Water Properties A Day in the Life of a Marine Biologist

1. Water Properties A Day in the Life of a Marine Biologist http://www.infobarrel.com/media/image/39668.jpg By Tiffany

2. Day One June 15, 2011 Today my team and I went to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to study the habitats that are along the shore. One of the major habitats we found are the sand dunes that are primarily along the ocean side of the states barrier islands, the Outer Banks of NC. Sand dunes are home to many animals and plants. The sea rocket and seaside sandmat are 2 of many animals that live among the dunes. The grasses, which are the primary plant that grows on the dunes to keep them from eroding, are categorized into 2 groups; the sea oat grass and the American beach grass. When we were done with the land we went under the ocean. We saw that the seaweed that grows on the floor of the ocean. We also learned that adhesion and cohesion come into place when talking about the habitats that grow on the ocean floor. Adhesion is when water sticks to other substances, such as seaweed to keep it hydrated. Cohesion is when water sticks to water, thus keeping water molecules in large groups together like in the ocean. The difference between adhesion and cohesion is that one conjoins unlike substances and the other joins two like substances (water and water). http://dangthatscool.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/droplets.jpg

3. DayTwo June 16, 2011 We went to the corner of the Albemarle Sound to look at the types of small animal like fish, bugs, and jellyfish. We didn't find many jellyfish because the water was very warm today, but we did find plenty fish and bugs. Some types of fish we found were Spanish mackerels, spots and even saw a bluefish eat another fish, which was really gross, but very exciting to witness. We saw a couple of water bugs walk on the surface of the sound. The reason they can walk on the water is because of surface tension, which is bonds holding water molecules together. This is caused by cohesion. Here is a video of an animal walking on the surface of the water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhsxo7vY8ac

4. Day Three Today we are still at the Albemarle Sound, but instead of studying the animals, we are takings samples of water to find any chemicals that are present in the sound. When we put the droppers in the just below the surface to catch the water, it came in very easily. This is due to capillary action. This is when water is able to glide easily through hallow tubes or small openings. This is what causes water to get into the cracks of rocks and get easily into droppers. In 1900, Albert Einstein gave AnnalenderPhysik his first paper on capillarity. http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/lomachevsky/lomachevsky1001/lomachevsky100100036/6209301-illustration-of-a-glass-test-tube-with-water-inside-it.jpg http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/images/eyedrop.gif

5. Day Four It was very hot today at the beach. Everyone was sweating, not alot of people were outside, and water was warmer than it was yesterday. The reason for that is because of water's specific heat. The water's specific heat is when water absorbs and releases heat very slowly. Today that was proven, because yesterday, the water was a little colder than it was today. We have taken the temperature of the ocean water each day we have been here. The signifance of waters specific heat is that water has a high specific heat which means it takes more energy to heat up and cool down. Waters spefic heat affects us too. Our bodies are 80% water. When we do something active, we can do that activity for hours without overheating. The high specific heat is what make the climate what it is. If water's specific heat was low, then hurricances would form more easily and bigger. The climate and body temperature and everything else in between is what makes the specific heat of water high. http://www.dorchesterhealth.org/Images/waterhuman.gif

6. Day Five Today was a really slow day. We had to shut down early because it was about to rain. It really stunk because we were going to go out in the ocean to see what habitats were further from the coast. I have a theroy that it rained today because it was really hot yesterday and alot of water evaporated. All natural forms of water are part of the water cycle. The water cycle is the cycle of which water circulates trough earths land, oceans, and atmosphere to create percipitaion such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. How the water cycle happens is when the water is in liquid form (i.e. oceans or lakes), the sun evaporates the water to create water vapor which makes condensation (clouds). When the clouds cant hold anymore water molecules, it basiclly drops most of the water in either liquid or solid form. The ground will soak up the water and distribute it into the roots of plants and into underwater streams. That water flows into the lakes, rivers, and oceans. Then the cycle starts all over again. This cycle has been happening since the Earth was created. That was a few billion years ago. http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/groundwater/images/groundwater.gif

7. Day Six Today it was a little less cloudy than yesterday. We took some water samples to freeze. We used both saltwater and fresh water to do this because the salt would affect the freezing and evaporating time of the saltwater.  Waters density when frozen is less than when it is liquid. This is because when solid (ice form) the molecules become further apart and dont move as much which causes the water to have a greater surface area. This is why ice can float in water. An example of this happening is with the glaciers that melt and float in the ocean. When the glacier melts, the water would affect the ocean water which would affect the marine life. This is why we are doing this expeirement. http://www.attendconference.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/melting-ice.jpg

8. Day Seven It is back to being sunny and warm on the beach today. We are going back into the ocean to do some studies on the elements that make water, two hydrogen and one oxygen. The reason the oceans are so big and vast, is because of the "chains" that keep the water molecules together. That is called hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds is what help makes water so sticky, which is called polarity. Polarity is when you have opposite sides that causes an overall imbalance. An example of polarity is when salt dissolves in water. Because salt is charged, the water is polar which cause an imbalance to make the salt dissolve in the water. This is why the oceans are salt water. http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/tutorials/chemistry/graphics/water.gif

9. Day Eight Today is our last day in Cape Hatteras and Albemarle Sound. We will be packing up and dissolving different substances in the water from the sound. We had multiple solutes to be dissolved in the "universal solvent" which is water. Water is called this because it can dissolve more thing than any other liquid solvent. That doesn’t really surprise me because water has such a great amount and dissolves different solutes by itself and people dissolve things into water everyday. This past week has been amazingly fun and educational. We found out things that we didn’t know about. I hope to have some more experiences like this in the near future. http://www.infobarrel.com/media/image/39668.jpg

10. Bibliography http://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Conserving/documents/Coast/CP_Beach_dune.pdf http://www.outerbeaches.com/OuterBanks/Fishing/FishTypes/ http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Physical_Properties_of_Matter/Intermolecular_Forces/Cohesive_And_Adhesive_Forces/Capillary_Action#Fun_Facts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Ocean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_biologist Notes Pictures http://www.infobarrel.com/media/image/39668.jpg http://dangthatscool.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/droplets.jpg http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/groundwater/images/groundwater.gif http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/tutorials/chemistry/graphics/water.gif http://www.attendconference.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/melting-ice.jpg http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/lomachevsky/lomachevsky1001/lomachevsky100100036/6209301-illustration-of-a-glass-test-tube-with-water-inside-it.jpg http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/schoolzone/images/eyedrop.gif http://www.dorchesterhealth.org/Images/waterhuman.gif