Geocachingggg

Geocaching is in interactive sport that is being played by millions of people all across the globe. With the help of a GPS, these people seek to find geocaches, which are waterproof containers hidden for this very purpose. There of over a million geocaches worldwide. Inside, there is a log where one can write to say that they found it. It is almost like a large scale treasure hunting game, or game of hide-and-seek. People even trade items through the sport, by placing something of theirs inside the geocaches. Here is the link to the official geocaching website:

http://www.geocaching.com

This week in lab, we were able to do our own geocaching activity. Here is a map of where we walked to find our little treasures:

Here's what we found at the different stations:

Starting Point: This is where we began our route and found our first item. It was a metal black keychain with a rolled up piece of paper inside. It was pinned between a bike rack and the side of the building.

2. Here, we found a clear container with a white cap with black-eyed peas inside.

3.The 3rd item was inside the pole on the stop sign. It was a red container with a piece of paper inside.

4. The 4th was a prescription pill bottle with Tabasco sauce inside.

5. At the 5th location where we found a pill bottle with soda tabs inside.

6. Here, we found a clear bottle with chalk inside.

7. Here, we found a battery in a clear bottle.

Final Point: At our last point we found a pill bottle with magnets and a little toy car inside.

With the use of GPS devices, environmental studies and research has changed drastically over the past few years, and will continue to change as technologies further improve. With the use of these systems, tracking, mapping, and plotting can be done like never before. By collecting positional information, scientists can now analyze from a new perspective. Patterns and trends (such as the migrating pattern of a specific species) can be better explored through GPS data. Maps can be more easily created and filled with accurate detail. Environmental scientists can also more quickly locate places of interest. This is especially helpful in locating environmental disasters.

Cute baby koala (bear... but not really bear)

This is a picture of an obviously really cute koala bear. I chose this animal because it is my best friend's favorite animal. And also because they are just so precious and I really like them as well. Koalas are found in eastern and southern Australia-- my #1 place that I want to visit someday. Though it was named the koala bear for it's appearance, the koala is not actually a bear, but a marsupial. Like kangaroos, koalas have pouches where their young remain for their first 6 months of life.

Wasatch Range

This is a picture of the beautiful Wasatch mountain range in Utah. This range is 160 miles and is part of the greater Rocky Mountains. Mount Nebo is the highest peak in this range, reaching 11,928 feet. 85% of Utah's population lives within 15 miles of the range. I chose this site, because I have family in Salt Lake City and it is definitely one of my favorite places to visit. It is so different from the basically flat, wooded terrain I am used to (in Cumming, GA), that I remember thinking that I couldn't possibly be in the same country. The picture does not even do justice to how incredible these mountains look above the Salt Lake City skyline.

St. George Island State Park

http://www.floridastateparks.org/stgeorgeisland/default.cfm

This is a link to the official website of the St. George Island State Park. This beautiful park is located in St. George Island, Florida. I chose this particular park, because I have been here many times. This is actually the place where my family vacations every summer. This 2,023 acre park not only includes beautiful undeveloped beaches, but also marshes, dunes, and dense pine and oak forests. The Gulf of Mexico is on one side of the park, while the Apalachicola Bay is on the other. Though the park has been uninhabited by man for most of its long history, it was opened for public use in 1980. It is truly one of the most beautiful, peaceful places in the world, despite the extreme mosquito population.

Halley Research Station

These are pictures of the Halley Research Station in Antarctica. It is located on the Brunt Ice Shelf on the Wendell Sea. It was founded in 1956. Since that time, the building has had to be remade five times, due to being buried by extreme snow accumulations. A new building (2nd picture) that is believe to be more durable than the old (first picture) is currently being made. As you can see, the new building is set on a large set of skis, so that it can be temporarily relocated if need be. The new building was made in South Africa and is expected to be fully set up on site by December. The temperatures range between -55 degrees in the winter to -10 on a sunny summer day. During the winter, only 16 scientists work here, but during the summer employment reaches about 70. The Aurora Australis can be seen 105 days of the year. It was here that the ozone hole was discovered in 1985.

Ducktown.. A Quackin' Good Place

Don't worry, I didn't make up the title. There is literally a sign on the side of the road that says that as you enter the little town of Ducktown, Tennessee. Though most of you probably have never heard of it, Ducktown is a very special place to me. Located just over the Georgia/Tennessee boarder by Lake Ocoee (the site of the 1996 Olympics), Ducktown is where my Grandparents decided to live and start their medical business in 1985. AngioSystems is a small, family business, where each of my grandparents' 7 children work. Many of their son and daughter-in-laws and grandchildren work there as well. Though I am actually from Cumming, Georgia (about an hour 1/2 from Ducktown), my parents work there as well, so I spent a good amount of my childhood here (my parents would NEVER move here though... if you ever visit you'll quickly know why). The polygon image highlights one of the main copper mines in the area. They are literally all over. The purple line is my grandparents' commute to work which is less than a mile if you don't include their huge driveway, Hopkins Mountain Road (which is the blue line). Other places on the map are the Ducktown Post Office, Hardees (where my Grandpa always used to get me biscuit and gravy in the mornings), and the Piggly Wiggy--the only grocery store. "River Road," as my family calls it, is actually Hwy 64, the road which runs next to the Ocoee and leads to Cleveland, Tennesee where the rest of my family lives (who are also trying to avoid living in little Ducktown).

Wally World

For my next map, I chose a proportional symbol map showing the amounts of Walmarts per state in the U.S. I am proud to say that here in Georgia it looks like we have one of the largest selections of Walmarts in the country! I love shopping at Walmart back home because it is soooo wonderfully cheap, but the Macon Walmart is slightly too sketchy for me..