Biology Experiment from Module 4
I got the pictures Friday from the other young man in my class, but am just now posting them.
I kept Rebekah's and my bread a little longer also, to see how much more mold would grow.
I think it was on the 9th day that I looked at my bread and decided to add a little more water. As I flicked the water onto the bread, it hit the mold, and spores swirled upward, looking like a thin stream of smoke.
And the smell! I quickly shut the lid. =)
Thinking back to the mold instructions to initially leave the food exposed to the air awhile before closing it up...
I'd already told my kids many times to not leave the cheese open on the table even while we are eating. That is why cheese can get moldy way before the expiration date.
Now my kids will (hopefully) remember to keep all food containers closed. =)
It was a close contest. Really close indeed.
There were several factors that prevented the kids from doing ALL they could do -- illness, other engagements, various interruptions, etc, but all-in-all, I think per team it evened out.
The teams were Boys-Against-Girls, and in the beginning, the boys were just sure the girls would win.
But that ended up not being the tale!
Woo-hoo for the boys!
The girls had 2,887 points.
The boys had 2,979 points, winning by 92 points!
I'm really proud of these kids! =)
We finally had a module that we could at least do part of the experiment. Yay!
A magnifying glass is a far cry from a microscope, but we did our best and had fun anyway.
Experiment 4.1, Phylum Basidiomycota
We studied phylum Basidiomycota, which mostly has the kinds of mushrooms that form basidia on their gills. The basidia then release the spores called..... basidiospores! (wow, who would have thunk?)
I don't know if the puffball mushroom has gills. If it does, they are inside where they can't be seen.
The kids were to collect mushrooms to bring to class. One young man found a huge variety, including shelf fungi. He did say his mom and sisters and brother all trekked thru the woods with him. But what finds! =)
He even brought in this beauty! wow. I bet they were excited. =D
Some of Isaac's Mushrooms:
Isaac outdid us all! Extra points for Isaac! =)
While Rebekah and I were at the library yesterday morning, Travis called and told me there was a good-sized mushroom at his Mom and Dad's house. He was over there helping his dad cut wood.
I'd already planned to pick up Cousin A on my way home, so the girls could practice for a church service they were singing at last night.
So Rebekah and Cousin A got to get this mushroom together. Although the kids did find a few in the woods this morning (didn't have much time), this was the first and main one we found, so it was a big deal.
Just see:
They really seemed to like looking at the mushrooms. They cut them apart to look inside, and we talked about the different parts of a mushroom, and that mushrooms that have gills are from the phylum Basidiomycota.
This is the mycelium from the mushroom that Rebekah and Cousin A found went with Travis to get. The mycelium is not roots. Mushrooms do not have roots. The mycelium does not gather moisture and nutrients for the rest of the fungi like roots do for a plant. It isthe main part of the fungi. The mushroom is just the fruiting body that is only produced periodically. Like fruit!
We also talked about the mushrooms from phylum Ascomycota.
These form their spores in protective membranes (sacs) that are shaped like globes, flasks, or dishes.
Rain then splashes into the mushroom which releases the spores.
The organisms in this phylum that are single-celled are usually called yeasts. We are most familiar with the yeast used in baking. Here is some dough from when my girls have made yeast rolls. →
Experiment 4.2, Yeast and the Fermentation Process had the kids to mix one packet of yeast with warm water and sugar. We got this one started first so it could do its thing while we did the other two experiments.
Yeasts feed on sugar, breaking it down into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a gas and pushes its way out of the dough, making it to rise. When the dough is baked in the oven, the yeasts are killed and the alcohol evaporates. (yay)
After the kids left, I got a better picture. I guess the bubbles show up better since it is more watery than regular dough which has flour in it.
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And now.... for the MOLD!
(Oh yeah. Mold-that-grows-on-bread-is-a-member-of-phylum-Zygomycota.)
Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way.... =D
The kids grew mold, and yes, I did too!
This is my before picture:
And.... AFTER!
Yes, after 8 days, this is what I had. My bread didn't do too much yet, but justLOOK at that tomato!
I showed it to my sister-in-law when she came to pick up her kids.
She did not seem to appreciate the awesomeness, hee hee! =D
And the grape did pretty good, too. Just look at that fuzz.
♦Rebekah started her bread, jelly, and apple slice 6 days ago, and it had nothing to show.
