Pond Ecology by Matt A.

During the first quarter of the year, the sixth grade studied pond ecology. The unit was pretty fun. We learned about the animals that inhabit ponds, and got to go on a field trip to the Evergreen Cemetery Ponds. During the field trip, we took plastic bins and tried to catch creatures that we then brought back to the classroom to examine. Everyone got to get up close and personal with the pond critters. We each did three labs on different specimens that were brought back from the pond. After we finished our labs, we uploaded them onto a site called Vital Signs, where experts could confirm whether or not our identification for the specimen was correct. I learned and observed a lot by having these creatures in the classroom. These are the three specimens I did my labs on:

Koalas

In science class we just finished our animal behavior unit. Each student chose an animal and did a project on it. We chose the koala. This fascinating animal is a mammal, specifically a marsupial. Koalas usually survive 10 years in the wild, in captivity however they live to almost double that time. A couple interesting facts about koalas is that, they sleep 18-20 hours a day and the other 4-6 hours they spend eating! We both believe that many people would love to live like a koala! Koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves, and because of this they have to live in or near eucalyptus trees. Another fact is that the koala's closest relative is the wombat.

Koalas have many different behaviors to support their interesting lifestyle. One example would be, because the Koala is a marsupial the baby is only inside its mother's stomach for 35 days before being born. When they are born they are helpless, blind, deaf and can barely hold their own body weight. They quickly have to maneuver their way to their mother's pouch and start eating right away. A couple other behaviors the koala demonstrates are, the koala has a special gland on it's chest that provides a scent. It will rub this gland on trees marking its territory. The male koala also has a pair of larger thicker vocal cords to make low pitched mating calls. We both hope you enjoyed learning about koalas as much as we did! By Tenny and Cat

The Fossa

The fossa is a fearsome carnivore which lives in the large forests of Madagascar. The fossa can live up to 20 years in the wild. It leaves its mother at one year old and starts a family when it is four years old. The fossa is the top predator of Madagascar which means it has no natural predators. Its main prey is lemurs but “it will eat anything with a heartbeat.” The fossa has long sharp claws and sharp teeth to penetrate the skin of their prey. Its long tail is almost the length of its body and helps it balance when it jumps from branch to branch. The fossa’s big eyes help it see in the night and day. The fossa is mostly nocturnal except during mating season when it is mostly diurnal. The fossa’s territory can be up to one square mile and the fossa will patrol the border and walk up to 16 miles a day.

The fossa is solitary until mating season. The fossa's mating season is September through December. When mating season starts the female fossa gives off a strong scent to attract the male. She may also meow. The male fossa yowls and growls to compete for a mate on the ground while the female watches from the trees above. The male might even roar if necessary. The gestation period is about 3 months. A baby fossa is born blind and it takes several weeks before it can see. A baby fossa purrs when nursing or when they are near their mother. By Jesse and Henry W.

     

Rattlesnakes

The most interesting behavior a rattlesnake exhibits is the one that makes it one of the most feared snake in the world. The setting, sunset In the Sonoran desert on a rocky outcropping there lies a seemingly unimportant coil of rope, or so a lone coyote thinks…. As he approaches he hears a sound that strikes fear into its heart, the rattle of a rattlesnake! The rattlesnake rears up its head like a cobra mesmerized by a flute, the coyote has stopped dead in his tracks. He weighs his options: leave the snakes territory and go the night without rest, or fight the snake for the cozy rocks. He starts to edge forward, the rattler puffs up its body and the rattle becomes louder. The coyote freezes then as quick as his decision he bolts off never to be seen again.

Here are some interesting facts about the rattlesnake: adult rattlesnakes can go up to two whole weeks without food but younger rattlesnakes can go up to one week; the rattlesnakes scales are made of the same material (keratin) as our fingernails; some rattlesnakes can live up to 10 to 20 years, depending on its species; when the rattlesnake is in danger it will shake its tail 50 times each second to warn predators to stay away; the rattlesnake usually lives in dry areas but they can live in swamps or mountains; some of the rattlesnakes predators are bobcats, King snakes, and eagles; and some of its prey are lizards, Prairie dogs, and locusts. By Jake and Elijah

The Blue Sea Slug

There are some fascinating things about the blue sea slug. One thing is that the blue sea slug eats the Portuguese Man O’ war and takes its stinging cells from it and later deploys them to kill its prey and sometimes predators. Secondly, what helps it not get eaten is it can counter shade. On its belly there is a tan color to blend in with the sky, which makes predators from below not see them as well. And on its back is a blue color which blends in with the ocean depths so predators from above can’t see them as well. I think the blue sea slug is the most amazing creature in the world.

