Beach Profiling

Left: Current Map of Kalepolepo Beach after recording the data of a
floating fruit. Right: Graph of our Beach Profiling data.

Beach Profiling is a method used to determine the transverse profile of a beach. This process is usually done with leveling rods and transect tape. Some physcial factors may affect a beach profile such as high sand dunes and a high tide which would make it impossible the measure the entire beach profile unless you were willing to go in the water to get the data. After storms some physical features of the beach may be unstable or harder to get the correct data due to debris and other things in the way.

1. Collect all materials: trasect tape, GPS, compass, rise and run tool (leveling rod), data sheet, and pen/pencil.

2. Once at the beach near the dune you are going to use to gather your data, use your GPS and record the longitude and latitude of the vacinity.

3. Using the transect tape starting from your desired point, lay down a line perpindicular to the water line.

4. Now, use your compass to determine the degree/direction of the transect line laid out. Record on data sheet.

5. Use the run tool (pointing down and along the trasect tape line) and use the level to make it leveled.

6. Now place the rise tool on the opposite end of the run and make sure they are both completley leveled.

7. Look to see where the run tools intersects with the rise and record it at the rise between points A and B. *This number if the dune tilts up should be a negative number.

8. Note any distinctive physical features between the rise and run tools and on the dune.

9. Now move the foot of the run tool at the exact point where the rise tool was located and move the rise tool to the other side to get more data. Make sure the run tool remains level and perpindicular to the water.

10. Complete steps 5-9 down until you reach passed the shoreline to collect all necessary data for your beach profiling.

This is a picture of Ms. S helping Holly and Lucas at our starting point, we were trying to figure out whether the rise or run tool was at the top of the point. On the right is a picture of Allie and Lucas on top of the dune gathering data.

Sand Orgins Pre-Lab

There are two different origins of sand; biogenic and detrital. The chemical reaction between vinegar and sand determines the type of sand. If the sand bubbles when vinegar is added it is biogenic, if it does not bubble when vinegar is added then it is detrital. In this lab we will test different samples of sand with vinegar to determine the origin.


Question: Which beaches in south Maui will prove to be biogenic or detrital?

Hypothesis: I believe that Big Beach will contain biogenic sand since there is more reef surrounding the shoreline and I think that Black Sand Beach will be detrital because of all the cliffs and eroding materials around it. If the sand at big beach is biogenic than the sand will bubble when we add vinegar and if the sand at black sand beach really is detrital than it will not bubble when vinegar is added.

Materials: Pipette, pencil, sand, vinegar, container, notebook

Procedure:
1. Collect sand from chosen beaches and make observations of the beach surroundings in your journal
2. Gather remaining materials
3. Using the papette add vinegar to the sand
4. Observe any possible chemical reactions
5. Note chemical reactions and use the following formula to determine the origin of the sand
6. 2CH3COOH + CaCO3 ----> Ca(CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2


Data:
Field Observations- On Monday Aprill 11th I was not able to make it to school but the class headed to collect sand samples at the following beaches and this is the data that was collected according to Meera Mennies:

"At Keawakapu I observed lava rocks on both ends of the beach and the sand was more a white/tan color.

At Kamaole 1 I observed rocks off of each end of the beach. Signs to protect coral reef suggests that there is a large amount of coral off shore. There was also sand dunes acting as protective barriers from the street.

At Sugar Beach I observed a lot of rocks and the sand was darker than the other sand samples. I also noticed that the water was very murky and I'm not sure what that means, but it might be an indication of animal and water activity which is related to the sand."

Observations:

Big Beach Sand: Light brown, tan, white, small shells, slightly fine.

After Vinegar: Noticeably bubbly, crackling sounds, which proves the sand at big beach to be biogenic.

Black Sand: Black, dark red, white, dark brown, consists of mostly rock sediment.

After Vinegar: Minumal bubble reaction which shows that the sand from black sand beach is slighty detrital.

Conclusion: After adding the vinegar to each of our sand samples I have concluded that my hypothesis was mostly correct. The sand taken from Big Beach is Biogenic because of the noticeably bubbly reaction the vinegar had caused. The sand from Black sand beach had very minimal bubble reactions, which means it is slightly detrital. We could have made a couple possible sources of error such as: testing the wrong sand samples, not adding enough drops of vinegar, or just getting a bad sample from the beach. I thought it was interesting to see what is in the sand of the beaches I usually go to all the time, even though I didnt participate much in this lab due to being sick and my broken wrist. I still enjoyed the learning about something cool, like the beach!

