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.

More information about snowshoe hares

Hello Smartest Students on the Face of the Earth,

You did an amazing job telling me about the snowshoe hare! Many students told me that the snowshoe hare can no longer camouflage itself from predators because there is less snow in its habitat. You are absolutely correct. This is a real problem for the snowshoe hare and for other plants and animals in the area because if you lose too many of one type of animal then the rest of the food chain will be affected as well.

Also, when I asked about other animals that are affected in similar ways some of you said that some lizards are having a harder time camouflaging because the trees are being cut down. This is very true. There are many animals that are affected by trees being cut down and a lizard is definitely one of them.

Mrs. Hernandez said that global warming is also affecting animals that hibernate, like bears. This is also true. Animals that normally hibernate in the winter are having a very hard time with global warming because the weather is getting warmer much faster which is affecting their hibernation.

Whew, you sure are super smarties...I am going to have to start asking some trickier questions!

You

Happy Earth Day!!!

Hey there Diamondbacks!

I am really excited about the answers that I am getting from you! I loved hearing what you thought about the snowshoe hare and I also loved the figurative language that you wrote about the ocean. I still wish that I could get a few more comments on each before I give you the answers or post some of the most creative examples of figurative language. In order to do this, I am going to give you one more day to post your thoughts and knowledge on both blogs.

Today I made a movie about our Earth. I made the movie because it is Earth Day but really it is more about making a promise to care about the Earth everyday.



After you finish watching the movie I would like you to create two lists. One will be a list of all the things that you can think of that humans are doing to destroy our Earth and the other will be a list of things that other humans are doing to save the Earth.

Once you make your two lists I would then like you to write a promise to either be a person who will destroy our Earth or a promise to be a person who will help to save our Earth. Diamondbacks, the choice is yours, but remember, we have only one Earth...

Snowshoe Hare

Today we took a field trip into the city of Halifax. While we were there we went to the Museum of Natural History. There were a lot of cool things there, but the coolest of all was a global warming exhibit. Here is a picture of a sign that was made and posted outside the exhibit.



This sign is a very true statement, and we need to do what we can to start helping to save the earth.

I asked you to research the snowshoe hare and report your findings to me. Because of you I had a great base of knowledge when I talked with the other teachers and the scientists about them. Here is what I know so far from you and a little about what I have learned here.



Most of you told me that you found or knew that a snowshoe hare is white and that it lives in the forest. You are right. Snowshoe hares are a type of mammal who live in the forest and they are white (but only during the winter months). They are not white all the time, during spring and summer they turn brown so they match their surroundings. This is called an adaptation. When an animal changes something (like it's fur color) to match it's surroundings it is called an adaptation. This helps the snowshoe hare to survive because it makes it harder for it's predators to see it as it moves through the forest.

OK, now you know that the snowshoe hare's fur changes color. One other very important thing to know is that it cannot just change it's fur color like we change our shoes. The hare actually has no control over it's changing fur at all. The hare's fur changes with the length of day (NOT the color of it's surroundings). So, as the days get shorter the hares fur begins to change from brown to white and as the days start to get longer (in the summer) it's fur changes back to brown.

This used to work perfectly for the snowshoe hare but now, because of global warming, there is less and less snow every year. Even though there is less and less snow the hare is still changing from brown to white when the days become shorter.

Based on everything that you already knew and what I have now told you, how do you think global warming is affecting snowshoe hares? Can you think of any other animals that might be impacted in a similar way?

Ocean Challenge

For my next challenge I have some ocean questions for you.

My first question is, which ocean touches the coast of Nova Scotia? You may need to find it on a larger map.



Here is a video clip of the ocean. Isn't it beautiful? Can you use some figurative language to describe the ocean? I will post a few of the most creative on my next blog.



Here is another video showing the shore of the ocean. I have noticed that as I walk along the coast there is always a lot of dead ocean life. Why do you think there are so many dead ocean plants and animals along the coast as I am walking?

Answers to my questions and the challenge

Answers to question one: Why is it so important to study feces?



Studying feces helps us:

• to know what types of animals are in the area.
• to see how many of each type of animal is in an area (there is a mathematical equation to follow to determine about how many animals are in an area based on the amount of feces you find).
• to determine if the animals are healthy.
• to see what the animals are eating (are they following normal eating patterns or are they eating things that they normally wouldn't).
• to see if a new animal has entered the habitat.
• David (in Mrs. Owen's class) mentioned a DNA test and actually scientists can use DNA tests to determine a lot about the feces or hair samples that they find.

Answers to question two: Why do we study mice and voles and how does it help us to learn about climate change?


This is a photo of a vole.


This is a photo of a mouse.

