Wait, So Humans Aren't Perfect??

We humans love to travel, but we always find the need to bring back souvenirs! No, Not necessarily "I ❤ NY" t-shirts; more like... Snakes, Bugs, Fish and other related animals.These animals are called Non-Native Invasive Species and they are a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived deliberately or accidentally by human activity. 

Now, do not let the term invasive fool you, negative consequences don't always follow the foreign additions made to these indigenous homes. Sometimes they are very much needed! Such as alien trees helping restore abandoned pastures and butterflies and their main food sources of foreign flowers. Some additions start off with good intentions and carry these plans out, but then proceed to start eliminate smaller native species and move on to young offspring soon after. This process, is when the new species becomes invasive.

Once a species is introduced to a new area, naturally it will spread by rivers, hitchhiking, and travelling on their own and other ways of dispersal. When a foreign organism enters a water system and starts to reproduce, it is next to impossible to get them out of the area, they can then dominate water ways, they out-compete, displace, or mate with the organisms that are preexisting in the area. Mating can permanently change the DNA makeup and is irreversible, this is called genetic polluting. This process can put some of the most abundant organisms on the endangered list, or in extreme cases, extinct. Some of the most popular negative invaders are; Snakehead Fish, Canadian Geese, Pythons, Asian Carp, African Honey Bees and Zebra Mussels.

But What Can Be Done???

•  pesticides- mainly used on plants and insects. But proven to be very effective when species is especially caught early.
• mechanical control- consists of manual work (pulling, catching, killing) ridding the species from the area. This can be a very lengthy project.
• ecosystem management- basically the whole land is set on fire and the naturally occurring species return to the area. This is a very new system though, so it is still being researched on how to control the flames as not to eradicate the species in that area completely.

VISUAL REPRESENTATION:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAY_UsGjyZk

Sources:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/good-invasives/
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1532
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/slideshow/2012/04/05/americas-most-dangerous-and-costly-invasive-species/#slide=1
http://www.actionbioscience.org/biodiversity/simberloff.html

'Tis the Season for FOOTBALL

So another homecoming has come and gone, but something about it was different... THE CLASS OF 2014 WON THE RED APPLE!

Now what is the red apple you might ask? Well it's basically Sparta's trophy to the class who shows the most school spirit, and gains the most points winning the friendly games created to get us fired up for the Homecoming Game. Now, unlike some schools; Sparta dedicates a whole day to listening to speeches of potential homecoming royalty, playing games, a Mock Rock competition, and ending with a parade to the football field with the floats we have been working on for the past couple weeks!

The positive energy is built up the more each student participates in the games. I personally participated in the Caterpillar Race, Kangaroo Hop, and Orange Pass. It is so cool to see every grade in each corner of the gym sporting their grade colors in the forms of bandannas, beads, and SPARKLES <3

The theme to the football game that night was blue and white out as it usually is. The Spartans won with a terrific lead of 41-14. Now that we are older, I enjoy cheering and standing in the student section, screaming chants with the possibilty of losing my voice for the day to come! But it is all worth it because the concessions have the BEST PICKLES!! The fireworks afterwards weren't too bad either. (:

The dance is always something to look forward to! It also helps that every year we get older, we look less awkward getting dressed up and posing for photographs. Haha, Saturday, I curled my hair and got all primped and ready for the dance. Later that afternoon my friend came over; and I got to do her hair as well! At around 6, the rest of the crew came over and we smiled for the cameras, posed for future memories, and said goodbyes to our parents. It was time for dinner after that, and there was Chicken Alfredo and  Caesar Salad. It was DELISH!

When  we got to the dance, we are greeted by our principal; sporting a tigers shirt, and the rest of the smiling Sparta staff behind him checking students in. We walk down the hallway and there was the usual DJ setup, but with a twist, there was fog and a laser light show. we made our way to the middle, and danced the night away. It was certainly a night to remember.

To cap off the night, my three friends and I went to Westgate and DOMINATED the glow bowl alleys and the pool room. What a last Homecoming to remember (:

#ALLISON