Käyttäjän snyderly päiväkirja

For roughly an hour, I took a long walk from Newton Campus to Crystal Lake to observe the plants there. The weather was nice, the sun was out but it was comfortably cool, and it was a great day for a walk. The foliage was beautiful, and I noticed that there were less angiosperms and flowers that were obviously in bloom. There was a large variety, and I was excited to be able to distinguish them more easily than before. However, I did struggle to find seedless vascular plants and even walked beyond the trail around the lake in an attempt to find some. I felt more aware of what exactly I was looking at as I observed the plants, and characteristics that I disregarded before, I paid more attention to. I considered how low the moss lies compared to the towering height of the gymnosperms I found. Plants are so complex, and it is so interesting to consider how they had to adapt to thrive on land.

Today, for around an hour, I took a walk in Bullough Park, on the dirt trail around the pond. It was cool, the temperature was in the 50s, but I was comfortable. Bullough Park is in Newton, and it contains a pond, a dirt trail, a paved trail, and benches. There were walkers and fishers when I was there. I struggled at first to find fungi, but I at least observed some plants that captured my attention along with the ducks. Around the bank of the pond, I found some fungi, especially on some trees. Fungi is not usually visually appealing, but we are able to tell its complexity, and I know that they are considered eukarya as they are eukaryotes. It is interesting to think about how old fungi is and how it has been possible to find in on Earth during the Paleozoic era, even before the End-Permian mass extinction. The fungi was typically hidden compared to the other organisms in the park, but once I really started looking, I was able to find it in various places.

For roughly forty minutes, I walked around Newton Campus, including on a trail up a hill and along the outskirts of the woods. The weather was great, sunny with a slight breeze that was very comfortable. At first look, the plant life may seem unimpressive, it is a lot of green leaves, trees, and other plants. However, when one takes the time to look at it more, there is the opportunity to see its diversity and appreciate it more. There is such a wide variety of leaf shapes, heights and fullness of the plants, textures (which you can see without touching them), and colors. It is beautiful now, but I am anxious to see what it looks like in a few weeks too when the leaves change color. Even though there was diversity, I couldn't help but wonder how closely related the organisms may have been. I wish I was able to go a little deeper into the woods, but I mostly stuck to what was along the trail, but I was surprised that even then, I felt like I saw new organisms every couple feet.