Last Day!

Yesterday everyone went their separate ways and we had to say goodbye.

Stephanie and Kelly were the first ones to leave. 

Laura waving goodbye!

    Cathy, Karen and Ann

We all agreed that we had shared an incredible experience. 

I was sad because I knew I was going to miss these wonderful teachers.  I hoped we would get a chance to meet again soon.....

 Steve

All of the team members were going home except for Karen and I.

Karen was staying for a few days so she could explore New Orleans and I decided to stay an extra day to visit with Mike and Rebecca.

In the afternoon, Karen and I went back to the lab at Tulane University to help Rebecca. There were still about twenty caterpillars we needed to identify.

While we were helping her we found a few other organisms in the caterpillar bags. There were several spiders, which we removed and put in another bag (to release later).

We also found a "hemipteran",  commonly known as a "true bug".  This hemipteran was a predator so we also removed him from the caterpillar bag.

Here's Rebecca examining the hemipteran.

He's a little blurry but you might be able to spot him near the top of one of the plant buds.

When we finished identifying the caterpillars and entered all of the information on the computer, we determined how many caterpillars we had found on our expedition.

The grand total was 279 caterpillars!!!!!! 

Wow! We couldn't believe it!!! Rebecca said she was really impressed by what the team was able to accomplish.

Before we left the lab, I had a chance to speak with Genoveva Rodriguez, the scientist from Guatemala who spoke with you all on Tuesday. 

Remember when Juan and Duke's team asked her which caterpillar was her favorite?

She replied that it was a caterpillar she had found in Ecuador that looked like it had "gummy" candies stuck all over its body. 

She gave me a picture of it to share with you

 

Can you believe this is a real caterpillar??!!!!

I asked her what kind it was and she said it didn't have a name yet because they were still in the process of identifying it. It might even be a new species!

She explained that even though scientists have studied moths and butterflies very closely for years, they still have very little information about their larva (caterpillars). 

This is why the work that Rebecca and Genoveva are doing is so important! 

I have learned so much on this expedition and can't wait to share it with you when I return. I hope you feel as inspired as I do to keep learning about these marvelous creatures! 

Assignment

If you have not added yesterday's vocabulary words, please do that first. 

After you have finished, I would like you to open your expedition journals to the next blank page and write about some things you learned or really enjoyed during the past 8 days of this project. 

Please write at least one page in either Spanish or English. Of course you may write more than one page if you like.

Before I sign off I would like you to take a look at this amazing video of a monarch butterfly's metamorphosis. 

Click on the link and then scroll down to where it says "Butterfly Metamorphosis".

http://secondgradeiscool.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=23

See you tomorrow!!

Ms. Gomez

Working at the Zoo

It was so great to video conference with you all yesterday! Our guest scientist, Genoveva Rodriguez, was impressed with how interesting your questions. I was really proud of how well you read them and listened to her answers.

After the video conference ended, I returned to the biology lab and helped to do "zoo".

A couple of us took down bags from the rearing rack and placed them on the table that we had covered with paper towels.

Then we opened one of the bags and carefully took out the vegetation (plants) and inspected it until we found the caterpillar that was listed on the outside of the bag. We examined him to make sure he was still alive and looked to see whether any changes had occurred.

Some caterpillars had grown. Others were about to turn into pupas.

Do you remember the first caterpillar I found on Sept. 23? If you don't, check the blog entry for that date.

We identified him as a "Spodoptera".

This is how he looked when I checked on him a few days later. You can really see the markings on his body compared to the first picture that we took on 9/23.

And this is how he looked yesterday.

Can you see how his body has puffed up and looks much bigger than his head?

I was a little worried because he was hardly moving, but Rebecca said that he was about to pupate or turn into a pupa, so those changes were normal.

(Maybe Rebecca can send us a picture of him when he metamorphosizes into an adult!)

We were hoping we might find some adults but..... no moths or butterflies yet.

