Semester Project (click triangles to expand)

Semester Project (click triangles to expand)

			I>	Overview

			A.	The most interesting project you can do will be one of your own choosing. Happily, the Sonoran desert provides rich opportunities to study native plant and animal species. Many can be found in parks and natural areas not far from campus (indeed, some reside on campus).

			II>	Studying Sonoran desert dwellers

			A.	A field guide to the Sonoran Desert (online)

			1.	http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/fieldguide/

			B.	A rich source of ideas can be found at the Sonoran Desert Museum http://www.desertmuseum.org

			C.	To see a list of journals, go to the 182 Lab References link http://blc.arizona.edu/courses/182Lab/Refs.html

			D.	Sonoran Desert Arthropod Studies Institute http://sasionline.org/

			E.	Pima Community College Desert Ecology of Tucson site http://wc.pima.edu/~bfiero/tucsonecology/sitemap.htm

			F.	Ants

			1.	"So you want to study ants", a how-to and what-you-might guide to observing & investigating Sonoran desert ants by Michele Lanan

			2.	Overview and identification

			a.	http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_ants.php

			3.	leafcutters

			a.	Images

			(1)	http://www.tightloop.com/ants/acrver.htm

			(2)	Patterson originals!

			(a)

			G.	Ant Lions

			H.	Night crawlers

			1.	A simple trap can be made by embedding a smooth-sided container in the ground; bait with tunafish. Aligning logs toward the trap will funnel critters there (based on Georges Brossard vid)

			2.	'ware Tucson's many venomous spp.

			I.	Bees (be aware of Africanized bees!) http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/publichealth/environmental_health/african%20bee/africanized_honey_bee_facts.asp

			1.	http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/wa/MainStoryDetails?ArticleID=11604

			2.	http://uanews.opi.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/wa/SRStoryDetails?ArticleID=1847

			3.	http://plantphys.info/Plants_Human/bee.html

			4.	http://plantphys.info/plants_human/bees/bees.html

			J.	Hummingbirds (simple feeder instrux & recipe)

			1.	The common recipe for hummingbird food is to mix 4 parts of water with 1 part sugar (i.e. 4 cups, 1 cup), heat to dissolve the sugar, then boil for one minute

			2.	e.g., an eppendorf tube with sugar water and some colored tissue paper (to simulate flower petals) and suspended by a thread might suffice to make a feeder; even a dixie cup with a hole cut in it might suffice

			a.	note that ants and bees will both like your feeder as well; bees can be 'distracted' by making an even more concentrated sugar solution and placing it in the vicinity

			3.	Link to Tucson Hummingbird Project (includes info)(From Alona Bachi)

			a.	http://hummingbirds.arizona.edu/

			K.	Quail

			1.	Gambel's quail, while they can fly, prefer to run around on the ground. They tend to travel in communities

			L.	Dugesia--we will supply

			III>	Other projects

			A.	Bottle biology

			1.	While the link below defines some specific projects, the general concept of a convenient terrarium (and incident Arizona sunlight) could be the basis of an infinite number of ecological/lifecycle/environmental studies

			2.	http://www.learner.org/channel/courses/essential/life/bottlebio/

			B.	Dictyostelium

			1.	Those of you familiar with Dicty from 181 or elsewhere might consider projects relevant to this semester's topics

			2.	http://cosmos.bot.kyoto-u.ac.jp/csm/movie_index.html