Connected on 2011-11-22 08:00:00
from Greene, Georgia, United States
- 7:06 am
- Bugscope Teamgood morning!
- Bugscope Teamsample is pumping down
- Bugscope Teamwe are scheduled to connect at 8 our time, 9 your time
- Bugscope Teambut in the meantime please let us know if you have any questions
- 7:11 am
- Bugscope Teamyou can see the sample in the chamber as it pumps down
- Bugscope Teamthis is the CCD camera -- infrared -- view of the chamber
- Bugscope Teamin just a few minutes the vacuum will be good enough for us to turn on the electron beam, make some adjustments, and start finding presets for today's session
- Bugscope Teamthere's a large beetle, some flies, some small moths, maybe a tiny ant or two, a Mexican jumping bean and one of the moths that comes out of them, a spider, a mosquito...
- Bugscope Teamalmost ready to turn on the beam
- 7:20 am
- 7:28 am
- TeacherGood Morning! We are getting ready to join you! How do kids sign in as students and not guests?
- Bugscope Teamsometimes signing up as students does not work, but signing up as guests will give them the same capabilities
- Bugscope TeamWelcome to Bugscope!
- 7:33 am
- TeacherOkay - great! My kids are slowly coming in. We will get into our groups & get started in a moment!
- 7:38 am
- 7:44 am
- 7:50 am
- StudentHellow
Bugscope TeamHello!
- Bugscope TeamWelcome to Bugscope!
- StudentGlad to be in it
- Bugscope Teamthis is the face of a small spider
- Bugscope TeamYay!
- Bugscope Teamyou can see six of its eyes
- Bugscope Teamin front you can see the bases of the chelicers, or chelicerae, which the fangs are attached to
- Studenthey
Bugscope TeamHello Tyler321!
- Bugscope Teamyou can see right away that the spider is very hairy
- Bugscope Teamthose hairs, which we call 'setae,' are sensory -- most of them are likely vibration sensitive, giving the spider its ability to feel even very weak vibration
- TeacherWe are having a couple of computer issues, but they are almost solved!
Bugscope Teamtotally cool. It happen here as well.
- 7:56 am
- Bugscope Teaminsects are similar: they have mechanosensory setae, which are touch sensitive, like the whiskers of a cat or rat; they have chemosensory setae, which give them the ability to smell chemicals in the air, such as pheromones, which are like perfume to insects; and there are also thermosensory setae, which let the insects feel hot/cold.
- Bugscope Teamwhen we see scales on a moth, butterfly, mosquito, or silverfish, those are actually modified setae as well.
- Bugscope Teaminsects and similar arthropods like spiders have an exoskeleton, which is like if you were wearing armor -- you would not be able to sense things that were touching your skin
- TeacherWe are ready now.
Bugscope TeamCool!
- Bugscope TeamThis is the area where the spinnerettes are, and it is shriveled a bit, hard to tell just what is what.
- Studenthello
- Bugscope Teamin the very center you can see one of the spinnerettes that produce silk, or web
- TeacherWhat are all the hairy looking things?
Bugscope Teamthose are plumose setae
- Studenthey
Bugscope TeamHello!
- Studenthello
- Studentwhat are the hairy thing
Bugscope Teamthose are plumose setae, sensitive to touch and to vibration
- Studentiwant to kno
- Bugscope Teamthis is at the tip of the spider's abdomen
- Bugscope Teamwhere the silk comes from -- the web
- StudentWhat do all the hairy things do.
- Studenti want to know that
- Studentare those claws on the harry things?
Bugscope Teamthey're just bits of web curled over, but we can see some claws a little later
- 8:01 am
- StudentWhat is that in the middle?
Bugscope Teamthat is one of the actual silk producing tips
- Studentbugscope is very interesting
- Studentwhat part of the body is it
Bugscope Teamthe abdomen is the big round part of the spider, and this is the tip of it
- Studentwhat is a setae?
Bugscope Teamsetae (see-tee) are the bristles or spines that look like hairs to us
- Bugscope Teamsingular of setae is seta
- Studentthanks
- Studentwhat are the thing that look like a carpet
Bugscope Teamthat is the surface of the abdomen, which is expandable
- Studentwhat is thatwhat we are looking at can yall stop chaning the picture
- Bugscope Teambe sure to try some of the other presets; there are a lot today. and let us know if you have any trouble
- Studentwe love bug scope
Bugscope TeamYay! Totally cool.
- Guestme to
Bugscope TeamThank you, Caleb!
- Studentit is great
- StudentThis is cool!
- Bugscope Teamokay you know when you stroke a butterfly's wings and it feels super soft and silky?
