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Review Draft: Please do not distribute

Butterflies and Spiders in Space

Educator’s Guide

For Testing Purposes OnlyPlease Do Not Distribute

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Butterflies and Spiders in Space

Animal AstronautsLong before cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and astronaut Alan Shepard made their historic flights, animal “astronauts” were visiting the new frontier of outer space. These early space explorers allowed scientists to investigate the space environment without risking human life, and to determine if living things could survive the expected space vacuum, wide temperature extremes, and cosmic radiation, all while riding inside egg-like capsules. The first animal experiments, barely reaching the edges of space, were carried on high-altitude balloons. Starting in 1946, scientists in the United States fruit flies, mice, hamsters, cats, dogs, and rhesus monkeys were lofted beneath balloons to altitudes ranging from 27 to 30 kilometers, for periods of up to 28 hours. One major investigation during the balloon flights centered on the potential effects of continued exposure to cosmic radiation. German V2 rockets, captured by American forces at the end of World War II, were launched from New Mexico between 1948 to 1952. Monkeys and mice were carried inside life support nose cones during suborbital flights that sometimes reached altitudes of more than 200 kilometers. As the rockets arced over Earth, a microgravity environment, lasting as long as several minutes (See “Controlling” Gravity), was created inside the spacecraft. When more powerful rockets were developed, animals were launched to higher altitudes and microgravity periods were extended. In 1957, a dog named Laika became the first living thing to orbit Earth. Launched by the Soviet Union, Laika died in orbit, probably due to a malfunction of the capsule’s life support system. Laika was followed by other dogs, and by many monkeys and chimpanzees launched by the United States. A Rhesus monkey, Able, and a squirrel monkey, Baker, rode together on a suborbital flight in 1959. In January 1961,

the chimpanzee, Ham, made a successful suborbital flight in a test of the Mercury space capsule that would later be used by Alan Shepard and five other Mercury astronauts. On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth. Manned spaceflight has become almost commonplace since then, but animal astronauts (including mice, rats, bullfrogs, fish, jellyfish, quail eggs, fruit flies, wasps, beetles, ants, bees, moths, nematodes, cockroaches, monkeys, spiders and butterflies) continue to play an important role in space missions. Animals have allowed scientists to learn much about how living systems adapt to and function

European garden spider flown on Skylab in 1973. The experiment was designed by Massachusetts high school student, Judy Miles.

Astronaut Jack Lousma examining velvet bean caterpillar moths and honey bee drones during the STS-3 mission in 1982. The experiment was designed by Minnesota high school student, Todd Nelson.

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Review Draft: Please do not distributein microgravity. These missions have amassed important data, and they are leading the way for human astronauts to prepare to return to the Moon and continue on to Mars. Soon, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will carry more animal astronauts to space for an extended stay on the International Space Station (ISS). Two small habitat boxes will contain painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) and orb weaving spiders (probably Araneus gemmoides). Each box will provide the food, air, lighting and climate (temperatures and humidity) needed by these animals to live in microgravity. Endeavour will dock with the ISS, and astronauts will transfer the habitat boxes to

This “first draft” educator guide contains all information educators and students need to participate in the ISS Butterflies and Spiders in Space experiment. The following informational sections of the this draft may be suitable for use as student readers: “Controlling” Gravity, Butterfly Primer, and Spider Primer provide great starting points for sudent research.

Guide Contents• What is microgravity?• Background information about the

butterflies and spiders• How to build habitat boxes• Sources of materials• Where to obtain butterflies and spiders• Caring for butterflies and spiders • Potential research questions and data

collection procedures• Where to obtain flight data for comparison• Student supplementary activity pages• Print and Internet resources • Evaluation instrument

a support module already on the Space Station. The module, called the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, or GCBA, was developed by BioServe Space Technologies of the University of Colorado. Daily, for a month or two, pictures and video of the butterflies and the spider will be taken using automatic cameras. The images will be transmitted to Earth and made available for students to study of the life cycles of the butterfies and spider and the ability of the spider to spin webs in an environment freed from the limits of gravity.

While the butterflies and spiders are living in and adapting to the space environment, students in schools and informal educational institutions like the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Butterfly Pavilion and Insect Center, and Challenger Learning Centers, will be conducting their own Earth-based control experiments. They will construct habitat boxes and raise butterflies and spiders under nearly identical conditions as the animals in space experience, with one big exception. Unlike the ISS-based animals, the Earth-based subjects will feel and sense the direction of gravity. Students will compare their observations of animals in their care to the images and videos of the space animals. They will ask and answer questions, write and share research reports, and speculate on how the knowledge they gain might apply to humans traveling further out into the solar system. While the flight portion of the experiment will be completed in early 2009, the ground research can continue indefinitely. Future classes of “space scientist” students can conduct their own experiments and visit the archives to review the flight data for comparison.

Student Project

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“Controlling” GravityWhen scientists conduct experiments, they create control groups to test variables. An experimental group of plants, for example, receives a new type of soil nutrient. The control group does not. The nutrient is the variable. All other conditions (light, water, temperature, etc.) are kept or controlled to be the same to the extent possible. That way, the growth of the two plant groups can be compared to learn what effect the nutrient had on growth. Traditionally, scientists have been able to control experiments for temperature, chemical composition, light and other radiation, magnetic fields, pressure, and so on. One variable they could not control was gravity. How does gravity affect the formation, physiology, or behavior of living things? They could only guess. By allowing scientists to “control” gravity, space flight now helps scientists answer these questions. In fact, the different magnitudes of gravity encountered in space become experimental variables. When a spaceship or space laboratory like the ISS is launched into Earth orbit, a unique environment, called microgravity, is created within the spacecraft. Sometimes, the environment is called “zero g” or “weightlessness.” However, these terms are misleading because they imply that gravity disappears when orbiting Earth. But gravity does not go away; it actually keeps space shuttles and the ISS in orbit. Without gravity, they would simply fly off into space. Why, then, do astronauts float inside their spacecraft? The answer only adds to the mystery: astronauts do not float. Instead, they fall. Imagine standing on the roof of a tall building and tossing a baseball straight outward. Gravity immediately will cause the ball to fall toward Earth as it moves outward, away from the building. Thus, the ball’s path is curved. Now imagine throwing a second ball, this one harder than the first. This ball’s path also curves, but because it moving faster, it travels farther from the base of the building than the first ball did. Take a third ball and throw it even harder. The ball lands still further away.

