Vancouver aquarium trip

1. The relationship between clown fish and sea anemones is that clown fish have a special coating on them that is the same as on the sea anemones, so when the clown fish swim through the anemones, it thinks it's just one of it's tentacles and doesn't try to eat it.

2. Sea otters must maintain their coats in order to stay warm in the cold waters they live in, because they do not have any blubber to do the job.

3. Before the 1900's, the western coast (from Alaska to California) were the only places you could find sea otters. Because they were being hunted so much, an effort to repopulate the western coast was put to the test and 89 otters from Alaska were brought to Vancouver Island in 1969. Without sea otters our  western coastline would not have any fish or kelp.

4. The colour of the sea anemones next to the sea otters tank are bright neon green with a dark green body.

6. At the Vancouver Aquarium, there are two beluga whales. The beluga whale, is also known as "Delphinapterus" because it means fin-less whale, as seen in the picture.

7. Sea horses are very small creatures that like to tied down to plants on the bottom of the sea floor. They don't often move but if they have to it's very slow and careful movement, keeping an eye out for prey

8. "The head of the jelly fish can represent the head, which is where the main part of the nervous system is, and the tentacles can represent the countless nerves that go throughout our body." 

9. The two most important abilities for a starry flounder to survive is being able to camouflage with the ground area around it, as well as it's ability to play dead in a close encounter with a predator.

10. Moon- Jellies use their head for movement, they slowly let themselves float down and then their head goes in a somewhat flattened position and pushes out all the water from under it, "shooting" it in the direction it is wanting to go. While bringing in water, little planktons are sucked up and eaten through the mouth.

11. The purpose of the white suction cups on octopi are to be able to climb plants and rocks as well as grab and kill prey in their grasp. They are known as natures best predator because they are able to camouflage into any colour as well as change their skin texture to match what they are hiding on, in order to catch their prey without realization.

12. The feeding types of sea lions are changing vigorously, but they are mainly pack feeders who work together in groups to attack prey. They will eat anything from squid - octopi, to herring and pollock.

13. Originated from Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay

14. The colour of the crocodile is good for camouflage as they mostly live in swampy water and in areas where there is lots of trees and plants, making it an easy attack on prey.

15. The largest fish in the Aquarium was the Arapaima

16. A vegetarian fish, also known as Redhook Silver Dollar eats seeds off of shrubs from riversides.

17. When being removed from their hooks while being fished, they become the biggest threat to humans because they are still alive and very capable of biting.

18. Sharks do not have any bone, but in fact are made up of cartilage.

19. In the tank with the sharks there were also stingrays, different types of fish, and one large sea turtle

20. Sea urchins use their spiky bodies to protect themselves, making them a very painful meal.

21. Archerfish gather water into their mouths and then shoot them at insects above water, knocking them into the water for the fish to eat.

22. The turtle at the aquarium is called "Schoona"

Excitement filled the air that morning as about 50-60 kids piled into one school bus, along with two teachers as supervision, to be driven out to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was a long day but it was well worth it, having to only wait a short while out in the cold to get inside. As soon as you enter the first things you see are round tanks filled with tiny colourful fish in the middle of the hall, to the sides you could see sea anemones and jelly fish and on the other side a huge snake! Immediately Shaineel pulled out his camera and started taking some great shots of the fascinating creatures, and from there we started going through our list finding all the pictures we needed for our scavenger hunt. We had about two hours before it was lunch, which was plenty of time to go around in circles trying to find what we needed. After having a quick bite to eat we hung out with some friends and then proceeded to our "wet lab" that took up the rest of our time there. I think that was my favourite part of the whole trip- being able to handle starfish and sea urchins, touching sea cucumbers and crabs, as well as poking around at the sea anemones. It was easily my favourite field trip so far for biology and a great and fun learning opportunity.

Earthworm dissection lab

 1. The name for the pumping organs of an earthworm are called the hearts.

 2. The food enters the mouth travelling through the pharynx, crop, and gizzard, into the intestine nd out the anus.

3. The brain is attached to a nerve cord that runs on the bottom (ventral) inside of the worm that runs through the entire body. 

4.  The end or otherwise known as the "anus" is the part of the worms body that is included in the excretory and is used to remove digested materials within the body.

5. Since worms live in dirt they naturally take their nutrients from the soil, but because they don't have tongues to separate what is food and what is dirt, it would all be mixed together. To further prove that, cutting open the earthworm you saw lots of black on the inside towards where the food was held, most likely intakes of soil.

6. Setae are tiny little prickles on the outside of the worm that help it move along through most terrain. It is also used in protecting itself by sticking out of the dirt to keep predators from attacking 

7. The digestive system has adapted by using the crop to store the food that passes through, then using the gizzard to separate the food from the soil, helping it receive its nutrients.

As soon as the class was told we were going to dissect worms the first things to leave anyone's mouth was "oh my god, gross". The thought of having to possibly handle a worm was not the first thing on anybody's agenda for the day, but once everyone had gotten past that the work had begun. First my partner and I pinned the head end of the worm to our tray and then stretched the worm and tight as we could without it breaking and the pinned the anus. Soon after we made an incision right down the whole body of the warm on the dorsal side and pinned down the rest of the skin. From that point we could see the entire inside cavity of an earthworm, dirt and all. We then viewed from one end to the other the insides under a microscope, looking at the various hearts, reproductive section, digest tract and so on. Towards the anus things started to get really messy as we gently scraped away the dirt in the digestive tract to get a better look at the intestine and the typhlosole. After our observations were complete, the remainder of class was spent thoroughly cleaning all the tools used and putting them away, as well as cleaning all the counters. I found this lab much more educational as it was hands on and helped make things easier to learn and remember. 

Forest Fungi Walk

On a chilly Friday afternoon my Bio class and I spent our time going on a walk in a forested area near our school to hunt for some fungi that we had been studying about, for the past week. Such types of fungi include Oomycota (water molds), Zargomacota (common molds), Ascomycots (sac fungi), Bacidiomycota (club fungi), and Deuteromycota (imperfect fungi). You would think you would find mushrooms all over the place, but in mine and Shaineel's case we had to travel deeper into the wooded areas to seek what we were looking for. On our travels we ventured upon many shelf mushrooms, some of which had bright colours like neon orange, and others with just a boring brown tone. After accepting the fact we couldn't go much further, had it been raining earlier and the days before, we decided to turn back, missing out on the fact that we might have been able to find some awesome Oomycota water mold fungi towards the creek. Though since it were too slippery nobody felt the urge to go for a little swim. Deciding it would be a bit more suitable to our footwear, we hiked over fallen branches and leaves to come across little amounts of neon orange jelly fungi hiding on top of a tree trunk with a carved face in it. Had you not stepped on top of a tree branch or trunk you would never have found it hiding, just sitting there soaking in the rain water and sunlight that would remain still on the head of the tree. As my partner and I made our way out and back to the teacher I came across a couple little patches of club mushrooms as well as some forming shelf mushrooms. If you hadn't been looking closely enough and inspecting all the area around you, missing these magnificent forms would have been too easy. Too think if we actually spent some time looking around while out for a stroll, we'd be amazed at the things we could find.

 A nice bright orange shelf mushroom

 Two stacked shelf mushrooms

 Club mushroom

 Forming shelf mushrooms

 Neon orange jelly fungi

 More shelf mushrooms

Even more shelf mushrooms

Crustose lichen