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Professor Aspen’s Research Quests: The Torterra Effect

Greetings trainer! My name is Professor “Quaking” Aspen. ‘Aspen’ is my family name while ‘Quaking’ is just a nickname given to me because of my muscular physique… and because I have had tremors since I was a boy. “Why do all professors in this world have tree names” you ask? I have no idea what […]

Professor Aspen’s Research Quests: Crustle

The Battle for the Great Acacia Part 3:

[To understand the full story, be sure to check out part 1 and part 2.] General Myrmex had never witnessed this much chaos and dismay within her colony before. Their queen had just died. The Great Acacia tree was sick and thus producing less food. The larva chamber was short on food supplies to feed […]

The Battle for the Great Acacia Part 2: The Mimic

*For an introduction to this story and to read Part 1, go to this link: lifethroughgreentintedglasses.blog/2020/05/30/the-battle-for-the-great-acacia-part-1/ Espionage had never been a successful tactic for outsiders trying to steal the Great Acacia tree’s resources. The huge, thriving ferruginea colony monitored every inch of the tree from sun up till sun up again. But this time, […]

The Battle for the Great Acacia [Part 1]

Introduction: Vachellia cornigera is a type of Acacia tree commonly known as a “myrmecophyte.” The term ‘myrmecophyte’ refers to its symbiotic relationship with ants. Pseudomyrmex ferruginea is one of these ant species that has built a relationship with the Acacia tree, and this particular ant species is one of the most fiercely protective ant species […]

The Symbiosis of Man and the Ocean

*A choose your own adventure story and an evolving narrative as told by the Ocean… Humans, arguably the most dominant species on our planet, have had a rich relationship with me for thousands of years. Nearly all living things have relied on me for life, in fact the first form of life was created beneath […]

A Bizarre Companionship

Some things naturally go together: peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, or chocolate and bacon (or is that just me?). In nature, there are other combinations that are very bizarre and unlikely. Different combinations of living things will join forces to help each other survive. We call this ‘mutualism,’ it is a type of […]

Science Snapshot: Lichen

Vast armies of yellow, orange, green, blue, black, and any other color imaginable spread across the barren landscape. After an asteroid impact wiped out the majority of species on this planet, these colorful symbionts march forth to take advantage of the wide open world. Two unlikely organisms join forces to thrive in this new world. […]

Rock + Plant + Animal = Coral?

As a junior high science teacher, I teach a wide variety of scientific subjects. This year, we have already covered plants, animals, and rocks. When we learned about plants and their unique ability to perform photosynthesis (a process that converts Carbon Dioxide and water into food for the plant using sunlight as its energy source), […]