Microg

ravity! (freefall)

Orbit

If you could throw a ball hard enough, Earth’s curvature eventually would come into play. At a certain point, the ball would pass beyond the horizon. If you threw so fast that the curve of its falling path matched the curvature of Earth, the ball would travel completely around Earth and come back to its starting point. In other words, the ball would orbit the Earth! (Because this is imaginary, we can imagine that air friction doesn’t slow the ball.) Of course, NASA uses rockets to launch spacecraft and satellites to orbit. Climbing vertically at first, rockets gradually nose over and accelerate forward while rising even higher. When they reach their desired altitude, they are going fast enough to remain in orbit. Engines shut down and the satellite or spacecraft begins to fall in a broad curved path that matches the curved shape of Earth. The ISS, for example, orbits about 360 kilometers above Earth. To remain in orbit, it must travel forward at 7.7 kilometers per second at the same time it is falling toward Earth. Let’s go back to our imaginary building. After you’ve finished throwing baseballs, you board the elevator to return to the ground floor. Unfortunately, the elevator cables break and the car begins falling. At that moment,

The concept of artificial satellites was developed by Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) in his seminal work, Philoso-phiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Rather than tossing a ball from a building roof, Newton described a cannon firing from a very tall mountain.

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Microg

ravity! (freefall)Orbit

Assuming no air drag, the occupants and things inside a falling elevator car will experience microgravity for a brief period, until the car reaches the bottom.

something interesting happens. You fall with the car, and it feels like gravity has disappeared. In this environment, if you had a cup of water and shook the water loose, it would form a beautiful liquid sphere. The flame of a candle would become round. A handful of candies drift randomly about like a swarm of flies. Amazing things happen. Falling produces a microgravity environment that lasts until the elevator’s emergency brakes take over and stop the fall. Everything then returns to the floor. On the ISS, microgravity continues as long as the station orbits Earth. This allows scientists to conduct new studies in basic science. Processes that depend on gravity, such as buoyancy and sedimentation, do not take place in microgravity. Materials mix differently in space, crystals of protein form more perfect structures, fluids form spheres, plant roots can grow in different directions, and animal and plant cells grow and develop differently. Microgravity also affects animal

A candle flame on Earth is stretched by rising air currents that bring in a fresh supply of oxygen. In microgravity, convection currents are greatly diminished, and oxygen is slowly supplied to the flame by diffusion. In the absence of gravity’s effects, the flame becomes spherical.

Mi•crograv•i•ty mikro - gravite An environment created by freefall in which gravity’s effects are greatly reduced.

behavior. For example, adult fish carried to space tend to swim in circles, while fish born in space swim more normally. The butterfly and spider investigation will seek to answer a number of questions. Do spiders adapt to the lack of an “up” and “down” sensation and continue to spin normal webs in space? Do butterfly wings pump to normal shapes, or do they remain wrinkled? How successful are spiders and butterflies at feeding while in microgravity? Investigating gravity as a variable provides scientists with a whole universe of new questions to answer.

A water drop spun off during a microgravity crystallization experiment takes on a spherical shape. Without buoyancy, gas bubbles do not rise, but remain inside the drop.

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Butterfly PrimerButterflies are among the world’s most popular insects, and there are approximately 20,000 dif-ferent species worldwide. Colorful and delicate, butterflies undergo a fascinating life cycle that begins with an egg, advances through larvae and pupae stages, and ends with an adult lay-ing eggs that will become the next generation. All butterflies are herbivores. They serve as prey for other insects, lizards, frogs, toads, birds, and small mammals. As insects, butterflies belong to the order Lepidoptera (scale wing) in the class Insecta of the phylum Arthropoda. Adult butterflies have three body parts: a head, thorax, and abdo-men. The head has one pair of eyes, one pair of antennae and a straw-like mouth, called a proboscis, that uncurls to suck up sweet nectar and rolls up when at rest. The thorax has three pairs of jointed legs and two pairs of wings. The abdomen houses all of the butterfly’s important organs.

Butterflynaut (Vanessa cardui)The painted lady, also known as the cosmopoli-tan or thistle butterfly, is the world’s most widely distributed butterfly. Members of this species live in temperate and tropical regions, except Australia and New Zealand. Where the weather turns cold, painted ladies migrate to warmer climates. Farmers consider the painted lady a pest because its voracious larvae can devastate crops, such as beans. On the other hand, the painted lady has become a popular classroom insect for study because is easy to cultivate. The painted lady’s life cycle takes ap-proximately one month, or sometimes a little longer in cooler temperatures. Once the adults emerge from the chrysalis, they live from two to four weeks. During this short time, they mate, lay eggs, and die. The life cycle begins with an egg that is the size of a pinhead. Painted lady eggs are pale green and are covered with 12 to 14 longi-tudinal ridges. The butterfly may lay as many as 500 eggs on the underside of thistle, mallow, or hollyhock leaves. Laying eggs on the underside

of leaves helps to hide them from predators. Incubation of the eggs takes about three to five days, sometimes longer in cooler temperatures. When the larvae hatch, they immediately eat the remains of the nutritional egg case. Afterward, the larva or caterpillar dines on leaves. Over several days, it grows in size and bulk. During molting, the caterpillar’s skin be-comes tight and splits open, thus enabling the caterpillar to continue growing. This molting process occurs five times. The phases between skin sheddings (molts) are called instar stages. The caterpillar will have a slightly different

Painted Lady Butterfly (Note: This picture will be replaced in the final guide.)

