Fun Facts about Grand Canyon and the Colorado River

1. The Grand Canyon is still getting bigger every year. The canyon widens 5 sheets thick of paper each year and gets deeper 1 sheet thick of paper every year.
2.The Mississippi drops 6 inches for every mile as it travels to the ocean, and the Colorado drops 8-9 feet for every mile.
3. There is 20-25 feet of snow every year on the north rim, and only 10-12 inches on the south rim.
4. The north rim eroded away from the canyon faster then the south rim.
5. Grand Canyon was the second site to have California Condor released.
6. 76 California Condors are now in the Grand Canyon.

DUDE! Can You Identify the Layers of the Grand Canyon?

Dude completely tells you how the Grand Canyon was made. Deposition, Uplift, Downcutting, and Erosion all have to work together to make a canyon and they have to work in the order listed below.

Deposition - layers of sediment and organic material
Uplift - when the oceanic plate pushed under the continental plate (Colorado Plateau)
Downcutting - downward erosion by rivers that deepen the channel
Erosion - weathering by wind and water

Identifying the Layers

1. Granite veins (pink) is called schist and is at the bottom of the canyon
2. Limestone is white but looks red because it is porous and iron collects in the holes and is later oxidized
3. Sandstone is the white ring called the bathtub ring
4. Mudstone is the sloping layer of the canyon because when mud gets wet, it slowly slides off in a slope

My Fish Camp Scholarship Application

Why do you want to go to Fish Camp this summer? (100-150 words)

Several years ago when I lived in Bend, I went to a summer festival. A local fly club had a booth and volunteers taught kids how to make a simple fly. I got to learn how to tie a wooly bugger and I just fell in love with fly tying.
  
I like to do many crafts. Fly tying is my favorite kind of craft, because it it sometimes tedious. It has small details and requires good eye-hand coordination.

Another reason I like fly fishing is because I really like nature. You get to learn about insects. The hooks use feathers and fur which I enjoy collecting when I go on nature walks with my family. You also get to learn some biology and ecology.  You also get to learn about different kinds of fish and where they live.  The flies are like little statues of nature.

What is it about fly fishing that is of interest to you? (100-150 words)

I have always wanted to learn how to fly fish and I think this is the perfect opportunity.  Years ago when I lived in Bend, our neighbor taught me how to cast.  I really enjoyed it.  It was both challenging and fun.

My friend is nervous about staying away from her family overnight.  I want to go to fish camp so that I can tell her how fun it was and all that I learned.  Then maybe next year she will have the courage and we can go together. I also want to meet new friends with the same interest as me.

I would like this camp because I want to be in the outdoors for long periods.  I really like camping out in the open.  I also want to find a life long hobby so I can teach my kids when I grow up.

Orange Jelly Fungi

I found this fungus at Empire Lakes. I was walking along the trail and my brother found it for me.  It was growing on a decaying Douglas Fir branch, I think.  My papa says he thinks it is Douglas Fir, too.The Orange Jelly fungus belongs to a family called Dacrymycetales. It is probably one of my favorite fungi. It lives mostly in moist climates, for example the Pacific Northwest Coast. It is edible, best steamed or boiled.

I learned that Dacrymycetales palmatus is very similar to two other jelly fungi, Tremella aurantia and Tremella mesenterica but those are usually more yellow and grow on hardwood trees which still have their bark, instead of dead conifers.  A year ago, we went on a family hike in the Trinity Mountains and we saw what I think now is Tremella growing on a pine tree.   

I'm trying to do this science experiment and I need a special slime mold, but unfortunately this is not the one that I need. So I ordered a kit from Carolina Biological, and I just got it in the mail yesterday. It was really exciting and the mold has already grown a lot.

This is my first submission to the Outdoor Hour Challenges at Handbook of Nature Study.