We really enjoyed this program. We especially enjoyed our second week. During the second week the sky was overcast and it rained periodically. During the second week we caught almost 3 times as much as during the first week. During the first week we only approached the first line of the bottle but during the second week we made it up to almost the third line. That helped us construct our own hypothesis about how the weather affects insect collection. We hope you enjoy our selfies and we look forward to the results!
It will be amazing if we can find any new species of bugs that help us or are a danger to us – even bugs that have medicines to cure diseases. Our school has caught a lot of small bugs but we’ve caught very few big bugs. I think the most common bug we have caught is a fly because they always fly around our school. – A. (gr4)
When we set up our Malaise trap I was really excited. I want to see what bugs live here. I think it would be good to see what bugs live here because we can see if any bugs help make medicine. We set it up in front of our school garden because bugs go near gardens. I think we will attract a lot of bees because bees collect pollen. I think we will get flies and gnats too. We might get a dragonfly because I have seen some dragonflies at recess. I wonder if temperature changes if any bugs come. I think we would have a lot of bugs but we have a lot of small bugs. – J. (gr4)
Our bottle has filled up quite a bit since yesterday. It’s now up to the first mark! Most other schools have a more buggy area. Our school is close to Lake Ontario. Maybe our school will have different results than Erin Mills (also in Mississauga). What do you think? Maybe tomorrow will be very buggy. It might even raise another line! – M. (gr4)
Our school made it up to the first line. It is so cool! When you look at the trap it looks like a shadow for the bugs. Since it’s a hot day the bugs go up to the hole ! – H. (gr4)
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.
I think Forest Avenue won’t have the most bugs because on the blog all the pictures were about forests and swamps so it’s buggy there. We don’t have swamps and forests like the other schools. -K.
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.
Today our grade fours set up the trap at the front of the school. We set it in front of our garden so that the bugs still had a flyway across and into it. We’re excited. Many of our co-participants have such varied landscapes ~ fields, ponds, etc. It will be so interesting to compare the results! Many thanks to Evergreen for sharing their creative barcoding art activity. What a great way to bring the DNA concepts to one’s initial learning of it!