Mollusk Discovery

Atlantic Scallop

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4725641340799031501#

Argopecten gibbus

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Mollusca

Class- Bivalvia

Order- Ostreoida

Family- Pectinidae

Genus- Argopecten
Species- gibbus

Bivalves are easily recognized by their two-halved shell. They can burrow into the sediment or live on the ocean floor. Some can even move around through the water by snapping their shell open and shut to swim. Scallops use jet propulsion in order to move. Bivalves incude clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, ark skells, and jingle shells. They build their shells by the calcium carbonate that is secreted through the mantle. They are normally shut tight except for a small gap. They have adductor muscles that close and shut their shells. All have 2 muscles, except for scallops which have only one and oysters. They feed by filtering the water and it sticks to their gills and mantle that is covered in mucus to trap food. Some have byssal threads to attach themselves to the substrate. Scallops have even have eyes to detect shadows and escape predators.



Crustaceans and Enchinoderms

sharonapbio-taxonomy.wikispaces.com

Ruby Brittle Star-Ophioderma rubicundum

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Encinodermata

Class- Ophiuroidea

Order- Ophiurida

Family- Ophiodermatidae

Genus- Ophioderma
Species-  Rubicundum

http://deborahdavisdesign.com/create.html

Blue Sea Star (Linckia Laevigata)

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Encinodermata

Class- Asteroidea

Order- Valvatida

Family- Ophidiasteridea

Genius- Linckia

Species- L. laevigata

http://godscreationsunderthesea.com/pd-scarlet-reef-hermit-crab.cfm

Hermit Crab (Paguristes cadenati)

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Arthropoda

Class- Malacostraca

Order- Decapoda

Family- Diogenidae

Genius- Paguristes

Species- Paguristes Cadenati

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uca_perplexa

Male Lemon Yellow Fiddler Crab (Uca perplexa)
Kingdom- Animalia
Phylum- Arthropoda
Class- Malacostraca
Order- Decapoda
Family- Ocypodidae
Genius- Uca 
Species- U. perplexa



http://kodiak.asap.um.maine.edu/lobster/photoofmonth/april02.htm

Blue Lobster (Homarus Americanus)
Kingdom- Animalia
Phyum- Arthropoda
Class- Malacostraca
Order- Decapoda
Family- Nephropidae
Genius- Homarus
Species- H. Americanus



http://www.stanford.edu/~bhackett/monterey-2005-02-04/pages/california-sea-cucumber.html

California Sea Cucumber (Parastichopus californicus)

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Encinodermata

Class- Holothuroideaia

Order- Aspidochirotida

Family- Stichopodidae

Genius- Parastichopus

Species- P. Californicus

One similarity between Crustaceans and Echinoderms is that they both have the capability of regenerating. Sea cucumbers can throw out their organs to the predator. The predator will eat them and then the cucumber can regenerate them. The fiddler crab can lose its big claw and it will come back on the opposite arm.They also both have symetry about them. Crustaceans have bilateral symetry which means that you can divide them into two parts and its simply a reflection. Enchinoderms have radial symetry which means that from their central disc, they branch off evenly.

Some of the differences are that Echinoderms' skeleton is on the inside. The endoskeleton is called a test. The have a central disc in which they regenerate from. They also have no body segments. They include sea stars, sea urchins, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and feather stars. The Crustaceans have segmented appendages, which means legs. Most have 5 pair and the first is usually claws. They have a tough exoskeleton which is made of chitin which provides them with protection. They also molt which means they shed their exoskeleton. They take on water when they do this so it is big enough for their growing bodies. After they shed they are soft and most vulnerable. They include crabs, lobsters, clams, and shrimp.

Site observations day 4

On this particular day i wasn't with the rest of the class. I had been suspended all week and Ms. Richardson wanted me to find a place with some algae in it. I found the perfect place behind my house since we own part of the creek there. At site one directly behind my house the water is kinda shallow. The bank on one side is very high and tree roots stick out of it. The lower part had some grass and saplings growing in the dirt. At night time you can always here the frogs making noises. If you look into the water you can see newts and minnows swimming around. There are bugs all over and spider webs between about every tree. It was a very warm day and it felt amazing. There was mud and clay all over down there. I could hear my dog following me down there cause she loves to get in the water. I could also hear squirrels running through the brush. At site two i found one of the biggest trees ive ever seen. It was half dead and crawling with termites and bugs. It was beginning to decompose and break apart. I could hear the crows in the distance making noise and squirrels running across branches. I could feel the wet leaves under my shoes. The sun had shifted and i was in the shade now, but it still felt pretty good outside. At site three i went to a deeper and wider part of the creek. The water there ran a little faster I could see the green algae growing upon the rock on the bottom of the creek. Im sure there was a bunch of crawdads and fish in there cause it was the perfect habitat for them. I could hear the squirrels barking as i went through the woods showing they were upset. I could feel the fresh air go through my lungs and the rocks shifting under my feet. At the final site there was a tree that had fallen down and began to decompose. There was probably a bunch of bugs and organisms inside of it. Moss and fungus had began to cover the tree speeding up its decomposition. I could hear my neighbors leaf blower running as he tried to remove the leaves from his yard. I started to head back to my house since the sun was beginning to go down and it started to get a little cold.

