An Entomologi's Dream
Mason bee
dragonfly
Leaf
beetle
Photo by
Lisa gonzalez
fisherman
finds Message
in a bottle
In April 2019, third graders at Greensboro Day School in
North Carolina were given the assignment to write messages
and put them in bottles. It was part of their "Pirate Day"
celebrations.
Vivian Byerly's
note included a
note that said,
"If you find this
message, please
let us know."
She included
her teacher,
Susan Ferguson's
name, address
and email on the
note.
One of the
boys in the class
was participating
in fishing tournament in May and was able to take the bottles
a put them in the ocean off the coast of Morehead City. The
lesson for the students was to show the power of the Gulf
Stream in the coastal waters.
On Sunday, August 2, Ms. Ferguson received an email from
a fisherman—in Morocco. He found the bottle on a place
called White Beach near Guelmim in Morocco. His email to
the teacher included the photo of him holding the message
from the bottle.
The fisherman's nephew was able to translate the note
and now fisherman and Vivian have been able to share the
information that the bottle must have traveled 4,000 miles to
reach that destination.
If you're looking for something that looks really
weird, we've found the perfect site.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
County has an online exhibition they call Spiky,
Hairy, Shiny: Insects of L.A.
Every city has its share of large populations
of insects. Since 2012, Museum scientists have
been documenting these creatures as part of the
BioSCAN (Biodiversity Science: City and Nature)
Project.
Check out the online exhibit to learn about
how scientists document the insects they find—
including the 47 species discovered that are new
to science and then look through the gallery of
images taken by Lisa Gonzalez using a special high
resolution digital microscope.
In this photograph, you're looking at the head
of a mason bee—go ahead—just count the eyes!
Go to OfficialKidsMag.com for a
link to visit the Spiky, Hairy, Shiny
online exhibition.
OfficialKidsMag.com • SepteMBer 2020 • 5
