The Coolest Tanks!

Here are pictures of some of the coolest tanks EVER!

This tank looks like it came out of Star Wars!

SOMETHING SMELLS....FISHY!

It has a SINKing feeling!

He's got fish on his mind!

ChApTeR 9!

Marine Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals

Some examples of CLASS MAMMALIA(Mammals)

• Order Pinnipedia-Seals, sea lions, fur seals, walrus
• Order Carnivora- Sea otter, polar bear
• Order Sirenia- Manatees, dugong
• Order Cetacea-Suborder Mysticeti
• Baleen whales-Suborder Ordontoceti
• Toothed whales

Some examples of CLASS PRETILIA(Reptiles)

• Order Chelonia-Sea turtles
• Order Squamata-Sea snakes, marine iguana
• Order Crocodilia-Saltwater crocodile

Some examples of CLASS AVES(Birds)

• Order Sphenisciformes-Penguins
• Order Porcellariiformes-Tubenoses
• Order Anseriformes-Ducks
• Order Charadriiformes-Gulls and related birds, shorebirds
• Order Ciconiiforms-Herons
• Order Gruiformes-Rails, coots
• Order Pelecaniformes-Pelicans and related birds
• Order Gaviiformes-Loons
• Order Podicipediformes-Grebes

MIGRATION

Migration routes of humpback and gray whales are very similar. Both species tend to migrate and breed close to shore, where they were easily hunted. Both species are on the comeback. The gray whale was removed from the endangered species list in 1994. This shows a possible change in where they mate. The western Pacific population of gray whales that may still breed south of Korea also appear to be growing strong again. Gray whales used to live in the North Atlantic region until they were nearly completely wiped out in the last 100 years.

April Showers Bring May Flow-I mean Showers

THIS WEEK IN MARINE BIOLOGY

Its been raining ALL WEEK and its supposed to rain ALL next week!

We put filters in our tanks, SQUEAKY CLEAN!

We also got a SHMASSIVE project last class. Oh boy!

Also Mr. Welton continues to hate Molly...it's pretty great!

Bye!

جانبي

להתראות

附属的

Tschüss

Ciao

ลาก่อน

OMA-WHAT? OMAHA!

 ROAD TRIP 2K9!!!!!!!!!!!! The Marine Biology Class, well most of it, went to The Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha for a day trip to learn about Marine life! The class took a tour of the Marine Center before getting a behind the scenes adventure below and above the tanks. The chemicals in the air got to one student, who had to sit out part of the tour so he didn't pass out into the shark tank.

 "It was so much fun," senior Molly Rissien exclaimed, "The car ride was great, we really got to connect with Mr. Welton. The bat cave was scary but I still had a great time!"

From Left; Shandra, The Weltonator, Molly, Jake,  Jacob

 After the behind the scenes tour, the class got to look at the other indoor exhibits at the zoo. Because of the below freezing temperatures and wind-chill in the teens, the outside exhibits were inaccessible. Students walked through a Jungle like environment in a huge room heated to feel like the real Amazon Rainforest.

This 4 story tall tree is a secret support for the roof of the Jungle exhibit.

The trip was a "GREAT SUCCESS" all around! Now, please enjoy these photos.

This "Desert Dome" feels and looks like the Arizona Desert. 

This is the fake lizard that scared the CRAP out of Molly!

Molly and Jake chillin' in the bubble

"If I smell, it's because I'M A PENGUIN and I eat fish."

The Creepy dark shark tunnel!

The Animal version of the average American

The Side of the Bubble Dome

The Desert Dome

Peanut Worm

Grab your Epipen, its time to lean about Peanut Worms!!!!!

The Peanut worms scientific name is the Sipuncula or Sipunculida. Peanut worms are made up of a phylum of somewhere between 144 and 320 different species. The Peanut Worm has bilateral symmetry and is an unsegmented marine worm.



The Peanut worm is known for its crazy mouth. The worms mouth has anywhere from 18-24 tentacles around it. The worm has a digestive system or tract which starts in the mouth, through the posterior part of the body and working its way towards the anus on the opposite side or dorsal side of the body. It has an anal shield that makes the worms anus "invisible." The worms do not have vascular blood systems, they use something called interstitial fluid. This system transports oxygen and good nutrients around the worms body structure. The worm has a body structure which is very strong. Its muscles dense up when it feels scared or threatened. The reason why it is called a Peanut Worm is because when it retracts its body, it looks like a peanut.



The Peanut worm reproduces both sexually and asexually. More peanut worms can be found to produce sexually. The Peanut worms produce their gametes in the lining of their coelom. They are then put into the coelom to mature. Then they are taken by the metanephridia system and released into an aquatic environment. The male and female gametes come together and develop something called a Trochopore larva. After that a Pelagosphera larva becomes a small worm and then an adult! MAZEL TOV!

ONE OLD DUDE!

