Monica, UR- The Sun is the Future

Sun rays through clouds

Since I've started collecting data, not much has changed. There is a clear winning panel that has the highest amount of power being produced everyday. I'm not going to give it away quite yet, but the numbers have been very consistent. I'm still very fascinated by the spikes of power from April 12th to the 13th. Both those days were cloudy so I am wondering if the sun reflecting on the clouds could have caused the spike in power. I decided to look it up and I am actually correct! They called it an unusual phenomenon. This spike in power production happens when cumulus clouds cover the sun. They sun rays still shine through and they are also reflected from the clouds thus causing a short boost in energy. COOL!


Questions: Michelle, Section 201: Compared to conventional energy (such as fossil fuels), is the startup cost and installation process more or less work, and does it produce more or less power? Would it be economically feasible for a state/country to switch completely to solar power?

Hey Michelle, It's difficult to compare cost unfortunately. In my opinion, I would say the installation process is less work because solar panels are easily mounted on houses. So there is no need for power plants (that burn fuel) and we wouldn't need oil/ gas lines throughout the entire county. You also have to think of how the solar panels are made on an environmental stand point. The materials needed are still mined and of course there is environmental damage (not as much as fossil fuel mining though). With fossil fuels there is not only physical environmental damage, there is air pollution and water pollution. As the power goes, there is instant power with solar and with it being on your house there is not much energy lost within the wires. With fossil fuels, once burned at the plant they travel through power lines and as much as 15% is lost. So I would say solar panels produce more power because they aren't losing power when they go through wires as much as the fossil fuels. There are many opinions on if it would be economic to switch completely to solar. According to an article I just read, it stated that we could all have solar panels comparable or even less than our dirty energy cost. This would also save us a lot of money because we don't need fossil fuels anymore.  Below are the website I obtained this information from. They go into very good detail of why and have statistical data of other countries. Hope I answered your question, thanks for the interest!

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

The Solar company. (2011) Do clouds affect solar panels?. Retrieved from https://www.thesolarco.com/do-clouds-affect-solar-panels/

Richardson. L, (2016) Solar Energy vs Fossil Fuels. Retrieved  from http://news.energysage.com/solar-energy-vs-fossil-fuels/

Solar Industry. (2016) Could the U.S. Switch to 100% renewable energy?. Retrieved from http://solarindustrymag.com/could-renewable-energy-supply-100-of-u-s-power

Dylan Radford, UR Conting Blades of Grass

Boat Ride!

This week in lab was probably the most fun yet! The class and I had to go to Oak Hill to see how much Sea grass was in the area. I had never done and experiment like this before so I was pretty excited. The water was also pretty cold and it was kind of windy so everyone in the class has to wear full wet suits.
 Our instructor, Annie, told us that there was a whole bed of sea grass where we were standing just a little off the dock. When I looked down there was hardly any Sea Grass which was very surprising. The sea grass is important for the ecosystem because it creates an environment for fish and is food for manatee's. we actually saw some manatee's that day so it really put in perspective how much they need the Sea Grass. I thought that it was really fun to go out on the boat and get in the water to count the Sea Grass. Field work is always better than going to the class room!
     When we had collected all of our data from our location I need to find some information that I could make a graph out of. I came across the Total Sea Grass coverage(actual count). after I had made my scatter plot I saw something that was pretty interesting.

Total Sea Grass Coverage Graph

I could see that after about 170 meters, the amount of total coverage became less and less. Also, the total coverage for the whole area is very low compared to how I thought it would be when we got out there. It is really surprising to see results like this because it means that the deeper you are, the less Sea Grass there will be, which is not good for the manatees. They cant beach themselves to get to Sea Grass. this was a really fun experience and I cant wait to talk about it more when we go back to lab Friday!
In response to sec. 101 Janice's comment, I believe the reason that the temperature was dropping because we were getting closer to the open ocean and the water is colder out there than in the Tomoka River

Carly, UR - shiver of sharks

Good day every one!  Let's start out with a question I received this past week from Janice, section 101:

Hi Carly, what a cool project. Would you mind telling me more about the websites you are using to collect your data from? How did you find them and what kind of data can you get? Other stuff if it's important.

WindyTV and all of the options

 Thank you for the question Janice!  So, the websites I am using are WindyTV and OCEARCH. I was introduced to WindyTV from our professor, Dr. Woodall, OCEARCH was a site I found years ago while surfing the web.  WindyTV is a site that shows all different kinds of data: wind speeds, cloud coverage, rain, snow, swells, and a slew of things in between.  The most important data it shows me is sea surface temperature (sst), a current and monthly average of both.

