| Biology 100/101 Take-home Assignment #1 Fall 2009 (20 Points) Due At Lecture Monday September 14 |
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Please TYPE your answers on separate paper and attach this sheet as a cover sheet. Drawings may be neatly hand rendered. Read and sign the academic integrity statement below.
NOTE: We encourage people to work and study together, but the final product should be an INDIVIDUAL effort. Discuss and talk over questions together, but write up your answers by yourself after the study session. When you use diagrams or concept maps, create your own rather copying those from the text or lecture materials. Definitions and explanations should be in your words and not those of the textbook author or any other source.
Your job is to convince your instructor that YOU understand these ideas.
Work copied from others will not be accepted. Because answers will be posted on the web immediately after the due time, late work will not be accepted.
Academic Integrity in Biology 100/101
I have read and understand Part #4 of the University of Illinois Student Code, which deals with Academic Integrity.
Signature
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Please use the "Talk to Ed" forum in Moodle if you wish to discuss the assignment further.
Answers will be linked to the Take-Home Assignment web page shortly after this assignment is due.
Don't overlook the links to web resources and references to lecture outlines below that might be useful in answering these questions. Activities in lecture, discussion, and laboratory classes will also address these questions.
Completion of questions 1 and 2 will help you achieve Objective #3 for lecture #2.
Question #1 (5 points)
What would happen to the climate and vegetation of Champaign-Urbana if the tilt of the earth were some how changed from 23.5 degrees to 12 degrees? (The Earth's axis would be tilted about half as much as it is now).
As part of your explanation address these questions:
HOW and WHY would the following factors change (or not), compared to what we normally experience, because of such a change in the tilt of the earth's axis.
a1. The distance of Champaign-Urbana from the sun
a2. The angle of incidence of sunlight during the different seasons of the year
a3. The length of the day during the different seasons of the year
a4. The average temperature during the different seasons of the year
a5. The location of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
a6. The location of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles
a7. What new challenges would the plants and animals that live in central Illinois face as a result of such a change in the tilt of the earth's axis?
Additional Resources for question 1, part a:
Question #2 (5 points)
The state of Montana is located in the Northwest part of the United States between 44 degrees, 21 minutes and 49 degrees North latitude. A major biome type in western Montana is montane forest, where the annual rainfall varies from 40 to over 80 inches in some places. The eastern part of the state experiences a very low rainfall, less than 15 inches annually in some places, creating dry grassland conditions.
Explain why there is a montane forest in Western Montana and dry conditions in Eastern Montana.
As part of your explanation, address these questions:
b1. How do the Rocky Mountains affect the temperature and relative humidity of the air flowing across them?
b2. How does a change in the altitude of an air mass affect the ability of the air to hold moisture?
b3. Why is there a montane forest in the western part of Montana along the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains?
b4. Why is there a dry grassland in the eastern part of Montana east of the Rocky Mountains?
b5. Refer to the NASA image of South America and the map of South America below to answer these 2 questions:
Explain why there is a forest on the EASTERN slopes of the Andes mountains and a desert on the WESTERN Slopes of the mountains in Peru
Explain why there is a forest on the WESTERN slopes of the Andes mountains and a desert on the EASTERN Slopes of the mountains in central Chile.
Additional Resources for question #2:
Completion of this question will help you achieve most of the objectives for lecture #3.
Question #3 (10 points)
On May 18, 1980 Mt St. Helens erupted, spewing a huge amount of ash, pumice, and poisonous gas as part of a violent explosion that literally blew off the top of the mountain. Some areas in the blast zone were buried deeply in ash and pumice. In other areas trees were blown down by the blast, but got a light coating of material from the blast, and still other areas experienced only slight damage and little ash deposit. Succession has proceeded at different rates in these different areas since 1980.
Look at the pre-eruption photo and the series of 3 pictures linked below and answer the following questions.
a. Based on this picture of the old-growth forest before the eruption, Picture your self the size of a mouse describe the physical environment in the Old-growth forests of Douglas fir, Pacific silver fir and mountain hemlock prior to the 1980 eruption. (temperature, humidity, sunlight, and exposure to wind and rain)
Observe these 3 photos and answer questions 2 b-d.
Vegetation
near volcano
one year after the 1980 Eruption.
This area was located on the edge of the blast zone.
Because of the lower blast temperature and reduced force of the blast,
many
trees were blown down, some trees were killed but left standing, and
some plants did survive. The deposition of ash was relatively
light in this area so the soil was not deeply covered with inorganic
material.
b. Based on the first picture taken one year after the eruption, describe the physical environment at the exposed surface of what was the forest floor at this site following the eruption. Again, picture your self the size of a mouse and describe the temperature, humidity, sunlight, and exposure to wind and rain that you would experience.
c. Finally, from the mouse perspective, describe the changes in the physical environment (soil, temperature, sunlight, rain, humidity, wind, etc.) brought on by the establishment of pioneer vegetation during the next 24 years? (pictures 2 and 3).
d. Would this particular situation be an example of primary or secondary succession? EXPLAIN the differences between the two as part of your answer.
Additional Resources for question #3: