Monday, December 12, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Maggots Lab
Emma 7A
December 5, 20ll
Guiding Question: How will temperature effect the development of maggots into flies?
Hypothesis: I think that the maggots will develop faster in the cold than in the heat.
Variables you will change: The temperature where the maggots are kept will change. (One group of maggots will be in the classroom at room temperature and one group of maggots will be in the refrigerator.)
Controlled Variables: The plastic containers for the maggots and what they include will be the same in both groups.
Exploration -
Materials:
- 16 maggots
- dirt
- water
- leaves
- 2 plastic containers
- branches
- food (tuna fish)
- Tin foil
- 16 maggots
- dirt
- water
- leaves
- 2 plastic containers
- branches
- food (tuna fish)
- Tin foil
- 2 rubber bands
Procedure:
1. Find 2 identical plastic containers
2. Add an equal amount of dirt, sticks and water to each of the 2 containers
3. Put 8 maggots in each container
4. Place tin foil on top so the maggots do not get out
5. Secure the foil with a rubber band
6. Poke small holes on top of the tin foil so the maggots can breath
7. Label the containers so they don’t get mixed up Frigus= cold
Calidis = warm or hot
8. Place the frigus one in the cold area of a refrigerator and the leave the calidis one at room temperature in a place safe in the classroom
9. After flies appear, add food to container
Record & Analyze –
Observation 1
The maggot container in the refrigerator named frigus or cold is more moist than calidis or hot container of maggots in the classroom. Also one of the maggots that we saw in frigus container was in a cocoon getting ready to transform to a fly. We cannot see the ones in calidis container. Also, in the calidis container there is fungus, there is no fungus in frigus container.
Observation 2
The two containers look a bit different but not too much. We did notice that the calidis is dryer than the figus which is very moist. We believe that most of the maggots are in cocoons, but not all. In the calidis container, there is also more fungus now. It is spreading onto the leaves and not only the sticks.
Observation 3
Today we noticed that all of the maggots in frigus container are in cocoons and their cocoons are turning red. It is still very moist in the frigus. The calidis container is very dry and it is all covered in mold. Also it seems to be decaying.
Observation 4
Today we saw that in the calidis container, one maggot has formed into a fly. Also, more mold is growing. In the frigus container, the maggots are still in their cocoons and it is still very damp.
Observation 5
In the calidis container, we now have eight flies. However, one of them got out. We have seven in the container. We also noticed that the mold in the calidis container is disappearing. We think that they are eating it. In the frigus container, it all looks the same. It is still moist and no sign of flies.
Observation 6
In the calidis container there were six flies alive. Now two flies got but did not die. In the frigus container nothing happened yet. The frigus is still moist. Since we have not seen any differences, we decided to leave it out of the refrigerator to see if it would have any changes.
Observation 7
In the frigus container, all the maggots died and none turned into fly in the end. In the calidis, five of the six remaining flies died and the one that was still alive we let go free.
Analysis of Data –
What I saw in my data was that the cold, damp environment in the refrigerator made it quite hard for the maggots to survive. It seems that the frigus maggots did not want to come out of their cocoons. Maybe this was because it was too cold for them or they had died due to the cold temperature. I also found it interesting that the sample in the refrigerator did not grow any mold while the one in the classroom did.
Concept Acquisition (conclusion)- I think that the maggots will develop faster in the cold than in the heat. I thought that temperature would affect the development of maggots into flies. It does but not the way I thought it would. My prediction was not correct since no flies grew in the cold. All the maggots in the refrigerator when into their little cocoons and died. All the maggots in the classroom, also went into their cocoons and came out as flies. I learned that maggots develop into flies faster and better in a warm climate than in a cold one.
Concept Application (further inquiry) – We had trouble observing the maggots in the frigus container because it had much more soil, leaves, and sticks than the calidis container. Next time I would measure the dirt and other materials to make absolutely sure that each container had the exact same amount. Also, although my partner and I knew there was one larger hole on the top of the containers other than the breathing holes, we didn’t think it was so big that the flies could get out. Taking before and after photos would have made my lab report more interesting too. My new hypothesis would be that maggots should grow faster in warmer climates.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Blue Poison Dart Frog
As you can see this frog is poisonous since its name is the Blue Poison Dart Frog. This frog is the most poisonous frog known. It gives off a very bad tasting poisonous toxin from its skin that i
s deadly. This is their self defense mechanism. So if a predator tries to eat them and picks it up with its mouth it will release its deadly poison. This frog is not prey because it tastes so bad to any predators. The Blue Poison Dart Frogs are found in South America. In conclusion, I don’t know about you but I would not like to have this particular frog as a pet.
