Daily Discovery: Monster Genetics

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 9-12, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Life Science, Teens

Post written by Angela Kettle, School Programs Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Monster Genetics

Monsters may be imaginary, but just like all living things, they have genes that determine what they look like and how they behave. Make your very own monster using Mendelian genetics. Will your monster be tall or short? Furry or scaly? Green or blue? Toss a coin to find out!

Supplies:

  • Paper (if you can, print off the last page of the PDF version of this activity)
  • Pencil
  • Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
  • A coin
  • 3D making materials (optional)

Definitions to Know

  • Trait: A characteristic or feature of a living thing… hair color, eye color, and blood type are all examples of traits.
  • Gene: Genes are parts of DNA and carry hereditary  information passed from parents to children.
  • Allele: A version of a gene. Each parent gives its offspring one allele.
  • Genotype: A living thing’s complete genetic information.
  • Phenotype: A living’s things traits.
  • Dominant allele: An allele that is always expressed in the phenotype if present in the genotype.
  • Recessive allele: An allele that is only expressed in the phenotype if the dominant allele is not present.

Don’t understand these definitions yet? No worries! It will all make more sense once you complete the activity.

Instructions:

  1. Just like humans and other animals, FCMoD monsters (which are only imaginary, we promise!) have genes that determine their traits. FCMoD monster babies inherit one allele from each monster parent. The combination of the two alleles decides which traits the baby monster has. In this activity, by flipping a coin, you will determine which alleles your monster inherits from each parent (its genotype). Then, using the rules of dominant versus recessive alleles, you will figure out your monster’s traits (its phenotype).
  2. Print off the last page of the PDF version of this activity entitled “Determining Your Monster’s Genetics.” No printer? No problem! You can make a copy of this page using pencil and paper.
  3. On the “Determining Your Monster’s Genetics” page, you should a table with lots of different monster traits, from height to teeth shape. Each row lists the allele that is dominant and the allele that is recessive.
  4. Flip a coin twice for each trait. If you flip heads on your first flip, write down the dominant allele in the Coin Toss #1 column. If you flip tails on your first flip, write down the recessive allele in the Coin Toss #1 column. Repeat in the Coin Toss #2 column. Leave the Phenotype column blank for now.
  5. Once you have completed two coin tosses for every trait, it’s time to figure out your monster’s phenotype! If a trait is recessive, it is only expressed if it has another recessive allele as its buddy. Find any traits where you wrote down the recessive allele in both the Coin Toss #1 AND Coin Toss #2 columns. (In other words, you got tails twice in a row when you did your coin toss.) Write down the recessive allele in the Phenotype column. Write down the dominant allele in the Phenotype category for all other cases.
  6. Time to make your monster! Draw your monster using the traits listed in your Phenotype column. Bonus points: once you are done drawing your monster, make it in 3D using whatever you have at home!

Questions to Ponder
• Did you flip more heads than tails, more tails than heads, or did you flip about an even amount of heads and tails?
• How much of your monster’s phenotype is made up of recessive alleles versus dominant alleles? Is it the same or different than the number of heads vs. tails in your coin toss? Why do you think that is?
• How do you think your monster’s form affects its function? For example, would a monster with long legs move differently than a monster with short legs? Would a monster with sharp teeth eat different things than a monster with blunt teeth?
• Are genes the only thing that determines what an individual is like? Can you think of any times when the environment could affect an individual’s traits?

Monsters and Us

What do humans, animals, plants, and monsters all have in common? Genetics! While you completed this activity using a monster as an example, you could have also done it for a cow, a cat, a snake, a tree, or even yourself!

In other living things besides FCMoD monsters, though, genetics can get pretty complicated. Sometimes a gene has more than two alleles. (For example, there is a gene in domesticated cats that determines if the cat is black, brown, or cinnamon. Black is the dominant allele, while brown is recessive to black, and cinnamon is recessive to brown.) Sometimes, neither allele is completely dominant, and the allele expressed in the phenotype is a blend or a combination of the two alleles — scientists call this “incomplete dominance” and “codominance,” respectively. (For example, human blood types are classified as A, B, and O, depending on the protein types found in the blood. But, if a human inherits one A-type allele from one parent and one B-type allele from the other parent, her blood type will be AB, a combination of the proteins.)

Scientists have been working hard for many years to map out the genetics that make up all kinds of different organisms. But why does it matter? Understanding genetics can make us better stewards of our planet. See below for some real-life examples!

Real-Life Genetics: Saving the Black-footed Ferret

On September 26th, 1981 the black-footed ferret was rediscovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Before that, Black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct! Since that fateful day of rediscovery, biologists and conservationists have been working hard to recover this endangered species.