OCEARCH with pings and profile of CubsWin

OCEARCH on the other hand is a website for an organization that goes out of expeditions to tag different species of sharks.  Their site shows the 'pings' of each individual shark with their own profiles.  There are search options for different times, species, locations, etc.  The 'pings' are where the tag the shark has on its dorsal fin has surfaced and it relays time, date, and location to a satellite.
So, what I do with this data is match the location of a shark ping with an approximate location on WindyTV to get the current and average sst of that area.

I hope that answered your question Janice!  If you have any other questions or specifications you would like to know please feel free to ask!

Now, on to the past week of data collecting.  I'm starting to get faster at recording the data and approximating locations, which is nice.  Something I'm starting to notice is an average range of sst from about 18 C to 21 C among all the species, but the different species (White, Mako, Blue, and Tiger) are all different.  For example, the White sharks are hanging out by the coasts right now while the Blue sharks are out in the middle of the Atlantic.  Those are the only trends I'm noticing so far, if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask!

Fins and grins,
Carly

Christian Vinciquerra, UR, Water Quality Tomoka State

Last week for class we met at Tomoka State Park in Ormond Beach for a boat trip. We were visiting four sites along the Tomoka River to measure water quality. I was quite excited for this because it was the first time we went boating for class. The conditions were good compared to the first groups overcast class the previous week, however, we had all the wind which made it chilly out. The water grew more rough as we moved from site 1 to the site 4. At site 1, the conditions were more relaxed. We anchored off in the corner of a bank in the river and Dr. Woodall announced the directions for the day and explained the instruments being used. We were using a YSI85 to measure O2, salinity(ppt), and temperature(Cº). The instrument can also measure conductivity of the the water but we weren't measuring that for this experiment. Next we used a Hach pH reader for the surface and used the Van Doran method to collect water for deep water samples. A Secchi disk to measure the visibility in the water column. And last but not least a Hach DR890 calorimeter to measure the turbidity and phosphate levels.  We broke off in groups of 2-3 and each group used one instrument per site. Since there were four sites and roughly 4 groups everyone had a chance to use each instrument. Though out the day we had a great process working. Our group managed a very efficient and fast pace going finishing in record time by 12:30(ish) accordion got Dr. Woodall.

Inverse Secchi Depth vs Turbidity.

Here is my graph from last Friday. I measured the Inverse Secchi depth and turbidity to see if there was a correlation because the visibility in the water column to the amount of particles in the water. As you can see the R^2 reading is .61143 which tells me that there wasn't that strong of a relationship between the two. While we were on the boat looking at the data I had written down, I thought that there was going to be a stronger relationship between the two.

Monica, UR- Power up

Interesting: Today as I was gathering data from my solar panels, I've noticed a big spike in the power being produced.  I began collecting data from my panels on March 27th everyday day (that I was able to) at 12pm. All solar panels were creating between 25-28 Watts. This was also the first week of spring. One of my theories is since the sun is moving higher in sky, my panels are getting a better angle of the sun.  April 1st was the first day one of my solar panels was over 30 Watts. April 1st-11th all panels have been producing 28-30 Watts. On April 12th I was very surprised with my readings. The panels were producing 30-35 Watts. Today my readings were between 40-45 Watts. I'm not 100% what has caused this spike but the angle of the sun could be part of it.

The angles of the sun during certain seasons

Panel 3 - different design

Possible Errors: The last two days have been very cloudy. I have put this down as one of my possible errors. When I was taking the readings for my 3rd panel on April 12th, the sun was partially covered by clouds giving a low reading. Also I noticed my 3rd panel is slightly different then my other 2 panels. It still has the same stats as the others but the design is slightly different.

Questions: Alecia Section 101- How much energy would one of those solar panels create? Would it power a refrigerator or air-condtioner?

Hey Alecia, my panels are 25 Watts each. (Watts= power) They are producing over 25 Watts right now because I do not have a load on it. (meaning I'm not powering anything with it) Now if I wanted to power something with it, it could not be a refrigerator (these range from 500-750 Watts) and air-

conditioners range between 900-3500 Watts depending on how big the unit it. I could use smaller things with my panels like charging phones (2-6 Watts),  LED Christmas lights (5 Watts) and charging batteries for lawn equipment (15 Watts). I hope I answered your question, Thanks for the Interest!

