The turtle is sleek, has a rounded shell, and feet that are slightly webbed that make it an excellent swimmer.  The shape and composition of the shell also help to protect it from predators.

3. Size and Shape

I'm classifying these as size and shape adaptations.  These two pictures are from the same bush along the Spring Trail at Ha Ha Tonka.  The thorns are the adaptations on this bush.  They protect the plant from being eaten or destroyed by animals.  The shape is important for protection, but the size of the thorn can be just as important.  These thorns are on the large side.  Thorns can be very small and thin, or large and woody like you see here.

Bonus:  Behavior

And a little bonus photography!  Both pictures were taken along the Spring Trail at Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  The top picture is of a Canadian goose.  It was completely alone.  No other geese around which I found odd because I always see at least three together.  This made me wonder if it was in fact a nesting female.  Could be.....

The second photo is of a turkey vulture circling for food.  Turkey vultures are known for circling their dead prey before they finally land and start to feed.  There were multiple places in the park where I saw turkey vultures circling that day.  Finally, I decided a picture was in order.  It's hard to get pictures of animals as they are foraging for food - and this was definitely are foraging behavior.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's edition of "Life In All Matter."  Coming next week are pictures of food chains and energy flow.

Until then, 

Clara

It's Time for a Scavenger Hunt!!

I love scavenger hunts, especially photo scavenger hunts.  The last couple of times that I participated in a photo scavenger hunt, they were for church activities.  One of my favorite memories from college was a photo scavenger hunt where we drove all over Springfield to complete a list of tasks.  This was before the digital camera, so we had to wait for the film to be developed before we could find out which group won.  But I digress....

This scavenger hunt had us looking for five different things in nature.  They were:

1.  Something COLORFUL

So there's not much color out there just yet.  But as I was taking a walk around the block with my kids a few evenings ago, I noticed some of the first touches of green on the bushes.  Since taking this picture, my lilac bushes have begun to bud and my forsythia bushes are bursting with bright yellow leaves.

2. Something Important in Nature

This was probably the hardest category for me to try to fill.  How do you decide just one thing to photograph that is "important in nature"?  And isn't it all important?  I finally decided on a picture of the sun.  This photograph was taken while waiting in a parking lot.  (I know - not exactly out there being one with nature.)  But I loved the look of the clouds and how the sun didn't just look like the sun, but rather a pool of light.  Anyway, it's turned out to be one of my favorites.

3. Camouflage

This picture was taken while on a nature walk at the City Park with my children and niece.  I loved the look of cascading rocks down the hillside, and yet, they are completely stationary.  While there isn't anything particularly camouflaged in this picture, I like the possibility that so many things could hide here - under the log, in the leaves, in between the boulders.

4. Something Extremely SMALL

OK, so I am super proud of this one.  :)  This is a bud on my lilac bush.  I caught this image with my phone one rainy evening as I returned home.  These lilac bushes are right under our outside light.  As I was getting out of my car, the small raindrops glistened in the light.  It took multiple angles and playing with the zoom to get the droplets to be so clear.  But I love the final product.

And finally,
5. Something Gross

I had been keeping an eye out for something involving maggots, or something that even resembled maggots, but no luck.  Maggots make me squirm.  Even something that has the appearance of maggots makes me squirm.  (I can't even look at unstirred homemade French Onion dip.  The hydrated onions that crack the surface of the sour cream makes me squirm.)  Funny coming from a Forensic Science teacher that teaches a Forensic Entomology unit.  So I went looking for the next best make-me-squirm thing - rotting wood.  The fuzziness of the mold is really more than I care to look at.  And the insect tracts and holes and fraying/chipping wood is evidence that a grub or something else maggot-like was there.  Eww, gross!

I hope you've enjoyed these pictures.  I still have a long way to go to really "catch" a good picture, but I'm learning.

Thanks for stopping by,
Clara

Ethics and Safety in Nature

So I started my first online graduate class.  For those of you who know me, this is another thing that I've added to my plate.  But so far, I'm loving it.  It's called "Spring Snapshot of 21st Century Nature Study."  Sound interesting, huh?  It's all about using digital photography in the classroom.  It gives me something that I can do as I'm taking walks around the block or playing at the park with my kids. I'd already be taking pictures of them anyway, so I might as well add a few bonus pictures, right?

Our first assignment was to demonstrate proper ethics and safety in nature.  I have to admit that I was going to go out and take a brand new picture.  But I have had a hard time getting excited about nature pictures when there is so little color and life outside right now.  So instead, I searched through the pictures that I already had and have chosen one of them.

This picture was taken out at Swinging Bridges at Lake of the Ozarks.  My husband works as a Spanish teacher at Iberia R-V Schools, and my son attends school there.  My husband loves the scenic route and crosses Swinging Bridges daily.  It has become a favorite place for our family to fish, hike, discover new things, and play in the water.  I don't recall the exact day that this picture was taken.  I know that it was after school had already started (probably August or September), because it was the daily crossing that endeared this place to my son.  I love that this picture shows my son's pure joy of just being outside and exploring under the bridge. 

I look forward to doing more with photography for this class and sharing it (and my learning curve) with you.

Thanks for stopping by,
Clara