Session 2008-041 with Field School

Application

The School

The Class

The Project

Miscellaneous

Live Session Transcript

Connected on 2008-05-15 13:00:00 from Park Ridge, IL, US

• 12:46pm
• Bugscope Team we've got some nice samples for you and your class today, mrs. schaab
• Bugscope Team please just let us know if you have any questions or problems
• Teacher I can't wait. We're just switching classes now.
• 12:55pm

• Student hi
• Bugscope Team welcome students from Park Ridge, IL, welcome to bugscope!
• Student Hey!
• Student hello
• Student Hello
• Student Hi.
• Student hi
• Bugscope Team hey everyone. welcome!
• Student Hello
• Student hello
• Student Hi!
• Student hello scientists!!!
• Student hi
• Bugscope Team welcome to bugscope, please ask any questions you may have about the images, or the microscope, or our jobs, whatever comes to your mind!
• Bugscope Team Hi guys!
• Student What's The Specimen?
• Bugscope Team we have a jumping spider, asian ladybug, a couple of true bugs, fruit flies, salt from wendy's, and a sulfur butterfly in the scope today
• Bugscope Team currently you are looking at a proboscis on a true bug
• Student hello
• Student What is a proboscis?
  Bugscope Team it is a mouthpart that acts like a straw, like an elephant's trunk. a true bug proboscis usually have a piercing part at the end
• Student what is a ture bug
  Bugscope Team Some examples of true bugs are cicadas, aphids, shield bugs, and leaf hoppers
• Bugscope Team a proboscis is an appendage that comes from the mouth area. like an elephants trunk, that is a proboscis.

• Student what is a true bugs
  Bugscope Team true bugs are an "order" of insects, which comprises of about 80,000 different closely related species
• 1:00pm
• Bugscope Team mrs. schaab, you have control of the scope. we can give any student control as well, please just ask if you want us to switch.
• Student why do youhave salt from wendys
  Bugscope Team it isn't like normal salt. it has some extra component that makes it look a little different. normal salt just looks like cubes, but you will see wendy's doesnt just look like cubes

• Bugscope Team the true bug is also know as "Hemiptera"

• Bugscope Team jalen and jake, lots of things look very different under an electron microscope, so it's nice to just put different things in there and check them out

• Bugscope Team mrs. schaab, click once to start moving, click again to stop moving

• Bugscope Team focus is a little off, you can try changing it to get a nicer image
• Student what is that hair like object?
  Bugscope Team just that-- hairs. except on insects we are supposed to call them setae
• Bugscope Team you can try to take down the mag to see where we are
• Bugscope Team notice all these little hairs. those hairs are called setae (see-tee)
• Student i want to know, why are those 3 hairs longer than the rest?
  Bugscope Team they have a different purpose than the smaller ones. the longer ones are probably more for touching-- or they can sense when they bump into something.
• Bugscope Team setae allow the insects to sense the environment around them-- taste, touch, smell, wind movement
• Student what is that hair and what is it used for?
  Bugscope Team the hairs, or setae (see-tee), are used by the insect to sense it's environment, a lot like a cat uses it's whiskers
• 1:05pm
• Bugscope Team setae stick through the insects exoskeleton, and are connected to nerves
• Student what is behind that long hair it looks like a crack in the ground
• Student does it feel bumpy or soft
• Student why are there bumps on it
• Student What is that black thing on the left side?
  Bugscope Team that looks like a crack in the exoskeleton. when the bug dries up, it becomes brittle and easy to break
• Student What part of the true bug is it

• Bugscope Team ah, cool, these little balls are called brochosomes, they come from a special bug called a leafhopper.

• Student what are all those little ball things
  Bugscope Team brochosomes
• Bugscope Team leafhopper produce brochosomes, supposedly to keep their eggs from getting dry. brochosomes look like soccer balls
• Student What is a leafhopper?
  Bugscope Team a little green insect that hops around, seriously :)
• Bugscope Team these brochosomes were unknown to humans until 1952, when scientists first started looking at leafhoppers in electron microscopes, and discovered these tiny little brochosomes

• Student what are those vines
  Bugscope Team there is some sort of substance on the eye with the brochosomes. the thing in the lower right is a seta with some goop on it
• Bugscope Team mrs. schaab, try lowering the magnification, then you can see the entire eye of the leafhopper, which should look very cool!
• 1:11pm

• Student Why are all these parts so small? Wouldnt they be more effective that way?

• Student What do the brochosomes do?

