Journal entry

For my journal entry I chose to sit outside at on a bench in a park in an area near my house. 

As I observed the ecosystem around me I snapped photos, and here they are!

These trees are angiosperms, they are producers.

This tree is a gymnosperm, it is a producer

These trees are also gymnosperms and producers.

This is a tree stump, and grass. 

This is a patch of moss on the ground.

This is a pine cone beside the bench. Pine cones come form gymnosperms.

If you look far in the background you can see a patch of ferns. Ferns are producers.

This is a robin, robins are part of the animal kingdom and are consumers

This is another pine cone on the ground beside my foot

The little circle in the grass is a Fungi fruiting body called a mushroom.  Mushrooms are decomposers.

This is a close up version of the mushroom. 

This is a picture of a spider. Spiders are part of the animal kingdom, and are arthropods.  They are consumers.

Multicellular green algae

Green algae is part of the phylum Chlorophyta. One important characteristic is that all algae must live in or near a source of water. Green algae contain chlorophyll, and  they have photosynthetic pigments. Green algae always store their food in the form of starch. Green algae have chloroplasts that are enclosed in a double membrane. Most multicellular green algae develop specialized tissues, but they lack leaves, and roots like the more complex plants of this kingdom. Green algae are isogamus, which means that rather than having separate male and female gametes, they have only one type of gamete. Below is a diagram of the life cycle of green algae. 

Haploid spores turn into a haploid leaf-like structure called a thallus. The thallus then produces gametes. When these gametes are fertilized, they change into Diploid zygotes. which under go meiosis and produce spores.

Below is a picture of Oedogonium algae

Green algae can corm long threadlike colonies like the ones depicted above. These colonies are called filaments. Oedogonium  algae often grow in ponds. 

Where do algae fit into the world? Algae provides homes for many animals; Is an important source of food. Humans use algae in many of the foods eaten today! Without algae, life as we know it would never have evolved, because algae produces much of the Earth's free oxygen through photosynthesis. The chemicals in algae are used for many different things such as medicines, processed products, and cosmetics. Algae is a very important part of our lives.