Today it was 6 degrees outside, the coldest day this week. The rest of the week has been sunny and around 20. The ticks, flies and bees were beginning to reveal themselves around here. Today was also the last day of the collection experiment so we took down the Malaise trap. Our jar was quite full of bugs having all shapes and sizes inside!

Our trap was placed beside trees and weeds to attract the most bugs possible. Our school yard is unique because it literally has nothing on it besides a couple of baseball backstops.  Our town used to be a swamp which must have contained lots and lots of bugs but today it is dry and we currently have a fire ban in place.

I wonder how the biologists will sort out all the bugs because some of them are extremely small or in pieces. I also wonder how they will put our data to good use.

I find it kinda funny that some Alberta schools were getting snow. I’m thankful that I live here in Manitoba where the weather has been fairly stable and nice.

– Alain

Our final catch for week 3 – (not quite as much as weeks 1 &2)

I’m going to be completely honest here, this project makes me uncomfortable. I have never really liked bugs. They are a nuisance to me. They get in the way and invade every aspect of your life. They ruin picnics, get in your food and buzz around your head. I don’t remember a time when I looked at a bug and was like ‘Wow, look at that beautiful creature crawling along the sidewalk.’ But don’t get me wrong, bugs are very important. (Not that I care to admit it). They are part of a bigger picture, one that we don’t think about. They are food for other species like birds and bats. So this Malaise Trap project shows that a variety of bugs are important to keep our current ecosystem stable and afloat. It shows that even though we can’t see them all the time that there are many species around us. Now I still don’t like going and looking at the Malaise Trap but I do realize how important this project  is to study ecosystems.

– Blaire

Week 1 bottle (after week 2)