Casie UR- Almost there!

Thank you Bryson from sec. 301. So we know that copper is a heavy metal, it typically gets into bodies of water through agriculture, manufacturing and industrial waste. When I first started this project I went to 6 lakes and rivers around Volusia county to test the water for copper. We did not fine any. That is not to say that there isn't any copper but in places like the St. Johns river there was zero as far as my test was concerned. I imagine that copper would be found near any farms or industrial facilities.  If you would like to see exactly where I went to get my samples take a look at  Maps a Girls best Friend.







This week has been a bit slow but for
my project very important. I have been observing my Water Hyacinths in their tanks for the last week. I have noticed that all 6 tanks lose about the same amount of water. Weird. One of the plants was looking a little yellow, so the only thing that was added this week was more plant food and additional water. I should have my results of the test for you next Friday!

Dylan Radford UR, Tomoka River Andventure!

I had a great time at our last class session. This week it was my teams turn to get out on the boat in the Tomoka River. I had been looking forward to this field trip for a while and was really excited to get out there. Even though it was cold and windy I still had a good time because of all of the new equipment I was exposed to. While we were on the boat my team and I were able to use a YSI85. This device measures things like dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature and conductivity. My team were only going to test the first three out of that list. We also got to use a Hack PH Meter, a Vandoren water sampler, a Secchi disc, and a Hack Colorimeter. I thought it was really fun to learn how to use all of these different scientific instruments.
     After the team and I got all of our information from each site we had to choose what graph we were going to make with the information that we collected. We all needed to make graphs of different information so I choose to see how the temperature of the water at the U.S.1 bridge compared to the temperature of the last site which was located near the mouth of the river. After I had created my graph I got some pretty cool results. I could see with the line graph that I had made that the temperature at the U.S.1 bridge was almost 2 degrees Celsius above the temperature at site number four, near the mouth of the river. I had a lot of fun out on the boat last week and I cant wait for this upcoming field trip. I have my wetsuit ready to go!

Steve Cofone, UR - Its definitely called fishing and not catching!

Fishing spots map

Fishing these spots has not gone as well as I had hoped.
I have caught some by catch such as a bonnet head shark, drum and some small crabs.
But still no target species(bottom feeders; Catfish and/or larger crabs)
I will continue to fish this week here in these spots.
I will adjust my plan if I still come up empty handed.
Here are some pictures of the spots- I am having trouble getting to spot #4 so I might have to scrub that spot, I have one more option to try.
Spot 1- (Bob's)

Spot 2- (Longcreek preserve)

Spot 3- (Waterfront Park)

When I do catch my target species I will be wrapping in aluminum foil and then ziplock bag to freeze, my original plan included plastic bags, but I want to ensure not to contaminate my catch with any other plastics as this is what I am looking for. I feel this will lower my possible sources of error.

Pam, UR - Scientific research has a plan of its own.

I have given my mid-term presentation, received my reviews, and have much to work on. But that's not my problem.

As planned I've pulled my 80 um plankton net behind the boat during our water testing lab in the Tomoka River. As not planned I have a net full of small ~ 1/2 inch salps. They clogged the net, and filled the inside with shiny transparent globs. Not a microscopic organism could get by this mess.

What are salps? They are oval gelatinous organisms that take in water at one end, eating plankton in the process, and with ribbed muscles, ejecting the water out the other end thus efficiently propelling themselves though the water column. How efficient! The ultimate of eat and run.

They are of the order Salpeda, inhabit all oceans and it appears our river too! I wonder if I'll find any in the northern Indian River Lagoon this Friday. I wonder if they are the same. I wonder if the 'blooms' are from the same source. Hmm... sounds like a new Scientific Question to me.

Carly, UR - Just the beginning

In this post I'm going to be talking about my first week of collecting data for my independent research project, so if you would like to know more about it please visit my previous post.  

This past week was the first week I've really started recording my data.  I found out a few new things about OCEARCH's search options for sharks that helps me narrow down the time of pings so I don't need to search for each individual every time just to see if they've pinged lately.  

Beaufort pinged 4 times in the span of about 3 hours.

Something that I've found already is that once a shark is at the surface, about 70% of the time they will ping more than once that day, I'll start recording how many times they ping in that day as well to see if there is a trend between the amount of times they ping in that day and the current sea surface temperature.  