Because no new populations of wild BFFs have been found since 1987, the BFF breeding season ( March-July) at BFF managed care facilities follow protocols for specific pairings of individuals to minimize the loss of genetic diversity. In other words, the biologists responsible for breeding Black-footed Ferrets use what they know about genetics to make sure that future BFF generations are
born genetically healthy.

Did you know that FCMoD has two live Black-footed Ferrets on site, in partnership with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service? Make sure to visit the BFFs when the museum is open… and you can watch them 24/7 from anywhere in the world on the Black-footed Ferret cam.

Real-Life Profile: Mary F. Lyon

Mary F. Lyon (1925-2014) was a British geneticist who is credited as having discovered Xchromosome inactivation, often termed Lyonization in her honor. Lyonization is a process that occurs in female mammals (including female humans!), where one copy of the X-chromosome is inactivated in each cell. (Females inherit two X chromosomes, while males inherit an X and a Y chromosome.)

Mary Lyon’s discovery has helped geneticists understand a range of genetic anomalies. For example, tortoiseshell cats are a great example of Lyonization. Orange coloration is carried on the Xchromosome in cats. Let’s say a cat inherits one “orange” X-chromosome and one “non-orange” Xchromosome from its parents. Due to Lyonization, one of those X-chromosomes will be inactivated in each cell. However, which X-chromosome is inactivated varies from cell to cell, resulting in some cells expressing orange coloration while others do not. This creates the random mosaic pattern on tortoiseshell cats.

Lyonization is also the reason that male tortoiseshell cats are so rare. In order for Lyonization to occur, a cat must have two X-chromosomes. A genetic mutation must occur for a male cat to have two X-chromosomes, though it does happen on occasion!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Fort Fund.

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Daily Discovery: Imagining Life

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 6-8, Ages 9-12, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Life Science

Post written by Sierra Tamkun, Learning Experiences Manager. Adapted from the National Informal STEM Educator’s Network (NISE Net).

Daily Discovery: Imagining Life

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what other life might be out there, circling other stars? If so, you’re thinking like an astrobiologist!

Astrobiologists study how life began and evolved on Earth, and what conditions are needed to make other worlds habitable. Part of their research includes the study of extreme Earth environments where life exists, and they use this information to make predictions about where in the universe we might find other life, and what those life forms might be like!

Explore some different extremophiles (living creatures whose habitats are too extreme for us!) and make your own predictions about what life might exist on another planet!

Supplies:

  • Drawing sheet (linked in PDF below) or blank piece of paper
  • Markers or colored pencils
  • Extremophiles Cards (linked in PDF below)

Instructions:

  1. Take a look at the different extremophiles cards and learn about organisms that thrive in places too extreme for humans.
  2. Imagine a planet or moon in the universe where the  environment is too harsh for people. Is it very hot? Very cold? Is the air too thick, or very thin? Is it too acidic? Use the provided drawing sheet or your own piece of paper to draw the landscape of your imagined world!
  3. Think like an astrobiologist! What sort of organism would  survive on your planet or moon? What adaptations would it need to live there? Would it look like an extremophile of Earth, or something completely different? Draw your life form in its extraterrestrial habitat!

Are we alone in the universe?

We don’t yet have scientific evidence for life in other parts of the universe, but there are some exciting possibilities in the Milky Way galaxy— and even our own solar system! Astronomers have found many potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way using NASA’s Kepler telescope. These “Goldilocks” planets are just the right distance from the stars they orbit—not too close and not too far—to allow liquid water to exist on their surfaces, a critical ingredient for life as we know it. Citizen scientists also participate in Kepler’s
research through the Planet Hunters project!

Astrobiologists expect that alien life forms—if they’re out there—will be specially adapted to their environment. Most of the alien worlds we’ve explored so far are very different from Earth, so any living things we find beyond Earth will probably be very different, too.

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Image credit: earthsky.org

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Daily Discovery: The Road to Recovery – The Black-Footed Ferret

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Any Age, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by written by Charlotte Conway, Public Programs Coordinator. Adapted from WILD about Black-footed Ferrets (US Fish and Wildlife Service).

Daily Discovery: The Road to Recovery – The Black-Footed Ferret

Did you know one of the most endangered mammals in North America lives right here in your backyard? Celebrate Endangered Species Day this year by learning about this amazing animal! Black-footed ferrets, or as we like to call them, BFFs, were thought to be extinct twice! BFFs have recovered from a population of only 18 individuals found in 1981 to several hundred today.