Blue sea slugs are interesting carnivores. Their predators are fish and birds which find them difficult to see because they are blue in the blue ocean. Its scientific name is Glaucus atlanticus. They weigh up to 3.3 lbs. They are found in reefs and deep oceans of the Pacific, Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. By Tim and Ed

Here is a small blue sea slug eating a big blue button jellyfish.

Seahorses

Seahorses are a type of fish. They are very small and they are usually found in tropical waters, all over the world. Their lifespan is one to five years. Before mating, the seahorses dance around with their mate and make a noise that sounds like somebody smacking their lips together. The male holds the baby seahorses in its pouch until they are ready to hatch. To avoid being eaten, seahorses use camouflage and blend in with its surroundings so that the predator doesn't recognize the seahorse. Seahorses are a really good predator because they have really long mouths to slurp up their prey.

They don't even have to chew because they don't have any teeth, so they just swallow their food whole. Seahorse predators are: tunas, rays, crabs, and striped anglerfish. Seahorses are carnivores because they eat: plankton and tiny crustaceans. I loved doing this project so much, because I liked finding the photos matching the subject of the page and finding the information on a couple websites. I really liked the animal behavior unit because it was really interesting and fun to learn. By Bella R.

Meerkats

Meerkats live in Southwestern Africa and the Kalahari Desert. The meerkat can go a long time without water. They eat the roots and fruit of some kinds of plants. Mostly they eat animals such as centipedes, scorpions, lizards and also birds. The Meerkats energy role is an omnivore. The water the meerkat needs to survive they get from eating roots and tasima melons. The animal behavior of the meerkat is when the meerkat is digging and it gets sand in its eye and when it blinks it acts as a window wiper for its eye!

In the wild, meerkats can live up to be 8-10 years old. Also when meerkats are up high they can see far away. The meerkat that is on guard is alerting all the other meerkats when a predator is nearby. When the meerkat alerts the others it howls and screeches and all the meerkats know to run and hide in their dens. What enables the meerkat to avoid being eaten is its speed and agility. A few of the meerkats predators are...Foxes, Jackals, Hyenas, Hawks and Eagles. Thanks for looking at are blog post! By Haleigh and Greta

African Elephants

For my project I did African elephants. African elephants are herbivores. They eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark. They can eat up to 600 pounds a day. African elephants are mammals. African elephants live in the savannas, forests, beaches, mountains and deserts. All the places they live are very hot. Sometimes it is difficult to find food because it is so dry. They can live up to 70 years in the wild. They belong to the Eliphantidae family. African elephants live in groups made up of females and babies. They have very strong family bonds. A older wiser female leads the group. All of the females teach the babies almost everything the babies need to learn. When the males get to 12 years old they leave the group. Sometimes they live alone or sometimes they live in small groups of young males.

The females teach the babies almost everything they know. African elephants can call to each other with a sort of growl. Another African elephant can sense this by laying its trunk on the ground. Another behavior that they do is when a predator is nearby all the older females circle around the babies so nothing can penetrate their circle. African elephants could be extinct in 20 years if we don't do anything to stop poachers, pollution, habitat loss and global warmingThe amount of African elephants dropped from 1.2 million to 600,000 from 1979-1989. The biggest reason that elephants are dying is because of poachers. 1 tusk is worth $1,000. Over 38,000 of them are poached in one year. By Julia W.

The Blue-Ringed Octopus

The most dangerous cephalopods in the world but yet only golf ball sized, the blue-ringed octopus! These mollusks are found in shallow ocean water in Australia and some parts of Asia. They are carnivores so their diet includes shrimp, crab, small fish, and some other mollusks. Having poison that can kill a human is definitely an advantage to being a predator. So their strategy to catching prey is to inject their poison into the prey by biting it. After that the prey becomes paralyzed.

When the female blue-ringed octopus is carrying her eggs she shows her bright blue circles on her arms and mantle, that warns the predators to stay away from her. The purpose of this behavior is to pass her genes on to the next generation by making sure her babies don't get eaten by predators. Some interesting facts about the Blue-Ringed Octopus are: When they are excited or disturbed they change color to show their bright blue circles. A female who is carrying eggs holds the eggs in her webbed skin between her arms and carries them until they hatch. While other octopuses lay their eggs on the sea floor and look after them until they hatch. I hope you are very interested in this creature after reading this. If you want to know a little more here is a link to a great video By Bella P.

