Andy,Ashley,Federico,Ruby

Period2

EcocolumnFinalDraft

1.NatureisorganizedbyconceptsassimpleastheFoodChain,toareasasvastas
thebiosphere.Throughourgroupsmodelofthreedifferentecosystems,weattemptedavery
simplifiedversionofwhatnaturelookslike.However,toimproveourunderstandingofhow
natureworksbycreatingecosystems,wemustfirstunderstandwhatnatureiscomposedof.
Todothis,wemustlookatthebroadaspectsofnaturethatarevitaltonature'sexistence.
Thisincludesaspectssuchasthebiosphere,atmosphere,ecosystems,theFoodChain,soil,
energy,andevenmatteritself.Allofwhichareverycomplextopicsontheirown.

2.Scientistshavedividedtheatmosphereintofourlayersaccordingtotemperature:
troposphere,stratosphere,mesosphere,andthermosphere.Thetemperaturedropsaswego
upthroughthetroposphere,butitrisesaswemovethroughthenextlayer,thestratosphere.
Thefartherawayfromearth,thethinnertheatmospheregets.Mostofwhatwecallweather
occursinthetroposphere.TheunevenheatingoftheregionsofthetropospherebytheSun
causesconvectioncurrentsandwinds.WarmairfromEarth'ssurfacerisesandcoldairabove
itrushesintoreplaceit.Whenwarmairreachesthetropopause,itcannotgohigherastheair
aboveit(inthestratosphere)iswarmerandlighter...preventingmuchairconvectionbeyond
thetropopause.Thetropopauseactslikeaninvisiblebarrierandisthereasonwhymost
cloudsformandweatherphenomenaoccurwithinthetroposphere.Thenextlayeristhe
stratosphere,whichiswarmeratthetopthanthebottom.Thelowerportionhasanearly
constanttemperaturewithheightbutintheupperportionthetemperatureincreaseswith
altitudebecauseofabsorptionofsunlightbyozone.Thistemperatureincreasewithaltitudeis
theoppositeofthesituationinthetroposphere.Directlyabovethestratosphere,extending
from50to80kmabovetheEarth'ssurface,themesosphereisacoldlayerwherethe
temperaturegenerallydecreaseswithincreasingaltitude.Hereinthemesosphere,the
atmosphereisveryrarefiedneverthelessthickenoughtoslowdownmeteorshurtlingintothe
atmosphere,wheretheyburnup,leavingfierytrailsinthenightsky.Thethermosphere
extendsfrom80kmabovetheEarth'ssurfacetoouterspace.lastbutnotleastisthe
temperatureishotandmaybeashighasthousandsofdegreesasthefewmoleculesthatare
presentinthethermospherereceiveextraordinarylargeamountsofenergyfromtheSun.
However,thethermospherewouldactuallyfeelverycoldtousbecauseoftheprobabilitythat
thesefewmoleculeswillhitourskinandtransferenoughenergytocauseappreciableheatis
extremelylow.

3.Therearedifferenttypesofsoil,eachwithitsownsetofcharacteristics.Digdown
deepintoanysoil,andyoullseethatitismadeoflayers,orhorizons(O,A,E,B,C,R).
O(humusororganic)Mostlyorganicmattersuchasdecomposingleaves.TheOhorizonis
thininsomesoils,thickinothers,andnotpresentatallinothers.

A(topsoil)Mostlymineralsfromparentmaterialwithorganicmatterincorporated.Agood
materialforplantsandotherorganismstolive.
E(eluviated)Leachedofclay,minerals,andorganicmatter,leavingaconcentrationofsand
andsiltparticlesofquartzorotherresistantmaterialsmissinginsomesoilsbutoftenfound
inoldersoilsandforestsoils.
B(subsoil)Richinmineralsthatleached(moveddown)fromtheAorEhorizonsand
accumulatedhere.
C(parentmaterial)ThedepositatEarthssurfacefromwhichthesoildeveloped.
R(bedrock)Amassofrocksuchasgranite,basalt,quartzite,limestoneorsandstonethat
formstheparentmaterialforsomesoilsifthebedrockiscloseenoughtothesurfaceto
weather.ThisisnotsoilandislocatedundertheChorizon.
Putthehorizonstogether,andtheyformasoilprofile.Likeabiography,eachprofiletellsa
storyaboutthelifeofasoil.Mostsoilshavethreemajorhorizons(A,B,C)andsomehavean
organichorizon(O).Butwithoutthesoil,therewouldnotbelivingproducersforconsumersto
liveoffof,makingitavitalpartofnature.

4.)TheLawofThermodynamicsstatesthatenergycannevertrulybedestroyed,
insteaditjustusedinourecosystemsuntilit'sworthalmostnothing.Thisissimilarto,butnot
exactlylike,theLawofConservationofmatter.IntheLawofConservationofMatter,matter
cannotbedestroyedorcreated.Somatterisalwaysrecycledbychangingformsintoanother
kindofmatter.Forexample,inthehydrologiccycle,waterevaporatesduetothesunheating
upthewatermolecules.However,whenwaterevaporates,themoleculesdontjust
disappear.Instead,theybecometinywaterparticlesthatfloatuptotheatmosphereand
condensatewithdusttomakeclouds.Thenwhenthecloudsgetheavywithwater,they
precipitaterainwaterdropletsdowntoearth.Thus,thesamewaterthatevaporates,comes
downtoearthoncemore.

