Invertebrate ‘LocOlympics’: Investigation and Inquiry into Invertebrate Locomotion and Biomechanics

 

Charlie Drewes and Maria Oehler

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2004, Volume 25

Abstract

Studies of invertebrate locomotion and biomechanics provide unusual opportunities to interrelate biology, physics, and math in engaging ways. The authors have produced an original videotape and CD, entitled, “Invertebrate LocOlympics,” which document locomotion in numerous invertebrates including: nematode, oligochaetes, leech, Daphnia, ostracod, copepod, centipede, millipede, and springtail. This documentation, together with the following write-up, allow quantitative investigation and analysis of several types of locomotion, namely: undulatory swimming, swimming with appendages, walking, running, jumping, ciliary gliding, and others. Direct measurements from freeze-frame video or PowerPoint file images (on CD) allow inter-species comparisons of movement trajectory, forward velocity, wave velocity, wave frequency, and Reynolds Numbers.

Keywords:  animal behavior, locomotion, movement, Reynolds number, undulation, swimming

University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2003)