07x03 - Dragonfly Detectives

[bunniefuu]

(Luci) Okay, you ready
to go in the water?

(Saloni) Let's go!
(Logan) [squeals]

Welcome to the Indiana Dunes...
(Luci) National Park.

You got this, Saloni.

(Desi) We actually have
a project called

the Dragonfly Mercury Project.

(Logan) Oh, I got a bug.

(Shania) Logan's got one.

(Luci) Oh, this is cool.

(cheerful music)

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(girls)
♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S

(Izzie)
We need you!

(girls)
♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S ♪

(Izzie)
Come on!

(girls) ♪ When I need help
and I've got a question ♪

♪ There's a place I go
for inspiration ♪

♪ Got to get to the web, check
the girls' investigation ♪

♪ What girls?

♪ SciGirls!

Whoo!

(girls)
♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S

(Izzie)
I need you!

(girls)
♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S ♪

Come on!

♪ You've got to log on, post

♪ Upload, pitch in
Yeah!

♪ Want to get inside a world
that's fascinating? ♪

♪ The time is right
'cause SciGirls are waiting ♪

(girls)
♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S

(Izzie)
We need you!

(girls)
♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S ♪

(Izzie)
SciGirls!

Jake, the rain stopped
after an entire week.

[sighs exasperatedly]
We can finally go outside.

(Jake) Mm, nope.
Something's still missing.

(Izzie) Yeah, I know.

It's sunshine.
Come on.

(Jake) Iz, Fang and I entered

the Banana Bread
Bonanza Contest.

Tastiest
and most creative wins.

I really wanna win this.

(Izzie) You know, fresh air
can really spark

some new ideas and recipes.

(Jake) Spaghetti, spaghetti.

Let's try spaghetti this time.

[hums]

(Izzie) Come on.

Even the best chefs
in the world take breaks.

(Jake) Yep, yep.

That's the right amount,
mm-hmm.

Ugh.
This is not good.

[groans] Hmm.

Uh, Izzy,
can you hand me the pickles?

(Fang) Mm? Mm-mm.

(Izzie) Ugh.

I think I'm gonna need
some help.

You know, I bet the SciGirls
will have some ideas.

[music]

Hmm, almost.

Close.

Ah, aha, this could work.

[music]

(Logan) Straight to the water.

(Luci) We're in the Indiana
Dunes National Park.

We're kind of, like,
at the very bottom

of Lake Michigan.

(Logan) Take our shoes off.


(Logan) Take our shoes off.

(Luci) It's fun to grow up
near Lake Michigan

because you get
to go on a lot of hikes

'cause there's
a lot of trails around.

[gasps] Oh, there was
a lizard right there.

Logan, hold on!

(Luci) Indiana Dunes
has great hiking trails

like the stairs.

There's a lot
of different types

of ecosystems.

In one place, it'll be

all hot and dry and sandy,

and then another place,
it'll be

like a luscious forest.

Uh-oh, watch out
for poison ivy.

I'm Luci,
I am years old,

and I'm going
into seventh grade.

(Saloni) Ready? Ah!

(Logan) My name is Logan,
and I live in Gary, Indiana.

(Luci) Okay, you ready
to go in the water?

(all) Three, two, one.

(Luci) Me and Saloni
and Logan--

we met in fourth grade.

(Logan) Me and Saloni--
we really kicked it off

because we came
at the same time,

but Luci was already there.

(Luci) Oh, I think I got
a good one.

(Luci) The dunes
in the national park

is like the woods
behind our school.

(Logan) And our school
pretty much has

a backyard trail

that goes a really long way.

(Luci) What?

(Luci) Oh, cool.

Do you wanna ask
my mom about it?

(Logan) Yeah, let's go.
(Luci) Okay.

My mom works
for the national park.

She's an entomologist,
so she studies bugs.

It's kind of hard
to get a picture of him.

(Luci) "Leave no trace" means

you just leave the park

how it was or better,
and you don't take

anything from the park.
There you go.