Learn about the rediscovery of the animal thought to be extinct, discover how important it is to protect the habitats of endangered species, and become a wild life conservationist yourself with these BFF activities!

Rediscovery of the BFFs: A Quick History

Black-footed ferrets are considered one of the most endangered animals in North America. Twice, scientists believed they were extinct. In 1964, as the U.S. government was about to declare the black-footed ferret extinct, a small population was located in Mellette County, South Dakota. That population continued to decline and nine ferrets were taken out of the wild to begin a captive breeding program. The captive breeding attempt failed. By 1974, there were no more wild ferrets in Mellette County. When the last captive animal died at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland in 1979, the ferret was again presumed extinct.

Most scientists gave up hope of ever finding another black-footed ferret. While many had searched far and wide, they did not find any more in the wild. A lucky incident changed all that. At about 3 a.m. on September 26, 1981, cattle rancher John Hogg and his wife, Lucille, were awakened by their dog’s furious barking just outside the bedroom window. They figured that Shep had gotten tangled up with a porcupine and they went back to sleep.

When John Hogg looked around the next day, he found the carcass of a strange little animal. He had never seen one like it before. It had a black mask, black feet, and a black-tipped tail. It also had a broken back. Lucille suggested they make a mount of it. They took it to a Meeteetse taxidermist. The taxidermist realized that it was a black-footed ferret.

Amazingly, another black-footed ferret population was soon discovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming. Then, canine distemper struck the population. In 1986, shortly before distemper wiped out all the remaining wild ferrets in Wyoming, the last 18 animals were captured for captive breeding. Unlike the efforts in the 1970’s, scientists were very successful breeding the animals in the 1980’s. By the fall of 1991, the captive-breeding population had grown to a large enough size to permit the first experimental reintroduction site.

The story of what has happened in the 30 plus years since a black-footed was discovered in Meeteetse is nothing less than extraordinary. While it is a story that it still being written, the possibility of a full recover of this species is within reach thanks to efforts lead by US Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous partners.

It is even possible that you could play a role in this amazing recovery effort!

Activity: The Prairie Web of Life

One of the main reasons BFFs became and remain endangered is loss of habitat, and the related decline of their prey, prairie dogs. Make your own prairie web of life to discover the rich diversity of life on the endangered Short-grass Prairie habitat, and then consider what makes a keystone species important to an ecosystem.

Supplies:

  • Pencil or pen
  • Paper
  • Short-grass Prairie Species Cards (included in separate document)
  • Short-grass Prairie Species Chart (printed or you can draw it on your own paper)

Instructions:

  1. Look through the Short-grass Prairie Species Cards. Select a few of your favorite species and write down which species you are most interested in.
  2. Next, fill out the Short-grass Prairie Species Chart (included below) using the Short-grass Prairie Species Card you chose. Fill out a new chart for each species. Fill out a chart for the Black-tailed Prairie Dog and the Black-Footed Ferret as well. You will need to know some vocabulary to help you fill out the chart!
    Producer – organisms like plants that can make their own food from the sun’s energy.
    Consumer – animals that must get their energy from eating plants or other animals.
    Herbivore – an animal that eats only plants.
    Omnivore – an animal that eats both plants and animals.
    Carnivore – an animal that eats only animals, a meat-eater.
    Scavenger:
    Decomposer – organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down plant and animals.
  3. Now, you are going to make your own Short-grass Prairie food web using the Short-grass Species Charts you filled out. Food webs are like food chains, but they are more complex and help us understand how each species in an ecosystem has a role to play. Every species needs to get energy and nutrients from somewhere, and they often depend on other species to survive.
  4. To begin your food web, use a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line near the bottom. This represents the ground level of the prairie.
  5. Next, think about where energy for the food web comes from. Where do the producers get their energy? The sun! Draw the sun at the top of your page.
  6. Now, you will draw the first level of the food web, near the ground level of the prairie. What species begins every food chain or web? Producers, or plants! Draw clumps of grass to represent your grass, because grasses are the most abundant plant on the Short-grass Prairie. If you chose a Species Card that is a producer, draw it on your food chain here and label it!
  7. Your time to draw the next level of your food chain. What comes next? Herbivores! Draw and label your herbivores above the producers you drew. Be sure to include the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog! Draw an arrow that points from the grass up towards the animals. That arrow shows the direction that energy is flowing through the ecosystem! If you have an herbivore that only eats one species of plant (for example, the monarch butterfly only feeds on milkweed!) then the arrow should point from that plant to that animal.
  8. Next, add omnivore species to your food web. Remember, these animals eat plants, but they also eat other animals! Draw arrows from the plants and animal that these species eats towards the species. Repeat this process for any carnivores you have selected. Add the Black-footed Ferret to your chart at this point!
  9. Repeat this process for scavengers. Finally, repeat this process for any decomposers. Every species you filled out a chart for should now be on your food web!
  10. At this point, you may wish to add more species to your food web. If you include more species into your food web, make sure you draw arrows to connect your species to one anther and show the flow of energy!
  11. Now, consider what happens if a plant or animal is removed from the food web. Does it matter where in the food web a species is removed? Which species in the food web are most important to the Black-footed Ferret?
  12. At least 90% of the black-footed ferret’s diet consists of prairie dogs. Consider what would happen if the prairie dog were removed from the food web. How would black-footed ferrets be impacted? What other species would be impacted by the loss?