The fossil fragments found in British Columbia, CA are not 100, not 200, not even 300 million years old. Researches now say that the fragments found are from a preditor that is over 500 million years old. That is 6,000,000,000(billion) months, 26,000,000,000 (billion) weeks, over 182,500,000,000(billion) days, and over 262,800,000,000,000(trillion) minutes. These are some old bones!

Ye Olde' Coral

Oldest Coral Found

Corals found in Deep sea water, about 400 meters off the coast of Hawaii have been found to be much older than scientists once believed. These coral may be the oldest living coral known to man. The deep water Black Coral is over 4,000 years old!

Tank Under Construction

Today in class, we put water in our tanks. The sediment has to settle so the tank will clear up. We will put fish in after spring break!

Sergeant Major

My fish!

The Sergeant Major or pintano whose scientific name is Abudefduf saxatilis is a large, colourful damselfish. It earns its name from its brightly striped sides, which are reminiscent of the insignia of a military Sergeant Major. It grows to a length of about 15cm (6 inches).

Hello

This week in class we learned about algae and stuff.....

RED TIDE, blue tide, one tide, two tide!!!!!

RED TIDES are also known as the Algae Bloom. An Algae Bloom is an event where three types of algae join together rapidly in whats called a water column. Those three are estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae. The algae, or phytoplankton are single-celled protists, that can form together near the surface of the water. Some phytoplankton have pigmants that make them turn a red color. Obviously, when they all come together, it makes the water look red or pink. Also, red tides are do not occur because of the tide movement so they gave it the name algae BLOOM.

Some of the red tides are bad and hurt whats living in the water so those are called Harmful Algae Tides. It has been found to be extremely harmful to marine and wildlife around the areas where Red Tides form. It takes away some of the Nutrients that helps animals live.

Many scientists believe that the first plague in the bible, blood, was actually caused by red tides. The scientists believe that the red tides brought on the second plague, frogs. All of the frogs fled the water because they could not live in the harsh, algae bloom environment.

DANK TANK

We got our presents today...TANK! Everyone got one tank per person and we worked at cleaning them out. We had to use vinegar because soaps and other anti-bacterial liquids would obviously harm the bacteria we need to grow. 

Sea Water

A Haiku about Sea Water

By Jonathan Edelman

Big Salty Blue Sea

Stupid People Warm You Up

Flood! Karma's A Bitch!

Class Notes for 1-26 and 1-28

THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS(1-26-08)

• Theory is a well-stated concept that explains a wide range of observations
• It is predictive and testable
• Theory-a broad statement
• Law- more precise and specific

------------------

• Ring of fire- Volcanos along border of pacific plate
• Faults- break in the crust where rocks slip past each other
• Divergent Boundary- Two plates pull apart
• African Rift Valley-Plates pulling apart 
• Siklet fish lived in lakes on African rift
• Convergent Boundary-Two plates move together
• Transform Boundary- Side by side movement

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SEA WATER(1-28-09)

• States of matter-solid, liquid, gas
• Density=mass/vol.
• Water most dense at 4 degrees Celsius
• Water=best solvent
• Crusts add salts
• Most of ocean 35% salt
• Temp. has effect on salinity
• Density drops as Salinity increases
• Cold water holds more gases
• Deeper light penetration in open waters rather then shallow shores
• Ocean Circulation-Ocean currents move by gravity
• Thermohaline Circulation- cycle of warm and cold water+salinity

WE MUST GET THIS!

I found it and it has to be in our tank!

Friday's Class- Jan. 23, 2009

The Sea Floor/Ocean Crust/Land Crust

• 71% of the world is Ocean
• World is made up of 4 Basins-Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Pacific oceans
• Earth is 4.5 billion years old
• Ocean Crust-Basalt, thin, more dense, oldest rock 200 million years old
• Continental crust-granite, thick, less dense, oldest rock 3.8 billion years old

Layers of the Earth

• Crust-5-7 KM thick
• Mantle-3000 KM thick/Divided into Lithosphere, Asthenosphere and Lower Mantle
• The Core- Made up of iron and nickel/ Divided into Outer and Inner Core

Heat and Energy

• Radiation-Transfer of Energy through space
• Convection-Heat transfer by movement of liquids
• Convection Current- Flow of heat
• Convection Currents in Earth- Heat in core causes convection in mantle

Alfred Wegner- hypothesized that continents were once connected and called "Pangea"

• Evidence of Pangea found in land features, climate and fossils
• Mid oceanic ridges are where the sea floor is spreading apart

Pangea in Action

OMG! NEW FISH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Article on New Fish!

A new species of fish from South America have found to have been in the Catfish family. Clearly, the catfish were sick of Louisiana and moved south! Read the article! It is very interesting!

Farmers Go Green!

This article discusses how farmers are Going Green by using wind energy!

Marine Biology (Period One)

1st blog!!!!!!!!!!

In Friday's class we did an experiment. We were given 11 liquids and had to observe them and figure out what they were. Some smelled very nice, others, not so much, but the point of the experiment was to learn how to do science experiments.