• Student Are those scales
• Bugscope Team the bumps are the individual ommatidia, as Cate says -- the facets of the compound eye you can see now
• Bugscope Team now you can see the whole compound eye

• Bugscope Team the brochosomes probably stick to each other via static electricity
• Student What's That Branchy Thing?
  Bugscope Team if you mean the thing next to the eye that is coming around the edge of the image-- it is an antenna
• Bugscope Team compound eyes on insects are very interesting. each bump (ommatidia) has a lens in it, so the bug actually sees multiple images, and the bug brain assembled all those images into one coherent image that the bug can "see"

• Student what is that brancy thingy? Is a nose?
  Bugscope Team there was also a proboscis that was coming down in the middle of its head

• Bugscope Team it also looks like some scales are stuck to it

• Student Does it only have one eye?
  Bugscope Team no, insects often have at least two compound eyes, and spiders have even more eyes, simple eyes, called ocelli
• Student in real life is that how big that bug is?

• Student what is that
• 1:16pm
• Student does it see well
  Bugscope Team yes, flying insects usually have excellent sight, that's why they can maneuver so well when flying, and escape from your hand when you are trying to slap them in mid air
• Bugscope Team We're seeing the sticky tape that holds the bugs right now.

• Bugscope Team preset #2 has an image of some simple eyes (eyes that are NOT compound)
• Student how big is the eye
  Bugscope Team a few millimeters big

• Student What are we looking at now?
• Student What part of the speciman are we looking at?
• Bugscope Team this is a butterfly antenna. we are seeing some mechanosensory setae that have brochosomes on them
• Student why do they look like sea weed
• Student What part of the specimen is this?
  Bugscope Team an antenna of a sulfur butterfly. it is a sulfur butterfly because it is yellow
• Student are those little balls eggs
  Bugscope Team The balls are brochosomes. Tiny waxy balls produced by leaf hoppers that some how got onto this bug
• Bugscope Team butterflies do not produce brochosomes, so it seems it has been associating with some leafhoppers
• Student what is that???? Hair possibly????
  Bugscope Team yes i don't know what they do, they probably smell and feel

• Student where does it mostly live
  Bugscope Team butterflies live in a lot of places. a lot of butterflies migrate as well, so they'll fly great distances during their life span
• Student ?
• Student how come it has difrent shaped hair things
  Bugscope Team there are lots and lots of different setae. like how we have eyelashes and hairs on our arms. some setae are responsible for smelling, some are responsible for tasting, etc

• Student Are the lines in spikes veins
  Bugscope Team the setae (spikes) are attached to nerves. the lines might be some sort of structural support
• Student What Are Those Holes????
  Bugscope Team I'm not sure what the holes are for

• Student Why isn't it in color?
  Bugscope Team great questions! these images are taken inside an electron microscope. instead of using light to gather the images, electrons are beamed at the bugs, and lots of electrons bounce off, and are collected by a special detector. so these images are made up of tiny electrons hitting a detector, and so the images are shades of black and white, no color
• Student why is there a circle that looks different?
• Student Is this a big arm or leg or antena? Then y is it sperated
  Bugscope Team antenna. it fell off the butterfly when i was picking up the butterfly
• 1:21pm
• Student Why are they in sections?
  Bugscope Team Because the hard exoskeleton cannot flex, it has to be made in pieces that are hinged so that the bug can move, very much like a knight's metal armor
• Student How many of those scale-things are there?
  Bugscope Team lots! too many to count!!
• Student Are we looking at cells that produce the color of the wing?

• Student What are those two white dots?
  Bugscope Team they are bubbles in the carbon tape

• Student cool
• Student why was there a different pattern?
  Bugscope Team it probably has some use, but we don't know. sometimes we have an expert on insects join in the session and she would know
• Student Why is one half darker than the other half?
  Bugscope Team That's due to a phenomenon we call "charging". We're using electrons to image the sample, and the flow of electrons is what we call electricity. What you're seeing is that the bright part isn't electrically conductive, and the electrons are building up more and increasing the brightness

• Student how many different sections are there

• Bugscope Team kate&pat, different sections of what?
  Bugscope Team antenna i think
• Student How come there are holes in each section of the antena?

• Student what are those barnch like things for
  Bugscope Team those are setae and they have different jobs like smelling/tasting
• Student where the little holes their so the bug could hear or smell things?
  Bugscope Team some holes are for breathing, they are called spiracles, you'll see some insects with spiracles on the body segments
• Student was there pressure on that last clip we saw guys?

