Friday, November 20, 2015

Kayaking Field Trip Reflection


Kayaking Field Trip Reflection

We arrived at Shem Creek and Sophie and I chose the yellow kayak. Because Sophie was taller, she sat in the back. She didn't not know how to turn the kayak right and left, so she was freaking out about it. But when she learned how to turn right and left whenever I came up to her to tell her something she told me how to do it. After we learned how to paddle they took us near the water and called out the number of each team. Once we got in the water we felt really good, but we run into the dolphin bridge because everyone was pushing us right and left. We kept going until Sophie got dizzy because she is scared of dolphins. We had to catch up with the group and we took a picture standing on the kayaks. It was scary to stand up because we have to be balanced and if one person fell all of us would too. We learned a lot about kayaking and different organisms that most of which we didn't know. I felt really bad that I didn't get to hear what the instructor said the whole time I heard just a little bit, because Sophie was scared of the dolphins and the group can't wait for us because we are just going to waste time. It’s okay because I can't blame Sophie about it she just was scared of dolphins. I saw a dolphin going under our kayaks but I couldn't tell Sophie or she will freak out even more. I had so much fun at the kayaking field trip I learned a lot. I really thank everyone who helped us learn about more organisms. Also I had so much fun with my partner too even though she was really scared, it was kind of funny but the best thing was when I saw a the dolphin going under our kayaks. I was literally going to scream but she really would have cried and jumped out of the kayak. Thanks to everyone who helped us and thanks for Mrs. Cook who planned this trip for us.

      
Kayaking Field Trip


This was my  favorite field trip. We got to paddle and be active while we learned. I really liked when we made that human sail. It was really fun, but it required lots of patience and also collaboration. I am really happy that we got some really cool pictures

Penny and I were partners and we had lots of fun. We got really wet, because we splashed water at each other using our paddles. On the way back, Penny and I got really competitive. We were paddling so fast that we almost ran into a sail boat. In the end, it was worth it because we were the first boat to get back. I hope the 5th graders have as much fun as we did!

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Butterfly Ray
The Butterfly Ray (Gymnura micnera) is a brown, gray, green, and has a small dark protruding snout.  It has camoflage and a tail spike which is a structural adaption.  It has a electrical sensitivity to help them find prey.  The Butterfly Ray lives in the Eastern and the Western Atlantic.  The Butterfly Ray’s prey are bivalves, molluscs, and crustaceans.  The Butterfly’s Ray’s predators are large fish, sharks and humans from commercial fishing.  The Butterfly Ray has bilateral symmetry, heterotrophic and endothermic.  The order of classification is:

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum: chordata

Class: chondrichthyes

Order:rajiformes

Family: diodontidae

Genus: chilomycterus

Species: schoepfi

Lastly, an interesting fact about the butterfly ray is it’s pectoral fins form a disc that is much bigger than it’s longer.
Striped Burrfish
The Striped Burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi). The Striped Burrfish is small, yellow and has black stripes. The Striped Burrfish can expand its body to keep away predators which is a functional adaptation. It also had formidable spines which is a structural adaptation and it has beak like jaws which is a structural adaptation.  The Striped Burrfish lives in seabeds of bays and coastal lagoons.  It can also live in estuaries.  The Striped Burrfish doesn’t have many predators because of its spiked shell.  The Striped Burrfish’s prey are barnacles and hermit crabs.  The Striped Burrfish has bilateral symmetry.  The Striped Burrfish also is a heterotroph and exotherm.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:chordata

Class:chondrichthyes

Order:rajiformes

Family: diodontidae

Genus:chilomycterus

Species:schoepfi
    
An interesting fact about the Striped Burrfish is Burrfish are not very good swimmers so they shoot water out of their gills to move.
Bottlenose dolphin

The Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is small, gray, and looks happy because of it’s mouth. It uses echolocation when hunting prey(which is a behavioral adaptation). It also has 18 to 26 pairs of teeth (which is structural adaptation)but they usually swallow their prey whole(which is a behavioral adaptations) . The Bottlenose dolphin’s habitat is tropical oceans or warm waters. The Bottlenose dolphin’s predators are humans, sharks and whales.  The Bottlenose dolphin’s prey are fish, squid and crustaceans.  The Bottlenose dolphins has bilateral symmetry. It also is a heterotrophic and endothermic.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Mammalia

Order:Cetacea

Family:Delphinidae

Genus:Tursiops

Species:truncatus

lastly an interesting fact about this organism is it was hunted for meat and oil.


Kayaking Field Trip
The kayaking field trip was very fun. Especially the part where Myla and Natalie got stuck in the shallow part of the water. What was also really fun was when we did the human sail,which wasn’t really a sail but it was still really cool. What also happened was when we were kayaking back from the middle of the ocean and I got really tired so I was really silly and almost fell asleep but in the end it was really fun and my lunch tasted really good.    
Ghost crab!
The ghost crab or ocypode quadrata is and interesting animal it lives in brakish water or sandy beaches. It is clear, it has 8 legs , and it is small. It is transparent so it is hard to be seen. An interesting fact is that its eyestaks can rotate a total 360 degrees. Its preditors are raccoons, shore birds, and seagulls. Its prey are insects, detritus, and eggs. They are heterotrophic and they are ectothermic which means that they are cold blooded.

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Ocypodidae
Genus: Ocypode

Species: Quadrata