Goleta Family School has multi-age classes. Every year the fourth, fifth and sixth grades go on a science camp. In 2017, we went to Santa Cruz Island and stayed at a UCSB Research Center for 5 days to collect enough research to make our website page for you to learn about all eight of our topics. This experience was full of research, learning and unforgettable memories...
This is an island blue scrub jay. The island blue scrub jay is the only bird species to never have ranged to the mainland. From 2007, a team of researchers have studied the jays' behavior. The motivation for this research was the risks of the jay's viability posed to its limited range and population size, which is estimated to be about 3,000 individuals. credit:
http://santacruz.nrs.ucsb.edu/natural-resources/island-scrub-jay
The female can lay up to one thousand eggs. It will fly over the water and drop the eggs in the water. They have simple mouthparts with chewing mandibles, long, multiple-segmented antennae, large compound eyes, and two or three ocelli. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plecoptera
The picture to the right is of mercury. Mercury is a substance that is in anything and everything. It's in your hair, lamps, jewelry, your clothing and much more! Too much mercury can be bad for the environment, and can cause harm to humans and wildlife, so scientists are conducting an experiment where they collect dragonfly larvae to sample them for mercury levels.
On the top left is a picture a hellgrammite. They are a centipede-like creature that often lives in streams or rivers. On the top right is a dragonfly larvae. They have a lot of mercury in them. On the bottom left is a dragonfly adult on the bottom right is a damselfly.
The Channel Island National Park supports a variety of different plants including many rare, relict, and endemic species, as well as many nonnative species. Plants that are rare to the island, may have a wider distribution in the mainland.
Credits:https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/na
ture/plants.htm
Geomorphology is basicly just change over time. For example, when a mountain builds up it is called geomorphology. When water pushes against rock and erodes it, it's also called geomorphology.
PhotoCredits:https://watershed.ucd
avis.edu/education/classes/files/imag
es/flogs/landslide.jpg
Stream ecology is the health of the stream, such as how much pollution is in the water and the temperature of the water. Delicate insects like mayflies can only survive in unpolluted water and if the water in their stream is polluted they will die.https://serc.si.edu/research/research-topics/biodiversity-conservation/stream-ecology
A scud is one of the most popular food sources for trout. The scud is in the class creation. The male will carry the female on his back.
A special thanks to Island Packers, who safely transported us to the island and then back to the mainland. For more information about island packers, visit http://islandpackers.com/