• Bugscope Team these are tenent setae on an asian ladybug
• 1:26pm
• Student what are those little long things?
  Bugscope Team those are tenent setae
• Bugscope Team these setae are special in that they let the bugs walk on walls
• Student umm....... is this move
  Bugscope Team the electron beam can sometimes manipulate the specimens
  Bugscope Team Have you ever felt static electricity seem to be pulling on your hair? The same thing is happening here: the electron beam is depositing static charge on the setae and the repulsive force is causing them to flex
• Student ing
• Bugscope Team tenent setae are special kinds of setae, they help the insect to stick to walls and such, that way they can climb out of all sorts of trouble
• Student Where di you get this bug?
  Bugscope Team it is a ladybug. they are pretty easy to find in the springs and late summers
• Student why are the intena- things shaped like spoons
  Bugscope Team these are tenent setae, so the spoon like shape helps to create the sticky nature of these setae, which help the insect to adhere to walls and such
• Student wow
• Student are those spoon parts sticky

• Student does those (sprouts) on the top grow any more
• Student or did they

• Student o ok
• Student Cool
• Student why are they curvy
• Student are those gills

• Student is that hair
  Bugscope Team yes in a way, they are bug hair or setae (seta for singular)
• Student what is that leaf thing?
  Bugscope Team that is a scale from another insect, maybe a mosquito
  Bugscope Team that looks like a wing scale
• Bugscope Team pat&pete, no these are setae, which look like hair, but have different functionality that hair does.
• Bugscope Team the leaflike thing is a scale

• Student is it still growing?

• Student Why does it look like hair.
• Student a wing scale?

• Student cool
• Student Do the satae eventually fall off
  Bugscope Team well, the setae are attached to nerves underneath the exoskeleton, so i don't think they come off easily, but that doesn't mean some don't break off or fall off when the bug dies or is hurt in some way

• 1:32pm
• Student is that a leg
• Student are those claws on the end?
• Student Why isn't there any setae in some places?
  Bugscope Team insects dont need setae everywhere on their bodies, but the point is--they are a lot hairier than they seem!
• Student is that aleg?
• Student That whole thing was a leg?
  Bugscope Team yes it sure was, there is a claw at the end too
• Student ????
• Student why is it spikey?

• Bugscope Team the tenent setae do not fall off -- they stick and unstick

• Student can we feel the setae
  Bugscope Team it is usually too small to feel
• Student if that is a wing is that hair on it

• Student also is that a ladybug
  Bugscope Team yes
• Student Thats the ladybugs belly
• Bugscope Team yes, this is a ladybug
• Student When bugs die, why do they cross they're legs?
  Bugscope Team they don't always do it, but most of the time they do. I think it is a reflex they do as they die
• Student cool a spioder

• Bugscope Team now we moved to another image: this is a spider eye
• Student is that an eye in the back
• Student is tihs hair?
• Student What is that grass stuff?
  Bugscope Team bug hair
• Bugscope Team yep, it's an eye behind the setae (hairs)
• Student How many eyes do jumping spiders have?
  Bugscope Team they should have 8, we just cant see them all
• Bugscope Team the grass stuff are setae
• Bugscope Team insects have TONS of setae
• Student How come there is hair all around the eye? Is it to protect the eye?
• Student what is that big ball
• Student why are there so many hairs
  Bugscope Team well, insects have a hard exoskeleton, which can't feel anything, so they developed these setae (hairs) that stick through the exoskeleton and are attached to nerves, and that's how they sense their environment. so it helps to have tons of them.
• Student It looks like an egg behind the hair.
• Student why is the hair in a weird way
• Bugscope Team in fact, if you see things that look like hairs, a pretty safe guess is: setae
• Student is there really hair in the eye?
• Student are those grass-like things are they eye lashes
• Student why?
• Bugscope Team the eye is behind the setae (hair) here
• Student Do spiders have an eye for each leg

• Student whats under the eye
• Student how come some of the hair is standing up but others arent

• Student how big is this spider in inches
  Bugscope Team it is small, the entire sample is less than an inch and a half, so i'm guessing the spider is a few centimeters or so? cate will know better.
• Bugscope Team they do have an eye for each leg, as it turns out
• Student are all spiders like that with 8 eyes and legs
  Bugscope Team yes, there are a few spiders known to have 6 or 7 eyes tho. they are usually the ones that dont use their eyes much
• Student or mm
• Student how big is the eye
• Student That is all hairy!

