My Neighboorhood Walk-About

This afternoon my roommate and I went on a walk throughout our neighborhood, Timberwalk. The sun was behind the fluffy white clouds, and there was a nice breeze blowing through my hair. I have lived here for over a year now, and I have always loved taking walks around the neighborhood, but I saw many new aspects of nature that I have never seen before.

Our townhouse backs up to a pond, so we started the walk-about by walking around the pond. The first thing I always notice when I walk by the pond is the decreased level of the water in the pond. I find it fascinating where the original water line used to be. I was able to recognize that the pond was mainly surrounded by alligator flag plants. The one thing I have never noticed around my neighborhood was all the littering. We found a variety of bottles, cans, flips flops, and buckets around the pond. We picked up all the litter we found, and we were able to fill a grocery bag!

After walking around the pond we went on an adventure behind our neighbors’ house, and we found a hidden trail. While walking on the trail we realized there was a large amount of trees that had fallen down or had been cut down. I am very curious why there were so many trees on the ground. We also came across a dead animal that we think might have once been a raccoon, but we were not quite sure. This neighborhood walk opened my eyes to new parts of nature and the environment.

My ten questions:
1. What is this tall plant surrounding the pond?
2. How long does it take for a bottle to decompose in nature?
3. What kinds of fish live in the pond behind my townhouse?
4. Why do alligator flag plants dominate the surrounding area of the pond?
5. What kind of animal did this used to be?
6. What kind of animal killed this animal?
7. What kind of trees are these, and why are most of them on the ground?
8. Why does the water level change so often throughout the year?
9. Are the roads made out of recycled materials?
10. Why was there so much litter in the pond?