Become BFFs with the BFFs

If you care about saving the BFFs as much as we do, here are some ways you can continue learning and help conserve this species!

  • Visit the BFFs that live at FCMoD! Usually, you can visit the two US Fish and Wildlife Service ferrets that live at FCMoD. Lucky for us, you can still visit them virtually with our ferret cam! This ferret camera is always live, so you can see what our BFFs are up to any time of the day!
  • Tip! BFFs are nocturnal, so check out the ferret cam in the evenings for the most action.
  • Research websites to learn more about black-footed ferrets, their history, and the prairie ecosystems they need to survive. We recommend you start here and the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Face Book page.
  • Reach out and share what you’ve learned about black-footed ferrets with your parents, children, friends, teachers, and people you trust in your local community.
  •  Travel to a wildlife refuge, national grassland or park, state, or city natural areas or other prairie habitat. Check out the Soapstone Prairie Natural Area to see a BFF reintroduction site, where BFFs live out in the wild, right here in Northern Colorado!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Baby on Board Sloth Craft

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 3-5, Crafts, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Life Science

Post written by Harlie Jo Rachel, Education Intern.

Daily Discovery: Storytime in the Home – Baby on Board Sloth Craft

Follow along with FCMoD’s live stream Storytime in the Home: Baby on Board. Then sit down with your family and make a sweet Mother’s Day gift, or just a great card to give to someone very special.

Supplies:

  • Brown and Green Construction Paper or any white paper
  • Glue stick
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Crayons
  • Optional: Printer to print the sloth face coloring sheet

Instructions:

  1. Place all your supplies on a clear surface with plenty of room to create.
  2. Fold a piece of brown construction paper in half hamburger style. Tip: use any paper you have and color it!
  3. Put your hand with your palm on the creased side of the paper and trace it with a pencil.
  4. Using the scissors, cut out the handprint. You should have two hands joining at the crease!
  5. Color the handprint to look like a sloth.
  6. Print, color and cut out the sloth face! (Or you can draw your own sloth face)
  7. Glue the sloth face to the thumb on the front of your folded handprint card.
  8. Cut out a branch and leaves from the paper. Glue the leaves onto the branch.
  9. Glue the leafy branch to the sloth’s arms so it has a tree to hang from. Be sure you only glue it to one side your handprint so the card can open!
  10. Write a message on the inside of the card and give it to someone you love!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

Educational opportunities like this are supported in part by Buell Foundation. Their support helps make access to early childhood education at FCMoD possible for everyone in our community.

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The Neuroscience of Discovery

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Adults, Archive & Collections, Life Science, Mental Health Awareness Month

Post written by Jenny Hannifin, Archive Assistant.

The Neuroscience of Discovery

Last year we posted Problem-Solvers or Rocket Scientists? Same Difference, a blog that explored the nature of learning in informal settings. It explained how children and adults are constantly navigating “an ecosystem of learning opportunities, interconnected experiences that interact with and influence one another.”

A book about neuroscience published this year – The Brain in Context: A Pragmatic Guide to Neuroscience* – explains that the learning inherent in the act of discovery is not just a 21st century skill: it links directly to the neurobiology of our brain.

  • “Learning is our premium cognitive capability. The continued integration of skills … into frameworks of inquiry reflects our very nature …” (Moreno and Schulkin p 93)

Different brain regions are associated with different cognitive functions, most of which relate to the process of discovery: face recognition in the fusiform gyrus, the capacity for reflection on intentions in the angular gyrus, the consolidation of events into memory in the hippocampus and neocortex, working memory in the lateral prefrontal cortex, and memory extinction in the medial prefrontal cortex, to name just a few. Add in myelin interaction, glial cells, synaptic pruning, and environmental factors, and the result is a complex neural process much more nuanced than the outdated metaphor of “brain as computer.”

