What Is On The Poster; Forest; Ants; Leaves / Pine Needles - Ravensburger X Science SMARTSCOPE Bedienungsanleitung

What is on the poster?

Forest

1. Ants

Ants live in large communities,
which we call colonies. Only
one of the ants, the queen,
lays eggs and creates
offspring. The other ants in
the colony have different
jobs. They can be workers,
nurses or soldiers, for example.
Have a good look at the mandibles of the ants (the
parts around their mouths). Can you see any
differences between them?

2. Leaves / pine needles

Leaves and pine needles are the
power plants and water
pumps of trees. They use
their chloroplasts (little
green cells) to capture
energy from sunlight. They
pull water all the way up from
the roots, so it travels to even
the furthest branches, and eventually evaporates from
the surface of the leaves. Have a close look at leaves
and needles from different trees. Some leaves have
tiny hairs on them, some protect themselves with a
thick layer of wax, and some are thin and almost
transparent. Can you see the fine network of veins?
Can you see the rows of small white spots on pine
needles? These are openings through which water
evaporates.
3. Mushrooms
Mushrooms are not plants,
even though they grow from
the ground in exactly the
same way. The thing that
you think of as a mushroom,
is actually only a small part
(called the fruit body) of a large
32
underground network. Their job is to spread spores
that will grow new mushrooms. Mushrooms often
grow on rotting things, such as dead trees. Some of
them will connect to the roots of trees, such that the
mushroom and the tree can work together. The tree
provides the mushroom with sugars (that it creates
from sunlight), and the mushroom, in turn, provides
the tree with other nutrients. In some forests the
ground is full of mushroom networks. If you cannot
find any mushrooms in a forest, you can also get them
from a supermarket.
Important! Mushrooms can be extremely poisonous
and dangerous. If you find mushrooms in a forest you
may only touch them with gloves, and you should
never eat them! Avoid contact with your eyes and
mouth. For example, do not rub your eyes after
touching a mushroom. Always wash your hands
carefully afterwards. After your research, throw away
the mushroom and the gloves that you used. Small
children and animals must be kept away from the
experiment.

Water

4. Algae

You can find algae in most
bodies of water. For example,
macro algae (big algae) look
like green slime, brown-
green clusters or long
shoots that can look a bit
like antlers. On the other
hand, micro algae (small algae)
are finely spread out and swim freely in the water. In
the summer they paint the sea green. They are green
for the same reason that tree leaves are green: they
contain chloroplast cells that absorb energy from
sunlight. Have a close look at a drop of water from the
sea in the summer. Can you see the little algae? Always
be careful when going into the sea, and never go into
the water without a grown-up.