Olivia ray History 5 10/3/13

Adaptations and Modifications

Section I - Introduction The forest looks as if it is a tiny shrub next to the intimidating mountains but going in closer, you will see that it is vast and seemingly boundless. The daunting trees close together and only break away at their roots and the elevated branches that looks as if they scrape at the sky. The hum of trees in the background sounds as if millions of distant helicopters are flying above the dense vegetation. The fragrance of calm pine needles and damp wood some how escape the torturous tangles of pines and redwoods. Looking up into the mass of tight branches, the sky is lonely and hidden away for safekeeping. Going further into the forest is basically asking for a death wish from the dark howl of the wolves coursing throughout the unfocused and unlit night. The echoing calls and shadows throughout the forest cause a spine-chilling feeling to run up and down spines of inhabitants of the forest ground. Somehow they know what may await them in the dark hours. And during the cold night, the forest is a tangled mass of darkness. The night air feels almost like an icy hand gripping at peoples shoulders, trying to control and guide the people. The air almost never flows into the forest across the ground because of the ginormous branches that extend towards the solitary sky. As dawn slowly rises onto the woods, the call of birds repeat into the crisp and raw air. The ground also relates to the forest air. It may appear to be soft and welcoming, but in reality, it is about as soft as a rugged boulder. Roots, along with the many rocks, stick up in the oddest places; far away form the thick trunks of their trees. The shrubs that appear across the forest at random are look like dead, poorly made spears sticking out of the ground. Trees litter the area like trash would in the busy streets of a working city. And like a huge city, the forest is thronged with life and vigor, like everything on the surface of earth. It is in this favorable geographic environment that the civilization of The City Of Pines will be founded. It is a civilization whose design takes its inspiration from the study of past civilizations such as the Arabs, the Aztecs, the Greeks, the Mayans, the Mesopotamians, and the Romans, among others. This book will document the necessary steps to take in order to create a successful civilization.

Human changes to the land

Part I Analysis of the Problem The first step in building a successful civilization is to secure basic human needs such as food and water. Due to its geography, major challenges the civilization of The City of Pines face in achieving a basic food and water supply include the following:

Olivia ray History 5 10/3/13 1. Across the dense forest, people would see that the earth is ground up hard and full of pine needles. The forest contains many tall trees across the land as far as the eye can see. But people shouldnt assume that this soil is easy to work with, yet it isnt. According to the Pineians, this soil is hard to work with, let alone plant crops that could take root alongside the other dense plants. And the reason this impenetrable forest is so tough to grow food in is because of the dense vegetation that already grows across the immense woodland. The red wood trees are what are causing this problem. The trees stretch to be about 300 feet high or even more monstrous depending on the trees age. If The City of Pines doesnt solve the problem, then they will start to starve and eventually move on or perish. There also is another consequence to this problem; the Pineians could lose health by not getting enough nutrients due to the fact that there is neither fruit nor vegetables for them to gather nutrients from. And like the other consequence, at some point, they would die or move on to another landscape. In a land such as this, there also can be scarce rainfall, which could equal to, a loss of water. The Pineians know that it is warmer during the summer and fall than in the wintertime, when it might snow depending on the weather before. The rainfall will average about 8 inches a year, once again depending on the weather before. And the reason for rainfall to be uncommon is the fact that the trees branches block out the rainwater from reaching the ground. And the trees roots absorb what little rainwater touches the ground. The soil has become dense and well packed, yet tough and dry because of the lack of water that can reach it and that is sucked out of it. What the Pineians should know is that if they want to live here, they have to find a solution to this problem, or face death by thirst. Part II Proposed Solutions Adaptions are when an organism adjusts to a new environment by changing him or herself or the way they live. Modification is when an organism changes its environment to fit its everyday needs or the way they live. These two things are an important role in civilizations because they change the area from unsuccessful to successful for building a society. Modifications and adaptations cause humans to not only survive but also thrive in the environment they chose to create their nation in. A few examples of modifying a land are, when people create towns on top of forest. They must burn the trees or cut them down and remove the trunks. There are numerous more ways to modify lands that animals do as well. Like when an animal gathers grasses or hay to create a bed in the wild or when they even create tracks in the snow when they are moving from one area to another. A few examples for adaptations are, when the first organisms learned to adapt to land. Or when chameleons learned to

Olivia ray History 5 10/3/13 camouflage to stay hidden from predators. 1. The City Of Pines had the strenuous problem of poor soil, and since they had poor soil, not

many crops survived, let alone thrived. The Pineians decided that to fix this inconvenience, they must create a mud like mixture to nurture the crops they have decided to plant. They will also burn down trees to clear up space for the food they will plant. Of course, the fires can spiral out of control, but the Pineians are confident that they will stop these fires with extra water from the aqueducts that carry water to the numerous lines of food crops. The Mayans used these beneficial ideas as well. There land was similar to the Pineians land, which caused the Pineians to imitate their plans. The Mayans have dense forests and moist swamp lands In city-states like Palenque [in present-day Mexico] the Maya used slash-and-burn agriculture (Frey 268). But unlike the Mayans, the Pineians will not destroy too many trees because of the fact that they will ruin the soil more. The only other difference is, that the Pineians will create aqueducts to transport rainwater to the crops. 2. Finding water is a little harder to find a solution for the Pineians. It will always be hard for

them, but they have an idea what they must do. They will create aqueducts that rise above the trees using redwood and sap to stick the wooden pipes together. The trunks of the trees will support the pipes, so that the water in the pipes will flow smoothly and wont break out. Wooden poles also will support the pipes as it flows downwards onto the cropland. It will gather in a lengthy rectangle that moves strait through the crops. On the right and left side of each crop line, there will be holes that open when Pineians move the layer that keeps the water within the boundaries. And finally, the water will spill out among the plants so they can grow and provide food for the Pineians. The well-known civilization of the Aztecs used very similar solutions as the Pineians. The Aztecs civilization had a very different environment compared to the City Of Pines. They had high mountains and their civilization was in the middle of a lake. They created irrigation systems as early as they could to transport water from the mountains above for fountains and wells on their land part of the nation. The city [the Aztec civilization] boasted other technological marvels, like the aqueduct that carried fresh water for irrigation (Frey 275). But unlike The City Of Pines, the Aztecs didnt collect water from the rain or above the trees because they didnt have much vegetation around their triumphant civilization. Also, they wouldnt need to use rainwater because the Aztecs were surrounded by water.