color—ranging from purple to black, crosed with yellow-green stripes—at each instar. It will have three pairs of legs, found just beneath the head. Strong leg-like muscles on the abdomen, called prolegs, serve as the caterpillar’s primary source of locomotion. When the caterpillar grows to about three centimeters long, it is ready for its next stage of development. At this point, the cater-pillar selects a safe place beneath a leaf or twig and attaches itself with a strand of silk. The silk comes from a finger-like projection called a spi-nerette. The butterfly hangs upside down from

Temporary Image

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Review Draft: Please do not distributethe tip of its abdomen and sheds its final skin, revealing the pupa, or chrysalis. The skin of the pupa hardens to protect the butterfuly during its most remarkable growth stage: metamorphosis. For further protection, butterflies have adapted their chrysalises to resemble curled leaves of the plants to which they cling. Spending about seven to ten days inside the pupa, the larva completely breaks down into a kind of “caterpillar soup.” Gradually, it reconstructs itself. The three body parts form, and legs, antenna and wings are created. Large, color sensing eyes and a proboscis form on the head. Towards the end of the process, the chrysalis begins to turn transparent. Colors on the butterfly wings become visible through the chrysalis walls. Then, the new butterfly excretes a red-dish waste product, called meconium, and begins to emerge from the chrysalis. While emerging from the chrysalis, the butterfly hangs

upside down. Gravity helps it to unfurl its wings, and blood pumps into the veins to straighten the wings. The butterfly remains hanging for several hours until the wings dry out and be-come rigid. Finally, the adult butterfly takes flight and begins to search for nectaring flowers to feed on. During their short adult lifespan, male and female butterflies search for a reproductive partner with which to mate. Once reproduction has taken place, eggs are laid on an appropriate species of host plant, which the female but-terfly identifies through smell. Not long after the adults reproduce and lay eggs, they die. (Note: Students may observe that the painted lady appears to have only four legs. The butterfly has six legs, but the front pair are difficult to see, because they are hairy and kept folded close to the thorax. Painted lady but-terflies use only the middle and back legs for walking.)

Flight enclosure for Vanessa cardui undergoing pre-launch tests with larvae.

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EggThe size of a pinhead with

12 or more longitudinal ridges. As many as 500 eggs are laid on the underside of leaves for

protection.

Larva (caterpillar)Brownish green to purple or black.

Has long fuzzy spines. Grows to about 3 centimeters long Pupa (chrysalis)

Attaches to leaf or branch. Resembles dried and curled leaf.

Becomes transparent as larva goes through metamorphisis and becomes butterfly. Colors of wings becomes

visible.

Adult (butterfly)“Unzips” pupa and spreads wings.Feeds through proboscis, mates,and reproduces. Dies afterwards.

Average wingspan 5 - 5.5 cm.

Life Cycle of Vanessa cardui

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Review Draft: Please do not distributeWhere to Obtain Butterflies for the ClassroomPainted lady butterfly larvae can be obtained from the following vendors:Insect Lore www.insectlore.com

Carolina Biological www.carolina.com

Butterfly Care and Feeding It is simple to care for painted lady butterfly larvae, pupae and adults. Larvae come with a food source provided by the vendor. Allow larvae to live on this food until they create their pupa. The pupae will sit dormant for seven-ten days and should not be disturbed. When the butterfly is ready to emerge from its pupa, the pupal casing will become transparent and the wings will be visible. The butterfly then will begin to push on the pupal casing, causing it to break open along seams. Within two to five minutes, the butterfly should be free from its pupa. With hemolymph pumping through the veins of its wings, the butterfuly will stretch out and straighten the wings. The wings will be

sufficiently hard and ready for flight in two to eight hours time. The butterfly also will cleanse its body by releasing a large amount of reddish waste, called meconium. Adult painted lady butterflies usually feed 12-24 hours after emergence. They will require a liquid diet of nectar, artificial nectar (sugar water), juicy fruits like oranges, or fruity sport drinks (“...”ade). Liquid food sources can be set out on a cotton ball (it is best to not pour the liquid into a container, because the butterflies tend to get stuck in the liquid). If using fruit, cut a slice and set it out for the butterfly. Also, be sure to place a moist cotton ball in the butterfly enclosure to maintain a higher humidity.

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Larvae

Adult

Anatomy of the Adult and Larvae Stages of

“Butterflynaut”

Forewing

Hind wing

Antennae

Proboscis

Palps

Eyes

Head

AbdomenMiddle Legs

Hind LegsThorax

Head

ThoraxAbdomen

Prolegs True Legs

Spines

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Spider Primer

Based on numbers, spiders are considered the dominant terrestrial predator on Earth. They are so common, you are rarely more than two meters away from a spider. Spiders belong to the class Arachnida of the animal phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods (meaning jointed foot) are animals with segmented bodies, jointed legs, and a hard exoskeleton. Spiders have four pairs of legs and a pair of front appendages called pedipalps. The four pairs of legs differentiate spiders from members of the Insecta class of the arthropod phylum. (Insects have only three pairs of legs.) Spiders are further distinguished from insects in that they do not have antennae or wings. Spiders have two main body regions: 1) the head and thorax, fused together into a cephalothorax; and 2) the abdomen. Spiders have a pair of jaw-like structures which end in hollow-pointed fangs that can eject venom. Spinnerets, small finger-like projections on the abdomen, secrete chains of protein that harden into very strong and elastic silk when emerging from the body. Although some spiders’ venom is toxic to humans, most spider venom is not dangerous, or of medical importance to humans. In fact, the majority of spiders are beneficial predators that hunt pests, such as flies, aphids, and other insects. The spider life cycle begins with eggs that are laid within a silken eggsac. The sac, which often is spherical, can contain from a few to several hundred eggs. A female spider may produce several egg sacs and usually dies after laying the eggs. Upon hatching, new spiders send out strands of silk that are caught and distributed by wind currents, sometimes depositing spiders miles away via a process called “ballooning.” The babies grow through a molting process, shedding their hard “skin” four to 12 times before achieving maturity. After mating, new eggs are laid by the females. Spiders are crafty predators that typically feed on living prey that they have trapped in a

web or caught by active hunting. Spiders use venom to immobilize captured prey and initiate the digestive process. Because spiders eat only liquid food, they must “prepare” their meals before each meal. They deposit digestive fluids onto the surface of their prey and create holes in the prey’s exoskeleton, through which the fluids can enter the body. After enzymes in the digestive fluids have broken down the prey’s tissue, the spider sucks in the predigested, liquefied food.

