Above the Arctic Circle

This is probably my biggest picture ever. This covers the whole arctic, from plankton to whales to wolves to lemmings. By the way, there are five mini-ecosystems, and clockwise they are the North Pole, Svalbard, Baffin Bay, Alaska, and Siberia.

So. What's the number today?

Surprise! It's a 4. That stands for human interference in the Arctic. So down come all the trees in Siberia.

This is bad, because the lemmings, hares, and foxes hide under the trees, and the owls rest in them.

The foxes are getting more numerous, as there are less hiding places for their prey and less competition from the owls.

The Circle of Life

Today's ecosystem is the African Savannah.

red dot=lion
black dot=zebra
pink dot=flamingo
cream dot=wildebeest
brown dot=spring hare
light green dot in water=crocodile
dark green dot=bush
light green dot on land=tree
light green smear=grass
orange dot=hyena
grey dot=vulture
yellow dot=giraffe
blue dot=elephant
white dot=baboon

And the unlucky number is...3! In the field, that was succession, but on the savannah, it's going to mean that a group of animals suddenly colonizes a new area. Not like migration, where the whole herd leaves. So here we have flamingos colonizing other watering holes.

This really has no effect on the ecosystem, as nothing really feeds on flamingos.

Out Standing, In a Field

Recently I started work on the field. It's pretty simple, voles feed on bugs, which feed on flowers, and the hawks eat the voles.

Of course, I rolled a 3, so that means bushes start growing, displacing the flowers. This is very common, and in ecology it is called succession.

We can also see how the tide pool is doing. The sea anemones are back, but the algea and mussels have moved in slightly.

Next I'm thinking Africa.

An Ecosystem for Everyone

So I recently came up with this idea. I do that a lot.

I am going to create a picture of an ecosystem. I already made one for the tide pools.

The top layer are barnacles, then mussels, then sea urchins, and the bottom is a mix of sponges and algea. The mussels and barnacles are fed on by sea stars, the urchins by sea spiders, the algea by limpets (a snail), and the sponges by nudibranchs (sea slugs).

I figure to make things interesting, every once in a while I would roll a die, then use a table to find out what happens to the ecosystem. Today I rolled a 5. That's disease, and the sea urchins seemed the unlucky ones.

To see what happens, tune in late this week!

Sean's Greatest Hits

So whenever our English class reads a book, I always make a poster like these ones, then I place people from my school, SCA, as the cast members. So, here's the first one I did, Twelve Angry Men.

The people are as follows:

#1 - Maddy Ebert

#2 - Bekah Herman

#3 - Alex Kaites
#4 - Katie Tritch

#5 - Anna Long

#6 - Jordan Myren

#7 - Steve Horton
#8 - Yours Truly, Sean Duff

#9 - Michael Sendra

#10 - Richard Barnes
#11 - Bryan Stephens

#12 - Breet Borenstein

Guard - Juho Jong, our resident Korean exchange student

The we have my masterpeice: Julius Caesar!

Julius Caesar - Zach Scott
Marcus Antonius - Sean Duff
Octavius Caesar - Alex Kaites
Lepidus - Richard Barnes
Portia - Martin Castoe
Calpurnia - Tori Zeigler
Brutus - Brandon McCarthy
Decius - Michael Sendra
Cassius - Jonah Butler
Casca - Christian Cook
Cinna - Addison Wead
Trebonius - Clay Crookham
Ligarius - Jerry Gallegos
Metellus Cimber - Karsten Sellers
Cicero - Jerry Sicalo
Publius - Maddy Ebert
Popilius Lena - Jordan Myren
Flavius - Bekah Herman
Marullus - Juho Jong
Artimedorous - Katie Tritch
Lucius - Brett Borenstein
Soothsayer - Maddy Winsbury
Cinna the Poet - Anna Long
Another Poet - Cole Jackson
Cobbler - Connor Nason
Carpenter - Greyson Guenther
Servant to Caesar - Montana Augustine
Servant to Octavius - Sam Boatman
Servant to Antony - Matt Tomphson
First Plebian - Tayler Owens
Second Plebian - Jayde Ingram
Third Plebian - Michaela Barnes
Fourth Plebian - Cody Baird
Strato - Kendyll Hellestrae
Young Cato - Lindsey Bouma
Messenger - Ashley Adam
Volumnius - Chris Hammes
Claudius - Brittney McCoermick
Varro - Jamie Warren
Messala - Delci Darian
Clitus - Savannah Gangze
Dardanius - Noah
Publius Cimber - Austin Fendler
Antony's Army
Luke Siwek
Cody Oestertag
KJ Gould
Maddi Mason
Christian Tyler
Sam Brannon
Breiden
Luke O'Neill
Brutus' Army
Tuff Barnes
Christian Dale
Steven Keller
Colden Brown
Connor Brown
Lucilius - Matt Benefield
Titinius - Bryan Stephens
Pindarus - Toshah Isaac