Our drive to discover –  the physical thrill we get from playing with, and learning from, ideas –is a form of appetite. We crave things. Neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and acetylcholine modulate our arousal states – things like alertness, cognitive and motor organization, even emotions.

  • “Scientific hypothesis might seem like deadly serious stuff, but underneath it all, it is a form of play. … Play with ideas, the drudgery of test and failure, the excitement when something works, and, even more importantly, reliable replication, are all common themes, even in children’s play.” (Moreno and Schulkin p 193).

How we as humans think and act and learn is a dance of decisions and behaviors, constraints of neural design, interaction and compatibility with the external environment.

Here at the museum we wholeheartedly believe that problem-solving is something anyone can do. Neuroscience tells us that not only is it something anyone can do – problem-solving is something we are wired to do.

*All quotes from The Brain in Context: A Pragmatic Guide to Neuroscience, by Jonathan P. Moreno and Jay Schulkin (Columbia University Press, 2020)

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Arbor Day 2020

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Adults, Life Science, Uncategorized

Post written by Alex Ballou, Marketing Assistant.

Arbor Day 2020

Every year Arbor Day is celebrated the last Friday in April. This Arbor Day we wanted to share 5 fun facts about trees that will ‘leaf’ you ‘stump’ed!

  • Did you know that the tallest tree is around the same size as the Statue of Liberty? According to the Guinness World Records, the tallest tree can be found in California’s Redwood Forest. Hyperion is a Sequoia tree that is 380 feet tall. Hyperion is estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old. The statue of liberty is 305 feet tall. Hyperion could overpower and shadow the Statue of Liberty in size!

  • According to the Guinness World Records, the oldest living individual tree is found in California’s White Mountain range and its name is the Methuselah. This tree is 4,845 years old! This bristle cone pine tree stands guard of the Mountain range today.

  • Trees drink up to 100 gallons of water a day – this is 200 times more than the average human drinks a day! That’s a ‘tree’mendous amount of water!

  • Trees can be used as natural compasses. If a tree has moss growing on it, that side is the north of the trunk because that side spends the most time in the shade. If  you are lost in a forest and there are any tree trunks around, the growth rings that are thicker are on the south because that side gets the most sun. Trees can direct you back to the path where you were rooted from!

  • The worlds largest tree in terms of sheer volume is a giant Sequoia named General Sherman. This tree could be the largest living thing on the planet. General Sherman is located in California’s Sequoia National park. The tree is a whopping 52,508 cubic feet in volume. You would need more than 15 people all connected to hug this tree’s trunk!

To find out more about our local effort as an annual Tree City, USA award recipient for over 40 years, find out more from The City of Fort Collins Forestry Division. This division maintains over 54,500 trees along streets and in parks, cemeteries, golf courses and other City facilities or property. They strive to sustain a safe, healthy and attractive urban forest through frequent and sound management practices.

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Daily Discovery: Photosynthesis Science! / Descubrimiento en casa: ¡La ciencia de la fotosíntesis!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Ages 9-12, Daily Discovery, Descubrimiento en casa, Discovery at Home, Español, Experiments, Life Science

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Photosynthesis Science!

Arbor Day is a holiday celebrated in the spring, that encourages and inspires people to plant trees in their communities and learn the importance of trees on Earth. Even though we can not gather with others, check out some ways in which you can still participate in this “tree”rific holiday!

Trees provide many services to the environment and to humans. They help save energy for our homes and businesses by providing shade, and contribute to human mental health. They are homes for animals, and many produce fruit to eat. Most importantly, trees help keep our air and water clean, and reduce the effects of climate change by producing oxygen (O2) for humans and animals to breath!

For trees to produce oxygen, they need sunlight, carbon dioxide (CO2), and water (H2O) to complete the process of photosynthesis, when tree leaves use the suns energy to synthesize or alter CO2 and H2O into sugar (glucose) and O2. Trees “breath” out the oxygen from their leaves. A mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year, about 260 pounds of oxygen! In this experiment, observe different trees and leaves to see photosynthesis in action! Since deciduous trees have yet to produce their new leaves this year, you can do the same experiment using evergreen tree needles.

Supplies:

  • Two jars or clear containers
  • Water
  • Area with lots of sunlight
  • Dark room with no sunlight
  • Leaves (conifer needle sprigs, indoor house plant leaves)

Instructions:

  1. Fill containers full with water.
  2. Place one leaf into each container.
  3. Place one container in a sunny area so that your leaves are fully exposed to the sunlight.
  4. Place the other container into a dark room or is covered with an object so that it does not receive any sunlight.
  5. Check back over the course of the day and notice any air bubbles forming on your leaves.