Spidernaut - Orb Weaving Spider in the Family Araneidae Orb weaving spiders—the classic web spinners—construct flat, circular, and sometimes very elaborate webs. Each member of the orb weaving spider group (family Araneidae) spins a web with a distinctive design. These spiders have poor vision and depend on their webs to capture prey. Vibrations produced by a struggling fly or other small creature cause tension changes in the silken web, and lead the spider to its prey. The insect then is immobilized with venom and quickly wrapped in silk for later consumption. The spider “astronaut” riding the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station will most likely be of the species Araneus gemmoides, commonly called the cat face or monkey face spider because of

Araneus species - Top viewPhoto Credit: Krugmire

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the markings on its abdomen. The exact species flown—and the species used in each classroom—may differ. Orb weaving spiders in the family Araneidae are found throughout the United States. Many build their round, vertical orb webs in nooks and corners around houses, particularly on porches near lights that attract their insect prey. Orb weaving spiders may build a new web every evening just around sunset. By morning, the spider takes the web down, literally eating the silk of the web. The spider then rests in a silken “day retreat” and reemerges in the evening to start web building all over again. Orb weavers hatch and crawl out of the eggsacs on a warm day in spring. The spiderlings crawl up a blade of grass or other high point, release a strand of silk, and “balloon” to a new home. After landing, they build their own small orb webs and, by late summer, have molted into adulthood. Adult females are much larger than adult males. After reaching adulthood, male orb weavers no longer build webs. Instead, they wander around in search of a mate.

Web SpinningOrb weaving spiders are noted for their ability to spin beautiful and complex orb webs. To

Araneus species - Underside viewPhoto Credit: Krugmire

begin building its web, a spider releases a strand of silk into the breeze, where air currents carry the strand to a branch, wall, or other structure. Once the initial thread is secured, the spider walks along that “bridge,” reinforcing it with additional strands of silk. The spider then walks to the approximate center of the bridge and drops down on a line of silk. This line is attached to the bridge strand, which pulls the bridge strand down into a triangle (see illustration below). The spider then attaches the strand it is on to another branch or substrate below. The center of the triangle becomes the hub of the web. At this point in the web building process, the spider has created three radial strands—the two arms of the triangle and the silk line the spider released as it dropped down. The spider then climbs back up to the center (hub) of the web and crawls back along one of the radii to the bridge thread, releasing silk as it goes. It carries this new silk strand down along another branch or object and attaches the new radial line there. This process is continued until many radii are formed. The spider then uses these radii as supports to walk along as it spirals around, filling in the rest of the web. An excellent description of orb web building is available in the Golden Guide to Spiders and Their Kin by Levi and Levi. Also, a step-by-step animation of an orb weaving spider building a web is located at the following link, within the “How Stuff Works” site (http://www.howstuffworks.com/spider.htm/printable). Once its web is completed, the spider either retreats to the margins and waits for an insect to become trapped or monitors the web from the hub. The spider feels vibrations in the web strands when an insect is captured and begins to struggle in the web. The spider then moves in to secure the prey.

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Flight Enclosure for Orb Weaving Spider The white dots along the side are filtered ventilation holes. Small LEDs in the side of the enclosure illuminate the web(s). At the bottom is a tray for the fruit fly food supply and wicks extending from a water reservoir into the chamber for moisture. Only one spider will be placed in the enclosure. A second, smaller spider will be kept in reserve in case the primary spider does not survive. If the primary spider survives, the secondary spider may be fed to it later, if the fruit flies are consumed.

Where to Obtain Spiders for the ClassroomOrb weaving spiders can be collected at night, when the webs are most easily seen (as noted, most species take their webs down during the day). Webs can be found at forest edges, on porches, in grassy fields, or anywhere insects fly. Most orb weavers will monitor the web from the hub at night (they rest in difficult-to-find retreats during the day). To capture an orb weaver, hold a dry vial (empty pill canister, small canning jar, etc.) just behind the spider as it rests on the web. Be very careful not to touch any strands of the web as you position the jar. When the container is in position, gently poke the “belly” side of the spider through the web

with the erasure end of a pencil. The startled spider often will drop off the web right into the container. If not, you can poke a little harder to knock the spider into the container. Orb weav-ing spiders are very clumsy off the web and cannot crawl out of a glass or plastic container. After capture, you can transfer the spider into the classroom enclosure. It is important to col-lect orb weavers that are small enough to be housed in the small enclosures.

Spider Care and FeedingSpiders can be fed with a classroom fruit fly culture (purchased through Carolina Biological Supply Company or some other vendor) or with pet store “pinhead” crickets. Orb weaving spi-ders typically feed only on insects caught in the strands of their webs. Thus, if your spider does not spin a web in the classroom, it will be very difficult to get it to feed. Spiders can go a long time without food, but not long without mois-ture. Thus, you should mist the spider’s web with water droplets two or three times a week.

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Anatomy of the Adult Stage of “Spidernaut”

Eyes

Cephalothorax

Abdomen

Leg I

Leg II

Leg III

Leg IV

Setae

Palp

Chelicera

Spinneret

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Bridge Thread

Hub

Hub Spiral Secondary

Frame

PrimaryFrame

AnchorPoints

Anchor Threads

U-turn

U-turn

Radii

Sticky Spiral

FramePoints

Radii

After Zschokke, S., Nomenclature of the Orb-Web, Journal of Arachnology, v27, No. 2 (1999)

Orb-Web Nomenclature

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Measuring Angles BetweenWeb Radii

1020

3040

50

60

708090100

110120

130

140

150

160

170

Angle = 12 degrees

Place the protractor on the web sketch. Align the center dot of the progtractor with the center of the web hub. Rotate the protractor until its baseline is over one silk thread radii. Measure the angle to the silk thread radii directly above. Move the protractor to measure the angles of other silk thread radii to each other.

