Nature Center Trail
Living Laboratory Trail Expansion EMPACTS: Math for AAS Gary Bender, Instructor Laurie Scott, Aaron Campbell, Crystal Carlson, Emily Charlton, Crystal Moran, Steffanie Naples, and Katie Harris Project Overview The City of Bentonville is planning to widen Water Tower road, which borders NWACC’s campus to the East. By plotting the expansion of the trail system, the future expansion will allow the public further access to the restoration of these ecosystems. Our team was able to delineate a new trail around the perimeter of NWACC’s Living Laboratory, through the Post Oak Savannah, and around the Persimmon Grove and pond ecosystems. We also projected the amount of limestone needed to resurface the existing trail. First Phase of Plan Development First, we measured the existing trails within the Living Laboratory to determine their length and width. We utilized a mapping system known as ArcGis and also Google Sheets to help us import coordinates. By using a GPS, measuring wheel, and 500’ tape measure, we were able to collect accurate linear measurements. Second Phase Crystal Carlson and Aaron Campbell worked with software (ArcGIS) Used GPS and roller-wheel tape measure Downloaded the longitude and latitude coordinates from GPS to Google Sheets Transcribed data to create an entry log to create a back-up hard copy Used mathematical equations to figure linear, measurement, volume, and tonnage. Submitted figures to David Hartman in order to obtain a quote from HuntRogers Springdale Quote for Limestone from Hunt-Rogers Springdale Technology Used Garmin GPS, Esri ArcGis, and Excel/Google Sheets Once our measurements were obtained, we uploaded them into ArcGis. We were then able to see how accurate our measurements were compared to the measurements ArcGis generated. Below is a look of the Living Laboratory trail delineation we acquired: ID Type Latitude Longitude Distanc e To Trail Material Time & Date 4/3/2015 13:03:01 Hardware Comment garmin eTrex Venture HC Existing Trail Notebook ID 29 Trail Line 36.36307374 -94.17272623 141 Crystal’s Corner 31 Trail Line 36.36351454 -94.17127549 315 Aaron's Stump 4/3/2015 13:10:26 garmin eTrex Existing Trail Venture HC 27 51 Trail Line 36.35963 -94.17004 1292 East Corner of Sidewalk 4/25/2015 11:47:00 garmin eTrex Ve Proposed Trial 16 52 Trail Line 36.9 -94.17424 end West Corner of Sidewalk 4/26/2015 11:47:00 garmin eTrex Ve Proposed Trial 17 25 Story Map http://arcg.is/1aLBXyX Methodology Aaron Campbell operated the GPS and read coordinates to Crystal Carlson, who recorded each coordinate into a log for data safety. Crystal Moran then set flags to provide visual cues as she laid the trails. These flags will be useful in the future as reference points, should we need to revisit them. Community Served Northwest Arkansas Community College’s student and faculty community Businesses and neighborhoods surrounding NWACC’s campus Ornithologists whom visited from surrounding businesses to bird watch Amateur naturalists Spring breakers who utilized mature trees in the Living Laboratory to lounge in hammocks Current Knowledge Because of this project, our team learned how to use the ArcGis system and Garmin GPS to collect and generate accurate linear measurements in order to map our trail extension. We also fine tuned our skills for using spreadsheets to organize and upload waypoints for this project. Additionally, our team learned the importance of our flagging system to help us visually reference our progress. Future Projects Trail Hazard Mitigation Projects: Courses like Environmental Geology/Management, Soil and Turf Grass, Civil Engineering, Math for AAS, could work on areas prone to trail flooding and propose improved trail substrates. Refining of GIS attributes and Map layers: Intro to GIS students could work on enhancing the existing data sets and layers for mapping. Acknowledgements/References Dr. Marvin Galloway-Dean of Math and Science David Hartman-Procurement Officer Erin Lukens-Power Point Tech Professor Gary Bender Program Co- Facilitator for Math and Engineering Nathan Sorey-EMPACTS LABTECH, Geospatial Technologist Laurie Scott-Laboratory Coordinator Microbiology and NWACC Living Laboratory Dianne Phillips-Program Facilitator Appendices/References Professor Gary Bender-Program Co-Facilitator for Math and Engineering Laurie Scott-Laboratory Coordinator, Microbiology and NWACC Living Laboratory Dianne Phillips-Program Facilitator
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