As the first week ends, Mrs. Rose-Wideman’s class at St. Ignatius of Loyola is excited to report that 50 insects have been collected. New additions include: a cricket, a large grasshopper, spiders, and more black flies. We look forward to seeing what we will catch next week.
So far we have caught enough bugs to fill up to the first line. I think we have about 25 different kinds of bugs (black flies, wasps, deer flies, and houseflies). -L.
It was really exciting when I first heard all about the Malaise trap. I could not wait to set it up! I thought we would get lots of bugs because there are bugs flying all around our school. I don’t think that there will be lots of different bugs because it looks like we have the same bug. But I still think there may be around 7-9 different types of bugs. I think we will collect about 250 bugs in all. I also think that the Northwest Territories will not get lots of bugs like the provinces because it is warmer down here than up there. I think that the temperature will make a big difference. We are lucky to be able to do bug research. – O.
Parker, Sam and Simba checked the trap today and realized that there were quite a few bugs in the trap, but they were all bunched up in the back. When they evened it all out it rounded up to about a 1 on the chart. There were also bugs floating on the surface. The amount was up quite a bit higher than yesterday.
We are happy to be participating in the study again this year! Three classes of grade 9 students taught by Ms. Bender and Mr. Neerhof are studying the importance of biodiversity in sustainable ecosystems. The trap was deployed last Friday, with the collection bottle attached this past (very chilly) Monday morning. We have few specimens to report, and we are hoping that the nice weather this week contributes to more insect activity.
Great set up yesterday, however we have very few insects collected. The set up is on a grass patch near the classroom. Students predict that we will not get much insect collection at this site due to the lack of vegetation.
The trap at St. Charles College in Sudbury is up, running and visible from my classroom. Unfortunately for us, though, the weather became unseasonably cold and wet for the past few days. We have a few insects in the trap at this point, but not many. However, we are supposed to be in for some warm sunny weather for the remainder of the week; hopefully we get a lot more in the way of insects.
One thing I think would be useful would be clear plastic collection bottles. That way we could see what types of insects are actually in the bottle.
Language Arts – Each student chose an insect common in Ontario and learned everything there was to know about that bug. They presented their info orally and in Microsoft Powerpoint.
Students are extra excited to look for their bug in the trap and in the field 🙂