Biology Newsletter #2

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 2: week commencing 30 March 2020

Garden bird of the week

How to grow a tomato plant on your window sill This would also work with chilli seeds if the chilli has not been preserved by irradiation. Other seeds to try: dried peas, dried beans, an avocado seed - just try whatever you have in the kitchen – ask your parents first! Any plastic bottle will do including a milk bottle - size is not important.

Can you spot the this species from your garden or window?

The blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) They will be very active moving through trees and shrubs, looking for insects and you may even see them carrying nest material like moss or feathers.

Can you find a recording of their song on line or on ‘tweet of the day’

Dissect a flower

Instructions 1. Cut bottle in half (take care this is tricky) and invert the top half into the base like a funnel.

2. Cut a piece of kitchen towel - this will form a wick to bring water up to the seeds and will also hold the water for the seeds.

3. Scrape the seeds out of a ripe tomato using a teaspoon (eat the rest of the tomato). Remove as much flesh as possible from the seeds.

4. Place the seeds onto the damp kitchen towel.

5. Leave on a bright window sill.

6. Take a photo every day to make a video diary.

Garden critters You’d be surprised at the variety and diversity of animal species within your garden. To investigate, you could collect some leaf litter, put it in a tray and then carefully look through to see what you have. Find a key online to help with identification. Send photos to us of anything good that you find! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eue0BV6VHvc

If you have a garden why not pick a flower and do a dissection (you must ask first!)? The daffodils are starting to finish now so you might want to choose one of these. This handy YouTube clip shows you how to do it and what you are looking at Why not film yourself doing the dissection and send it in?

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 2: week commencing 30 March 2020

Mr Glanville’s garden zoo!

This bird is called Chickpea is eleven years old and hatched when Mr Glanville's son was revising for his A levels at Habs. This bird hates Mrs Glanville with a passion and attacks her whenever it gets the chance! Silkies have a mutation that means that the feathers lack the tiny hooks that hold a normal feather together so their feathers are like hairs and therefore look very fluffy this means that they are less waterproof than normal chickens. They also have 5 toes instead of four in a normal chicken and have black skin and bones. They go broody very easily: their body temperature rises and they sit on eggs. In the past, before electrical incubators, silkies were used to hatch other breeds of chicken and pheasants. This bird, Chickpea, tries to steal and sit on the other bantams' eggs. She is too old to lay eggs herself.

The bird is a roul roul partridge Rollulus rouloul This is a male and he has been caught up ready to be placed in the outdoor aviary for the summer . The female is green in colour and doesn't have a crest. They spend most of their time on the aviary floor and eat seeds and some fruit and insects. They roost (go to sleep on branch about 1 metre high). They are unusual for ground birds in that they make a big nest and the chicks when they hatch are fed insects by their parents. In most ground birds, the chicks have the instinct to feed by pecking on the ground and don't need their parents to show them. The roul roul partridges in Europe are all captive-bred and are not imported from the wild.

Mr Glanville has 11 species of bird in his aviary so more to come in future newsletters plus news if any species start to build nests.

Biology Department Newsletter Issue 2: week commencing 30 March 2020

Springwatch with Mr Coleman Why not build a quick and easy birdfeeder or a bird kebab? https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/d ownloads/documents/kids-andschools/make-an-apple-bird-feeder.pdf https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/d ownloads/documents/kids-andschools/make-a-bird-kebab.pdf You will be amazed at the number and variety of bird species that you will see taking advantage of an easy feed.

Practise taking photos/videos of your feathered visitors and count the number of different species that you see – more on bird identification next week…

Do let me know how you get on at Coleman_S@habsboys.org.uk by sharing any of your photos/videos/stories of our Spring Nature. Tweet tweet!

Stuck indoors?

Don’t despair – let the natural world come to you! Explore the Natural World with these landmark BBC series from Sir David Attenborough – neither of which will be around forever! https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/group/p06 m42d9 Things to think about when you’re watching: • Classification – what KPCOFG Species is it?

• What ecosystem does the organism inhabit?

• What are the biotic/abiotic factors?

• Where is each organism’s habitat and niche?

• Interdependence e.g. Predator/Prey relationships, Mutualism?

• Food chains vs. Food webs • Human influences on the environment (positive as well as negative!)

But above all enjoy the amazing variety of life on planet Earth