Life in Wascana Lake: Aquatic ecosystem studies

By Marie Powell

I had the chance to learn more about Regina's man-made Wascana Lake recently in a new speaker's night at the Saskatchewan Science Centre.

One of the speakers was Dr. Richard Vogt. He has a postdoctoral fellowship in biology at the University of Regina to study structure and functioning of aquatic communities and ecosystems. He works with Dr. Peter Leavitt in the Limnology Lab, using the long-term database of lakes in the Qu'Appelle River catchment to explore important questions in limnology (meaning the study of freshwater lakes and marshes) and aquatic ecology.

Limnology lab scientists monitor Wascana Lake as one of six major lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley wastershed, Vogt told about 30 people who came to hear three speakers on water issues on May 4, to open the exhibit "Water's Extreme Journey." Vogt grew up in Ontario and took his PhD in Aquatic Community Ecolology from the University of Quebec in Montreal. He said his colleagues would envy the U of R for its “rare and valuable” database of samples, collected every two weeks – in all seasons – for some 16 years.

Part of Vogt's studies with Leavitt include the effect of Regina’s “Big Dig” in 2004. During the $18-million Wascana Lake Revitalization Project, or “Big Dig" as it's known locally, Wascana was dredged from about 1.5 metres to about five metres in depth, removing over 1.3 million cubic metres of soil in about four months. (More on the dig can be found in The Big Dig: The Miracle of Wascana Centre by Bob Hughes.)

Vogt's studies show that surprisingly, the project hasn’t affected Wascana Lake the way scientists predicted it would. For example, scientists predicted the dredging would make the lake less clear and cause an increase in algae. Up to then, he said, rooted plants locked up the nutrients in the lake sediments, providing a habitat for zooplankton that graze on algae. Plants growing all the way to the water’s surface would get caught in people’s boat oars, and have to be mulched periodically.

But the dredging caused “no change in the most important water quality indicators” in the lake, Vogt said. Although the overall number of plants was reduced, there has been no increase in algae, and no decrease in clarity. There are some differences in algae species that thrive in the lake, but “for the most part we see a similar diversity,” he added.

For more information, check http://www.uregina.ca/biology/faculty/Leavitt/labsite_files/wascana.html

Marie Powell is the author of Dragonflies are Amazing! (Scholastic Canada, Grade Two Guided Reading, 2007). (Note: A version of this material appears in Marie's article in Metro Regina print edition, May 10 2012. Photo: Wascana Lights by L L Melton.)

Interactions Between Species

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC3AkGSigrA Here's a treat for you: a video on the interactive play between bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales. It's fun to watch them play and listen to how scientists study this phenomenon. Enjoy!

Alien Super Powers Are on Earth!

A headline like this in the National Inquirer might actually be the truth. In my book Amazing Animals, I included a short paragraph of information on the strength of ants. As one of the most numerous life forms on earth, ants have developed truly mind boggling features. Did you know that, annually, ant colonies consume more meat than lions? Did you realize that ant societies are as complex, but perhaps fundamentally smarter, than human societies? Ants have developed into workers that each have specific tasks aimed at the general welfare of the colony. Not one ant acts in its own best interest. Communication and cooperation are there secret weapons to thriving societies. Some ants are destined to be shepherds and actually herd small bugs, mealy bugs, which they have domesticated, much like humans herd and tend cattle. Scientists have studied ants in elaborate laboratories and made staggering discoveries. They tested the ants under circumstances similar to astronauts and athletes. In the process they have discovered complex structures such as a democratic society in which each ant is valued, and even discovered that ants have been using sperm banks, probably for much longer than humans have. By studying huge subterranean structures, they discovered that ants control their environment by creating chimneys that transport toxic air out of the chambers, bring in fresh air and regular temperatures like air conditioning systems. They separate food from waste, keep their homes clean and even use disinfectants to keep the colony from getting sick. Do yourself a favour - sit back and relax, to watch this extraordinary documentary. It’s nearly an hour - shorter than a feature film but every bit as intriguing and amazing as a sci-fi movie: http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=a4e23a5c65f22bdf4a72b3a9cc34d1f6 The Ant

Painting from the book Amazing Animals by Margriet Ruurs, illustrated by W. Allan Hancock

Hockey Science

Today's post is just for kids.
It's the playoffs for Lord Stanley's cup and even though my hockey team was knocked out in the first round, it doesn't mean I've given up on the game.

