Earthwatch teacher video

The three other teachers, Roslyn the volunteer and I made a video about our Earthwatch experience.
I hope you like it!!!

click to watch video

survival skills Friday 4-25-08

mink footprint



me learning to make a fire during survial skills practice


Friday was a wrap up day. We checked the images on our camera traps and found nothing. :(
All of the food that we put out as bait was gone but there were no images. All we can figure is that there were some very smart animals out there.

Survival skills was fun. First Chris instructed us on how to survive if you are lost or stranded away from people--PLAN (acronym). Protect yourself, know your location, acquisition (obtain water & food if necessary), finally navigation (find your way to a stream if possible since that is where most civilizations are built).



The latter part of the afternoon was spent walking along the beach. We were given an environmental impact assessment assignment enabling us to utilize the information we had gained in the previous two weeks. This had been done recently by a team of professionals but the data was not in yet so this allowed us to draw our own conclusions.
Our assignment was to transecting skills to cover the area and look for evidence of animals (mammals mostly). Evidence would be burrows (where the sleep or hide), footprints, feeding signs (for example: shells in a pile or carcasses), scat, skulls, or an actual sighting on an animal.
The area was quite large--bigger than the entire MMS campus (including the baseball field and the grassy areas near the car dealership). Composed of grassland, ocean, beach, lagoon, pond, and rocks, the area was a little overwhelming for the five of us. The wind made the temperature feel even colder. Without the wind, it was in the 30s. With the big gusts of wind provided by the ocean, we were freezing (and nearly falling over).


We spent about 2 1/2 hours combing the area and found several burrows, feeding signs, and scat (fox and coyote mostly).


The assessment was to determine if building an oil refinery would impact wildlife in the immediate area. Because we found many signs of wildlife, we determined that it would be detrimental (harmful).

I have really enjoyed my fellowship and am amazed at the amount of information I learned. Details, so small, really filled in gaps and formed connections for me. I can't wait to share more with you guys!!!

Thursday, 4-24-08

Today was our last day out in the field. Like last week, it was raining and cold. When we're bringing in the traps we first walk and check all the traps. ATVs can't be used for two main reasons: the trees are too close together and there are too many boulders. If any of our traps are closed, that tells us that an animal most likely is in the trap. We carry the closed traps back to our meeting spot and wait for everyone to return. Then we take turns opening our traps. We open the traps in a bag to make sure the animal doesn't get out.
Today I caught two voles. We haven't had much luck at our new location.
Our previous location (Cook's Lake) is a more remote, country-type location. Our current location is still not in a city but there are a few houses around. The house lots are 15-20 acres per home (unlike our homes which usually have less than one acre each). In total, there might be 10 houses in a very large area. Where we were working, there were no houses and there were none within sight (or close walking distance).
The disappointment showed as we checked our traps. We all were a little disappointed because we had all caught voles but we all wanted lemmings or flying squirrels, or mice. As the last trap was opened, the animal came out of the bag and we could immediately tell it wasn't a vole. It was a rock lemming!!!!! We had finally caught one.
We later learned (from Chris, one of the scientists) that rock lemmings and rock voles are the same animal. Since we had been catching red backed voles, we determined that we would call it a rock lemming (since it really is one).


My question/comment for you...Compare and contrast East Port Medway (current location) with Cook's Lake. I've given you a lot of information in my blogs and videos. Use this information to help you form your ideas. Make sure to include the following information in your answer:
1) Describe the habitats we surveyed/investigated(use as many adjectives as you can)
2) tell me your ideas on what makes a good habitat for small mammals
3) Why you think we aren't trapping the small animals I thought we would see (keep in mind that only bears, groundhogs, and bats hibernate here)
4) Do you think any of this is because of climate change (NOT the greenhouse effect or greenhouse gases)? Why or why not?


Tomorrow we're doing a survival course. Apparently we will be outside for this exercise. I think it will be about trapping animals for survial purposes (eating & other survival skills). We were supposed to do it today but our van broke down and the weather was not good for being outside

Tomorrow we were supposed to go to a national park and do a scat quadrat but with the van broken we won't be able to go. We will spend time on the beach walking around looking for otter scat.