Sadly, some of the caterpillars had died.

We found this little guy just lying in his bag. He went from a beautiful light green color to what he looks like below.

1) What are some possible reasons this caterpillar died? Try to think of at least two.

We put him back in his bag and wrote this on the outside: "Dead- Watch for parasites"

2) Why do you think we did this?

After making our observations, we cleaned out the bags, especially the ones that had a lot of frass. Then we put the vegetation and caterpillar back in the bag and returned it to the rearing rack.

FRASS!!!!!!!!

During zoo, I came across caterpillars I hadn't seen before.

Here are two other specimens from our collection. 
The one with the yellow background is the one I showed you yesterday. It is in the Noctuidae family.

The tan and green one is in the Notodontidae family.

3) What defense do these caterpillars have in common?

Please answer the three questions above and post the answers in the comments section of the blog.

If you have time, add the words "pupate" and "vegetation" to your journal vocabulary list along with the definition (you can find the definition in the text). If you don't have time to add the words you may do it tomorrow.


Ms. Solis told me this morning that some of you have been bringing specimens that you've collected from your backyard explorations-- I can't wait to see them!!

Hasta pronto,
Ms.Gomez

Weekend Adventure

Good morning class,

I'm writing to you in the evening after a whole day of collecting and kayaking! I'm pretty tired and I'll bet that my arms and legs are going to be sore tomorrow, but it was WONDERFUL!

At about 10:30 this morning, Mike (our guide), Steve and I put on our collecting clothes, hopped into Mike's truck and headed out to the Pearl River. Mike drove for about fifteen minutes and suddenly announced, "Welcome to Mississippi!". 

I was confused. "We haven't traveled very far. How can we be in Mississippi already?", I asked him. He handed me a map and I realized he was right!

If you look carefully at our route on the map you can see a squiggly blue line going from north to south, passing very near Pearlington (point B). That line is the East Pearl River where we went kayaking and it's also the boundary that separates the state of Louisiana from the state of Mississippi. 

Can you think of any rivers in Texas that form boundaries with other states or countries?

As soon as we arrived we unloaded the kayaks and put them in the river. I was nervous because I had never been in a kayak before. Mike explained that it's easy to tip one over, so I really had to concentrate. Of course I was also worried about  alligators and snakes.

After about ten minutes of paddling I started to feel comfortable and relaxed. The river was wide and really still, so we just zoomed along. 

Then Mike turned to the right and suddenly we were right in the middle of the SWAMP!! The water was very shallow and sometimes the kayak would get stuck on a log or pile of dead plants and I had to use my oar to push the kayak forward. 

Finally we arrived at our plot and that's when things got even more exciting.

Mike took us to an area that looked just like Jurassic Park!

The ground was covered with a over a foot of water and our boots sank into the ground as we tried to walk around. "Yikes! Quicksand!" I thought, but Mike promised I wouldn't  disappear into the earth.

It was difficult to walk around and brown, smelly water it got inside my boots.

But we still looked for caterpillars...... here I am using a "beat sheet", which is a square piece of canvas with a wooden frame underneath. I put it under a tree while I hit the tree with a stick. Whatever falls out of the tree lands on the sheet and then we examine it. Usually, this is a great way to find caterpillars, but this time we didn't even find one.

(Check out my boots in the water!)

In the next plot, we didn't have much luck either until this tiny green fellow fell on Steve's neck.

Unfortunately for Steve, this caterpillar has stinging hairs on its body, so he was in pain for a little while. We think he might be a "Shagreened" or a "Yellow-shouldered"  slug. He is in the same family as the "Saddleback", which is the Limacodidae family.

The rest of our adventure brought more surprises, like a baby water moccasin that was swimming by our kayaks. Steve and I thought he wasn't too dangerous since he was a baby, but then Mike explained that baby snakes are more dangerous because they don't know how to control their venom and shoot ALL of it into their victim when they bite. What?!! I was out of there in a flash!

