Class Crustacea: Lobster

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Order Decapoda
Species Panulirus argus (Caribbean Spiny Lobster)

Habitat: These spiny lobsters live in the Caribbean in the depth range of 230-700 m, they are mostly found around 300-500 m deep they are usually found on of sand or mud.

Predators: The spines on the lobster protect it from most predators, people are know to catch and eat them, but octopuses also eat these spiny lobsters.

Prey: The Caribbean spiny lobster usually eats mollusks and dead animals on the ocean floor. It also eats sea urchins, worms, crustaceans, and some sea vegetation.

Anatomy: Spiny all over the body, grows to about 60cm in length, they live about 8-10years in the wild.

Reproduction: The lobsters mate between March and June the use reproduce by external reproduction.

Growing: The lobsters use a method called molting to get larger and bigger. The lobster splits it's shell in half at where it meets the tail and crawls out. The lobster also eat their old shells. The old shells give contain many nutrients that can help the creatures to grow even larger. Some other Crustaceans molt to grow such as crabs.

Benefit's to Humans:
We eat them :]

Guest Speaker at Mills High!

Guest speaker Louise Mead of the National Center for Science Education came to speak to Mr. Olson's science classes on January 24, 2008. She taught the students about evolution and what she did at work. She taught us how we and other animals have evolved through time and how we evolved.

She described how there is four main processes or mechanisms of evolution and these were
1.) Natural selection
2.) Genetic Drift
3.) "evo-devo"
4.) Mutation.

She presented a PowerPoint slide showing how species of humans, salamanders, and whales evolved.

She explain how the world has proven that there is evolution
1.) Biogeography (Distribution in fossil records and comparisons)
2.) Anatomy (Similarities in limbs and bones)
3.) Biochemistry and Biology (Studying chromosome # and DNA sequences)
4.) Fossil Record (How fossils are distributed)
5.) Development biology (Gene Comparison)

The presentation was very interesting, but sadly there was not enough time to finish the presentation.

Recovering Fires with beetle dung?

How can beetle dung help forests recover from fires?
Tyler Cobb have been studying the burned area of a northern Alberta hamlet from a summer blaze in 2001. By studying how some beetles are consuming the burned trees he found out how beetle dung has contributed to replenishing nutrients that help plants grow back. Beetle droppings found at the bases of trees resemble cones of sawdust, they help by increasing microbial (bacteria growth) activity in the soil. Instead of them being view as pest beetles actually have been helping forests recover from fires. The beetle larvae which are laid in dead trees have been destroyed by loggers. Cobb believes that logging should be ceased after fires or 10-20% of burnt trees should be left alone.

I think that this is a great idea to recover forest fires with beetle dung. Recovering fires with beetle dung is natural and would not harm the environment. Using beetle dung to fertilize the ground would be much better than using chemicals that we produce.

Our Nervous Systems

Scientist experiments with fruit flies to see why our nervous systems.
responds to the way it does. Scientist are trying to find out why
people get addicted to drugs,alcohol, etc.
Although fruit flies are very different from us their nervous systems are remarkably similar to ours.

The Snaily Snail Lab ;P

During the snail lab I observed that the snail pulled its body across the petri dish. When it encountered another of the same species the snail just crawled over it. We tried giving it some food to eat, which it ate a little, but we didn't see how it ate. When we put some vinegar in front of its path it stopped right in front of it and then arched back and tried to cross it, which made it start bubbling.