Connected on 2013-10-11 09:30:00
from Greenbrier, West Virginia, United States
- 8:33 am
- Bugscope Teamsample is in 'scope and pumped down
- Bugscope Teamwe'll start making presets for today's session in a few minutes
- 8:41 am
- 8:48 am
- 8:56 am
- Bugscope Teamgood morning, Amouton!
- 9:02 am
- Bugscope Teamyay!
- 9:07 am
- 9:14 am
- 9:19 am
- Bugscope Teamhi ms davis!
- 9:26 am
- Bugscope TeamWelcome to Bugscope!
- Bugscope TeamMs Davis you have control of the microscope; we are ready to roll.
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a small cricket you sent
- Bugscope Teamone of its compound eyes deflated...
- Bugscope Teamplease let us know whenever you have questions, about anything
- Bugscope Teamexcept maybe when the government will be back online
- 9:31 am
- Bugscope Teamactually I was wrong about the eye deflating -- it is still there but the right antenna, on the left, is missing
- GuestJust wondering, is there any audio with the presentations? This is our first time, visiting bugscope.
Bugscope Teamwe don't do audio -- I don't think it would work very well
Bugscope Teamwe think it's better if our participants can type and ask us questions, and we can answer in the same manner; otherwise we wouldn't know if we were being heard, etc. We actually think this is a better way of teaching, as inquiry based learning. also fewer logistics.
- 9:36 am
- Bugscope TeamMitch and Shane we put a certain burden on the teacher and the students to control the 'scope, ask us questions, etc. This session is only just starting...
- GuestThanks so much. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.
Bugscope Teamwe are happy to have you on board
- Bugscope Teamour participants can control the microscope directly and also, as part of that, select from any of the presets, on the lefthand screen
- Bugscope Teamone person can control at a time
- 9:43 am
- Bugscope Teamthe participating school can use a variety of setups, from a single teacher with a computer to a roomful of connected computers with students to smartboards to projection screens
- Bugscope TeamMitch and Shane we just gave you control, if you would like, since Ms Davis dropped off, briefly
- Guestthanks
- Bugscope Teamthis is a scary bat-like beetle with fearsome mandibles like a spider
- Bugscope Teamnot sure what it is
- Bugscope Teamthe mandibles resemble spider fangs
- Bugscope Teamthe setae or bristles we see are mostly for sensory purposes
- Bugscope Teamsince insects do not have skin with nerve endings in it
- Bugscope Teaminsects have exoskeletons, which are like a suit of armor
- Bugscope Teamso the sensory setae stick through that armor
- Bugscope Teamsetae can be mechanosensory, chemosensory, thermosensory, used for proprioception (mechanosensory as well)
- 9:48 am
- GuestWhat is on this area? Is it a piece of left over food or grass?
Bugscope Teamit looks like some plant material and maybe some dirt too
- Bugscope Teamyou can see some dried fluid
- Bugscope Teamspiders have poison or venom pores at the tips of their fang/mandibles
- Bugscope Teamwe often see a lot of dirt and mold
- GuestIs that what this could be on those hair like areas?
Bugscope Teammostly dirt and dried fluids here, looks like
- Bugscope Teamwhen we see mold/fungus we see spores and also fungal hyphae, sometimes fruiting bodies
- 9:53 am
- Bugscope Teamthere may be some mold spores to the upper right
- Bugscope Teamdoesn't look very good, but that is a slightly shrunken mold spore
- Bugscope Teamit's easy for insects to get mold on them. we almost always can see some on any insect
- Guestcan we put a picture of the broken limb up?
- 9:59 am
- GuestThank you. This is cool. :-)
- Bugscope Teamthis is a trachea
- TeacherOk, we are all here now!
Bugscope Teamgreat! I am giving you control of the 'scope!
- Bugscope TeamMs Davis you can click on any of the presets to get the 'scope to go where you'd like, and let us know if you have any trouble with that
- TeacherWhat are we looking at right now?
- GuestThank you this is wonderful. You all are great!
Bugscope TeamThank you, Mitch and Shane
- Bugscope Teamthis is a higher magnification view of a trachea, which delivers oxygen to the inner organs
- Bugscope Teaminsects breathe through pores called spiracles, and the spiracles deliver air throughout the body
- Bugscope Teamthis is kind of creepy
- Bugscope Teamit's the face of a very mean-looking beetle, not sure what kind it is
- Bugscope Teamwe're looking at the mandibles, which look just like spider fangs
- TeacherGood time to do this...close to Halloween!
