In this Wonder of the DayR, we learn about why flamingos are pink. Students have the opportunity to explore the Wonder either as a class or individually. With suggestions for different age groups, Wonder #1 has an activity to engage students with drawing, writing description, or both. 

, We will learn about why flamingos are pink. Students have the opportunity to explore as a class or individually. With suggestions for different age groups. This resource has some activities to engage students with drawing, writing descriptions, or both. 

In this Wonder of the DayR, we learn about why flamingos are pink. Students have the opportunity to explore the Wonder either as a class or individually. With suggestions for different age groups, Wonder #1 has an activity to engage students with drawing, writing description, or both. 

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to human and animal health, and this problem is accelerated by the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) between individual bacteria. ARGs tend to accumulate in the gut microbes of animals, and they reflect the resistome, or collection of ARGs, of the environment. Thus, one way to monitor the resistome of an environment could be sampling the gut microbiomes of animals. To that end, researchers examined the gut resistomes of two domesticated honeybee species, _Apis cerana_ and _Apis mellifera_. The resistome corresponded most strongly with the honeybee host species, rather than geographic region. The more heavily managed species, _A. mellifera_, carried the most ARGs and had the heaviest load of transferrable ARGs. However, transferrable ARGs were common in the microbiomes from both honeybee species..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Student teams creatively construct mobiles using hangers and assorted materials and objects while exploring the principles of balance and center of mass. They build complex, free-hanging structures by balancing pieces with different lengths, weights, shapes and sizes.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The blood-feeding kissing bugs are the vector for Trypansoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease in humans. One factor believed to alter parasite transmission is the kissing bug’s microbiome, which is a fundamental component of natural gut environment where T.cruzi develops. To explore this complex environment, researchers set out to identify the factors that shape the kissing bug's microbiome. They investigated the microbiome composition of 5 species of kissing bugs from two U.S. states across all life stages. They analysed 170 T. cruzi negative kissing bugs sampled from the nests of white-throated woodrats. The primary factors determining microbiome structure were developmental stage, species identity, and environment. Later developmental stages correlated with lower microbial diversity. In fact, adult microbiomes were frequently dominated by a single taxon of bacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This illustrated guide to a grasshopper's head is designed to help students recognize and learn the many parts found on an insect's head. The single Web page, which can be easily printed for use at field sites or in the lab, also includes a short description for the following labeled parts: ocellus compound eye antenna gena frons clypeus mandible labrum labium palps.

Students work in teams to design a tabletop supply organizer inspired by the natural home of an insect species. Their prototype stores the group’s classroom supplies (scissors, crayon boxes, pencils, and glue sticks). In addition to following measurement constraints that apply to their prototype, students must design their supply organizer with the idea that supplies must be easily retrievable and the organizer must be sturdy enough to withstand everyday classroom wear and tear. Students test their prototype in the classroom for a period of 5 days and evaluate its effectiveness.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Plants frequently produce toxic chemicals to defend themselves against hungry insects, meaning that insects must often counteract these defenses if they want to obtain a meal. The Camellia weevil is one such insect that enlists the help of microorganisms living in its gut to neutralize toxins in the tea-oil camellia plant. Given the unique life cycle of this weevil, researchers were interested in finding out how its specialized gut microbiome is acquired. The team used genetic sequencing techniques to identify the microbes in samples taken from weevil guts, tea-oil camellia fruits, and the surrounding soil. They found that bacteria from the soil were primarily responsible for the toxin-degrading activity of the weevil gut microbiome. In particular, Acinetobacter sp. strain AS23 can migrate into the weevil gut and degrade the toxin saponin, thereby allowing the weevils to inhabit and feed on the tea-oil camellia fruits..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The gut microbiomes of animals are diverse microbial communities that dramatically affect host health and physiology. Modern laboratory techniques have allowed researchers to learn much about these microbiomes. Unfortunately, the common sequencing and culture techniques often struggle to distinguish between strains within a bacterial species. But microfluidic droplets could be a way to sidestep such limitations and distinguish between strains in a high volume, efficient way. To test this, a research team developed a microfluidic platform that encapsulates individual bacterial cells and cultivates them in different growth media, and they used it to successfully profile the honeybee microbiome at a strain-specific level. Strain diversity is particularly important for honeybees due to their uniquely simple and stable bacterial community. Compared to traditional gut samples, this technique detected more strain diversity in some bacterial species..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Students perform a macroinvertebrate survey to gauge the health of a local river. They collect water samples and count macroinvertebrates to learn how the health of a river's ecosystem can be determined by its river insect population.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Like most animals, mosquitoes carry many microbes in and on their bodies. These microbial communities (microbiota) impact the mosquitoes’ growth, survival, reproduction, and capacity to transmit pathogens, but the tools available to researchers to study mosquito microbiotas are limited. In other species, particularly mammals, microbiota transfer is a useful method to research microbial dynamics. However, such transfers had not previously been attempted in mosquitoes, until a recent study where researchers successfully transferred microbiota between individual _Aedes aegypti_ mosquitoes. as well as between _Culex quinquefasciatus_ and _A. aegypti_ mosquitoes. They transferred whole-body microbiota from adult donors to larvae and then observed the microbiota dynamics. The recipient mosquitoes retained most of the donor bacterial groups, suggesting that the transfer was successful, and the typical microbiota shifts occurred as the mosquitoes moved from larval stages to adulthood..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.