Connected on 2012-01-06 08:15:00
from Iroquois, Illinois, United States
- 7:21 am
- Bugscope Teampumping down...
- 7:35 am
- 7:42 am
- 7:48 am
- TeacherHello
- Bugscope Teamgood morning Ms McAuliffe!
- Bugscope Teamwelcome back!
- TeacherThanks :) I am currently running on internet explorer...everything seem ok?
- Bugscope Teamthis is Scott, at the ESEM (SEM). I am making presets. Everything looks good from here.
- TeacherOk, good. I can see your images and move around on the screen fine right now. When my kids get here will they need the password you gave me?
Bugscope Teamthe kids should be able to log on without a password, as Students. Sometimes Student is not available as a selection, and they will have to log on as Guests. But either way they should not need a password.
- TeacherOk. Is there anything else I should know before we begin?
Bugscope Teamno I think we are fine. It might work better if you were to use Firefox, but if things are fine now, no problem.
- 7:54 am
- TeacherI will have my kids connect through firefox. I believe that is what we did last year to speed up their control time.
Bugscope TeamCool!
- 8:00 am
- 8:06 am
- Bugscope Teambe right back
- 8:14 am
- Bugscope Teamk I am back
- Bugscope TeamHello Blake and Tylor!
- StudentHey Esem
- Bugscope TeamThis is the underside of the head of the wasp.
- Bugscope TeamThe head fell off, and when we mounted it, it flipped upside down. It is difficult to handle something so small and delicate without mashing it. So we left if upside down.
- Bugscope TeamPlease let us know when you have questions about anything.
- Teacherwill we be able to control the microscope?
Bugscope Teamyou should have control now
- 8:19 am
- Bugscope Teamone person or group at a time can have control, and Ms. M you have it now.
- Bugscope Teamlet us know if you have any trouble
- Bugscope Teamthe thumbnails on the lefthand screen are clickable, and when you click on the 'scope will drive to that stored position on the sample stage, which is inside the microscope.
- Bugscope Teamso, for example, I just clicked on the housefly head
- Bugscope Teamand the 'scope drove to that place
- Bugscope Teamthis is likely a female housefly
- Bugscope TeamHello Justine, Abby, Hannah, and Paige!
- StudentWhat is the spot on the eye?
- Bugscope Teamask Ms M to click on that on the screen and then bring the mag up, so we can see
- 8:25 am
- Studenthow do you know the sex of the fly?
Bugscope Teamwe don't always know for sure, but one of the fly entomologists told us that when the eyes are far apart they are often females, and when they are close they are often males.
- Studentwhat is the difference between female flies and male flies
Bugscope Teamsorry to take so long in answering; I had someone asking me a question here. They often look almost exactly alike from the outside. The difference of course is that the females can lay eggs and have progeny.
- Bugscope TeamMs M you did a good job driving. Hard to tell what that was. -- Some kind of dirt.
- TeacherCan we give control to Blake/Tylor?
Bugscope TeamBlake/Tylor are the Supreme Rulers
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the flu'
- Bugscope Teamd'oh oops
- Bugscope Teamyou could see that the fly's limbs had broken off (after it died)
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the stinkbug's claws, up close
- Bugscope Teamyou often find a lot of dirt, sometimes mold spores, sometimes pollen, sometimes bacteria
- 8:30 am
- Bugscope Teamthe spines we see are almost all likely touch-sensitive -- they let the stinkbug know when it is touching something
- Studentits like a moldy carrot
Bugscope Teamoooh. Yes!
- Studentwhat are the long white things?
Bugscope Teamthose are mechanosensory spines, kind of like cat or rat whiskers that let those animals feel in the dark
- Studenteverytime i go to ask a question u answer it
- Bugscope Teambecause insects have their skeleton on the outside, it's kind of like if you were wearing armor -- you would not be able to sense something touching the surface of the armor. So those 'hairs' stick through to help the insect sense its environment.
- Studentway to stay on your game
Bugscope Teamtrying... Thank You
- StudentWhat are we looking at?
Bugscope Teamthis is the body of the cricket, and you can see three of its six claws
- StudentWhat was the stinkbug's claw made of?
Bugscope Teaminsect cuticle, including the claw, is made of chitin, which is much like what our fingernails are made of
- Bugscope Teamthe cricket is flashing gang signs, but we are not privy to their meaning
- Studentcreepy
Bugscope Teamyeah that is what makes it fun
- 8:36 am
- Bugscope Teamnot all of the setae (the 'hairs') are mechanosensory. some are chemosensory, meaning that they can sense chemical smells, or just smells; some are thermosensory, meaning that they sense hot/cold.
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the cricket's antennae are busted off
- Bugscope Teamits left compound eye is to the right and looks smooth
- StudentHow do they see?
Bugscope Teammost of the insects in the 'scope today have compound eyes, which are like multifaceted lenses. they see a large number of images and their brains have to translate them into something that makes sense.
- TeacherIts smoother than I expected
Bugscope Teamcricket, grasshopper, and praying mantis as well as roach eyes are often very smooth at low mag
- Bugscope Teamand even at high mag
- Bugscope Teamthat was me driving -- I'm sitting at the microscope
- TeacherThey are still multifaceted though yes?
