Bugscope: Members Page

Live Session Transcript

9:28am
Bugscope Team okay had to add this last preset
Bugscope Team so now you have control of the 'scope
Bugscope Team Please let us know when you have questions, and let us know if you have any trouble driving the 'scope.
9:34am

Bugscope Team the tiny particles we see on the moth scales are brochosomes, which are produced solely by leafhoppers
Bugscope Team they are very small, as you can tell from the micron bar -- they are nanoparticles
Teacher Do you have a stink bug?
Bugscope Team unfortunately no, the closest we could come was an assassin bug. They are both true bugs
Bugscope Team they look similar
Teacher Can we look at an assassin bug?
Bugscope Team they are both Hemiptera. they have piercing mouthparts

Bugscope Team this is the assassin bug
10:06am
Bugscope Team you can see the dome-like eyes on either side of the head, and you can see its proboscis, coming right down the middle of the head
Bugscope Team stink bugs, as Cate said, look like these guys
Bugscope Team BUGS12345 has control of the microscope and can drive it as well as click on any of the presets to get the microscope to drive to those places

Bugscope Team you can either click on another preset which are located to the left or you can change the magnification or drive around by clicking in the direction you want to go
10:11am
Teacher how do we look at another area?
Bugscope Team if you click on the white arrow in the blue circle on the left, you can see what choices you have, and all you need to do is click on one

Bugscope Team Cool!
Teacher thanks
Bugscope Team now you can see one of the spiders, and you can see its 8 eyes as well as its chelicerae

Bugscope Team the tiny setae help it stick to surfaces
Bugscope Team and this is a very fierce-looking stinger
Bugscope Team this is a big wasp stinger, belongs to a cicada killer wasp
10:16am
Bugscope Team it is blunt and would really hurt
Bugscope Team stingers are modified ovipositors, and sometimes they still do lay eggs as well as sting
Bugscope Team ovipositors are used by some insects to deposit their eggs inside branches, or inside leaves, or in some cases inside other bugs, like caterpillars, or cicadas
Bugscope Team cicada killers really do kill cicadas; they sting them to paralyze them, and then they lay their eggs inside them
10:22am
Bugscope Team they carry the cicada to their nest, which is in the ground
Bugscope Team actually I just read that in this case the cicada killer lays a single egg on top of the paralyzed cicada, and when the egg hatches the larva eats the cicada.
Bugscope Team Heya---I can't login as an admin, so I will be a Guest,
Bugscope Team hi Annie, we are looking at a cicada killer's stinger
10:27am
Bugscope Team cool
Bugscope Team McIntyre please let us know if you are having any problems with the connection, or if you have any questions for us at all.
10:35am

Bugscope Team I took us to the diatoms on the caddisfly larva
Bugscope Team they look kind of like boats
Bugscope Team caddisflies, like mosquitoes, mayflies, and stoneflies, live part of their life underwater
Bugscope Team so they get diatoms, which are silica-shelled unicellular algae, stuck to their bodies
Bugscope Team there are many shapes of diatoms

Bugscope Team you can see the ommatidia (which are the eye facets) and there is also some debris on top of the eye, maybe plant material
10:47am
Bugscope Team Moths and spiders (those that are active at night) have a layer of tracheae at the base of their eyes. This layer is shiny and reflective--when photons of light enter the eye, they bounce off of that reflective layer and are eventually captured by the light sensitive cells in the eye. This is why moth eyes glow red when you shine a flashlight on them.
Bugscope Team I am full of facts now that I teach general biology!
Bugscope Team is that kind of similar to a cat's eyes shining when light hits them in the dark
Bugscope Team It is EXACTLY like a cat's eye--just with a different mechanism for reflecting the light. It is a great case of analogous structures and convergent evolution.
Bugscope Team The inside of the eye of a nocturnal animal is a beautiful reflective blue color. The insides of human eyes are solid black.
Bugscope Team The blue color is important because it reflects the highest energy light.
Bugscope Team I took us to the mosquito head

Bugscope Team Mr. Mosquito
10:52am
Bugscope Team yes a male, we can tell that because they have frilly antennae
Bugscope Team Only female mosquitoes bite
Bugscope Team `test
Bugscope Team Logged in as an admin
Bugscope Team you should see Public/Private
11:00am
Bugscope Team Yes, I can login now
Bugscope Team We are going to shut down now -- unless there is something more we can do for McIntyre.
Bugscope Team Thank you for connecting with us today.

Subjects Taught	science & all elementary subjects
Grades Taught	6th Grade
Number of Students	48

Project Title	Bugs
Insects To Study	stink bug
Project Description	Since we've recently been innovated with stink bugs in our school & surrounding neighborhoods, we thought it would be great to study them. I teach science & we use microscopes in our Diversity of Life Unit. I'd love to integrate Bugscope into this unit.