Other than that I haven't found anything else.  I'm excited to get started on this project though and will continue to update in the continuing weeks!

Fins and grins,

Carly 

Alex, UR- Table 1 and then some field trip!

Out on the Tomoka River

Afternoooon! Last week we were able to go out on the boat in the Tomoka River to test the water in 4 different spots at the surface and at depth. It started off as a cold and cloudy morning but once we were out on the boat it was sunny and had warmed up quite a bit. We each were able to use the instruments at least once throughout the day. 

Instruments Used

Ysi 85- Measures oxygen, conductivity, salinity, and temp.

HachDR/890 colorimeter- Measures total phosphate

HachHQ11D- pH meter

LaMotte Water Sampler

Secchi Disk- Measures how deep does the light go through

Working hard

I really enjoyed this class trip and really liked being super hands on by getting the chance to try out all the different instruments. At our last site we had some sources of error, the wind had picked up and made it hard for us to anchor so we all had to work very quickly to get all our data while Dr. Woodall kept the boat steady. We ended up getting everything done and headed back to the boat ramp to share data. Can't wait for next weeks trip to the seagrass beds! 

My favorite Instrument, the LaMotte Water Sampler

Christian Vinciquerra, Lab with Annie

Last week in lab had two groups. One at Tomoka State Park and the other at DSC lab. I was at the lab, and we all had to bring in water samples. We were instructed by Annie Roddenberry who works for Florida Fish and Wildlife. She first went over what is plankton and phytoplankton. Then we moved onto chlorophyll and how it works. We used our water samples to do a  chlorophyll extraction which we first found the salinity of our sample using a refractometer. Then we used Fisher Maximadry vacuum pump to suck your sample through our Whatman glass microfiber filter 47mm to collect any suspended solids. We ran the vacuum twice and put both filters in 20 mL of acetone to extract anything that was collected on the paper. After 20 minutes of soaking we put both of our samples in a Aquafluor Fluorometer. 

Chlorophyll Graph

The reading from the Aquafluor tells you how much chlorophyll is in your water sample. From the graph, you can see that Crypress Lake is by far the most chlorophyll out of all our samples. From this you may think that the lake is blooming with life compared to the rest. Many of the rest were taken from salt water areas that have much lower levels, but more close together in average such as the two boat ramps. We also encountered a negative number from DSC Fountain. Even Roddenberry was confused by this and appears as a rare phenomena. 

For the rest of the class, Roddenberry went over what we are doing next class. We are doing seagrass surveying down in Mosquito Lagoon. She went over how the process works and what we will actually be doing. She showed us some of the tools and how long the lines are to measure the seagrass then wen over the measuring square that we be measuring the percentage of seagrass present and how much seamers is in a certain area. 

Monica, UR- Take a guess!

Panel 1- 0 degrees, Panel 2- 25 degress, Panel 3- 44 degrees

Good morning! So far my data collecting is going well. Out of my three panels, there is an angle that has the highest production of energy every time I take a measurement. At least so far that seems to be happening. I have been able to get data for about 8 days. I am finding it difficult some days to be home at 12pm due to my schedule so dates may be scattered.  Hopefully I will have at least 30 days of data.


I found interesting that on hotter days, all my panels are actually producing less power. Even if its slightly cloudy (but cooler) they seem to produce more power then on a hot day. I think their may be a correlation between the outside temperature and the power being produced. I do have a temperature probe for my multimeter. I may start seeing what the temperature of the solar panel it's self and see if there is another correlation. I don't want to give out any numbers yet but I want to ask you the following:

I want to know what angle you think is performing the best and why you think it's that angle.

Please feel free to ask any question!

Stephanie Guyotte, UR- A little bit of creativity

This week I gathered up all my gear, got it all ready to go and tested my thermometer rig. I ended getting a refrigerator/freezer thermometer that is because it can withstand moisture and takes readings in the range I needed. I tested the thermometers ability to be fully submerged in water, the thermometer filled with water but seemed to work just fine. Next I wanted to test how long I needed to leave the thermometer in the water to get an accurate reading. I did this by fully submerging the thermometer in water and taking a reading every minute until the temperature remained the same three readings in a row. I repeated this three times and found that after five minutes in each trail the reading remains the same. Next I needed to secure the thermometer to my fishing pole; luckily the thermometer already has a clasp with a hole in it (for a suction cup) making this not too difficult (I did put some tape around the hole so the edge does not accidently cut the fishing line). I threaded some line through the hole and attached the thermometer with the same knot that I use to attach hooks (clinch knot). I have not tried casting it out yet but I did drop it and reel it back up with no problems. My only concern is the thermometer getting snagged on something and breaking off but I plan on casting it in a shallow area so I can get a feel for it. Other than that not too much new information, I will be going fishing on Saturday and hopefully Sunday (If I do not get called into work). I will be fishing at dusk because the clearnose skate feeds at night (semi- nocturnal).




