Best Practices

Special Assignments Groups

(Shed/Organization)

For our special assignments group we are in change of keeping the tools and she organized, as well as keeping track of each tool and make sure it is returned to its correct place in the shed. We plan on doing this by having each person check out the tool they are going to be using by putting their name, what tool they have, what time they checked it out, and what time they checked it back in. We realize that there maybe multiple numbers of a certain tool (such as a shovel) so we plan on taking colored tape and taping it around the handle and in that case you will put what color shovel you have.

For the shed itself, we still plan on putting shutters on the windows, cleaning up the inside more (getting all the dust and dirt out of there), putting some sort of lighting, and organizing the tools so that everything can be found easily and there is easy access to it.

For our experiment, our special assignment group plans on doing something with waste. We plan on having two different plants grow in little pots, one growing organically with nothing but organic material and the other grown in more of an industrial fashion with the use of plant enhancements etc. We are going to log what happens and see how they differ. Our question will be "How does a organic plant differ from a plant that is treated with waste grow?"

Stop Motion Plant

For my plant stop motion i have decided to grow acorn squash because it not only grows year around but also grows relatively quick, which will show a lot of progress in the stop motion. My partner and I will be growing it in a small pot however we will have several different seeds growing in case there is a lack of production from a certain squash

Senior Project Topics

Food: (This is the topic I choose to focus on with my group for the media project but I'm not sure if i want to choose this topic for whatever we are doing in Environmental Science Class)

* Industrial vs. Organic
-> which foods take less energy to make? ( I want to know the process of making these foods and how much energy is put into it. whether it just takes sunlight and water or different machines and pesticides. I would like to research the differnt ways these food are grown and whether or not they make a significant impact on the environment through the energy it takes to make those certain foods.)

-> what impact on the environment does processing these foods have? ( I think this is a really strong question. I would like to figure out if these foods effect the environment on many different levels. I'm curious to see if one of these processes are better for the environment as well as the economy. Maybe one is better than the other or maybe they both should exist for the environment to be better.)

-> Process of making these foods ( I'd just like to do some general research on the process of making and growing these foods. I want to see which is easier to maintain or which is harder. A lot of questions pop up in my head when thinking about it. Usually when you grab something of the store you wouldn't think about that stuff but I want to go in depth in this topic)

Other Topics/Questions: (These questions/topics are just other things I'd like to research more in depth but I'm just not sure under what general topic the actually fall under because some of them overlap each other.)

-> If the human population keeps growing exponentially, how much food and water would be left in the near future for the people? And how much energy would be put into producing those foods? ( I'd like to figure out the answers to these questions. Theres no doubt that the population is ever growing but how will that impact the food and water supply? Only one percent of the earths water is accisible, so how will we survive. Is there new technologies that can help us with this probelm?)

-> How does all the energy we use effect the climate/atmosphere? ( We use a lot of energy and it does have a significant impact on the environment. Green house gasses, ozone layer, sustainable energies, etc. All these impact the environment and I'd like to go more in depth. )

Growing in the Garden

Environmental Science

Honeydew Melons

1. Fruit
2. This plant needs full sunlight to grow, so I think our San Diego weather is perfect even in the coming winter because we get a significant amount of sunlight during that time. I think that it would be really cool to plant a honeydew melon and they are delicious so no one can argue with that.
3. They are grown from seeds or seedlings. Germination: 3 to 5 days 60˚F to 95˚F. Other than that there are no needed special preparations
4. Takes between 65 to 86 days to harvest. A pretty manageable amount considering the time we have this semester. I think two months is a really good time. Not too long but not really short. I think that it would be easy with the timing and the weather so honeydew might be my number one plant I want to grow. I think in terms of long term growing, it might be a good idea. We mostly meet the specific needs that this plant has to grow for a long time. For ex. Sunlight, warm soil, etc.
5. The seeds need to be about a foot apart when planted, so it has the same situation with the potatoes. I don’t really know how much each pair of students get when it comes to the area of soil, so I’m not sure how much we can grow. But overall it doesn’t take as much space and with a given amount of space we can grow a reasonable amount.
6. This fruit prefers well drained warm soil, which in our case won’t be a problem because it’s really warm here. Soil needs to be high in organic matter with a constant pH level between 6.5 and 7.5. It’s manageable. It needs a significant amount of moisture only until it reaches the size of a tennis ball. Sandy or light textured soil that warm quickly tends to be the best.
7. Needs a large amount of moisture until pollination. When it reaches the size of a tennis ball only water when soil is really dry.
8. It says to avoid planting by cucumber family crops, such as melons, squash, pumpkins, etc.

Potatoes

1. It’s a vegetable, root crop
2. Most websites say that you should plant potatoes in late summer or early fall so it can grow in cool weather to be a winter/spring crop. It wouldn’t want the potatoes to grow during the hottest months of the year. I’m not sure if that’s the case for our San Diego weather but I think that the coolest days we get is during the winter.
3. It doesn’t say anything about any special preparation. Just before planting be sure to mix plenty of compost into the gardening area. One problem I came up on is that gophers like to eat them so it might come up as an obstacle later on during the gardening process.
4. It takes 2-4 months to harvest so I believe that it fits the timing for our project. I think that it would be a good vegetable to grow. I’m not sure if it will benefit the garden in terms of the future. I guess if it’s maintained then we can keep growing them but it’s not for sure.
5. You have to plant the seed potato pieces about two inches deep into the ground and about 1 and a half feet apart. With our space given I think we can grow just a small amount because they don’t take a large amount of space but I don’t think we can grow a significant amount for exhibition.
6. Some websites recommend to grow the potatoes in soil that with the pH between 5.0 and 6.0. it seems that growing them in soil with a higher pH makes them more prone to decease call scab, which are small rough spots in the potatoes. It also says to not plant the seeds in an area where tomatoes or eggplants have grown before because it can attract some pests and cause some problems.
7. It needs a significant amount of water. Soil should be rich and moist but not too soggy. Soil should not dry out and soil should contain moderate levels of nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur.
8. No companion plants, but like it says before, don’t plant in areas where tomatoes or eggplants have been grown.

First Environmental Science Blog

What is the one thing in the natural world that you are curious about?

One thing I'm curious about is how plants actually react to everything in the world. Not just on a basic level but on a higher kind of getting into depth level. Like how exactly do they get nutrients from soil? How do they react with other plants? What other ways can you feed a plant? Those kind of questions. I really want to get a higher understanding of how plants grow.