WARTHOGS

Africa is home to the most awesome creature, the warthog. Warthogs live in most places in Africa. These creatures are mammals. Warthogs are herbivores, eating roots, bulbs and grasses. One of the animal behaviors they demonstrate is when they are digging for roots and bulbs. What they do is take their shovel like noses and dig through the dirt to find food. They also use their hooves to help dig.

Warthogs live in groups called sounders. Males are always the leader of the sounders. But warthogs are not always so friendly with each other. During the mating season when males battle to impress a female (also called courtship behavior) the "warts" act like cushions on the warthog's face. Warthogs have two sets of tusks.The bottom tusks are very sharp, unlike the top ones. The bottom ones are the ones they use to fight off/stab predators if they harm the warthog or the warthog's young. By Violet

Sea Dragons

I learned a lot about sea dragons during this project. Here are some basic facts about sea dragons. Sea dragons live on the southern and western coast of Australia and are protected because scuba divers take them and keep them as pets mad if this keeps happening, before we know it the sea dragons are going to be gone. Sea dragons already have enough predators to still be alive, but not enough to be kept as pets. Sea dragons are carnivores, and they eat larval fish, mysids ( which is a type of crustacean ) and zooplankton. There was one fact that really stood out to me during this unit was instead of a female carrying eggs, the male carries them and the females go live solitary lives. The female gives the eggs to the male, by placing them on his tail. Then the eggs stay there until they hatch.

I thought that the two different kinds of sea dragons were amazing. The weedy is bright with pretty colors while the leafy is yellow or brown but has really cool appendages. It was really cool learning that the sea dragons sucked up zooplankton through its mouth which was like a vacuum vacuuming up the zooplankton. I thought it was a lot of fun researching this animal and its behaviors. by Cece

The Blue Footed Booby

The blue footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is a bird that lives on the western coasts of Central and South America. The booby spends most of its time in tropical and subtropical waters in the Galapagos Islands. The booby tends to feed on fish like anchovies and sardines because it's a carnivore. It flies up then dives from 80 feet (24 meters) into the water. This allows them to reach low areas of water to catch fish with its beak. Another thing about the booby is that they have deep blue feet. The female booby is attracted to the male with the bluest feet. These traits will be passed on to their children!

To attract a female, the booby has to stomp its feet, moves his head up, and spreads it's wings. The bluer the feet, the more attractive he is to a female. This is called courtship behavior. The blue footed booby’s lifespan is seventeen years. The booby part originates from the Spanish word bobo, which means stupid or dumb because like other seabirds, they are clumsy on land. Its predators are humans and other seabirds because the humans do illegal fishing (decrease of the population) and other species of animals that can steal their shelter and food (decrease of territory). by Ian and Sakaria

The Gila Monster

We learned about a reptile called the Gila Monster (Hee-la-mon-ster). It's scientific name is Heloderma suspectum. It is black with pink or orange stripes and can grow up to two feet long. It is one of the only types of venomous lizards along with its cousin the Mexican Beaded Lizard. It lives in deserts in the south-western United States and northern Mexico. A wild Gila monster is a solitary animal. When left alone, it lives about 20-30 years and spends around 22 hours a day hiding underground in burrows. They come out the most in the spring when it is mating season. They don't come out much because they can store fat in their tail, so they don't need to eat much.

The Gila Monster does not have many predators. Their predators are coyotes, birds of prey and humans. They will use their venom and their claws to protect themselves. Male Gila Monsters will attack each other for mates by turning to and fro, whoever gets on top of the other wins the mate. Gila monsters hunt by sneaking up on their prey (frogs, insects, birds, eggs and small rodents). They have a forked tongue and bad eyesight so they use their tongue to sense prey. They lunge and bite very hard because when they bite, their powerful jaws chew the venom in through capillary action along the grooves of their teeth. Their spit mixed with their venom can cause immense pain. Their spit has also been used for an antidote for two kinds of diabetes. Nobody has ever died from a Gila Monster bite so no need to be afraid. By Finley and Russell.

The Peacock

The Peacock is an amazing animal with many interesting facts, I hope you learn a lot about the peacock! The peacock is an omnivore. It's diet consists of grain, flowers parts, small reptiles, mammals, berries, figs, leaves and seeds. The range of the peacock is Sri Lanka, India and Africa. Peacocks usually sleep in forests in trees at night. The peacock’s predators are lions and tigers. Peacocks are great flyers and have sharp claws and a beak to help them catch/gather their food.

Have you ever wondered what the peacock’s beautiful and colorful feathers are really for? There for attracting females during mating season. The males strut with their plumage behind them and they have a distinctive call that the females recognize. Most female peacocks have around 10 eggs after each birth. The females care for them without a male. Peacocks are really amazing animals and have many fascinating behaviors. by Maeve

This is a Peacock’s plumage spread out!