Student pages

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Challenge Question

Are the silk thread radii in the upperhalf of the web closer or fartherapart than the silk thread radii in lower half? ________________

Offer evidence that backs your conclusion.

Web Measuring PracticeWhat are the angles between the following silk radii?

A and B? ____________________ B and C? ________________________

C and D? ____________________ A and D ? _______________________

A

B

C

D

Student pages

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Working with “Butterflynauts”

The classroom “butterflynaut” habitat is a clear plastic box with approximate dimensions of 18 X 12 X 10 centimeters. The box has a lid that snaps into place on each end. To ensure it is a safe habitat for butterflies, it includes ventilation holes, food and moisture compartments (to be inserted into the enclosure after filling), and a masking tape “trail” along two sides and the top for the caterpillars to climb. The figure on the next page shows how the box should be set up. Stand the box on its side and place it in an area where it will not be disturbed. It will occasionally be necessary to move and open the box, so it should not be permanently fixed to a shelf or a counter top.

Preparing the Feeding and Nectar Tray The feeding and nectar tray is made from a simple medication organizer. The lids are removed from the three center compartments and the far left compartment (“Sunday”). Holes are drilled in the three remaining lids and temporarily covered with clear tape. The front sides of the three center compartments have masking tape affixed to them.

Butterfly Larvae FoodThe butterfly larvae will arrive with a prepared food supply. Distribute the food evenly among the three center compartments of the medication organizer. BE CAREFUL not to harm the larvae when you are transferring the food to the compartments. Place the feeding tray and the larvae inside the box.

Increasing the HumiditySoak one cotton ball with distilled water and place it in the left compartment. As the moisture evaporates, the humidity, or water held by the air, will increase, making the habitat more comfortable for the animals.

Inserting the LarvaePlace the larvae on the food compartments of the tray inside the butterfly enclsure. A small paintbrush can be used to gently push the larva

on to the food. Begin daily observations.

Adult Butterfly NectarThree or four days after the larvae have pupated, prepare artificial nectar for the adult butterflies with the following formula.

30 ml (1 ounce) sugar120 ml (4 ounces) water parts water1.5 ml (2 pinches) of salt

Boil the water, and then add the sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve sugar and salt. Allow to cool completely. Moisten cotton balls with this mixture and place them in the two outer compartments of the medication organizer. Replace the lids on the compartments. Be sure to remove the clear tape covering the holes in the lids.

Tip: Use a red permanent marker to outline the rim of the holes in the nectar compartment lids. This will help to attract the butterflies to the nectar. (Buterflies can see in color!)

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NectarLarvae food

Ridge in lid of plastic box

Snap latchfor lid

Snap latchfor lid

Masking tape trail for larvae to climbto upper box to pupate

NectarWater

Masking tape in front

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Working with a “Spidernaut”

The classroom “spidernaut” enclosure is a shallow clear plastic box with approximate dimensions of 18 X 12 X 3.5 centimeters. The box has an attached hinged lid. To ensure it is a safe habitat for the spider, it includes ventilation holes, food and moisture compartments (to be inserted into the enclosure after filling), and a balsa web attachment frame. The figure below shows how the box should be set up. Stand the box on its end and place it in an area where it will not be disturbed or tipped over. It will occasionally be necessary to move and open the box, so it should not be permanently fixed to a shelf or a counter top. Ask your students to devise ways to protect the box from being knocked over. For example, they might suggest using small patches of hook and loop tape or sandwiching the box between a couple of books laid on their sides.

Preparing the Feeding and Water Tray The feeding and water tray is made from a simple medication organizer. Two of the compartments have been removed in order to

fit the enclosure. When you receive your spidernaut and fruit flies, you will prepare the fruit fly medium (see “recipe” below). Combine all ingredients except the yeast and divide them evenly among the three center compartments of the pill organizer (“Monday-Wednesday”). Sprinkle 10 granules of yeast on the surface of the medium in each compartment.

Fruit Fly Medium1 tablespoon medium flakes10 pieces of dog food, crushed into fine

pieces0.3 ml (1/16 tsp) of mold inhibitor23 ml of distilled water30 granules of yeast

The two outside compartments (“Sunday” and “Thursday”) will have small holes in their lids. You will also receive a length of string that will be used as a wick to transport water from the compartment into the enclosure to help maintain humidity. Cut the string in half. Ball each piece and insert one end of each ball a short distance through the holes from the inside. Fill each compartment with distilled water and snap the lids shut. The fruit fly larvae will be delivered in a small vial. Transfer seven to ten fruit fly larvae to the food compartments by pushing gently on them with a small paint brush. Any adult fruit flies in the vial can be transferred to another container and quickly sealed for disposal. (You may have a few escapees.) Wrap the food compartments with parafilm, as shown above. The compartment lids should be left open at approximately a 45-degree angle. Be sure to leave small openings in the parafilm coverage on each side for the fruit flies to emerge into the spidernaut enclosure and meet their doom. After placing the food and distilled water tray in the enclosure, gently shake the container holding the spider until the spider drops into the enclosure. Making sure the spider is still inside, close the lid on the enclosure and stand it up in

Spider Enclosure front view

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Distilled water chamber with wick

Parafilm cover

Leave gap in film cover to permit fruit fliesto enter theenclosure

Fruit flymedium

the predetermined “safe location.” You now are ready to begin the investigation. Keep a log of the investigation, starting the day your “spidernaut” and fruit flies arrive. Track the movements of the spider. Photograph or sketch the webs it produces, track the population of fruit flies, etc.

