For this blog post, please answer the following questions:
1) For the organism you investigated, what are 5 facts you learned and found interesting?
2) Choose 3 other organisms; for each, list 2 facts you learned during the presenations.
3) What did you enjoy about this project?
4) What was the most challenging aspect of this project? Do you feel you successfully overcame this challenge? If not, how would you overcome this challenge in the future?
Your responses are due by Monday, October 7, 2013.
My group and I researched a class one organism, the Riffle Beetle. The Riffle Beetle can be found all around the world in healthy rivers with limited pollution. The Riffle Beetle cannot survive in polluted areas, because most of the macroinvertebrates 3 to 4 year life cycle is lived in the water. The larvae of the beetle breathes through creating an air bubble around itself using a collection of tightly packed hairs so it is able to spend its’ time at the bottom of the river so it is not taken down stream by the stronger current at the top. The beetles also lay their small groups of eggs, of 9 typically, at the bottom of the stream. The Riffle Beetle also has claws at the end of each limb to help the beetle stay at the bottom and collect its prey.
ReplyDeleteCranefly: most adults don't eat, because only goal is to mate and lay eggs
wings and body is water proof
Stonefly: double sided wings
mate in swarms
Damesfly: sometimes grow large enough to eat a small fish
thermoregulation- they have to heat themselves up before flight
3) I enjoyed the different ways that each group presented, even if they did a poster like most groups, each one was individual and interesting to look at.
4) The most challenging aspect for me was to get in front of my peers and present an organism that I did not know anything about before the previous week. I successfully overcame this challenge by preparing myself with the knowledge about the Riffle Beetle.
Linnea and I researched everyone's favorite organism, the leech. Leeches are basically born as miniature versions of their parents and gradually grow over time. They are segmented worms that have two suckers and two brains, one at each end of their bodies. Leeches are known for being blood-suckers, but they also eat some smaller organism as well. They have a very advanced nervous system that they use to find prey and when they find themselves as prey they generally play dead. Leeches are also strangely both male and female at the same time and are capable of reproducing as either.
ReplyDeleteI was unfortunately not in attendance for the presentations of the other organisms.
I enjoyed working as a group on this project and creating a Play-Doh masterpeice.
The most challenging part of the project was creating the perfect leech Play-Doh color. I'm not sure that the average leech is a pale green with yellow stripes and pink teeth. This, although humorous, could be improved upon in the future.
Ally, Nicole and I researched the Clubtail Dragonfly. Something interesting I learned about this organism is that they are "perchers" which means that they sit and wait for prey to come near them in order for them to attack. I also learned that clubtail eggs are covered in a sticky substance that keeps them firmly attached to the river bottom. To prevent overheating, the clubtails will sometimes assume the "obelisk" posture, in which the abdomen is raised until its tip points at the sun. This minimizes the area of abdomen exposed to the sun's radiation. Since the clubtail is a class two organism, its presence is an indicator of good water quality. I also learned that the clubtail dragonfly has an incomplete lifecycle, which mean it only goes through three stages of development instead of four.
ReplyDeleteDobson flies live about three days and have strong jaws to rip apart prey.
Crayfish go through no developmental metamorphosis and can emit a chemical to alert other crawfish of their presence.
Gilled snails make good pets and spend their whole lives underwater.
I enjoyed that we could work in groups on this project, and that we could present whatever material we deemed relevant. The most challenging part of this project was at the beginning trying to get our prezi to work. Although we eventually overcame this obstacle and if I do say so myself, had a pretty awesome, multi-media prezi.
My group and I researched the clubtail dragonfly, which is a class 2 organism. The dragonfly has an incomplete life cycle, only going through 3 different stages. Dragonflies stay close to shore to mate, and male dragonflies are very competitive with their territory. The dragonfly is an extremely agile flier and can escape danger quickly. Adult dragonfleis feed on soft bodied insects such as mosquitos, ants, and moths. The most fascinating fact I found out about the clubtail dragonfly is since they are such smooth, aerodynamic fliers they inspire engineers to mimic their flight style in robots and technology.