The Giant Australian Cuttlefish

For one of our units we studied animal behaviors and we made our own books. I got the cuttlefish. I learned that the cuttlefish can do so many different things like change color, shape and even momentarily blind a predator with ink. The cuttlefish can change its color by stretching out tiny cells in its skin that each have its own color. The cuttlefish will catch its prey by sticking out a tube like structure which will then pull in its prey and the cuttlefish will have a tasty snack. But if you're wondering “why does the Cuttlefish have cuttle in its name?” That's because in the top part of the cuttlefish's body it has a bone called the cuttlebone which helps the cuttlefish float.

Cuttlefish will live 2-3 years in the wild. But if you ever want to see the cuttlefish in the wild you will have to go to the coastlines of Australia. There during the mating season of the cuttlefish you may see hundreds of cuttlefish within a day. A few of the cuttlefish’s predators are dolphins, humans, birds and sometimes other cuttlefish. So that's basically a summary of what I learned during this unit, and I hope that you learned something too! by Nathan 

The Magnificent Compound Microscope

Have you ever used a compound microscope before? Well I have and it's pretty cool. The magnification levels are 40x(low power), 100x (medium power), and 400x (high power). So far in this unit we have been looking at some pretty interesting things like your own hair. Sounds bizarre but it's amazing. The way the microscope works is you need to make a wet mount slide so you can see what your looking at under the microscope. Then, you have to make sure that your object / specimen is focused so you can see it under low power. When you move your object to the right it actually moves to the left. But it's the same thing that happens when you move your object to the left it actually moves to the right. The other day in science class I looked at some sugar under the microscope and it looked like crystals which was awesome. Thank you for reading my blog post.  

~ By Haleigh

Leopard Geckos

Leopard geckos are reptiles and are found in Afghanistan, northwest India, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. They belong to Gekkonidae (Gec-kon-i-dee) family. Overall the leopard gecko reaches a length of about 10 inches and gets its name from the leopard like spots covering their bodies  as adults. Other geckos have toe pads which allow them to climb things; however, leopard geckos do not have these. But what they do have are little claws on their toes.                                                         

When the leopard gecko is attacked by a predator, if there is enough stress on the tail it will fall off. The leopard gecko’s tail is designed for this. When the tail falls off, the muscles around the wound close to block blood from coming out. But when this happens the leopard gecko is in trouble because it's tail holds extra fat. When the leopard gecko has not eaten for a while it will take some of the fat from its tail to help it survive. They will eat other lizards, insects, spiders and scorpions. (Leopard geckos are unaffected by scorpion stings.)   

Leopard geckos reach sexual maturity in 16 to 25 months. Their Breeding Season runs from January through September. Young females lay 1 to 3 clutches of 1 to 2 eggs in their first breeding. With age, they can produce up to 5 clutches per breeding season. The difference between male and female geckos is that the males have pores in the shape of a V in front of the vent (anus) and the females do not. In captivity, breeders have bred many different varieties of leopard geckos. And click here to see a video of my Bell albino leopard gecko. (by Finley)

The Saber-Toothed Tiger

I've always thought that the Saber Toothed Tiger was really cool. So I'm going to tell you some awesome facts about it. The Saber Toothed Tiger has been extinct for a long time. It lived along with the woolly mammoths in the Pleistocene epoch which was 2.6 million-12000 years ago. This epoch was characterized by mammals that grew strangely large and then went excited for two reasons- climate change and the disappearance of their size. Remember the movie ice age that biome extinct them.

The scientific name for the Saber Toothed Tiger is Smilodon. Did you know that it is hardly related to the modern day cats or tigers! I didn’t even know that. The saber toothed tiger was the name for three different species. The largest of the males weighed half a ton. They often fought a species called the dire wolf, the largest ancestral canine that ever lived. How long were their teeth? They were almost a foot long, but they broke easily. And their jaws were very weak. That's why they had a weird hunting style to protect their teeth. They pounced from tree branches and they would sink their giant canines into their prey’s neck and wait for them to bleed out. Click here for more information. (by Jake)

Compound Microscopes

In 6th grade science we have been using compound microscopes. Compound microscopes are super fun to use. They are definitely no ordinary microscope. The compound microscope has one eyepiece that you look through that magnifies the specimen 10x. In addition to the eyepiece there are three different lenses that you can look though. You switch between them to get different magnifications. The high power lens magnification is 40x, the medium power lens magnification is 10x, and the low power lens magnifies the specimen 4x. We learned that to find the total magnification of each lens multiply the lens power by the eyepiece magnification. So the total magnification for high power would be 400x because 40 times 10 equals 400. Also under the compound microscope everything is the opposite. So if your specimen is too far to the right, and you try to move it left it will appear to move more to the right. And we did a lab on the letter E under the microscope, and it was upside down. We love using the compound microscope! (By Violet)

