GSES Butterfly Garden

For my community service project, I wanted to create a butterfly garden for the students of GSES to enjoy as well as beautify the school grounds.  The focus was on native butterfly friendly plants.  With the generous support of our art teacher's husband (a talented landscape architect) we were able to put our plans into motion. The bed we turned into a garden is just the first stage of many in our efforts to create a green space and enhance our playground.  

This is what the bed looked on the day we started.  A supportive group of families came out on a Saturday to help prep the soil.

The first day of planting.  The VA Dept. of Game/Inland Fisheries even came out to film the project for a DVD on school yard habitats it's currently working on.

Another day of planting with our Pre-K Book Buddies!

What a team!  We even had help from the middle school.

This is what the bed looks like now-big difference huh?

This project was made possible due to the support and commitment of GSES families and local businesses.  It couldn't have been done without you.  Many thanks!

Mrs. Eastham's News

This is the latest posting written by two more third graders.

On Friday, our pupa hatched into a butterfly.

One of our classmate's dad made this butterfly cage for us.

 Also, a GSES Pre-K student found this BIG caterpillar in his yard!

Still on the Hunt!

This latest posting was written today by two of my third graders!

On Friday, October 3rd Mrs. Eastham took us outside to teach us how to find caterpillars.  We found a caterpillar, and we named him "Hairy Potter."  His family name is megalopygidae, and he is a stinging caterpillar.  At first we thought he was soft, but luckily we didn't figure it out the hard way!  Over the weekend, Mrs. Eastham figured out that he is a stinging caterpillar and that we shouldn't touch him.  The fifth graders found this chrysalis and they let us have it.  We don't know yet what kind of caterpillar is in it, but it looks like silver and gold.  

The bag says:

• Chrysalis
  
• 10/3/08
• School Playground
• Black Walnut and Maple leaves

Back to New Orleans

We spent yesterday morning cleaning up the bunkhouse and packing up our new caterpillar friends. Deciding to clear out the fridge, we munched on leftovers of spaghetti, cucumber slices, nachos, pickles, grapes, and ice-cream! A great combination huh? A little sad to leave Pearl River, we arrived back in New Orleans around 3:00p.m. and went right away to Tulane to drop off the caterpillars. Then, it was nap time back at the Park View! We had all been exhausted after long days out in the field and early morning wake up calls. We enjoyed a fun night out in New Orleans and even got see the Jazz Vipers play at the Spotted Cat Club!

Today we'll finish up photographing, identifying, and cataloging the caterpillars we collected. Then, I'm off to the Insectarium!


Challenge:
1. Look at the photo above. What kind of spider is this?
2. When hunting for caterpillars we look for signs of herbivory. What does herbivory mean?
3. Check out this photo of the bunkhouse. Which bunk bed do you think is mine?

More news from the Swamp!

Hope you had a great weekend! On Saturday, I went back out in a kayak to do another plot survey. While we only found a couple of small caterpillars, we did see a small alligator and three beautiful green tree frogs.

Today was our last day out in the field. We spent the whole day out at Honey Island Swamp, so I'm feeling pretty tired. Here's a photo of the team heading out to do a plot survey.

I found this Banded Tussock Moth caterpillar. Isn't he cute?

Challenge: Take a look at the photo below. Believe it or not it is a caterpillar. Kind of gross looking huh? It's called the Harris' Three-Spot. How can the look of this caterpillar help it protect itself against predators?

Day 3- On the River

I had so much fun web conferencing with you guys today! I have so much more to tell you and can't wait to teach you how to do collections.

Yesterday I got to kayak on the river. It was really beautiful! Mike (a wonderful staff member), Cathy (one of my teacher friends), and I set out to do a plot survey. Fresh out of the boat, we encountered our first water moccasin. Yikes! After some bush whacking with a machete (Mike had that job) and more moccasin sightings, we found a plot to survey. It took us about three hours, and unfortunately we didn't find any caterpillars. We did however see an alligator ripple the water just about 10 feet away from our boats!

Today after our web conference and a yummy lunch, I spent the day identifying, cataloging, and photographing the caterpillars we've found.



Challenge:
1. Look at the photo above and find the animal.
2. Look up the terms: braconid, ichnemonid, and tachinid.

Day 2- Out in the Field

Hi!

Today, I found my first caterpillar all on my own! We had been out in the bottomland hardwood forest in Honey Island Swamp for about four hours searching high and low (really!), when I finally spotted this little guy. I was so excited! Finding caterpillars takes some close observation and a few helpful tools. What we look for is freshly chewed leaves. Some caterpillars roll themselves up in a leaf, creating their shelter. These are the Tortricidaes and Gelichiidaes, but we call them the “Leaf Folders.” It’s much easier to say! Rebecca, our field guide and terrific team leader, also showed us how to use beat sheets. What is a beat sheet you ask? Just take a look at this photo. It’s the rectangular piece of cloth that you see. All you do is find a tree, hold the beat sheet under a limb and knock the limb. Then you just wait and see what falls onto it. Besides the cute caterpillar friends we collected, we saw beautiful and huge spiders, a couple of alligators (we kept our distance), and even seven wild boar! I can’t wait to get back out and see what else we find!

Challenge:
1. What type of caterpillar did I find today? Try looking on www.caterpillars.org and see if you can find the scientific family name and common name.
2. Rebecca told us that some caterpillars throw their frass when they feel threatened. What is frass?