My writing partner, Leslie Johnstone and I have a new book on Hockey Science, soon to be published by Scholastic Canada.  The book has 25 really cool experiments but some activities which we thought we terrific were cut by the editor.  We aren't complaining, but this was one activity which we really liked. So- rather than lose an experiment, we thought we would share it with you. 

The image above is the cover for the book. Great job by a fabulous illustrator.


Tasty Ratios
You may not have thought about this, but hockey involves a great deal of math. Anytime you quote a player’s statistics or recite win/loss percentages you are using math. Here’s a tasty way to think about advantages when a team is short a player.

NOTE: If you have a food allergy check with a parent before using any of the ingredients

You Will Need

4 pieces of round pita bread or small round tortillas
Peanut butter or almond butter (do not use if you have nut allergies)
Honey
Butter knife

What To Do

1 Spread peanut butter or almond butter over the pita or tortilla and drizzle a bit of honey over it.
2.  Use a knife to divide two of the pitas into 3 equal sections. Cut the pita and set aside 4 of the 6 sections.
3.  Use a knife to divide the other two pitas into 4 equal sections. Cut the pita and set aside 5  of the 8 sections. Which gave you the greatest servings of pita- the one cut into thirds or the one cut into fourths?
4.  Eat the pita hockey snacks.

What Happened?

You have two pies. Someone offers you 4/3 of the pies or 5/4 of the pies. Which offer would you choose to receive the greatest serving of the pies? You discovered that 4/3 is greater than 5/4. But what does that mean for hockey? Consider power plays: If a team is playing 4 against 3, it means they have a greater advantage than if they were playing 5 against 4.

Did You Know?

You also created a great science snack. The pita provided a carbohydrate and the peanut butter gave you a protein. 

 Your body needs carbohydrates and proteins after a strenuous workout. In fact, nutritionists recommend that you have some kind of carbohydrate such as fruit, or juice shortly after exercising. This gives you more energy and helps to restore your levels of glycogen, the chemical your body makes to store carbohydrates for later use. Proteins from foods such as nuts, meat or milk give your muscles the amino acids they need to not only recover from the workout but also to rebuild.  It is recommended that you consume both carbohydrates and protein within 30 minutes of a strenuous workout. If you wait longer than that period of time your body will take in or absorb less glycogen.

Palaeo-Yukon Rocks!

By Claire Eamer

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog entry here about archaeological and palaeontological discoveries high in the Yukon mountains. Well, we're at it again! But this time, the big find is in a suburban Whitehorse basement.

Craig Duncan and Sandy Murphy just wanted to lay a new power line into their home in the Whitehorse suburb of Porter Creek, so last week they started digging a trench through their basement -- and struck bone! Before you say "haunted house" and "horror movie" though, relax. This bit of bone was attached to a hoof.

They stopped digging, collected as many bits of bone as possible, and took them to Grant Zazula, the Yukon Government Palaeontologist. He was -- and is -- thrilled. It's the remains of a bison. In fact, when the palaeontologists went back to Porter Creek and excavated further, they found an almost-complete skeleton of a bison.

Bison disappeared from the Yukon about four centuries ago, and no one knows why. The bison here now were introduced just a few decades ago. This skeleton might provide clues about the animals that lived here in the past and why they disappeared.

And how far in the past? The skeleton will be carbon-dated, but in the meantime, the palaeontologists are making bets. It could be as much as 10,000 years old!

For more detail about the find, see the Whitehorse Star story or this story that appeared in the Globe and Mail.

Go to a Star Party!

Guess what! You’re invited to the best kind of party. Expect to see lots of stars, at least a few planets, and maybe some deep sky objects like nebula, star clusters, or distant galaxies. It’s called a star party and it’s being held in a dark location near you.

Orion Nebula
Courtesy of ESA/Hubble

Around the world, astronomy clubs host star parties to share the experience of looking up at the night sky. Club members bring telescopes, binoculars, and sky charts. The public is often invited to attend. Search “star party” along with your location to find a nearby event.

Plan to arrive before nightfall to avoid the need to use vehicle headlights. Cover your interior and trunk light with black cardboard to ensure no light escapes. You will have to cover your headlights before you leave unless you choose to spend the night. In that case, plan to be quiet in the morning and into the early afternoon. Astronomers call themselves “day sleepers."