The Platypus

The platypus is a very strange animal. It has a beak like a duck and webbed feet like a frog. Platypi are venomous mammals, they use their venom against other competition for mates. it has spurs that are located in the back of its body just above the heel of both legs with venom glands attached. Human beings have 5 senses but the platypus has a 6th sense. It's sixth sense is that it can sense the movement of muscles in another animal.This helps it sense where its prey is based on the fact they are living. The platypus can walk on land but awkwardly due to the fact that it's walking on knuckles to protect its webs. I chose this animal because I thought it was cool how we were learning about the special abilities of our pond specimens so I found another animal with cool, special abilities.  Click here to see a video about the platypus. (by Finn)

By Bella P, Maeve, Elijah, and Ed

By Ian, Jesse, and Greta

By Eli, Nathan, Finley, and Tenny

By Sofia, Lolie, and Finn

By Joe, Tim, Cat and Bella R

By Violet, Sakaria, and Russell

By Henry, Haleigh, and Jake

Can you guess our Mystery Photos? (by Julia, Julia, and Cece)

This thumbnail sized creature packs a mighty sting!

I was looking for something to write about and I found this...the Glaucus Atlanticus, or the blue sea slug! This amazing creature is found in the tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The Sea slugs diet includes Portuguese man-o-war and other blue sea slugs. The Glaucus eats the tentacles of man-o-war and while eating, nematocysts from the man-o-war are stored in a pouch for protection later on. The Glaucus is a hermaphrodite which means it has both female and male reproductive organs. This sea slug floats upside down to blend in with the water and they go where the wind takes them. If someone is unlucky enough to pick one of these up it could lead to a pretty painful sting. One weird fact about the Glaucus is that it has cerata which are like arms. The Glaucus has a close relative called the Glaucus marginatus. These two sea slugs look very similar. This creature connects to life science because it's an important part of the ecosystem. My conclusion is that this creature is also a real life Pokemon. Click here to read more about this creature. (by Eli)

Glaucus marginatus  

Glaucus atlanticus

The Colorful Sea Slug

In the Australian ocean there is a slug the size of a cup. This slug is called a Nudibranch. It is beautiful with bright colors and no bones, this creature is often considered one of the most beautiful animals in the world! There are over 3,000 species of Nudibranchs and they live in shallow waters where their food is. Nudibranchs eat coral, sponges, fish eggs. Their teeth are curved which helps them eat these round things. The toxins from their prey gives them their coloring. For example, if they eat something with purple toxins, they take on a purple color. Nudibranchs use the senses on their tentacles to feel where food is. These sea slugs can weigh up to 3.3 pounds and get up to a foot long! Check out this website: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/nudibranch/

I think they are fascinating because of their color. I also think their color is different and more unusual than other creatures. Animals usually have skin or fur that helps them blend in more. It's ok for them to be colorful because it is a warning for other creatures that they are poisonous.

Nudibranchs are similar and different then the invertebrates we studied in class. One thing they have in common is they all only live underwater. One difference is the Planaria, Daphnia, and Hydra all live in freshwater and the Nudibranch lives in saltwater. One more difference is the Nudibranch is much bigger than the other three we studied in class. (By: Julia L)

Narwhals

This amazing, graceful, unicorn of the sea swims in the arctic waters. Have you guessed it? If you guessed Narwhal, you are correct.  The Narwhal is a medium sized whale with a large pointed tooth on the top of its head. Its tooth helps it catch its prey, such as squid, Greenland halibut, shrimp, arctic cod, rockfish, flounder, and crab. The average weight of an adult Narwhal is from 1,800 to 3,500 lbs. Narwhals can be found in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland waters, and Russian waters. The amazing thing about Narwhals is that they can live up to 50 years. But they are killed mostly by suffocation when the sea freezes over in the winter. The population of Narwhals is around 75,000 so they are near threatened. I choose the topic of a Narwhal because I have always wanted to know more about Narwhals because they seem very interesting and they are the unicorn of the sea. This topic connects to life science because it is an amazing animal that has a very interesting role in this world. If you'd like to know more about Narwhals, click here for a video on them. (by Bella P.)

