Category: Science

A List of the Most Deadly and Dangerous Animals

Hi, scientists!

What animal scares you the most? Is it a hairy tarantula? A toothy shark? A slithering snake? Often, the animals we are the most afraid of are NOT the ones that are the most dangerous to us!

As part of our biology exploration of the weirdest, creepiest, and most monstrous animals, our class looked at a list of the most deadly animals on Earth. According to a study in 2015, these are the top-ranked most dangerous animals (based on how many human fatalities they cause per year on average)

We learned that many animals that are harmful to humans are dangerous because of their venom or their ability to transmit diseases or parasites. We were also shocked to find out that humans made the list!

Do you see any surprising animals on the list?

 

Sharks: Man-Eating Killers or Misunderstood Creatures?

Today, we explored whether sharks are the mindless killers that many movies make them out to be! We learned about Eugenie Clark, a marine biologist who dedicated her life to proving that sharks deserve protection and respect rather than hatred and fear. Even though many people told Eugenie she would never be a scientist because she was a woman, she went on to become one of the most influential marine biologists of her time!

Pictured below: Eugenie as a young woman, and after her retirement, posing with a collection of shark jaws and teeth

We discussed how sharks are often misunderstood, and that humans are actually much more dangerous to sharks than we are to them. Did you know that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year by humans? If you want to learn more about how to protect sharks, you might want to check out : https://www.sharksider.com/10-easy-ways-help-save-sharks/

Stay tuned as we learn more about different ‘misunderstood monsters’ in our Science this week!

Microbiology: Ms. Ward’s Recipe for Agar

Today, our class began collecting ‘samples’ from around the school in order to grow our own mystery microorganisms! We used a cotton swab to carefully collect a sample (from the bottom of our shoe, from our pencil, from the floor, from a doorknob, and other places). Then, we rubbed the cotton swab onto the agar gel in our mini petri-dishes. Ms. Ward made the agar from a few household ingredients. If you want to try this experiment at home, you can use this recipe:

Grow Bacteria On Homemade Agar Plates | Mad About Science

Agar Recipe (for collecting and growing microorganisms) 

  • 5 packets of unflavoured gelatin
  • 10 teaspoons of white sugar
  • 1 packet or 1 cube of chicken or beef bouillon
  • 5 cups of boiling water

Carefully mix together the gelatin, sugar, and bouillon. Add the boiling water and mix well. Put in the fridge to cool for around 10 minutes, until just slightly warm. Then, carefully pour into your petri dishes and refrigerate until needed. Use within 2 days for the best results.

To use: carefully collect a sample using a damp cotton swab. Try to pick somewhere you think will likely have lots of microorganisms! Then, rub the q-tip onto the agar, seal the petri dish, and leave in a warm, dark place for a few days. For safety reasons, do NOT open the petri dish once the microorganisms begin to grow. Observe them, then throw the entire experiment in the garbage.

Note: We talked extensively about ensuring that we do not contaminate our agar. Ms. Ward even discovered that one of her spoons hadn’t been sterilized properly, and it contaminated a few of our petri dishes. If you want accurate results, make sure to sterilize all of your equipment beforehand, and wash your hands!

We will let our microorganisms incubate over the weekend, then check to see our results on Monday. Stay tuned for pictures and updates!

Sci-Fri: Mystery Fruit Investigation

There are thousands and thousands of species of fruit all over the world, from apples to durians and everything in between! For Sci-Fri this week, our class (along with Ms. Ramen’s class) examined some fruits that we may not have seen before! We made detailed observations, drew diagrams, and predicted what the fruit might look like inside!

The different fruits were: red-fleshed papaya, purple passionfruit, orange passionfruit, white pomelo, tangelo, aloe leaves, dragon fruit, baby bananas, starfruit, pomegranate, and durian!

Ms. Ward tried each of the fruits and described them. We learned that some fruits, such as the durian, are an acquired taste. While many people love it and have grown up eating it, durian can be very unusual the first time you taste it!

Ms. Ward described it as “custardy, smooth, a bit sweet and caramelized, with a strong oniony/green onion flavour”. The scent of the durian was so strong you could smell it throughout the whole school!

Have you ever tried a durian?

  

Colours in Nature

Our class went outside to find leaves, flowers, and plants that matched our paint swatches as closely as possible. We learned about why leaves appear green and extracted chlorophyll from spinach and iceberg lettuce leaves. Did you know chlorophyll turns red under a UV light?