Exploring Our Fluid Earth

Planarians might scavenge on dead fish, chicken liver, or hard-boiled egg yolk. Try a variety of food items.

Students are to observe the animals and describe movements in words >> characterize and label these movements with a name (e.g. tail-wagging >> discuss with group so everyone understands what tail-wagging means >> test animal vs. multiple stimuli. Describe responses in terms of previous behavior list vocabulary (e.g. dog reacts to food with tail-wagging; dog turns and walks away from bright light, etc.)

Do not use tap water for freshwater specimens unless it has been treated first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949eYdEz3Es

Louisiana's marine insects: rove beetles
http://loyno.edu/lucec/natural-history-writings/louisianas-marine-insec…

Some species of anemones are a nuisance in aquaria. If you have an aquarium or marine lab near to you, contact them to see if they will provide anemones for you. For teachers on Oahu, Hawaii, the Kewalo Marine Laboratory freely gives away anemones of the genus Aiptasia.

http://www.si.edu/dive/pdfs/ruetzler.pdf
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/dirty-jobs/videos/sponge-diver.htm

By century's end, the number of summertime storms that produce extreme downpours could increase by more than 400 percent across parts of the United States -- including sections of the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and the Southwest -- according to a new study funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Check out this article published Dec 5, 2016: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=190537&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51…

Watch the documentary film series on their Vimeo page:
https://vimeo.com/shapeoflife/videos/sort:duration/format:thumbnail

http://www.amnh.org/dinosaurs/dinosaur-names

While a specific salinity is not required, be sure that the salt water is salty enough so that it is a greater density than the fresh water.

Those guys, not just the migrating ones, live a kind of in-between existence. Although the midwaters where they live are dark, there is some light available. Compared to the well-lighted zones above, there is a lack of food. Many of the adaptations of these animals helps them survive in the face of low food availability. Photophores are common and probably help with communication and predator evasion. Many are red in color, since at the mesopelagic depths, all red wavelengths has been filtered out, making the organisms appear black.

This activity works best with at least two students, though it is possible to do individually. It might be best to have one student hold the apparatus while the second student pushes both plungers, to assure that equal pressure is being applied to both plungers.

Counter shading or clear bodies, schooling, body size and shape reduce sinking tendency of planktors. Big eyes, good vision, open ocean swimmers are powerful- lunate tails, torpedo-shaped muscular bodies.

Animals in the bathy-, abysso-, and hadopelagic zones, are truly a bizarre bunch. Living in such a specialized habitat, they have many adaptations that help them cope with the unique challenges posed by their high pressure, cold, lightless surroundings. Many lack eyes, or have very tiny eyes. They tend to be small with flabby bodies. Because it is difficult to find food, they’re enormous mouths and distendable stomachs allow them to feed on prey items larger than themselves. Mating adaptations include male parasitism.

Safety goggles, dust mask, and dishwashing or exam gloves are only needed if the students will be mixing the plaster themselves.

Students will probably need internet access for Procedure A step 6 to look up city elevation, geographical features, etc.. The activity could be extended by suggesting students to add more cities of their choosing. Use this website, http://en.climate-data.org, as a source.

what will be the future source of fresh water for the growing population?

The OPIHI Algae ID quiz from March 2nd is totally awesome! It is a great tool for students to get familiar with a variety of common algae before they go out and do a survey themselves.

Students will probably need internet access for Procedure A step 6 to look up city elevation, geographical features, etc.. The activity could be extended by suggesting students to add more cities of their choosing. Use this website, http://en.climate-data.org, as a source.