7-UPS ROCK!!!

FERMI QUADRAT PRAIRIE STUDY 2006

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DATA:

Table of our Fermi Quadrat

Table of all quadrats of plot 17

GRAPHS OF DOMINANCE AND IMPORTANCE VALUE:

Graphs of dominance and importance values for all quadrats 2006

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

Part I

            Scientist study many prairie grasses. They study them, and compare them in quadrats, with dominance, importance value, and diversity. Scientists can see just how these plants are really doing. Dominance means how much of the plant is there in a given area, because many prairie grasses are probably becoming extinct, if not watched. Scientists have to watch them. If there is more of one plant then another, that plant would be the dominant plant. They would have to look after the plant that there’s not a lot of, to bring it back alive in the prairie. That’s why scientists have to watch out and look after the dominance of plants. Importance Value means how dominant, how frequent, and how dense a plant in the ecosystem is. Scientists use importance value to study, because they need to know how important a plant is in the ecosystem is, to also see how its doing. Thirdly is diversity. This means how many lively, different species there are in an area. This is important not only to plant life, but to animals too. Many animals live inside grasses, and if there’s less plants, less types of animals live inside them. That’s why scientists study diversity. As you can see, scientists study and compare prairie plants.

Part II

            After comparing my analysis to the previous year and this year, all plants are on the top ten, which must mean that those plants are in good condition. The weeds I found are also doing this year too. Hairy Vetch was not in plot 17 last year, but obviously, it came alive, because kids like you must have planted some. The dominance all seems the same, because generally, the same plants are in the same order almost every year. But a lot of numbers changed. Big Bluestem went from 19 to 4 to 24! The variety of plants is pretty much the same every year like I said previously, because in my quadrat, it has all of the same kinds of plants in plot 17. The importance value to my quadrat to others, plants do not compare with weeds. Big Bluestem is always first, which means that it is important. The weeds first grass is unlisted grass like. It is important because many things live in there. This is my comparison.

Part III

            I can really make an educated guess in the next ten years of how prairie plants will be. I can predict that the plants on the bottom of the dominance chart will disappear, because if there is not a lot of it left, eventually I think it will disappear. I think that Big Bluestem and Wild Bergamot will remain alive because they have been first and second on the chart for quite some time now so I can predict that those two plants will remain first and second on the chart for a long time. Until eventually, they will not. I think though, that they will not disappear for a long time, because there are so many of those plants. This is my ten year educated guess.

Part IIII

            I have learned many things when studying prairies. I learned that they can grow up to about eight feet tall! Many years ago, Illinois was covered in many Prairie grasses. Almost all of Illinois was. Farmers cut them down and used the land to farm. That’s why that there is not many of Prairie grasses left. My group and I used many tools to figure out things about the prairie. I learned how to measure wind speed with an anemometer and how to measure relative humidity. We used devices to help us find how much light was in the air and how wet the ground was. I learned that this is very important to scientists because they study and learn about all of these things to study our earth and Fermi Lab. Our docents were very kind to help us learn all of these many magnificent things about the prairie. I want to thank them for all they have taught me, about Illinois, and the prairie. I had fun at Fermi Lab.

COPYRIGHT:

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