Exploring the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

Student Handout #3: Virtual Tour & Introduction Questions.

 

Student Name(s) ______________________________                     Date  _________________________

 

Use the back of the page if you need more room to answer questions.

 

1) What is an “ecosystem?”  A community of different species interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up the nonliving environment. Glossary, throughout tour.

 

 

 

 

2) What should scientists know about a forest before they begin to experiment with it? Scientists need to know about characteristics like: Temperature, Precipitation, Soil, Geology, and Streams. Page 4.

 

 

 

3) What do you think would happen if scientists did not know much about these characteristics? Page 4.

 

 

 

4) Which of the watersheds at the HBEF are used as references (hint: there are two)? Why are these referred to as reference watersheds?  In an experiment, what is the purpose of the reference watershed? Watersheds 3 and 6. These are reference watersheds because scientists use them to compare to the experimental watersheds, and never will conduct experiments on them.  These watersheds are similar to “controls”. Page 9A.

 

 

 

5) In the early 1900’s the federal government became interested in buying private land, such as that in the Hubbard Brook Valley, in an effort to protect the large watersheds of major river systems like the Pemigewasset and Merrimack.  Why do you think it might be important to protect these watersheds? Page 5.

 

 

 

 

6) How does the type of bedrock present at Hubbard Brook compare to that found near where you live? The granitic bedrock of the HB valley is dominated by metamorphic rock of igneous and sedimentary origin. Page 4A.