My thermometer rig

Close up of thermometer

        




Backside of thermomter

Casie UR- The Talk Of The Park

This week I stated my copper experiment. I drove down to Blue Springs Sate Park and visited the St. Johns river. I was very excited to pick through the plethora of Water Hyacinths found there. I was armed with a 5 gallon bucket and my field notebook. I could tell that more Water Hyacinths had grown since my last visit as they were very easy to spot. I waded through the plants (half expecting an alligator to jump up out of no where) where I sunk knee deep into muck. As I was picking the weeds a boat tour was slowly creeping by and the tour guide stated talking about me to his guests. He explained to them what the Water Hyacinth is and how they have a negative effect on the local ecosystem. It was very unexpected and flattering, so I waved 'hi' to the people on the boat and when it docked some of them even came over to ask me more about my project! It was an amazing feeling.
On Tuesday Dr. Woodall and I stared filling the tanks with distilled water (4 liters)  and adding 3 plants to 3 out of the 6 tanks. Unfortunately we did not have the plant food or copper until Thursday so today I went into the lab and added the key ingredient. I put  approximately 0.02 mL/g of copper sulfate to all 6 tanks and then added plant food to them as well. Dr. Woodall and I will be monitoring
 the tanks for 1 week from today. I will make sure that the water level stays consistent through out the week and we will find out next Thursday what the results yield.

A Broken Car Won't Stop Me

Trini the car, being towed yet again

    This week I have begun planning my trip next Sunday to preform a transect on the St. Johns River.  This week my car has also broken down for the third time this semester.  As much as I adore my car, it does have a history of breaking down when I need it the most.  Therefore, I have decided to rent a car for the trip so I won't end up stranded.
    I am planning on leaving with my materials at 7 am Sunday morning, keeping all my samples chilled in a cooler for the duration of the long trip.  I will be taking samples at Alpines Grove park in Jacksonville, Spring Park in Green Cove Springs, Willow Point in Seville, Lake Monroe Wayside Park in Sanford, and near Catfish Hotel in Titusville,

Dylan Radford UR, First Clorophyll Extraction!

This was a fairly interesting week in lab. Our class was divided up and while the others were at Tomoka getting on the boat, my group was in the lab ready to run the tests on our water samples that we were required to bring in. My water sample was retrieved from Sawgrass Point Dock along Spruce Creek. When we first got to class our speaker gave us a presentation on what we would be doing, new equipment we would be using and why it is important to know the Chlorophyll levels in different water ways and ecosystems. After that, we were to go back to the lab and start running our normal tests that we did the first time we brought water samples to class. This included testing things like Salinity and Filtrate. Now that all of those categories was tested we had to let our samples soak in a chemical. after 30 minutes of letting our samples soak we got to use a new instrument called a Fluorometer.

Fluorometer

This scientific instrument is used to collect Turbidity and Aquaflour measurements. It gets These readings by shining UV light through your sample and Identifying the levels of Aquaflour  and turbidity. Finally after we all got our readings from our samples, we put the information into Excel and made a bar graph that had some pretty interesting results. I think it is pretty amazing that I am able to use all of these different kinds of scientific instruments in class. I can tell that it is preparing me for what is to come! I am really excited for next week because it is my groups turn to go out on the boat in Tomoka. I have never been on the Tomoka river even though I have lived near it my entre life. It should be a fun experience!

Garth UR - So, what Next?

So, where to go? This topic has been so broad that is has taken a little help to find a focal point. Although the direction of this project has changed the heart and purpose remains the same. There are a number of points which I wanted to illustrate during the course of this project. The first issue was to shed a little light on climate change. The second was to find a direction which I could focus and address, an issue which affects us all, an issue close to home.