By the time we left the sun was setting.

It was a day I'll never forget and I can't wait to share more pictures and videos with you when I get back.............

Your assignment today has two parts, one to complete in class and the other at home.

1) In class, I would like for you and your partner to brainstorm questions you would like to ask Rebecca and other scientists at tomorrow's conference from Tulane University. Write down the questions in your expedition journals and then pick the best two and post them in the comments section. I will be reviewing these questions tonight.

2) The second part is HOMEWORK!!  I would like you to go home tonight and carefully explore the area around your house. Pay attention to clues such as fresh holes and frass on leaves. You might try taking apart two leaves that are stuck together but be very careful- you might find spiders instead of caterpillars! 

You do not have to collect any specimens but if you decide to, as Martin did, make sure you don't touch them and have your parents help you. You can take the leaf the insect is on and put it directly into the container. Make sure to put more leaves in for food.

When you come in tomorrow I want you to report what you found. If anybody does collect a caterpillar, bring him in and we can help you identify him during the conference.

We were all very excited by Martin's find!!! 

If you go on www.caterpillars.org

look in the Nymphalidae family and see if you can find him.

 

See ya,

Ms. Gomez

A Day at Tulane University

Hi guys!!!

It was so much fun video conferencing with you today! I'm sorry it was a little difficult to hear and see me, but at least you were able to look at some of the caterpillar specimens up close. Weren't they amazing?!  

There were a few things from the conference which I am going to explain again so that you can understand them better.

Do you remember when I described the three parts of a caterpillar's body?

Here is a diagram showing the three parts: 

Head, Thorax and Abdomen. 

 

During the conference I spoke to you about the thoracic legs and the prolegs. I  said that the thoracic legs are known as the true legs. Take a look at them. There are six and they have little claws. They are true legs because they actually move the caterpillar forward.  The prolegs help the caterpillar balance and stick to things but they don't move it along. With your partner, find the prolegs in the diagram.

Now use the diagram to answer these questions:

1) Which of the three body parts has the greatest mass?

2) The thorax has three segments. How many are in the abdomen?

3) What do you think is the function of the spiracles?

Remember my friend Kelly who was helping me take the caterpillars out of the bags? Well, the other day she found a really fantastic caterpillar.  I was nearby when I heard her yell "I found one!" Watch:

Kelly was really excited to find him but there was a problem. She found him crawling on the bark of the tree instead of on the leaves.  Sometimes when caterpillars feel threatened they drop to the ground and burrow under the leaves and soil. When it's safe to come out they craw back up to the leaves. Since he wasn't eating a leaf when we found him, we worried he might be on the wrong tree. 

We decided to take some of the leaves from the tree (called a "Hornbeam")  and hoped that he would eat them. 

4) What would be a way for us to know if the leaves we gathered are the caterpillar's host plant?

Here is a picture of the caterpillar Kelly found. Can you see his yellow body underneath the long white hairs?

In the guide it says he's a Scarlet-bodied Wasp Moth.

(Scientific name: Cosmosoma myrodora)

When you and your partner have answered all four questions, please post the answers in the comments section of the blog.  

After you are finished, Ms. Garcia or Ms. Cantu will give you the caterpillar diagram. When you return to the room after lunch, please glue the diagram into the next blank page of your expedition journal. Use the glue STICK!!!!! 

Using your color pencils, please color each section of the body a different color. Color VERY LIGHTLY so that you can still read the labels underneath.

I'm going to try to video conference with you tomorrow (Wednesday) from the bunkhouse for just a few minutes. I hope it works!!

Bye!!

Ms. Gomez

More Crazy Caterpillars!!

Good afternoon everybody,

Do you remember the strange looking caterpillar I mentioned called a "saddleback"? Here's a picture of it . What do you think? It looks a little bit like a puppy, doesn't it?