Bugscope Teamyeah!
- 10:04 am
- Bugscope Teamthis is the head of a cricket you sent us
- Bugscope Teamthe dome on the upper left is one of the compound eyes
- Bugscope Teamwe're looking at its face now, and its multiple mouthparts
- Bugscope Teami actually think this cricket is from another school.
- Bugscope Teammany insects have two sets of palps that help them both taste and manipulate their food
- Bugscope Teamwe can see those palps, which look like extra arms and legs but smaller
- Bugscope Teamand we can also see mandibles -- insect mouths are very complicated
- TeacherCole wants to know if a compound eye closes like our eyes do?
Bugscope Teamnope. insects dont have eyelids. they can use their antennae to wipe any dirt off their eyes
Bugscope Teamnot their antennae sorry. they use their front legs.
- Bugscope Teamhere we can see that this ant's mandibles are serrated like pinking shears
- Teacherwe are surprised they are so "hairy"
Bugscope Teamthe hairs serve many purposes
- Bugscope Teaminsects do not have skin; instead they have a shell, called an exoskeleton
- 10:09 am
- Bugscope Teamthe hairs, which we are supposed to call 'setae,' help insects smell, taste, and feel hot and cold as well as touch
- Bugscope Teamsome of the hairs are extra small and they're called microsetae
- Bugscope Teamscary
- Bugscope Teamlooks like a bat
- Bugscope Teammicrosetae are not sensory, as far as we know; they do help form patterns that other insects recognize, and they likely also help with thermoregulation, like fur
- Bugscope Teamthe big flat things we see in the lower part of this image are palps
- Teacherlike what?
Bugscope Teamsetae are called mechanosensory -- for sensing wind and touch and also helping the insect feel if its limbs might be hyperextended
Bugscope Teamsome setae are chemosensory and help the insect smell chemicals in the air as well as tasting what might be food
Bugscope Teamsome setae are thermosensory -- for sensing hot and col
Bugscope Teamoops cold
- Bugscope Teamthis is pretty cool
- 10:15 am
- Bugscope Teamyou can see that the mites are about 100 micrometers long, which is one tenth of a millimeter
- TeacherSo this insect has different insects on it?
Bugscope Teamyes! the mites are more related to spiders, so they are not really insects
- Bugscope Teamwe often find them on earwigs like this, hidden where the earwig cannot reach them and scrape them off
- Bugscope Teammicrometers are also called microns
- TeacherWhy are the mites on the earwig?
Bugscope Teamwe are not sure what they do there -- for example we are not sure if they feed on body fluids from the joints or if they eat food droppings the earwig misses
- Bugscope Teammany insects and arthropods seem to have a kind of defense against mites accumulating on them
- Bugscope Teamwe do not see mites on pillbugs, or not very often, for example
- Bugscope Teamthis is the praying mantis's head, and we can see that one of its eyes collapsed and shrank a bit after it died
- 10:20 am
- Bugscope Teamits mouth also has some goop on it
- Bugscope Teamwe can see that this praying mantis's head is more than two millimeters wide
- TeacherIs that the antenna at the top of the head?
Bugscope Teamyes!
Bugscope Teamyep they are those sticks
- Bugscope Teampraying mantises are said to have a single 'ear' on the thorax -- the chest area. but we do not know just what it looks like
- Bugscope Teambye Mitch and Shane!
- GuestThank you for your time. We have to leave. This was amazing!
Bugscope TeamThank you for connecting with us this morning!
- Bugscope Teamthis is a moth, and we can see that its proboscis is coiled and bent a bit off to one side
- TeacherWhat do the antenna do for the insects?
Bugscope Teamthey are like the ears and mouths in the insect world. They sense chemical signals from others of their species
- 10:25 am
- Bugscope Teamoften, when you see a moth -- without magnification, even -- you can tell the males from the females because the males have much fancier antennae
- Teacherinteresting!
- Bugscope Teamthe female moths produce pheromones, which are chemicals they release into the air like perfume, that attract the males
- Bugscope Teamthe male moths have those ornate antennae to help them sense very small amounts of pheromone in the air
- Bugscope Teammosquitoes are like that too -- the males, which do not bite, have fancier antennae
- TeacherWe are going to have to sign off! It is lunchtime here! We really enjoyed our session, Thanks!!
- Bugscope TeamThank You!
- Bugscope TeamSee you next year!
- Bugscope Teamthanks Ms. Davis for joining us today
- Bugscope TeamBye, Everyone!