(Saloni) Bye-bye.

(Logan and Luci) Bye!

(Logan) Luci's mom
is a national park ranger

here at the Indiana Dunes.

(Luci) Hey, Mom.

(Desi) Hey, girls.

(Luci) We found a bug

in the dunes today.

Uh, we were wondering
if you can identify it.

(Desi) Why don't you take
a seat here

and, uh, see
if we can identify this?

(Desi) Very cool.

That is a type
of ground beetle.

You know, we've got all kinds
of really cool bugs

at the Indiana Dunes.

(Desi) Here's
some really pretty moths.

(Luci) Oh, cool.

My favorite parts
of her collection

were the butterflies and moths

'cause you could see
all their wings open.

(Desi) These are
my absolute favorites

because these
are aquatic insects.

Aquatic insects are
really, really cool

because we can use them
to understand

how healthy
aquatic ecosystems might be.

And so you're probably used
to seeing

dragonflies like this.

But I'm used
to studying them like this.

These are what they look like
when they're young.

These are their larvae.
We call them nymphs.

Some of them
can live underwater

for up to five years before
they come out as adults.


for up to five years before
they come out as adults.

(Luci) They live less time
above water,

flying around
as actual dragonflies.

(Desi) Dragonflies
are predators,

so they are eating
other little bugs.

And sometimes,
some of the things

they might have eaten
might be pollutants,

things like mercury,

things that we don't wanna have
in our water.

(Desi) And so we actually have
a project,

called
the Dragonfly Mercury Project,

that look at the larvae

to find out how much mercury
we have

in the waters
of the national park.

(Logan)
Can we help with the project?

(Desi) Absolutely.

Yeah, this is citizen science.

(Luci) Citizen science is where
anyone can, like, help out.

(Logan) She said that we were
gonna be looking for nymphs.

(Luci) You catch them,
and then

we send them to scientists

to analyze what's inside them.

(Desi) So you guys can get
signed up

as a volunteer
at the park here

and, uh, help us to do
some really great science.

(Logan) We are gonna become
citizen scientists.

And I think it's cool that
I get a chance to do this.

[music]

(Shania) Hi, girls.
Nice to meet you.

My name is Shania.
I'm a ranger

at Indiana Dunes
National Park.

Are you excited for today?
(Luci and Saloni) Yeah.

(Logan) Yes.
(Shania) Cool.

(Logan)
Today, we're at Great Marsh,

and we're gonna go look
for nymphs of dragonflies.

(Shania) So there's
a few things

that you need to know.

So protocol is basically

just the procedures and stuff
that we follow

while we do citizen science.

[music]

(Shania) All of you guys will
have waders and life jackets.

(Shania)
And you'll all have a net.

And then, when we collect
the dragonfly nymphs,

we're gonna put them
individually

into a little ice cube tray.

All right, net and net.

(Luci) Thank you.

(Shania) So when you're
skimming for dragonflies,

you don't wanna go
very deep at all.

You're just gonna go, like,
right against the surface

of the lake
and come up like that.

You wanna shake it
as you come up.

And then, we're gonna look
inside of it.

If we find any,
we're gonna put them

in these little tiny
containers.

(Logan) So protocol is, we have
to get at least

to test them all.

(Shania) You can step in.

(Logan) Oh, this is cool.

In the water,
Ranger Shania had us

going in different spots
because she told us

that when you're already
there, then more likely,

everything already went away.

(Shania) You gotta look
real closely, guys,

because they blend in
really good.

(Logan) It was hard,
especially looking for,

making sure you don't touch it,

but keeping an eye on it,

because they just kept
really crawling around.

Oh, I got a bug.

(Luci) Yeah, it's hiding.
It's right there.

It was crawling around.

(Shania) Logan's got one.

(Luci) Yay!
(Logan) Yeah.

(Shania) Now, we're gonna have
Desi come in

and collect them for us.

(Desi) We don't wanna
contaminate this sample.

So I'm the clean glove hand,
all right?