Studying mice and voles is important and it helps us to learn about climate change because:

• they are small mammals, which means they are easy to trap.
• the mice and voles are OK with being trapped (some larger animals will actually hurt themselves if they get caught in a trap).
• mice and voles are at the bottom of the food chain (which means they are eaten by a lot of other animals) and so the absence or abundance of them tells us a lot about the other animals in the area.
• if the population changes greatly in a year it could also make a scientist look at the vegetation in the area to see what has changed and why.
  

Great job thinking about the trap challenge. You are all correct, it was definitely an animal larger than a mouse or vole. We have decided that the animal that took my traps apart was probably a raccoon. The reason that we think it was a raccoon is because we found one of the traps down by the water and a nickname for the raccoon in Germany is the washer bear. The reason that people call raccoons that is because most raccoons take their food to the water to wash it before they eat it. Since we found my trap by the water this makes us think that it was probably a raccoon.

Challenge

Hey fourth graders! I know that a lot of you have been asking about where I am living and about the ocean and I promise to have more on that soon, but right now my challenge has to do with trapping.



Here is a video of what the missing traps looked like once I found them.



This actually happened to 4 of my traps today! Please help me figure this mystery out so I can stop it from happening again.

More about feces...

Hey there Diamondbacks!

I have heard from many teachers and I have noticed from your answers that you are doing some FABULOUS thinking so I have another very important question for you about feces. It is very important for a scientist to study the feces of animals. It actually tells you quite a bit about that particular animal. Can you think of 3 really important reasons for a scientist to study feces?



Also, can you tell me 2 reasons that you think studying mice and voles will help us to learn about how the change in climate is impacting mammals?



Oh, and one other thing. I am going to be talking about snowshoe hares next week. Could you please find some things out about snowshoe hares and report your findings to me?

Feces and challenge answers

Here are the results of the great feces challenge...many of you were right or very close.

A. Coyote feces. You can tell coyote feces because it comes apart in pieces and there are usually bits of hair and bone inside because coyotes are meat eaters. The reason that this is white is because it is very old and has started to decompose. Normally coyote feces is brown.


B. Hare feces. You can tell hare feces because of the shape. It is a round flat shape, kind of like a fluffy pancake. Also, if you look closely, you can still see bits of wood (especially in the colder months because green food is not always available).

C. Fisher feces. You can tell fisher feces because it is smaller in diameter, it is twirly, and the ends are usually very pointy. It also smells a lot less of feces. It is more of a musky smell.


D. Raccoon feces. A raccoon can have very difficult to recognize feces because they are scavengers (which means that they will eat almost anything). This is raccoon and you can tell it by the visible seeds and shells.


E. Bobcat feces. Bobcats usually bury their feces so it is hard for scientists to find but lucky for us our scientists have a dog named Lycos who is an expert at sniffing it out for us.

F. Deer feces. You can tell deer feces because of its color (dark brown) and shape (oval shaped).


Also, great job to Blanca, Lizeth, Ricardo, Adrian, and Jason; you all figured out my challenge! The sound that you were hearing belonged to these lovely amphibians. They are called wood frogs.

Challenge

Here is another challenge for you (only after you have answered my scientific questions). This is a video that I took of a pond near our research area. There is a mystery noise in the background. Can you figure out what is making that noise? I will give you the answer on Friday.

Good Luck!

Oh, and to answer your last challenge...most of you were wrong! Ms. Scott was right. I am practicing being brave and made a very brave face on the outside but my inside looked like the blue picture :)

...I wonder who will get my next challenge?

poop, number two, feces, scat...

Task: Choose 3 of the following pieces of feces and try to name the animal that each of them came from. Then tell me what you think their diet is and why.

Oh, and to answer some of your questions. No, we do not wear gloves when we are handling the feces but we do make sure that we wash our hands very well when we are done. The first time I touched a piece of feces I felt very nervous and thought that it would be very gross but it wasn't bad and I felt good because I knew that what I was doing would help the environment and the mammals. There are many ways to tell which animal a piece of feces came from: smell (some mammals have sweet smelling feces while others have very foul smelling feces), size, what is in it (hair, bones, seeds), and shape (some mammals feces always looks twirly, while others break off into chunks).

I hope you can figure out the feces I have posted. Next time I will give you the results and tell you why looking at feces is so important.

A.


B.


C.


D.


E.


F.

Trapping results:

Again, you have amazed me with your intelligence! I am going to recommend that Earthwatch starts bringing students here, not teachers!

You are absolutely right about the traps. We put the seeds and apple into the trap so the mouse or vole will smell the food and go into the trap. Then, as it walks into the tunnel to get to the food it steps on the lever and when it does that, the door closes behind it. Don't worry, this does not hurt them at all, and they have free food and soft straw to sleep in until I come and find him or her (we check our traps twice a day).