- Bugscope Teamand tiny stuff like powder comes off of the wings?
- StudentYEAH
- Bugscope Teamthat is what these things are that we are looking at now, but highly magnified
- Studentwhy are the holes in it
Bugscope Teamthe holes are there to make them lighter
- Studentthere are such strange pictures
- 8:07 am
- Studentwhat do the scales do on the moth wing.
Bugscope Teamone thing they do that is very helpful is to fall off when the moth, for example, flies into a spider web. if the scales stick, perhaps the moth can escape
- StudentWhyare there holes in it
Bugscope Teamthe holes make the scales lighter in weight
- Studentwow I never knew that
- Studenthow many holes are there
Bugscope Teamthere are thousands in just one tiny scale
- Bugscope Teamthe ridges we see refract light so that it comes back to our eyes in color
- StudentWhat is that in the lower right?
Bugscope Teamthat is the tip of another scale; if you take the mag down a bit you can see
- Guestwhy does it have valleys. why is it not just 1 big thing
Bugscope Teamthe valleys form patterns that refract the light and make what are called structural colors
- Studentis that a whole wing
Bugscope Teamit's just a few tiny scales from a wing that would be huge compared to where we are now
- StudentWhy is it bumpy?
Bugscope Teamthe bumpiness likely helps make the scale a bit more rigid, like a Ruffles potato chip
- Bugscope Teamnow we can see that the scales have cool tips like leave
- Bugscope Teamleaves from a tree
- Bugscope Teamspider again!
- Bugscope Teamlet me know if you need any assistance driving, for example if the 'scope is not responding as you wish
- Bugscope Teamyou are driving a $600,000 scanning electron microscope from your classroom
- 8:12 am
- Studentthis is very cool
- StudentWhat are the four bumps in the middle for?
Bugscope Teamthose are eyes!
- Bugscope Teamspiders often cannot see very well, although some can see quite well. but because most do not see well, it is important to have lots of setae
- Studentwhat is the two bumps on the bottom?
Bugscope Teamat the very bottom are the chelicerae, which the fangs are attached to
- Studentawesome
- Studentwhy are spiders hairy
Bugscope Teamthe hair is important because it helps them sense vibration, including sound, which is really just vibration in the air
- Studenthow many things can a spider see at once?
Bugscope Teamit likely sees kid of like we do, but not as well; it would be like looking at eight TVs of the same thing at one time, but each having a camera pointed slightly differently
- StudentI didn't know that. Is that the eyeball or the outside of the eye?
Bugscope Teamit's the outside of the eye, and I guess it is the eyeball as well - they do not have eyelids
- Studentwhy are 2 of the eyes bigger than 4
Bugscope Teamthey may work a bit better, and it is likely that they scare predators that see them
- Guestwhat happens if a spider does not have hair whan born
Bugscope Teamit might be at a disadvantage, because it would not have a good ability to sense its environment
- TeacherWe are going to move to the fly claw...
Bugscope Teamcool!
- 8:18 am
- Studenthow good are the spider's eyes
Bugscope Teamusually they are not that good -- they sense motion and changes in light. but some spiders do see quite well
- Studentwhy does a house fly have a claw?
Bugscope Teamthey use their claws kind of the same way we use our hands -- to help grasp things
- Bugscope Teamthe folded pad above the two 'tines' of the claw is called a pulvillus, and it has lots of sticky setae on it that help the fly cling to glass or to the ceiling
- Guestdoes the hair help it sense things like the spider
Bugscope Teamit can, exactly; it just depends on which hairs they are
- Studenthow sharp is the claw
Bugscope Teamwe can see that it is fairly sharp, but it is so small you would hardly feel it
- Studentwhat the thing that look like a nose
Bugscope Teamthat is the pulvilllus
- Studentwhat is the housefly pulvillus
Bugscope Teamit is a pad that had lots of sticky setae, called 'tenent setae,' on it. they help it cling to things
- StudentWhat are those ponty things on the claw?
Bugscope Teamthose are the actual claws
- Studentwhy does the fly look hairy
Bugscope Teamit really is hairy
- Bugscope Teamhairs, or setae, also called bristles and spines and trichae, and microsetae, and microtrichae, have various purposes
- 8:23 am
- StudentAre they brittle?
Bugscope Teamthe claws are pretty strong; the setae are flexible
- StudentCOOL
- Studentwhat is the housefly eat
Bugscope Teamthey like sugary foods, and they eat by spitting saliva onto their food, then sucking up what the saliva dissolves
- Studentthats is so cool
- Bugscope Teamsee how the tenent setae are flattened at the tips like tiny suction cups?