This was taken from our observations at Big Beach when we collected our sand samples! and on the right is a picture of the Black Sand Beach taken by my classmates while collecting data in the field.

Whale Observation

During this third quarter of our science class we are focusing on the observation of Hawaiian Humpback whales. The purpose is to develop a better understanding of the humpbacks whales. I am going to be trying to determine whether there are more humpback whales in Hawaii during the beginning of the migration period or towards the end. I believe there will be more whale activity during the beginning of the season, this will probably be because of the decrease of the water temperature in Alaska so according the their animal instincts they try to begin to migrate as soon as possible. For the first half of our observation the class went to McGregors point where we recorded data on all the whales discovered while there. It feels really good doing work out of the classroom and actually interacting and doing work in an outside enviroment. I was suprised about how many whales we saw during our first observation, even though we could only see them blowing water out of their spouts. It was much more interesting than it was challenging.

Using a Clinometer helps us determine the distance of the whales we are observing.

First, we look through the straw directly at the whale. Whatever number the weight falls on is the angle of inclination. Next, we find the elevation by using a GPS device. Add the numbers into the following formula: Distance=elevation*tan(angle).

On our trip to mcGregors point we had discovered 12 whales and during our whale watch we spotted 14!

Sadly, I wasn't able to make it to the whale watch segment of our lab due to the fact that I have motion sickness and always tend to get sea sick. It would've been a very amazing experience since I've never been on a whale watch and it was upsetting I had to miss out. Thanks to my friends who did go on the whale watch I collected all the data needed to come up with my conclusion:

More whales were discovered during the end of the migration period which proved my hypothesis to be wrong :( We could've made many errors during our collection of data, like miscounting the whales or the weather could have been to blame. I've learned alot about whales which definitley makes me appreciate them more!

Marine Phyla Lab

In our lab we were trying to find what was the most marine phyla found in the tidepools. The nine phyla we were looking for were Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthapoda, Echinodermata, & Chordata. To gather data we used a quadrat and a transect tape and we counted how many creatures of each phyla were in a quadrat, we repeated this about 5 times. I hypothesized that the Porifera and Mollusca would be most present during our lab. I was half correct, because the Mollusca phyla was represented the most. During our research we could have made many mistakes, the biggest would have been miscounting the data. I enjoyed doing this lab and going outside to the tidepools, it was really interesting to see all the little sea creatures. I learned many new things, before this lab I didn't even know what a phyla was, and now I know all the nine marine Phyla.

Geocaching

GPS

Geocaching is an outdoor activity using GPS devices to find a container called a "cache" or "geocache" anywhere in the world. By logging on the the website http://www.geocaching.com/ you will be able to disover all the information neeeded in order to find a specific "cache". During this unit everything I've learned was all so new to me. I learned how to work a GPS very well and about the coordinates and basically everything you need to know about a GPS device. I now know how to find geocaches and actually how to hide them in order for other people to find them. I found this unit very interesting, this information will definitley come in handy some day. During our team's final Geocache hunt we only happened to find one but we were very close to finding a second one. This was an exciting unit! :)

This is an example of the Geocache our team found !

Termite Jar Observation

In our science class we have created a jar, which inside is a mini termite enviroment that we have been observing. The jar consisted of 120 grams of Silica sand, Doughsfir wood, 19 mL of water and about 45 or more termites. In a couple of weeks the enviroment began to change as the termites became used to their new home. The termites began to make tunnels and holes in the sand to the bottom of the jar creating many different pathways. They started to eat the wood and for some odd reason, the water dissolved. As time passed their activity level started to slow down and some of the termites began to die off. At the end of our observation all of the termites have died, it could've had something to do with the enclosed enviroment. I enjoyed learning about these termites to a certain extent, their lifestyle is very interesting, especially the fact that they are blind and get so much accomplished. My favorite part of this section was when we viewed the protozoa under the microscope, it's crazy how such a little creature could have something so amazing looking inside of it. I think we kind of spent too much time in this section when we could've been learning something that is more benefical to our education.

Symbiotic Relationship: Termites and Protozoa

A Symbiotic Relationship is where two organisms depend on each other and are both benefited by their relationship. We have been learning about the symbiotic relationship between a termite and it's protozoa which lives in the termites guts. The termite benefits because the protozoans aid in their digestion of wood. The protozoa's get a place to live and survive off the termites. In the lab we did in class, we removed the back side of a termite, enough to pull out it's intestine with a pair of tweezers. Once removed, we studyed the protozoa's under a microscope, discovering what they looked like and their movements. It was interesting seeing the protozoa and how it flowed while under the view of the microscope.

pictures borrowed from Max Parella's Group!