Nature Lover

Apparently I can't get enough of this nature stuff...first yesterday with the hiking, and then today we had a field trip out to rural KY. We went with our Environmental Studies class to Floracliff Nature Sanctuary in order to do some field work (so, ya know, we're not totally lost on the AP test) We left early in the morning almost as soon as school started, and then didn't get back until 2:15 which is the time I leave. So basically, not a bad day;)

Floracliff Nature Sanctuary was started in 1989 by Mary Wharton and now serves to ensure the protection and education of the natural history of the inner Bluegrass region. The entire site itself was absolutely stunning -- you would never have guessed that just a couple miles out there was a busy interstate! Everything was so calm and serene, and it was the perfect weather: not too cold, and slightly overcast. Just how I like it:) 

Our first task assigned to us was to test the waters running through the forest (I doubt they're very visible, but there were actually small waterfalls and ripples all through the creek) To do this, we collected some stream water and then added a variety of chemicals that would test for certain reactions. At the end, we titrated the water that could complete the reaction and give us our results. We compared the color of our test stream water with an index and determined that the water was in fact suitable and not chemically damaged. Woo! Go chemistry! Then we did a couple other tests like check the pH of the water and check for other hazardous chemicals -- disregarding the fact we messed ours up (oops!) everything checked out a-ok! 

Our next part of the field trip was to wade into the water (good thing we had been warned to wear rain boots!) and search for macro invertebrates that are essential to the biome at Floracliff. Macro-invertebrates are basically critters that are visible with the naked eye and have no vertebrae. This was the part of the field trip that made me extremely squeamish, thus they put me on net duty where I was saved from touching any of the critters. I was perfectly with this allocation of responsibility within our group.

Our brightest moment came when we caught this little salamander of a fella! We named him Newt;)

And then here's us hard at work - there's Lukas and Sophia manning the critter portion. If you'll notice, the net which I am holding is to the right. Let's not forget, it was my net that caught all those critters for Sophia and Lukas to forge through;)

And after a long day's work in the 'crick', we plopped down right there in the middle of the woods and enjoyed a well deserved lunch. If only we could do this everyday (minus the critters. I swear, a spider almost crawled up my leg. And Sophia kept trying to make me touch the creepy crawlies, no thank you *shudder*)

I suppose that's enough nature...for now. 

also!

currently enjoying:

allegiant by veronica roth  - sad end to the top-notch trilogy

garland by the dirty heads  - perpetually stuck on repeat

pumpkin. everything pumpkin. guess it comes with the season

the movie gladiator - props to making me tear up

adorable baby videos. gosh, those are the darned cutest

this gem of a blog i found  - still dying laughing

scarves. and sweaters. and boots. the list goes on indefinitely...