Friday and Saturday Plan

Tomorrow is our last day in the forest collecting data. We will then come back and debrief the information we collected and ask questions of the scientists. On Saturday, our time in the jungle comes to an end. I have really enjoyed being here and learning about this amazing place, but I am ready to return home (my pillow seems to make a better sponge!) Before I head home, though, I will be spending one night in Old San Juan to get the feel for city life here in Puerto Rico. Then, I will be on a flight back to Boston on Sunday.

I just figured out how to add some of my video clips to this blog...they are located on the right. They are linked from youtube.com, but there is no need to go the site. They will play directly in the blog. Don't worry if you can't play them, I will show them to you when I get back next week.

The first video is of a n anolis lizard hanging out on a palm tree. The lizard doesn't do much, but you can get an idea of how still they are. With luck, more to come, enjoy!

Webcast! (attempt)

This morning we tried to do a webcast from the research station in the PR rainforest to the Kiwi Team at Curtis Middle School in Sudbury, MA. It is a pretty amazing idea... and it worked for the most part. There were some difficulties with knowing if/how/when the students could hear me, but overall, I think it went well.

Here I am doing the webcast from an outside table. It stopped raining long enough for us to do it, but we kept getting disconnected... this is life when relying on satellites.

Successful frog survey!

We found hundreds, if not thousands, of frogs on our survey. We tried our best to count all the frogs in a 100 meter section of the rainforest. The total numbers have not been calculated yet... but it took us three hours to do the survey. Check out the pictures below. In addition to frogs, we found other creatures too.

Looking for little frogs...Watch your step!

One of the more dangerous creatures in the rainforest... a scorpion! It's only about two inches long, but I was sure to avoid it.

Another amazing stick bug. This one really wanted its picture taken!

Yes, the coqui do come in small sizes! This is a baby coqui that we found on the forest floor.

Adult male coqui frog (about 2 inches long)

Gabcast #2

Gabcast! Mr. Lafond in Puerto Rico #2

And... here comes the rain!

After a couple dry days, all the visitors here (including myself) were beginning to wonder why they call this a "rain" forest. Well, today I got a taste. I awoke to heavy rains at 4 a.m. and then it continued most of the day. Despite making the steep forested slopes extremely slippery, the rain didn't stop us from trekking into the forest to collect more data. Equipped with rain gear and waterproof notebooks, we surveyed an acre of forest. I worked with another teacher on the trip, Ms. Matheson, to determine of how wide the canopy of the largest trees are. This wasn't an easy job since every time we looked up we would get large rain drops in the face. As you could guess, we had fun getting wet and muddy.

Hiking in the forest... ready for the rain!

My muddy boots!

Some snails I encountered during today's trek.

An amazing stick bug that literally fell out of the tree on to my sleeve.

One of my favorite trees, the prickly ash.
Check out those crazy spikes on the bark!

Eco-friendly behavior here in the rainforest

The folks that live here at the research station (las casa de la selva) are very conscious of their effect on the environment. After all, they are sharing this place with the local wildlife. From recycling to growing their own food, the residents here are committed to having a low impact on the environment. The waste water from the toilets even gets recycled into a waste water garden.

... sign posted in the kitchen.

Compost bucket in the kitchen. All food scraps make their way into the compost bucket.

This is the compost pile where the bucket is dumped daily.
(It is located beyond the dried palm frond in the picture.)

...herb garden near research station.

...tomatoes in the garden.

...papaya tree. Yummy! We have been having papaya for dessert.

... waste water garden.

Assignment for Kiwi Students!

Howdy Kiwis,

For Tuesday's class with Ms. McCarthy please be prepared with the following:

1. Journal Response: If you were in the middle of the forest (any forest, even one near your house) and you wanted to collect data on that forest, what kind of things would you measure and how? Try to think of at least 3 features of the forest you would measure. When explaining your methods, remember that someone else should be able to repeat your methods.

You ideas should be written. If it helps, you can use diagrams to explain your ideas.

2. Journal Response: What is your favorite picture from the blog and why?

On Tuesday, I will post more about the techniques we are using to analyze the forest and what exact features of the forest we are focusing on.

I look forward to hearing about your ideas.

~ Mr. Lafond

Another cool frog... this is a white lip wood frog.