Mollusk Discovery!

Gastropod

Common and Scientific Name

Couldnt find the common name / Flabellina rubrolineata

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Order: Opisthobranchia

Family: Flabellina

Genus: rubrolineata

Specific Name: Flabellina rubrolineata

Picture and link to a video:

Video below!

http://vimeo.com/10266893

Characteristics of group:
Nudibranchs do not have shells or reduced shells. They breathe through their gills and skin. These gastropods are often toxic and may have stingers. Their bright colors are used as a warning, to other animals, that they are poisonous. Nudibranchs also have a radula; a ribbon like tooth structure. This is used for eating and may even cut through oyster shells.



Crustaceans and Echinoderms in Construction

*Crustaceans and Echinoderms*

Similarities: They are both bilateral, but only when echinoderms are in their larvae stage.

Differences: Echinoderms have an endoskeleton while crustaceans have and exosketelton. Crustaceans have 5 legs, while an echinoderms has no body segiments. Crustaceans molt their outer layer and grow news ones. Echinoderms do not molt.

Examples of Crustaceans

(http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RVsMiNRNEYs/SwGEINt5ffI/AAAAAAAAJ-w/sdNxME3nUOk/ShrimpWhitebanded1.jpg)

White-banded Cleaner Shrimp

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Malacostraca

Order: Decapoda

Family: Alpheidae

Genus: Lysmata

Specific Name: amboinensis

(http://www.dpughphoto.com/images/ghost%20crab%20springer%27s%20point%2051106.JPG)

Ghost Crab

 Examples of Echinoderms

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Malacostraca

Order: Decapoda

Family: Ocypodoidea
Genus: Ocypode

Specific Name: ceratophthalma

(http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/acechar/image/photos/fiddler.jpg)

Fiddler Crab

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Malacostraca

Order: Decapoda

Family: Ocypodoidea
Genus: Uca

Specific Name: pugnax

Examples of Echinoderms

(http://www.stanford.edu/~bhackett/monterey-2005-02-04/images/california-sea-cucumber.jpg)

California Sea Cucumber

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Holothuroidea

Order: Aspidochirotida

Family: Curculionoidea
Genus: Parastichopus

Specific Name: californicus

(http://www.layoutstar.com/images/allbackgrounds/bgs/upped/1245927403.jpg)

Blue Sea Star

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Asteroidea

Order: Not Listed

Family: Not Listed
Genus: Phataria

Specific Name: unifascialis

(http://rlv.zcache.com/pair_of_giant_red_sea_urchins_fine_art_prints-p228374452788696333trma_400.jpg)

Giant Red Sea Urchin

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Echinoidea

Order: Echinoida

Family: Curculionoidea
Genus:Strongylocentrotus

Specific Name: franciscanus

COOL VIDEO!



Signs of Spring! Still in Construction!

Signs of Spring

*Site One*

The first signs of spring I recognized were the bright, green honeysuckles growing along the JV football field. The trees were blocking the sun here and the breeze was quite chilly. I could hear the wind and, according to Mrs. Richardson, at least seven different birds.

Above is Katelynn Watson trying to lick the honeysuckles, I guess. Not sure you're really going to get anything out of that Katelynn! Haha!

My amazing picture taking skills are revealed in the above picture. Once again honeysuckles are famous; Lydia and Katelynn wanted a picture with the honeysuckles.

This picture just shows all the green that comes along with spring! :)

*Site Two*

Our next site was on the side of the pond. Here we saw many buds on bushes and trees along with alder catkins. There was still a cold wind here and the sun still couldn't reach us. I could hear the wind blowing and crows crowing. Someone said the temperature was 43 degrees here, but the wind made it feel much much colder!

(Pictures from sight 2 taken by Katelynn Watson)

*Site Three*

(Picture taken by Katelynn Watson)

At this site, the sun was shining, but there was still a chilly breeze. I could hear the leaves rushing. In the picture above, you see buds beginning to blossom. The perfect sign of spring coming our way.

