A Day in the Life of a Scientist
From early morning to late at night... a scientist's job is never done!
D0 you think that the life of a scientist is easy? Well think again! Here's what a day looks like here in Louisiana (I completely understand if you become exhausted just reading about it). 
We wake up around 6a.m. to eat breakfast and pack up all of our supplies including our lunch/snacks for while we are out in the field. We leave for the field at 7:30a.m. and either drive or kayak out to a location. Either way, when we arrive we must use a machate to clear out a path and hike to find our plot assessment.
Once we arrive we carefully use orange tape to measure out 10 square meters. All of our plots are measured the same way with a center tree. We use a GPS to pinpoint our specific location. Then we look high and low for caterpillars. Each caterpillar gets a seperate bag with a sample of the plant they are found on and labeled for identification purposes. We are also keeping track of all of the different plants so we count not only the types of plants in our plot but also the number of leaves on each plant. Can you imagine how long that must take? Now you see why we work in teams! We try to accomplish two plots before lunch. Then we take a quick break for lunch out in the field. Usually we eat on a fallen log. Then it is back to finding new assessment plots.
In the afternoon we make our way back to the bunkhouse to log in all of our collections into two different databases. One that records information on the caterpillar and the other one about the plants we found. We must use microscopes and guide books to help us identify the individual species of caterpillars and plants. We also take photographs of each type of caterpillar before giving them their own number for the database.
Finally we must take care of the caterpillars that were previously collected by cleaning out their bags, giving them fresh food and recording if there is pupation or parasitoid activity. But wait, the day is not over! We are now famaished and must cook dinner. Making dinner for 10 people each night is not an easy task and by that time we are very tired! After cleaning up all of our dishes, we write our blog. I have yet to go to bed before 11p.m. so that should really let you know that we are working hard all day and night! Yes, it is exhausting but the work is extremely interesting and I am enjoying every moment!
Challenge:
What do you think is the most interesting or difficult part of my job here in Louisiana?
posted by Miss Turner @ 2:28 PM
6 Comments:
I think that the most difficult part of being a real scientist is counting every last leaf on all the plants, especially the ones that the young ones are on, because the caterpillar hasn't eaten as many leaves as the older ones.
The hardest part Peyton thinks
is working in the woods. Emma thinks you have to look out so you do not get lice or ticks in your hair...by the way you hair is still looking good!! Charlie thinks the hardest part is counting ALL of those leaves!! It must be hard to find all of the caterpillars, says Greg. Raychel thinks paddling the kayak without falling out would be tough! Jada thinks it's hard to cook for all of those people. She would cook rice and chicken. Keanu thinks that just waking up at 6AM everyday would be hard......now we must do our hard work for the day!! We miss you lots!
Love, Your Class
We measured our room to see what a 10 X 10 meter area would be like and guess what? Our classroom is 10 meters X 9 meters and 1 foot..almost perfect match!! Don't you think we are getting good at measuring???
Wow! There certainly are a lot of diffucult tasks and lots of challenges, but I think the most challenging is being on time. It must be hard trying to wake up at the right time and being able to eat breakfast fast! Then you have to make dinner- something that everybody likes. That's got to be diffucult!
Paige
I think that the most interasting thing is that going out in the ciyak and one quiestion do you go far out in the water?
It all sounds interesting and difficult and exciting and tiring all rolled together!!
It is so great that you can communicate your experiences through pictures and videos in this blog. I know your class now and for years to come will benefit from your effort and all that you have learned.
Thanks so much for sharing with all of us!! As a proponent of technology tools in education and a parent of one of your alumni, I will check back for updates and look forward to your future adventures!
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