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Oh my gosh! I have been super busy with school. I thought it would be easy to answer a question every day, and keep up with school. I am finding it is not so easy, 'cause school work comes first! Keep sending in your questions, though, and I will answer them. That said, here is our next question...
Q. What is the difference between a butterfly and a moth? Jesse L. A. Great question, Jesse. They both belong to the same order, Lepidoptera, which means "scaly winged." Think about when you see them. Moths are mostly nocturnal, meaning they are out at night. Butterflies are out during the day. If you look carefully at a moth, you will notice feathery antennae and a chunky looking body. Butterflies have long antennae, with little knobs at the end. Butterflies have a slim body. Moths are often plainer in color and appearance, and some get to be quite large. Butterflies are usually more colorful. However, if you handle either one, you will notice that both have powdery scales on their wings. You can have your question answered here. Simply go to the comments page, and submit your question. I will answer questions as soon as possible!
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Q. What is the smallest living creature in the world? Perry W. A. Great question, Perry, but a little difficult to answer, especially if you are thinking about an animal. Protozoans (which are not animals) live in water all over the world. Some like warm water, some like cold. These are microscopic, one-celled (unicellular) little creatures. Even though they are only one-celled, their tiny bodies are able to carry out all the functions of life, including reproduction. Some are animal-like, and some are plant-like. My favorite, the euglena, has characteristics of both plants and animals. It has an eye-spot, and can "see" light and dark areas in its environment. But at the same time, it has chloroplasts, and can carry out photosynthesis, just like plants do. Kind of a cool little being, wouldn't you say? This is a picture of a euglena. You can clearly see the eyespot, which appears red. The green color is from the chlorplasts. The whip-like appendage is the flagellum, which propels this little creature through the water. (Thanks to kamistad.net for the photo.)
Submit your question for Buttonwillow's Question of the Day. Simply go to the contact page, and type in your question. Remember, all I need is your first name and last initial. Q. Why, if polar bears have black skin, is their fur white? Danielle D. A. Guess what Danielle? Polar bears don't have white fur. It is actually clear! Each hair is a clear, hollow tube with a tapered point. These hairs reflect white light. Some of the light also gets trapped inside the hair, and bounces around, giving off mostly white light. In addition, salt particles may get trapped between the individual hairs. All of these characteristics give the illusion of a polar bear having a white coat. Sometimes polar bears may appear to have other colors in their coat, depending on their diet, and their environment. Polar bears in zoos sometimes turn green, due to algae in the water. This was a great question Danielle! Keep those questions coming! Simply go to the contact page, and fill out the form with your question. Remember, all I need is your first name and the initial of your last name. I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks to the folks at www.polarbearsinternational.org for providing some of the information in this answer.
Q. How did cavemen hunt dinosaurs? We were at the dinosaur museum today, and those skeletons were big! Patti C. A. Actually, Patti, the cavemen didn't hunt dinosaurs. The two lived at very different times. The earliest human ancestors showed up about 4 million-years-ago. Contrast that with the dinosaurs, who came on the scene 245 million-years-ago. They were present on Earth until 65-million-years ago. As you can see, the time periods never overlapped. That is probably a good thing, because the early humans would have probably been a snack for some of the dinosaurs! You can submit the Question of the Day. Just go to the Comment page, and submit your question. Remember, just use your first name, and the initial of your last name.
Q. There are like, a zillion rabbits all over my town. What is up with that? Ryan. M. A. Well, Ryan, it may seem like there are a zillion rabbits in your town, but I bet there aren't really that many. A zillion rabbits would be a lot of rabbits! But there are reasons you are seeing more rabbits than normal. Rabbits are well known for their ability to reproduce. A female rabbit can have a new litter of babies every 31 to 32 days during the breeding season. Depending on how long the warm season lasts, this could be five to eight litters a year. A female rabbit can have from one to fourteen babies per litter, although the average for domestic rabbits is five babies per litter. Also, the female, on average, may start having litters when she is only six-months-old. (Remember, these are all averages.) That is a lot of rabbits, just from one rabbit mom, in a year. Nature tries to keep things in balance. While rabbits eat shrubs and green plants, other predatory animals, like foxes, coyotes, and more eat rabbits. If your town is being overrun by rabbits, my guess is that something has happened to the animals that prey on rabbits. Have you heard of the fox or coyote populations being sick? If the predator (foxes and coyotes) numbers drop, the number of prey (rabbits) increase. When the predator numbers start increasing again, the rabbit population will start decreasing. Sometimes, when populations of one type of animal get too large, that group of animals becomes ill, and a number of individuals start to die too. This also brings the numbers back into balance. You made a good scientific observation about the rabbit population, Ryan. Perhaps you can keep a data notebook, and write the date, time, location, and number of rabbits when you see them. It will be interesting to look back in a year, and see if there are differences in the population numbers. Do you have a question you would like to submit to Camp Buttonwillow's question of the day? Go to the Comment page, and type in your question. Remember, all we need is your first name and last initial.
Q. Hi, Buttonwillow. My friend James said the beautiful coral that grows in the ocean is really an animal. I say no way! Who is right? Lizzy K. A. What a great question, Lizzy! Usually, all we see is the skeleton of the coral, unless we visit the aquarium or are lucky enough to go snorkeling. A coral polyp is a tiny ocean animal. It looks like a teeny, tiny anemone. (Orange and white clown fish hang out in bigger anemones.) It has a skeleton on the outside, and a soft body on the inside. Coral polyps live in colonies. Each polyp is identical to another in the colony. When the coral polyps die, the skeletons, made of calcium carbonate, are left behind, forming beautiful pieces of a hard, rock-like substance. These may be quite large. Colonies of coral form reefs. These are typically found in sub-tropical and tropical waters, but there are cold water corals, too. The Great Barrier Reef, by Australia is one of the most famous reefs. Reefs are home to numerous fish and other ocean creatures. These pictures show different kinds of corals. You might see similar corals in an aquarium or at the pet shop. In the lower left center of the top photo, you can see a brain coral. The soft covering of the corals in the top photo are the polyps. (Photos courtesy of classroomclipart.com)
Remember, you too, can have your question featured here! Simply go to the Comments page, and type in your question. Just use your first name and last initial when submitting a question. Wow! Did you get as busy with the beginning of school as I did? My gosh, we are already learning a lot about science at my school! I hope you are too! This was a question that came up in my Life Science class. A. The dragonfly life cycle begins when female dragonflies lay their eggs in the water. They lay them in calm water, like small ponds, marshes, and quiet waters of rivers and streams. The eggs hatch, and the baby dragonflies, called nymphs, hang out in the water for a while. This is the longest stage of their life, taking months. The nymphs have gills, much like fish, and take the oxygen that they need from the water. They prey on, and eat just about anything they can catch. They may even eat other dragonfly nymphs! After they molt, or shed their skin several times while still living in the water, they finally get big enough to crawl out. They shed one more time, and emerge as adult dragonflies. The adult stage lasts about two months. As adults, they eat other insects, including mosquitoes. Finally, the dragonflies reproduce, and die. Some people call dragonflies "Devil's Darning Needles." Despite what old tales say, a dragonfly will not swoop down and sew your lips shut. Some people wrongly believe that if you get stung by a dragonfly you will die. In fact, they do not sting. There is no need to fear this beautiful insect. Instead, enjoy the pretty colors as they dart through the air! (Thanks to dragonfly-site.com for helping us learn more about these beautiful insects!) Don't forget! You can have your science question featured here. Just submit it on the Comments page. Use your first name and last initial when you send me your question.
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