♦Isaac forgot his mold, so his mom will make pictures to send to me later after it gets to growing pretty good. ETA:Click for pics of his bread and of mine and Rebekah's after a few more days.
♦The cousins' started their experiment 7 days ago, and their bread had more mold than mine. Maybe because it was white bread? (but mine was already 2 weeks old. I'd saved it for this experiment. Guess white bread does better.)
Their fruit was.... soup!
Cousin C put slices of apple and banana in with the jelly. So we have apple-banana jelly.
♦Bethany accidentally got in on our experiments.
She found a pink mushroom this morning while in the woods. =) And last week, she'd made biscuits one night when we had cooked apples (cooked w/ butter and sugar). I guess these three leftover biscuits just didn't appeal to anyone after all the apples were gone, so we have some mold! No preservatives, you know.
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There are three other phyla in kingdom Fungi, but there were no experiments for these, so I'll just list them and give a brief description. To learn more, see the links at the beginning of this post.
Phylum Chytridiomycota is mostly saprophytic (feeds on dead things -- in this case, decaying plants), but there are some species that are parasitic (feeds on a living host).
This is commonly known as potato wart. →
These are different than other fungi in that they don't have spores to be carried by the wind or other means.
Instead they have flagella, and can move on their own.
Phylum Deuteromycota consists of fungi whose means of reproduction have not been firmly established. This phylum is called the "imperfect fungi."
It is from this phylum we get the antibiotic penicillin.
Other members of the genus Penicillium are useful because they flavor certain kinds of cheese. These are not the same species as the one that produces penicillin; they are just in the same genus.
Phylum Myxomycota is saprophytic and is harmless, but it looks gross! They are typically called slime molds. No pictures. =)
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This has been a fun module! We aren't quite finished with the chapter, but we are done w/ the experiments, so I'm going ahead with this post.
Next Monday will be our last quiz for this first 4-Module contest. I think the kids are seeing the urgency to get all their assignments in! Stay tuned for the winners! =)
Videos, etc. for M3, Part A, subkingdom Protozoa Videos, etc. for M3, Part B, subkingdom Algae Quizlet Vocabulary Game, M3 What is up with the names of these kingdoms? Kingdom Protista? Sounds like a protest. Which my daughter does when I say go do your Biology! lol. Well, not too much. She doesn't love it, but says it's okay. Which is great! =D
So, what is a protist?
Kingdom Protista is divided into two subkingdoms: Protozoa and Algae. There! That's a word we recognize! We know what algae is.... or do we? I think of the seaweed/kelp plant-like things that grow underwater, or the stuff that typically floats on the surface of the water, or clings to rocks.
But algae comprise several different groups of organisms. I learned there are many kinds of algae. There is even one kind that is microscopic and causes stinging eyes and irritated skin if you are in or near water with this kind of algae! Don't worry, you'd be able to recognize if it was there by the reddish look to the water. Actually, you would probably detect it before you even got near the water, since it can also cause problems with breathing.
And subkingdom Protozoa? These are small animal-like microorganisms that are able to move around. (unlike algae, which more or less just grow or float where they are, or where the water takes them.)
Best I can figure, kingdom Protista consists of organisms that are mostly found in water or some kind of moisture. Some live in insects, animals, or humans. (eww!) Some are harmful parasites; some are not. Kingdom Protista are mostly single-celled, but single-celled or multicellular, their cells are eukaryotic, and have distinct, membrane-bounded organelles. Each organelle has a different job. This adds more complexity to the organisms of kingdom Protista than to the kingdoms that consist mainly of prokaryotic cells.
I should note that the members of kingdom Protista are neither plants nor animals; they are protists. (sigh... I know, what does that mean?) I know it's hard to understand something with which you're not familiar.
They're just microorganism little thingies.
Not bacteria, and not fungi. (from which penicillin comes and prevents bacteria from spreading) =D
Just little animal-like or plant-like things.
So, now that you totally understand kind of, maybe, have a gist of what these things are, we can continue.
Subkingdom Protozoa is divided into 4 phyla (sing. is phylum); subkingdom Algae is divided into 5 phyla. In case you have forgotten what that means, it is one of the categories in the Biological Classification system, divided as follows:
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, species
The four phyla for subkingdom Protozoaare divided according to how they are able to move about - their locomotion.Some organisms move with pseudopods - false feet! This is a temporary, foot-like extension of a cell, used for locomotion or engulfing food.