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

 

Traducido por Károl de Rueda y Laura Vilaret-Tuma.

Descubrimiento en casa: ¡La ciencia de la fotosíntesis!

El Día del Árbol es una fecha festiva que se celebra en muchos lugares del mundo y que inspira a las personas a sembrar árboles en sus comunidades, a la vez que crea conciencia sobre la importancia de su función en nuestro planeta. La fecha de la celebración del Día del Árbol varía de país a país, porque plantar un árbol con éxito depende del clima y de condiciones naturales óptimas. En Colorado, el Día del Árbol se celebra cada tercer viernes de abril, y aunque durante estos días no nos podemos reunir con otras personas, ¡aún hay maneras en que podemos participar en esta celebración!

Los árboles proveen muchos servicios al medio ambiente y a la humanidad. Nos ayudan a ahorrar energía en nuestros hogares al proporcionarnos su sombra, y también contribuyen al bienestar y salud mental de las personas. Son casas de muchos animales, y muchos de ellos producen frutas deliciosas. Pero su contribución más importante es su capacidad de ayudar a que nuestro aire y agua se mantengan limpios. Usando un proceso especial, los árboles producen oxígeno (O2) para que los animales y los humanos respiremos, y a la vez, estos reducen los efectos del cambio climático.

Los árboles necesitan luz solar, dióxido de carbono (CO2), y agua (H2O) para poder producir oxígeno usando un proceso natural que se llama fotosíntesis. La fotosíntesis es un fenómeno científico en el cual se sintetizan o alteran moléculas de CO2 y H2O. Usando estas moléculas alteradas, los árboles y otras plantas convierten la energía del sol en moléculas de glucosa y O2. ¡Los árboles “exhalan” este oxígeno a través de sus hojas! Un árbol adulto y frondoso produce hasta 117 kg (approx. 260 lbs) de oxígeno en cada estación del año, el cual es suficiente para que respiren hasta 10 personas ¡durante un año entero! En este experimento, observa diferentes árboles y hojas para ver cómo se manifiesta la fotosíntesis. Si no encuentras árboles con follaje (nuevas hojas) todavía, no te preocupes. Esta actividad también se puede hacer usando ramitas de pinos.

Artículos necesarios:

  • Dos recipientes transparentes (jarras, vasos o botellas de plástico–lo que tengas disponible en casa)
  • Agua
  • Un área con bastante luz natural
  • Un área con mucha oscuridad y sin luz natural
  • Hojas de un árbol o de una planta. Si no encuentras ninguna, también puedes usar una ramita de pino

Instrucciones:

  1. Llena a los recipientes transparentes con agua.
  2. Pon una hoja o ramita de pino en cada recipiente.
  3. Colocar uno de ellos en un área con suficiente luz natural para que las hojas estén completamente expuestas al sol.
  4. Coloca el otro recipiente en un cuarto oscuro, o simplemente cúbrelo con un paño o tela para que no entre la luz.
  5. Revisa tus recipientes durante el curso del día. ¿Se está formando algún burbujeo sobre las hojas? ¡Estás observando a la fotosíntesis en acción!

¿Te gustaría descargar esta actividad? Haz clic aquí para obtener un archivo PDF.

Para encontrar actividades, ideas y mucho más descubrimiento en casa, ¡síguenos!

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Daily Discovery: Pollination Investigation

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Animal Encounters, Any Age, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Life Science

Post written by Angela Kettle, School Programs Coordinator.

Daily Discovery: Pollination Investigation

Did you know that one out of every four bites of food you eat comes courtesy of bee pollination, according to the United States Department of Agriculture? In their search for nectar, bees bring pollen from one flower’s anthers to another flower’s stigma, paving the way for cross-pollinating plants to bear new seeds. Find out how it works in the activity below!

Supplies:

  • Pencil and paper
  • Colored pencils, markers, or crayons (optional)
  • Scissors
  • Tape
  • 1 pipe cleaner or 3 cotton swabs
  • A fine powder, such as powdered sugar, cinnamon, turmeric, paprika… or even the ‘chip dust’ at the bottom of a bag of chips

Instructions:

  1. Draw two flowers of the same species and one bee, or print the template out (included in the PDF). Color your bee and your flowers if desired. Cut the bee and the two flowers out.
  2. If you are using a pipe cleaner, cut it into 6 pieces and tape on to the bee as legs. If you are using double-ended cotton swabs, cut in half and attach 6 the halves to the bee as legs.
  3. Fly around like a bee! Land your bee in the center of the first flower, in search of nectar. Have your bee take a big drink of nectar (which it will later use to make honey!), then fly off to the second flower. Did your bee accidentally bring some pollen from the first flower to the second? This is pollination!
  4. How can you help bees do their important work? Check out these tips from National Geographic!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Pine Cone Science!