- StudentThis is fun!!!
Bugscope Teamsweet
- Studentwhat is the tentacul looking things?
- TeacherWhat is this?
Bugscope Teamnow we are looking a bit more closely at the pulvillus, and we can see how the fly can stick to the ceiling, for example
- Studentwhat is the wormy stuff.
- Studentwhat are all those pulvillus
Bugscope Teamthose are tenent setae --- 'tenent' is like the Spanish word 'tener,' which means to have or to hold
- StudentWhat isa house fly related to?
Bugscope Teamit is related to other flies and mosquitoes
- Guestwhat are the swirly things
Bugscope Teamthat is part of the pad that supports the setae
- 8:28 am
- TeacherCan we see the image of the Housefly Claw 2? We are having trouble getting it there?
Bugscope Teamok!
- StudentIts cool but its strange
Bugscope Teaminsects do a lot of the same things we do, but in a different way
- Studentcool
- TeacherThanks!
- Studentwhat are those
Bugscope Teamthose were the spines on the tarsi, which is what the 'forearm' segments of the arm are
- Bugscope Teamnow we see the same thing we were looking at before, but this one is from the side
- Studentyour welcome
- Bugscope Teamthose big spikey things let the fly know when it is touching something
- Studentcool
- StudentWhere's the mouth?
Bugscope Teamyour teacher should be able to drive you there, and if not I can do it
- Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye, below the antenna, of a huge black beetle
- Studentis that an arm sticking out?
Bugscope Teamthat is the beetle's antenna
- Studentwhat is that line going across eye
Bugscope Teamthat is the antenna, but it does resemble an arm, in a way
- StudentAre beetles only black?
Bugscope Teamthey are almost all colors, and even this one is an iridescent red/purple in places
- 8:33 am
- Guestthe antenna is hairy on the end
Bugscope Teamyes! those hairs help the beetle smell and sense touch and hot/cold as well
- Bugscope Teaminsects do not have noses, so they use some of their setae to help them smell and taste things
- Studentwhat are thoes spikes
Bugscope Teamthey are sensory setae that help the beetle pick up cues about its environment
- Bugscope Teamnow we are up closer, and you can see that the spikes go into the antenna, where they are connected to nerves that transmit signals to the brain
- Studentwhat is that
Bugscope Teamthis is one segment of the antenna
- Studentwhat are the spikes?
Bugscope Teamthey are mechanosensory setae, and some are chemosensory, and some are thermosensory
- Bugscope Teaminsects are invertebrates, which means they do not have a backbone; but really they do not have bones at all. they have an exoskeleton, which means they have a kind or protective shell, like armor, on the outside
- 8:39 am
- Bugscope Teamthe shell is made of chitin, and it is also called cuticle; it is like what our fingernails are made of
- Studentsorry about that.
Bugscope Teamhey no problem!
- TeacherWe are having difficulty getting the Mexican Jumping Bean Moth over. Can you help
Bugscope Teamme too! I will drive the 'scope directly instead
- TeacherThanks!
- Studentawesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- StudentWhy does he have big eyes
Bugscope Teamthe big eyes help the moth see better -- collect more light -- in the dark
- Studentwhas that?
Bugscope Teamthis is a moth that came out of a Mexican jumping bean
- Studentare his eyes bigger than its head
- Guestwhat is on his eyes
Bugscope Teamthose are loose scales
- StudentIs that a head?
Bugscope Teamyes it is!
- Studenthey kolbe
- Studentcan you find these bugs around here in Georgia?
Bugscope Teamyou can find something very similar but I am not sure if you can find exactly the same little dudes.
- StudentWhat are all those flakes?
Bugscope Teamthose are scales like what we were looking at up very close earlier
- 8:44 am
- StudentHow do they bathe?
Bugscope Teamthey don't like water enough to completely immerse themselves in it; they have to use their limbs to wipe dirt off of themselves
- Studentis that its eyes??
Bugscope Teamyes those are compound eyes, with thousands of tiny facets called ommatidia
- Studentwhy does it look like it has squares on it eyes?
Bugscope Teamlet's go look...
- Studentwow
- Bugscope Teamnow we can see that they are --- uh what shape is this?
- StudentWhy does it look li
- Studentit is a hexgon
Bugscope Teamexactly! a hexagon!
- Studentthat looks like leaves
Bugscope Teamthose are loose scales
- TeacherI have a group now that wants to see the fruitfly...
Bugscope Teamalright!
- Studentcool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Studentwhy does it have marks on it
Bugscope Teamit is a little beat up, isn't it
- Bugscope Teamthis is the compound eye, part of one, of the fruitfly.
