“MapFinder for Google Earth is a “.kmz” application that loads into Google Earth and shows the 7.5 minute quad USGS topographic map boundaries for the lower 48 states. Each boundary has an identification point that givse you information about the USGS topo map. This information includes the map name, scale, year, projection, and contour interval. The most exciting feature of this application is that there is a download link that enables you to download the topographic map for free.”
Browse to and open the “.kmz” file from within Google Earth. When it opens, you will notice a menu within Google Earth that allows you to choose a state of interest.
Once you have chosen a state, zoom in on that state and you will see the topographic map boundaries, each with a clickable blue information symbol. Hover over a particular information symbol, and you will see the name of that topo map. Upon clicking, a web page will open, where you will see a link to download a tiff file of that map.
The tiff file is your free digital copy of the topographic map.
Have fun exploring the US digitally, but I hope these maps give you the knowledge to explore in the real world as well!
Early this morning, before the full heat of the day, I mowed the lawn. Having left it to grow for two weeks, I had to stop more frequently to empty the bag onto our compost heap in the back yard. Like many times before, I noticed that some flying insects were attracted to the new piles of grass clippings. They hovered around like the hymenoptera in a recent post, but on a much smaller scale. So, after finished my duties, I decided to observe for awhile and learn a little bit. Here is what happened…
This is what this swarming looked like…
Then I witnessed this…
In this video you will see a mating pair just above the center of the screen. After moving around a bit you will notice another individual pester the couple. Not long after the couple parts. What I believe to be the male, flies off, while the female can be seen wandering through the grass clippings. In one instance you may be able to make out that her abdomen in curled. I hypothesize that she was laying eggs amongst the grass.
Here is another, longer, mating video. If you watch long enough, after the female is mounted and released a second time, it appears that the male might be guarding her from other males. It makes me want to research an easy method of capturing, marking, and releasing these insects to be more certain about what is going on.
In this final image it appears we may possiblly have a sneaker male. Interestingly enough, this additional male appears to be smaller than the male that is mounted upon the female. Look at the cicrumferance of the eyes (although I know that the perspective is not the same).
There you have it. I imagine that this could be quite an easy observation to reproduce, all you need is a pile of grass clippings, and some of these insects in the vicinity. In fact, students could most likely complete such an observation from home on their own. I did notice that these flies were amongst the grass clippings the whole day and were even there in smaller numbers the following morning as well.
Furthermore, it was quite easy to figure out what insect species these are using Insects in Kansas Field Guide published by the Kansas Department of Agriculture.
So, what is the Order, Family, and species of insect imaged in this post?
A little over a year ago, Brad posted a link to a survey on Synthetic Biology. Although it appears that little has fundamentally changed since then, this burgeoning field, along side nanotechnology, has become front page news, and will hopefully become a topic of conversation in your biology class in the near future.
I don’t pretend to be an expert on Synthetic Biology but I thought a few resources may provide you with enough background knowledge to approach the topic with your students this year. Maybe they could use this post itself as a springboard for discussion or more research. The post is in three parts, each accompanied by some thought provoking quotes from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein…
In these links you will will find a reference to one of the first papers in the field, a few comic responses to the field, and links to two YouTube videos (originally TED Talks) of Drew Endy explaining the difference between Synthetic Biology and the more standard and familiar recombinant DNA and genetic engineering technologies.
“The world was to him a secret which he desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they were unfolded to him, are among the earliest sensations he can remember . . . It was the secrets of heaven and earth that he desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied him, still his inquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in it highest sense, the physical secrets of the world.”
Venter creates the News & President Obama’s Responds
“There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No: from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and, more than all, against him who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery.”
Resources for those interested in Doing some Synthetic Biology
The following resources are for entering the field of Synthetic Biology. The first link will introduce you to an annual competition used to motivate undergraduate teams of students to design and engineer novel pathways in E. coli. If you search around, I think that you’ll find that there has been a single high school team involved in the competition before. Some of university sponsors are quite interested in developing a kit to introduce students to the methods synthetic biology.
Observations at a Volleyball Court, accompanied by an ID & Behavioral Challenge
While on holiday in Oklahoma this weekend, I happened by this volleyball court on the way to the pool. My attention was immediately drawn to movements that I observed in my periphery. Here is what I observed from sand level…
and close-up from above…
The species may be territorial. While individuals came close to each other it appeared like there were brief chases and overall there was an emergent spatial pattern (I think you can see it in the first video) suggestive of territoriality. I tried to follow the movement of a single individual but it was too difficult for me.
After spending more time, continuing to ignore my children swimming and doing flips of the side of the pool, I made these more detailed observations suggestive of territoriality as well. In the first video, you will see interactions between numerous live individuals with a single dead individual of the same species…
Here is a close-up image of an instance of this behavior…
In the second video, you will see interactions of these hymenoptera with a mottled leaf…
Here is a close-up image of an instance of this behavior…
The fact that the colors of the leaf are similar to some of those found in the wasps themselves made me wonder if I could elicit the behavior with another leaf. The leaf I chose to use, unlike the one I found them naturally interacting with, was entirely yellow. What do you hypothesize will happen?
