Description: Six spinose species of planktonic foraminifera (Hastigerina pelagica (d'Orbigny), Globigerinella aequilateralis (Brady), Globigerinoides ruber (d'Orbigny), Globigerinoides sacculifer (Brady), Globigerinoides conglobatus (Brady) and Orbulina universa d'Orbigny) are routinely collected by scuba diving in the Sargasso Sea off Bermuda and are maintained in the laboratory. These and non-spinose species can also be collected with plankton nets for laboratory culture. H. pelagica recovers extremely well from the net-towing operation. The mean survival times of H. pelagica, G. aequilateralis, G. ruber, G. sacculifer, G. conglobatus and O. universa in laboratory cultures are 21.1, 10.6, 6.2, 6.7, 11.8 and 8.8 days, respectively. These figures reflect in part the onset of gametogenesis, which terminates the life of the mother cell. During gametogenesis, which occurs over a period of about thirteen hours, the mother shell sinks and sheds its spines, and hundreds of thousands of gametes are released. Gametogenesis has been observed in nine species. All six spinose species possess one or more types of associated algae, which vary widely in size and number. The external ones are large dinoflagellates, such as Pyrocystis fusiformis, P. noctiluca and Dissodinium spp., which occur with H. pelagica. The smaller ones (zooxanthellae) in G. sacculifer, G. ruber and O. universa exhibit a circadian periodicity of ingress into the shell in the evening and egress to the rhizopodial network and the distal parts of the spines during the day. Some planktonic foraminiferal species are herbivorous, others are carnivorous, and still others are omnivorous. Copepods appear to be the main diet of G. aequilateralis and H. pelagica, both of which are fed Artemia nauplii in the laboratory. Shell and spine growth have been observed, and the formation of a new chamber in G. ruber takes place in about 90 minutes.

Description: “Earth2Class” is a unique science/math/technology learning resource that brings together research scientists and classroom teachers to enhance knowledge and skills of both. Based at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, this program has expanded greatly from earlier versions described at the 9th Symposium on Education through development of a supporting Internet site, www.earth2class.org, and use of teleconferencing technologies to allow participants far from the LDEO campus to participate in the workshops. Two accompanying presentations describe more about these aspects of the project. This presentation describes what the cooperating scientists share with teachers. In the winter and spring of 2000, ten LDEO staffers provided seven workshops for teachers. These were part of three-hour Saturday morning programs made available to classroom educators in two ways: “live” at the Palisades NY campus of LDEO, and through teleconferencing to teachers about 200 miles (320 km) away through the North Hudson Electronic Educational Empowerment Project, based at Adirondack Community College. Educational technology specialists from the Institute of Learning technologies of Teachers College, Columbia University provided support for teleconferencing and development of www.earth2class.org. Before each session, they discussed with the research scientists proposed content for the workshop, then worked to develop appropriate power point or html display materials, as well as other resources available for teachers using the web site. Dr. Michael J. Passow, an AMS Maury Project Peer Trainer, provided background information and classroom-ready activities during the rest of the workshops. Participants at both sites were able to interact with the scientists, asking questions and utilizing web sites and CDs provided for the project by NASA's JPL, the Ocean Drilling Project, and other sources. The teachers were also able to work though several of the AMS Education Program teacher training modules created for Project ATMOSPHERE and the Maury Project.