I will now primarily be focusing on the Water hyacinth. One aspect which is particularly interesting which I addressed in presentation, was the temperature sensitivity of the water hyacinth. This is important because as temperatures rise I believe the growth ratios of this plant will increase as well. So, with this said, for my experiment I will use three small aquariums and three heating plates to control the water temperatures. Casie and I  will be locating local samples. I will pull data from the Saint John’s Water Management District for summer temperatures as far back as I can go. The second will be recent summer temperatures and the third will be several degrees higher based on current warming estimates. This plant is tropical, growing optimally from water temperatures ranging from 77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit.  As a highly invasive species the hyacinth has been a rising global issue for years, harming local and global ecosystems, trade and communities.

Alex, UR Strike that power pose!!

Good evening!!
In class last Friday, I was an evaluator for all the other students who presented their IRP's. I really enjoyed listening and critiquing everyones projects, they are all off to a great start and I'm excited to see the end results. I myself am terrible at presenting in front of class so it was helpful to see what we should and shouldn't be doing while giving a presentation. All the students that presented that day were very comfortable for the most part and all seemed very knowledgable about their topics. The discussions after each presentation were very informative, here are some Do's and Don'ts we came up with...
          DO'S                                                                                DON'TS

• Have an "attention getter" in the beginning               - Don't use fillers... ex) "um, uh, like"
• Make eye contact                                                       - Don't put too many words on slides   
• Practice, practice, practice!                                        - Don't read from your notes
• Use pictures                                                               - Don't use dark text on dark background
• Keep slides to a minimum                                         - Don't go over time

  

  Casie and her powerful power pose!

  We also learned that you should ALWAYS "power pose" before each presentation, and it really did make a difference each time someone did it. Everyone did a great job overall and I'm looking forward to see what everyones conclusions come to and how everyone will take their critiques into consideration!
  See some of you on Friday :)
  
  
  Watch this video!!
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc 

Christian Vinciquerra, UR: Project reviews

Shark project being presented

So last week our class presented their projects progress thus far and myself as well as other option two students were the reviewers and critics. We had the opportunity to ask our questions about everyones projects and point out different flaws in their presentation so when they present at the end of the semester their final project will be perfect. So learned a lot from these projects but the project I found most interesting was the one on solar panels and which degree facing south is best for their coordinates. The reason I found this project interesting is it can be beneficial to everyone who has solar panels. I have solar panels on my house for my pool, however, they can be used for almost anything. I also really enjoyed the sharks presentation. Sharks is a topic that i enjoy and look forward to seeing the map that is going to be created at the end of her project. I will be keeping an on her projects and possibly link it to my blog. Some characteristics I enjoyed from these presentations was how much effort was put into them. You can really tell who is trying to be one step ahead and who is not really putting their best foot forward. The graphs were great through all the projects, I still see everyone trying to figure out the font size from excel and that is great. I liked how everyone, whether or not their presentation was presented well, they all got experience presenting their work and can feel more comfortable from their final presentation. For the final presentations I am looking forward to them and expecting each and every one to absolutely perfect. I few things about peer reviews that I didn't enjoy was I felt like everyone was watching me write and two, I kind of wish I could have decided on a topic so I too could have presented. Overall I really enjoyed watching these presentations. A lot of understanding about how the process works was learned and to always have bigger font instead of risking smaller font.

Monica, UR- Catching Solar Rays

 I am doing my IRP on solar energy. In my introduction I will be talking a little bit about the history of solar and how it is environmentally friendly. Then I will go into what is known about the performance vs the angle of the solar panel. I will state my scientific question: What angle performs best at my location (latitude 29 degrees). I also changed one of my angles again due to new information I found. I will be talking more about why I choose the angles that I did.

                              MATERIALS

• (3) ECO-WORTHY 20W 12V Solar Panel
• (3) Unlimited Solar U-MO-0112 mounting kit
• (3) Metal Fencing Post
• Protractor
• Southwire TECHNITIONPRO TRUE RMS IV MULTIMETER

My backyard set up of solar panels

             

                            METHODS

• Assemble solar panels (will get in more detail during final presentation)
• NO SHADOWS/ Panels Facing South
• Collect data using multimeter (will do demo on how to measure volts and amps)
• Collect data at 12pm each day

Projected Graph

My data collection will be getting the volts and amps of each solar panel, multiplying them to get the Watts or power produced. I picked the cluster bar graph because It will overall show my data for each day. Each day I will collect my data at the same time for consistency. I also will be writing the date/outside temperature and weather data.

WHAT WAS ADDED/FIXED:

I just copied and pasted my last Blog because I didn't have to change much. I added the direction that my panels are facing and added that I will be taking my measurements at 12 pm each day in my methods. I also fixed my citation of a website: Landauhttp, C. (2015) Optimum Tilt of Solar Panel. Retrieved from www.solarpaneltilt.com.