Amazing Organisms

In science class with Lisa we are doing Venn diagrams and then placing them on Thinglink, an app which allows us to share our projects with each other. We're doing the Venn diagrams on the Daphnia, Hydra and Planaria which are three microscopic organisms. In the Venn diagram we compared what each organism has in common. The most interesting thing I learned doing this project is that the planara have two huge eyespots that look the ones from Looney Tunes cartoon characters. The hardest thing about the project was finding facts that could fit into the Venn diagram. The best thing about the project was we got to be creative and design our own poster. Hopefully the next project will be as fun as this one. Click here to see my Venn diagram. (by Tenny)

Otters

Otters are otterly amazing animals. I chose Otters for my post because they are super fascinating. I always thought that otters were always in water, but actually they spend more time on land, being in water is just a stereotype. Otters live in freshwater habitats, such as lakes, rivers, and ponds. But there are sea otters too, living off the coast of the Northern Pacific, in shallow waters. Otters are carnivores, their main food source being fish. Otters were around over 4 million years ago. If you had to guess who was related to otters, you may guess the beaver because they both swim, and you would be wrong. They are actually related to badgers, ferrets, and minks. Otter’s tales are surprisingly long, about one third of their body length. Otters tend to live to around ten years old, but much longer in captivity. Otters are very skilled creatures. One of the cool things they make are their own dens just like beavers, also they have special vision that makes them able to see very small food sources that other organisms may not be able to see because they have very tiny eyes. You may not think this, but it is true. Otters are super fantastic, and I loved studying them! By now you should all love otters! To find out more info, go to Otter-world.com. To see an adorable video of a orphaned sea otter pup go to https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NWxYDKXJV2c. (by Violet)

Turtles Have Built in Compasses

Would you believe me if I told you that turtles have built in compasses? Well they do. It leads them to their place of birth. They also reproduce at their home beach. Turtles rely on Earth's magnetic field. Scientists believe that turtles track their home turf’s magnets. Each hatchling registers their home’s unique magnetic coordinate. When they leave, they follow ocean currents to different regions. When they are ready to reproduce, they automatically go home and lay their eggs there. This is called geomagnetic imprinting, which means absorbing the magnetic fields shortly after their birth. I think this relates to our science class because we were studying water animals and this is a cool fact about an ocean reptile. I found all of this here. Check out the turtle video at this website! (By Sofia)

Project for Pond Ecology Unit

Recently in my science class, we have started doing projects for our Pond Ecology unit. We have been learning about pond ecology since the beginning of the school year. The projects include information for three organisms we have been learning about in our previous classes. The three organisms are Daphnia, Hydra and Planaria. Our class got the choice of telling story in iMovie or some other resource, or make a Venn diagram to compare all three organisms. If you chose to tell a story, you had to choose between one of the three organisms, and tell a story about them. You can make the story up, but the facts need to be true. If you chose to do a Venn diagram, you have 3 circles instead of 2. Each organism has it’s own circle. In the organisms circle, you only write about facts about the organism only. If you bump into a cross over section, you write facts about what the two organisms have in common. There is one section where you have to write facts about all three organisms and what they have in common. You will also create your Venn diagram in Thinglink to make your project interactive. Here is my Thinglink.

I chose the Venn diagram because I thought it would be cool to not just only write facts down about the three organisms that we have learned about, but to learn more about them than I did before the project started. My favorite part of the process is actually making the Venn diagram on Thinglink because it is nice the way the app lets you layout your projects, or presentations or anything you are doing freely. Here is my Thinglink that I made on the three organisms my class has been studying about. (by Cece)

All About the Hydra

We learned about the Hydra in science class. Hydra is carnivore. The Hydra has stinging cells called nematocysts. The hydra can't see or hear, the only way it can catch its prey is if the prey bumps into it. Then it will grab its prey quickly and paralyze it using its stinging cells. When it becomes paralyzed the hydra uses its tentacles  to push the prey into its mouth. A food chain involving the hydra is Algae~Daphnia~Hydra. The hydra eats  Daphnia and other cyclops. The hydra is a relative to the jelly fish species. The hydra lives in ponds and sticks on objects underwater. That's the facts I know to the hydra! (by Sakaria)

Here is a video I made while looking at a hydra through a microscope.