• Bugscope Team unless they lose a leg -- and they can choose to lose legs if they wish -- they will have eight legs and eight eyes

• Student what is that
• Student whats that.
• Student are the huge bumps there eyes?
• 1:37pm
• Bugscope Team this is where the web comes from -- one of the spinnerets
• Student what is that
• Student Are those the fangs of the spider?
  Bugscope Team these are spineretts which manipulate the webbing. it is alsowhere the webbing comes out
• Student How big is the real spider?
• Student cool
• Student whats in that
• Student what are those sticks or vines
• Student what are those vine like things?
  Bugscope Team spider silk

• Bugscope Team so you can see there are some threads hanging off a few of them
• Bugscope Team these are the spider spinneretes, this is where the web comes from

• Student how big can they the web
  Bugscope Team well, big enough to capture prey, like other small insects. don't worry, it can't web you!

• Bugscope Team spiders can produce sticky and nonsticky web, and they recycle the web by eating it
• Student make the web
• Student how thick is the web?

• Student how many webs can a spider spin?

• Student do spiders also have suction cups things?
• Student ok

• Student is that where it holds its eggs
  Bugscope Team spiders usually make a sack for the eggs and either carry them around or leave them in a safe place
• Bugscope Team spiders do seem to have the equivalent of tenent setae
• Bugscope Team that allow them to stick to the ceiling, for example
• Student That is cool.
• Bugscope Team when the silk is inside the spider it is a liquid that hardens when it gets into them air
• Student is that a tooth
• Bugscope Team into the air...
• Bugscope Team heh, no not a tooth, this is a rear-end of the spider
• Student If the spider has to make such big webs coudnt it make a bigger web faster if it wasnt so small?
  Bugscope Team well, but think about why a spider makes a web, to catch prey so it can eat. so why would it need to capture a really huge thing when it can survive by eating lots of smaller thigns
• Bugscope Team this is the abdomen of the spider
• Bugscope Team some spiders do not make webs, but I think all of them can produce silk
• Bugscope Team I think a lot of the bigger spiders dont rely on webs so much

• 1:42pm
• Bugscope Team they make trapdoors and catch the food, or bite them to paralyze them
• Teacher Can you please give Caroline and Noah the driving power?
• Bugscope Team these are setae on a fruit fly compound eye
• Bugscope Team okay mrs. schaab, done
• Student what is that
• Bugscope Team ok caroline and noah have control
• Bugscope Team caroline and noah, you have control!
• Bugscope Team the spikes are setae
• Student it lookz like little knives
• Student is that hair
  Bugscope Team they are responsible for letting the fruit fly know the changes in the wind currents
• Bugscope Team the bumps are the individual facets of a compound eye
• Bugscope Team yeah, little daggers
• Student are those sharp?
• Student What part of the spider is this?
• Bugscope Team this is the eye
• Student what kind of bug is this
• Bugscope Team this is an eye of a fruit fly
• Bugscope Team so for example if a fly swatter is coming at them, they will be able to feel it and fly away in time
• Bugscope Team those are rigid setae that the fly uses, as Cate says, to feel changes in the wind
• Student Where can you find this bug?
• Bugscope Team caroline and noah, if you lower the magnification, you'll see the whole fly
• Student how big is the fly?
• Bugscope Team these flies are often associated with fruit
• Bugscope Team fruits fly's are all over the place. they love fruit and such, or rather love the bacteria that grow on fruit

• Student does a fruit fly eat fruit
  Bugscope Team they eat the enzymes and fungi that are produced from rotting fruit

• Student wow

• Bugscope Team they are very small
• Student what are the little pointy things?
• Bugscope Team the pointy things allow the fly to feel changes in the air, in the wind
• Student Is it harder to see as a fly then a frute fly then a real fly.
• Student whats the little bump on the top of the eye
  Bugscope Team on the right side, there was a bump that was a pollen grain
• Student Why do the eyes have so many bumps?
  Bugscope Team well, sight is important to a flying insect, so these compound eyes have lots of individual facets, and all those facets see an image, so the more images it sees, the better able it is to fly and feed and survive
• Student are the pointy things on the head the antena
  Bugscope Team the antennae come in 2 parts for flies. the first set are the little pads in between the eyes, and the second part are branches that are around the pads. one of the branches is gone (n the left side) but the right side had a branch coming own into a part of its eye

• Student what do the hares on the eye do

• Bugscope Team the antennae are the pad-like things in the middle of the head
• Student can they only see side to side?