5.)OntheothersidewealsohavetheEarth'scrust.OntheEarth'scrustexistsa
multitudeoforganisms,somanyinfactthatmillionsareunknowntous.Indifferentsegments
oftheEarth,organismsmakeupecosystemswhichrelyonFoodChainsinordersothat
organismscanthrive.AtthebottomoftheFoodChainaretheproducers.Producersare
organismsthatprovideenergyfortherestofthefoodchain,andarevitaltothesurvivalof
almostalllivingorganisms.Someexamplesofproducersincludegrassesandplants.
ConsumersarenextintheFoodChain.Ofcourseallotherorganismsareconsumers,but
fromtherecertainorganismsrankhigherthanothers,untilgettingtothehighestrankofapex
predator.Othertypesofconsumersincludedetrivoresthatfeedondeadanddecomposing
matteranddecomposersthatdecomposeorganicmatterofanykind.Theseorganismsare
onlyabletosurviveduetothesoilthatexistsasapartoftheEarth'scrust.

6.)Otherpartsofnaturealsoincludeconceptswedon'tnormallythinkaboutsuchas
energyandmatter.Energyisvitaltonatureinthatitiswhatkeepsallorganismsalive.
However,througheverylevelofconsumersthatenergygoesthrough,about90%ofenergy
islostbetweeneachtrophiclevel.Thisenergyinfactisconvertedintoheatso,strictly

speaking,energyisntactuallyeverlost.Energyflowsthroughanecosysteminalinear,
onewaydirection.Inallecosystems,energyentersthesystemassunlight(radiantenergy).
Producers(photosyntheticorganisms)trapanduseabout0.02%ofthesun'senergyin
photosynthesis,andthatiswherethislossofenergybegins.

Application:
1.InourAPEnvironmentalScienceclass,weweretaskedtocreateamodelofthree
ecosystemsthatrelyononvariableinordertosurvive.Thepurposeofthisprojectistohelp
everyoneunderstandsomeofthedifferenttypesofbiomesandhowtheysupportlife.Italso
givesjustaglimpseofwhattypesofmaterials,soils,andanimalsneededinthatspecific
biome.Itisimportanttoknowwhattypeofbiomesthereareandwhichonesaresuitablefor
differentspeciesinordertounderstandhowcomplexlylifeissustained.

2.)Theplasticbottleweareusingtocovertheecocolumnrepresentstheatmosphere
becauseitwouldpreventtheinsidesfromgettingtoowarmwithoutmakingthemtoocold.The
layersofsoilarerepresentedbythedifferenttypesofsoilandstonethatareinour
ecocolumn.

3/4.)Inourecocolumn,thevariablethatiscyclingthroughtheseparatebiomesis
water.However,whatwehavedoneintheecocolumnisactuallyshowtherepercussionsof
nothavingwaterflowthroughourbiomes.Wechosethismethodbecauseitismucheasierto
depictadeadecosystemandexplainwhathasgonewrongthentorecreateanactualworking
ecosystem.Abioticfactorssuchaswaterandsoilprovidenutrientsthatarenecessaryfor
bioticorganismstocontinueliving.Therepercussionsincludehowsoilwilldryoutand
becomeunabletogrowplantswithouttheflowofwater,howrocksareunabletogrowalgae
tofeedconsumersifwithoutwater,andhowbodiesofwatercannotsustainlifesuchasfish
withoutfreeflowingwatersupplyingoxygentothewater.However,thismeansthatthereisnt
reallybiodiversitywithinourecocolumn.

5.)Biodiversityiswheretherearemanydifferenttypesoforganismslivinginthesame
biome.Eachofthosedifferenttypesoforganismshaveadaptadifferenttypeofenvironment
withinthebiomeandserveaspecificroleintheenvironment.Biodiversitywouldincreaseif
thetimewasgiventothespeciestomutateandadapttotheenvironment.However,itcan
decreaseifonecouldnotadaptfastenoughthetheenvironmentorhumanactivities.Oureco
columndoesnotallowsuchbiodiversitybecausewearedepictingalackofit.

6.)Ideally,thisisnotagoodmodeloftheworldforseveralreasons.Thisecocolumn
wouldonlyberepresentingthreebiomeswhentherearedozensofvastlydifferentbiomes
throughoutnature.Wealsowouldonlybehavingoneconnectingvariablebetweenthese
systems,whentherearereallythousandsbetweeneveryecosystem.Lastly,ourmodelis

reallywhatwehopenottoseefromtheEarthanytimesoon.Ourmodeldepictsaworld
withoutcyclingfactorstokeepitalive,somethingwefearfacingintheyearstocome.