- Bugscope Teamit has little bristles on it that are said to help it sense wind speed and direction, which could be important if you were super small
- 8:50 am
- Guestare those hairs
Bugscope Teamyes they are another version of the same setae we have been seeing everywhere
- Studentit looks like missles
Bugscope Teamit does!
- Studentwhy do we call it a fruitfly
Bugscope Teamyou find them hanging around fruit a lot, where they eat the fungus that often grow on fruit
- Studentcool!!\
- Bugscope Teamnow we see more of its head, and to the top you can see what looks like one of the spider eyes we saw earlier
- Guestis that all they eat
Bugscope TeamI am not sure -- that is what I have read. But I bet they are adaptable. We know what the larvae eat when we grow them in tubes.
- Studenthow many dots does it have on its eye
Bugscope Teamthey have several hundred, at least
- StudentWhat's the ball on the top?
Bugscope Teamthat is a simple eye, called an ocellus; there are actually three of those
- Bugscope Teamnow you can see theat there are three ocelli
- Guestwhy do you grow them in tubes
Bugscope TeamI used to grow them in tubes so I could feed them to baby frogs
- Bugscope Teamoops sorry about the typo, below
- Bugscope Teamocelli help flying insects keep their sense of direction with respect to the sun
- Studentcool
- Bugscope Teamocelli are kind of like many spider eyes -- they sense only dark and light
- 8:55 am
- TeacherCan we see the mosquito?
Bugscope Teamhere goes!
- Studentahhh
- Bugscope Teamooh its compound eyes are shrunken
- Bugscope Teamwhen it was alive they would have been all big and round like basketballs
- Bugscope Teamthis is a female
- Studenthow can you tell?
Bugscope TeamI have seen them before...
- Bugscope Teamoh how can you tell if they're female? by the antennae and by the presence of the stylet
- Studentwhy do mosquitos drink people blood???????????
Bugscope Teamblood is a very good source of protein. only the females bite and suck blood, and they want it badly because they need it to be able to lay their eggs
- Studentdo they only drink blood?
Bugscope Teamthe males drink nectar, sometimes, and I think the females can if they want to, but they do need blood to be able to lay their eggs successfully
- TeacherWhat is the thing that looks like it is coming out of his mouth?
Bugscope Teamthat is the proboscis. this one is a sheath that has the fascicle inside, which is the biting parts
- Studentthey dont just drink are blood
Bugscope Teama nimal blood as well, yes!
- 9:00 am
- Studentwhy does it need blood to lay there eggs?
Bugscope Teamblood gives them enough protein; otherwise they do not have a good protein source
- StudentI knew females drinked the blood but i didn't know it was for there eggs!
Bugscope Teamha Yeah!
- Studenthow many mosquito are there
Bugscope Teamthere are a few thousand species, I think
- Studentwow
- Bugscope Teamlet's look up close at the tip of the proboscis
- Studentwhat is that??
- Bugscope Teamin the center you can see -- to the left a tiny bit, the very sharp edges of one of the stylets that sticks into your skin
- Studentit looks real sharp and wierd!
- Studentwhat colors can they be
Bugscope Teamusually they are brown and gray, sometimes with white stripes, sometimes black, or blackish
- Studentit looks like broken glass
- Studentits cool
- TeacherWe are almost out of time. Can we please see the aphid before we log off?
Bugscope Teamaphids are tiny, and they have soft bodies, like dustmites, so they really shrivel up when they die
- Studentwhat is that
- Studentwhy is it so tiny?
Bugscope Teamit's probably the most efficient way to be if you are going to be doing what they do, drinking plant juices
- 9:05 am
- Studentwe really enjoyed. thanks
Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Studentwe had fun
Bugscope TeamThis is fun for us as well
- Studentbye thaanks for everything sem and scott
Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Studentthanks again
Bugscope TeamThank you!
- StudentTHANK YOU WE REALY INJOYED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Studentthanks for your time
Bugscope Teamsee you next year!
- StudentTHANK YOU IT WAS VERY FUN!!!!!!!!!!1
- TeacherWe really learned a lot today! Thank you so much for your time and this experience.
- Bugscope Teamhttp://bugscope.beckman.illinois.edu/members/2011-146
- StudentThank you for your time and this was really fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Studentyep!!
- Studentthanks sj sem and scott!!!!!!!!!!!! bye!!!!!
- Bugscope Teambelow is the link to your member page, which has a transcript and images on it
- Bugscope Teambe sure to apply soon for next year, because we have been busy
- Bugscope Teamlots of people are applying to work with us now
- Bugscope Teamthis was really fun for us
- TeacherWe will!!
- Bugscope TeamBye!
