While former Vice President Al Gore continues to rant about the supposed dangers of global warming to anyone who will listen, the sixth-graders at Oxford Middle School made some interesting scientific discoveries that may be related to the colder-than-usual summer we just experienced.
As they do every year, the sixth-graders spent a day last week studying water samples and life-forms obtained from the middle school’s storm water retention pond.
While the chemical analysis of the water was fairly consistent with previous findings, science teacher Jennifer Bennett, who leads the field project every spring and fall, reported there was a significant lack of macroinvertebrates found in the pond.
Macroinvertebrates are organisms, such as insects, that do not have a backbone and are visible without a microscope.
‘We found zero dragonfly larva, zero damselfly larva and a single mayfly larva all day,? Bennett reported. ‘Generally, while not in abundance, there are (usually) adequate examples to be found.?
Equally odd, a large, legless polliwog (or tadpole) was also discovered in the pond.
‘This is not the time of year for polliwogs in such an early developmental stage,? Bennett noted.
Bennett has two theories, both weather-related, for these strange occurrences.
The first is that the colder summer affected the insects? cycles and the larvae are not sufficiently developed enough to see with the naked eye.
‘Or the season is so late that the insect eggs have not yet hatched into their larval forms. Or the late warm weather in (the) fall wreaked havoc on them in some as yet undetermined way,? Bennett added.
Her second theory is the Oct. 1 frost the area experienced sent the larvae so deep into the mud, they were unable to retrieve any samples.
‘Either way, I am anxiously awaiting the spring survey,? she said.
? Editor C.J. Carnacchio