Crustaceans and Echinoderms

Crustaceans have bilateral symmetry. They all have five pairs of legs and most have at least one pair of claws and have a hard outer shell. The crustacean grows out of it's shell, the shell does not grow; this is called molting. If a leg is lost, it will be regenerated. Echinoderms have spiky skin and an endoskeleton (skeleton on the inside of its body). All echinoderms have radial symmetry, meaning it has more than two lines of symmetry. Both echinoderms and crustaceans regenerate limbs. Crabs, shrimp, and lobsters are all crustaceans. Sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins are all echinoderms.

Crustaceans:
                                                            Blue Lobster (Panulirus versicolor)

Hermit Crab (Paguristes cadenati)

Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)

My favorite crustacean, Peacock Mantis Shrimp!

Echinoderms:
                                          Eleven-armed Sea Star (Coscinasterias muricata)

                                                     Water Melon sea urchin (Echinus melo)

                                              Conspicuous Sea Cucumber (Synapta maculata)

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=video&cd=3&ved=0CD8QtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQnPJPSYFBgA&ei=Z21_TfyVFZSJ0QHv-6CHCQ&usg=AFQjCNFga9TGxe0UelqfVuKTwevogWvt3w&sig2=RhKswb-0AZqjyyI-w9FTEA

Biofilm simulation at the G.C. Marine Reserve

Last Friday, February 25th, the class read about a biofilm plate simulation. Ecologists studied communities of organisms to learn about species richness, species evenness, and the species diversity. The problem was to determine the distribution, abundance, and setting rates of benthic organisms. Our materials consisted of: graham crackers, frosting, sprinkles and other cake decorations, miniature marshmallows, lifesavers, small drink cups, plastic knives, a paper towel, and a picture-taking device. On our paper towel, which represents the ocean, we "glued" the graham cracker with cake icing. The graham cracker represented the plexiglas plate. Because plexiglas is smooth, the spat, larvae, and spores of many bottom dwelling organisms will not settle on it. We used the plastic knife to spread cake icing on top of the graham cracker to make the surface rough; not the young bottom dwellers can settle on the plexiglas. In order for the plexisglas to stay put, the ecologists had to bolt it down. We used Lifesavers gummies as our bolts. After we "bolted" our plexiglas, some organisms started to settle on the biofilm plate, or plexiglas. On the biofilm plate, red coralline algae, diatoms, barnacles, coral, and oysters began settling on the plate. The red sugar crystals represented the red corraline algae, brown long johns represented the diatoms, rainbow sprinkles represented the young barnacles and marshmallows represented the adult barnacles, rainbow long johns represented the coral, and blue or green dots represented the oysters. My biofilm plate contained 101 red corraline algae, 18 diatoms, 30 young barnacles and 3 adult barnacles, 34 coral, and 2 oysters. My biofilm plate (graham cracker) is compared to a quarter in both pictures.

                                                                         Before...

After...with adult barnacles

Signs of Spring

Today was so beautiful, despite the 43 degree temperature and the wind. The sun was shining and there weren't any clouds in the sky. The class walked down from the school to the baseball field to look for our first spot to look for signs of spring. There weren't many, but there were still some signs. I noticed that the grass is getting greener and the temperature is slightly changing. I also noticed that a lot more birds are out singing and chirping. I saw a few tree branches with flower and/or leaf buds. Several trees in the woods began growing leaves again. By the lake, I saw cattails bursting with their white, fluffy seeds. On the trees, I looked at the several types of flower buds on the trees in the woods; some of the buds on the trees had already bloomed into flowers. I spotted Alder Catkins that dangled from the trees, which contained pollen. Moving along past the lake, there weren't many signs of spring, other than the birds chirping and trees with flower/leaf buds. A few yards past the lake I spotted very many buds on a tall tree, more buds than all the trees that I saw in the woods it seemed like.

