Dragon+Fly+Info

Cassi Elizabeth Marie A =Forest= The forest has a lot to do with rain and our water system. The forest helps filter the rain when it soaks into the ground and runs through to a larger body of water or to an aquifer. An aquifer is a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater. This is how many people get there water. These kinds of people must then have a well the air pressure pumps the water up to the surface in order to be accessed and transported through household plumbing to do everyday tasks and to live by drinking the water for without water we would all die.

=GPS (Global Positioning System)= Many people now know what a GPS is. GPS stands for Global Posisitioning System. Many people use GPS's to drive from place to place and not get lost, but there are other types as well. There are hand held one's that help people when they are either hiking or Geocaching(I'll talk about Geocaching in the next section). These systems require satellites in order to reflect radar signals to the satallites back to the GPS in order to find out your location. Many GPS aren't totally exact and are about a few feet off. Other kinds that are highly expensive will pinpoint your exact latitude and longitude. Latitude and longitude are how the location of where your standing on the earth or where another location is of some sort that could be from a geocache to a city. These can be found on maps and other such things. Its almost like the x axis and the y axis system in math.

=What is Geocaching?= Not many people know what Geocaching is. Geocaching is an event where somebody such as a park ranger or DCNR worker would place a box(or other object) known as a cache. A cache can contain anything except for food because animals will steal the cache in search of the food. The rule of geocaching is that when one person takes the treasure they must replace it with something of equal value. There are geocaches located anywhere from places that are wheelchair accessible to places that require massive hikes, dangerous conditions, and scuba gear. Geocaching is good because you get to see the beautiful scenery that you would never have known was in PA until after geocaching. Also it is a good source of adventure and exercise.

=Chris Fairman=

=Forest= The forest is a very important part of a watershed. It is vital to the cleanliness of the water. When there is a forested area around a watershed, it purifies the water as it works its way down through the humus in the forest and then eventually ends up in the streams, such as Jackson Run. The humus that purifies the water is the organic component of the soil that is formed by the decomposition of leaves and other organic matter. The area between the stream and the land around it is called a riparian zone. There are certain things that can affect how well water drains into the forest. If a forest is unharmed by humans with little to no development, the humus will purify the water very thoroughly and it will need little to no further purification to be used as drinking water. However, if a forest watershed area is developed, it will not purify the water properly. The development will cause the water to run into the watershed sooner than if there was no development, causing it to not purify as well. This can cause problems because chemicals that would normally dissipate if it were properly purified will run into the watershed. This is common in agricultural areas where farmers use fertilizers, which then end up running into the streams where there is little to no riparian zone, causing possible problems. Also, because the water isn’t purified as much in development areas, the water must be treated in order to be drunk. Because of the chemical and cleanliness problems, it is vital to have a proper riparian zone between the stream and any type of development. =GPS= A GPS, or global positioning system, is made up of a receiver, which is usually hand held, and a satellite that is placed around the globe.There are 24 satellites in orbit that were placed by the U.S. Department of Defense that the receiver will get a signal off of. The receiver gets a signal from the satellite that is closest to it. GPS's are used regularly for driving and also for finding things by entering coordinates into the GPS. The coordinates are longitude and latitude, and most GPS receivers will place you within 30-60 feet of that coordinate.

=Geocaching= Geocaching is an activity where someone places GPS coordinates on the internet and then hides something, such as an ammo box with little treasures inside. There is also a log book there that you sign if you find the treasure. Then, you either take something out and replace it with something of equal or greater value, or you can simply sign the logbook. There are different levels of difficulty, from caches that can be wheelchair accessible to those that may require things such as rock climbing or scuba diving. You can also create your own geocache, and have other people find the treasure you have hid. By going to a site like [|geocaching.com] you can learn more about geocaching, as well as enter in your address and find geocaches close to you.