Pearl River Research

Live from Pearl River...
Your favorite scientist, Miss Turner!

We have officially left New Orleans and have moved into the bunkhouse at Pearl River. Our team (7 teachers & 3 scientists) have been hard at work these last two days. Our job is to assist the scientists with collecting caterpillars so that they can determine the types of interactions that are going on between the primary producers (plants), the primary consumer (caterpillars) and the secondary consumer that feeds on caterpillars (parasitiods). The fifth graders should be familiar with this relationship as it is known as a food web (and I sure hope they remember talking about food webs when we studied owls). I plan on sharing more information about the specific food web in this area when I talk to you during our polycom session and in my later blogs.

Before I can even go out to the field there is a lot of planning that must be done! An important job for a scientist is to be prepared before going out to the field. Our work consists of collecting not only caterpillars but also the plant that they are found on so that we can take care of them back in the lab and note their changes as they go through their life cycle. In order to do that we need to have certain supplies. Are you ready for the official packing list? It's a long one! Each individual going out in the field needs the following supplies: long sleeve shirt, long pants, rain boots, a bright orange vest, large water bottle, lunch or snacks, a small bag that contains- 30 ziplock bags, 2 sharpies, our collecting permit, hand sanitizer and clippers. Now our group also needs to bring a few other items that we all share during our collection. These items include: a machete, bright orange tape marked off 5 meters in each direction, large bags, beat sheets, and a first aid kit. Whew, I'm tired just thinking of all of these items but they are all used during our plot assessment. In fact these same tools are being used at the other 4 sites that are collecting the same data that we are in New Orleans. The scientists working in the other locations around the world are using the same techniques for collecting and caring for the caterpillars as we are doing. They are also logging in the information that they find into the same type of database as we are using. Hmmm I wonder why they would be studying caterpillars in different parts of the world? Got any ideas why we would be interested in other places besides New Orleans? I'll save that one till tomorrow!

Challenge:

1. Why do you think it is important that all of the scientists that are part of this study use the same materials and collect their information in the same manner?

2. Take a look at that long list of supplies and try to guess how we might use that particular material. (For example what are the ziplock bags for? Why would we need to wear orange vests? )

3. Any idea what type of caterpillar I found in the picture above?