.

Kejimkujic National Park

 

Here is a photo collage of Kejimkujic National Park.

notice the porcupine in the tree.

picture collage

 

We

Wednesday 4-23-08

Hi guys!

I have some information for you guys. We had a lecture tonight on the history of Nova Scotia--starting with 4.7 billion years ago. I thought of you guys because we talked a little big about the rock cycle. I hate that I missed that unit but I know you got through it alright without me.
With me here, you're sort of learning two things at once! Bonus!!!!

Last night it rained lightly. That meant that the ground was damp this morning when we went out to check our traps. When we check our traps, we walk up to each trap and check to see if the door has shut. If it is shut, we collect the trap (pick it up) and carry it back to the meeting area. If the door is open, we leave it.
Since we check the traps twice a day, sometimes animals go in the trap during the day and sometimes they go in at night. If they go in after we have checked them in the afternoon, they have to stay quite a while. You'll have to read my comment about it in one of the posts. I did answer that question with more detail.
The animals actually go in the trap because they are curious. As you've noticed, some may not have very good short term memories because we recapture them. They also may also be desperately hungry for our food.

After we checked our traps, we went and did some map coordinates. You have learned longitude and latitude in Social Studies. We used a GPS device to tell us the coordinates so we could make a map of the area we're studying. We had to be very specific about where we were--writing detailed notes about what the area looked like. Think about describing the bus circle parking lot. If you have to tell about each parking space you could easily run out of new words to describe them!!!

We cleared more trails today. This means that we were on a piece of heavily wooded land and we were clearing a path so that there was nothing. My question for you is...
if we are clearing land (including chopping down some--but not many--trees), how can this benefit the environment and our goal? Before you answer, I want you to remember what our goal is (why do you think we are trapping mammals and weighing them). Think about the uses of the trail and the possible benefits along with the possible disadvantages.
This one is tough so you will need to read each other's replies to help you. If you post something and then read someone else's reply and change your mind about your answer, it is ok to re-post.



We saw a beaver last night. Here is a video of it.

Here is a camera trap video.

I show you part of the field where I'm putting traps.

Tuesday 4-22

Today is Earth Day!
I want all of you to understand the importance and significance of what this day represents. There are so many wonderful resources available to us and we don’t appreciate them or try to protect them.
Our world has two types of people—those who have chosen to do something to protect the earth & our environment (animals, nature, resources to name a few) and those who have chosen to hurt the environment. By doing nothing, many people are choosing the latter choice.
I want you to think about what people do to help the earth and our environment. In your post, tell me three things:
1) Give me three different ways people are helping the environment. You might have to do a little research if you can’t think of any.
2) Give me three different ways people are hurting the environment. You might have to do a little research for this one too.
3) What type of person do you think you are? What type of person do you want to be?
Are you someone who wants to help the environment or do you want to do nothing?

Today we returned to East Port Medway. We checked our small mammal traps and did another field transect. Remember that a field transect is where we look for field signs (evidence) of animals. We baited our camera traps—threw scraps of food near them cameras to try to lure animals in front of them. We won’t be able to see the pictures until Friday so I won’t have any idea if we caught any animals.

Just to remind you: we are trapping small mammals only. We only have two types of traps: camera traps and small mammal traps. The small mammal traps are shown on the videos. I show you how it works and what it looks like. Only small mammals can fit in them—gerbil or hamster size. A guinea pig or rat would not fit—it would be too big.

Tomorrow we will do a little more of the same.

Several of you have asked, so here is a schedule of what my normal day looks like:
6:00 – 7:00am I wake up and run for an hour
8:00am breakfast & blog update
8:45—leave for work in the field
9:30-12:30 work in the field
Check traps in the morning
Collect poo (we have to do 5 different areas each time we check for it)
Field transect
12:30-1:30pm lunch
1:30-4:00 work in the field
Collect poo (we have to do 5 different areas each time we check for it)
Field transect
Check traps before we leave
4:45-7:00 return home. This time varies depending on where we are working
7:30pm dinner
8:45-11:00pm upload pictures & videos from camera and work on blog. Believe it or not, the pictures and videos take a long time


VIDEO LINKS:
1) porcupine poo--I found this as I was setting my traps

2) camera trap--I show you what it looks like & explain what it does and then I show you one of the traps we set

3) beaver swimming!!!