You were also right about voles. A vole is a mammal that looks very similar to the mouse. The differences are that a vole has a much shorter tail, smaller ears, and a bigger body.

Watch the next two videos for the results of our first day of trapping.



Do you think that I found any? Watch this next video to find out.



I actually had a very exciting day and ended up catching 3 different voles today (one I caught twice). I caught 2 girls (they were both pregnant) and one boy. My whole team caught a total of 11 voles (none of us caught mice).

When we catch the mice and voles we empty the trap into a plastic bag. Then we determine whether it is a boy or a girl, weigh it, and clip a little bit of it's fur. The reason that we clip the fur is so we know if the same mouse or vole comes into our trap again. We record the results in a scientific journal and reset the trap.



Once we catch the voles (or mice) we take them back to the exact place that we trapped them and release them into the wild. The reason that we do this is because they are territorial. Do you know what that means?



I have gotten a few comments asking me about climate change and how my work here is helping us to learn about that and I am so excited that you are thinking ahead. I am going to start talking about that soon but before I did I wanted to make sure you know exactly what I was doing then we can all work together from there.

Oh, and I saw the owl again but I was not quick enough to take a video or picture. I will keep trying though! I am also hoping to see other cool animals like a bear or a seal. Also, Ms. Baker's Class, I have seen many insects. Are there any that you are very interested in? Maybe I could take a picture for you.

YIKES!!!

Hello there everyone. Look what else I saw today...

How do you think I looked when I saw them?

Like this?

Or like this?

And why do you think that?

P.S. You may only answer this question after you have finished answering my scientific question about the traps and voles.

4th Grade ROCKS!

TRAPS!

Holy Cow! I thought that we had the smartest students ever, but those comments are really proving it to me!!! I can't wait to tell all the other scientists your great ideas tomorrow! I can't believe that I never thought about carnivores having hair or fur in their feces, and then vegetarians having nuts and seeds in their feces; I think you should be here helping us!

Tomorrow when I go on my feces hunt in the afternoon I am going to look for all those things that you told me about and take LOTS of pictures for you to look at and maybe you could tell me what you see. Oh, and yes, Jorgelssy there is some sniffing involved while looking at feces. I will tell you all about it tomorrow :)

OK. Today was a very important day for us here in Nova Scotia. We set up our first traps and first thing tomorrow morning we are going to go see what we found. We are looking for mice and voles. I know you have heard of mice, but who has heard of a vole? What do you think it is? Please answer that question and make sure that you answer the questions in my video (Why does the door close when I push the little latch? Why do we put straw, seeds, and an apple piece in the nesting box?).

Keep your fingers crossed that I have 20 full traps tomorrow morning! I can't wait to hear from you :)

My First Day

Hey Rockers!

I want to start by saying that I was really excited to hear from you today but I was also really sad to see that none of you answered my very first question "What do you think I will do on my very first day?". Please make sure that you answer my questions before you comment on other comments.

In my video I ask you a very important question. Please make sure that you answer it, I really need you!!!

Talk to you soon,
Ms. Livingston

I'm here!!!

Hey Smarties,

I have made it safely to Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada! Do you remember where that is? Maybe you should find it on the map or globe. So far I am doing really well. I took a plane from Phoenix all the way to Chicago. Once I was there I had to wait about 3 hours until my next plane was ready to take me to Nova Scotia (that is called a layover). Here is a picture of me getting off the plane in Nova Scotia; can you tell that I am very excited?

I am glad that you gave me such good advice on what to pack because it is cold here. When I got off the plane it was 39 degrees, BRRR!

Well, I need to get to sleep because I have a very busy day tomorrow. It will be my first day as a real researcher. What do you think I will do first?

I can't wait to hear back from you; I miss you already!

Love,
Ms. Livingston

P.S. Did you see that anonymous wrote again and so did Ms. Waling's class :)

What should I pack?

Howdy Kids,

You did such a great job answering my first blog that I thought I would post another to get some help from you.

I am leaving for Nova Scotia in 9 days and need to start packing for my trip. I am not really sure what to pack and need you to help me. Here is an attachment that compares the weather in Phoenix to the weather in Nova Scotia for next week. Please try to use it in order to give me a few ideas to pack into my suitcase.

Thanks,
Ms. Livingston

Weather%20Forecast.doc

Mammal Characteristics

Dear 4th graders,

As you know I am going to be going to Nova Scotia very soon. While I am there I will be posting blogs that I want you to respond to. Since this is new to you we will be practicing in class.

In science, we have been talking about animal characteristics. We have been especially looking at mammals because that is the type of animals I will be studying while I am in Nova Scotia. I would like to know some things you have learned about mammals.

Here are my questions:
1. Do mammals lay eggs?
2. What are two things that all mammals have in common?

I can't wait to hear from you!

Love,
Ms. Livingston