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Any Age, Daily Discovery, Discovery at Home, Experiments, Life Science

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Pine Cone Science!

Arbor Day is a holiday celebrated in the spring, that encourages and inspires people to plant trees in their communities and learn the importance of trees on Earth. Even though we can not gather with others, check out some ways in which you can still participate in this “tree”rific holiday!

Pine cones play an important role in nature. Only found growing from pine trees, their function is to keep a the tree’s seeds safe! They close their scales to protect the seeds from cold temperatures, wind, or even animals, then open up to release their seeds when it is warm. This allows the seeds to germinate and grow into a pine tree. Check out this cool adaptation for yourself with the following experiment!

Supplies:

  • Three pine cones
  • Three medium bowls or jars
  • Paper and pencil
  • Hot and cold water

Instructions:

  1. Gather pine cones from your backyard, natural space or community. With a variety of different pine cones you can experiment further with this activity.
  2. Place one pine cone into each container. Label each container with either cold water, hot water or air.
  3. Pour cold water into the “cold water” jar, and hot water into the “hot water” jar (be sure to use adult supervisor for this step). Leave the jar labeled “air” empty.
  4. Observe what happens to the pine cones when they are exposed to different temperatures and conditions!

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.

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Daily Discovery: Fancy Rats / Descubrimiento en casa: Ratas de compañía

Posted on by Kristin Rush in Animal Encounters, Any Age, Daily Discovery, Descubrimiento en casa, Discovery at Home, Español, Life Science

Post written by Hannah Curtis, Education Assistant.

Daily Discovery: Fancy Rats

FCMoD’s fancy rats ( Rattus norvegicus domestica ) are some of the museum’s most charismatic animals, but are they really all that fancy? Learn more about these furry creatures and channel your inner zoologist as you observe animals in your own backyard!

Fancy Rat Life History:

Being a fancy rat simply means that they are domesticated; they are tame animals and common household pets. The word “fancy” means that humans “appreciate or like” them more than the non-domesticated brown rats. What other animals are considered domestic? Do you have pets or farm animals that live with you? What animals do not make good pets?

Physical Characteristics:  Rats are mammals and vertebrates. This means they are warm-blooded, have hair or fur, and have a backbone. Fancy rats have a wide range of different colors of fur, unlike wild rats who are usually dark brown (an adaptation to help them blend into their environment). All rats have a long, furless tail that are used for balance when they are climbing and exploring their habitat.

Habitat: Wild rats can live almost anywhere! They are found on all continents except Antarctica. If they are not living in people’s homes as pets, they prefer living in damp environments where they can tunnel.

Diet: Rats are omnivores – they’ll eat almost anything! In the wild, they eat a mixture of plants and small animals. At FCMoD, our fancy rats eat a bunch of fruits and vegetables. Naturally, they are scavengers who love to seek out food, which is why they like to live around humans – to break into food storage and help themselves!

Fun Facts:  Rats are often stereotyped in untrue ways, but they can be affectionate, intelligent and clean. They are highly social animals and at the museum, the rats are all siblings and love to snuggle while they nap!

Backyard Observations: Pets!

Whether it is in your backyard, neighborhood, or at a Natural Area, animals can be observed just about anywhere! Zoologists use science to observe animals and learn about their behaviors and their habitat. You can be a backyard zoologist and observe similar domesticated animals like the museum’s fancy rats and record what you discover!

Supplies: 

  • Writing utensil
  • Paper
  • Computer and Internet Access (optional)

Instructions: 

  1. Create a way to record your animal observations and behaviors. You can write a journal entry or maybe create an observation chart, or use our guiding questions to think deeper about the animals you see!
  2. If you have a pet who live with you at home, watch them throughout the day and record what they do. If you have multiple, compare and contrast their behaviors.
  3. If you don’t have any pets, take a walk with your family and look for pets, farm animals or other domesticated animals on your walk. You can also visit https://explore.org/livecams/farm-sanctuary/wisconsin-pasture-farm-sanctuary to observe farm animals though camera live streams!

Guiding Questions:

Want to download these directions? Click here for a handy PDF!

Follow along with our Daily Discovery! Click here for all activities that you can do at home.