• Bugscope Team danny & aaron, notice that because of the shape of the eye, the fly can also see almost a complete 180 degrees, that's pretty cool peripheral vision

• Bugscope Team they have very good peripheral vision
• Student could the fly see good because of so many bumps?
  Bugscope Team yes, each bump has an eye lens in it

• Student what part is this
• 1:47pm

• Student what are the hills there for
• Bugscope Team the many bumps help the fly update images very quickly, so flies can sense movement much more quickly, for example, than we can
• Bugscope Team i think this is its sponging mouthpart
• Bugscope Team this is a little dried up compared to what it is like when the fly is alive
• Bugscope Team the proboscis is soft and shrivels when it dries
• Teacher Can I have driving power back?
• Bugscope Team so when it eats, they spit up a little juice that liquifies its food. then it sponges it all back up
• Bugscope Team ok done
• Bugscope Team mrs. schaab, you have control again
• Teacher Thanks!

• Teacher My specimin choices are gone
• Bugscope Team Now you can see the body of the fly, facing you.
• Student WHY ARE THE LEG TOGETHER
  Bugscope Team just like the ladybug, i think it is a reflex that happens when they are dying
• 1:52pm
• Bugscope Team try refreshing the browser
• Bugscope Team Can you get them to return by refreshing the browser?
• Bugscope Team the legs close together, fold together when the fly dies
• Student thats copol
• Bugscope Team the soft parts dry and the legs move (usually) closer together
• Bugscope Team the little sacks you see on either side of the fruit fly are halteres that are modified wings

• Student What are those hole like things?
• Bugscope Team paper!
• Student why does it look wrapped
• Student why is it on top of each other?
• Bugscope Team these are paper fibers.
• Student why is every thing over laping
• Student What are the spongy things on the parts that are overlaping
• Bugscope Team those are cellulose fibers -- paper fibers

• Student why are they long lines?
• Bugscope Team the paper fibers look like little strips that are all interlaced together

• Student why does that look like a pretzal from the bakery?? yum

• Student and what is that hole

• Student Is this fresh paper or used paper?
  Bugscope Team it is probably recycled
• Bugscope Team that hole is where a pin went through it

• Student is the paper cut?
• Student why does it look like a leaf????
  Bugscope Team thats just the way the person cut it to make it a tab.

• Bugscope Team it is a little strip that was cut into a tab and was stuck to an insect because the insect was too small for the pin to go through
• Teacher They are going ask you questions about your job for the last few minutes if that's okay
• 1:57pm
• Bugscope Team sure
• Student how long have you been a scientist
  Bugscope Team i've been working here for a couple years now. I graduated with a degree in physics from the university of illinois
• Student What is your favorite part of being a scientist?
• Student do you only study bugs?
  Bugscope Team we look at lots of different things in the microscope. bugs are just usually the most interesting
• Student Do you do anything else besides looking at bugs?
• Student How old were you when you first became a scientist?
• Student Whats your favorite thing to look at?
  Bugscope Team there are a lot of cool looking bacteria to look at. sadly we hardly ever see them on insects, even tho everyone says they carry germs
• Student what inspired you to be a scientist
• Bugscope Team scott has a degree in english and biology
• Student Do you like wearing a lab coat?

• Student what kind of fun things do you do?
• Student have you ever had a acident in the lab
  Bugscope Team no and that is a good thing. we have a lot of nasty chemicals around here that would be very bad if they were handled badly

• Student What else do you do if you arent lookink through a microscope?
  Bugscope Team what we do here is we train other people to use the microscopes when we arent using them, or we help them if they need help on them

• Student if any of u could have a different job in the hole wide world which job woud it be
  Bugscope Team i like science, so it would still be in the science field. maybe it would be fun (atleast for me) to look at different viruses

• Student bye bye
• Student Thank u
• Student bye
• Bugscope Team other users on campus, when trained, can use the microscopes for their own studies like looking at carbon nanotubes or nano structures
• Student Bye- my friends!
• Student buy buy thanks
• Teacher Thank you for all of your help today! We're about finished. The specimins were awesome! :)
  Bugscope Team I hope we see you again next semester
• Bugscope Team bye I hope you all had fun, and thank you for all your great questions
• Student Adios
• Student C Y
• Student bye whole bugscope bugs rock
• Student Good-bye Bye Buy
• Student thank you! And goodbye!
• Student :}
• Student thank you
• Student thank you, See Ya Later!
• Student :)
• Bugscope Team bye everyone!
• Student see yah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Student by by thank you for sowing us bug's and answering all of our guestions
• Student Buh bye
• 2:02pm
• Bugscope Team thank you!
• Student C ya and thanks for answering my questions
• Teacher Thanks again! See you next year!
• Bugscope Team bye Mrs. Schaab. See you in a future session!
• Bugscope Team Hellow susansp. Do you have any questions? Would you like to try controlling the scope?
• Bugscope Team meeting starting...
• Bugscope Team well if there are no questions. I am going to shut down this session