Water Bears

Did you know that there is an organism that can survive in most environments? It’s called the water bear. The scientific name is Tardigrade and it means slow walker in Latin. They can survive the coldest antarctic ice, hot springs, deep sea trenches, Himalayan mountain tops and much much more.  Water bears are translucent with a hint of taupe-ish brown color.  They are 1/16th of an inch long, have eight legs with claws, and a snout.  Scientists have proven that water bears can go to space and come back unharmed and reproduce as well in space. Water bears can slow down their metabolism, lose most of their water and curl up into a state called “tun”, when they are dry or salty. Tuns can handle 600 times the atmospheric pressure of Earth. Also tuns can be frozen for more than a year, at 300 degrees below zero.  If you add water to a tun it can turn back into a Tardigrade. Tuns have been brought back to life after a century and still look the same as it did before. Water bears are super cool and there is so much to learn about. (By Lolie)

I got my information from this article. Be sure to check it out!

Smart Elephants

If I told you to name a very intelligent animal you would probably say something like a dolphin, but you wouldn't think of an elephant. Well guess what? It's true, elephants are some of the most intelligent animals in the world.They can throw sticks and rocks at electrical fences to shorten the power, they can block water holes with bark to drive other animals away from the water, and they can even swat the bugs away with branches. Elephants can figure all of this out because they have the biggest brain of all land animals in the world. I chose this topic because I thought it was very interesting because I never knew elephants were so smart. If you want to read more about this, click here. (by Russell)



http://www.eonline.com/news/529865/18-videos-that-prove-baby-elephants-are-the-cutest-baby-animals-ever

Hummingbirds

Did you know that hummingbirds are among the smallest birds in the world. The hummingbird brain is about 4.2% of its body weight and the heart is about 2.5% of its body weight. The heart beats about 1,260 times per minute and about 250 times when resting. The hummingbirds average body temperature is 107° Fahrenheit! It's wings beat 70 times per second and 200 times when diving. Hummingbirds connect to our class because we have been studying about amazing organisms in class. I chose this topic because they have so many special adaptations and not a lot of organisms can survive without adaptations. Not to mention that they have a lot more characteristics than normal birds. Hummingbirds are some of the most fascinating birds in the world. What do you think the world would be like without hummingbirds? For more information, visit worldofhummingbirds.com and click on the green icon at the top that says “Facts”.  (By Ian)

Rock Snot

Have you ever heard about rock snot? If you have then you know how disgusting it is. Now, I  can imagine your puzzlement. Where did this thing come from, how come I've never heard of it? Well here's why. This is Didymosphenia geminata, known as rock snot, or didymo for short. It's not harmful to humans, thankfully. What it does is that it takes up space and it kills off smaller organisms in rivers which could collapse the entire ecological system. It also plugs drainage pipes and when it gets to the dams in rivers it clogs them up which can cause damage. The thing is that humans caused this huge explosion of algae, with the help from a little phosphorus. Although it is not actually an invasive species anywhere (except for New Zealand), what I am trying to say is that this is real and it’s bad. (by Elijah)

Sources: BBC and Muse Magazine
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20140922-green-snot-takes-over-worlds-rivers

Invasive Plants

Did you know that Falmouth, Maine has been dealing with invasive plants? First of all if you don't know what invasive means, it basically means that the organism was accidentally introduced into the place they ended up and they started a problem. The opposite of invasive is native and native means they are from that habitat. There are some people in Falmouth, Maine dealing with some plants that are invasive. They have very extensive infestations from knotweed. I wonder how they are handling this situation? It is probably a lot of work. Professionals will probably be needed. (by Bella R)

This is the link I used for my information:

http://www.theforecaster.net/falmouth-spends-less-than-planned-to-stem-invasive-plants/

Land Hermit Crabs

Ouch! Watch your fingers! These crustaceans can be defensive if you don't treat them well. The Hermit Crab is an interesting animal. It has one big claw and a small one; it drags the big claw around because it's too heavy for the crab to hold up. They drag it around like an injured leg! Usually the big claw is colored purple or blue. They can eat mostly fruits, vegetables and little pellets of compacted food. I usually feed my Hermit Crabs pellets and vegetables to keep them healthy. A Hermit Crab’s life span is about 30 to 70 years in its own habitat; that's a long time for a little crustacean. But after being removed from its habitat and put in captivity it only lives for up to about a year. Hermit Crabs in captivity actually die slowly from suffocation because their modified gills require high humidity in order to breathe. Hermit Crabs need lots of friends for climbing, foraging and exploring. That's why I have two Hermit Crabs named Acadia and Baxter. Click here for a video to see how they move around. (By Joe)

How does your body react when you’re scared?