Feeding and water tray with filled compartments

Feeding and water tray with fruit fly medium compartments covered with parafilm (except for small openings on the sides

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Designing Your InvestigationIt is important to have students design their experiments before your butterfly larva and spiders arrive. The principle experimental variable will be gravity. Unlike butterfles and spiders on the International Space Station, butterflies and spiders in your classroom will experience gravity and have a distinct sense for up and down. Approximately seven days after the Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched, the butterfly and spider enclosures onboard will be transferred to the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus on the International Space Station, and the experiment will begin. Students should prepare research questions in advance so they can start collecting appropriate data immediately. The tables on pages 25-26 provide ideas that students may choose to investigate during the flight. Remind students conducting the butterfly investigation that larvae, initially seen when data collection begins in space, will be at least seven days old at the beginning of their experiments. If a second generationof butterflies appears while the butterflies are in space, accurate comparison of the two space generations will be possible only after the second generation reaches seven days of age. Students will be able to collect data for their Earth-based butterflies through all stages. However, they should be careful to match their butterflies with the “butterfynauts” based on the number of days into the life cycle each has advanced.

Procedure:1. Divide your class into research teams of three

or four students. Teams may work on both investigations or specialize on the spider or butterfly investigation.

2. Instruct teams to learn as much as they can about the spider and butterflies before the investigation begins. The background information and references in this guide can be used as a starting point.

3. Have teams write and present research reports or essays, computer presentations, or posters about the butterflies or spider, summarizing what they have learned about

anatomy, feeding, growth, reproduction, behavior, etc. of their selected subject.

4. Ask each team to develop hypotheses or research questions for their chosen animal(s). The tables on pages 25-26 may provide a starting point. Teams working with the spider will be able to ask questions that cover the entire length of the investigation. Butterfly questions will focus on different life cycle phases.

5. Give each team a copy of the Research Proposal page to guide their experiment designs. Review team proposals and offer advice, if needed, on how to improve them.

Naturalist JournalsDuring the investigation, students will track the behavior of their research animals and compare their data to that from the flight animals. Basic information—about the length of the pupa stage

Tip: Butterfly teams should ask questions about the different life cycle phases. The answer to just one question about larval emergence, for example, will depend upon many conditions being met. The initial larvae must feed and pupate. Then, the adult butterfly must emerge from the pupa, feed, mate, and lay eggs. Only if all those conditions are met will questions about larval emergence be answered.

for the butterflies, for example, or the number of webs spun by the spider—can be maintained in tabular form. Of course, other, very useful data will be available. Not all of these data will be conduscive to reporting in tables, but they will be important, nonetheless. One of the oldest methods of recording observations of the natural world is the naturalist’s journal. Scientists and explorers throughout history have kept journals of their explorations and experiences. Leonardo DaVinci, John Audubon, Lewis and Clark, Charles Darwin, and many others recorded their discoveries in notes and illustrations. Both techniques are still valid, and in some ways, sketching is more beneficial to the observer

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Review Draft: Please do not distributeindicate “night” (when spiders often spin webs), infrared LEDs will provide nighttime illumination. Still and video images of the butterflies and spider will be downloaded from the ISS. In addition, average temperatures and the humid-ity of the enclosures will be downloaded and recorded on the websites. To save time, you may want to book-mark the website you will be using to retrieve the flight data. You also may want to create and display in the classroom a table chart on which you record humidity and temperature data. Al-though your students will be able to download images, video, and data at any time, includ-ing from home, it also is suggested that you save the images in dated files on a classroom computer for all to share. This will eliminate the nedd to spend class time repeatedly download-ing large image files for individual teams.

Web Site Addresshttp://www.bioedonline.orghttp://www.nsbri.org

Reporting the ResultsAt the conclusion of the butterfly and spider investigation, student teams should wrap up their work. Have teams review their data and determine whether or not their hypotheses were correct, and why or what they learned from their research questions. Final investigation reports should be submitted for assessment. Different reporting strategies can be used. A classroom scientific journal might be created by combining the reports and illustration from all teams. Teams also can create and present posters that display their results, or give PowerPoint or podcasts presentations. It also may become possible for students to share their data via the websites listed above.

than is photography or digital imaging. To sketch a spider or butterfly, for instance, students must study the subject very closely. They must look for shapes and structures, both small and large, as well as textures and colors. A photograph or digital image contains far more detail, but these media often encourage the observer to see the whole and miss the small detail. Sketching and recording observations force students to see both the parts of a subject and their relationship to the whole. Futher, comparative observations of similar species will lead to student insights on how living things adapt to their environments. To help your students sharpen their observation skills before the investigation, provide “practice” pictures of butterflies and spiders, or actual animal specimens, for them to sketch and label. (Anatomy reference diagrams are found in the primers on butterflies and spiders, above.) Pencil sketches are a good way to start. Students will need pencils of different hardness and erasers. Colored pencils are beneficial but not essential, in part because students can add captions to their illustrations that identify different colors. On the borders of their sketches, have students write their observations, describing the sequence of events and explaining any unanticipated behavior of the Earth- and space-based butterflies and spiders. Many new questions can arise from careful observations.

