Reflection On Arctarctic Presentation

I thought that Mr.Watt's presentation was absolutely fantastic, and just the fact that he had actually been in Antarctica amazed me. He knew all about the different species, the different lifestyles of animals and even how and when different animals ate. I reacted upon that the pictures in the power point were ones that he actually had taken himself, with his own experiences and points of view. This means that the arctic really is beautiful and that it's not just the modified pictures online that show it is. I found the story about the woman Mr.Watts knew who died being in a fight with a leopard seal quite scary. It shows that you really have to be careful and that you have to know your stuff to be there, and that its no joke. Also, having the story told by someone who actually knew the woman made it seem even more realistic. I also found the picture of the penguins walking onto the shore from the water really fascinating, there must have been thousands of penguins!

Here are some animals that I learned about in Mr.Watts presentation:
Krill:

• Krill are the largest species in the world weight-wise
  
• They eat more than 1/4 of their body weight a day
• Live up to 10 years
• Can swim extremely fast
• only produce eggs in spring/summer when there is an abundance of food
• Eat Algae! Eating Machines!
• Ultimate victims...!

Whales:

• Migrate to shores of Brazil, Equador and Northern Chile
• Come to antarctic only on feeding seasons April-May and eat krill
• KRILL! FOOD! EAT! KRILL! FOOD! EAT!
• too busy during food season eating to breed
• biggest animals
• Orca/killer whale- top food chain (no polar bears in antarctic!)

Penguins:

• most abundant birds
• some types of penguins:
• -Gentoo Penguin
• -Macaroni Penguin
• -Adelie Penguin
  
• -Chinstrap Penguin
• All penguins hatch in the winter and arrive in the arctic in the spring.
  

Seals:

• There are four main types of seals:
• - Elephant seals, eat squid and fish
  
• - Crabeater seals, eat krill
  
• -Leopard seals, eat whatever they feel like including krill, penguins and other leopard seals
  
• -
• female leopard seals are very dangerous and might cause death
• male leopard seals sing to attract females

Polar bears:

• very powerful
• live only in arctic, not in antarctic
• not good sprinters
• when they hunt they swim near to a prey by the water and jump on top of it
• they don't eat the meat of their preys but mostly the fat

Something that I also found interesting about Mr.Watts presentation was the whale poop story. One summer the number of whales decreased vastly because of whale hunting. Scientists predicted that this would make the krill and seal population higher. However, while the seal population increased by small amounts the krill population decreased. After further research we found out that the whales poop they sent out into the ocean makes algae richer and more full of nutrients. This algae later goes into the krill digestive system. This means that with no whales, no poop, no fertile algae, no krill. This shows that whales and krill help each other survive even though they are enemies from birth.

Afraid of its own Fishy Reflection
By Stephen Ornes
May 26, 2010
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20100526/Note2.asp

Male cichlids are known for attacking other male cichlids to win the female or just to prove that they are stronger. Recently, it has been proven that male cichlids also attack their own reflection. This means that they don’t recognize themselves in the mirror. However, a recent study has shown that even though the two situations might look the same, we don’t know what is going on in the fish’s brain. Scientists have proven that the way a fish thinks when it attacks itself and how it thinks when it attacks another fish is different. We don’t seem to find a difference in how the fish acts when it sees its’ own reflection, or in the hormones- but we do see a difference in the fishes brain. However, we still don’t know what is going on inside the fish’s brain. A part of the brain called amygdala is usually used on the human brain when we show fear and other negative emotions. The same part is used in the fish’s brain. Therefore, the fish’s thoughts are a mystery to us.

I think that this article was really fascinating. I haven’t really heard anything about anyone not recognizing their own reflection in real life; only in fairy tales. It’s rather amazing that fish don’t realize that they are staring at themselves in the mirror and end up attacking themselves. After all, if we weren’t familiar with mirrors and saw our own reflection for the first time we would probably be scared and use the part in our brain called amygdala too. Since fish live in the water they probably have never seen a visual of themselves, maybe just vague reflections in metal scraps at the bottom lakes or the sea. For seeing their reflection for the first time they have good reason to use amygdala and to be fear-struck! Another thing that I thought of while reading this article was that fish actually don’t know how they looks like, so maybe they knew it was themselves they were staring at and their physical form scared them. Normally, when a fish gets scared it either hides or attacks. Maybe that was the reason for the attacking and for the hormones and actions being the same as a normal attack- but for the brain to think of it differently!

