Connected on 2008-04-11 11:30:00
from Jenks, OK, US
- 10:39 am
- Bugscope Teamdoing presets now
- 10:44 am
- 10:50 am
- 10:56 am
- Bugscope Teampresets done, we are ready to go
- Bugscope Teamready fredy
- 11:04 am
- Bugscope Teamhello
- Bugscope Teamwelcome to bugscope
- Bugscope Teamhello mrs. giddens, welcome to bugscope
- TeacherHello Alex
- Bugscope Teamwell hello there! any questions?
- Bugscope Teamwe are ready for you and your class anytime
- TeacherNo, thank you. Just getting prepared.
- Bugscope Teamok, do you prefer suzanne, or mrs. giddens?
- TeacherMrs. Giddens , please.
- Bugscope Teamyou got it, mrs. giddens, no problem
- TeacherI will also have a couple students asking questions
- Teacheri'll bbl.
- Bugscope Teamyou are welcome to start controlling the scope anytime, okay see you soon then
- 11:20 am
- TeacherWe are back online
- Bugscope Teamok, sounds good, you want to practice driving the scope a bit?
- TeacherStudents will be writing questions on index cards and giving them to me to type.
- TeacherI"m good with practice driving.
- Bugscope Teamthat is fine by us, whatever works for you
- TeacherWill we be starting with a ladybug?
- Bugscope Teamwell, you can start with any bug you want that is on the preset list
- Bugscope Teamwe've got presets for you and your class today
- Bugscope Team10 presets i mean
- Bugscope Teamthat just happens to be at the top of the preset list (ladybug I mean)
- TeacherWhat are we looking at now?
- Bugscope Teamthis is preset #7, it's a fruit fly head
- 11:25 am
- TeacherWe would like to start with teh fruit fly head.
- Bugscope Teamtwo big compound eyes on the sides, and the mouth in the middle
- Bugscope Teamin the lower middle part of the face is the sponging mouth part
- Bugscope Teammrs. giddens, do you want us to control the scope, move around, and such? or do you want to control the scope yourself?
- TeacherI will
- Bugscope Teamthe antennae are at the top-middle part of the head. The antennae have two parts, the two darker hairy parts and the branches that you see on top of the eyes
- Bugscope Teamok, sounds good
- Teacher11:30 is starting time, please hold.
- Bugscope Teamok
- 11:30 am
- TeacherHello Alex & Cate
- Bugscope Teamhello!
- Bugscope Teamhello mrs. giddens and students of jenks middle school, welcome to bugscope!
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a fruit fly
- Bugscope Teamcheck out the two compound eyes on either side of the head
- Bugscope Teamfruit flies also have ocelli (simple eyes with a single lens) but we can't see them on this particular insects from this angle
- TeacherHere's a question from Onan: Can you get a colored picture on an electron microscope?
Bugscope Teamgood question, the answer is no. in an electron microscope, electrons are used to "gather" the image, and since electrons are smaller than the wavelength of visible light, we don't see color, only shades of black/white.
Bugscope TeamWhat we see as color is how the surface of something selectively reflects or absorbs certain wavelengths, colors, of light. The electron microscope uses a method of image formation totally different than reflecting or passing light through something (bombarding the sample with a stream of tiny charged particles), so there is no color information like we see with our eyes
- 11:36 am
- Bugscope Teamhowever, sometimes people can false color an electron image, based on elemental analysis so that the colors do signify some scientific differences on the insect
- TeacherQuestion from Will: How big is an electron microscope?
- Bugscope Teamas you can see, insects are very "hairy"
- Bugscope Teamit is the size of a desk
- Bugscope Teamthere is a picture of the scope you are using here: http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/ms/equipment/microscopes/esem/
- TeacherQuestion from Megan: What is all the hair for?
Bugscope Teamthe hairs on an insect are called setae (see-tee), and they allow the insect to sense their environment through their hard exoskeleton.
Bugscope TeamInsects and other arthropods have an exoskeleton: a skeleton that is on the OUTSIDE of their muscles and organs. The setae are connected to nerves that are then connected to the insect's brain. The hairs collect information about the environment, allowing the insect to feel, taste, and smell.
- Bugscope Teambut the chamber of the scope, the place we put your bugs, is about the size of a human head
- Bugscope Teamyes, the setae are attached to nerves underneath the exoskeleton
- TeacherAre we looking at hairs or spikes on the pillbug claw?
- Bugscope Teamthese are still hairs, or setae rather
- TeacherQuestion from TJ: Are pillbugs related to crabs and lobsters?
Bugscope TeamYes! They are all crustaceans.