Around the periphery of the volleyball court, I noticed holes in the sand that were approximately the same diameter as the cylinder shape of the insect themselves (see below), although maybe a bit weathered. I should have dug them up but didn’t think of it at the time.
I had noticed similar behavior in a much smaller number of cicada killers in a children’s sandbox, but had no idea what type of hymenoptera this species was. Similar, I wondered, was this a mating swarm? Where they recently emerged individuals? What was the ratio of genders? How long does this behavior persist? What resources might they use to maintain their energy?
A few curious individuals did happen to come by while I was making my observations, and I received seemingly conflicting reports on their longevity. One adult mentioned that they are there all the time, while a couple of kids arriving to play volleyball hadn’t noticed them there the day before. In fact, later that night I saw, from afar, four people playing volleyball. I might add, that to get some of the images and video, I walked in amongst the swarm. I did so slowly but felt that they may have ignored me even if I had walked in at a normal pace.
So, here’s the challenge…
What is the genus and/or species of this hymenoptera? and
What the heck are they doing?
As mentioned in response to Brad’s post on aphids, I think a collection of such videos and images could make an interesting series of ecological activities for students, and possibly a series of models for them to produce their own reports, blogs, etc… on interesting outdoor observations that can motivate learning of particular ecological principles.
For anyone that responds with the answers, unknown to me with any certainty, it would be nice, and potentially helpful in the future, for you to provide links to websites that helped in your identification.
A number of years ago, I developed a method for teaching students about the basic structure of the cell membrane that has proven to be both enjoyable and memorable, and after receiving positive feedback upon sharing this activity with my friends at the Center for BioMolecular Modeling at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, I figured that it is time that a share it with a larger community of individuals.
Simply, the method is a ”thought experiment” in which students graphically hypothesize the arrangement of a collection of molecules unknown to them (phospholipids) in three sequential situations, in order to personally discover the self-assembly of phospholipids in generating a simplified cell membrane.
Once students have discovered this basic image of a cell for themselves it becomes easier for them to supplement it generating a more complex conception of the cell.
In fact, I usually draw an analogy between the cellular container and the test tubes and beakers used in chemistry. Student readily understand that cells, “as places where chemical reactions occur” require:
a container (the goal of this series of thought experiments),
reactants,
points of entry and exit (the membrane and supplemental proteins),
a solvent (the water inside this simple cell),
catalysts as biological enzymes,
energy,
and a controlling region or some means of regulation.
A summary of the “thought experiment” follows but for those that want more details, including images, or would rather read offline, I have created a document explaining this Cell Membrane Thought Experiment.
Where the Mule Deer and the Pronghorn Antelope Play…
Reflections on the KABT Field Trip in Logan County, June 4-6, 2010
I am not sure what KABT’s goal for the field trip were but for me they were two-fold. I wanted to provide an inspirational outdoor experience for four of my senior students, and two of my children, who eagerly participated in the trip, while learning myself about the wonderful short-grass prairie from our very own sage, the Yoda-like natural history master, Stan Roth.
In both regards the trip was a resounding success, even though I failed to continue to follow Noah’s driving lead into better pastures where he was finally able to witness the character of our pursuit, the endangered a recently re-established Black-Footed Ferret (see Noah’s posts).
If you are sad that you missed the trip, continue on since I did my best to record it all for you…
More specifically, follow along to see what I saw, learn what I learned, listen while I contemplate what KABT may have learned, and educate yourself on the prairie dog wars of Logan County, Kansas in hopes of a return trip to this wonderful county…
Looking for a new outdoor ecology investigation to conduct with your students? … something that will require them to get their hands dirty? … and aid in their learning and appreaciation for our native fauna?
Then look no further than the new citizens science project, Earthworms Across Kansas organized by Dr. Bruce Snyder at Kansas State University. As stated on their website and in an introductory letter I recieved a few weeks ago…
Earthworms Across Kansas is a free program that engages middle and high school students throughout the state in answering some basic, yet unanswered questions about Kansas earthworms, such as “Which species are here?” and “What are the ranges of these species?”
The project aims to educate Kansas’ middle and high school students about earthworm biology and invasive species issues by engaging them as citizen scientists. One-third of the approximately 170 species of earthworms known to reside in the United States have arrived here from another continent. We expect that most every earthworm your students collect will be an exotic species.
We are currently recruiting teachers to participate (online registration form), although only until we run out of kits. Once registered, you can prepare for your participation by viewing curricula and lesson plans associated with earthworm biology that will be posted online through May. In July or August your kit will be mailed, and your students can complete their collecting anytime during the 2010-2011 academic year. The data from across the state will be uploaded on their interactive google map, and thus facilitate your students answering the basic questions posed by the project.
If you’d like more information about the program before registering certainly visit their website, and if you have further questions, please email the project at earthworm@k-state.edu.
I haven’t read through the protocols for this project yet but thought you may interested in learning from the active worm collectors and the research associated with their methods. Check out Worm Grunting, Fiddling, and Charming—Humans Unknowingly Mimic a Predator to Harvest Bait published in PLOS. Besides the article there are a number of interesting quicktime video links demonstrating the research.
