Great Kids Book about Triops

Photographer Lori Adams sent me
a review copy of the new book she produced with author Helen Pashley about triops. This book is the reference you'll need when you try raising these frisky little critters for yourself. It has all the information you'll need, plus lots of clear, well-marked photos so you can identify what you're seeing. I recommend it highly. Order it through Little Science books.

You can also order triops kits through Amazon or directly from Triassic Triops (but I get a small kickback from Amazon, and shipping is free)!

See my post about triops on GeekDad. The comments are pretty funny, too.

Growing Fungi, Part 2

We researched some more questions about mushrooms:

#1 – How long can a mushroom live?
Source- Australian National Botanic Gardens, Wikipedia.com

The mushroom has a lifespan ranging from a few days, to hundreds of years. The lifespan depends heavily on how many neighboring mushrooms there are, the more neighbors, the longer the mushrooms live. The log that we bought says that the Shiitake mushrooms can last up to 4 years.

#2 – What are the symptoms of being poisoned by a mushroom?
Source-Wikipedia.com

Poisonous mushrooms contain a variety of different toxins that can differ markedly in toxicity. Symptoms of mushroom poisoning may vary from gastric upset to life-threatening organ failure resulting in death. Serious symptoms do not always occur immediately after eating; often not until the toxin attacks the kidney or liver, sometimes days or weeks later.
The most common consequence of mushroom poisoning is simply gastric upset. Most "poisonous" mushrooms contain gastrointestinal irritants which cause vomiting and diarrhea (sometimes requiring hospitalization), but no long-term damage. However, there are a number of recognized mushroom toxins with specific, and sometimes deadly, effects.

#3 – How many types of mushrooms are poisonous?

Wikipedia.com

Of the many thousands of mushroom species in the world, only 32 have been associated with fatalities, and an additional 52 have been identified as containing significant toxins.

Growing Fungi

The Mushroom-growing kit from Lost Creek Mushroom Farm

A couple weeks ago, for biology, we sent away for a Shiitake-mushroom-growing kit. We have since grown (and eaten) a cluster of mushrooms. Some Q&A about mushrooms:

How can I tell which wild mushrooms are poisonous?

Contrary to popular belief, there is really no discerning characteristic that all poisonous mushrooms share. Since only about 5% of wild mushrooms are edible, I wouldn’t recommend eating a wild mushroom unless you are a hundred percent sure that it isn’t poisonous.

The log with the fully-grown mushrooms.

What is the life cycle of a mushroom?

(From ArticleClick.com)
Most mushrooms reproduce asexually by releasing thousands of spores through their gills into the open air for dispersion into the environment. Every spore is capable of germinating to create a new hypha. Hyphae are masses of intertwined filaments of cells which are the morphological unit of the fungus. When a thick mass of hyphae forms it is called mycelium or mycelia. Mushroom mycelium is usually white in color with a rough, cottony texture. Root like growth is called rhizomorphic.

When spores germinate they consume the water and nutrients from their environment and begin to reproduce. The medium that mushroom mycelium grows on is usually called substrate. Before the mushroom can start to form fruit bodies the mycelium colonizes the substrate fully and when the environmental conditions are right the mushroom emerges to produce more spores.

The mushrooms after we harvested them.

What different kinds of mushrooms are native to what areas?

Probably the most common edible mushroom, the Button Mushroom, is native to Europe (and North America.) The Portobello is also native to Europe and North America. The Shiitake is native to East Asia. The deadly Death Cap is native to Europe, North Africa, North America, Australia (SE), and New Zealand.

A delicious Shiitake-mushroom-and-lettuce pizza.

Mushroom Links:

Mushroom Life Cycle
Cornell University Virtual Library: Mycology
Lost Creek Mushroom Farm (supplier)
Fungi Perfecti (supplier)
Diagram of the mushroom life cycle.

Triops 2.0

About two weeks ago, we found that the triops tank, which we never emptied, has gotten a new resident. Apparently, our old one laid some eggs and one managed to hatch. The remarkable thing about this guy is that we didn't do anything to help him hatch. [Mom's Note: In other words, we didn't keep him under a warming lamp, or put in a conditioning pack with special microscopic nutrients, or any of the other stuff we did for Triops No. 1!] After the old triops died, we just let the tank sit on a shelf and he hatched a few days afterwards.

We haven't gotten many photos of him yet, but we do have this:

He is now sitting on a table next to the fish tank and the hermit crab jar. Without the heat lamp, the water isn't getting murky with algae or whatever living goop we had in the tank with his predecesor. In fact, he seems to be cleaning the algae off the side of the tank! We will update on him as more happens.

Our Teeny Tiny Hermit Crab

Our hermit crab is so cute!

We visited friends on Long Island this summer, and I finally got to add a hermit crab to our collection. Our 12-year-old host was kind enough to fish this fellow out of the depths for us. We've kept him alive on frozen shrimp (brine shrimp from Petsmart, that is). If I can find some brine shrimp eggs, I will try to provide him with live food (and us with ever-smaller pets!).

I am totally impressed that he has managed to survive this long, in just a jar of sea water with some playground sand and a few pebbles thrown about for an environment. I stuck in a few larger shells -- he does seem to have grown in the weeks we've had him -- but I suspect they are a little large, and he shows no signs of being ready to move.

As for our other pets, we have released the worms and the cricket back into the wild. The worms because I found their box crawling with gnats: harmless but annoying. And the cricket because his keeper seemed to be slacking off in supplying him with fresh grass, which will be hard to find in another few weeks anyway.

Wildlife in our House

I'm not talking about the mice that invade every fall. (Haven't seen the tell-tale signs yet -- probably because it's been in the 70s and 80s here this September!)

But instead of normal pets, we have tiny critters. Most live in recycled plastic jars, the kind mayonaise, pretzels and the like come in.

For instance, we've been raising minnows and other fish in mini aquariums for several years now. Most of our pets (like the goldfish which have grown to Koi size in our plastic backyard "pond") are considered "feeder fish" to real aquarium hobbyists. But the mini tanks, which we try to keep supplied with small snails, stones that harbor beneficial bacteria and aquatic plants, are easy to care for.

This past summer, for my Build a Bug House Program, I got a chance to collect some pet bugs . The basic bug house was based on the book Pets in a Jar by Seymour Simon, but I also created a butterfly pavilion, a bamboo cricket cage, and a worm bin. They made for fun summer projects.

Once the program ended we let the ants in the Two Jar Ant Farm (directions here) go, as well as the ladybugs in the vivarium. But we've still got the cricket (now in a bigger, better jar with a sand surface, a piece of bark to hide under and a stick and a leaf to climb -- see video here) and the worms.

I just checked on the worms, however, and got an unpleasant surprise: our bin (which I keep under the kitchen sink) is crawling with some kind of mites. I rushed the bin outside and looked up our problem, but apparently it's nothing to worry about: all the possible culprits are helpful to the process of breaking down the vegetable scraps in the bin, and none are harmful. So I probably will bring the bin back in before it gets dark and the temperature dips too low.

I WILL harvest the worm castings this week, however, and if I can separate out the worms I'll try keeping them over the winter.

Coming next: Our hermit crab