Signs of Spring

Despite the cold the world still finds a way to move from one season to the next! We finished up a wet but successful week at Cook's Lake today. Check out my second scruffing - another red-backed vole. I brought in a familiar voice to narrate this one since it was a special occasion - this is one of three my team trapped today. MooReese's Scruffin' Play-by-Play

Tonight we discussed the comparative data between the Week 1 location (East Port Medford -EPM), and Week 2 location (Cook's Lake Farm - CLF). The estimated vole count at EPM was 5 per hectare while the average at CLF was 6.7 for the week we were there trapping. This is a slight decrease in the data collected last year. I wonder, if ecology is the study of the abundance and distribution of a species in an ecostystem what do you think a scientist might conclude from this data? Why is it important for scientists to conduct repetitive research from one year to the next? Why choose different locations such as the seaside EPM and CLF?
Tomorrow is our last day of study in Nova Scotia. We are heading to the Seaside Adjunct Kejimkujik National Park where we will be walking a transect to put our newfound skills in the wild to the test. What I am particularly looking forward to is a special survival skills lesson from Dr. Newman. Fill you in on that later...what do you hope he teaches us?


Have I told you that Mr. Pembroke, Mr. Long-Volkner and I believe we may be living in a haunted house? This is a hard one to collect evidence on but let me paint the picture...

The post field activity takes place in the "green" house. Here we have access to the wireless Internet, food, central heating and human interaction. Well, about 300 yards down the road is the "yellow" house (pictured here). Sounds come from the ceiling above our room. Mr. Pembroke has heard doors open and close while he's been there alone. After a late night of blogging, skypeing and singing we head down the dark stretch of road from The Green to The Yellow. The last 50 yards is the worst. Total darkness except for the nightlight inside the Yellow which is just enough to illuminate the top window (above the rhombus window) like it were an eye...watching us come home. Stay tuned...tomorrow night there will be a video to prove to you just how frightening coming home to the Yellow really is...there are no words to describe the cellar...

Cold...So Cold...

We were back at Cook's Lake today and it was cold and wet! It rained from the minute we woke up to the minute we got back to our home base Cherry Hill.

Yesterday was awful weather too and I was less than prepared - boots did not keep the water out! Today, however, I took precautions despite the horrible weather (see our video on Mr. Pembroke's YouTube page: Mr. Wignall Fights the Hurricane) and I wore my "Wellies" (rubber boots) and was able to ward off walking with water in my shoes for a couple hours. The temptation to stomp in the puddles was too much and my paranoia of ticks was so great that I tucked my pants legs into my boots to cut them off from crawling up my legs. Temptation and paranoia meant that I was soaked to my toes in a couple hours! I was SO ready to get those boots off when we got in the van that I couldn't wait for the 40-minute ride to be over...my feet needed to breathe! Mrs. Tang had a lot of issues with my feet being near her but I couldn't help myself! Do you have any questions for her? Post them in your comments and I'll have her videotape a response. She was a great sport - great questions only!

Regardless of the dreariness of the day my trapping team was still able to nab a couple voles! Yes! This was actually our first captures of the entire expedition - the last team to capture anything...

Did you know that today is Earth Day? What does Earth Day mean? Just another holiday we don't get a day off from school, right? Wrong!!!!!! Mr. Wignall, Mr. Pembroke and I shot an Earth Day spoof - check it out. If you met someone who really thought this way how would persuade them to think differently? (hint: think like a scientist and an essayist)

Mr. Wignall & Mr. Gasteazoro Give Up

Any other special days on the horizon? I wonder...

My Blanky is an Investigation Tool

Today was rainy and cold! After almost a full week of mild and sometimes warm temperatures we received a dose of traditional Nova Scotian weather! Brrr!

We returned to the Cook's Lake property of Drs. Buesching and Newman and investigated our Longworth Traps - once again my team caught nothing! Not too many of us did though and that can mostly be attributed to the weather turning so cold. We split up into two groups half working with Dr. Newman collecting hare poo in quadrats (that's me counting what I found, one pellet at a time) and the other with Dr. Buesching clearing some trees for clearer pathways on the property for future expeditions. Then, after lunch, we swapped docs. With all the rain coming down I got pretty wet - a lesson I learned today was to wear my rubber boots!

We did do a new investigation today and the blanket from my bed served as the investigation tool (believe it or not)! We have been encountering a great deal of wood ticks since beginning our research at Cook's Lake. Drs. Buesching and Newman track the tick population too, mostly out of interest and curiosity but also to have data available to make connections should they ever have any ideas they'd like to investigate in the future. Something that all scientists do: act on their curiosity with a investigative plan. So we helped them. Check out my video, pay close attention to the opening - Tick Blanket

Remember to visit other teacher's blogs too and post your inquiries on the space I set up for you on TQ. I'm working on getting video for those of you that have posted inquiries to some of them - keep them busy, post your inquiries in TQ!

Finally, I want you to be thinking of any questions you have for me from my trip so far. It can be anything this time! I know I told you before I left that I wanted you to limit your inquiries to the things I'm doing on the expedition but I will open it up to anything on Thursday! So start thinking of what you need to know...

