piratehunny877

=Black’s Nook Pond = Hi, my name is piratehunny877 and I attend the [|Amigos School] in [|Cambridge, Massachusetts]. I am writing this Wikispace (make your own Wikispace right here!) because I wish to educate people worldwide what it is like where I live. My peers and I went to Black’s Nook Pond and studied the biotic and abiotic organisms surrounding us by: sketching them, and writing about their characteristics, such as their movement and how they obtain their energy/food. = =

= The Abiotic in Black's Nook Pond =

My class and I went to Black’s Nook Pond, transported by a bus. It was very chilly that day, the air was 54˚ F (12˚ C) and the water temperature was 55˚ F (15˚ C). We studied the water even more by testing its turbidity (how foggy or clear the water is), by taking a special cup with a mark on the bottom and filling it with the pond water (the more you cant see the mark, the more turbid it is), which was 40 JTU (Jackson Turbidity Units). We tested the pH (the acidity of a solution), by filling a little capsule with pond water and dropping a color changing tablet so it would match a color on our chart,it turned green, which was 6-7, normal acidity. Lastly, we test the dissolved oxygen (how much dissolved oxygen the pond water contained per million), by filling another little capsule with a different tablet so we could match the color with another chart, and it came out 4 ppm (parts per million). Black’s Nook Pond is fairly large and bean shaped and is surrounded by soil, mud, rocks and trees. In the air, the smell of dead leaves and pond water floats around you. If you listen closely, you a hear the birds chirping happily, squirrels rushing through the trees that blow in the wind and the calm pond below you.

=The Ecosystem in Black's Nook Pond = = = In Black’s Nook Pond there are many organisms in its ecosystem. However, every organism has its own job. In every ecosystem there are producers, consumers and decomposers. The producers (organisms that make their own food) in Black’s Nook Pond are the calmly floating plankton (who are also primary and secondary consumers) along with smartweed, elodea, lily pads and algae below me in the still pond that is surrounded by green trees. There are many consumers in and out of the pond. The primary consumers of the pond are plankton, damselflies, may flies, different kinds of fish, wooly caterpillars, bees and the fluffy rabbits. The secondary consumers (the ones who consume the primary consumers) are plankton, fish, frogs, turtles and the birds high in the sky. And finally, the tertiary consumers (the ones who consume the secondary consumers) are fish, turtles, birds and we even saw some dogs. But wait, there are even more organisms, the decomposers. The decomposers (who eat all the dead organisms and decompose them into soil) of the pond are fungi, mold, worms and the microscopic bacteria. My ecosystem works for the energy pyramid because, first, the sun goes on the bottom because it provides energy for all of the producers. Second, the decomposers go on the second to last layer of the pyramid because they eat all of the dead organisms. Third, the next layer, are the producers who take the energy of the sun to produce their own food. The fourth layer goes the primary consumers, which are herbivores, who eat the producers. Fifth layer goes to the secondary consumers, the omnivores, who eat and get their energy from the primary consumers, other secondary consumers and producers. Sixth, the last and smallest layer, are the tertiary consumers, who are carnivores and eat the primary and secondary consumers. Also, as you go up the pyramid, less and less energy is passed on. And that’s how the energy pyramid works! =Conclusion = = = Black’s Nook Pond is filled with extravagant and wonderful things, beautiful scenery, cool organisms and fun stuff to do, like catch plankton in a net or looking for hidden squirrels. I learned so much about water, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and temperature. I’ll never think of water the same again. I learned about different organisms in a pond. Decomposers like bacteria, producers like smartweed and consumers like fish, turtles or birds. And most importantly, I learned there is much more life in a pond than I can see. You would know if you observed and studied it like we did.

Check out my energy pyramid and my web!