Today was a sad day for the kids. MoJo died during his moulting stage. Nicolas took it well and knew it would happen. Sarah however took it much worse. It has made me rethink this project. It has been a good example of a lifespan, they have been very interesting to research. I do feel many things can be learned by studying them. What amazed me was the diapause, how adult triops could die in droughts and yet, the eggs stayed in suspended time. How DO the eggs know when to enter diapause? A message is transmitted to the eggs by the female. This message stops the growth of the eggs. This same message lets the eggs know that when they are exposed to water again, it will be time to hatch. The growth message, probably chemical, essentially stops the biological clock of the embryonic Triops. www.triops.com. A neurophysiologist named Eugene Hull studies diapause in the hope of extracting the biological-clock-stopping chemical found in the eggs. He believes that it could be used to suspend cellular growth in humans. Imagine the potential uses: slowing the aging process, putting a stop to cancer growth, or even easing space travel!www.triops.com. Many factors affect the diapause stage, such as light, salt and temperature. By controlling these factors, Dr. Hull is able to control diapause and keep eggs in suspended form. If anyone wants to research this topic further, go to Diapause Research Foundation. This will show you Dr. Hull's research. While I do think this has been a good learning Science project, I feel we will move on to things that have longer lifespans and that we can be more active with. I also would suggest this project for adults and children aged 9 and up. My six year old was hurt by the death of what she looked at as a family pet. Again, we have spoken to her about death and while all children do need to learn and understand it, it is entirely different when it actually happens. I feel under 9 may just be too young yet to understand completely. The reason MoJo looks fuzzy in this video is because he died during moulting or shedding his exoskeleton. I have read this is hard on them and he was *seeming* slower than normal yesterday. Almost like a prelude to the slowing down and death of his lifespan. As you can see, Angel has no idea she is running into a dead MoJo. Again, they are blind, and from all we can tell, seem to not have personal feelings like a Human being. Thus, Angel is not hurt or even understands MoJo died. We noted this behavior as well. When we got him out, part of his feelers/whiskery things were missing. We are pretty sure Angel took a bite out of him. They have canniballistic attributes and will eat their own given the chance. Again, God made these crustaceans as He made the animals, the bugs and fishes. He made the universe and Humans are made in His image. A crustacean is not, nor does it have the mind, heart and soul as we do. We are contemplating releasing Angel into the creek near our home before she expires. We decided to flush MoJo down the commode instead of burying him in our yard. We thought our dog, Samantha may dig him up thinking he was sushi for her to eat. Out front, we have cats who may also want to dig him up. Our next Science project, which I already am about to begin will deal with living creatures, plants and animals that will live longer, more productive lives. That way there will be more time than a month or so to study, learn and research them. I will post our next ones on here too. Overall, I am still glad we did this Science project and death is a part of life we all must deal with at some time.

i used to have three Triops but they passed away and when they did i was sad What exactly are Triops? Well, Triops are a primitive type of crustation left over from the Triassic period(the time of the dinosaurs). And over that extremely long period of time, they have changed very little. Triops are found on every continent except Antarctica. Triops have a lifespan of 30-90 days. Their lifetime is so short because Triops are found in temporary ponds, which accumulate in the wet season and dry up in the dry season. Durring this time, the Triops will bury their eggs in the sand, which will hatch in a year, when the rainy season returns. The eggs can survive up to twenty years out of water. The eggs are able to do this by entering a state of diapause(suspended animation). Triops are omnivours, meaning they eat both plants and animals. Triops are also cannabals, which when food dwindels, will devour smaller Triops.

This is a video of MoJo and Angel playing/digging and swimming around. They both are so active! They never seem to sleep. They are awake when I go to bed and still awake when I get up. They dig non-stop, I can see why they die so fast. I know it is how God made them, but we all need *some* rest to let our bodies heal and strengthen. This has been a good Science Project, the kids have learned alot about them and their lifespan. We have kept a current log on how much food they eat and how often they moult, or shed their shell/skin. They started out eating a very small amount, but now they eat 6-8 pellets twice a day. They moult every couple of days. They are actually blind and use their feelers, whiskery things to help find food. Imagine that, three eyes and cannot see! We were surprised. The bright colors of the Triops are due to hemoglobin in the blood and a dark blue-green pigment in the connective tissue. We have read many facts people have posted online, but by far trust www.triops.com most. We thought after reading online that all triops were male, but that was incorrect. There is a male and female. Triops in the wild exist in temporary ponds all over the world. The kit we bought had eggs held in diapause or suspended time. This is a huge breakthrough for research into the stopping of time. This could help us to prolong life until cures for diseases can be found. It could possibly help us to better understand how to stop the biological clock, helping us to live longer lives. God's creation is yet just another lifeform given to us on Earth to study, understand and have respect for.