MooReese, My New Canadian Friend

We traveled to Cook's Lake today to continue our research on the mammals of Nova Scotia. You saw the videos I shared last week with the Longworth traps and the scruffing...well get read to rock and roll through another week of the same thing.

Why so much repetition? Why do we, as scientists, need to test and investigate over and over? Why is it necessary to compare results of the same investigation from one location to another; from one year to the next?

Cook's Lake is awesome - an inland plot of land that is home to some of the same mammals that we investigate by the coast last week at East Port Medway. There is an expectation that there will be a much more plentiful population of small mammals here than at the coastline. We will see tomorrow when we check our traps for the first time.

In the meantime, check out the video a few of us shot with a local resident and let me know what you think!

Mr. Wignall Interviews a Loca Part 1
Part 2

Looking forward to the I-I you have for me!

Quadrat'n Keji

Today we set out on an hour or so drive inland to Kejimkujik National Park.

We continued our work setting up quadrats at "Keji" looking for deer droppings. After investigating for deer presence at our coastal location in week one we found very little evidence of a strong deer population - just one dropping in 10 quadrats! Remember that a quadrat is a 10m x 10m area in which we line up and look for droppings - to understand how crazy that can be consider the fact that in only three quadrats last week we found 4,811 hare droppings! What is the average amount of hare droppings we found last week? When we change locations this week to Cook's Lake (farther inland from the ocean like Keji) do you think that number will stay the same or change? Why do you think so?

So, our work continued today at Keji where in past years the deer have been much stronger in number as compared to the population of the coastal deer. The 10 quadrats we investigated today proved that to be the case. In just about every quadrat we discovered deer droppings. Further proof that Keji has deer was actually seeing them! Here are a couple deer that we saw as we were driving up to the trail head of our 7 mile hike to the Old Growth Hemlocks found at the park:

Check out the link to Keji that I provided above and share something with me that you thought was interesting. Can you make any connections between this park and one that you've been to?

Saturday was a rest and relaxation day. We drove to the capital city of Halifax and spent some time walking the streets ducking into interesting places and just experiencing the city. I took a couple fun photos that reminded me of our tour through the Northeast Region and our research of Americana. Would you consider these to be good examples of that? Why or Why not?
Same reward as Friday's Blog Challenge applies to all those answering my question successfully and completely! Explain how you came up with your answer in your comment!

Blog Challenge

As a bonus blog challenge the teachers and myself would like to issue the following challenge:

Visit other teacher's blogs, read the posts they placed there and come up with a quality inquiry (something they would not reject if they were moderating it).

Then, go to TQ and on my Nova Scotia page I've set up an Ask Me section just for these inquiries. After moderating your entries and determining if you met the challenge you will not only have earned your team 20 points toward AA (payable upon my return) you will also see a video-taped response from the teacher who's blog your inquiry comes from!

Good luck!

Beaver Teaser

Tonight we wandered into the Nova Scotian twilight looking for beavers. This is the small mammal I am most excited in encountering this mammal while I'm here so I was hopeful the walk-about would produce a sighting and plenty of photo/video opportunities. At one point the female came outside of the dam and slapped her tail on the water to alert her babies that some suspicious looking humans were sitting on the shoreline.

Yesterday we took a walk-about to discover a variety of mammal-markings in the woods. It was also a way for us to practice the skills the Drs. Buesching and Newman have been teaching us. We took the video below thinking it was a beaver and then took the two photos below as further evidence of what we thought was a beaver (you may need to visit TQ in order to get the photos). Is this a beaver? Defend your thoughts...

Longworth Traps - Day 2

Today was the second day on the Longworth traps. Some of you did a fine job solving my math problem from yesterday! Congratulations Bug and Smiley! Here's a breakdown of my notes from yesterday:

A hectare is a quadrat of land 100m x 100m (that means 100 meters wide and 100 meters long or a square piece of land with congruent sides 100 meters long), roughly 2.4 acres. There are 11 people in five groups (A-E). Each group spaced themselves equidistant along one 100 meter side of the grid. 100 divided by 5 groups means we were about 20 meters apart. The groups then walked parallel lines - what scientists call a transect - down the 100 meters length of the grid. As the groups walked they tried to stay lined up as they walked through the thick woods of the quadrat. Because each team built and loaded 20 traps and were leaving 2 traps at each stop they knew they'd need to make 10 stops. 20 divided by 2 = 10; 100 meters divided by 10 = 10 meters.

Today my team and I (Team B) checked the 2 traps at each of those 10 locations on my team's 100 meter transect. We were excited to see that two of those 20 traps doors were closed! Can you see on my note pages I uploaded where I entered that data? How many traps were investigated today for possible mammal captures? This is what science in the field looks like. Kind of looks like what you all do everyday in science, doesn't it?

Take a look at my pages and interpret my table of data. What is it telling you? What questions do you have of me that I could possibly answer tomorrow?


