Double Trouble

Welcome to
Discovery Lab 2000!

Confidential files have been stolen! Series #3:
Double Trouble

All lab assistants please type in your name below:

Use the arrow in the side scroll bar to move down the page.

Please list an observable trait that you inherited from one of
your parents:

NOTE: To keep all records confidential, your entries
will be erased after checking your identity.

Let's check in with Professer Mill Ennium !

Hello and please come in. You may want to sit down; I have some disturbing news. It seems there is a warrant out for my arrest.

Case file from police department

Please take a moment to review the following file. I'd like to hear your hypothesis about this problem...

Case #: Y2K003	Suspect: Professor Mill Ennium
Crime: Theft Confidential files were lifted from the Environmental Research Lab (ERL) over the weekend.
Evidence: Eyewitness accounts Two eyewitnesses gave the following details about a man entering and exiting the ERL building on Saturday: Gender/Age: Middle-aged Male Race: African-American Height: Approximately 6' Clothing: White lab coat, blue jeans, black shoes
So, what is your hypothesis? Could the evidence point to Professor E? Type your ideas into the box below. Move the arrow inside the box and "click" to get a cursor. Then type. When finished, click "Done."
*I wonder what the Professor thinks?*

The officers are conducting an investigation even now. The only evidence so far is the eyewitness accounts. And, the accounts are accurate. I was at the ERL on Saturday and I did have on a white coat, blue jeans, and black shoes. But I didn't take the files!

Your ideas as a lab assistant are important. Do you believe Professor Ennium?

Yes No

Select an answer.
Explain why or why not in the box below.

Have you ever been wrongly accused? How did you prove your innocence?

You see, I was conducting research at the lab on Saturday to observe the influence different environments had on living organisms.
For example, look at a picture of the flamingos I am studying. As a lab assistant, what do you first notice about them?	Place your arrow in the box and "click" the mouse to get a cursor. Type in what you observe. Click "Done" when you're finished.
Why do you think the flamingos have different colored feathers? Click the arrow to select an answer choice.
*From missing files to flamingos! I wonder how the professor plans to explain all this?*

Newly-hatched chicks, or baby flamingos, are gray or white. The color in their feathers comes from red pigments found in their food. The richest sources of these pigments come from algae and various insects.
A Flamingo's Menu
Blue-green & red algae	Small fish
Diatoms	Small insects
Crustaceans	Molluscs
So, my dear lab assistant, how would you use this information to explain why flamingos have different colored feathers?
Professor Ennium knows a lot about science. I wonder what else he was doing at the ERL ?

On Saturday, I was also studying how the environment influences a plant's growth. I think you can help me with this study.
First, select the items that exist in a plant's environment. soil sunlight water climate animals other plants Click on the picture to check your answer.
Now, take a look at the sunflower I am currently studying at the ERL.	How do you think *sunlight* is influencing its growth?
And what about the sunflower's roots? How does water affect their growth?
I wonder how the environment affects the growth of humans?

"And what about humans?" asked one of the lab assistants. "What factors in our environment affect how we grow?"
Everything a baby comes in contact with--food, water, climate, and even other people--affects the growth and personality of that child. What if we took identical twins and raised one in France and one in America?	What differences would you expect to find between the children?
The environment affects our development and growth over the years and on a day-by-day basis.

Testing time! It's time to take a test!

Let's see what you have learned about the environment and its influence on an organism's growth!

1. The color in the flamingo's feathers comes from the red found in their food supply.

2. Climate is the common to a specific region. As part of the environment, it too, impacts an organism's development.

3. What environmental influence determines the language we speak and write?

So, how did you do?
Excellent! I got them all right the first time!
Fair...I only missed one of the three questions.
Poor--I don't know what happened?!

How did you first feel when I said we were going to take a test?

The environment, and our interaction with it, affects the growth of all living organisms.

As I mentioned earlier, the reason I was at the Environmental Research Lab on Saturday was to conduct further research about the environment's influence on living organisms. I really was working while I was at the lab!
How I was identified as the thief is beyond me. Unless...wait a minute! Wait just a minute! Of course, why didn't I think of it before!	What do you think the professor has just remembered?
Has the professor cracked the case?

Professor Mill Stone!

He has caused problems ever since I can remember! You see, he's my first cousin. We share many of the same physical characteristics because our mothers--Mildred and Millicent-- were twins. Look below at the genealogical study I compiled a few years ago.

A Branch from my Family Tree

Part of the Professor's Family Tree

According to the family tree, Professor Mill Ennium's mother was and his father was .

The similar characteristics of Professor Mill Stone and Professor Mill Ennium were inherited from their genes.

Who would have known that Professor Ennium had a look-alike cousin?

As young boys, others often confused us for twins. But looks are all we shared. It wasn't too long before our actions gave away our true identities. As a child, I had a hard time understanding why we were so different.

Why do you think the professors were so different?

Solve the anagram below and then type your answer in the box. Check your spelling!

Can you unscramble these letters?

One thing you should know. When Stone was five years old, his mother and siblings died in a terrible car wreck. Stone and his father were fishing and returned home to the sad news. Things were never the same for Stone after that day. I don't think he or his father ever got over the loss.

Both nature (genetics) and nurture (environment) affect our development.

Excuse me, let me get the phone. R-r-r-r-ring

"Yes, This is Professor Mill Ennium. Yes, I see, I understand. I'll be down there as soon as possible."

Fingerprints have been lifted from a filing cabinet in the Environmental Research Lab. If my hypothesis is correct, the fingerprints will match my cousin and prove my innocence.

I'm leaving the lab in your hands for now. Please continue to use your observation skills as you learn about the growth and development of living organisms!

Professor Mill Ennium called back to say that the fingerprints DID match his cousin!
I wonder who stole them?
His "double trouble" is over...for now.