"Lizard Island: Observation" by Budding Biologist

I was recently given the opportunity to demo a new game created by a new and upcoming company called Budding Biologists. A team of two moms, Dr. Kristine (Kris) Callis-Duehl and Katy Castronovo, who were appalled by the accuracy of the books and games that were available for their kids.

The two women have already written several successful children's books, such as Am I an Insect? and Where do I live?. Both books feature illustrations drawn by Katy which are designed to be as accurate as possible to the living creature. They want to create educational materials for kids that not only match up with core standards, but also look and feel just as fun as any other book or game.

Lizard Island: Observation is the first game of three that gradually introduces children, ranging from kindergarten age to fifth grade, into thinking and playing like scientists. The graphic design of the world you play in is incredibly realistic and the tools are easy to learn and fun to use, especially when a lizard is on the run and you are trying to tilt the screen just right to snap a picture.

One technique the game uses to get kids thinking teaches basic permutations for tagging each lizard when you catch it. You are only given three colours to work with and, as more and more lizards show up each level, you need to get creative in creating as many new combinations as possible so no lizard has the same tag as another.

The two sequels are designed to build on the knowledge gained from playing the first game, while increasing the range of topics covered.

Lizard Island: Hypothesis changes your point of view from playing as the scientist, whose goal is to study and collect data on the different lizard, but as one of the very lizards you were previously studying. Now, your goal becomes survival by learning how lizards find food, water, and shelter, while also hiding from any predators that are hanging around.

The third game in the series will be called Lizard Island: Experiment, which takes players a step further by combining what they learned from both previous games and teaching them how to build a stable ecosystems while creating their very own Lizard Island. Little scientists will get to choose which plants to grow in different areas of their island and also choose which animals will live there, then see how their ecosystem thrives.

Lizard Island is a great way to boost your child’s knowledge of biology at an earlier age or supplement a science program. Just be warned, you may soon have to hunt down a lab coat and magnifying glass for your “budding biologist.”

Save the Bees and Ban “Neoinic” Pesticides

If you’ve been paying vague attention to the news over the last decade, you probably know that we’ve been seeing an alarming decrease in bee populations since the early 2000s. Considering that our produce doesn’t actually grow itself and bees are our primary source of pollination, this is a bit of a concern for future life on our planet. Various governments have thrown cabals of scientists at the problem and, while they spent the usual amount of time arguing with each other, recently we have begun seeing results from various studies.

The most widely agreed upon cause of colony collapse is neonicotinoid pesticide usage.

So, what are “neonic” pesticides and what have they been doing to both humans and bees? They were first developed in the 1990s by Shell and Bayer as a reduced toxicity alternative to current pesticides on the market that would only target pests and not helpful insects. Its base is a compound chemically similar to nicotine, which acts as a natural insecticide. FYI: I honestly don’t understand why people voluntarily smoke poison.

The first pesticide developed by Shell was found not to be photosoluable, meaning that it didn’t break down in sunlight and was not viable for use with human consumables, so it was never released for public use. The second, which has been commercially available since the early 2000s, is water-soluable and will break down slowly when left in the environment. Since then, two other varieties have been developed and virtually all GMO corn grown in the Midwestern USA is treated with one of these types of pesticide. (Yay! They’ve basically been adding nicotine to food!)

So now that we’ve established this pesticide as not the best thing in the world, although better than what we used to use, what is the impact of “neonics” on bee populations? It is true that they aren’t killed. However, when this type of pesticide is applied to plants and a bee lands on them, the bee loses its ability to learn and remember navigation routes from its hive to their pollen sources. Simply put, they can no longer find their way home.

If that wasn’t enough, the bees that do make it back to their hive with infected pollen have unwittingly brought back a slow acting poison. In low doses on plants the pesticide doesn’t kill bees, but when concentrated while making the honey that provides the hive with nourishment, it often becomes lethal. To put it plainly, the bees are making their own food poisonous, which begs the question… what about the honey and produce that the everyday human is eating? With our larger bodies and such small amounts there aren’t the lethal effects seen in bees, but what about the neurological effects that are keeping bees from remembering where their hive is? It would be interesting to find out if those who developed memory disorders have had a wide exposure to this type of pesticide.

The European Union has already banned this class of pesticide, but Canada and the United States have not yet done so. There are initiatives by environmentalists and beekeepers to ban neonicotinoids in the United States and they have even filed a lawsuit against the Enviromental Protection Agency. Until they succeed, and here in Canada, that still puts even the regular garden bee at risk because garden centers regularly spray their plants with pesticides. You could buy a “bee-friendly” plant in the spring that has already been sprayed with the same pesticide that has been harming them!

Help Canada take action by signing the Suzuki Foundation’s “Petition to Ban Bee Killing Pesticides”

Organic Versus Convential Farming. Go!

Controversy makes amazing news and nothing is more controversial than organic farming. Debates have already sprung up on the legitimacy of a recently released paper by Rodale Institute, the world’s leading advocate of organic farming practices - going back to 1947.

The company ran a 33-year Farm System Trial designed to compare the results of conventional farming with that of organic farming on CO2 emissions.  Despite citing sources from 75 different peer reviewed and unaffiliated studies, there are an amazing number of skeptics who would be more than happy to debunk every word in the report.

The trial compares neighbouring plots of land, one farmed organic and the other conventional. Both types of plots were divided into till and no-till sections to reflect farmers who use both methods. The organic fields used typical organic farming techniques like crop-rotation and cover crops, while the conventional fields used the most common forms of synthetic pesticides and GMOs.

According to the study: “Recent data from farming systems and pasture trials around the globe show that we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive organic management practices, which we term “regenerative organic agriculture.” These practices work to maximize carbon fixation while minimizing the loss of that carbon once returned to the soil, reversing the greenhouse effect” ~ Read about the White Paper ~

The downside, since no potential solution is ever perfect, is that the first few years those farms switch their produce to organic, the yields aren’t as high due to previous soil depletion and they don’t qualify as organic yet so farmers are investing a lot of money without equivalent return.

This prevents a great deal of farmers from switching, especially when they have such a low profit margin as it is. With so many farms already in trouble due to drought and pest problems, we’re not likely to see a rapid increase unless they apply for grants or subsidies from the government or private investors.

Greenhouse Project

The Manhattan School for Children wanted to give their students a solid foundation in the environmental concerns about living in a big city. So they built a greenhouse science lab on their roof! The idea was that students “grow food, while learning hands-on about nutrition, water resource management, efficient land use, climate change, biodiversity, conservation, contamination, pollution, waste management, and sustainable development.” The project was so successful that there are now 25 labs at schools throughout New York City and their goal is 100 labs by 2020. NYSunWorks

Greenhouse Recycling

Photo Credit

A greenhouse in Ladner, BC has successfully implemented the most advanced greenhouse technology ever. A fuel-cell system that will process the gasses that come off of landfills into renewable heat and food grade carbon dioxide (CO2), as well as producing electricity and hydrogen to sell to commercial markets. Since there is no combustion involved in the process, there are also virtually no pollutants – making this greenhouse truly “Green.”
 
Read more in GREENHOUSE CANADA

Wind Turbines vs Hurricanes

 
Scientists have recently discovered an interesting fact about wind turbines. Not only can they create energy for us by harnessing the power of the wind, they also reduce wind speeds by up to 50%. Testing has shown that placing a large array of wind turbines along the most common paths of hurricanes would minimize damage by reducing both wind speeds and storm surges before they hit the coast.