Traducido por Károl de Rueda y Laura Vilaret-Tuma.

Descubrimiento en casa: Ratas de compañía

¡Bienvenidos al descubrimiento en casa!

Nosotros en el Museo del Descubrimiento de Fort Collins estamos muy contentos de invitarlos a visitar nuestro contenido lleno de actividades, creatividad, conocimiento ¡y mucho más! Con ideas nuevas cada semana, descubran un mundo mágico lleno de aprendizaje y diversión ¡para toda la familia y en su propio idioma!

Las ratas de compañía (Rattus norvegicus domestica) son uno de los animales más carismáticos que viven dentro del Museo del Descubrimiento de Fort Collins (FCMoD). En general, las ratas no tienen buena reputación, entonces, ¿por qué tenemos algunas de ellas como mascotas? ¿En realidad, hay alguna diferencia entre los diferentes tipos de ratas? Vamos a aprender más de estas criaturas peludas. ¡Encuentra a tu zoólogo interno mientras observas a los animales que hay a tu alrededor!

La historia de las ratas de compañía:

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre una rata salvaje y una rata de compañía? Las ratas de compañía son animales que pueden ser domesticados; son dóciles y comúnmente se vuelven mascotas que se llevan bien con los humanos. ¿Puedes pensar en otros animales que también son domésticos? ¿Tienes mascotas o animales de granja que viven contigo? ¿Puedes observar cuáles animales no podrían ser mascotas?

Características físicas: Las ratas son mamíferos y vertebrados. Esto significa que tienen sangre caliente, pelo o pelaje y una columna vertebral que les ayuda a mantener su cuerpo recto. Las ratas de compañía pueden variar en el color de su pelaje, mientras que el de las ratas salvajes usualmente es de color marrón oscuro. Las ratas salvajes adoptaron este color para poder ocultarse en su medio ambiente. Todas las ratas tienen una cola larga y sin pelo, y esta parte del cuerpo les ayuda a trepar y mantener el equilibrio, superando obstáculos mientras exploran su ambiente.

Ambiente natural/hábitat: ¡Las ratas salvajes pueden vivir casi dondequiera! Se pueden encontrar en todos los continentes excepto en la Antártida. Cuando no están viviendo en nuestros hogares, prefieren vivir en un ambiente húmedo donde puedan cavar túneles y hacer sus escondrijos.

Dieta: Las ratas son omnívoras—¡comen casi de todo! En la naturaleza, comen una variedad de plantas y animales pequeños. En el museo, nuestras ratas comen muchas frutas y vegetales. En su estado natural son carroñeras y les encanta buscar comida, por eso les gusta vivir alrededor de los seres humanos. ¡Así pueden colarse en nuestras despensas y tener todo un banquete!

Datos curiosos: A menudo, a las ratas se les da un estereotipo falso, sin embargo, son cariñosas, inteligentes y limpias. Son animales muy sociables y, en el museo, todas las ratas son hermanas. ¡Les encanta acurrucarse cuando se duermen!

Observación al aire libre: ¡Mascotas!

Ya sea en tu patio, en tu cuadra o en un área natural, se pueden observar animales en cualquier sitio. Los zoólogos utilizan la ciencia para aprender sobre los comportamientos y hábitat de ciertos animales. ¡Tú también puedes ser zoólogo empezando en tu propia área! Observa a los animales domesticados que hay alrededor -como las ratas del museo- ¡y apunta lo que descubres sobre ellos!

Artículos necesarios: 

  • Algo para escribir (lápiz, pluma o marcador)
  • Papel
  • Computadora y acceso al Internet (opcional)

Instrucciones:

  1. Observa el comportamiento de algún animal. Puedes escribir tus notas en un diario o hasta hacer un dibujo. Si deseas, usa la guía de preguntas que está abajo para pensar más profundamente sobre los animales que estudias.
  2. Si tienes una mascota en tu casa, obsérvala durante el día y toma nota de lo que hace. Si tienes más de una mascota, compara sus comportamientos y su interacción.
  3. Si no tienes ningún animal en casa, da un paseo por los alrededores con tu familia y observa algunas mascotas, animales de granja u otros animales domesticados.
  4. También puedes visitar el sitio web: https://explore.org/livecams/farm-sanctuary/wisconsin-pasture-farm-sanctuary  para observar videos de animales de granja ¡en vivo!

Guía de preguntas: 

¿Te gustaría descargar esta actividad? Haz clic aquí para obtener un archivo PDF.

Para encontrar actividades, ideas y mucho más descubrimiento en casa, ¡síguenos!

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