An example is an amoeba. Watch this amoeba eat. It uses its pseudopod locomotion to move and to engulf its prey. To begin with, everything moves slowly until the prey realizes it is caught!
Euglena
Paramecium
← Some members of subkingdom Protozoa move about with flagella, which are whip-like rotating structures that look like tails. Some have more than one flagellum.
Some microorganisms from this subkingdom move with little hair-like extensions called cilia. →
Kind of looks like this traffic island with a little grass growing around the edges, doesn't it? Yeah, when I saw it, the word paramecium popped into my mind. Yes, I've been told I've been reading too much biology. =D
Some have no means of locomotion, and do not fit in the other three phyla, and therefore have its own phylum.
Subkingdom Algae seemed as if would be much easier to comprehend since I was familiar with the word algae. But as I stated before, I learned that it isn't just the typical seaweed, or floating slimy stuff we usually think of. Some is made up of such tiny microorganisms, it is amazing!
Subkingdom Algae is divided into five phyla. The division for Algae is based on three things: (1)habitat - they can live in marine (salt) water, or in fresh water. (2)organization (single or multicellular) - Many algae exist as individual cells, but most form simple colonies, although a few colonies are quite complex. Either way, their cells are all eukaryotic. (3)type of cell wall - what it is made of.
Algae is a type of plankton. There are two groups - zooplankton and phytoplankton. Zooplankton are tiny floating organisms that are either small animals or protozoa. Phytoplankton are tiny floating photosynthetic organisms, primarily algae.
Based on these definitions, what we studied in the first half of Module 3 was mostly zooplankton.
So algae must be the phytoplankton.
Phylum Chlorophyta, as indicated by its name, is characterized by greenish algae, of which there are many different species.
These algae live in mostly fresh water.
←One in particular is in the genus Cosmarium or Desmid, and is characterized by the pinched look in the middle.
Another is from the genus Spyrogyra. →
Despite not looking a thing alike, these algae are both from the same phylum since they generally fit in the same categories.
Doesn't look like what I always thought of as algae! =D
The ones I think are the most interesting are from another phylum.
I especially like the species from the genus Diatom. These are beautiful!
These are a unique type of algae, mostly because their cell walls are composed of silicon dioxide, which is the main component of glass. It remains hard long after the diatom dies. When these remains are clumped together, they form a crumbly, abrasive substance calleddiatomaceous earth(die' uh tuh may' shus), or diatomite.
There are huge deposits of diatomaceous earth in most regions of the world. Creation scientists think this may have happened at the time of the Flood. (Genesis 6-9) Scientists who do not believe the Bible have a hard time explaining these deposits of diatomaceous earth.
These are algae, too! Who knew??? (not me, lol)
Another type of algae live in marine waters and exist as single cells.
The algae in this phylum have two flagella and are often called dinoflagellates. One of these, I mentioned at the beginning of this post - the one that causes the water to appear red. When algae reproduce so rapidly that they essentially take over their habitat, the water appears to be the same color as the algae themselves. This is called an algal bloom. I'm sure you've seen water that appears green, perhaps in a pond or swimming pool.
When the Gymnodinium brevis blooms, the water appears to be red. This is called a red tide, and is deadly to most marine life. The few that are immune are then inedible if they have been exposed to a red tide. It would most likely be deadly if eaten.
Then there is that algae we are more familiar with.
← Brown algae. The plant-like kind. These live in cold marine waters.
Did you know some species are used as a thickener in some foods?
The last kind is red algae that live in warm marine waters. (not to be confused with the dinoflagellates that cause red tides.) Some species of this algae look like coral.
Some look like red splotches that grow on underwater surfaces. →
These nine phyla for kingdom Protista are just general categories.
These phyla are further divided into class, then order, then family, then genus, then the few species you see pictured here. There can be thousands of species in each phylum.
I get amazed every time I study biology. What a mighty God we have!
Interactive Thanksgiving site. Thanksgiving for Kids at Scholastic
Click to hear things read aloud throughout the site, click to take the journey (reads aloud automatically), or tour the ship, see the slideshow, click on the timeline and it will read aloud, etc. Just about everything can be clicked on to be read aloud.
This is an awesome site, and your kids can spend several hours here. =)
Centre of the cell - Interactive eukaryotic cell (like an animal cell). Click on the parts (some are moving parts) to read the name and a description. Rotate the cell. Click on a few other cells to read their descriptions.
