Aman+Power+of+Predators

Action Plan: Teen Science Cafe: The Power of Predators Date Attended: 2/2/2018 Written: 3/2/2018

I attended the Teen Science Cafe event "The Power of Predators" on 2/2/2018. The event featured guest speaker Enie Hensel, a PhD candidate at NC State in the Department of Applied Ecology.

At the lecture, I learned multiple facts about marine predators. The presentation taught me that predators influence the behavior of prey- prey might form a "school of fish" to appear large or a protective snot bubble to hide their smell from predators. I also learned that everything on Earth is ecologically connected, and while there may be a stigma against predators, they are necessary to maintain balance on a food web and biodiversity. In addition, I learned a few vocab terms, including an **apex predator:** a top level organism with no natural predators and **tropic cascade:** how a predator effects plants/vegetation ie) bluecrab (predator) eating snails (prey) kept the population of grass (what the snail consumed) stable. At the end of the lecture we participated in an activity where we acted as predators hunting for fish cutouts that had been laid on the floor.

This topic relates to the APES curriculum because it addresses predators and their roles in maintaining ecological stability and biodiversity, a major theme of our class.