Plankton Wars

So, the other day we had a plankton war. It was a competition for the slowest sinking plankton or one that stayed suspended in the middle of the tank (sounds impossible). I was lucky to have Jawaan as my partner, but neither one of us could decide what we wanted our plankton to have, so we made three of them. The one we actually used in the competition was a chunk of clay flattened with a button and stabbed in every side with a toothpick (8 total). It sounds violent, but it was a really cute plankton! Then we doubted that it would float so we added foil around every other pair of toothpicks, making it look like the top of a windmill. I think we were overly cautious because then it floated too much and we were defeated. The winning teams created plankton that had a greater balance between buoyancy and weight, making them sink slowly.

Photo courtesy of Ms. Richardson

Algae in my Cupboard?! Say what?!

Our homework last week was to find 8 foods with alginate, carrageenan, or beta carotene in the ingredients, which meant they had algae in them. Disgusting, yes, but pretty awesome, too. I think Mrs. Richardson did this to weed out the weak in our class. She also wanted us to see that algae isn't so bad after all and it shouldn't be stereotyped as nasty, slimy junk because that hurts its feelings. Really, I think she just wanted us to know how much algae really affects our lives-it's in the food we eat! I found one food with an alginate in it-Mini Wheats. My Grannie always eats Mini Wheats so I have to admit this one kind of grossed me out. A couple days ago, Mr. Bass had Mini Wheats on his desk. I broke the news to him about the algae and he looked at me with this disgusted face like I was crazy, so I blamed it all on Mrs. Richardson (just kidding, Mrs.R).

I also found carrageenan in Swiss Miss mix (try saying that ten times fast), Breakfast Essentials mix (delicious), Activia (not mine, just saying), heavy whipping cream, GoGurt, Jello Cook & Serve, and Dole Mandarins in Orange Gel.

Site Observation Day 5

When we went outside last Friday, we not only did our normal observations, we did a bird count! We saw one seagull and eight geese and we heard one crow in the distance.

On the way to our first site, Ms. Richardson was timing to see if we could make it a solid five minutes without talking. It took a few times, but we finally got it, if you don't count Olivia and I lipping words to each other. Our site was beside the pond. There were eight geese in the pond and one of them was white! There were also fish touching the surface of the water to eat bugs. I could hear a train going through Mineral. The wind was cold and made ripples on the water, but unpleasantly blew my hair in my face.

Our second site was at the corner of the pond where the path splits three separate ways. We were closer to the geese this time, but they were partly blocked by small trees. There were many trees across the paths from the pond. Lots of them were bare, but I could hear the wind rustling through them. It was cooler here because of the shade.

To get to our third site, we had to go down a very steep set of stairs. I'm sure they wouldn't have been as dangerous if they weren't covered in slick, dead leaves, but thanks to Josh and Chris we all made it down safely. Then, we had to avoid brairs to get to the stream. It was starting to feel hotter outside although we were shrouded with shade. There were frogs hiding under leaves and swimming in the water, so I could hear people trying to find them and splashing water.

Our fourth site was at this cute little pond near this random house. Olivia and I found a frog no one else saw. I couldn't get a picture quick enough before he swam away, but we did find one. Ms. Richardson and the rest of the class found salamanders and little frogs. There was a mini waterfall and you could hear the water dripping from the pond to a little stream. There was a nice, cool breeze and some sun. I think this site was the most beautiful.

Marine Plants - Site Observation Day 4

On Valentine's Day, we set out to find marine plants behind the school - best Valentine's Day EVER!

Our first site was warm and sunny until the hard wind blew. We were on the side of the pond closest to the high school. I saw this algae right beside the bank and near the reeds. It looks like a huge pipe cleaner! The buses at the garage were noisy, but not so much as to be distracting.

Picture courtesy of Chelsea Holmes

Our next site was on the far side of the pond. It was cooler in this spot because there was more shade, but it was still windy. We spotted the following algae near the cattails on the far side of the pond. Mrs. Richardson also found a turtle eggshell and we heard a tree crash to the ground behind us making this the most exciting site (I included a picture of the turtle shell below).