Kelp in your cupboard

In this unit we went over plankton and marine plants. After reviewing about plankton our teacher wanted us to go home and discover the uses for the seaweed. surprisingly a lot of products in an average house contain seaweed. Italian dressing contains is an alginate which comes from brown algae like giant kelp. It helps mix oil and water to form one mixture. Toothpaste also contains seaweed know as carrageenan. It is contained in it in order to make it gel like. Evaporated milk contains carrageenan as well. Vanilla pudding contains alginate to make all the ingredients mix to form one smooth product. Yellow cake mix and chicken noodle soup contain beta carotene to make it a yellow orange color. These are just a few of the many products that contain algae. Algae is very important and can be used in a variety of ways. Ms. Richardson was trying to depict to us that it wasn't just the slimy goo that you see in the water. It is also used in many things you eat every day.

Biofilm simulation at the G.C. Marine Reserve

After we had to deal with taking notes and such all week we finally got a break. Our teacher had prepared an exciting lab for us. We got to use gram crackers and frosting to simulate a biofilm. First thing we did was get a paper towel that represented the water. Then she gave us a gram cracker for the use of a substrate. We were using this as an interpretation to show how the spat attached to the substrate and their chances of survival. Since the gram cracker was smooth and most of the spat dont like to attach to smooth objects, we used icing to take the place of EPS. The Red coralline algae were represented through red sugar crystals. Diatoms were portrayed through the brown long johns. Barnicles were shown with rainbow sprinkles and marshmellows. Coral were demonstrated with rainbow long johns. Oysters were depicted with blue or green dots. Once we had placed the icing upon the gram cracker, we then started placing the objects on it. To simulate how in nature not all spat survive. You were supposed to hold it about 15 inches above the gram cracker and sprinkle it on there. Since you were up so high not all of the sprinkles made it onto your gram cracker. The ones that fell off simulated the ones that died as they tried to attach. After you did it with each type of the sprinkles you had to count them up and do some math for a percentage. We were supposed to take a picture for each of the seasons that the plankton went through. Since i didnt have at least 10 barnacle sprinkles i didnt get to attach a marshmallow so it was unchanged. We found the diversity of the organisms. Then we also calculated the species richness by counting the total number of different species we found on the plate. After we had all those numbers we had to find the total number of individuals by taking the abundance colum and dividing it by the total number of individuals. We didn't do anything after that but it was a pretty easy day, that was aslo very educating.

Signs Of Spring

So we were all excited to go outside on this beautiful day. After weeks of the weather being cold we finally had one warm day. So we had to take advantage of it. The first sign that we saw was a tree by the sidewalk. It had a bunch of red blooms That means the buds are about to bloom into flowers. The sun was beaming down upon us and it felt good. The wind was blowing slightly as well. You could hear the cars in the distance passing down the highway. The second sign of spring was down towards the bus garage. The trees there were blooming as well. I could see moss growing on the ground. Buses were passing and a police car with a dog in it. We could hear a bird chirping too. The wind was less intense since we had went down the hill some. The third sign of spring that we spotted was at the pond. All the birds were gone which was significant because we inferred that they had all gone back north since it was getting warmer. There was also a caterpillar cocoon attached to a sapling. We still heard the buses along with the wind. Then all of a sudden there was a huge boom from a dump truck. The fourth sign was further into the woods where we found another cocoon from a caterpillar. The wind had died down as we got further into the woods. Then Ms. Richardson saw out of the corner of her eye a hawk fleeing from the pond. On our way back to the school we saw these small mud piles. Ms. Richardson educated us and told us that they were crawdad holes where they stayed dormant for the winter.

