Adaptations of Stream Organisms

My group and I researched the Water Penny, which is surprisingly interesting for an organism that literally looks like a penny. Some very neat adaptations include ones for protection. The female lays up to 600 eggs inside the stem of a plant in order to keep her offspring from harm. Also, their shape is part of their adaptation. The fact that they can flatten themselves to hide on the rocks they cling onto keeps the water pennies safe from predators. Though water pennies have some very beneficial adaptations, they are heterothermic, meaning they have little to no control over their body temperatures. This makes them very susceptible to drastic climate change. These are very pollution sensitive creatures so they indicate good water quality. Water pennies always live in areas with lots of dissolved oxygen, like riffle areas.

Black Fly-
Attracted to mammals because of the CO2 and sweat.
Black flies have a silk-like thread to float to more oxygen

Dobsonfly-
They molt 10-12 times throughout their lifetime. 
Dobsonflies don't eat as adults

Crayfish-
Crayfish can emit chemicals for communication.
Some types of crayfish can change color.

I enjoyed thinking of ways to present that would be interesting, regardless of whether or not we could put each idea into effect. Watching other presentations definitely got me thinking about next time and what I could change to make my presentation more compelling. 

As a person with zero artistic talent, I always find it difficult to pull together a visual. After brainstorming something creative, I try it, fail miserably, and end up with a poster. Our poster definitely was not the worst I've ever done, but it could have been better. Next time I hope to find some other way of using a visual without trying something too artistic for my abilities.