Leaf Cutter Ant

cube template

http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/cube-model.html

Designing our Cube

Draw and color something you saw at the Academy of Sciences in each of the 6 squares. Color in all the pictures. Cut out along the edges and decorate the paper. Fold along the inside lines and form into a cube shape. Glue the flaps and secure them in place. Attach a string to hang the cube.

Basic Shape Versus Detail

A Starfish

Step 1 : Using a pencil, draw a circle to mark the center of the Sea Star, and from there draw the arms. Many Sea Stars have 5 arms. They are not straight, they are bendy and tube shaped.

Step 2 : Draw the outer lines to complete each arm.

Step 3 : Darken the line that shows the basic shape of the Starfish. You can go over the pencil line with a crayon or marker.

Step 4. Carefully erase the pencil lines.

Step 5 : Add the detail to your Starfish.

Step 6 : Color in your Starfish using the colors of your choice.

Leafy Sea Dragon

Basic Shape Versus Detail

Using basic shapes to help you create a drawing.

Activity - Draw something you saw at the academy of sciences. It can be a fish, shark, jellyfish - anything you experienced on the field trip.

When you are finished, cut it out and write your name on the back. I will take all the fish home and mount them on a board for display.

What kind of Fish are you making? What is it called? Did you observe it swimming? How did it swim? Did it wiggle its fins? Did it swish its tail from side to side? Did it move its body in a wave like motion to move through the water?

Let's make a clownfish together:

1. Find a good photo for reference.

Observe the photo. The teacher will ask these questions to guide the student's observations:

• How many fins does the fish have?
• What is the texture of the fish? Is it soft? Prickly? Slimy?
• What shades of light and dark do you see in this fish?
• What colors do you see?
• How big is the fish? What object is about the same size?
• What shapes and patterns do you see?

2. Draw the body (including the tail). First draw the basic shapes that make up the body in pencil. There is an oval, for the body and a smaller oval that is slightly wider at one end, for the tail. I use these basic shapes to help me make the outline of the fish. It should resemble a bowling pin that has been knocked down.

3. Draw the eye. Adding this detail will help you get a better idea of the overall look of your fish.

4. Draw the fins. Use simple oval shapes first, in pencil. Now draw the outline. Do this in marker. You are using your pencil lines as a guide.

5. Decide what type of pattern your clownfish will have, and draw it in. Add the mouth.

6. Carefully erase any pencil lines that you no longer need. Darken the lines you want to keep, or draw over your final lines in marker.

7. Color in your fish. You can try drawing your fish several times.

8. Cut out the fish, and write your name on the back.

Here are more fish shapes. Look for the simpler shapes within these more detailed fish shapes.

Homework: Create a habitat for our fish. Clown fish live in Sea Anemones.

What else did you see in the tanks at the Academy of Sciences? Coral? What colors did you see? Create drawings for the habitat and cut them out to use in our final collage.

Interesting Facts from the Academy of Sciences

Hello! You emailed the Naturalist Center a little over a week ago asking for pictures and information on some of the animals we have in the aquarium. Below you will find, listed under each animal, an interesting fact, some basic sources, and links to some images of the creature.

Clown fish

Fact
The Clown anemonefish’s immunity to its host’s venomous sting is not a genetic trait. Instead it is acquired slowly by acclimation. The fish will initially take several approaches, each time rubbing the anemone’s stinging tentacles on specific parts of its body. After several of these interactions the fish will be immune the venom. However, this immunity is not permanent. If the fish leaves its host for too long, it will lose the immunity and have to restart the process.

General Info
- http://www.eol.org/pages/212597
-http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Amphiprion_ocellaris.html
- http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=29

-http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=6509&genusname=Amphiprion&speciesname=ocellaris&lang=English

Images
-http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_fauna_com-Fish&where-lifeform=Fish&where-namesoup=Clown+Fish&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Clown+Fish

-http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_fauna_com-Fish&where-lifeform=Fish&where-namesoup=Clownfish+In+Anemone&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Clownfish+In+Anemone

Emperor angelfish

Fact
The Academy only has one Emperor Angelfish on display, Mr. B. This is because Emperor Angelfish are highly territorial. If Mr. B was in the Coral Reef Tank with another angelfish, the two of them would fight to the death. Recently Mr. B had to be moved into the top portion of the tank due to his habit of eating our coral, which does not grow fast enough to replenish itself after his meals.

General Info
- http://www.eol.org/pages/205824
-http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=6504

Images
-http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_fauna_com-Fish&where-lifeform=Fish&where-namesoup=Emperor+Angelfish&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Emperor+Angelfish

Starfish

Fact
Starfish are not actually fish. Instead the proper term for them is “Sea Stars”. They belong to a group of invertebrates called Echinoderms, which also include Sea cucumbers, Sea urchins, and Sand dollars. Sea Stars are a varied group with members living in many different ocean ecosystems. You can find them clinging to piers on the shore as well as feeding on detritus at the bottom of the ocean.

General Info
- http://www.eol.org/pages/1927
-http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Asteroidea.html
-http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/starfish/
-http://www.edc.uri.edu/restoration/html/gallery/invert/sea.htm

Images
-http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_fauna_com-Invertebrate-Other&where-lifeform=Invertebrate-Other&where-namesoup=Ochre+Sea+Star&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Ochre+Sea+Star

-http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?stat=BROWSE&query_src=photos_fauna_com-Invertebrate-Other&where-lifeform=Invertebrate-Other&where-namesoup=Sea+Star&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&title_tag=Sea+Star