The Adventures Ends

Today I woke up and needed to say good bye to the wonderful the fantastic team members I have been work with. Over the past 10 days, we have grown to be good friends and I will miss them very much. With a heavy heart, we promised to keep in touch and exchange more pictures and videos of our time together.

About 11:00am, headed for the airport feeling very mixed up. I miss my students, friends, and family, but I will also miss the crazy adventures, swamp exploration, and friends here in Louisiana. This experience had helped me as an educator understand what real science is. Now, I wonder how I can teach my students to conduct science as real scientists do…. Hummmmm…
See everyone on Monday!

We’re Leaving?

Today we began early. We needed to check, feed, and inspect all of the caterpillars one last time. We worked together as a team to classify the new caterpillars we found the day earlier and take each one’s picture. Once this was done, we packed up and headed back to New Orleans and back to the haunted guesthouse. Ahhhh, the comforts of home.

While we were here we went out to dinner and saw a friend sing and play guitar. We all kept 1 eye glued to the television to watch who would be our next president. When news that Obama won the election, we heard cheers and screams in the streets. It was a fantastic day as we wrap up our adventures.

Professional Caterpillar Hunts

Today we got right to work blogging, web camming, and identifying our newly captured caterpillars. It was neat for we found a few new caterpillars we haven’t seen before. I feel we are becoming professional caterpillar hunters. We have also found some caterpillars that have parasitoids. These are insects like wasps and flies that lay their eggs on or in the caterpillar. Then when the eggs hatch, they eat the caterpillar. While this sounds

gross, it is an important part of keeping the food web balanced. Check out these pictures.

Then after lunch we trudged back to the swamp. Sometimes even tracking across a swampy area can be an adventure. Click the play button to see a short video of tracking across a creek.

I cannot believe that in a few days, my adventures will be coming to an end. But back to work we go.

We're Off to Work!

After being in the comfortable beds and the yummy breakfasts, we did not want to return to the bunkhouse, but the work needed to continue. We packed up our bags and we traveled back to the swamp at the Pearl River.

After the past 2 days, the caterpillars needed to be changed, checked for changes, and given fresh food. I was sent into the swamp to find more food for the caterpillars. We have over 300 caterpillars to feed and take care of. That is a lot of work! I felt like I was exploring a hidden rainforest with all of the trees, plants, and water. I wonder if this is how the early explores felt.

After we gave the caterpillars lunch, we snacked and took off for the forest/swamp to search for more caterpillars. We are so tired today, I think even our old squeaky bunk beds will be comfortable. I cannot wait to chat with my students back at Fernbrook tomorrow morning. I hope they are earning homework passes. I’ll have to check soon!

Our Day Off

New Orleans is a wonderful place. It is a spooky city filled with scary stories about its past. We went to the Audubon Zoo and went to the Swampfest celebration. There was dancing, exotic food, and swamp items. I was able to touch and hold a baby alligator.

Then we went downtown and explored the city so more. Cajun food like gumbo, jambalaya, and alligator wraps was what we ate. It was spicy and yummy.
Tired and wanting my bed, we went home to enjoy the last moments of our only day off

Happy Halloween

Wow! What a busy day. As we woke up, we were told that we needed to finish everything quickly to get into New Orleans by the afternoon. This meant that we had to clean the caterpillar’s bags, give them new food, inspect each caterpillar to make sure they were doing well, and clean the bunkhouse and pack. It was a very busy day.

After a late lunch we packed up our bags and traveled about 1 hours south west to New Orleans. The Park View Guest House was the awesome place we stayed. It has been on television for all of the paranormal activity. That is a fancy way of saying ghosts!

We walked the city exploring the restaurants, parks, and little shops. Then we went back to shower and dress in our costumes. I was a vampire from all of the books I read by Anne Rice. Don’t I look scary?

We went by trolley to the French Quarter. This is where there was thousands of people all dressed up dancing, singing, and playing instruments. It was an incredible time and place.

Getting Into a Routine

With a nice late start (7:00am) we started the business of classifying and categorizing the newly found caterpillars. While some of us checked in the new caterpillars, other took care of the caterpillars on the rack. This took a while and a good part of the day.

About lunch time, I was able to talk to some wonderful second graders. J I hope they earn some homework passes by responding to the blog questions!

Later we went into the deep forest to search for more caterpillars. This was by far the hardest forest to move in. With clippers, machetes (large knife), and many ouches, we went into the forest. On the way we found and caught a baby snake. Isn’t he cute?

With dirty clothes, scratched up hands, and tired bodies, we slowly walked into the bunkhouse. I am ready for bed!

Tomorrow we start searching the spooky city of New Orleans on Halloween. I am certain to have some stories to share after our weekend stay in a haunted hotel. Stay tuned to hear more.