Maine STEM Film Challenge Winners

[Music] [Speaker 1] Syar and Shya Siqqiqui present

[Speaker 2] listening to the amphibians.

[Speaker 1] Well I’m a good listener, but what is an amphibian?

[Speaker 2] The word amphibian comes from the Greek words amphi and bios, meaning double life. So amphibians are animals that can live in water and on land.

[Speaker 1] That’s cool! Where can I find amphibians?

[Speaker 2] Amphibians are found all over the world except Antarctica and Greenland. There are three groups of amphibians: frogs and toads and newts and salamanders and sirens and Sicilians. What’s interesting about amphibians is they have a backbone, are cold-blooded, and have naked skin.

[Speaker 1] Backbone? Check. But cold-blooded, naked skin, what’s that?

[Speaker 2] Cold-blooded animals regulate their body temperature based on their surroundings.

[Speaker 1] I wonder what happens in winter.

[Speaker 2] In winter, amphibians hibernate by burrowing in holes on land or in mud at the bottom of ponds. Since amphibians are cold-blooded, they can slow down their heart rate, not move, and not eat for a very long time.

[Speaker 1] No way! That is interesting. And what about naked skin?

[Speaker 2] Naked skin means they don’t have hair or feathers or scales. They can absorb oxygen through their skin. This is what … makes (sic) their skin sensitive to pollution, acidity, extreme temperatures, ultraviolet and infrared light, and Earth’s magnetic field.

[Speaker 1] Wow that’s a cool superpower!

[Speaker 2] Superpower is right. Amphibians are bioindicators.

[Speaker 1] Bio what?

[Speaker 2] Bioindicators are living beings that scientists use to check out the health of our ecosystems. Since amphibians are found worldwide, there’s a lot they can tell us about the environment they live in. Do do you remember what an amphibian is?

[Speaker 1] (…) backbones, cold-blooded, and naked skin.

[Speaker 2] Right. So that’s what makes them sensitive to changes in the environment. Basically, if something is wrong with the environment, something is wrong with the amphibian, too.

[Speaker 1] Okay, but how do we know something is wrong?

[Speaker 2] That’s easy. We’ll start seeing dead or sick amphibians everywhere.

[Speaker 1] Hmm. That is easy to spot.

[Speaker 2] Yes! The more you see, the bigger the Environmental changes. Amphibians keep the world from collapse because they are early warnings that something is very wrong in the air, water, and soil.

[Speaker 1] Oh wow! Amphibians can tell a lot if we listen. Oh, I get it.

[Speaker 2] Besides, amphibians are a very important part of the food web. As predator and prey, they keep the world going round.

[Speaker 1] I know amphibians eat almost anything they can gulp down whole.

[Speaker 2] That’s true. Typically they eat spiders worms snails and large amount of pest like mosquitoes that spread the West n

3:07

3 minutes, 7 secondsvirus Tad P feed on algae and even keep water clean and I know who eat frog it’s

3:16

3 minutes, 16 secondsdragonflies snakes fish snakes B and even humans

3:23

3 minutes, 23 secondsfrog like pizza anyone no thank you if I’m f out it

3:30

3 minutes, 30 secondscould be very bad for all for sure unfortunately in phibians

3:38

3 minutes, 38 secondsare are one of the world’s most dangered groups of 88,200 known species about 1/3 to 1/

3:46

3 minutes, 46 secondshalf are at risk of Extinction what is PL ampian in danger they are threatened by a warming climat

3:54

3 minutes, 54 secondspollution the destruction of their habitat toxic chemicals invasive species and diseases that’s

4:03

4 minutes, 3 secondsterrible terrible indeed the New River water dog is a rare saland are found only in the triangle area of North

4:10

4 minutes, 10 secondsCarolina the cities in this area have a lot of development which is led to bad water and pollution in nearby streams

4:18

4 minutes, 18 secondsand rivers and all of that is bad for the New River Water Dog why is it bad for them because they

4:26

4 minutes, 26 secondslive their entire lives in water they need clean moving water and unfortunately the area’s development is introducing pollutants

4:35

4 minutes, 35 secondsand destroying their habitat oh no indeed and other there have bad

4:41

4 minutes, 41 secondsfungus killing amphibians across the globe a fungus how the the Cyro fungus

4:50

4 minutes, 50 secondsis an infectious disease that’s harming frogs toads and salamanders the fungus starts by destroying the skin of these

4:56

4 minutes, 56 secondsamphibians and eventually they die it caus 90 possible extinctions and affected over 500

5:06

5 minutes, 6 secondsspecies H is there any help left mightbe scientists have discovered that the

5:13

5 minutes, 13 secondsAmerican bullfrog and the African CLA for a G affected by the disease for some reason they can still pass the disease

5:20

5 minutes, 20 secondsto other amphibians though also scientists have found a virus that can get rid of this fungus for all

5:28

5 minutes, 28 secondsamphibians but making but making it work maybe

5:35

5 minutes, 35 secondscomplicated I am sure this fungus isn’t the only thing Harding amphibian that’s

5:43

5 minutes, 43 secondsright habitat loss is the most common for threat for amphibians affecting 93%

5:49

5 minutes, 49 secondsof threatened species oh wow how can we help well one

5:56

5 minutes, 56 secondsdon’t disturb natural habitats or drain or a little water two don’t bring home

6:03

6 minutes, 3 secondsamphibians including their eggs three get rid of trash oils and chemicals

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6 minutes, 10 secondsproperly four wash boots and shoes using bleach after waiting around ponds five

6:18

6 minutes, 18 secondsuse less water six have spaces for amphibians in backyards Gardens and parks with native plants in a bird bath

6:26

6 minutes, 26 secondsseven volunteer with local groups like The Man and fibian and reptile Atlas project in the Northeast Partners in

6:34

6 minutes, 34 secondsamphibian and reptile conservation I can do that I’ll help

6:40

6 minutes, 40 seconds[Music]