observation day 3

It wasn't quite as cold out on this particular day and we decided to head a different way through the woods. The first site was in the commons courtyard. I remember eating there so long ago, but i never thought about looking for signs of life. There wasn't much other than a few holes that some bugs might of lived in. The only sounds were from our class and the wind. I wasn't too cold until i had to cross the open field. It was a cloudy and dark day. At site two we saw a multitude of things including a worm and a hole for some kind of animal. It was mostly quiet. With the exception of the wind and a few car that drove by. It was a little colder in the shade as well.  At site three near the edge of the woods there was a gathering of feathers from a male duck. We inferred that the duck had probably been caught at the pond and dragged across the field into the woods by a fox or some kind of larger predator. It was less windy in the woods in the cover of the trees. There was the sound of cars and the crinkling of leaves under my feet. At site four there was a bunch of concrete blocks that got busted up. We could feel the sun on our faces and heard cars driving by. Under a pile of busted concrete in different sizes, there was a bunch of frozen ants that might have been hibernating or something. There was also a lot of moss and mold upon the logs and such. Pine cones and pine needles were scattered all over the ground. Then we rushed to head inside to the heat.

Plankton Observations

While we observed many types of plankton we found out that this worm is a zooplankton. It is a zooplankton because it is an animal plankton. It is also macroplankton because you can see it and its bigger than 1mm. It is in the category of  meroplankton as well since it is only a plankton for part of its life

This is a phytoplankton because it is a plant and contains chlorophyll . This is an example of a holoplankton because they remain plankton for their entire lives. It is micro because it cannot be seen with just your eye.

This is another example of a phytoplankton because it contains chlorophyll and is a plant. It's also holoplankton since it remains plankton for its entire life. Its micro because it is very small and cannot be seen without a microscope.

These are actually sand particles from star beach in Japan. They are also zooplankton because they are really animal carcasses. They are also holoplankton because they are plankton for their whole lives. They are macro because you can see them with your eye and about 1mm.

Pictures by Ms. Richardson

Observation Day 2

On day two i was not looking forward to going outside due to the previous day being so cold. But, it had warmed up and it wasn't as bad as i had thought it would be. At site one went to the pond and snuck up on the geese. We didn't really get close enough to get a good picture. It was cold when the wind blew and we could hear the sound of buses in the background. It was kind of muddy on the ground and a little wet where it was close to the pond. At site two there was a lot of pine needles, leaves, and pine cones. We could hear some sort of bird high in the trees. It was still cold but the wind had died down as we got further into the woods. At site three a hawk was flying high above the tree tops. You could hear the leaves gently rustling in the background. Ms. Richardson tried to get everyone to be quiet so that we could hear something but by the time we had everything was probably scared off. It was kinda dark since we were under the cover of the trees. I was feeling pretty tired from all the walking and it was about time to head back to the school. At site four the buses were preparing to leave the bus garage to pick up students. We saw many trees that had fallen many years ago and had begun to rot and decay in order to become a part of the forest. Its weird to think that all that stuff rots and eventually turns into the soil and you cant tell what it is any longer. The sun came out and began to shine on us warming our faces. It felt amazing and made me want to take a nap. There was a couple acorns on the ground too that had been stored by the squirrels over the winter.

Site Observation Day 1

Site 1:
As we left the school and headed  towards the pond with my classmates. This was probably the coldest day we had experienced with our observations. At site one we were looking for signs of life as we approached the baseball field.It was extremely cold as we all shivered unprepared for our adventure. As we were scanning the woods looking for signs of life someone pointed out some animal scat. The wind blew furiously causing leaves to scatter about. I was absoultly freezing. We all had that kind of first day where we didn't know what to do and we didn't really talk so it was pretty quiet. At site two we ventured deeper into the woods. There was a multitude of trees that had fallen over and had started to decay into the forest floor. It got pretty quiet as we got deeper we could hear the distant sound of the cars passing by on the highway. The wind had died down since the trees were blocking it. I couldn't feel much cause it was so cold i had began to go numb. At site three we approached the creek and realized it was cold enough to freeze it over. It wasn't frozen solid though. I could feel all the briers that had gotten stuck in my legs while we trampled through the woods. All we could hear was the sound of our classmates. I felt like running into the school and getting as close as i could to a heater. At site four the wind continued to blow throughout out trip and making it unbearable. It was the last stop before we headed inside. As we neared the open field it began to get colder. We were out in the open so the wind seemed like it was blowing even harder. There was a trench or cut out in the ground as if some kind of creek or something had once went through it. I couldn't feel a thing as we ventured back to the school.