Naturalist Perspectives Assignment: Identify Your Site Gamma

 On Sunday October 19th, at 2:17 pm it was around 67 degrees outside, so I decided to go on a nice walk and identify my site gamma because the weather permitted. On this walk I encountered quite a few macromolecules almost right outside my door step. At that moment I came to realize how everything really is made up of the compounds we speak spoke about in class technically. First of all, I walked out my door and instantly saw a girl waiting on the side of the road. Not only is she made of proteins and nucleic acids because, she is made of DNA, but the plants around her were too. Not only that, but there are also pumpkins on the door step which are full of protien, acids, and carbs.    





Although pumpkins are not high in fat, they still contain lipids. Upon further inspection, I came to realize that the tree right behind one of the pumpkins happened to have berries on it. Pardon the poor quality of the photo, I swear the berries are there.


These berries most likely contain these macromolecules as well. Berries might even have a higher lipid and protein count than the pumpkin, and not only have DNA of their own, but they are also attached to a tree which is a whole other organism with the same compounds forming it slightly differently.
On the ground below the tree there were rocks all over the dirt. At first I thought nothing of them. They are less exciting than the other living molecules, but I came to realize upon further research that even rocks have DNA, they just can't replicate it.
The last macromolecule rich organism I noticed was on the other side of the steps, but it was probably the best one I found. After observing the area to the right of the building and noticing the berries, trees, people, and rocks, I realized there was wheat on the other side, along with some other leaves and weeds and a bunch more rocks. The wheat excited me, because that is a clear indicator of carbohydrates such as starch. It also most likely contains DNA and lipids.

All in all, this perspective assignment made me come to the realization that everything living around me is made up of macromolecules weather I acknowledge it or not. This assignment really put me in touch with our universe and nature that we usually look past. Although I prefer the beautiful scene of a garden, the things right in front of me have a totally different and unique aspect of beauty to them.

Naturalist Perspectives Assignment: Identify Your Site Beta

  After listening to the TED radio hour, I decide to go somewhere close to home for my site beta. Rather than going out the front door and finding a place, I chose to observe my backyard. On Saturday, October 8th at around 12 o'clock it was 65 out and I sat on my back porch for a few minutes. I don't take advantage of my back porch as much as I should, simply because that is where the surrounding apartment buildings put their trash. Also, my table and chairs get covered in leaves and dirt from the trees right above. Inconveniently, I swept a day or two ago so you can not tell how many leaves have been on the table and chairs in the photos, but the stairs give you an idea of how the nature is incorporated into my living space.












  There is a hill with a wall of rocks with a few different trees on top. The leaves haven't changed color too much yet, but there are some yellow leaves. The leaves are beautiful when blowing in the wind, and the TED video helped to make me notice the beauty humankind and our own nature. Although there has been a refrigerator on top of the hill for weeks, its nice to see the nature is still thriving around the apartment complex's and making due with our interruptions, just like we are letting it be and keeping most of our garbage in a confined area.
   Humans are also a part of my local nature, and most areas. Like Emma Marris said, nature is where life thrives, and many forms of nature are thriving here. A neighbor came out on his porch and said hello to me, and this made me feel so human and one with my own element of nature. Although this was not on my recent visit, I have seen a man walking his dog on the back hill. The different animals I see that live in the forrest area, like squirrels birds and flies, have many similarities to the dog that lives in the nearby apartment. Although we usually do not view ourselves as animals, we are and we are part of this local nature. Our wooden homes are more similar to the wooden trees right behind them than we realize.

Naturalist Perspectives Challenge 2: Find An Uncommon Bird and Observe

  One morning I was going to Star Market after class to get groceries, when a Turkey just crossed my path. This Challenge came relatively easy to me, due to the fact that there are Turkeys walking around Somerville that I see every once in a while. He was on the other side of the street, so it was hard to get a picture since he was too far away, but I was surprised at how relaxed he was, just walking down the street doing his thing just like I was. When someone was nearby, he flapped his wings a bit and sped up, but was not that fearful. I assume the local Turkeys are used to seeing people all the time, but I'll always wonder where they came from and why they hang out in Somerville. After doing some research, I came to conclude that the Turkey was a female, because she had grey and brown feathers rather than colorful ones. Overall, my experience with the Turkey was a mildly fascinating one. I have seen them in that area before so I wasn't surprised, but it was funny to see the way she acted near people and how she casually walked around the city like we do.

Naturalist Perspectives Assignment: Water in the Landscape

      On Friday September 30th, 2016 I went for a walk to the Charles River for the sunset, staying in  the area from around 5 to 7 o'clock. While sitting on the dock i felt a nice breeze, but it wasn't too cold or too hot out. When I touched the water I was pleasantly surprised at how the waters temperature felt. It was very similar to the temperature in the air, probably because the sun had not set yet and the sun had warmed it up all day. There was a lot of greenery and much near the river, although I was sitting on a cement brick of a dock, I was able to feel the surroundings out some what.
      I tested the pH of the water and the piece of paper became slightly green. I estimated the pH to be around 8 until I tested my tap water in my kitchen and it barley changed color and got a rating of 6 or 7 from me. This made me rethink the pH of the river water to be more of a 9 because I didn't realize how subtle the color change would be. Seeing that the pH was lower on the fresh water only made sense, but I was surprised at how close the colors were. After the confusion, I tested Brita filtered water from the sink to compare, and that paper practically stayed the same color, with the fewest hydrogen ions out of them all- as you could expect. I do not know if water temperature effects ph balance, but I thought that testing the different pH balances was a lot of fun, very informative and a good thing for me to learn how to do. Overall, my findings did not surprise me and I really enjoyed this lab assignment.