FERMI QUADRATE PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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DATA:

Table of our Fermi QuadratTable of all Quadrats of plot 17

GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:  

                                                                Comparative Analysis Part # 1

      Students started collecting data from Fermi Lab in 1992, taken from mid-September to mid-November, which is only about two months. 

      Fermi used to be flat land, but than they planted prairie grass and used controlled fire to help its' health because of the long roots and to get rid of weeds.  The roots of the prairie plants became three times as long as the plant itself and the weed roots were much shorter so the prairie plants survived.

      The students at the prairie used important so called "measurements" to see how healthy or the grade of the prairie.  First they used dominance of the certain plant, which means the size of the plant, the overall area of coverage and the density of the plant in the eco system.  These plants are important because they supply food and living space for the animals there.  Dominant plants are the most noticeable plants due to size and population.  The bad thing about dominant plants is they reduce the sunlight and water for the smaller plants. 

      Next there is diversity of certain plants.  It could also be called biological diversity.  It means how many different species of plants are in a certain area.  Diversity is very important to the environment because if there are a lot of plants in an area, then that is healthy for the environment because the more and different plants there are the more diverse animals and insects there will be.  Also there will be more food for animals and insects if certain plants die out.  If the ecosystem overpopulates with animals instead of plants, 50% of the species could be lost in about 100 years.  Because of diversity, animals won't have as many niches as others so they can't compete for the same food.

      Finally, importance value, which is the overall information of the prairie or the sum of the three values; dominance, frequency, and relative density.  Importance value is also crucial, because it shows you at least half the information you need to know about the prairie, including the percentage of a plant in an area, and the amount of plants per species. 

      As you can see, dominance, diversity, and importance value is essential to learning about a prairie.     

                                                Comparative analysis part #2

     These are the comparisons and contrasts of our single quadrant in 2006 of plot 17 and to plot 16 from 2005.

     First we have diversity.  Our quadrant has a much different diversity then others because we all have different measurements.  It is the same in a way because we are doing a section of some plants out of all of plot 17, but put all the sections and quadrants together and you then get plot 17.  It's like a quilt or puzzle.  Our measurements are the same as 2006,but our measurements are just a small part of plot 17. Our leader of diversity is Big Bluestem due to its' size and mass coverage of the area of the quadrant. It was the leader because it's the biggest and you can see the most of it at Fermi. Big Bluestem is still the most diverse species of plants.  I discovered our same plants from our single quadrate and our diversity numbers are way higher than 2005's, probably because of over dominance.2006 has a higher diversity than because we planted more plants and discovered new ways to make them healthy. Also because more plant species are discovered which means more species and more space is taken up.

     Next we will see how dominance has changed in the past.  Again it depends on the area you used for finding it out.  Dominance is much higher in our group than the plot's numbers.   It's not a popularity contest, our quadrants numbers are much lower than in 2005.  This is probably because of over dominance.  Big Bluestem is leading the way now, but in 2005 Indian grass was the leader. Our quadrate numbers I could not fin but are surprisingly much lower than 2006's plot 17.

     Finally, there is importance value.  This does not matter what area or quadrant it is recorded because it's all the information added together.  It is usually one of the last but most important measurements.  For importance value there isn't exactly a leader from greatest to least, but my quadrate puzzle piece is one small piece to a big one.  2006s' importance value was greater than 2005's as far as I see it.  I think the importance value is much higher now because of over dominance, and lessened dominance and more discovered and diverse plants and the certain size of plants.  2006 has greater numbers than 2005 due to the things I just mentioned.  Part 2 of the Comparative Analysis is the most important for many reasons.  Our quadrate is a small piece of a big puzzle for 2006's Plot 17wich is a much bigger puzzle piece than 2005's plot 16, because of diversity, dominance and importance value.            

                                                                                Comparative Analysis 3

      In a year or two I think that over diversity will occur and maybe all plants or animals could die out, but lets not go to the negative side.  I personally think that Big Bluestem will always be the largest space consuming plant.  I think the diversity will decrease, but big Bluestem and Indian Grass will conquer all.  It will become the last of the Great Plains.

     I also think the forests will grow more and the prairies will lesson.  Fermi will be a national corporation. I also think that many other things will occur. Not to be too negative but it seems that the scientists at Fermi are thinking of making the prairie bigger, when this happens over time diversity dominance will decrease and many animals will die.

     I think very long from now the great big bluestem will be one of the most dominant species by a long shot. Many of the weed and the small grass species will be cut down to a very low percentage by uncontrolled fire that they let cover too much area too many times. This will cause large losses of species and fewer visitors. After all of this occurs I think the scientists will test their machines and it will be a big success and instead of being the great Fermi labs for the prairie it will only be for the science. But as you know these are just predictions that are a little outside the box.  

                                                                Comparative analysis part#4

    This part or section of my comparative analysis is very short. I thought that Fermi was one of the best learning experiences I've ever had in a long time, because it shows you what it is like to be a Prairie studying scientist and how cool it actually it can be if you think if you try hard. It also shows you how you how boring science can be I personally think that hands on activities are fun because you don't just sit and write.

                 I also think that it's a clever idea to help kids to learn, and to actually experience and interact with real wildlife. I thought it was the most fun when we got to go into the prairie and see the awesome plants that used to grow in Illinois millions of years ago. I personally learned a lot about prairies and I mean a lot. I really liked this subject and the activities we did for the great Fermi labs!

COPYRIGHT:

© Copyright 2006, L&T Natural Images and Madison Jr. High, all rights reserved. Contact information: email at lccwik@Comcast. net or Coutts@naperville203.org

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
This project was created by the 7th grade students of team 7 UPS from Madison Jr. High, Naperville Consolidated Unit School District #203 in Naperville, Illinois with the help of their teacher Mrs. Trudi Coutts along with Technology Lab Director Mrs. Margaret Gilmore. Support for the project came from Principal Ms. Erin Anderson and the other dedicated and cooperative faculty and staff of Madison Jr. High.

 

REFERENCES:
Fermilab Education Department particularly the SIMply Prairie Project. Authors: Bill Fraccaro, Johnson School, Wheaton, IL; Larry Cwik and Pat Franzen, Madison Junior High School, Naperville, IL; and Bernie Jokiel, Gary D, Jewel Middle School, North Aurora, IL.
Created for the NTEP II Fermilab LInC program sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office and Friends of Fermilab, and funded by United States Department of Energy, Illinois State Board of Education, North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium which is operated by North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), and the National Science Foundation.