So I'm gonna reach in,

and I'm gonna grab
this dragonfly,

and I'm gonna put it
in our ice cube tray

so that we can bag
it up for later.

(Luci) I got a lot of gunk.
(Desi) That's all right.


(Luci) I got a lot of gunk.
(Desi) That's all right.

Sometimes, you gotta look
really carefully

because the dragonflies,
they might be hiding

in all these plants and stuff.

And so you just
gotta keep looking.

(Luci) I got a shell.

(Logan) I thought it was
very hard

because it's like,
you really have to put

your back into it,
and dig down in the water

and then pull it up with all
the seaweed and all the gunk

and all that.

(Desi) Oh, my gosh, you guys,

Luci got a dragonfly.

(Luci) Yes.
(Desi) Perfect.

(Logan) It's green.

(Desi) Why do you guys
think it's green?

(Logan) 'Cause of the water.

(Luci) Exactly.
(Desi) All that stuff.

So remember,
you are what you eat.

You guys have heard that?

(Logan)
Saloni's got a dragonfly.

(Desi) Right!
(Saloni) Yay.

(Logan) Oh, wait, I think
I got one.

I feel really excited,
like, that I got one,

and I got to see one
on my own.

And I thought
it was really cool.

(Luci) I think I got one.

(Desi) All right, I'm gonna use
my clean glove.

(Luci) We're gonna be
at really soon.

[music]

(Desi) We are at .
One more.

Who's gonna give us
our last one?

(Luci) We're hoping Saloni.

(Luci) Oh, I got one.
[bell dinging]

(Logan) Yeah!
Go, Luci.

(Shania) Okay, guys, right now,

we're gonna take these
up there,

and then
we're gonna bag them.

When we're done,
we're gonna rinse off

our waders and our nets
because we don't wanna bring

anything from this body
of water

to another one.

[music]

(Desi) Seal it and put
that in the cooler,

and take it back to the lab.

[music]

(Luci) It was fun
because I'm used

to, like, collecting bugs,

but I've never done
dragonfly nymphs,

and I've never been
in the marsh.

(Shania) Oh!
(Logan) Oh, be careful.

[music]

[alarm ringing]

[cheers and applause]

Bye!

[music]

(Logan) This afternoon,
we are going to examine

and measure the nymphs.


(Logan) What--better is
less mercury

because it's not good
for our water.

(Shania) We'll take out one
of these little tags,

and we use these to identify
the type of dragonfly.

(Luci) We need to know
the family of the dragonfly

so that we can see
if, uh, certain families

collect more mercury
than others.

(Shania) Now that you guys
are done identifying them,

we'll put the insect
and the tag

that we made for it
inside of another bag

and send it off
to the laboratory.

(Luci) It was fun
because you get to be

a scientist for a day.

(Shania) Well, now that
you guys are done with this,

the next thing to do
is that you guys explore

and do some more research,

and then share what you found.

[music]

(Luci) You got this, Saloni.

(Shania) You're doing great.

(Luci) While we were kayaking,
we talked

about how you can be
a good steward

of the environment
and ecosystem.

Really?
(Logan) You can't drive.

You're gonna be
a horrible driver.

[music]

(Shania)
So these dunes were formed

after the continental glaciers

that covered all of this area
melted away.

And when they melted,
they created the Great Lakes.

(Luci) Ranger Shania told us

that all the water flows
into Lake Michigan,

and all the land around it

is part of
the Lake Michigan watershed.

(Logan) So we live
in the Lake Michigan watershed.

(Shania)
When the Great Lakes formed

and the water would rise
and fall,

it would create
different environments

and ecosystems.

(Luci) So Indiana Dunes
National Park--

it's one
of the most biodiverse.

(Shania) Because we're
so many ecosystems here,

this is
the birthplace of ecology.

We've got bogs.
We've got marsh and wetlands.

Right over there
is dune and swale.

Right next to us
is black oak savanna.

(Luci) We were learning
about the park

while we were kayaking
'cause usually,

you would just, like, go out,
look at fish.

