Category Archives: Secondary Schools

Fall 2015, Secondary Schools

All systems are a GO at the The York School!

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The goal of the Malaise trap is to investigate insects in the environment of our school’s yard. We are excited to study the bugs and compare them to other schools across the Nation using their DNA barcode. We hope to learn what species of insects live in this area compared to other schools.

The trap set up went well today at lunch time. The tent poles and mesh parts were set up with ease while we had to hammer the pegs into the tough ground to keep the strings tight and the tent sturdy.  We then put caution tape around the trap to protect the area. The location of the trap is next to the school’s turf and basketball net off to the side of the school yard.

We are super excited to see what we will collect – can’t wait till tomorrow!

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Written by: Amy & Anna (Grade 9 students)

Elementary Schools, Fall 2015, School Malaise Trap Program, Secondary Schools

All set to go at Riverwood!

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This morning at The Riverwood Conservancy, elementary instructor Alison, and teaching intern Theresa set up the Malaise Trap near the historic Chappell House. The chosen site is surrounded by forsythia, oak, beech, pine, and a beautiful Carolinian garden. We are excited to get the jar set up next week and see what we catch!

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Fall 2015, Secondary Schools

Cobequid Educational Centre – Malaise Trap Practice

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Yesterday we looked for a good location for our Malaise Trap.  We found a good location at the corner of the soccer field.  We thought this was the best location because there are trees nearby, it is a fenced area, the grass is short, it is an area that gets a lot of sun, there are flowers nearby, and it is on level ground.  We noticed that there are a lot of bugs/insects in the area already.

Today we practiced putting up the Malaise Trap.   We feel that this was a good team-building exercise.  On Monday we should be able to set the trap up pretty easily.

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Grade 10 Science students

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Grade 12 Science students

Fall 2015, Secondary Schools

T Minus 6 Days – Preeceville School’s Biology 30 Checking In!

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Hello everyone!

Ever since our Malaise trap parcel arrived on September 9th, we have been really excited to start this project!

Unpacked and ready to rock!
Unpacked and ready to rock!

This week (September 14-17th), we have been learning about scientific classification of living beings in Biology 30 so that we can classify some of the critters that we catch during our time with this project.

Preeceville is located in east central Saskatchewan, one hour north of Yorkton (hello M.C. Knoll!!).  We are very fortunate to be in an area that is very biologically diverse.  Our town is in a parkland transition between the boreal forest and the prairie.  Our nearby lakes are “pit stops” for many migratory bird species.

We are planning to deploy our Malaise trap on the southern shore of Annie Laurie Lake near the bird trails and beach which are marked in light yellow on the map below.  This is about a ten minute walk from our school.

Map of Preeceville
Map of Preeceville

Permission has been received by our town to place the trap on town land.  We will be choosing a place off the trails in the bush so that it is out of the way.

The beautiful fall colours of Annie Laurie Lake.
The beautiful fall colours of Annie Laurie Lake.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this project!  We are looking forward to having the chance to contribute and learn from this process.

 

Secondary Schools, Spring 2015

JPCI’s Garden – “The bees knees”

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JPCI’s Grade 11 Biology students have decided on the perfect location for our Malaise Trap…. the school garden! After a survey of the school grounds, the students voted unanimously that this location would likely have the highest insect traffic. The garden is currently being prepped for spring planting activities. Both the students and the PACT Grow to Learn program staff are “bugging” out with excitement to learn more about the insect diversity in the garden.

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http://www.pactgrow2learn.ca/search/label/JPCI

Stay tuned for more photos on deployment day!

COUNT DOWN: 7 DAYS!

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Why do bees hum? Because they can’t remember the words.

How do snails fight each other?    They slug it out.

Two flies are on the porch. Which one is an actor? The one on the screen!