Picture courtesy of Kelsi Minnick

The last site was shady but warm. There was a long stream whose water we could see and hear coming out of a big pipe (I'm including a picture of said pipe because it looks very artistic). Beautiful greenish-brown algae could be seen all over the bottom of the stream and on the rocks in the water (perfect swimming hole!).

Plankton Observations

Monday, we looked at awesome plankton under the microscopes! I found a cool flowery plankton, but we couldn't find it again for the picture, so here are some other organisms:

When you look at the zig-zag formation above, you are looking at algae. It is a micro phytoplankton that uses a flat, zig-zag pattern to prevent itself from sinking too quickly. I think the strand running behind it is also a micro phytoplankton because it has chloroplast (green).

The round organism is a micro holoplankton. I know it is a zooplankton because it has organs and a cell membrane (making it round). The green strand beside it is a micro phytoplankton. It is a more spread out, elongated shape so it doesn't sink and it has square shapes due to its cell wall.

The zooplankton above is a macro holoplankton; we could see it moving without using the microscope. It has very noticeable organs that we could see moving under the microscope. He was moving a lot, at least until Mrs. Richardson killed him in the name of science!

This was the most interesting plankton. This is sand from a Japanese beach! The zooplankton in this picture are forams. They are macro-sized holoplankton that died and covered the beach.

Photos courtesy of Mrs. Richardson

Site Observation Day 3

After a long, boring day in school, we got to go trekking in the woods again yesterday in fourth block.

Our first site was in the freshman courtyard. I remember eating lunch there and seeing spiders and other bugs. This time it was too cold for them, but I did see trees with no leaves, scattered bushes, a fence, and seeds. I could also see the baseball field. The sun was warming compared to the chilling wind and being outside was peaceful except for an annoying humming sound coming from the school.

When we arrived at site number two we found alot of duck feathers left behind from an attack. There were also pine cones, pine needles, and leaves. There was less sunlight and less wind because the trees blocked them, but it was still cold. I could barely hear birds over the sound of people chattering and cars driving.

A little while later, we arrived at our third site, a fallen tree. My hands were starting to go numb because it was too cold for me. I could hear things crunching as people walked and the stinking sound of the cars was still heard. There were standing trees surrounding the fallen tree. The ground was the same as site two, with pine cones and needles. The fallen tree was special because it had fungi on it.

 

I apologize if any of the following information is wrong, my hands were too cold to write neatly. Our fourth site was near a big, pretty tree. Everyone was talking and I could still hear the road, unfortunately. There were mushrooms under it and briars near the trunk. A pile of concrete pieces was near the tree and I found poop on one of them!

Site Observation Day 2

It was a cold, windy afternoon at Louisa County High School when we set out on a journey into the woods...

The first site we observed was at the edge of a geese-infested pond. It was cold, spare the sunlight on my face. Just above the geese and the pond, the bus garage was visible and behind us, all you could see were trees. I could hear the leaves rustling in the wind and the buses creeping in and around the garage.

Our second site was surrounded by trees, but sunlight was still my only source of warmth. The ground, covered in leaves and acorns, was wet and mushy. I could still hear the rustle of leaves and I briefly heard a bird. The bus chatter was fainter now and it was too cold to feel my fingers when I took this picture of the lovely forest floor!

The third time we stopped to admire nature, we found everyone's favorite forest pals: the briars. I never will get used to those things poking my feet and ankles. There were fallen trees here and there and fallen leaves everywhere. The wind could still be heard brushing the leaves aside on its journey through the woods. While I was suffering the cold temperatures that I despise, I discovered what I thought might be a woodpecker hole on a fallen tree. I'm still not sure what it is, though, maybe you know:

Our final stop was at a fallen tree surrounded by leaves and a few briar vines. I can't describe much of what I felt here except that it was cold because by this point I was numb. The cold, dreaded wind was still blowing through the remaining attached leaves. I found a broken shell of an acorn; I wish I could say it was a cool, half-eaten acorn that fed a cute, furry squirrel; eaten or not, it's a sign of life and here is a beautiful picture of said acorn: