This website features work from the completion of Phase 1 of the SCALES Project.
We are currently seeking partnerships for Phase 2.
Know Your Planet
Understand the physics, chemistry and/or biology of Earth, its climate and its ecosystems
Problem Set 1
Problem set for the course Ecology I: The Earth System.
Problem Set 2
Problem set for the course Ecology I: The Earth System.
Problem Set 3
Problem set for the course Ecology I: The Earth System.
Exam #2
The quiz will cover everything from Lecture 8 (Global Carbon Cycle on October 6th ) through Lecture 13 (Chemostats/Life Tables on October 29th ) including Redfield ratio and limiting factors, ecosystem experiments, geoengineering, secondary productivity, food webs, population growth, chemostats, and life tables. Like Quiz 1, the questions will be primarily short answer, which can be responded to with a few sentences, a sketch with a description, or a brief calculation. We could also ask you to interpret a graph/data or give you a discussion question. Remember to bring a calculator!
Exam #3
Approximately 50% of the quiz will cover new material: everything from Lecture 14 (Human Population Growth on November 3rd) through Lecture 18 (Prof. Sterman’s Lecture on November 19th) including competition and the niche, predation, and biogeography. The remaining 50% will be cumulative, and may cover anything from Lecture 1 through Lecture 13. This includes the early earth, redox reactions, energy transformations and metabolism, biogeochemical cycles, the carbon cycle, primary and secondary productivity, Redfield ratio and limiting factors, ecosystem experiments, food webs, population growth, chemostats, and life tables. Like Quiz 1 and 2, the questions will be primarily short answer, which can be responded to with a few sentences, a sketch with a description, or a brief calculation. We could also ask you to interpret a graph/data or give you a discussion question. Use Problem Sets 1-3, the Quiz 3 Study Questions, the Lecture Notes, and the Lecture Handouts as a top priority for studying. Make sure you are familiar with the articles that have been assigned. Remember to bring a calculator!
Lab 2: Measuring Velocity in a Channel
Goals: Measure the mean velocity in the laboratory flume using two different methods, and determine whether these estimates agree within the uncertainty.
Lab 3: Residence Time Distribution and System Circulation
Objectives: Estimate detention time and nominal residence time in a model basin
Lab 4: Transport in Porous Media
Objective: Use a tracer study to estimate the dispersion coefficient, pore velocity and porosity of a sediment column.
Lab 8: Dissolution of the Gypsum and the Laminar Sub-Layer
You will use two methods to estimate the laminar sub-layer thickness in the laboratory flume. The first method is based on the observed dissolution rate of Gypsum bars, and is described below.
Lab 10: Atmosphere-Water Exchange
You will estimate the rate of exchange between a water body (the flume) and the overlying air for two volatile compounds, molecular oxygen and chloroform. You will use an oxygen electrode to measure the changing concentration of oxygen, and gas chromatography (GC) to observe the concentration of chloroform.