4) setting out traps--I show you one of the fields that I walk through

Monday 4-21

Have you had a chance to see the videos yet?

We were out doing research in a different area today. We were in East Port Medway. This area is closer to our house but it is different from Cook's Lake. The type of habitat indicates that there will be different types of mammals. The researches believe that we may find rock lemmings, flying squirrels, fox, black bear, bobcat, coyote, beaver, porcupine, mice, vole, fisher (like a very large ferret), and skunk.

There are several ways to do field research. We look for signs of mammals using field signs such as scat (poo) droppings, hair, burrows or dens, signs of feeding (leaves, feather remains, or animal remains), and trails or animal paths.
At first we transected the area. That means that we split into two groups and walked the area we were going to study. We walked for a mile and wrote down all field signs that we saw. A couple of examples are the scat we found. We noted what type of scat it was, how far we had walked, and what time it was when we found it. Another example of a field sign is the trees that had been gnawed on to a sharp point and knew that a beaver had been there.

After walking the transect, we did a quadrat collection. We have done many of these already--looking for poo. We divide the area into 10 meters x 10 meters and then we line up side by side and look for poo. Christina (one of the scientists) asked us to collect and count the hare poo (similar to a rabbit) but to tell her if we found other types of poo.
Using what I've told you so far (including last week), I want you to use your inference skills to think about this question: What reason would we only collect and count one type of animal?

We have set up our traps again. It was much harder to walk through the area. Hopefully we will catch some different types of mammals. I know that there are different types of voles in this area. I'd really like to catch a rock lemming (you're going to have to look up what it is because I've never seen one either).

We have now set up different types of traps--camera traps. We set some up in an area where otters and porcupine have been seen. The camera traps will remain up for three days so I won't know what was in the area until then.


It is about 6:25pm right now and we just returned to the house for dinner. We are heading out to look for beaver. We have one more camera trap to set and it will be in the area where beavers have been seen.
I'll post videos & pictures soon.

videos!!!!!

I have posted videos on Google videos. Just click on the link and it will take you directly to the video.

I have also updated the map I created. It is the 3rd post I made, so it will be far down on the blog. You can see where I've been and where I am in relation to Houston.


Tuesday
1. assembling a trap--I describe how it works

2. setting the traps out in the woods--I tell you where I'm putting the traps and why


Wednesday
1. my first vole--removing it from the trap

2. me removing my first vole from the bag


Thursday
1. vole release

2. another vole release


Friday
1. checking traps

2. mouse release (done by Brie)

test video

this is a trail post. I'm attempting to see if Google videos will work. The district allows this website and I may be able to post links. Keep your fingers crossed!

Click on the link (the words)

Vole release video

let me know if it works. :)

Thursday trapping at Cook's Lake

Good evening everyone! We had a very tiring but great day today. I caught only one vole. We haven't caught any other small mammals.
We are hoping to catch one of three types of mice, shrew, bog lemmings, or chipmunks. We have only caught the red-backed voles. The voles (as you have seen) are very cute. We still hope to see and catch other mammals. The snowshoe hares are doing well judging from the amount of poo we have found. We are not trapping them; they do not trap well. I do not know if that means that they will die easily or if they aren't easy to trap. We are not trapping other mammals right now. Some mammals we are studying by looking at their poo. Keep in mind that we are NOT hurting the animals. We are just weighing them (to see how healthy/skinny they are), we are cutting their hair (just a little bit) to recognize if we have caught them before, and we are checking to see their gender (boy or girl). There is evidence that beavers are active in the Cook's Lake area. Because they are nocturnal we won't have many opportunities to see them. I know we will give it a try later this week (either Saturday or Sunday).