http://www.aqua.org/animals_bluepoisondartfrog.html
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Restaurants plan DNA-certified
premium seafood
By ROD McGUIRK , Associated Press – Sunday, November 27, 2011
This week I read an article about a new science technology that tests seafood to see if it is labeled correctly and not as a different type of fish. This tool is called DNA barcoding. Basically this tool checks if food is really what you think it is. Currently this tool can test up to 167,000 species. This new DNA barcoding technology was built for consumers so they will know that what they are buying and eating is what they see being advertised. Studies have found that seafood items are often labeled incorrectly. Not only is this bad because you are paying more than the fish is actually worth but it can also be dangerous. According to the article, “In 2007, several people became seriously ill from eating illegally imported toxic pufferfish from China that had been mislabeled as monkfish to circumvent U.S. import restrictions.” Some studies have even shown endangered species being sold when labeled as different kind of fish. Scientists are working to add all 1.8 million species on Earth into a Barcode of Life DNA library. I think this tool could be very helpful to people with allergies, if in the future it could be used to test things other than fish and animal products. For example, if a kid had a peanut allergy maybe DNA barcoding could be used to tell if the food they want to eat is nut free. In conclusion, I think this tool could possibly be very important to our future. Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Rabbit Bean Population Lab
Last science class we did a lab about population. We used beans to represent the rabbit that we were trying to find the population for. What we did was we were trying to find the population growth of rabbit over 5 years. We started with 2 bean and each time we would dabble the rabbits witch means the rabbit had kids. we it start at 0 years with 2 rabbit at year 1 you will have 4 rabbits at 2 years you would have 8 rabbit and so on. After we had collected our date of how many rabbits there would be in 5 years if you started with only 2 rabbits we made a graph. It show what our data. Then our teacher challenges us and had us fined the amount of rabbits there would be in 10 years but it was not that hard. In conclusion I think this was a grate way to learn about population.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Polar Bears’ Plight: How to Help
by Ron Claiborn, ABC news reporter
November 20, 2011
November 20, 2011
Today I read an article and watched a video about polar bears. Both were about how the polar bear environment is changing due to global warming. This is a big problem for polar bears. To be specific, the polar bears in the new this week live close to Manitoba, Canada. The polar bears that live there have been wondering into town in recent years looking for food. This is unsafe for both the polar bears and humans. Polar bears are very large wild animals that can harm humans and can be a very dangerous animal. Animals rescue workers capture these polar bears. They take them to something like a jail but for bears to see if they are healthy for one or two weeks. Then the rescuers release them back into their natural habitats in the wilderness about forty miles from Manitoba. The polar bears are marked with a green paint dot so scientists will be able to tell if the same polar bear returns to Manitoba. Polar bears hunt for their food on ice. They are hungry because they haven’t eaten since the ice melted in July. New ice has not yet formed for them to hunt. Each year their hunting season has been getting shorter and they must adapt to their changing environment. But not its getting harder and they aren’t getting enough to eat. This is because of global warming. Scientists predict that there will be no ice in this area by 2080 and they are making plans to move the polar bear community further north so they can survive.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Ready to blow? Homes evacuated on Canary Island as underwater volcano spews molten rock 60ft into the air
By Chris Parsons 7th November 2011
This week I read an article about an erupting volcano in the Canary Islands which is located in the Atlantic Ocean by Spain. Now this is not an ordinary above ground volcano. This volcano is under the water on the ocean floor. The lava or magma from the erupting undersea volcano is polluting the water around the Canary Islands with yellow and brown lava. The Canary Islands are made up of several islands made up of volcanoes over thousands of years. This volcano is located just off the island of El Hierro. The last eruption on El Hierro was in 1793 over two- hundred years ago. Authorities have been evacuating certain areas of the El Hierro island after the number of minor earthquakes in one day was over one-hundred fifty.
If this volcano were to have a major eruption, it would not be good. Scientists have found out that quakes causing volcanic activity in this general area could cause a bad tsunami. That could happen if there was major shift in the titanic plates. Scientists believe a mega tsunami could reach the east coast of the United States which is quite far away. It could also reach and other places in Europe, the North of Africa and parts of South America.
The underwater volcanic eruption off El Hierro cannot be good for marine life, the environment, or the nearby coast of El Hierro and its people. In conclusion I really like this article because it included a lot of pictures and graphs and even a video that helped the readers visualize the eruption of this unusual under sea volcano.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Huge Crack Discovered in Antarctic Glacier
By OurAmazingPlanet Staff Space.com | SPACE.com – Wed, Nov 2, 2011
This week I read an article about a very large new crack discovered in the Antarctic Glacier. The crack was spotted from an airplane flying over the Antarctic. The plane had come from Chile to take pictures of the area for scientists to study the polar ice as. Scientists have a way for figuring out how long deep and wide the glacier is by just taking a 3-D picture of it using an Airborne Topographic Mapper instrument. I would say that this is a pretty big crack in the glacier. It is 18 miles long and the deepest point of the crack is 195 feet.
The process of the glacier splitting is called calving. This means that a piece of the glacier will break off. When that happens to this new crack, the new glacier will have a surface area of about 340 square miles. Most of this new glacier will be underwater.
When I saw the picture and read the article, I wondered if the crack was caused by global warming. I’m sure scientists are now studying this. I realize more than ever that we need to take better care of our environment because if all the ice caps and glaciers melt the sea levels will rise and flood coastal areas. I wonder if landlocked areas would be affected as well by climate changes and migration from coastal areas. I think this could be a big problem in the future and am glad that scientists have discovered this new crack and are studying it.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Air pollution tied to lung cancer in non-smokers
By Kerry Grens | Reuters – Fri, Oct 28, 2011
This week I read an article about lung cancer. It talked about a 26 year study conducted on 180,000 non-smokers from every state in the United States of America. From the study scientists discovered that people who have never smoked in their life have a higher chance of getting lung cancer if they lived in an area with a lot of air pollution. According to the study, “people who have never smoked, but who live in areas with higher air pollution levels, are roughly 20 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than people who live with cleaner air.” Smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer in the world today. However, this study shows that even if you are a non-smoker you need to be concerned about your environment and the air you are breathing.
When I saw is the middle of this article I thought of when I lived in Indonesia and there was so much pollution there. It was so hard to breathe there sometimes and I never knew it was that bad for you to breath in the air. I also was thinking why do people smoke if they know it is bad for you? Smoking turns your teeth and finger nails yellow and gives you bad breath. It turns your lungs black. None of these things are good in anyway. In conclusion, smoking is not worth risking your life and getting Lung cancer.
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