Background Information
My Field Biology class (grades 10 -12) will be studying Collembola in early September. We will be extracting Collembola from leaf litter using the methodology outlined in the online activity "Microarthropod Collection and Examination". Samples will be examined, and specimens exhibiting each different body type (characteristic of deep soil, shallow soil and leaf litter) will be put into separate vials and sent to Bugscope staff for examination using the Bugscope.
Prior to the extraction, students will have learned about basic aspects of collembola biology through class discussion and reading Evans' Life on a Little Known Planet: A Biologist's View of Insects and Their World chapter dealing with collembola biology, ecology and structural variations. They will also have prior hands-on experience in Belese funnel extraction, slide mounting and dichotomous keying of Collembola to the family level.
Our goal is to use the measuring capability of Bugscope to determine relative proportions of furculum length to body length and collophore length to body length ratios for each of the three different body types to determine whether significant variations truly exist..
Specimens To Be Collected and Viewed
Collembola separated body type (characteristic of deep soil, shallow soil and leaf litter).
Follow-Up Activities and Discussion After Viewing Session
Once we have captured the images and have the relative lengths for sample representatives of each body type, students will enter their data into tables and analyze the results to determine if there are significant differences in the above-mentioned proportions of collembola of the three different body types.
Evaluation
Student understanding of structural differences will be assessed through individual or group write-ups. Each student or group will submit a write-up of the Bugscope activity using the following format: Title, Purpose, Procedure, Data (including representative captured images and data tables) and Conclusion. This write-up will be presented using the format specifications for authors of a student-selected scientific journal.