Algae in the Cupboard and Plankton Wars

Sooo it was Thursday, 2-17-11.  Mrs. Richardson, the best teacher ever, gave us a homework assignment. It involved going home and looking at the ingredients in everyday household items. The algaes we were looking for were beta carotene, carrageenan, and alginates. In V8 splash (a drink) i found beta carotene. In a blueberry nutri-grain bar, i found carrageenan and alginates. Another item was a fiber plus bar, that had the beta carotene. The final thing i found was a healthy choice soup, that had beta carotene.


On monday, as we entered 4th period, Mrs. Richardson told the class that we were going to do plankton wars! Everybody was excited and nobody knew what to expect. The task was to have your plankton float in the middle, but not at the top and not sinking to the bottom. She put people in groups of twos, my partner was Josh. We decided to go with a cupcake base and add things to it. We added weights, straws, sponges, and play doh. our plankton did't win because it had too many weights. Karen and Morgan won because there design weighed less and was bouyant. Brandon and Olivia won second place because they didn;t adjust theres and everybody else did. Our second creation would have won but it didn't count :/

Observation Day 5

Site 1: On our 5th day of going outside, we decided to travel deeper into the woods. As we were coming out through the cafeteria, we saw a seagull and it felt like it was 75 degrees out. We continued to walk down the path until we got to the creek, here we saw a crow, eight geese, and one white duck. I heard a bus driving and the wind blowing against the trees. I felt extremely warm, but it was probably because i was wearing my jacket and it was already warm out. I saw a wasp flying above the pond. Avery decided to throw pine cones in the pond, which attracted fish! He saw a fish eating a bug. The last thing i saw there was a fish bigger than a normal size pine cone!

Site 2:  As we were leaving site 1, I spotted a spider jumping from leaf to leaf. I also saw dead trees and ducks bathing in the water. I felt cold, because we were in the shade. There were trees way over 30 ft. tall. I heard wind blowing against some more trees and I heard cars driving in the parking lot.

Site 3: At this site i saw a water strider, a stream, a baby frog, and an old bridge. I heard wind blowing even harder this time! I felt warm but not as hot as earlier. As we were leaving site 3, Josh found a little turtle in a bryer patch. I also foud a lime green stink bug, which looked really interesting.

Site 4: When we arrived to site 4, I saw a feather. A bug landed on my paper but I don't remeber what kind it was. This time I felt even warmer! As usual I heard the wind blowing like crazy! I saw a baby salamander in a pond, a baby frog, and lime green plants at the bottom of the pond. I picked up a stick and started to move some dead leaves around in the pond, as I was doing that a baby craw fish came out.

Site Observations Day 4

On our 4th day of observations we looked at algae. It felt windy but warm. When we arrived at the pond it was around 70 degrees, this was just site 1. At site 2 it was more cold since it was in the shade. We found a turtle shell and some cattails. I saw a small flock of ducks. I heard buses in the parking lot. For site 3 i went to the office so i didn't see anything, but i got the site from a fellow student. They saw a pipe putting water in a little stream. The stream looked green and brown on the bottom and they said it was warm. Also they heard birds, wind, and the creek.

Day 3 Observations

At site 1 we went to the courtyard. I saw trash on the floor, a penny, a pencil, and trees moving. I heard the school air vents. I saw a bench a some railings. There was not much to see there so we continued to walk and arrived at site 2. Here i saw a worm, an animal hole, and some bird feathers. They were scattered everywhere so i thought something had killed it. Later i found out that it wasn't a bird, it was a duck. Since we were so close to the road i heard every single car that passed by. I felt cold and i also felt the feathers. As we proceeded on our trip, we got to site 3. Here i saw orange mold growing on a dead tree branch, dead leaves, cars, logs, and pine cones. I felt more cold today than any other day we went out. As we arrived to our final destination, i saw a stream with no ice over it, a crow, a house, and some frozen ants. I heard a dog barking and i also heard a crow. I felt the bark of a tree and the stream water. As we were heading back to the school i saw an old light pole.

Day 2 Observations

As we arrived to site 1 i saw geese, a hole, a pond, and some animal tracks. I was freezing because it was so cold. All i could hear was buses backing up in the parking lot. We continued to walk until we reached site 2. At site 2 i saw trees, fungus, and a bird. The bird was small with white on the bottom. I felt dirt and leaves. Also, i heard birds chirping. At site 3 i saw two types of poop, fungus, and more holes. I felt cold and i got scratched by a thorn bush. I heard leaves being crushed under our feet. As i arrived to site 4 i saw a lot of vultures, bird poop, and a log. Once again i felt cold, but this time i heard birds.

Plankton Observations

This is a zooplankton. It is macro, which means you don't need a microscope to see it. It took the class a little while to find it. This zooplankton is meroplankton because it is a worm, this means that this stage is only temporary. The hairs on it's tips make it swim better.

This is star sand. Its from star beach in Japan. These are also macro, because if you look closely you can see each star individually. Also there considered zooplankton, which means they are some sort of animal. This organism is a holoplankton because it stays like this permanentley.

 This is phytoplankton. Phytoplankton produces most of the earths oxygen. This certain phytoplankton is micro because you can't see it with your eye. It would be considered cyanobacteria also known as blue green algae.This organism is a holoplankton because it stays like this forever.

This organism is a zooplankton. It is micro because you cant see it without a microscope. Judging by the size i think it is a holoplankton, meaning it will stay like that for its entire life.

Day 1: Site 4

We were almost done with our trip, when we finally got to the last site. We saw alot of snow on the floor and alot of broken trees. It was very cold now. I heard leafs crunch beneath everyones feet.

Day 1: Site 3

Cold, and with numb hands, we continued on our journey. I saw less trees and a creek with a thin layer of ice over it. It didnt feel as cold anymore. Still all we heard was leaves being crushed, also i heard cars and buses.

Day 1: Site 2

 As we continued walking through the woods we saw a tree with a hole in it, at first we thought it was made by termites but later we discovered that it was made by a woodpecker. It was still cold and all we could hear was the crushing of leaves.