Stephanie Guyotte, UR- Where do you want to live?

Hello everyone,
This is my proposal for my research project if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

What is known and unknown about clearnose skates-



Clearnose Skate

The clearnose skate or Raja eglanteria are found on the eastern coast of the United States from Massachusetts to the northern end of gulf of Mexico. The skate can withstand water temperatures between 5-27℃, salinity of 12-35ppt, are benthic, and can be found in estuaries and inshore at depths around 100m but have been found up to 330m. The clearnose skate is identifiable by some of the following characteristics; translucent patch of sink around the nose, a single row of thrones along the mid-ridge on dorsal side from shoulders to end of tail, vary in color but will have darker spots and bars on dorsal side and plain white on ventricle side. Males have a pair of claspers and females are oviparous (lay eggs). The skate is often caught as bycatch by commercial fishermen during otter trawling. The clearnose skate is studied widely in captivity, but currently natural habitat and population is not well known.  
Scientific Question-
What type of habitat holds the highest concentration of Raja eglanteria (clearnose skate)?

Methods and materials-

Inshore Habitat (google)

Mangrove Habitat (google)

Estuary Habitat (google)

  Using fishing gear, I will be fish at three different habitats; inshore, estuary, and mangrove to look for clearnose skates. The following measurements will be taken; salinity and temperature of the deep water (because this is where the skates are found), weather conditions, time, sex, body dimensions (wing to wing and tip of nose to tip of tail), overall appearance, and location. Whatever bycatch I catch will be noted as well. I will catching and releasing everything. To find salinity, a sample will be collected with a brown Nalgene bottle from as close to the bottom as possible by lowering the bottle with the lid on into the water column then open the lid letting the deep water flow in. Then the sample will be brought back to the lab (stored in the refrigerator) and tested using the refractometer. Temperature will be found using a waterproof thermometer attached to a fishing pole and casted out to reach the deep water. Location and weather can be found using a cell phone. Sex can be determined by the presents or lack of claspers. Body dimensions will be measured with a sewing tape measure.



Interpretation-
My main focus is to look at the clearnose skate population at different location. However with all the information I am gathering, I might find other interesting connections like the different in coloration of skates from an inlet population Vs the onshore skates.

This is a possible graph that could be used to represent the data collected (this is NOT real data).

References

        Miller, M. 2013. "Raja eglanteria" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed March 30, 2017 at http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Raja_eglanteria/

Ha, D., Luer, C. & Sulikowski, J. 2009. Raja eglanteria. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T161658A5474334. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T161658A5474334.en.

  


            

Steve Cofone, UR - Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught.

                                           Micro Plastics

It’s in the water, but is it in our food supply?

What we know is that it is in our water supply, both fresh and salt

water. Maia Mcguire, UF Extension agent for this area has done extensive research and data collection. Here is a link to her Awareness Map .

She has concentrated mostly on sampling the water in and around Florida.She is a wealth of information on the subject.

 We know it's in shellfish, and there was a study in England that documents

microplastics in 10 species of fish from the English Channel. 504

Fish were examined and plastics found in the gastrointestinal

tracts of 36.5%. (Lusher, 2017)

Scientific Question: Are Microplastics found in the digestive tract

of bottom feeding fish?

Map of my fishing spots for this Independent Research Project

Randomly chosen fishing spots 1-4 (right click open in new tab)

 What I will need and how I will preform my project:

Materials

•Fishing equipment                                

•Sample Preservation material/Ice, cooler

•GPS Unit/phone/Field Book(550f)

•Analysis Laboratory (microscope)

 Methods

-Fish each spot at best times to catch fish, log pertinent

information with gps coordinates.

-catch fish, preserve intestinal tract,

-bring to the lab at school and

examine/measure/count microplastics, I will then graph and evaluate

Questions....Comments....Suggestions??