TODAY'S UPDATE:
We checked our traps this morning. My traps were empty. The weather is warming up tremendously. It is still chilly and jackets are needed but it is definitely warming up. The frogs come out about noon, when the sun is fully shining. It is weird that there is still snow on the ground in some places. I made a video of me releasing my vole today. Now you will have a chance to see that I really did release it. Our main job today was to clear a path through the forest. We are doing this for several reasons. The main reason is to help the research scientists carry things on their ATV. Right now we have to walk everywhere. It is a good thing that I like to exercise because we have to walk a LOT carrying. Anyway, the path is mainly to allow us to walk through the woods neatly. A person from the Department of Natural Resources came out and suggested that some paths be cleared. Many years ago the original trees were cleared by the settlers. Those types of trees (hemlock and white pine) did not regrow. Different types of pine trees and spruce trees grew in their place and have remained there. We had axes, saws, and trimmers and we (the teachers) chopped down many trees and cleared a very nice path that is about a quarter of a mile long. After several hours of clearning the path, we checked our traps again and I discovered that I had caught a vole again. He was a 'recapture' meaning he had been caught by us already. In my previous posts, I have asked several questions. One was why the hare changed from white to brown. They do this for camoflauge purposes (to hide from predators).

I now want you to think about this... Today I told you that we've only caught voles. We are still hoping to catch lemmings, mice, or chipmunks. By not catching these animals, we are gathering data. Using your inference skills, I want you to tell me what you think this information tells us. What are we learning from not catching the other small mammals?

A quick note on appropriate comments

Hi guys!
I miss all of you and am enjoying most of your questions and comments. I am having a wonderful time up here. I am working very hard and really enjoy it. I am learning quite a bit that I did not know before.
Since I can't see you daily, I've been trying to video it for you. Unfortunately the website isn't working with me. Each time I download the video I can see it and the website says that everything is fine. When I try to find it on the page you see, it isn't there. Argh!!!! Very frustrating! I really want you guys to see the videos.

I wanted to take a quick moments to remind you of what you are supposed to write--keep in mind that when I return this is for a grade.

You need to make intelligent comments or questions. I have noticed that some of you are not putting much thought into what you are writing or you are just writing silly things that have nothing to do with what I've posted. Please be inquisitive--that is wonderful. When you aren't sure what something is, take the opportunity to look it up.

I really hope I can fix the issues before I return. I'm about to update my blog about today's work.
Enjoy your lab tomorrow!!!!! I will be 'calling' some time between 4th and 5th period. I'm not sure when yet. I will only be able to speak for a minute since you'll be doing the lab. Good luck!

Mrs. Krekeler

Wed videos (hopefully)

hopefully the videos work. Otherwise I will put them in youtube again. Sorry about the technical difficulties!!!

It doesn't seem to like me posting videos. I've posted it to youtube again.

Wed-- my first vole!

Wed-- me removing the vole from the trap

Wed--me releasing the vole (the end where the vole is released is cut off)

vole day

two of the teacher removing poop from our grid



one of the teachers removing poop from our grid.

one of the voles we caught



Today we returned to Cook's Lake to check our traps. Each day we have breakfast at 8am and then leave for the field before 9am. It sometimes takes up to 1 hour to arrive at the site. When we arrived, we were all anxious to check our traps. Remember that each of us set out 20 traps each. If you can see the videos, you will see how we placed them. In the morning we checked our traps. I had no voles or mice. :( The other teachers had 6 voles between them. They all seemed healthy and the scientists were very happy to see this. We then went and had a 'poop test' to see if we could find, recognize and analyze poop. We created a grid using large poles. The grid (square) was 10 meters by 10 meters. Before our 'test' we had to pick up all of the poo in the area so that it didn't get in the way. After we had cleared the area, we had to leave so Christina (one of the scientists) could secretly place the poo. She placed it in bunches and then piece by piece. Our job was to go in and identify what type of poo it was and then we had to determine if it was a pile or a strand. A pile is just a bunch of poo in one place. A strand is one piece of poo at a time in a row. It is important to learn about poo in an area because it can tell you what animals have been there. You can determine what they are eating and how many of them were there. After our test we cleared a trail. This was actually a lot of physical labor. We had to cut down trees. This was done for several reasons. One is to enable an ATV (four wheeler) to get through so we didn't have to carry the 100 traps a far distance. Another reason is that some of the mammals will use the path rather than attempting to cross through the thick forest. About 5pm we checked our traps again. This time I had voles!!!! I caught 4 voles in the afternoon. I videoed it for you. All of them were healthy and we did not hurt them. The sad part is that I tried to tape the release for you and ran out of memory so you see me about to release it and then it cuts off. Just so you know--they all ran off and hid. We did recapture two of the same voles from the morning. I guess they liked the food and realized it wasn't so bad to sit in a trap for a while--just kidding. Tomorrow (Thursday) we return to check the traps again. We found a beaver lodge and hope to stop to see if there is activity. There is a chance that I will be able to Skype you guys on Friday. I will confirm it first and then let Mrs Evenesen know.