For my blog post I wanted to look at current events. My question is how does your body react when it is scared? I thought there was no better time because Halloween just happened. According to Dr. Robert Glatter who is an emergency physician at the Lenox Hill Hospital many things happen. When your body is scared it goes into something called fight or flight response. That was helpful a long time ago when there were bears chasing cavemen. But unless something like that is happening to you it is not that helpful. When you are scared adrenaline rushes into your body, which comes from your Autonomic Nervous System. Adrenaline is a hormone that makes your body react differently when you are scared. That can lead to a rapid heartbeat, dilated pupils, and blood flow to muscles like your heart. Adrenaline also triggers calcium. Calcium also rushes to the heart and makes it contract. (by Maeve)

Here is my source of information: 

http://www.livescience.com/52573-can-you-die-of-fright.html

Leaf Litter Frogs

Can you name an animal that plays dead? You probably said opossum, and you're correct. But have you ever heard that a frog plays dead? They do, the leaf litter frog plays dead to protect themselves from predators. The leaf litter frog plays dead by flipping on their back, shutting their eyes, and throw their arms and legs all the way back. They stay on their backs for about two minutes. This article inspired me to write about frogs playing dead. In my science class we were studying frogs, that is why I chose this topic. Click here to read the article I read. (by Ed)

Soft vs Hard Shell Maine Lobsters

Many lobsters are affected by the ocean waters. Water temperature plays a role in lobsters' movement because when it is cold, lobsters do not move much to feed. In 2012 and 2013 the ocean was warmer because of mild winters. There were a lot of lobsters and they shed their shells early in this season because of the warmer water. This means they molted their shells. Young lobsters molt five times a year and older lobsters molt once a year. Soft shell lobsters are lower in price. The winters of 2014 and 2015 were very cold. The ocean water was very cold and the lobster prices went up because the shells were hard. Lobsterman were making more money in 2014 and 2015. Weather impacts Maine lobsters. I chose this topic because I wanted to learn more about lobsters.

                                          red bands is soft shell and  blue bands is hard shell

Even though the picture does not show a difference in appearance, the soft shell lobster has a paper thin shell. It weighs less. (by Tim)

Source: www.pressherald.com/2012/06/19/whats-in-a-name-its-soft-shell

South Carolina Ant Raft

In South Carolina there was recently a flood and in order to save themselves the fire ants built an ant raft. When the water starts to flood, worker ants link together with their legs and mouths to form the base of the raft. The process can take less than two minutes. Then the ants move the queen and larvae on to the center of the raft where they can stay safe and dry. The ant raft can survive for several weeks if not eaten by fish and other sea creatures first. If too many of the ants get eaten the raft will collapse and the ants will not survive. Also if the ants do not reach land they will not survive. I chose this topic because I thought it was really interesting to see how that species survives. (by Jesse)

Please click here to watch a video about the ant raft. 

Going Bananas!

I was talking with my babysitter, and we thought about many different things to write about for my blog post, and then she remembered a podcast she listened to that talked about the commonly eaten cavendish banana, and how this particular type of banana may be going extinct because of a disease called the Panama disease. The cavendish banana was actually chosen to be our main banana, because it was thought to actually be resistant to the Panama disease. Now, this fungus hasn't hit any of the Americas yet but it is on its way and it's only a matter of possibly 5-10 years until it could maybe even wipe out the cavendish species itself. There are only two ways to figure out this problem. We either find a different species that we can adjust to, meaning we adjust to a different taste, size, and possibly color of banana, or we find a cure for the Panama disease. Frankly I don't think we can find a cure seeing that they have been trying for over five years.

This sounds pretty bad right? Well it gets worse. There are over 1,000 different types of bananas around the world. At the moment though there is no replacement for the cavendish banana because out of the 1,000s of bananas, we would have to find a better way to ship them, and a faster way or else the banana would go bad on it's trip, and become very bruised. The cavendish particularly though, is the only banana species that is suited for shipment because of its tough skin. The banana also ripens at the correct rate for shipping well.

Will we be saying goodbye to our most beloved fruit?

Click here and here to listen to two different podcasts about this topic. (by Cat)

The Slippery and Slimy Snail

Humans in France eat snails. The dish is called Escargot (es-cargo because you don't pronounce the t). Sometimes it is served in fancy restaurants in the U.S.A and other places in the world. Sometimes items in facial creams are made by snails.  Some of the different snails are the apple snail, Malaysian trumpet snail, Sulawesi snail, and the pond snail (the one we caught). Snails are very slow and live basically everywhere in the world! This topic was important to me because it is not a common topic. This is related to science because snails are living animals, and we are working on living animals/plants. We collected snails at the pond and I thought that I should give a chance to snails so that caused me to pick snails for the Vital Signs project. Have you ever seen a larger sized snail? Here is the picture of the pond snail (taken by Lolie). Click here to go toa website to learn more facts about snails. (by Greta)

Source: http://www.planetinverts.com/snail_species.html