But we got to learn
about the land also,

not only the water,
but also water quality.

[music]

(Logan) I thought that
the kayaking was

really fun and interesting.

Oh, I'm so sorry!

(Logan) I got splashed
with water,

and then I splashed Luci
with water.

(Luci) I got splashed a lot
with her paddle.


(Luci) I got splashed a lot
with her paddle.

Logan.

Logan!

But, uh, it was fun.

[music]

(Shania) Careful
for the nettle.

(Logan) Today, we're hiking
on Little Calumet East River.

(Shania) Since we're
by the Little Calumet,

we've met a lot
of cool species near here.

Some of them are good,
some of them are bad.

(Luci)
So the Little Calumet River,

all the water flows
into Lake Michigan

and is part
of the Lake Michigan watershed.

(Shania) You know
how I mentioned

earlier that we're
a really biodiverse park?

(Saloni) Yeah.
(Shania) So when we have

more invasive species,

we lose biodiversity

because there's more of them

than there are
our native species.

The park's job is to try
our best to get rid of that

and replant native species

so that we can increase
our biodiversity.

(Luci) Invasive species are--
they basically are

just plants and animals
that, like, don't belong.

(Logan) The non-native species
can be more like a bully

how they k*ll other plants.

(Shania) Have you guys gotten
rid of any invasive species

on your own?
(girls) Yeah.

(Shania) What type?

(Luci) Non-native,
uh, bittersweet

and English ivy.

(Shania) Okay, guys,
let's get going.

(Saloni) Okay.

[music]

(Luci) Hi, I'm Luci.

And I like to knit and crochet,

so here are two blankets
that I have knitted.

I also love to grow plants.

It's like my favorite hobby.

These are a couple propagations
that I have.

Hi.
This is another one

of my favorite plants.

It's called the UFO plant

or, like,
the pepperoni plant sometimes.

It's also known as
the friendship plant

because it grows baby plants

and you can, like, cut them out
and give them to your friends.

I also love to write poetry.

So this is my poetry notebook.

This is my cat Cosmos.

He's eating.

These are my dogs.

There's Seamus.

He's the old one.

And then there's Colbert.

They love their ball.

Good boy, good boy.

Uh, this is my goat.

Uh, his name is Nibbles.

Hi, hi.

So this is the garden
that I helped plant.

They're all vegetables.

And then, these are snap peas,

which are in season, so...

[crunches] Bye.

[music]

So we're
at the Shedd Aquarium today,

which is a museum
near the lake.

(Logan) Hey, lookit,
Great Lakes.

(Logan) That's really slimy.

(Luci) The water's really cold,
though, but, like--

(Logan) It's cold.
My hands are cold.

(Luci) They're huge.

(Luci) Great Lakes are,
like, the largest system


(Luci) Great Lakes are,
like, the largest system

of fresh water on Earth.

Water quality was
a big one that we learned

from the Shedd,
and how we need clean water

for a safe and healthy
environment.

So that tied in

with the, um, Great Marsh
collecting.

I didn't know
that goldfish were invasive.

(Logan) In the gallery
about the Great Lakes,

we learned
about invasive species.

Already, more than invasive
animals and plant species

have made themselves
at home in the Great Lakes.

(Luci)
Oh, these are the lampreys.

(Logan) They look like leeches.

Oh, we've seen this.
(Saloni) Yeah.

(Luci) Yeah, I've seen
the zebra mussels

in Little Calumet even.

[music]

There are gardens
outside of the Shedd,

and, uh, they're all kind
of restored habitats.

So there's a lot
of native species.

(Logan) Cool, they planted
all this milkweed.

This probably used
to be all grass.

(Saloni) Yeah.ÂÂ
(Logan) The Shedd Garden--

what it is trying to do is fix
the invasive species' damage

by replanting
and regrowing everything.

(Luci) I think this is sedge.

(Logan) We have a lot
of this by the beach.

(Luci) Mm-hmm.

(Logan) Next, we are going
to my house

to work on a project

to share what we learned.