ReplyDeleteFlat Worms: Prefer still, stagnate water, can reproduce both sexually or asexually.
Cranefly: Completely water proof, eaten by birds, bats, and yellow jackets.
Caddisfly: Help control algae growth, needs high oxygen levels.
I really enjoyed working with my group, and learning about all the different organisms. I not only found out new things about my creature, but many others. I liked being able to pick which presentation method we wanted to use, and seeing which everyone else picked.
The most challenging thing my group and I ran across was the difficulty using Prezi. At first our computers were not letting us log in to the site which was super frustrating. Once we got the glitches out with the laptop and site, we overcame this challenge. I am really happy how mine and everyone else's presentations came out!
Thomas and I investigated the mayfly or, if you want to get more technical, Ephermoptera. The mayfly is fairly interesting, in that they are semelparous, which means that they reproduce only once in their life before they ultimately die. Female mayflies rely on the polarization of the light that reflects off of water to find a suitable place to lay their eggs, but they can also get it confused with light reflecting off of pavement due to car’s headlights. Adult mayflies do not actually have a mouth or digestive organs, for they only live in the adult stage only long enough to reproduce. There are actually four different types of mayfly subimagoes: burrower, swimmer, clinger, and crawler. As a whole, the species is a good indicator of water quality, because they cannot stand a high amount of pollution and will therefore die if exposed to it.
ReplyDeleteCrayfish: The females keep their eggs under their underside, and they are very sensitive to variables of temperature, climate, resources and the like – which will ultimately determine how long they will stay in their juvenile stage.
Black Fly: Blackflies are attracted to carbon dioxide, and they tend to stay in riffle areas.
Club Tail Dragonfly: They eat mayfly larvae, and the females leave a sticky residue on the eggs so that they are able to stick to the bottom.
I enjoyed most that I was able to work with a classmate and that we were able to collaborate our efforts to create something unique and, dare I say, awesome! Also, although not quite specifically-tied to the project, I enjoyed how my partner actually helped with the project; too long have I had a partner at my home school that just tried to use me.
The most challenging part of the project would have to have been when Thomas and I were researching the information. It is quite easy to utilize information, at least in my own opinion, but actually researching it was dull and boring. Yes, I do think that I overcame this challenge.
Rachel and I researched caddisflies. Caddisflies go through a complete metamorphosis and during the larval stage they enter a casing. This protective casing made of a thin layer of silk and is covered with whatever is in their surroundings. It could be made of rocks, mud, sand, sticks, or anything that they can find. Due to their case-making abilities, some people give them things and allow them to make cases out of gold or jewels and people make them into jewelry. Caddisflies also can be used as a great fishing bait and help to control the algae population.
ReplyDeleteCranefly: completely waterproof body, like "mosquitoes on steroids"
Leeches: very advanced nervous system, born in a miniature adult form
Clubtail Dragonfly: sits in obelisk position to regulate body temperature
I really enjoyed this project. I love that we were able to work in groups and use whatever information we thought was important. I also really enjoyed that there was no set project type and that we could be creative when doing these.
The most challenging part of this project was making the case models perfect. It took quite a bit time and precision, but it was definitely worth it in the long run. I was really pleased with how our presentation along with everyone else's turned out. I really hope we can do more projects like this one!!!
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ReplyDeleteMorgan and I researched caddisflies. The caddisfly goes through complete metamorphosis. In the larval stage it creates a protective casing which it can make from whatever it has in its environment (pebbles, leaves, bark). Due to this reason, caddisflies are sometimes used to make jewelry out of pieces of gold, pearls, or gems. Fishermen use caddisflies as bait. The adults are nocturnal and they lay their eggs in a gelatin blob.
ReplyDeleteCranefly: completely waterproof & nocturnal
Water penny: can’t control body temperature & lay eggs in a plant stem
Crayfish: oldest fossil & some can change colors
I enjoyed being able to work in groups and loved getting to see everyone else’s different and creative presentations.
The most challenging part of this project was getting up in front of that many people and presenting the project. In order to overcome this, we had a solid and detailed plan of how we were going to present.