Weaselskin Equestrian Center Dead and Control Zones Project Reflection
I had the opportunity to visit the Weaselskin Equestrian Center to explore the dead zone as well as the area surrounding it that was not contaminated. I was able to collect data from both areas in order to create a shoebox presentation. My displayed in formation from the transit belt testing we performed in each of the zones. Part of my refining process included asking peers and family their opinion on layout and color of the graphs. I also drew plants from each of the areas that we performed the transit belt test on and feel I could have put more detail into those but I was having a hard time recalling specific details. In addition to this I struggled with knowing species names and felt this was a more difficult part of the project. I believe I was able to overcome this and still create beautiful work. I think that is one thing we could refine as a class about this project, know the species. Getting to know the names and what the different types of plants look like. Not just random ones, the ones that are native to the area we are studying, I think this would have helped immensely when it came to presenting the project and even just understanding the project in general. The biodiversity test that we held at Weaselskin Equestrian Center in the dead zone and the natural surrounding areas showed that in the disturbed area there seemed to be less diverse than the natural species that usually grow there. So the undisturbed area, the control group, seemed to be healthier than the area affected by the spring’s runoff. Humans seem to have affected the Weaselskin Equestrian Center’s ecosystem by adding the spring trying to improve productivity in the area, but we seemed to have helped cause a very unique situation, and cause a so called dead zone. We caused the deadzone and now we are trying to solve the questions: What caused it, How can we fix it, if at all, and lastly How will this affect the rest of the ecosystem? Humans seem to get a bad reputation for being apart of ecosystems. Wherever humans go we change the ecosystem around us, along with any other species. We negatively affect the area surrounding by cutting down trees,clearing land for bigger neighborhoods, air pollution and greenhouse gasses. We can also have good effects on our ecosystem for example we have built hatcheries to help species, farms and greenhouses. I have affected the ecosystem negatively by participating in the greenhouse gas problem and I don’t recycle at my house, but I have helped it positively by growing my garden and picking up trash lying around and cleaning up. Overall I think that the Weaselskin Equestrian Dead Zone Project was enjoyable and informative, I learned about ecosystems, biodiversity, transit belt testing, and how all species are vital to the ecosystem surviving.