Closing

Hello my wonderful scientists,

WOW, this has been a really exciting 2 weeks! I can't believe how much I've learned, can you? I had a great time here in Nova Scotia and I am so proud of all of you for being such great scientists with me throughout my time here. I hope that you continue to care about the Earth like you do now.

I have some trapping results to report to you. At our first field site, called Cook's Lake, we found twice as many voles as our second field site, East Port Medway. Also, we found twice as many snowshoe hares in East Port Medway than we did at Cook's Lake. We have many ideas about why we came to these results but need to collect more data before we can make a definite decision. I guess I know what the next Earthwatch team will be doing :)

This is one very cool thing about our new field site (East Port Medway)...we caught a rock vole!!! A rock vole is different from the voles we caught at Cook's Lake in a few ways. One of the differences is the color of the two voles. The voles by the lake are a brown color because they live in the forest so brown is a better color to protect them from predators and the rock voles live in the rocks so being a gray color helps to protect them.

This is very exciting because many people in Nova Scotia think that there are no rock lemmings that live here. The scientists are hoping that they will continue to catch them so that they can report a good finding.

Next, camera traps.

Sadly, even with all of the food that we left out, we caught nothing too exciting except for this...

we haven't been able to figure out what type of mammal this is or why it was going so crazy...hopefully you can help us figure this puzzle out.

Since you did such an amazing job writing comments on my blog page I decided to create one last movie for you telling you about many of the things I have noticed and thought during my time here.

I can't wait to see you on Monday! You definitely ROCK!!!

Love,
Ms. Livingston

Mapping

My friend Brie and I marking our map.

Making and having detailed maps is very important for scientists who are studying animals. A map that has field signs all over it can help scientists in many ways.

Here are some of the reasons why making maps like this can be very helpful:

1. You can have a record of the different types of animals that live in the area.
2. You can create new maps each year to compare similarities and differences.
3. You can find patterns for where animals make their homes.
4. You can figure out which animals are in danger if you stop seeing signs of them.
5. By using the field signs you can get a better idea for how many of each type of animal is in the area.
   

Finding another plot to add to our map.

Making a Map

Howdy Smarties,

Today we used GPS devices to help make a more accurate map of the new field site. What we did was we walked around our new trail and mapped out points around the area using the GPS device. Using a GPS for this will let us put the information into the computer and the computer will create a detailed map of our new site. We were sure to include all ponds and boulders along the trail as we walked along.

After we have these maps created we will then start marking where we find field signs (feces, fur, burrows, etc.) and look for patterns. The scientists who live here will keep marking these places and they will look at the patterns that they see over many years.

How do you think this information will help these scientists to learn about the animals in this particular environment?

Love,
Ms. Livingston

P.S. I hope this question was hard enough for you!

More about trail building

Me moving a fallen tree.


My Earthwatch team after working on our trail.

Diamondbacks, thank you for all of your comments today. It seemed to me that all of you thought, for the most part, trails were good things for the environment. There were two of you who did not think that trails were very good for the environment and wondered why I was helping to make them.

If you think only about what I am doing, you are right, it is not good for the environment to build a trail. I am destroying habitats that existed in nature. However, if you think more about the big picture, trails are very important things for the environment.

Here are some reasons that trails are very useful and important:

1. With a trail you actually destroy less habitats. If there is a trail, you destroy only the habitats that are along the trail. If there is no trail, then you are destroying different habitats each time you walk through the forest.
2. It is easier to quietly observe animals from a trail.
3. Once trails are built animals actually use them when no one is around.
4. You can easily find field signs (feces, feathers, fur, etc.) of animals that are in the area along a trail.
5. It makes it easier to walk.
   

So the next time you are out hiking please remember that the trails were put there for a reason and it is very important for you to stay on the trail.


Here is our finished trail.

Cool Nova Scotian Animals

Hey there! This is going to be a page created for you to check over and over. I am going to be posting pictures and videos of cool animals that I find over my stay. Please check this blog as many times as you can to see all the cool animals that I am seeing here in Nova Scotia.


Here is the caterpillar of a gray moth.


Can you find the snowshoe hare?


Here is a photo of a slug.


Here is a porcupine up in a tree.


Here is a video of a porcupine (I accidentally held the camera the wrong way so it looks like it is climbing sideways).


Here is a photo of a skink.


Here is a video of a beaver swimming in a lake.

Trail Building

Diamondbacks, I loved reading all of your promises today! You really ROCKED and I really feel that our Earth is going to be a better place because of each of you.

I know there are things that I do that hurt the Earth and things that I do to help protect the Earth. I think that I am going to be like Ms. Scott and look at my two lists in order to see what I can do to make my hurting list shorter and my helping list longer.

Here is a video talking to you a little bit about my morning...well actually my entire day. I didn't catch any animals in my trap today. Actually, in my entire team there is only one of us who caught anything today (Kathy caught one vole).


We are very curious about why we have not caught any animals. Do you think that you can think of any reasons why we have caught so few animals in our new field site?


Since we are very curious about the animals in this new habitat the scientists have decided that we are going to clear a trail. We are taking all the dead trees and moving them out of the way in order to create a path which will allow us to observe the animals more closely. We think that this will give us more information about the animals of this area. Can you think of any other reasons why clearing a trail would be helpful to the environment or to saving and observing the animals in an area?

Published Figurative Language :)

You all did an AWESOME job with the figurative language! Please feel free to add figurative language to any of your comments. I went and tried to find pictures of the ocean that matched your comments, enjoy!



The ocean is blue like the sky. Sometimes the ocean eats boats and people. The ocean so brilliant.
-Jennifer


The ocean is blue like the sky. Whales are jumping like a jump rope. It is noise like a money. Water pushes me!
-Itzel


The waves are so sad because
people don't visit me any more!
And
I want to see them if
I could only move!
Please
bring
them
please
I am
begging you.
-Dayana


I felt as relaxed as a cat sleeping in the bed.
-Mario


The ocean
is mad.
It pushes
the sand.
The ocean is because
the wind pushes it to shore.
-Abel


the ocean sounds like birds laughing and it looks like a big puddle
-Sieanna

* Also, to answer my question about the ocean life on the shore. Most of you thought that it was there because of global warming. Actually, most of it was probably there because of waves crashing against the shore or because of the tide. Everyday the tide (the water in the ocean) rises and falls. During high tide the water goes further up on the shore. During low tide the water goes further out into the ocean leaving ocean life on the shore.