June 2002
By Susan Brown

Salmon Science

Students practiced their thinking skills during the project by figuring out procedures for problems such as how to weigh a live fry when it won’t stand on a scale, and how to find the length when fry won’t hold still. They had to solve math problems such as how much does one fry weigh if 5 fry weigh 4.6 grams. Students also learned the order of operations while solving equations to determine the amount of ammonia present in the tank. Such activities required students to use a triple beam balance, calculators, tables, and rulers to a tenth of a centimeter.

The knowledge gained from the first hand experiences improved the students’ understanding of the salmon life cycle, increased their awareness of the environmental needs of salmon, and aided their understanding of how human activities involving water resources can affect salmon. In addition to science and math the project also helped improve reading and writing skills. An equally important, though unplanned, benefit was the increase in pride and self-esteem of the students as they helped care for and watch their salmon grow. May 7 was a day of excitement and mixed emotions as the students watched their fry school up and head out to sea.

Peris Knows

The gear-up is right there in the light box, a colony of Peris rapa (cabbage white butterflies) caterpillars crawling around on green leaves.  I am sitting a classroom in at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Dr. Paul Williams (the Fast Plants/ Bottle Biology guy) is introducing a group of teachers to this cool green caterpillar.  The question is can Peris really tell one green leafy vegetable from another. 

After attending the workshop in December my wife and I brought back 2 deli tubs with about 100 caterpillars. Since then we have shared the joy of raising and learning about the Peris rapa with students in my classroom and with teachers around Anchorage.

The Peris rapa is common through out the lower 48 and is also seen in South-central Alaska in the summer.  They are the solid yellow butterflies with the black dots their wings.  The larva feed on a variety of members of Brassica family (including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts).  These hardy insects can be raised in the classroom in light boxes.  The larva feed on cabbage.  The adults feed on sugar water or hummingbird nectar.  Mating will take place in the light boxes and the females will lay their eggs on cabbage leaves or you can sprout broccoli seeds in tubs for the eggs to be laid on.

So back to the question “Does Peris know”.  We start with the question can the caterpillars tell the difference between green leafy foods.  Working with my six graders we talk about what we have observed about the eating behavior of the caterpillars.  Each pair of students cuts a 1 centimeter square from 2 different vegetable leaves, one brassica and one none brassica.  The leaf from sample one has a small hole poked through it with a pencil, the other sample is left whole.  Both samples are placed in a clear film canister and then we watch.  After an hour or so the brassica leaf will be gone and the other leaf will be untouched.

After we have determined that Peris really does know the difference between brassicas and non-brassica’s we can explore other behavior of the Peris larva and adult.  You can set up a petri dish salad bar with a variety of know brassica and non-brassicas to see if there is a preference for certain brassicas.  With the adults you can explore color preferences for feeding by coloring your sugar water and watching feeding behavior.  You can set out nurseries with different brassica sprouts and do egg counts and see if there are preferences.

If you are interested in finding out more I can be reached at gillam_david@asdk12.org.

Imaginarium Science Discovery Center Visits Southwest Region School District

By Jane Whaling, ECE Specialist

Much to the absolute delight of the students in Clarks Point, Portage Creek, Twin Hills, and Togiak the Imaginarium's Shawn Jones put on several terrific classes and assemblies. The traveling hands-on, inquiry-based program visited the Southwest Region schools during the week of February 4th.

Classes were held for groups of 30 or less students.  Many students were completely involved in one of the three different topics:  Bugs are Da Bomb! (bug study), Science Potions (chemistry), and You've Got Guts! (Invertebrate study and squid dissection).  Students were amazed by the diversity of live bugs and other creepy crawlies.  There was even a very cool scorpion!  Mixing potions and dissecting squids was also very popular with the older students.  In Togiak the students and community put on an evening potluck dinner, complete with boiled squid.

Along with the students and staff of Togiak there was a huge community turnout for the "Radical Reactions" show, an assembly that had plenty of explosions and fire which kept the audience clapping and screaming.

The Imaginarium has put together a great way for rural students and communities to experience aspects of science that ordinarily aren't available to rural teachers.  Teachers were given follow-up activities to do in their classrooms in order to extend the learning.  What a wonderful way to get students excited about the world of science!

To schedule a Science Caravan visit at your school contact Shawn Jones at the Imaginarium 276-3179 or email him at shawn@imaginarium.org.