NWACC EMPACTS NATURE AREA/LIVING LABORATORY EAST/EMPACTS Project Environmental Geology Fall 08 Chris Cooley, Chris Eiler, Dan Lowe, Sarah Albrecht, John Yeakley, Bernardo Martinez, Andrew Beal

Team Members: Chris Cooley Dan Lowe Andrew Beal Sarah Albrecht Chris Eiler John Yeakley Bernardo Martinez NWACC, EAST/EMPA CTS Project C. Dianne Phillips, Instructor, EAST/EMPACTS Facilitator

Introduction NorthWest Arkansas Community College has a nature area that is currently being restored. Students from Environmental Geology, Plant Biology and Intro to GIS classes, are working together as a learning community to promote the restoration and maintenance of the area as a Learning Laboratory.

Overview  The Living Laboratory area is outlined in red and includes a prairie, mima mounds, spring fed pond, post oak forested areas and walking trail.  The NWACC community is working to reclaim, restore and maintain this area for study. Walking Trail Post Oak Forest Mima Mounds Spring Fed Pond Prairie

A Learning Community…  Students from Environmental Geology and Plant Biology collected data in the Learning Laboratory area and contributed to a GIS database that was used by the Intro to GIS class.  The Intro to GIS class was able to generate an interactive map of the NWACC Living Laboratory.  The map will serve as a valuable resource for land use planning committees and for the scientific learning community, both at the college and public school levels.

Intro. GIS

Plant Biology  Restore Native Prairie in the Living Laboratory.  Provide GPS Points of Areas being worked in.  Provide Area Biota.  To use the map to monitor native plants that are being reintroduced as part of the Restoration of the Prairie. Intro to GIS  Generate an interactive map for future use in the NWACC Living Laboratory observation.  Use provided points given by the Plant Biology and Environmental Geology classes. Class Goals

Environmental Geology  Continue to collect data in the Living Laboratory to assess possible impacts of human interaction in the area.  Collect GPS points throughout the Living Laboratory  Provide a simple soil analysis of the GPS points. Class of Fall 2008

What did we do?  Take GPS points of specific spots in the NWACC Living Laboratory.  Take Soil samples of those specific spots.  Do a simple analysis on color and content of acquired soil samples.

Collecting Data We took points based on the South side of the living laboratory. This information can be categorized into subunits.  Pond  Mima mounds  Planter boxes

core Adding core locations to GIS map of area

GPS N ˚ ; W ˚ Elev PICTURE BOX INSERT……….

GPS N ˚ ; W ˚ Elev PICTURE BOX INSERT……….

Elevation Range: PICTURE BOX INSERT……….

Elevation Range: PICTURE BOX INSERT……….

Collecting the soil

Materials and Procedures  The materials used to collect the samples are:, Trowels, Hammers, Tubes, Cellophane, and Sample Bags.  The trowels are used to collect the sample, or to remove some of the debris such as, rocks, leaves, straw, and trash from the surface before collecting the sample.

Procedures Continued I The tubes are used to bore into the soil to collect the samples, but when the tube hits a rock, the hammer is used to drive the tube all the way into the Ground.

Procedures continued II  The cellophane is used to help the soil preserve its shape as well as preserve the nutrients and some of the moisture.  The bags are used to hold the sample for future use.

Analyzing the soil Getting our hands dirty

Materials Used to Analyze Soil  Soil Classification Chart  Small Beaker with Water  Munsell Soil Color Chart  Our Hands and Senses  Agriculture Textural Classification Chart

Analyzing the Soil To analyze the soil we used the methods in a “Soil Classification Chart.” PROCESS: First we placed about two teaspoons of the soil, from different parts of the sample, top, middle bottom, in our hands and added small amounts of water until it felt like a moist putty. After this we went through the chart and determined if the soil samples were sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, silty loam, loam, sandy clay, silty clay, or clay. During the study we used techniques such as squeezing the soil into balls, making ribbons, pinching, rubbing, all while using our senses to determine if the soil was gritty, smooth or both.

What we found…  Area Elevation  Range from 1301 feet feet above sea level  Soil types obtained  Pond area  Silty loam, slight sand  Mima Mounds  Range from loam to silty clay loam  Around planter boxes  Silty loam, slight sand

Geospatial Data collected Location Textural ClassificationColor *10YRNAME ON MAP elevatio n *ft LatitudeLongitude Sample 1w N silty loam/ slight sand3\3MIMA Sample 2w N silty loam4\3MIMA Sample 3w N loam3\2PLANTER BOX A1308 Sample 4w N clay loam4\2PLANTER BOX B1301 Sample 5w N sandy loam3\2PLANTER BOX C1303 Sample 6w N sandy loam3\3PLANTER BOX D1308 Sample 7w N silty clay4\2PLANTERBOX E1324 Sample 8w N silty clay4\3PLANTERBOX F1317 Sample 9w N silty clay loam5\3POND11305 Sample 10w N silty loam4\2POND21305

How Can this information be utilized?  In the future, this information can be used to decide what organisms will flourish in this area.  The learning community can utilize and add to the information for future purposes as well.

Other Materials Used…  Digital Camera  Microsoft Excel  Microsoft Power Point  ArcGIS Arc Map  Garmin eTrex Venture© HC, personal navigator

Skills Developed  We learned to work as a team.  We learned how to use GPS units and collect geospatial data for map building.  We learned how to be self directed in our learning.  We learned to be organized and to communicate within the framework of a team.  We learned about the global aspects of environmental geology.  We learned interdependence within a group and as a member of a global learning community.

Resources  C. Dianne Phillips, Instructor, EAST/EMPACTS Facilitator  Wilma B. Hinterthuer, NWACC Instructor  Paul Lowrey, NWACC Instructor  Munsell Soil Color Charts. Munsell Color Grand Rapid, MI  Geology and the Environment. 5 th ed. Pipkin, Trent, Hazlett, Bierman. Thomas Brooks/Cole Belmont, CA.  Garmin eTrex© HC series Owner’s Manual Garmin International, Inc. Olathe, KS    Soil Classification Chart  Soil Classification booklet  Textural classification chart