References:

•Lusher, A. (2017). Occurrence of microplastics in the 

gastrointestinal tract of pelagic and demersal fish from the English

 Channel. Sciencedirect.com. Retrieved 30 March 2017, from 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1200

5668

Casie UR- IRP

ST. Johns River

 For my Independent Research Project I decided to take a dive and look at invasive plants in our wonderful state. I chose the Water Hyacinth.
 The Water Hyacinth is an invasive plant native to South America, they were brought over to the U.S in the 1880's where they were used as an ornamental plant. No one could have guessed the negative impacts that the Water Hyacinth would have on our local environment.
Over the last several months I have been investigating the impacts that the Water Hyacinth has on the environment. I found that they out compete indigenous plants in Florida by reproduce rapidly in a body of fresh water. They choke out water ways by producing daughter plants that literately clog up the body of water, limiting aquatic life and  reducing recreation . They also cause oxygen depletion, when they decompose they release a high level of nutrients back into the water causing the oxygen levels to decrease in the area where the Water  Hyacinth is present.
After all this research I stumbled across some amazing uses for this invasive weed. Some of which include creating bio-ethanol, sewage purification and heavy metal accumulation. This lead me to form my scientific question "What is the reduction rate of Copper when the Water Hyacinth is present?"
The method to my madness-
I will gather 6 fish tanks, 3 will have the Water Hyacinth and 3 will not (these will be my control) and fill them with distilled water. I will then add the appropriate amount of nutrients that the Water Hyacinth needs to thrive. After doing this I will add copper sulfate to all of the fish tanks and put them in a light box. I will monitor the change in copper sulfate over a weeks time.
The Materials-
Water Hyacinths 
Fish tanks
Copper Sulfate
Distilled water
Light Box
Nutrients

Known locations of Water Hyacinths in Florida

Hach DR/890 Colorimeter ( This will measure the amount of copper) 
I hypothesis that there will be a decrease in the amount of copper in the tanks over time.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment and I will be happy to respond in my next post!

Pam, UR - Micro flora and fauna of brackish and saltwater marsh

Life on earth is supported by tiny plants and animals in the water column you'll never see. These microscopic organisms are the primary producers and foundation of the aquatic food web along with oxygenation of the water.

The organisms to be tested for will be more than 80 um size, with anticipation of collecting phytoplankton and zooplankton. The sample areas are the Tomoka River basin and northern Indian River Lagoon.

My scientific question: What is the diversity between brackish and saline marsh micro organisms in the water column?

Materials Used:
- 80 um Plankton net
- rope used to attach net to boat, length yet to be determined
- microscope, type yet to be determined

Method:
-  take samples as described below from brackish water Tomoka River basin and Indian River Lagoon estuary
- from boat determine start point, lat/long waypoint, take water sample for salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and any other factors available
- drag plankton net along top of water column for specified distance
- at end point take lat/long waypoint, water sample as above
- bring plankton net to boat and elevate so sample drains to lower end of cup.
- empty cup into collection receptacle
- put on ice, store in refrigerator until available lab time

Carly, UR - Shark Life

Sharks have taken over my life in the past year, but especially in the past couple months while researching and refining my independent research project (IRP).  It's pretty cheesy, but sharks inspire me.  They're these strong, but relatively simple creatures.  They work smarter, not harder.

Lydia, one of OCEARCH's icon Great White Sharks

But sharks also have a lot to tell us about our world, primarily the ecosystems they inhabit.  If they're not doing well, then that system is struggling as well.  What happens then when we effect their ecosystem?  With our earth rapidly changing because of human impact on things like climate, is that currently having an effect on sharks?  We know most sharks are ectotherms and how biothermal regulation works, so with sea surface temperatures(SST) rising is there a correlation between sharks and those SSTs?

Female Tiger shark tracked over one year by University of Miami

The University of Miami is focusing on an aspect of that, climate change and sharks.  They have tagged a few sharks, primarily Tiger and Great Hammerheads. The satellite tags have sensors for temperature, depth, and acceleration to study the optimal range for the species.  The map to the right here shows the pings of a female Tiger shark the University has tracked over a year with temperature ranges.  This is something I would like to do with the online data available to me through OCEARCH and WindyTV.

I plan to use these resources to compared multiple individuals among 4 different species of sharks: White, Blue, Tiger, and Mako.  I've chosen these species because 3 of them are ectotherms, while the White is an Endotherm.  Using multiple individuals will allow me to guarantee that I will get regular data, because sharks aren't always going to be at the surface to get a ping.  I'll record their data a couple times a week, using current and monthly average SST from WindyTV since ping coordinates aren't readily available on OCEARCH I'm estimating the average temperature will relay more information.

There's a lot of work to do, but from this I hope to learn more about the creatures that inspire me and whether the positive or negative correlation of sharks and sea surface temperatures can help us predict what's to come.

Fins and Grins,
Carly