The "Utility Group"
Participants: Kyrie Weiss, David Eyler, and Bonnie Crosby
Task(s):
Day 1: The first day we recorded and looked at human impact on Red Rocks and tried to see if the impact was great enough to be significant. After recording some data and looking at litter we realized that the significance was pretty irrelevant and it doesn't have a big impact on the park.
Day 2: Day two was cool. We contemplated all of the different characteristics of the beach and wondered if it was man-made or not. We noticed that the sediments alongside the beach were in ascending order if you were looking from south to north. We pondered over it for a while and thought it was odd because there are no currents in the lake. Also when we were looking at the beach we noticed that some of the sediments did not correlate with the surrounding rocks, which also made us wonder. This led us to believe that the beach was man-made. After this we began to eat lunch. Then, Sarah, a counselor here at Governors Institute, told us to come over near a tree and look at the top soil. She dug down to the top soil and showed us something that really cool. Before this, we were almost convinced that the beach was man-made but then when we saw the top soil it was sandy and this then convinced me that the beach was natural and the beach was just simply further inland at one time. To finalize our conclusion, we decided to call the South Burlington Department of Recreation, and we asked them if it was all natural or not. They said yes and then our group was pleased with all of our work.
Day 3: Day three was cool, yet not really because it was above 100 degrees. We were basically a utility group, if you will. We looked at everything and did everything. We noticed that things were happening in a continous and perpetual cycle. Trees for instance, were dying and also new flowers were sprouting. This brought upon a realistic feeling of joy to the park that one can only experience by being there and truly paying attention to all of the wildlife in the park. We noted that the Red Rocks park is in complete balance, homeostasis to be fancy. We saw trees that have fallen and they are actually all still alive and growing in a parallel fashion with branches sprouting out and everything growing despite the great fall to the ground. Noticing this is definitely a key factor because one would not realize the true beauty of Red Rocks without visiting the park a couple of times. Trust us!
:)