Tomorrow, we learn about fungi. Here's a creepy video of parasitic fungi to get you excited. Watch as the fruiting body of the fungus "erupt from the ant's head," as narrated by the venerable David Attenborough. Not for the squeamish!
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
OK, that is totally cool! I'm a middle school science teacher in Ann Arbor, MI and last year I got a lot of mileage with my students from a chance reference to predatory fungi in my college text. If you'd like me to send you the citation, I can, but you'll probably be able to Google it. Anyway, this fungus forms loops with its mycelium, and when a nematode crawls through the loop, the physical stimulation of the loop's cells causes those cells to swell, thus tightening the loop around the prey, immobilizing it.
Do you know which BBC film your clip came from? Unfortunately, my school now blocks You Tube, so I can't just show it. I think that the shots at the end of all of the other insects which have succumbed to the fungi is very powerful. It would be a great visual to the explanation for the success of invasive species - no natural predators, no diseases, no parasites! The "no parasites" can be hard for kids to visualize, and this clip would do the trick!
Sorry, I don't know the specific title of this film...you can check out NYT science writer Carl Zimmer's blog, the Loom (http://scienceblogs.com/loom/) , for possibly useful info. That's where I found this clip. I know, for example, Cornell U. posted a video of his lecture on parasites. I couldn't get the clip to download, but I imagine if you get it to work, you wouldn't have the firewall problem.
2 comments:
OK, that is totally cool! I'm a middle school science teacher in Ann Arbor, MI and last year I got a lot of mileage with my students from a chance reference to predatory fungi in my college text. If you'd like me to send you the citation, I can, but you'll probably be able to Google it. Anyway, this fungus forms loops with its mycelium, and when a nematode crawls through the loop, the physical stimulation of the loop's cells causes those cells to swell, thus tightening the loop around the prey, immobilizing it.
Do you know which BBC film your clip came from? Unfortunately, my school now blocks You Tube, so I can't just show it. I think that the shots at the end of all of the other insects which have succumbed to the fungi is very powerful. It would be a great visual to the explanation for the success of invasive species - no natural predators, no diseases, no parasites! The "no parasites" can be hard for kids to visualize, and this clip would do the trick!
Thanks!
Sorry, I don't know the specific title of this film...you can check out NYT science writer Carl Zimmer's blog, the Loom (http://scienceblogs.com/loom/) , for possibly useful info. That's where I found this clip. I know, for example, Cornell U. posted a video of his lecture on parasites. I couldn't get the clip to download, but I imagine if you get it to work, you wouldn't have the firewall problem.
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