A Girl with “Gall” Wins Young Naturalist Award
Wednesday, September 15 8:43 am
2010 Young Naturalist Award winner Rachel gathered goldenrod galls to study exit tunnels made by goldenrod gall flies. Photo courtesy of Rachel
While deciding on a science research project for the Young Naturalist Awards contest, Rachel, an eighth grader from Evart, Michigan, thought back to when she had collected strange spheres on goldenrod plants with a friend some years ago. Little did she know that those collection trips had been a launching pad to a winning essay.
When Rachel began looking into those strange spheres, she learned that they were actually galls that contained goldenrod gallfly larva. What especially intrigued her was these small flies’ complex life cycle. The larva feed on plant tissue. In defense, the goldenrod creates a gall around the larva. Safely inside the gall, the larva dig an exit tunnel in the fall, leaving behind a thin outer shell that can be broken in the spring. After learning about these escape passages, Rachel came up with a question: Do goldenrod gallflies have a directional preference in their tunnel placement?
Knowing that the gallfly needed to dry its wings when it left the gall, Rachel hypothesized that, because of gravity, the tunnels would most likely be in the top hemisphere of the gall. To test her hypothesis, she collected 156 galls from 12 locations, then dissected the galls to locate the tunnels. Her data showed that gallflies do prefer the top hemisphere for their exits. (To read more about Rachel’s investigation and the essays of the12 other 2010 winners, visit the Young Naturalist Awards website.)
After she completed the project, Rachel visited a fourth-grade class to teach them about the gallfly and other winter insects such as the mud dauber wasp, the cattail moth, snow fleas, and the Eastern tent caterpillar. She provided each student with a nature guide and magnifying glass, encouraging them to head into the field—and discover winter insects on their own.
The Young Naturalist Awards is a nationwide, science-based research contest for students in grades 7 through 12 presented by the Museum. Since 2006, the program has been made possible through the exceptional generosity of Alcoa Foundation as part of its commitment to supporting student achievement in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.
The deadline for the 2011 Young Naturalist Awards is March 1, 2011.
