Olcmulgee RIver Lab

For this Lab, we traveled to the Ocmulgee River Walk to do a few experiments and tests. The three main tests that we performed were: elevation determination, flow rate, and clam population.

 

Elevation Determination:

- To determine the depth or elevation of the riverbed, we used two poles with a string attached in the middle to take the measurements. The poles are demarcated with feet and the change in the placement of the string determines the difference of the elevation between areas. You always need to have a point of reference for the zero point of elevation. This can be the highest point or even the sea level.  We started at the top of the riverbank and moved all the way across the river to the other side.



 

Flow Rate

- The flow rate is a measurement made in units of distance/time. It is a determination of how quickly water is flowing. To determine this, you use an object that floats such as a ball or something else that is at hand. This procedure needs two people to complete. One stands further up the river and releases the object and the second person is at the end of the river to catch the object and time its movement. We tested three branches of the river to see if any one channel flowed quicker. We found that the deeper channel flowed the fastest.

 

Clam Population

- In our study, we tried to determine the clam population in different areas of the river. We used a large sifter and took three samples: from the standing water, flowing water, and dry land. We shoveled sand into the sifter and then counted the number of the clams in the top of the sifter. Based on our observation we came to the conclusion that the clams prefer a still place covered by water. The most clams were found in the standing water. The fewest were found in the dry land. This indicated that the clams did not enjoy the dry land. They need the water. Also, the flowing water did not contain many clams. They seemed to get washed away before they could burrow into the sand.

Natural Disasters

This is a video of my hometown after a vicious tornado cut through in April 2011. To some, a tornado does not stand up to the caliber of natural disaster such as hurricanes, but to the people in my home town and to me, there has never been anything worse. Our town, where we grew up and went to school, was destroyed. To us, it was complete devastation.

Isopleth Map

An isopleth map is a map that shows elevation or depth or even pressure changes. It uses contour lines and coloring to depict the information. Types of isopleth maps include. topographic maps, bathymetric maps, and weather maps. Below is an example of a weather map.

Topographic Map

A topographic map is an isopleth map that shows the elevation of the land. The elevation is almost always in relation to the sea level. Topographic maps are usually depicted by contour lines as well as colors and shading.

The map above is a topographic map of Mars.

Bathymetric Map

A bathymetric map is a form of isopleth map. It measures water depth below sea level using contour lines and shading to show the depth of water.

Proportional Symbol Map

A proportional symbol map is a map that uses different sizes of a symbol to show a specific amount of data in an area. This can sometimes be confusing if the symbols overlap or if the symbols are not given in a detailed key.

Dot Density Map

A Dot Density Map is a quantitative representation of the density of something within a certain area. Dot Density maps do not have dots of varying size, the dots only vary in the number of dots in an area.

Choropleth Maps

Chloropleth maps are distinquished by different color or depth of shading within boundaries. The maps are usually used to depict things of value such as population of people or number of resources used.