A few months ago, I spent quite a bit of time searching for science related apps that could potentially be useful for my life as a biology teacher. I have downloaded a number and have had the opportunity to discover those that I have found most useful (or potentially useful) in that role.
The main post contains a list of 16 iPhone apps. Each app icon is followed by a brief description and links that may be helpful for you in making a decision on acquiring the app. For those that I have found especially useful, I discuss specific manner(s) it has been used. Furthermore, if you don’t have an iPhone some of the producers of these apps have websites that may be useful as well.
For those unfamiliar with iPhones, these apps must be acquired through the apps store in iTunes so in many cases there are not internet links to pages with further information on these apps. To learn more, download iTunes, and search the app names in the iTunes store, or google search and read what you can find.
it, as well as our understanding of it, just keeps going and growing and going…
During the holiday break, I have come across a number of valuable resources (video, audio, and paper) for demonstrating to students that the processes of natural selection and speciation, that Darwin made us aware of 150 years ago this past year, are actually occuring before our very eyes.
Instead of hypothetical just-so-stories, these resources are user friendly and thought provoking real world examples with organisms and adaptations that students can relate to. These examples also highlight the work of the people, and the personalities, behind the acquisition of new scientific knowledge. I commend these scientists and numerous others who understand the importance of communicating science to a sometimes skeptical public and whose efforts have provided us with these wonderful resources and springboards for learning.
A Celebration of Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species:
An Exhibition of Rare Books from the History of Science Collection by William B. Ashworth, Jr.
A little over a week ago, on the evening of October 1, I had the pleasure of attending the opening of this wonderful exhibition. My words would put the exhibit to shame so read the introductory words that the library has published in a brochure for the exhibit.
Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809. When he was fifty years old, in 1859, he published On the Origin of Species, a book destined to radically change our view of the living world. In 2009, we celebrate both the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his great work.
Darwin began his scientific career as a naturalist, as someone who collected plant and animal specimens, studied and recorded the details of their structures, and attempted to identify and classify them. He thus worked within the framework that was known as natural history. Natural history had a vernerable pedigree, with its roots in Aristotle, but it especially flourished and matured in the four centuries before the Origin of Species. Darwin was the direct heir of naturalists like Konrad Gesner, who published the first illustrated encyclopedia of zoology (1551-58), Carl Linnaeus, who successfully sorted out the plant and animal kingdoms with his influential taxonmic Systems of Nature (1735), Joseph Banks, who sought new species in the south seas on the first voyage of Captain Cook (1768-71), and Jean Lamarck, who made the study of invertebrates a respectable branch of zoology (1801).
We choose to honor Darwin, therefore, by showcasing the tradition out of which he himself evolved. Fortunately, for exhibition purposes, the works we have chosen to display are not only important intellectually, but are also some of the most beautiful books ever published. “There is gradeur in this view of life,” Darwin remarked in the last sentence of the Origin of Species. We hope our exhibition captures some of the grandeur, and of Darwin’s great achievement.
I also had the pleasure of listening to Lyanda Haupt’s lecture on “Darwin’s Evolution as Naturalist: A Bird’s-eye View”, and have subsequently purchased and have begun to read her book, Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent, that the lecture was based on. It has been a good read so far…Luckily for you there are two remaining lectures in the series honoring Darwin, on October 29th and December 3rd. To learn more about these lectures visit Linda Hall’s Darwin Lecture Series site.
So, as we draw near to the anniversary of the publication of our Origins, take a few minutes and tour the grand exhibit at Linda Hall and please inspire your students to do the same.
If you’re an educator, looking for a reason to get up to speed on Twitter, take a look at Edchat.  This is a live event that happens each Tuesday at  two times – 12pm EST/ 5pm GMT and 7pm EST/ 12pm GM - on Twitter.  Educators from all over the world chime in with their answers […]
I just found a really sweet web 2.0 application that could be useful in the classroom. Â It’s called Type With Me and it’s basically a real time, live text collaboration tool. Â Very simple and easy to use – no sign-up required and it’s free. Â You just go to the Type with Me web site, start […]
“The Thinker” on the Washington University Campus In the middle of one of the Washington University quads is this wonderfully whimsical re-imagining of August Rodin’sThe Thinker – a lanky looking rabbit, assuming the well-known, contemplative pose. Â I just returned from a quick trip to St. Louis and, while there, the sculpture caught […]
In last week’s “Biology Challenge”, I challenged biology teachers to contribute identifications and descriptions of the relationships illustrated in a photo of aphids, ants and milkweeds. Sure enough, within an hour the milkweed was successfully identified as Asclepias syrica and the aphids as Aphis nerii. A number of various Formica […]
Here’s a cool but complex ecological interaction directly involving at least three species going on in my backyard. (Olathe, KS) We’ve had a mostly cool and wet spring to date. The plant involved is about 0.6 m tall at this point and there is a large flower bud within these leaves. For this challenge, let’s […]