Data from SpaceStudent teams will coordinate data collected from their Earth-based investigations with the flight data (flight images and relevant data will be archived on the websites listed below). De-pending upon communication schedules for the International Space Station crew and Mission Control in Houston, Texas, data will be routinely downloaded to NASA and then to these web-sites. To the fullest extent possible, the butter-flies and spider on board the ISS will follow a 12/12 hour schedule intended to simulate day/night on Earth. To simulate “day,” LEDs (light emitting diodes) will create a daylight environ-ment inside the animal enclosures. And to

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Collecting ImagesImages will be taken daily after the animal enclosures are transferred to the International Space Station, and will be made available online as soon as possible. If your students are planning to sketch their Earth-based animals, they should make sketches from the space images as well. It will be easier and more accurate for them to compare space and ground data if they use the same techniques to collect data from both specimens.” (This accounts for student sketching skills.) If pictures are to be taken of the Earth-based animals, have students practice and become familiar with the camera(s) to be used, and also resolve potential imaging problems prior to the experiment. Because the boxes are clear plastic, reflections may cause a problem for cameras, so care should be taken when composing photos. Also, it will be necessary to get very close to your subjects to make good photos, so be sure to use a camera with macro focus. Begin by determining the optimal focus distance for the camera you will be using. Take several practice photos of each habitat, framing the entire interior space. Place objects inside the enclosures and focus on them instead of the surface of the enclosures. (Note: The spider enclosure will likely require the camera to be tilted vertically.) Rotate the enclosure slightly to eliminate some, if not all reflections. Black posterboard can be used to block stray reflections. Another technique for reducing reflections is to cut a camera lens-sized hole in the middle of a sheet of black poster board. Shoot pictures through the hole in the poster board. Avoid toucing the front or back surfaces of the boxes. When possible, handle the boxes by the sides. Fingerprints and dust collected on the surfaces should be cleaned before daily imaging. Another photographic issue is the need for sufficient light to properly expose the inside of the habitats. Use small flashlights, pointed through the sides or top of the enclosures, to brighten the subjects. Do not illuminate from the

front or use the flash on the camera, as this will cause a strong reflection. Also, the background in each habitat can make a difference in the quality of photos. A plain, light-colored background in the butterfly habitat will permit sharp images. However, be sure to focus directly on the butterflies, and set the camera for “spot” or “center-weighted” metering. Otherwise, the butterflies may appear dark. Taking pictures of spider will be more challenging because of its small size and the fineness of the web strands. A dull black background may be best for this enclosure, and side and top illumination will be essential. Even if photos will be the main source of data, be sure to have students take notes and make sketches, which will help them analyze the pictures. The “spidernaut” may be hidden from view in the pictures, but the students will be able to find it and mark its location on the sketch. Be sure to have students label pictures and sketches to match them later. From time to time, videos will be taken of the space animals. Students will be able to view the videos on their computers. With video controls, they also will be able to stop action. Students then can sketch and plot the location of the butterflies and spider over time. They can create diagrams showing movements and timing (like footprints in snow). Doing the same for their Earth animals will permit behavior comparisons. Encourage students to use computer drawing software for their diagrams.

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Behavior/Variable Data/Categories Notes

Average Temperature Temperature Temperature can affect animals’ behavior. If the temperature is too high or too low, the animals may perish.

Relative Humidity Humidity Humidity can affect the animals. If the hu-midity is too low, larvae may not be able to molt and butterflies may not be able to exit their pupa.

Activity Levels Activity Compare the types and frequency of ac-tivites carried out by animals on Earth and animals in microgravity.

First Generation Larvae Size Measure the initial size and growth rate of the larvae.

Larval Feeding Feeding Are the animals feeding? Do animals on Earth feed more or less frequently, or at dif-ferent times than the animals in space?

Larval Survival Success What percentage of the larva survived to pupate?

Pupating Ability to Pupate Are the animals in microgravity molting and pupating?

Emergence Ability to Emerge Do the butterflies in microgravity emerge (from their pupa?)? What is the success rate?

Flying Flight Do the butterflies fly in microgravity, or do they only walk? If they fly, how does their flight compare to the flight of butterflies on Earth?

Adult Feeding Feeding Are the adults able to find and eat their food?

Mating Ability to Mate Did the butterflies mate? (A male and fe-male must be present.)

Egg Laying Ability to Lay Eggs Did the butterfly lay eggs? If so, how many? Where did she lay them?

Larval Emergence Eggs Hatching Was fertilization of the eggs successful? (In other words, how many eggs hatched?)

Second Generation Larval Size

Size At seven days old, are the second genera-tion larvae the same or different size than larvae of the first generation were?

Butterflies In Space

Ideas for Potential Investigations

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Behavior/Variable Data/Categories Notes

Average Temperature Temperature This information may be useful because it may affect web-building behavior.

Relative Humidity Humidity Humidity may affect web-building behavior.

Feeding Feeding Does the spider feed? How often? How much?

Spider Position Web present - spider on web

Note location of spider on web.

Web present - spider not on web

Note location of spider in enclosure.

No web present Note location of spider in enclosure.

Old Web or New Web Web remains from previous day.

If the web is old, all other variables from previous observations should be the same.

Newly-built web

Hub Placement In center of web On Earth, most hubs are located in the upper hemisphere.

Near upper hemisphere

Near lower hemisphere

Radial Angles Upper Hemisphere

Record angles between several radii and determine the average angle.

Are the angles approximately equal or do they vary widely?

Radial Angles Lower Hemisphere

Record angles between several radii and determine the average angle.

Are the angles approximately equal or do they vary widely?

Turning Points in Upper Hemisphere

Number of turning points

Turning points are places where the spider changes direction in stringing the spiral threads. (There may be fewer turning points in the space webs.)

Turning Points in Lower Hemisphere

Number of turning points

Average Distance Be-tween Adjacent Spirals

Select one hemisphere or side of web and measure distance between adjacent spirals.

Spider may change the diameter of the silk. This may be difficult to observe, but there could be a relationship between thread diameter and the distance between spirals.

Spiders In Space

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Team Experiment Plan

Team Member Names:

Research Animal:

Why did your team pick this animal?

What is your research question?

Research Plan

What data will you collect?

How often will you collect data?

How will you record your data?

What do you predict might happen? (hypothesis)

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Butterfly ResourcesBooksThe Family Butterfly Book by Rick Mikula. Projects, activities and a field guide to 40 North Ameri-can butterfly species.

Meet the Arthropods by Ellen Doris. Doris introduces the six classes of arthropods and provides plenty of facts and 200 color photos for students in grades 4-7.

Painted Lady Butterflies by Donna Schaffer. Picture book for younger readers.

Practical Entomologist by Rick Imes. This book is a valuable reference for beginners who are look-ing for more information about insects and their life cycles.