[music]

Oh, hi.
My name is Logan.

My favorite hobby is
to ride my new scooter.

Another one
of my favorite things

is to cook.

But right now, I'm cooking
me a cheesy omelet.

One of my favorite things to do
and favorite sports is soccer.

One of my other favorite things
to do is play piano.

[music]ÂÂ
[applause]

Another of my favorite things
to do is drawing.

Now, this is a top ten.

So this is my favorite boy.

His name is Pharoah.

And he's the best boy
you could ask for.

Go.

Goodbye!

[music]

We are at my house
to work on a project

to share what we learned.

(Logan) Okay.

(Luci) We chose
a scavenger hunt,

rather than a poster
or, like, presentation,

so that people
can interactively learn.

(Logan) We're gonna have them
look around

and find different plants
and things

around the Douglas Center.

So we'll meet up tomorrow
and get this thing done.

(Luci) Okay.

(Jake) What's this?

Ooh, a new recipe?

(Izzie) Yep.
It's a recipe for adventure

in your very own
backyard ecosystem.

I made you a scavenger hunt.

(Jake) Whoa.

Thanks, Iz.

[clears throat] Floating
in the sky, I'm never dry.

Ooh, the clouds.

Ooh, the clouds.

(Izzie) Yeah, that's it.

So what do you see?

(Jake) [gasps] Banana bread.

(Izzie) Well, I see
a dragonfly.

(Jake) Banana cream pie,
banana muffins.

Yum!
Banana pancakes.

(Izzie) No, Jake.

Okay, let's try the next one.

Find a furry friend...

that you don't already know.

[music]

(Jake) I found a bunny!

Aw, are you eating grass?

Yeah?

You're so furry.

Look at you hop away.

(Izzie) Oh, he is so cute.

[sighs] Okay, Jake, last one.

I've got a trunk,
but I am not an elephant.

(Jake) [gasps] My tree.

(Izzie) Yes, you got it.

[gasps] Hey, look.

Fang found a pecan.

(Jake) Fang, that's it.

That's the missing ingredient
for our banana bread.

[music]

(Luci) We decided to come
to the Douglas Center

to see which things
we could have the guests find.

(Logan) We can do ferns.

(Luci) Ferns--there's
a lot of them here.

(Logan) Yeah.

(Luci) We're looking for native

and invasive species

and stuff unique to our park.

(Logan) We can probably do
these little flowers.

These would make
a really good riddle.

(Luci) I don't know
what kind they are, though.

(Logan)
Here, let's check it out.

If we're not sure
what something is,

we're gonna use this app,
and it's gonna identify it.

These are woodland sunflowers.

(Luci) They're pretty easy
to spot,

but there's only a few of them.

(Logan)
What's that purple flower?

(Luci) Kind of looks
like the bee balm.

(Logan) Let's check it out.

Yep, you're right.

Stop invasive hitchhikers.

Use this boot brush
before and after your hike

to remove dirt
and invasive seeds.

(Logan)
We can get this sassafras.

(Saloni) Yeah.
(Luci) Oh, right.

There's three different types
of leaves...

(Logan) Yep.
(Luci) The mitten,

football, and ghost.

(Logan)
And we can even tell them,

look for mitten, football,
and ghost.

(Luci) Oh, we also have to get
the purple loosestrife.

I'm excited 'cause we get
to see our friends.

And I'm curious how, like,
if they'll find all the stuff.

[music]

(Logan) Welcome
to the Indiana Dunes...

(Luci) National Park.

Thanks for coming...

[cheering and applause]

(Luci) When everybody got here,

we told them
about the scavenger hunt

and our citizen science
project.

Also, we've been working
on citizen science

and learning at the park
all week,

and we've made a scavenger hunt
to share what we've learned.

We've been working on
the Dragonfly Mercury Project,

which measures mercury levels
in the water.

(Logan) We went in Great Marsh.

We collect dragonfly nymphs,

and we measure mercury
in our water.