*Site Four*

(Picture taken by Katelynn Watson)

In this picture, the tress are covered with buds. The wind, like the other sites, was still blowing a cold breeze. The sun was still out but was not very bright here. The leaves were still blowing and the birds were still chirping. Spring has sprung! :)

Biofilm Simulation at the G.C. Marine Reserve

Biofilm Simulation at the G.C. Marine Reserve

Dear Mom,

So, to start off, the picture above and below are pictures of the yummy lab we did on Friday! You ask, why the weird combination? The point of this lab was to simulate biofilms and how they work. Biofilms are a bunch of life on a thing, simple as that. The graham cracker represented Plexiglas; the icing was the EPS, or in easier terms slime. We then had to add the "organisms." The first organism to stick was the red coralline algae (red sugar crystals). We then added a slightly bigger organism called diatoms (brown long johns). The next organisms were the barnacles (rainbow sprinkles) and then the coral (rainbow long johns). Oysters were the next organisms that we added; they were represented by flower sprinkles. The last product we added to our biofilms were for every ten barnacles, we added a small marshmallow. All in all my biolfilm had 144 organisms land on it. This is lab was a great way to show how a biofilm works, while also being very delicious! We should try it some time! :)

Love, Autumn!



Plankton Wars & Algae in the Cuboard!

*PLANKTON WARS*

Pictured above: Katelynn Watson (Left), Ika Wika (Middle), Autumn Wood (Right), Lydia Haren (Back, not sure why she is in this picture??)

Yes, Ika Wika looks like a winner, but she was not! :( Disappointing, I know, since she is the MOST creative! :) She was made out of clay, toothpicks, paperclips, brads, a sponge, and ribbon. We started by making her tail and putting two toothpicks in her tail to make her body. Next, put a piece of sponge as her body, then attached her head. We then added the very tip of her tail. That part consisted of a paperclip and a brad. At the top of the head we attached a ribbon by sticking two toothpicks in the top of her head. At the end of the ribbon we attached two extra paperclips; those might have been what dragged her down too much!  :(

*ALGAE IN THE CUBOARD*



Our assignment was to go home and take a picture of three things that have alginates, carrageenan, and beta carotene (three types of algae) in them. I was successful in finding three items, but they all had the same type of algae in them. In the picture above are the items I found. The only algae I was able to find carrageenan.

Observation Day 5 Outside

Observation Site 1

At this site, our class sat by the pond. We sat for a total of 5 minutes in complete silence. From sitting this long in silence, we could hear and see just about everything that crossed our path. Unfortunately, I didn't get any picture from this site, but I got tons of observations. At this site, we saw 8 geese swimming across the pond. We could hear all the commotion of the bus garage. There were horns, the starting of vehicles, and an intercom. There was a light breeze here and the pine needles were poking us as we sat. It was so silent, I could even hear the class writing down these observations. We also saw two buzzards out in the distance, flying high in the sky.

Observation Site 2

The picture below is from our second site. At this site, we saw many little birds. In the trees above we saw a Warbler, pictured below. There was a lot of chirping at this site. There was still a light breeze and we could hear the rustling of the leaves.

Observation Site 2

I got many pictures from this site. The first picture (below) is of moss at the bottom of a tree. At this site, we were way back in the woods. The rustling of leaves was pretty loud and we could no longer hear the horns or buses anymore.



This picture below was on a fallen tree. As you can see, it is a very bright orange, and yes it is fungus. It kinda makes fungus look pretty, and not disgusting, for once! :)

This picture, you can see that the tree is falling apart, but if you could feel it you could have guessed that the tree was starting to decompose. This tree was very soft and flimbzy.

This was the most interesting thing we found on our day outside. Kim Dabney was the lucky winner at finding this little guy. This salamander was hiding under a fallen tree, in the moist dirt. 

Just for the heck of it!

This picture is not from any of the sites nor is it from that day outside, but I took this picture one day after school. I thought it was pretty and should be shared with everyone else, so enjoy! :)



Observation day 4, Phytoplankton Site 3

 *Phytoplankton Observation*

Site 3

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This this picture above, at the top center you can see a bright green patch. This is a type of algae, which is also a type of phytoplankton! At this part of the site, it was shady and you could hear running water.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

In this picture, there is a huge patch of algae. This algae is more of a dark green color. Here, you can see the rippling of water indicating that the water was moving!