Tuesday Traps 4-15-08

Today was another great day; the weather was fantastic. There is still a little snow on the ground and in the morning, the water is iced over. Today our goal was to survey the land area and put small mammal traps together. Right now we are trapping voles and mice to see how climate changes are affecting smaller mammals. Here is a little background on why we are trapping the mammals: the winters are lasting longer and the ground is usually covered in ice or snow and that reduces the food sources and hiding places for the mammals. For example, the snowshoe hare (a rabbit) turns white in November and then brown again in April—why do you think it turns white? Because there is no snow on the ground in November, it is white and stands out—making it easier for predators to spot it. The mammals we might trap are in a desperate situation because they have been frantically searching for food. They are trying to avoid being dinner for a larger mammal and their hiding spots are difficult to find because either there is snow or the grass has died or been eaten (usually they use tall grass). The traps we are using are not going to hurt them. We are putting lots of hay in the traps for insulation (to keep them warm until we release them). The weather still gets in the low teens (below 20 degrees) at night so they will need that warmth. We also added seeds and some apple. The seeds are for nutrition (food) and the apple is for a source of water. I really hope we are able to trap a few animals. It will show us where they live and their condition (how hungry they are). If they are caught, they have a free meal and a warm place to sleep and they don’t have to worry about being eaten that night! Don’t worry—we are releasing them exactly where we found them—we have to mark the exact spot where we trapped them. You guys have asked some fabulous questions and have made some really intelligent questions. I will try to get your answers quickly. I miss you guys and hope you really enjoy the lab!!!! I’ve made a couple of videos for you. Enjoy them!!! 

Monday, 4/14/08 scat day

Yesterday ended up being a very long day. We did not get 'home' until almost midnight. What a long drive.
Nova Scotia is a very scenic place. The countryside has rolling hills with lots of rocks (granite and blue shale--you'll be learning about those!). Moss and lichen cover the ground and any other available surface. The trees here are of the pine family mostly so they are everywhere and it smells really good. It looks nothing like Houston, Galveston or any area that I can think of.

There are a total of seven of us. Two research scientists, four teachers, and one person who paid to come and help out.
The five of us (four teachers and the assistant) are living in an 80 year old, two-story house. We're staying in a small town (called a hamlet) named Cherry Hill. It is next to the Atlantic Ocean and is very windy. Everyone is really nice and we all get along well.

The scientists live down the road but come here to have meals with us (breakfast and dinner). We have lunch together but we are out in the field.

Today we had a very interesting introduction to the world of a research scientist.
We went to Broad Cove and walked approximately 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) to Green Bay. While out, we looked for signs of mammals. It was very interesting to be at this beach because there was lots of granite, shale, and slate. It was beautiful; the kind you find in your kitchen!

There are several ways to tell that animals have been there. One of the easiest ways is when you actually see the animal first hand. Another way to tell they've been there is to look for scat, also known as poop.
Before we went to the cove (like a beach but with rocks and sand), we had a quick introduction course on how to recognize scat. There are lots of ways to tell the difference; I chose NOT to break it apart or smell it. I just looked at it to see what it was composed of (what was in it).

