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

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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.

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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!

Observation day 4, Phytoplankton Site 2

*Phytoplankton Observation*

 Site 2

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This picture was taken on the opposite side of the pond, but the algae looks the same. It is still a brownish-green color. The breeze stopped blowing at this site and the weather felt really nice. There was no sound.

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Here, Mrs. Richardson found a baby turtle egg shell. Pretty interesting, huh? :)

Observation day 4, Phytoplankton

 *Phytoplankton Observations*

Site 1 

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The goal of this day outside was to find as many examples of phytoplankton as possible! What we were looking for was algae, which is a type of phytoplankton. As you can see in this picture above, we succeeded this goal. The plants in this pond are covered in algae. This algae is a brownish-green color.

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The picture above is the same pond, just a different location. At this site, there was a nice little breeze and it was warm enough that no jacket was needed. The only noises to be heard here were the rustling of leaves.

Plankton Observations

*Plankton Observations*

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The worm above can be classified as micro. I'm not positive if this worm is my group's worm, but we had one similar to this one. We named him Pizza Hut, but ,unfortunately, Mrs. Richardson lost him. :( I know that he is a zooplankton, but if I had to guess, I would say he is a holoplankton. Meaning that he will stay a plankton his whole life. 

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The same goes for the worm above, he is a zoo plankton and will most likely stay one his whole life. You can see on his left shoulder that he has little hairs. I'm pretty certain those hairs are there to push him, or propel, him through the water. Maybe they are his flagella.

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This little guy, I think, is a bacteria or protoza. He is most likely a holoplankton and will stay in the plankton stage for all his life. Here, I'm pretty sure he was having a little snack on the background object! :) I believe he is the size of a Nano.

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The objects above are forams, meaning they are holoplankton, or they were! This is there remains, their skeletons. They now make up the sand at Star Beach in Japan. They are probably considered Macro, in size.

Observation 4, Day 3

Observation 4

It is hard to see why I took both of the pictures, but these trees were covered in buds. Like the last site, I was amazed to see the trees trying to grow buds because it is still so cold outside. One pretty day in the winter season, and every tree is trying to prepare for spring.



Though these trees are big, they did not block the wind. It was cold at this site. This site was filled with the yelling of crows and the passing of cars. It didnt sound very earthly here.

Observation 3, Day 3

Observation 3

I took a picture of this bud, above, because I thought it was interesting to see something growing on the trees when it is still so cold outside. As you can see in the background, these buds were all over the trees. The wind was blocked by all the trees at this site, so it wasnt as cold. 

In this picture, it looks like it is the next step of the growing process for the little bud in the first picture. It was very quiet and peaceful at this site. No particular noises here.

Observation 2, Day 3

Observation 2

Though the picture above is pretty, the geese in the water are not very clear. In this picture there was a small flock of geese and one duck. At this site the wind was blowing harder than the last site, making it colder than the last site. I could also hear the birds and wind blowing here.

Here, the grass was pushed down making it seem like an animal might have been trying to get to the water or maybe the wind had just pushed it down. There was what looked like a trail though so I just guessed that the trails were from animals.

Observation 1, Day 3

Observation 1

This site was not a very big site and it was hard to take picture of things. At this site, we were near a  creek leading to the pond in the following pictures. In the picture above, I snapped a shot at what looks like a squirrel nest. If not a squirrel nest, it is probably a large birds nest. It was quiet at this sight. The wind was not blowing very hard, but it was still cold. I could hear the water and birds in the quietness.