Algae Sitings

Our teacher told us that we had a homework assigment to find things that contained algae. I found several products that contains algae. I took three pictures of some of the products that I found. I took a picture of Burger King ranch dressing, Country Crock butter, and Colgate toothpaste. Carrageenan was found in the Burger King ranch dressing and the Colgate toothepaste. Beta-Carotene was found in the Country Crock butter. I also found beta-carotene in Smart Balance Light buttery spread and in Infant Formula Similac Advance: Complete Nutrition. Algae can aslo be found in yogurt, sour cream, pet food, mayonaisse, ice cream, evaporated milk, coffee creamer, chocolate milk, yellow or orange cheese, and brownie mix.

Colgate toothpaste

Burger King ranch dressing

Algae Observations

The temperature outside was fifty-seven degrees. The wind was blowing very strongly and the sun was shining brightly. The class walked into the woods to the creek to look for algae. There were several sitings of algae. Some algae was bright green and some was a dark green or brown. Some algae was thin and stringy or leafy. Some algae looked thick. Some algae looked mossy and long. Some of the algae spotted was also found in the lake. The brighter algae was found in the creek, where the darker algae was found in the lake.

 Long, mossy algae (found in lake)

 Dark brown, thick algae sticking out of the water (found in lake)

 Bright green, thin, stringy algae (found in creek)

 Brown, thick, mossy algae (found in lake)

Bright green, thin, stringy algae (found in creek)

Plankton Observations

One of the slides I viewed was sand. The sand was actually star-shaped plankton. It looked rough and pink with little red dots in the center. Some of the star-shaped "sand grains" had more than five sides. This plankton would be classified as macro phytoplankton because they are bigger than a millimeter. Another plankton observation was plankton that was made of tiny, glass boxes. Inside every little box are little lines, which I think are chloroplasts. The boxes are a rectangular shape. The box-shaped plankton are called diatoms. The last observation was a worm-type plankton. The worm was a green-brown color. Little small hairs were all over the worm's body. The head of the worm looked like it had small antennae and at the end of the worm were thin, long hairs. This plankton is called macro zooplankton because the worm is bigger than a millimeter and it eats phytoplankton. The pictures were taken by Mrs. Richardson.

Star-shaped Plankton

Box-shaped Plankton

Worm Plankton

Site Observation #3

The first site was in the woods next to the road that leads to the Bus Garage. It felt like it was about forty degrees outside. There were dry, dead leaves that covered the ground. I found fungus on a log that was lying near the creek. After the class was done taking observations at this spot, we moved to the lake. The grass was brown, dry, and dead. I found a few holes in the ground that were dug up by animals. The class then moved to a trail that led to the side of the lake after we were done observing that site. Cat tails were spotted on the side of the lake. Most of them were very tall. Beside the cat tails, the grass was flattened and looked like an animal tried to make a bed out of the flattened grass and cat tails. Next to the lake, I found more fungus on a tree branch. The fungus was very strange looking. It was in the shape of coral and was a very dark, brown and black color. After we were done taking pictures and writing observations about that site, the class moved back to the front of school to our next site. There weren't many traces of life there. In the mud were many human foot prints. There weren't many trees, but I did find a tree that has moss on it. The moss went most of the way up the tree. It was a sea-foam green color.

 Fungus on site 1

 Holes in site 2

 Dark fungus in site 3

 Moss in site 4

Site Observation #2

The wind was blowing and the ground was covered with brown and orange leaves. Trees were lying on the ground here and there, most of them decayed. There were many signs of life around: animal droppings, holes in the dirt and in trees, and deer tracks. Many geese were swimming in a lake, which is where deer tracks were spotted. Fox droppings were found on a decayed tree lying on the ground. Near a creek leading to the lake was a hole, showing that something is or was living in it.

Site Observation #1

Dark, gray clouds covered the sky over the trees and train tracks. The snow was starting to melt and froze in some places. Deer and fox tracks were found next to the train tracks. The tracks seemed fairly new. A few feet away from the tracks was a dead tree surrounded in dead leaves, poison ivy, and fallen branches. In the tree was a gaping hole, about a foot wide. Several yards away from the tree, fungus was found on a tree branch lying on the ground.

 Tree with the hole

 Deer tracks

 Fox tracks

Fungus