This Week in Science #11

This week in science we did a lot of things.  we started a new topic in science about ecosystems and how  they work in an orderly cycle.  On monday all around the room there were papers hanging up, and on each paper, at the top, said a word that has to do with ecosystems.  For example ecosystems, plantcell, carbon cycle, water cycle, food chain, producer, decomposer, and photosynthesis.  Then we each got 8 post-its, and with them we wrote something about each topic that we knew about, one post-it for each topic.  Then on wednesday, we got these empty tanks, as the beginning of our new experiment.  These tanks will be a mini ecosystem that in a group of 4 we control.  The main focus of the ecosystem in the Cellar spider we would be putting inside to see if our ecosystem has a correct cycle going.  When we got our tanks and a blank piece of paper that was where we would draw out, plan, and name if we wanted to the spider and its ecosystem.  When we finished that we got our tanks and lay a layer of pebbles at the bottom, then a layer, about and inch thick, of soil.  After a little while we went out to Seward Park with our tanks and collect whatever we thought or needed in our tank, the could've matched what we drew in the outline.  In my group we got plants dead and alive, sticks, flowers, rocks, and all kind of bugs.  When we got what we needed we went back to class.  On thursday we split our group of four into two.  Half the group worked on Google Docs and other other half (that i was on) had to look up information about the cellar spider to answer questions given to us.

I learned many things thing week like many facts about the Cellar Spider.  Some facts that I learned were that cellar spiders look similar to Daddy Long-Legs, because of their long, thin legs.  Just like their name, cellar spider are found in damp cellars, basements, and crawl spaces.  their ar e 20 species of cellar spiders, found in the United States and Canada.  Also, cellar spiders eat a number of things, but they will invade other spider webs and eat the host and eggs and prey they may or may not have caught.  Cellar spiders only live for about a year.  Lastly I learned that the cellar spiders scientific name ids Pholcidae.  This weeks experience learning about a new spider reminded even more how much I love spiders.