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert. A rhyming picture book for younger students that focuses on butterfly metamorphosis.

Butterflies Through Binoculars: The East (West) A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Eastern (West-ern) North America, by Jeffrey Glassberg. Published by Oxford University Press, these two field guides provide comparison pictures and information for butterfly watchers.

Butterflies of North America by Kenn Kaufman. A vinyl-bound pocket guide, containing more than 2,000 images of North American butterflies.

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Spider ResourcesBooks:Insects & Spiders edited by George Else and specialist staff of the Department of Entomology at the Natural History Museum, London. A large format book with excellent information about the biology of spiders, along with fine accompanying illustrations.

The Book of the Spider: from Arachnophobia to the Love of Spiders, by Paul Hillyard. Great stories about spiders in folklore and myths as well as solid information about spider biology.

The Private Life of Spiders by Paul Hillyard. A beautifully illustrated large format book about spider biology.

Common Spiders of the United States by James Henry Emerton. An old book (still in print) with good general information about spiders. However, the names of many of the mentioned species have changed over time.

The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre. Fabre was known for his natural history books on vari-ous types of invertebrates, particularly insects and spiders. The text is engaging and informative. The Life of the Spider is available electronically at http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/youth/howandwhy/TheLifeoftheSpider/toc.html.

The Biology of Spiders by Rainer Foelix. An excellent general biology book on spiders. Superb information, but not geared to children. It is an excellent reference book to have on hand in the classroom.

Golden Guide to Spiders and Their Kin by Herb and Lorna Levi. Part of the Golden Field Guide series, it is an excellent and inexpensive field guide for the classroom.

Spiders of the World by Rod and Ken Preston-Mafham. Large format book with good information, drawings, and photos of spiders.

The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery. A large format book about a real-life arachnologist, Dr. Sam Marshall, who studies tarantulas. Full of great information about what it is like to study spi-ders, why one would do such a thing, and what Dr. Marshall’s tells him about the biology of these animals. This is an excellent book for children interested in science as a career.

Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual, edited by D. Ubick, P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing, and V. Roth. The introductory chapter provides good general information about the biology of spiders and how to collect them. If you wish to have your students collect spiders or try to identify them, this is a good classroom reference. Available at www.americanarachnology.org, www.ama-zon.com, or www.bioquip.com. May also be available directly from P.E. Cushing (contact on the next page).

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Review Draft: Please do not distributeInternet:

General InformationButterfly Pavilion http://www.butterflies.org

Baylor College of MedicineCenter for Educational Outreach http://www.ccitonline.org/ceo/

BioEd Online http://www.bioedonline.org

BioServe Space Technologies http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/BioServe

Challenger Learning Center of Colorado http://www.clccs.org/GUI/Home.aspx

Denver Museum of Nature and Science http://www.dmns.org/main/en/

National Space Biomedical Research Institute www.nsbri.org

Information on Animals in Space http://history.nasa.gov/animals.html

Butterfly Information Sites

Enchanted Learninghttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/sub jects/butterfly/activities/printouts/paint-edlady.shtml

Montana State University http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/

North American Butterfly Association http://www.naba.org/

Royal Alberta Museumhttp://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/natural/insects/projects/painted.htm

The Butterfly Rearing Sitehttp://www.thebutterflysite.com/rearing.shtml

Spider Information SitesAmerican Arachnological Society http://www.americanarachnology.org/

International Society of Arachnology http://www.arachnology.org

Microscopic images of arachnids and many other organisms (copyrighted) http://www.denniskunkel.com/

Common North American Spiders (copyrighted pictures from Red Planet, Inc.) http://www.phsource.us/PH/ME/PH_Spi ders/index.html

Investigation Consultant: ButterfliesMary Ann HamiltonCuratorial ManagerThe Butterfly Pavilion6252 W 104th AvenueWestminster, CO 80020Voice: 720-974-1875Fax: 303-657-5944E-mail: [email protected]

Investigation Consultant: SpidersPaula CushingZoology DepartmentDenver Museum of Nature and Science2001 Colorado Blvd. Denver, Colorado 80205-5798Voice: 303-370-6442Fax: 303-331-6492E-mail: [email protected]

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National Science Education Content Standards National Academy of Sciences, 1997

Science as Inquiry• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry• Understandings about scientific inquiry

Students will learn about scientific investigations by formulating hypotheses, setting up and maintaining controlled habitat boxes for their organisms, collecting data, comparing their data to data collected from the flight organisms, and analyzing and communicating their results.

Physical Science• Motion and Force

Students will learn about the microgravity environment, how it is created and employed for scientific research, and some of the effects of microgravity on living and non-living things.

Life Science• Structure and function in living systems• Reproduction and heredity• Regulation and behavior• Diversity and adaptations of organisms

Students will learn about the physiology, functions, life cycles, behavior, and adaptations of the study organisms.

Science and Technology• Abilities of technologic design• Understandings about science and

technologyStudents will construct habitat boxes and maintain a suitable controlled environment for their organisms. They also will learn about careers in space science.

Principles and Standards for School MathematicsNational Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000

Geometry• Analyze characteristics and properties of

two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes and develop mathematical arguments about geometric relationships.

• Specify locations and describe spatial relationships using coordinate geometry and other representational systems.

Students will use geometrical tools to measure spider web formation and plot movements of butterflies.

Measurement• Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and

formulas to determine measurements.Students will measure web and chrysalis size and shapes, as well as behavioral patterns.

Data Analysis and Probability• Formulate questions that can be

addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them.

• Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data.

Students will collect and organize data and apply statistical analysis to behavioral patterns exhibited by the organisms.

Connections• Recognize and apply mathematics in

contexts outside of mathematics.Students will employ mathematics to study and compare Earth-based and flight organisms.

Representation• Use representations to model and interpret

physical, social, and mathematical phenomena.

Students will communicate their results through charts, data tables and other representations.

review draft: please do not distribute butterflies and ...spaceodyssey.dmns.org/media/7650/spiders...

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