Bugscope Teamyes! you should be able to see ommatidia -- the individual facets -- now
- TeacherAre insects able to individually process separate images at the same time?
- 8:41 am
- Studentthats a lot of lenses
Bugscope Teamsome large wasps can have as many as 17,000 ommatidia per compound eye
- StudentIs that hair sticking out of the eye?
Bugscope Teamyes it is! it is likely a mechanosensory seta
- TeacherAlso, can we give the control to Justine/Abby/Hannah?
Bugscope TeamJustin/Abby/Hannah are now in control.
- Bugscope Teamflying insects often also have three additional 'simple' eyes, called ocelli, on the top of the head
- Bugscope Teamocelli are not as good at imaging but allow the insect to keep a sense of direction with respect to the sun, or to light
- Teacherwere you able to process any of our samples?
Bugscope TeamI thought these were yours. Did we get the wrong ones?
- Teacherwe had a cicada larva I was hoping to see...I believe the wasp and fly are ours tho
- StudentWhy does it look like he is sweating?
Bugscope Teamnervous about being on the web
- Studentare its legs in its mouth?
Bugscope Teamthey look much like legs, and in a way they are -- they are accessory limbs called palps that are used to help manipulate and taste prospective food
- 8:46 am
- Bugscope TeamBlake/Tylor what looks like sweat is fine droplets of some kind of fluid, perhaps hemolymph, which is insect "blood"
- Studenttheir mouths are so complex
Bugscope Teamthey really are -- they are confusing to us -- it looks like they've eaten a smaller insect
- StudentWhat is in the mouth?
Bugscope Teamthose are the palps, which have chemosensory setae, like tastebuds, on them; they also function to help move food around and into the mouth
- Teacherdo insects have pores for fluids and such?
Bugscope Teamyou mean to eat? a housefly, and a fruitfly, has sponging mouthparts and drinks its food
- StudentRetention Plan?
Bugscope Teamit is hard to tell what is happening here, but those sharp pointy things are what the spider's fangs push against to help it hold its prey while it bites it
- Studentfantastic
- Bugscope Teamso calling those spines a retention plan is a kind of joke. the fang is the longer curved thing on the bottom
- 8:51 am
- TeacherNo I mean pores for releasing "sweat" or "oil" (if insects need those things)
Bugscope Teamyes the stink bug is a good example of that. They have special pores they release their stinky oils from.
- Studentwhat is all the long rass looking stuff
- Studentgrass*
- Studenteww
Bugscope Teamhaha. Spiders inject venom into their prey that dissolves its inner organs. The spider then sucks everything up like a milkshake. Apparently it is immune to its own venom.
- Studentis this a poisonious spider?
Bugscope Teamprobably, but if it was, it's not one of the spiders that can affect humans like a black widow or brown recluse
- TeacherCan we give control to Paige now please?
Bugscope Teampaige has control
- Studentyum
- Bugscope Teamsorry it is difficult to make out what is what -- there are actually eyes to the left. further to the left.
- Studenta protein shake
Bugscope Teamhaha exactically!
- Bugscope Teamthis is one of the ocelli -- the 'simple' eyes -- I had mentioned earlier.
- Bugscope Teamspider eyes look much like this
- Teacheroh, duh, nevermind
- Studentis this eye more comparable to ours?
Bugscope Teamit is like a weak version of one of our eyes -- it is more able to sense dark and light than shapes
- Teacherwhat is an ocellus?
Bugscope Teamit is a simple eye that can't really see well, but it can tell the differences in light. They often help flying insects navigate because they have 3 of them
- 8:56 am
- Studenthow can it see with all the hairs or whatever that is around it?
Bugscope Teamthe ocelli, because they sense light and dark, are probably not hampered as much by the setae (the 'hair") around them. also, there are three ocelli, and they are often in a kind of 'clearing' on the top of the head
- Bugscope Teamthis is totally cool
- Studenti agree
- Bugscope Teamthis resembles some spiracles
- Studentwhy does it look so sharp?
Bugscope Teamprobably to help catch particles before they go in. Like nose hairs
- 9:01 am
- Teacherso are these pores?
Bugscope Teamthat is the opening that the stinky fluids come out of, and now we are looking at those fluids, dried, just outside of where they were released.
- Studentwow
- Studentthank you!:)
- Teacherunfortunately we have to go. Thank you!
- StudentTHANK YOU!!!
- StudentThank you sooo very much have a wonderful day
- StudentFrom Blake and Tylor
- Studentso this is where the 'stink' comes from?
Bugscope Teamyes! there are two openings between I think the first and second sets of legs on the ventral side (of course, since that is where the legs are)
- Student:]
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Bugscope Teamthanks for bugscoping with us.
- Student:):);)
- Bugscope TeamIt looks like we may have some other guests we can let drive if they wish....
- TeacherHave a great day guys!
Bugscope TeamYou too, Ms M!
- Teacherthanks
Bugscope TeamYou too! See you next year!
- Bugscope TeamDuggan we just gave you control of the microscope if you would like. Today's school is done.
- Bugscope Teamplease let us know if you have questions, and note that you are able to select from presets and actually drive the microscope.
- Bugscope TeamDuggan Middle Springfield can you read this?
- 9:07 am
- Bugscope Teamokay we will shut down ...
