Porifera & Cnidaria

There are 7 essential functions in animals, all of which (except circulation! doh!) we were able to brainstorm onto the whiteboard yesterday.  Here is a recap:

1. Feeding - herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, filter feeders, detritivore, parasites
2. Respiration - take in O2 and release CO2
3. Circulation - transport of nutrients, O2 etc. through body
4. Excretion - expelling nitrogenous waste products (ammonia - urea)
5. Response - senses, nerves
6. Movement - muscles/skeleton
7. Reproduction - sexual and cloning, life cycles

Your assignment for today is to get into groups of 2 - one person will be responsible for learning and teaching about Porifera, the other about Cnidaria.  You must research how representative animals from your phylum performs the 7 essential function listed above.  Please also find some pictures that show the diversity of animals within the same phylum.  Post this information onto your blog - then TEACH the information to your partner.  Please have a discussion where you compare characteristics of the 2 phyla.  Which one is more evolved?  How and why?

Introduction to Simple Animals

If you were away yesterday or would like to watch this again - here is the video that we watched on Simple Animals - there are a few great one-liners in here, so listen carefully!

Then we decided to look on You Tube for some neat videos of animals and found this amazing camo octopus.  It really is crazy - have a look:

Your assignment for the day was to find an interesting animal in any of the simplest animal phyla:
Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda or Mollusca and write a blog post about it.  What phyla does it belong to?  What did you find to be interesting about it?

All blog posts since the midterm:

1.  Root, Stem, Leaves: microscope slides, pictures, labelled with Skitch
2.  Gymnosperm Lab: microscope - hand drawn pictures (2) with actual size, photographed onto blog
3.  Pine cone craft: post a picture of your creation
4.  Comparing pine cones and acorns
5.  Extreme, Amazing Plant research
6.  Plant video summary - BBC? post a video & summary - watch & comment
7.  Monocot or Dicot Roots, Stems, Leaves - compare to blog post #1 on this list... comment on arrangement of vascular bundles
8.  Flower Dissection
9.  Photo Journal Review

Check that you have completed these posts - your Plant Unit Test is on Monday and includes the following topics:   Mosses, Ferns, Gymnosperms & Angiosperms
Along with the photo journal, review the life cycles of mosses, ferns and gymnosperms.

Plant Photo Journal

Find and take pictures of the following:

1.  Mosses: find moss in two different locations - try to find moss with sporangia growing out of it!

• Post your pictures and answer the following review questions:  
• Describe the environment in which you found the moss living.  
• Why do mosses need to live in moist environments?
• Why do mosses grow so low to the ground?  Why can they grow on rocks?

2.  Ferns:  find two different ferns if possible.  Take pictures of both the top and bottom side of the fern frond (leaf).

• Post your pictures and answer the following review questions:
• Describe the environment in which you found the fern living.
• Why do ferns need to live in moist environments?
• How are the structures of mosses and ferns different?  Why does that allow the ferns to grow larger?
• Do ferns need to grow in soil?  Why?

3.  Gymnosperms:  Find 3 different gymnosperm plants - try to find and take pictures of both the male and female cones of at least 2 of the plants.  Identify the species if you are able.

• Post your pictures and answer the following review questions: 
• What adaptations do gymnosperms have to allow them to live in varied environments?
• What is the difference between pollination and fertilization?  What structures are involved in each?

4.  Angiosperms:  Find at least 2 examples of monocot plants, and two examples of dicot plants.  Try to include pictures of both the leaves and flowers/fruit/berries of each.

• Post your pictures and answer the following review questions:
• How are angiosperms well adapted to life on land?
• What are some pollination and seed dispersal strategies that angiosperms employ?
• What is the purpose of the fruit?

Flower Dissection

Awww... isn't this sweet!!! I got flowers!!!!

Actually I bought them myself.
And I can't wait to chop them up.
It's flower dissection day!  Whooohooo!

You will have a three part blog post for this assignment - flower structure, pollination & angiosperm classification.

Flower Dissection

Flower Structure:

Identify, take pictures & label all of the following parts of the flower – which are male parts and which are female?

·      Anther

·      Stigma

·      Petals

·      Style

·      Ovary

·      Filament

·      Sepals

Using the scalpel, cut the ovary in half to see the ovules inside (use dissecting microscope if needed).

Find the pollen and try to create a slide so that you can see the pollen magnified.  Describe what you are able to see.

Pollination:

What is pollination?  What structures are involved?  What are the differences between self-pollination and cross-pollination and what are the benefits of each?

Angiosperm classification:

What type of flower are you dissecting?  Take pictures and describe all the evidence that helped you make your classification.

Monocots and dicots

Monocots vs. Dicots

Angiosperms (flower-bearing plants) can be divided into 2 categories based on certain characteristics.

In today's lab, I would like you to compare the roots, stems and leaves microscope slides to the ones that we have posted in an earlier "Roots, Stems & Leaves" post.

You will be posting 3 pictures - a root, a stem and a leaf - look back at your previous post and take pictures of the other (monocot or dicot) and categorize each as monocot or dicot...
How do you know the difference?  Compare the arrangement of vascular bundles between monocot and dicot in each structure.  Label the vascular bundles in today's pictures to show you know where they are.

And publish!

REMINDER - NEXT MONDAY - UNIT TEST ON PLANTS