TARDIGRADES IN TEXAS: FIFTH GRADERS COLLABORATE TO ADD THREE NEW RECORDS TO THE STATE

Abstract

Tardigrades, or water bears, are resilient microscopic animals found in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Because tardigrades can be easily found and yet are understudied, fifth graders from Hill Elementary in the Austin Independent School District in Texas collaborated with their teacher and an expert to conduct a biodiversity survey of microscopic animals found in lichens and mosses on their school campus. These ten-year-olds learned to differentiate between tardigrades, rotifers, and nematodes as they collected samples from different habitats. In their first year of study, they observed 520 microscopic animals and found differences in their diversity and distribution patterns. A second study of 14 samples revealed 68 tardigrades from eight identified species, representing two classes, four orders, and five genera. Three of these species have never been recorded from the state of Texas and represent the first records for the state: Viridiscus perviridis (Ramazzotti, 1959), Milnesium cf. alpigenum (Ehrenberg, 1853), and Milnesium cf. brachyungue (Binda & Pilato, 1990). Furthermore, Mil. alpigenum and Mil. brachyungue were previously unknown in North America, thus representing the first records for both species on the continent. This experience demonstrates that students challenged with basic research questions can learn to conduct field research, carry out scientific surveys, collaborate with scientists and discover new knowledge. In this case, students learned to find tardigrades and contributed to our overall understanding of this phylum.