Taylor+McClafferty


 * Free Journal:**

For the most part, it is peaceful and quiet. Nothing to crazy, mainly calm. There are many ducks, fish and crayfish in the water. The rocks seem to form kind of bank in the water. The plants on the other hand, there are some endemic plants and some growing within the stream itself. As I looked at the water, I observed that it had an unusual shade of brown to it; I assumed that it would be due to dirt run off. Also within the water I observed that many twigs, dead leaves and other particles were being backed up due to rocks in the middle of the stream, blocking water flow. If you looked even closer, you could see small grey looking guppies. They normally traveled in groups.

Some significant abiotic factors, was the whether. Its seems to be always be cloudy, or overcast. The temperature seems to be cool, but humid at the same time. The temperature is good enough for all life forms to thrive within. Manoa has and is known for a lot of rain, but today as I observed, it was sunny, a good balance between hot and cold. Sunlight is also a key factor to a habitat, because without that, then you can’t have green healthy plants. Plants need sunlight for photosynthesis. As the balance between sunny and dry, cold and wet, its like plant paradise.

I think that The Manoa stream is an ideal or good place to do our semester project because I feel that it’s a big enough place, to where there enough stuff to cover and to learn about, to make inferences and observations. I feel like this is a good place to study because it is away from human contact or human activity. Though it is in a rural place with a great population within the community, hardly is there any way people disturb or disrupt the nature of the habitat to construction, cars, etc. Though you can see some definite signs due to humans, it is nothing severe or significant. Compared to a lot of other places, this seems to have a lot of different plants, animals, and ways that other places just doesn’t provide.


 * Assigned Journal Entry:**

One organism tat I noticed at Manoa Stream was the ducks. When I arrived at the stream, most of them were in the water, but some were on the side cruising. The ones on the side, I observed that it looked like they were cleaning themselves, like under their wing. On the other hand the ones in the water, it looked as if they were feeding, cause they were continuously dipping their beak into the water. I don’t know what they were feeding on, most likely small fish or other small organisms. I think that the stream provides everything for an easy life. While we see that the ducks prey on the small fish, I think of it as the predator-prey relationship. If there were no fish, the ducks would lose an important part in their habitat, to maybe even losing balance within it. Just like the judicial system, they all have checks and balances to keep everything in place, the fish don’t over populate and the ducks still have a substantial food food source.

Another organism I found at Manoa Stream was the bird. The birds I found mostly flying around, perched upon rocks along the bank or up in the tree’s. Around the stream, I found some bushes that look like they might grow berries or nuts, I am not entirely sure. But what I also noticed is that with an abundance of plant life, came an abundance of insects. There were bees around the flowers, small beetles and some crickets that I could here within the bushes. I found this t o be another predator-prey relationship. Just like the ducks and fish, without each other, the habitat would be thrown off balance, if there were no birds there would be too many insects or vise versa.


 * Free Journal 2:**

When I visited the stream today, it was nice and still. A little cloudy but still enough sun was just getting by. It was somewhat humid or muggy. As I made my way down to the stream, I noticed that the color of the water was still had a brown shade. There was a small school of guppies near the bank of the stream. I noticed that there were some rocks in the stream; it sort of formed a dam, as the water tried to pass through but couldn’t, so the water go's around. There were some other near the bank, where I think the small fish find protection from predators such as ducks and crayfish. If you go to anyplace where there are fish, you tend to scare them, and where do they go when you do? Under rocks normally. I have seen many fishes all-varying in size. Another observation I have made is that some plants, there is only a single bush, and next to it is a completely different plant. How come there are so many different varieties in plants? How come there are so many different sizes of fish in the water? Do the fish use like the upstream with more water?


 * Assigned Journal 2:**

One predator pressure driving natural selection I think is on the fish. I noticed that the fish have a similar color to the bottom of the stream, a brownish tan color. This adaptation to the water helps them become harder to find. I think the pressure is that, if the fish had a normal silverish color then their predator such as the duck, they would notice it much faster. But since they have adapted, it keeps the pressure off. The color is also the example of the cat you showed us. If they live an area in which is mainly black, while one black and one white cat mate, the offspring that’s black will survive since its color is like its habitat. So if one color specie of the fish mates with another, then the color of the offspring that has the same color of the habitat will normally see, and I think its safe to say that the fish with the brown shade is the one that survived. They could also adapt to become faster from predators such as ducks.