Make sure you only use red light if you need a flashlight to look at a sky chart or find your way. If you don’t have a flashlight with a red bulb, cover the white light with red cellophane or red plastic from a shopping bag. A rubber band will hold it on. Star party organizers and attendees are serious about astronomy. It’s important to make sure you don’t upset anyone’s night vision. That means you can’t use lighters, matches, or flash cameras either.

As day turns to night, look up. You will notice more stars after your eyes get used to the dark. It’s amazing what appears after only 15 minutes. Let 30-45 minutes pass and the sky becomes even more remarkable!

Some people retain their night vision by using one eye for observation and the other eye to look at sky charts. Don’t be surprised if you see a star gazer wearing an eye patch! 

Stars of the Big Dipper
Courtesy of ESA/Hubble

Use inverted vision to glimpse objects that appear dim in the night sky. You can practice by looking at the second star from the end of the Big Dipper’s handle. What appears as a single star at first glance is actually a double star system made up of Mizar and Alcor, the horse and rider. 

You won’t discern two stars if you stare straight at this spot. Instead you must learn to pay attention to the image that flashes by as you look ever-so-slightly away. Inverted vision uses the light-gathering rods on the outer part of your eyeball.

Telescope owners at star parties are usually happy to let you look through their lenses as long as you ask first. Visitors who line up for a peek often benefit from club members’ knowledge and experience. It’s a great chance to compare equipment and hear first-hand how people feel about the brands they’ve purchased. However, if someone is busy taking photographs, drawing images, or working on a project, it’s best to keep your distance.

You can find out more about Canadian events through the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). The organization, which has 29 clubs across the country, hosts star parties, astronomy workshops, and other events.
Enjoy the night sky!

List of Items to Bring

• Reclining lawn chair
• Warm clothes
• Blankets
• A warm drink in a thermos
• Sky charts-such as found in Dot to Dot in the Sky, Stories in the Stars and Stories of the Zodiac.

Archaeology on Ice

By Claire Eamer

In 1997, as aspen leaves glowed golden and fireweed burned dark red in the early Yukon autumn, Gerry Kuzyk climbed the steep side of a mountain west of Whitehorse. Kuzyk had taken time off his job as a Yukon government biologist for a few days of sheep hunting, and the high bare slopes are where you find mountain sheep. If you’re lucky.

Kuzyk was lucky that day, but not quite in the way he expected. He made his way towards one of the pockets of permanent ice that nestle on the shady sides of Yukon mountains. Ice patches are made by season after season of snow that never quite melts, but compresses into layers of ice. The ice patches aren’t massive enough to flow like glaciers, but they are big enough to cool the air around them and provide animals like sheep and caribou with welcome relief from summer heat and insects.

As Kuzyk got closer to the ice, he saw something dark spilling from its edges. And he smelled it. Caribou dung, he thought, and lots of it. The ice patch was melting, releasing a huge quantity of half-frozen caribou poop. Kuzyk was puzzled because caribou hadn’t been seen in that area for the better part of a century.

A few days later, Kuzyk went back to the ice patch, this time accompanied by caribou biologist Don Russell. Russell confirmed that the dung had come from caribou. Then he bent over, pulled a stick from the mess, and asked, “What’s this?”

That was the beginning of a new chapter in archaeology: ice patch archaeology. The stick was a dart, a sort of short spear launched by a throwing stick called an atlatl. It still had the remains of three feathers bound to it with sinew, probably by the hunter who lost it about 4,300 years ago. The caribou dung itself had accumulated over even more thousands of years, frozen and preserved in the ice, just like the dart.

Ice patch archaeology is one of the unexpected consequences of global warming. Around the world, ice of all kinds is melting and revealing treasures from the ancient past, from pristine projectile points to lost bits of ancient clothing—not to mention the bones, horns, antlers, and droppings left by a variety of animals over more than 10,000 years.

This year, ice patch archaeologists are coming back to where it all started. Frozen Pasts – the 3rd International Glacial Archaeology Conference will be held June 3 to 8, 2012, in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. One of the conference hosts is the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, some of whose members might well be descended from the hunter who lost his atlatl dart so long ago.

For more information about Yukon ice patch archaeology, click here or here.

And here are a few other places where ice patches have revealed treasures: the Northwest Territories, the American Rockies, and Norway.