Bugscope TeamAt least some of these setae have a sensory functions. Some of the larger spikes/ setae may help the pillbug to walk
- Bugscope Teama lobster is like a very big bug
- Bugscope Teamannie is an entomologist so she knows her stuff!
- 11:41 am
- TeacherQuestion from Kyle: How poisionous is a stinger of a scorpion?
Bugscope TeamMost scorpions inflict a painful sting, but generally they do not kill healthy humans. Some scorpion stings only hurt as bad as a wasp sting; other scorpion stings are so painful that a person may have to seek medical attention, or stay in bed all day.
- Bugscope Teamthat hole that you see in the tip of the stinger is a gland for injecting part of the venom. There are supposed to be 2 glands, but we don't see the other one
Bugscope TeamI think it might be on the other side.
- TeacherQuestion from Soccerman (Jacob).: How long are scropion stingers usually?
Bugscope Teamwell, they are in length, depending on the species. but you could measure this one yourself. notice the measure tool in the lower right of the image. you could use that to measure the stinger!
- Bugscope Teamthe rock looking things is probably some dirt on the house fly
- Bugscope Teami mean to say millimeters in length
- Bugscope Teamum is a micron, one millionth of a meter
- 11:46 am
- Bugscope Teamso if you zoom out here a bit, then you'll see the entire stinger
- Bugscope Teamthen you can get a good measure of its length
- Bugscope Teamif you drive to the left you should be able to see the end
- Bugscope Teamnice driving mrs. giddens!
- TeacherQuestion from TJ (milkman): What is the deadliest scorpion and where does it live?
Bugscope Teamthe deadliest scorpion is the bark scorpion (AKA deadly sculptured scorpion). they live in the Southwest
- TeacherThank you, Alex.
- TeacherQuestion from Will's mom: How quickly do house flies reproduce?
Bugscope Teamthe adult hatched house fly's live anywhere from 1/2 month to a month, in the wild. in lab conditions they can live longer.
- TeacherQuestion from Megan: Do flies have ears? If so , where are they?
Bugscope TeamFlies sense sound with setae on their antennae. The can also sense vibrations with mechanosensory setae on other parts of their bodies (legs, thorax, etc).
- TeacherQuestion from Liam: Do you watch the Discovery Channel?
Bugscope Teami LOVE the discovery channel
- Bugscope TeamI liked watching Planet Earth
- Bugscope TeamThere is another scorpion genus in North Africa and the Middle East, Androctonus, that is also very venomous
- TeacherQuestion from: Tucker. What are the bubbly things on the house fly compound eye?
Bugscope Teamthose are called ommatidia. a house fly compound eye is made up of hundreds of these ommatidia, or individual facets, each one having its own lens in it. so the insect actually sees hundreds of images at once, and the brain puts it together into one picture
- 11:52 am
- TeacherQuestion from Rita: How long do fruit flies live?
Bugscope TeamI believe the genration time for lab reared Drosophila is about 2 weeks.
- TeacherQuestion from a typical middle school boy: How often do flies poop?
Bugscope TeamIt depends on how much they eat. The more eating, the more pooping.
- Bugscope Teamthis is part of a milkweed seed
- Bugscope Teammilkweed is poisonous to a lot of animals
- Bugscope Teambut monarch butterflies eat from them
- TeacherWhat do flies eat?
Bugscope TeamDifferent types of flies eat differen things. Flies make up one of the largest insect orders. Some flies eat fruit, some eat dead animals and animal waste, some flies suck blood, some flies feed on nectar from flowers, some eat bacteria in saline lakes. If you can name it, there is probably a fly somewhere that eats it.
- TeacherLast question from Kyle: How many times a year do you hold sessions for schools?
Bugscope Teamwe do anywhere from 2-3 session a week during the school semester. we enjoy working with students and teachers!
- 11:57 am
- TeacherMrs. Giddens' 7th grade class from Jenks Middle School says THANK YOU!
- Bugscope TeamThank you all for the very good questions!
- Bugscope Teamflies also rely heavily on their sight, using their compound eyes, that is why flies can avoid swatters somewhat...
- TeacherSee you soon!
- Bugscope Teamthank you everyone for your questions! We like to be challenged
- TeacherGreat Session.
- Bugscope Teamthanks jenks middle school, you all rocked!!!! thanks mrs. giddens!!!
- TeacherBye Bye
- Bugscope Teamall the images and chat are saved on your member page
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/members/2008-002
- Bugscope Teamciao
- Bugscope Teambye and we hope you have another session with us again soon
- Bugscope Teamok see you annie
- 12:02 pm
- Bugscope Teamrxl stopped, session disabled and locked, all logged out.
- Bugscope Teamnice session everyone, good bye!