Some other things I noticed were the difference in color of ducks. From what we learned about natural and sexual selection, I think that it is safe to say that the male ducks had more vibrant colors then the females so that one could attract and mate. We can tell by that because of what we learned in class, that the females choose who they mate with, since they do the most work in the mating process.

The last specie I think that is being driven into natural selection is the crayfish. They also like the small fish have a similar shade of brown/orangeish color on its shell. Like I said about the fish, its predators are driving it change. Unlike the fish and ducks, the predators of the crayfish are the humans. Many of us like to catch them and keep them as pets or to show them off. They are very fast and have large pinchers. Those large pinchers I think are to catch the small fish in the water easier or defend themselves from predators. I visited makiki stream with my friends just to compare areas, and as I looked into the water, the crayfish were unusually large. There pinchers were enormous and the pair I saw were both fast.

As I got to the stream, I still observed some of the same things as before like the green plants but this time it seemed t be as if they had taken steroids over the time that I have not been there to observe. They have grown not only in color but also in size, as it seems. I think that this time around plants had the opportunity to soak up more water, and after rain the sun comes out so photosynthesis can occur. I think the rate at which the plants were growing or doing photosynthesis was exponential.
 * Free Journal 3:**

The weather on the other hand was still humid as previous visits probably due to the immense amount of rain it has been receiving. The water levels have also risen, carrying the water through the stream at a faster pace. I can infer that its cause of the large amounts of rain, because from previous visits the water ran smoothly but from normal showers Manoa receives. The water still seems to have a slight shade of brown, probably due to the dirt run off at the top of the stream.

I also observed that from previous times, there have been rocks in the actual stream but not nearly as much as there is now. The amount of water that was pushed down must have created a chain reaction causing more and more to be pushed from the rapid currents.

Hypothesis 1: If I get two seeds of the same specie of plant, and are planted in different areas of Manoa (One near stream, and one near Manoa Park,) and both watered once a visit, then the one in the park should grow vastly greater then the one near the stream.

Hypothesis 2: If the temperature of the stream is warmer then other areas, then there should be more aquatic life, then those of which areas that are colder.

Hypothesis 3: If the stream flows rapidly, then there is a greater chance of there being more and more rocks ending up within the stream.


 * Assigned Journal Entry 3:**

As I returned to Manoa stream, it looked as if things had settled down. No rapid currents within the stream, it was more of a calm, peaceful and subtle area. The whether was somewhat normal, not too humid, but still a little cloudy. As I turned my attention towards the stream, the normal aquatic life was going about its business. Ducks swam around, bathing themselves, or poking their heads beneath the water, seeming to be searching for a little snack. As I took a closer look at the water, small guppies swam in schools near the stream bank. I saw small and slightly larger fish. Everything seemed to be normal from previous visits, nothing to extraordinaire. Rocks still seemed to be embedded within the stream, clogging a small portion, forcing the current to go around rather then through.
 * Free Journal 4:**

As for the other observations, birds still seemed to be flying around in the air, and perched upon braches in trees. Common bee’s still went from flower to flower, pollinating. Plant life is still thriving from last week’s downfall of rain. Green, and I can hear some of the insects, such as crickets and other annoying small creatures. While I was there, I began to conduct my hypothesis. The hypothesis that I was trying to test is: If a plant is located farther away from the stream, say in Manoa Park, the size shall be greater compared to the same plant found near the stream. I think this is so, because the plant further away from the stream soaks up much more sunlight to those found near the stream. The way I conducted this experiment was finding two different species of plants that grow near the stream and further away from the stream. I only measured two per specie, from where it sprouts to the highest point.

After conducting my experiment, it’s clear from the data above that the plants that were in the park, are larger then those closer to the stream. Though from this experiment alone, it’s hard to say if it indeed this data is correct. Some other variable such as age of plants could affect this, cause older it is, bigger it should be.




 * Assigned Journal Entry 4:**