By identifying the scat, you can tell what animals are there. Why do you think it is important to identify which animals are in an area? Why would it matter? Keep in mind that some animals eat plants and some eat animals.

Today we only saw a few mammals. We saw an osprey (large bird), a muskrat and a young porcupine. I will post the pictures in a slideshow so you can see them. It is hard to see the porcupine because he was sort-of rolled into a ball at the top of a tree.
We saw the scat of more animals: coyotes, fox, bear, porcupine, bobcat, snow shoe hare, and white tail deer.

After today, I'm going to try to make videos for you so you don't miss anything I do during the research.

Tomorrow we are driving for about 45 minutes to Cook's Lake. There we will set traps to catch small mammals. We hope to catch small mice and voles (cute and chubby animals that slightly resemble hamsters). We will weigh, measure, and tag the animals. After that we will release them. We will set 100 traps (that will take a while with only a total of 7 people). The traps will be spaced apart by up to a mile so we will have to walk for a while just for one trap. When we finish setting them, we will have lunch and then return to see if the traps have been sprung (if we caught something).

Arriving in Nova Scotia

I arrived in Nova Scotia on Saturday (4-12-08) afternoon; my flight from New Jersey to Halifax had been delayed due to a storm in Halifax. The weather in Nova Scotia is definitely colder than in Houston.
I'm trying to fix the map so you guys can see where I am. The map I made isn't showing up. Sorry about that; I'm working on it. One thing you need to remember is that Nova Scotia is a lot further north than Houston so in the summer their weather is no hotter than 80 degrees! For us that is like a hot day last month.

When I got to my hotel I did the normal things you do--I put my luggage in the room, I grabbed my camera and I headed out to see what I could see around town.
Halifax is a small town. Compared to Houston, it could almost fit inside the Memorial City parking area!!! Well...it isn't that small, but it isn't much bigger either.
During the winter most of the stores close. The weather isn't good and there aren't any tourists. The reason to go to Halifax is to see whales and to hike around the beautiful area. The winter doesn't offer either of those--the whales aren't there and the hiking trails are covered in snow. While I was walking around (no snow by the way) I discovered that they consider May 1st the start of spring. Only one or two stores were open. I'd hoped to purchase some souvenirs for my family and classes but couldn't because the stores were closed. Hopefully I'll be able to find something before I leave.
Like I said, I was walking around. I walked about a mile or so and found a Dairy Queen. Mmmmmmmm. I love Blizzards. Since it was dinner time and I had nothing better to do I decided to order a small chocolate X-treme Blizzard and fries. Healthy huh?
Definitely something you should NOT do! It was good though. :)
This morning (Sunday) I went for a run on the boardwalk, next to the bay. It was cold and foggy--maritime polar air mass (if you can remember the weather unit). I have posted two pictures. One if of the boardwalk. You can sort-of see the bay to the left. The other picture is of the downtown area. Like I said, it is a small town. This is of one of the big shopping areas.

Well, now it is Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting at the airport again. This time I'm waiting to meet up with three other teachers who are working on the fellowship with me. One teacher is from Arizona, one is from Minnesota, and one is from Iowa. We'll travel to our research site and learn about our research trip. Exciting!!!

Hopefully everything goes well this week for you. You'll be covering rocks, the rock cycle, and land formations without me. :( I hope you guys enjoy the crayon lab. If possible I'd love to see the 'rocks' you make.

Mrs. Evensen will give you guys directions on your blogging assignment. This blog doesn't count as one you need to respond to. This one is just me saying hi and telling you how things are.
See you guys in two weeks!

Mrs. Krekeler

North America Map

I have updated the map that shows where Nova Scotia is. It gives you a little perspective to the distance. I am two hours ahead of you. That means that when it is 3:30pm in Houston, it will be 5:30pm in Nova Scotia.

Here is a Google map. You can use the tool bars to make it bigger or smaller. I have added a few placemarks to show you places I've been or where I am.

While you're looking at the map, you may choose to select “View in Google Earth”. Clicking this will launch GEarth (I'm not sure if it is installed) which will allow you to fly over terrain and see my Placemarks.



View Larger Map




map