My Father's World

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2010-02-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

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Forensic Entomology

2009-09-19T19:52:00.001-07:00

We went on a musuem field trip Friday and I "discovered" a new field... forensic entomology. Have you heard of it? Did you know that insects could help solve crimes? Since different types of insects visit a decaying body at different times, scientists are able to find out how long a body has been dead by analyzing the insects that are present!

The above sign reads, "The first recorded instance of using insects to solve a crime was in 1235 AD China. A farmer was brutally hacked to death with a sharp instrument. The village head assembled all the local farmers, and asked them to lay their sickles on the ground. Flies clustered on one side of the sickles, attracted by invisible remnants of flesh and dried blood. In the face of this evidence, the owner of the sickle confessed to the murder."

This sign talks about the sequence of what insects come to a corpse - from blow flies to flesh flies to cheese flies. Yes, I know this is pretty gross, but isn't it fascinating, too? (By the way, if I ever return to college, I plan on becoming an entomologist!)

I don't think my daughter would be interested, but I found this neat activity for older kids called "What the Blowfly Saw". It gives clues and you are to figure out how long ago a man died. Another lesson plan, Entomology in Action, lets students help solve a case from 1986. (I haven't completed either activity, so I'd recommend you make sure these are appropriate for your child!)

Bird's Nest & Other Mushrooms in Our Backyard

2009-09-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

I've seen these bird's nest mushrooms before, but not in our backyard! They are so tiny...less than a quarter of an inch wide. I love how it looks like they have tiny eggs in the nests.

I was once again surprised when I downloaded my photos. I realized that these little mushrooms were bird's nests, too... but most of them are still "covered!" The "eggs" are actually puffball-like packets of spores called peridioles. The nests are "splash cups" and, are scattered when raindrops hit them. I found some information about these mushrooms at American Mushrooms.

I'm not good at identifying most mushrooms, but I thought I'd share these photos of mushrooms that were in our backyard this week.

Healthy Habitat Grant, Spittlebugs, and Armadillos

2009-09-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

First of all, welcome to my new nature blog! I hope you enjoy learning with me about "My Father's World."

This week, I went with a group of teens and adults from our local homeschool enrichment school. This past summer, these teens wrote a grant proposal to create a healthy habitat on the 5 acres where our school sits. Last week, I decided to join in their efforts.

So, one day this week we took a trip to a nature preserve to learn from a master naturalist about how to create a natural habitat. We encountered some wonderful wildlife while walking around for several hours exploring this nature preserve.

A bunch of bees have unfortunately decided to take up residence in this bird house.

I recognized this as the "spit" of a spittlebug and asked the naturalist about it. He told us the spittlebug is actually what got him insterested in becoming a biologist! His grandpa used to tell him this was "snake spit" and he wanted to discover the truth. He found out about the spittle bug. The spittle bug nymph attaches itself to a host with its mouth. It then sucks in the nutrients it needs and bubbles come out of the other end. He uses his hind legs to cover himself and this "spit" keeps him from being spotted by predators and from drying out.

The naturalist uncovered one of the nymphs for us...

he was almost a full grown spittlebug

...and here is a two-lined spittlebug Alex & I saw at our house once. (Read more about spittlebugs here.)

TThere were also lots of mushrooms. A recent post I read at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers explained that some mushrooms go through several stages... from convex (like this one)... to the plane stage (no photo)

...to depressed, like this one! I would like to watch a mushroom and take a series of photos some time. (These photos are actually different mushrooms.)

A mud dauber.

Paper wasps... I love how you can see inside the cells! I think I see eggs and possibly immature wasps!

And, one of the teens asked about this hole. The guide told us it was probably an armadillos den. Armadillos actually keep several dens. Leaves fall into the holes and insects bury themselves under the leaves. The armadillo then eats the insects when he visits this den before falling to sleep. That's one of the reasons they keep several homes! He also told us that a type of armadillo always has 4 identical babies... so they are either all females or all males! This makes them valuable to researchers. They are also one of very few animals that contract leprosy, so they are useful for studying that disease. Isn't it neat how God made creatures so amazing and helpful to us!!! (Armadillo Online! has TONS of info about these fascinating animals.)