Also, did everybody notice that the picture of the log in the river had an alligator in it too? It's difficult to see because its skin camouflages perfectly with the bark.

Today was a really interesting day. Instead of going out to the field in the morning we stayed in the bunkhouse and learned how to identify and catalog caterpillars. First we had to take the caterpillar bags down from the "rearing rack".  After that, one of us would open a caterpillar bag and carefully remove the leaves until we found the caterpillar. Sometimes this was difficult because the caterpillar was very small. 

Once the caterpillar was found we used a caterpillar guide and Rebecca's help to determine what kind it was. The first step was to figure out its family or group. Then we looked at pictures of caterpillars from that family until we found one that looked like it. For the small caterpillars, we used a hand lens to see details of its body shape, color and markings. After we identified the caterpillar we recorded the information on a computer.

These are the caterpillar bags

Recording the information

For your challenge today I would like you to identify a caterpillar. To do this you will go to www.caterpillar.org. Then, click on "Caterpillars of Louisiana" which will take you to a green page with some underlined words. The underlined words are the scientific names for caterpillar families. The "Saddleback" caterpillar in the picture above is in the Limacodidae family. Click on that family name and you will see a picture of him and his scientific name Sibene Stimulea. If you click on that name you can find out more information about him.

So.......the common name of the caterpillar I want you to identify is the "dotted gray" which is a type of inchworm (pictured below). Use the part of the common name which I put in bold to find the family name on the green page of the website. When you find the family name, write it down and then click on it until you identify the caterpillar. Please write down its individual scientific name. Post the caterpillar's individual name and its family name on the comments section of the blog. For bonus points, give me information about what the caterpillar eats.

Here is the dotted gray inchworm we found yesteday. Look carefully, you may think he is a branch at first!

In the afternoon we went out in the field again and found some great specimens. 

Check out the furry critter below!!

When we identify him tomorrow morning, I'll let you know what his name is. 

(What do you think his name should be? Think about it.... and tell me in person)

On Wednesday, I am planning to do a video conference with you all. To prepare, I would like you to write at least  three questions you would like to ask me in your expedition journal. Then discuss what you have written with your partner and put a star by the best question.

Well, I look forward to seeing you. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ms. Gomez

First Day Hunting!

(Note: Your assignment questions are found in different sections of the blog. Please read the whole journal entry first and then, together with your partner, go back and answer the questions. Please post your answers in the comments section of the blog) 

Today was our first day in the field!

We woke up at 6:00 am and dragged ourselves over to the breakfast table. While we ate, our team leader, Rebecca, gave us a special talk about caterpillars.

She told us that the scientific name for moths is Lepidoptera and informed us about the different types of moth families (remember: caterpillars are the larva of moths). 

They had amazing names like Saturniidae and Nymphalidae. You might recognize some of these names from the www.caterpillar.org site. Then she reviewed what we would be doing in the field later.

By that point we were really excited and quickly put on our gear. We also filled up our water bottles, put on our supply packs and made sure to put enough sunscreen and insect repellent on our faces and arms. Before we left, Rebecca told us that there were people hunting near our caterpillar collection site so we would need an extra item of clothing to protect us.

1) Why might hunting be hazardous for people who are out collecting caterpillars? 

2) Look at the picture above. Which item of clothing do you think she gave me? Why?

The whole team got in the van and soon arrived at "Honey Island Swamp". 

I was a little nervous, because on the way over I saw several very large spider webs hanging in the trees with VERY LARGE spiders sitting in them.  Sure enough, one of the first organisms I

saw when I went into the forest was this specimen in the picture below.

Pretty cool, huh? I'm not sure exactly what type of spider it is, but I'll let you know when I find out.

Then we began a serious search for our larva friends. Rebecca and her assistant Mike taught us to look for special clues that might lead us to a caterpillar. 

For example, holes or missing pieces in leaves are evidence that a caterpillar has been feeding there.

