Diario de linlee0907

Today I went on my third iNaturalist nature walk. It was very sunny today but there was enough wind blowing to stay cool. At one point I noticed a weird clutter of small critters and upon closer inspection, it was spider hatchlings in a spider web together. It was interesting observe a mother spider taking care of baby spiders. I also observed some lichens on a tree bark. The lichens were growing on there as they were under the shade of the trees. Additionally as I walked around I found some dead leaves on the floor even though it was summer. These leaves will decompose and return the nutrients back to the ecosystem. I also saw some grass growing through the cracks of the asphalt which shows the versatility of the grass and their willingness to adapt to the environment to survive. Additionally I observed some Canadian geese. It was interesting to observe the Canadian Geese in the wild after discussing them and learning about them on the online modules. I also observed some seeds which were being dispersed by wind in the wild. During the walk I saw how the abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem interacts with each other to form an ecosystem.

Today I went on my second inaturalist walk. I observed 2 different types of fungus. Usually when I am walking or driving it is easy to spot a mushroom once in a while. However, today when I was looking for them in particular, suddenly they were difficult to find. Eventually I was able to find these two fungus. One was orange and the other was white. I did not dare to touch them although I was curious about their texture. Additionally I took a picture of what appears to be an oak tree. Then I saw some hydrangeas in front of a house. This flower is one of my favorite flower and is a beautiful flower to decorate your front lawn with. Finally, I took a picture of some lichens. These are very common lichens which grow on surfaces. It was interesting to see fungus that we have been reading on codon learning in real life. I am curious if I check the roots of the plants, I would find any fungus there too.

The walk was quite refreshing as it was done in the evening breeze. It had rained the past few days, so I could really see a lot of mosses blooming. There was still some humidity in the air but it was negligible. I saw a lot of plants during the walk as they are everywhere. I saw a pine tree, which is a gymnosperm. Pine trees are extremely common in the area I live and they can be observed almost everywhere. There were also a lot of moss everywhere which is an example of a non-vascular plant. They looked very fresh and was very soft to touch. There were also some random plants and flowers which I observed on the way back. I am unsure what their species are but it was cool to still be able to see a flower. Additionally, I kept on thinking back to the statistic that we learned: angiosperm accounts for 90% of all plant species on land. I was wondering how reflective this was if we compared by biomass. There were countless amounts of pine trees which are gymnosperms. Despite the slightly humid weather and all the insects present, it was refreshing to go out for a walk and observe nature and avoid looking at my phone. Going on a walk while having specific intent for nature observation was an interesting perspective and I am looking forward to the next one.

This week was fall break. I got to go back to home for a weekend. I really needed this. Not because I missed home, but I just needed a break from school for a weekend. It can get really exhausting. I went to my usual sesh spots and found the plants at the same time! Talk about 2 birds 1 stone. The walk was definitely over 30 minutes as I was walking around looking for these plants. But it was enjoyable nonetheless. This made me think what kind of troph the plants are. But I couldnt remember on the spot all the options. There are like 12 options in total. I'm kind of worried if I"m gonna remember them for the exam but oh well. I guess I have to go back home and study a lot.

This time i went near Wellesley university to visit a friend and also took a 30 minute nature walk to find some fungus while on the walk. It was a little chilly as the weather has been getting colder lately as it is approaching to be winter soon. It was surprisingly not that hard to find the mushrooms that I had found. I thought it would take me forever to find 5 mushrooms and thought this nature walk would take much longer than 30 minutes. Thankfully it did not because I my toes almost froze off! I was very curious to whether if any of these mushrooms are actually edible and if any would have psychedelic effects. However I did not want to risk my life out of my curiosity so I did not try to consume any of them!

The walk was approximately 40 minutes long. It was unfortunate that it rained earlier today because I personally hate walking in puddles. I hate getting my shoes and socks wet and how my feet becomes soggy. I decided the wear sandals with no socks to prevent any issues like such. I decided to take pictures of plants/trees only it was hard to find bugs or animals after a rain. It was interesting to see different types of plants that have evolved so differently. Their leaves all were shaped differently and height was different. I can imagine that they had some type of common ancestor as they are all plants.