Plankton Wars & Algae in the Cupboard!!

 P l a n k t o n   W a r s!!

This is a picture of me and my Plankton. I made his top wave-like so that he could float in the water, then stuck a toothpick in the middle and on the end I covered a button with clay and stuck it on the bottom. We used clay because it is buoyant in water. I did this so that it would add more weight. Then I added toothpicks for his arms and ribbons (for style;). The object was to get your plankton in the middle of the water, not floating and not sinking. Well ours was unsuccessful because it floated; it needed more weight. When we put the button on the bottom, covered in clay, it balanced out the top, so we didn't make any progress. But it was fun because I learned that every plankton is unique (made by GOD of course) and fit in the environment that it lives in.

Bird Observations, Day 5

Bird Watching

When we were picking up logs and looking for insects, fellow classmates of mine spotted this black/brown salamander. First we all thought it was a snake so nobody touched it, but when we saw that it had legs we knew it was then a salamander. I head screeching and the crunching of sticks and leaves from classmates finding insects.

This is a picture of a Warbler taken by Mrs. Richardson while we were bird watching. First off, it is hard to go bird watching because you have to be extremely quiet and I am not a quiet person, but Mrs. Richardson managed to get this shot. When we were silent we hear an intercom, bus horns, and birds chirpping.

On the top right corner is a picture, taken by Mrs. Richardson, of a Downey Woodpecker. If you look close enough you are able to see it's many colors consisting of: black, blue and white. Its actually a pretty bird, and really neat to watch. I felt the warm breeze and heard the birds and squirrels in the woods.

This picture is of, what looks like to me, some sort of orange funus. Hali Goad and I found this while we were looking for insects under and on logs when we fumbled upson this.

Observation Site 4

Observation Site 4:)

 This is a pictute of algae on a stick. I saw some green algae in the creek so i got a stick and scooped it up. It is slimy and ofcourse wet. While I was in that certain spot, I also saw geese nearby in the pond, and I could hear the sound of rushing water.

 This is a picture of an algae basin. As you can see there is nothing but brown in the water, and that is your algea. There are also photoplankton in the pond but their too tiny to see without a microscope.

This picture was taken on the pond. This is a picture of a HUGE clump of brown algae. I could see the geese, and fell the warm breeze on my face:) I love how Spring is in the air.

 This is anther picture of brown algae, and it too was also taken in the pond. There is SO much algae in the pond!

 When I was walking i walked by this Cattail and the cool thing about it is that it is "shedding". I felt the white stuff that looks like cotton and it feels like wool. Most all the Cattails were doing this.

This is a really neat picture, you can't see it very close but it is actually a Turtle Shell! I thought it was a curled up leaf but in fact it was a Turtle Shell. How cool is it to see! Mrs. Richardson found it and showed the class:)

Plankton Observations:)

Plankton!!

This is a picture, taken under the microscope by Mrs. Richardson, of a cluster of algae. Algae is a great sorces of food, and living in the algae are nano phytoplankton. You can't really see them becuase the microscope isn't zoomed in far enough but they are there. Phytoplankton are free floating plants and they are the base of the foodchain in the ocean. 

This is a great picture, taken by Mrs. Richardson, of the skeletons of star shaped Forams. They are located on the Star Beach in Japan. When they die, their skeletons wash up on this beach and that is their "sand". They don't have sand, instead they have the skeletons of Froams.

This is a really cool macro picture of a zooplankton worm. If you look closely you are able to see its cells and his/her's antennas. The worm was actually moving and it was unique to see how it moves, and the best thing was that you could see like its insides moving. Like food being moved throughout its body; it was really neat to see. (This picture was also taken by Mrs. Richardson)

This is a darker picture but if you look close enough you are able to see Diatoms. The Diatoms are the lines with the white in the middle, and they are actually boxes. They come together to float slower to the bottom(lake, pond, ocean, etc). It's really neat to be able to see all of the organisms under the microscope and look at their cells and how they form and move. Thanks Mrs. Richardson for the great pictures!!

Observation Site, Day Three:)

You can't really see them, but their there, but this is a picture of a tree with buds on the ends. Spring is coming!! This was taken right outside of the school and while i was observing the tree and i could feel the wind and hear cars and busses go by.

This is yellow fungus on a tree next to the school. I don't know exactly what kind of fungus this is but it looked disgusting!

If you look closely you are able to see little holes, and I'm not positive but i think it is from a woodpecker. Again I'm not a 100% positive but that is what it seems like to me. It felt rought and i heard my classmates talking and nearby cars passing by.

Observation site, Day Three:)

This here is a picture of a deer scraping on a dead tree. You can't really see it becaue the picture is so light but it's really long and cool too see. I could distantly hear the birds and flock of geese.

This is a tree that is almost completley broken off by the sharp teeth of a beaver. I felt it and it was rough, but the actual shape of it is really cool because it's like in a pattern form. I heard the rustling of leaves and the chatter of my fellow classmates.

Observation site, Day Three:)

This is a sideways picture of dead callalilies off in the distance in the pond. I could feel the cold harsh wind against my face and hear the geese across the pond.

You can't really see them because my camera couldn't zoom anymore, but this is a picture of a couple dozen of geeze gracefully gliding across the pond.

Observation Site Three:)

P.S. Sorry guys if my pictures are really light and kind of blurry, my camera was messing up!

 This is a sideways picture of the creek next to the pond. It was FREEZING! You could hear the pretty sound of running water from the creek. Despite the bitter cold, it was kind of a pretty atmosphere.



If you look close you can see a black object and that is actually a huge birds nest. When we were there we didn't see any birds in the nest or near it, but we did hear them.