Room+7B


 * Grand Canyon **** photo journal **
 * __By: Chase Olson & Adam Nissenbaum__**

The Grand Canyon. Not only is it one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it is also one of Mother Nature’s masterpieces.



What is over a mile deep, over one hundred miles long, and has millions of years of history lost inside of it? The Grand Canyon. The canyon is not just pretty to look at, but it has an amazing history as well. Part of the canyon was formed by weathering and erosion, while other parts of the canyon were formed by oceans coming over and dropping sediments into it. Some rocks erode faster and easier than others. For example, soft limestone will erode faster than hard limestone will because the sediments in the soft limestone aren’t as dense and compact as those in the hard limestone.





The Grand Canyon is home to over 1,400 species of plants, and about ten of which are invasive. Some of the major plants in the Grand Canyon include: tamarisk, yucca, pine trees, etc. Plants also contain a big part of the canyons history. One invasive plant species, the tamarisk, was brought over by travelers. However, with nothing to eat it, the plant spread like mad. Because of this, travelers brought over the plants natural predator, the tamarisk beetle. And their plan would have worked too, if the beetles hadn’t gone out of control. To this day, only about a third of the tamarisk beetles are left in the canyon because different creatures, such as the Gila monster and the California condor, have been living off this unique insect.





The mighty Colorado River runs a total of two hundred and seventy seven miles through the Grand Canyon. Along with every other part of the Canyon, the river has a unique piece of history to go along with it. The Colorado River, also known as the red river, is one of the scariest rivers on the planet. When Powell explored the river in 1869, he just wanted to see if it was possible to cross and to get information about it. The journey was a success. Powell and his men went in the river the first time with three boats and nine men but came out the other end with only two boats and six men. The other three parted with the others at what is now called separation rapids, the final canyon rapid. Powell then went in a second time to conduct a more scientific investigation. This time, he went in with a geologist, a map maker, and himself. Plus, he made a better boat design the second time around that could withstand the intense rapids. And it was a success.

Wapatki is a nine hundred year old ruin built by the Native Americans. There are about thirty different rooms, and they each serve a different purpose. For example, the big circular room in the first picture is a spiritual room for praying to their many Gods. The Natives were very spiritual people. The room in the second picture is the trash room. They would store all of their junk in this room, and when the pile got to be too high, they would use the junk as fire starters. In the third picture, you see the “Big House,” which is all of the rooms used for cooking, sleeping, and using the bathroom.





The last stop on our amazing adventure through the Grand Canyon is Sunset Creator. Sunset creator was named by Powell himself after exploring the Grand Canyon. He named it Sunset creator because the color of the ash reminded him of a sunset. This volcano is a cinder cone volcano and it erupted around 1000-1100 A.D. The ash from went all the way from Arizona to New Mexico. Because of the fire the Ponderosa pine trees that grow there have a very unique smell. “They kind of smell like vanilla and butterscotch,” said Adam.





All things considered, this was an amazing field trip. We got to see the Grand Canyon, The Colorado River, Wapatki, and one amazing sunset.