Reflection on presentation

Mr. Watts presentation was amazing. I had a third grade teacher who went to Antarctica and ever since then I have been super curious about different people who go there and the different things they study. We learned a lot and this is some of what I remember. Some of the interactions I noticed were between the krill, the whales, and the Algae. The Krill need the algae because that's what they eat, the whales need the krill because that's what they eat and the algae needed the iron in the whales poo to be able to grow. Another is the hunter pray relationship between seals,penguins,squid,and fish. If there weren't seals and penguins around the squid and fish would overpopulate. The seals balance out the penguins. When the animals migrate it usually means its getting to hot or to cold. They often go somewhere more climate controlled. They also try and follow the food they eat or to where its easier to get like seals probable move with the penguins and fish. They also have their children when the food is easiest to get so they don't have to worry about their young starving. Animals also tend to reproduce when the climate is moderate and animals that lay eggs try and lay before the other animals start to have kids so that their baby's have a better chance of survival. Animals being as smart as they are have adapted thick layers of blubber and fir that makes them invincible to the cold. Pregnant seals conserve a thick layer of blubber and body fat to keep their young healthy and be able to give them what they need to grow. They also group together to conserve body heat. Penguins do this and can take fair turns as to who's in the middle where its warm and toasty and who's on the outside where its not. We are studying survival in class and these creatures are learning to live in one of the harshest climates in the world. They know that they need each other to survive. Right now I am wondering about the krill. There some of the most populous animals in the wold and yet there at the bottom of the food chain. I wonder if they know that they need to rapidly reproduce in order to survive. I know they have a good environment to live in but it amazes me that their doing so well.

What makes worlds smallest animal, tiny copepod so successful?

May 13, 2010
Science Daily

Even thought the Tiny Copepod is only 1mm long and blind, its the most populous animal on this planet. Being so tiny, it's assumed to be naturally easy to prey. They are a very important part of the food chain and are often used in aquariums as a food source. So what makes it so successful?
"The explanation is that the copepod has two separate propulsion mechanisms"
said Professor Thomas Kiorboe who studies the copepod with a group of researchers from DTU Aqua and Physics. He and his team watched the copepod use its crazy strong back legs to jump away from predators. They have estimated that the strength of a copepod is 10- 30 times stronger then any other species. It also has vibrating limbs that create a feeding current and also allowing it to move and swim. It also doesn't get worn out because while one propulsion system is working the other is resting. This has interested me ever since Mr.Watts came and talk to us about the arctic animals. He mentioned that krill were the most populous species and I wanted to learn more. It's also really cool that something as small as a copepod can be so powerful and can adapt so quickly and wisely and end up so successful.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100512172444.htm

At the bottom of the food chain is the algae because its a plant. Next comes the Krill, which are more successful then humans. They eat algae but are eaten buy fish, penguins and other birds, seals, etc. Next would probably be fish or penguins because they eat the krill which eats the algae, but are eaten by seals. Seals are up next because they get eaten and killed by whales and other seals. Bears and whales are up at the top and although they are the best hunters, there are a lot fewer of them.

Tiny New Pea Sized Anphibians are Worlds Smallest

Found on the side of a trail leading up to the Gunug Serapi Mountains in Borneo was the worlds smallest amphibian. Named after the flower it lives on the Nepenthes Ampollaria frog was found by Dr.Indraneil and Dr. Das Hass of the Institute of Biodiversity and environmental Conservation and the University of Malaysia.
"I saw some specimens in museum collections that are over 100 years old. Scientists presumably thought they were juveniles of other species, but it turns out they are adults of this newly-discovered micro species," said Dr. Das.
frog is a microlyid, a family of mini frogs that measure under 15 centimeters. The adult males only grow to be 10.6-12.8 mm. A team searching for 100 types of "lost" frogs track the frogs down by using their call which continues from dusk to dawn.
"Amphibians are quite sensitive to changes in their surroundings, so we hope the discovery of these miniature frogs will help us to understand what changes in the global environment are having an impact on these fascinating animals," said Conservation International's Dr. Robin Moore.
I think this article is a great example of exactly what global warming is doing to the planet. It's amazing how the scientists knew what the call sounded. Its also crazy that they found frogs that size. If you blink you miss them.




http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100825094915.htm

adaptation videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW6jyS5jTIs

Adaptation video

During the movie, one of the things that really stood out to me was how animals know when to hunt in groups and when to hunt alone. They know that if they hunt alone they have a greater chance of being prey and if they hunt in groups they won't get as much food, but they still find ways to survive.They also knew that there young would need practice befor they when out. The fox practiced hunting before taking its young out to hunt I also like how the bola spider created the drop the smelled like a female moth that and killed the male moths that sensed it. The snapping turtles way for surviving was cool. It made its look like a worm.Fish would come and try to eat it and the turtle would eat them. I thought it was funny that the sloth moved so slow that algae grew on it and then i used that to camouflage. Its like a puzzle that pieces together. The sloth is too slow to run away so it can camouflage. The spider doesn't catch enough in its web so it found a way to smell like a female moth. It's really cool.

Homework Sep.7

The environment is super important to an organism. It provides shelter, food,and water to the living things in it. Within the environment organisms interact with living, or biotic factors (grass berries) and non living of abiotic factors (rocks rivers). Every habitat belongs to an ecosystem. We divide our ecosystem into 4 parts; Organisms, population, community, and ecosystem. We find different habitats in different ecosystems because of the way animals adapt. Animals in the dessert have adapted to that climate as appose to rain forest animals. As the seasons get colder some animals will hibernate. They eat and store as much food as they can and live off of that through the winter.