3) Look at the two plants below. In which plant would you be most likely to find caterpillars? Why? (Hint: Look closely at the holes in each leaf.)

When there are bits of frass on a leaf, you can also tell that a caterpillar has been there.  

Here is leaf with frass on it.

4) What is frass? Look it up on www.yourdictionary.com .Write the word and its definition in the vocabulary section of your expedition journal. When you are done add the word "Lepidoptera" to the vocabulary section and explain what it means based on what I told you in the first paragraph.

The last tip they gave us was to look for leaves that are curled up like a "flauta" or two leaves that are held together with silk. When you unroll or pull these leaves apart, there is often a caterpillar inside.  I payed attention to all these clues when I began searching for caterpillars, but after about forty-five minutes, I still hadn't found one. I saw plenty of other interesting things, like a snakeskin and different moths and butterflies. 

Suddenly, there he was, crawling up the stem of an Aster plant---my first caterpillar!!!!! I was super excited! I removed the leaf he was on from its plant and placed both in a plastic ziplock bag. I added plenty of other leaves from the same plant to the bag (food!) and then closed it. 

On the outside of the bag I wrote the date, the type of plant he eats, the location where I found him and a guess about what type of caterpillar he might be.  What do you think? Isn't he cute?

5) Help me to identify him. 

Observe the picture closely  and then go to www.caterpillars.org. 

Click on "Caterpillars of Louisiana" and go through the different families of caterpillars until you find one that might be like this little guy. Write down its scientific name and one of the plants it eats.

Overall it was a very successful day. Other members of my team found caterpillars too, including one really weird looking one called a "Saddleback",  which I hope to show you tomorrow.

I'm a little tired after all that hard work so I'd better get some rest- see you tomorrow!

Ms. Gomez

PS.  One final picture from the trip back to the bunkhouse. Do you notice anything strange about the log that's laying in the river?

Going to the Forest

Good morning!

I hope you are all doing well. I enjoyed reading your posts from yesterday. 

I thought Tania, Karla and Margarita did an especially good job!! 

Today was an exciting day for me. We started the day off by walking over to Tulane University to meet Dr. Lee Dyer. He talked to us about the research his team is doing and explained how we would be helping. I took notes on what he said and learned new things. 

One of the things I learned is that we will be studying parasitoids not parasites. Remember how we talked about parasites last week in class? We agreed that a parasite is an organism that survives by living on, or in, another organism. The organism the parasite lives on is called the host. The parasite makes the host weaker. Well, parasitoids behave like parasites but the one big difference is that they end up killing their hosts while parasites do not. Creepy! 

As we help Dr. Dyer's team with the research some of the parasitoids we'll be seeing are wasps and flies. The hosts they lay their eggs in are, you guessed it--caterpillars!

For your assignment, I'd like you to:

1) Go to www.caterpillar.org with your partner (it's on the "Resources" section of the Earthwatch website).  Together, search the site until you find a parasitoid. Write down its scientific name and then write down the scientific name of its host. When you have written down two parasitoids and their hosts, post the information in the comments section.

2) Add the words "host" and "parasitoid" to the vocabulary section of your expedition journals. Based on the information I gave you above, write down the definition for each.

You may read the rest of this journal before you start.....

After Dr. Dyer's presentation, we helped Rebecca, our Field Team leader, and her assistant Mike pack up all of our supplies (including kayaks! -that's me standing next to them in the picture above) and got in the van. 

We drove for one hour until we reached the bunkhouse at the Pearl River Management Area. This is a picture of Kelly (one of the other teachers) carrying her stuff into the bunkhouse.

The bunkhouse is one big room with eight bunk beds. 

I hope no one snores! (but if they do I brought earplugs, hee hee...)

After we unpacked our stuff we went out to the lake, which was really beautiful in the late afternoon light.       

Wow........ bueno, start your assignments, I'll tell you more tomorrow!

Hasta entonces, 

Ms. Gomez