Tiny, New Frogs the Size of a Pea Old World's Smallest

A new species of frogs has been found- about the size of a pea! They are the smallest frog species in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and one of the tiniest in the whole world! This amazing species are named Microhyla nepenthicola, and were found in the southeast island of Borneo. The miniature frogs were found on the edge of a road. The name Microhyla Nepenticola actually comes from the plant it needs to survive, called Nepenthes Ampullaria. Since the plant grows in dark, shady forests there is plenty of water, and the tadpoles can come to life inside the plant. Now, many scientific teams are trying to find out more about this incredible species- one main question is how they get affected by global warming. To find out about this, they have to find some more Microhyla nepenthicola to observe them. This isn't an easy task looking at the species size. However, the species starts singing around dusk, and this singing has been nicknamed the “amphibian symphony”, so if you cannot see them keep your ears open!

Overall, I think that this article was great and that it’s good to have found out about the Microhyla nepenthicolas existence. It’s just really amazing and fascinating that these tiny creatures exist, and how they are able to survive. Some questions I had while reading the test was “are these frogs able to survive anywhere else on the planet?” and “which factors are the most likely to endanger the frog?” The article says that 1/3 of the world’s amphibians are endangered- wouldn’t this rare species have enemies of some kind? Maybe since they’re so small the other animals don’t notice them as much, or they might have a better change of hiding. Probably the main way these frogs escape from predators is by hiding and possibly camouflage. Dr. Robin Moore mentioned that normally amphibians are very sensitive to their surroundings, and he said that global warming might affect the Microhyla nepenthicolas life style. The only thing that I don’t think is good about the finding of this minute organism is that it might be taken in captivity for showing visitors, doing tests or just having it as a pet.

Reflection on the movie "Survival"

I think this movie was very interesting and explained different methods of survival very well. My favorite method was camouflage, and the sloth. Since the sloth moves extremely slowly,
algae grows on its skin. This makes it look like a tree trunk or a big leaf, so that animals don't hunt it.
There were also other survival techniques I found interesting. The Snapping turtle lies very still under water with its mouth open. Since its tongue is pink, it looks like a worm, and fish come and try to eat it. That's when the turtle closes its mouth and eats the fish inside!
Also, the bola spider spins a web that smells like female moth, so the male moth falls into the trap and the spider eats it up!
Before baby foxes go out on their first hunting trip, they practice fighting and hunting with their mothers. Then, they either go alone or hunt in packs and corner the pray. You have more chance of success when you hunt in a pack, but then you also get a smaller share of the victim. This means less food.
The African vulture can fly over 60 miles over a meal, forth and back. That's 96.5 km!
Another fascinating fish in the video was the puffer fish- it swells up when a predator attacks! That means that only fish with really huge mouths can eat it!

These are some interesting survival videos I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygh1-ul6E94

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsDJ3JrnpOI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciu9xFTvELQ

Questions about reading and notetaking chapter 1 section 1

What needs are met by an organism's environment?
An organism needs an environment with food, shelter, the right climate, the right temperatures, and the right surroundings in general. For example, a gorillas habitat would be in a jungle,where it had bananas to pick off trees and shelter from the outside world. The jungle also provides the gorilla with the right temperature, thatthe gorilla can survive in. The gorilla wouldn't be able to survive in the Sahara desert because it would be too hot during daytime and to warm during the night. Also, in the desert there's not not much living, and the gorilla probably wouldn't want to eat cactus. The same thing for other landforms; praries, mountains, the arctic, the sea. The gorilla wouldn't be able to survive in these places, it would only be able to survive in the jungle.

What are the two parts of an organism's habitat with which it interacts?
There's two factors that an organism interacts with in it's habitat- biotic and abiotic. Biotic factors are living things and Abiotic factors are nonliving things. For example, a biotic factor in a worms daily life is a fly,and an abiotic factor in a worms daily life is soil.

What are the levels of organization within an ecosystem?
1.Organism
2. Population
3. Community
4. Ecosystem

Why do you find different kinds of organisms in different habitats?
Because different organisms live in different places and can't survive in other places. For example, an algae couldn't survive in the sunny desert and a cactus couldn't survive in the ocean. Organisms only stay in places where they can survive.

Think about what will soon start happening within Belgrade. How do animals prepare for such a change?
Winters coming! Some animals hibernate, some animals get thicker fur, some build stronger shelter, and some start using up their nut supply!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqNm8kr_RHs

this is a video I found about monkeys in their their habitats!