(Logan) We want our guests
to learn,

like, the things
that we've learned

to make them aware
and to show them


to make them aware
and to show them

how they can take care
of the land.

This is your scavenger hunt.

(Luci) It's the IN Dunes
scavenger hunt.

(Logan) Yes.
Rules for the scavenger hunt.

Work in teams.

Find five things on the list.

If you see, like,
a dragonfly or a butterfly,

take pictures of it,

because you will get a bonus
on here.

(Luci) Then we broke
into groups and went looking.

(Logan) Ready.
(Luci) Set.

(Logan) Go!

[people shouting]

[music]

(Logan) I think it went
really good.

People did like
the scavenger hunt.

(Shania) We have to go find
the flower spurge.

(Logan) The flower spurge.

(Luci) Yeah, Erin was,
like, a bit competitive.

(Erin) Is this bee balm?

Is this bee balm?

(Logan) And surprisingly,
the adults--

they wanted to do it.

'Cause I didn't think
they would wanna do it.

(Shania) Just keep looking,
Collin.

Point it out if you see it.
(Collin) Right here!

(boy) These?
(Collin) They're white.

They're white.

(adult) Hey, bee balm!

(Logan) I guess my dad
thought it was cool

because him
and then Luci's dad,

they were both running along
the trail, looking for stuff.

(Marcus) Luci's dad, come on!

(boy) The scavenger hunt
was fun.

I found bee balm.

(boy) I think
the scavenger hunt was awesome.

(Collin) Me too, yeah.

(girl) I like searching
for stuff,

and I also like winning.

(Erin) [speaking gibberish]

Oak tree, poison ivy,
boot brush,

oak sapling, bee balm.

(Luci) You guys did it.
Good job.

(Erin) Oh, this is a blast.

Of course, we might have broken

the no running rule
a little bit.

(Marcus) You know, just to be
out here with her--

I mean, it's just
a joy to see her out,

enjoying nature and learning
all these new things.

We had a great time out here.

(Logan) Thank you for coming.

[cheers and applause]

I felt good about this,
and it's good

to teach others new things.

(Marcus) Great job.

(Luci) I hope that they find
invasive species

that they might have
at their house

that they might wanna help
treat to remove

and, like, citizen science.

(Logan) It's good to, uh, be
a part of citizen science

because you're not only
helping scientists,

you're helping yourself

and your environment
around you.

(Shania) I had so much fun
on your scavenger hunt today.

You should be really proud
of yourselves.

You did really good.

Come visit our park anytime.

Have a great day, guys.

(Luci) You, too!
(Saloni) Bye!

(Shani) Bye!

(Jake) Presenting peekaboo
pecan banana bonanza

bunny bread!

(Izzie) Oh, yes.

Or, maybe for short,
backyard bunny bread.

(Jake) Yeah, that's got
a nice ring to it.

Going outside today
really helped me

invent the tastiest creation.
Thanks, Iz.

(Izzie) And you should also
thank your backyard ecosystem.

[laughs]

(all) Welcome to Seward!

(Evie) We're surrounded
by water and mountains.

(Gracie) Y'all
wanna head out there?

(Gracie) Y'all
wanna head out there?

(Indigo) Yeah.
(Evie) Let's go.

(Gracie) I'm really excited
to do

some citizen science.

(Indigo) We saw lots of
different shells and plants.

(Gracie) Whoa!

(Krista) Welcome
to the Mississippi River.

(Laura) What are some things

that end up polluting
our watershed?

(Hope) Here's another can.

We are making an art project
so it inspires other people

to help the environment.

(Krista) It's a team effort.

(all) River rescuers!

(cheerful music)

- Major funding for "Sci
Girls" is provided by

the National Science Foundation.

Supporting education
and research across

all fields of science
and engineering.

The National Science Foundation,
where discoveries begin.

Additional funding is
provided by the PPG Foundation

which aims to bring
color and brightness

to communities around the world.

[music]

♪
(girls) ♪ S-C-I-G-I-R-L-S!