I know that a lot of you are asking questions that I have not had a chance to answer yet. There is so much happening here and I am learning so much every day that it is hard for me to keep up. Have patience and please think of this when posting your I-I comments: focus your I-I on the posting you are commenting on. If you are asking questions that do not go with the subject of my posting I am not going to be able to address your inquiry right away!

p.s. I hope and expect to have a little mammal in my trap tomorrow and should have some video to share with you of me taking it out and measuring it. Until then, check out this YouTube link to see an explanation of what you will hopefully see me do soon. The person in the video is one of our primary investigating scientists Dr. Buesching. Scruffing a Vole

Every day I learn in NS I have more to bring back to you all in MN! Today we began laying traps for the white-footed mouse using Longworth Traps. The data collected this week will illustrate the population density of this species of mammal in the area. The scientists will then compare this data to other years that they have done the same thing. When they consider the temperatures at the time they can begin to determine how the changes in climate have effected the population. Why do you think this matters? There is something called "interdependency" amongst the species here (and everywhere). What do you suppose this means? Do you have any idea why this is an essential action for scientist studying climate change and its effect on the mammal population in NS?

Next watch my video which goes through the steps I took in helping to set up the traps. (check out My YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDqpXlClJTw)

Math Challenge: My group placed Longworth Traps at 10 locations along a 100 meter stretch of a hectare. There were five groups named A through E. If each group were spaced out equidistant from one another on a 100m wide grid and they each started walking a 100m parallel path from one another setting down traps at 10 locations, about how far apart would each trap be placed from one another if they were all spaced apart equal to its neighbor? How many traps were set out? Use the notes I took and placed here to help you! If I told you that there were actually two traps at each drop point how many traps would you say were dropped?

Work together, come up with a response and defend your answer! Then ask me something you want to know about what I'm doing and I'll do my best to follow up with a response!

II only!

I'm Pooped!

Today was a very interesting day. After learning a great deal of information regarding the project that is going on here we set out on a six mile walk along the meandering shoreline north from Cherry Hill where we are staying. As you could see from my video this morning there are a variety of smooth rocks lining the shores and it made for some stumbly hiking! I'm pooped! Speaking of poo, the purpose behind the hike...

We were introduced to different tracks the mammals of NS make as well as their poo. Poo is important because it helps scientists estimate the numbers of animals that exist in a certain area. One particular mammal that presented itself in poo today more than any other was the porcupine. One of the things porcupines really like to eat is the bark from trees like the spruce in this picture with a bald spot. I'm wondering why porcupine poo looks like a string of beads on a necklace.

Don't forget to go on TQ...I have something waiting for you there too!

Brrr...A MN vs. NS Similarity!

Good morning ladies and gentleman scientists of Glacier Hills! It is the start of Day 2 at the expedition site in Nova Scotia and really our first day of field work. I got up early from bed to take a 2 mile run - very cold and very hilly! It is already 8:45 in NS - what were you doing when I wrote this posting?

Watch this short video clip I posted on YoutTube (you may have to copy it into your URL field of Firefox) and listen to some of the things I've been thinking of since we arrived late yesterday afternoon. Inquiry Walk-About - Day 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgYWFeTgLGA

The title of this post reveals a striking similarity between MN and NS - it's still cold even though it's now spring! We arrived to pouring rain - just warm enough not to be snow - and we've barely seen the sun. Hopefully it warms up. I'm dressing in layers though...why is that so important?

Here is my schedule for the day, is there anything here you'd like to know more about?
9:00 Breakfast
10:00 Introductory talk about Mammal Monitoring Science
12:30 Lunch
13:30 Drive to Broad Cove for Field Sign Transect walk along the coast
17:00 Drive back to accommodation
18:00 Dinner

Pass the word around - I'll be live on TQ at 8 p.m. to IM with anyone who wants to - this is a trial IM to see if it is a good idea, if it is and there are a lot of people on TQ I'll do it again and often! Hope to chat with you this evening! Make it an awesome day...

Best Effort All Day Everyday -- G
p.s. Make sure your comment is an I-I

Nova Scotia and Minnesota: Seperated at Birth?

I've been listening and reading to your comments on the blog and in class. It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that our home state of Minnesota and my expedition destination of Nova Scotia have many things in common.

I was wondering what are the most important things Minnesota and Nova Scotia have in common? Why are these important? What do you think I will encounter in NS that I could just as easily encounter in MN?

Connect our home to my expedition in as many ways as possible!

Remember: I-I Comments only!

Mickey Mouse is an Inquiring Mind!

I wanted to share my expedition experience with as many people as possible so I asked different media outlets for publicity. I'm still hoping to hear from some television stations and newspapers but I was lucky enough to get a call from PJ at Radio Disney in the Twin Cities. He interviewed me about my trip and my career choice over Spring Break. Blogger doesn't like the size of the file, otherwise I'd include it in the post. The students in my class get the advanced audio in class today the rest of the world will be able to listen to it on AM 1440 KDIZ in Minneapolis this Saturday as I take off for Nova Scotia!