Blog #4

   The majority of penguins live in Antarctic for easy access to food, safety and mating.
                   Image from http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/emperor-penguin/                               

Biogeography explains the distribution and diversity of living organisms on earth. For instance, different locations have different types of organisms living there due to environmental factors. There are two major factors that can determine where organisms can live, natural factors and human factors. Some natural factors include moisture, temperature, light, and soil. Humans can change where plants and animals live by relocating them into different environments. The migrated plants and animals can only survive if the environment has the necessary conditions to keep them alive such as food, water, light, or temperature. Although some plants can adapt to foreign environments and climates and they are known as Biomes.

     Deer grazing in tall wild grasses in Cherry Creek State Park.
             Image from http://www.parks.state.co.us/Parks/CherryCreek/PhotoGallery/Pages/CherryCreekPhotoGallery.aspx                                                     

Cherry Creek State Park has an abundance of life due to natural and human factors. The plants in this environment would be considered as mesophytes because they require a good amount of water but not an excessive amount. The temperature in summer is well beyond 50°F which allows plants to grow. With a good amount of plants and water, animal life can be supported as well. Deer, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, and fishes are just a handful of the many different animals that populate this park.

Blog #3

 Chemical Compound of water=H2O. Image from http://www.lakelandschools.us/lh/lburris/pages/bonds.htm

                                                        

Water comes in three different forms: liquid, solid, and gas. Each state has their own unique properties and processes. In our daily lives we can only see a few properties of water, such as lakes, rivers, precipitation, condensation, and ice. Precipitation includes rain, snow, hail, and sleet. Snow and rain are the most common in Colorado. Precipitation is the result of condensation in which water evaporates and turns into liquid water droplets known as clouds. When enough water droplets collide together and build up in size, they eventually fall back down to the ground. Snow is formed in a similar way, but with and extra variable: ice crystals. Due to cold temperatures, water molecules freeze and produce ice crystals, those ice crystals build up in size and fall just like rain.

 Big cumulonimbus cloud bringing in heavy rain, hail, and thunderstorms. Image from http://www.newsfirst5.com/news/biggest-hailstone-ever-arrives-in-colorado/

Clouds such as cumulonimbus can sometimes produce tornadoes due to strong cold fronts, lots of humidity, and strong jet streams. Tornadoes are basically rotating columns of air. Wind speeds from tornadoes varies from 50 mph to over 300 mph and can travel around 30-80 mph on land. This makes tornadoes very unpredictable and dangerous. Sometimes funnel clouds can be mistaken with tornadoes, the main difference between them is that a funnel cloud does not touch the ground.

Tornado in Virgina.
Image from http://kissrichmond.com/the-804/bmorris/tornado-preparedness-day-in-virginia/

Blog #2

Amount of water withdrawals in America in a DAY! Image from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wusw.html

Water is a major concern throughout the world because the earth has a tiny percentage of usable water. The water that we use in America are mostly stored in aquifers and surface water. Aquifers are huge surfaces of underground water that can be extracted for use. Studies proved that aquifers are depleting rapidly due to our excessive usage. Taking out more water than putting it in is known as drawdown, which would lead to droughts.

The total amount of water on earth. There is only 3% of freshwater for us to use. We must cherish every drop. Image from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercyclesummary.html

If there is no more water in our aquifers, then we would be forced to drain surface water at a dangerous rate that can influence landforms. If that does happen in Colorado, then the Rocky Mountain rivers would be a significant source of freshwater fueling most of the state. But other bodies of surface water would also be affected as well, such as lakes and reservoirs. This would mean Cherry Creek Reservoir would be at risk of becoming dry. The reservoir is in the middle of a high population community, it would be the main source of freshwater for Aurora to Denver.

The Beautiful reservoir in Cherry Creek State Park. Image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USACE_Cherry_Creek_dam_and_reservoir.jpg

                

One solution that I thought of is to capture fresh glacier water and ice for our needs in order to decrease the high volume of ground and surface water usage.

Blog #1

Throughout the year, Cherry Creek State Park undergoes many different changes. This is due to the change in seasons which are created by the Earth's tilt.

Cherry Creek State Park during Summer in Colorado.
Image from http://www.sangres.com/colorado/arapaho/glendale.htm

By summer, the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun which is called Aphelion and the sun's radiation hits the tropic of Cancer. This is the reason why we can enjoy lovely sunny days outdoors during June through September. During summer, the park has an abundance of greenery, but when it comes close to the season of fall, the temperature drops as well as the leaves on trees.

Cherry Creek State Park during Winter in Colorado
Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/9979510@N03/2243849781

By winter, the Earth is the closest from the Sun which is called Perihelion and the sun's radiation hits the tropic of Capricorn. During winter, the park gets hit with heavy snow falls as well as the rest of Colorado. The park has a melancholy feel to it during winter and it becomes overwhelming when you are alone. Snow can pile up quickly in the forest of this park due to inactivity. It is far too cold to explore Colorado during winter, degrees can hit below zero even in mid afternoons.

Introduction

Nature is in your very own backyard!

Image from http://www.patstoll.com/

My name is Feng Xie, I am a student at CU Denver currently working on my undergraduate Criminal Justice degree. I chose Cherry Creek State Park as my blog location. I think the park has a lot of beauty to it, especially with a city surrounding it. This makes me think of city the planners and how they wanted to keep a natural environment within the city for people to explore and enjoy nature at its best not too far away from their own homes. There is a enormous reservoir in the background of the picture above. Families and friends enjoy boating, tubing, sun bathing, and just some good fun in and around the reservoir. Other than the large puddle of water, the park has many different landscapes such as lush forests, dry grassy fields, running and biking trails, and even picnic tables. This is a great place to have some fun with your family and friends if you have some free time on your hands, if not, take a sick day in the middle of summer to go, no one will know.

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmguy/3649064864/

I adore this park not just for its beauty, but also the variety of activities that people can enjoy. I visit the park frequently to enjoy runs through the thick trials composed of trees and plant lives.

Image from http://copelandblog.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html

 I even saw a deer as I was on my afternoon run on a hot sunny day, so who knows what other mysterious animals that are kept safe in this park.