Bottomland Hardwood Forests, Scientists, and Lepidoptera – Oh My!

 

Greetings to Touchstone School kids and families and to students from our Nobel Communities partner schools around the nation who have decided to join this unique journey.

In October, I will have the opportunity to travel to Louisiana on an Earthwatch expedition to work with ecologists, biologists, and volunteer teachers to study Caterpillars and Climate Change.  I will get a firsthand look at the bayous and swamps of Louisiana, will get a chance to help scientists with their research, and will see the scientific process in action in the lab at Tulane University.  I’m very excited about this chance to see science in action in the ‘real’ world, and am even more excited that you will be a part of this adventure.

In the next few weeks, our class will be studying the world’s biomes and the basics of ecosystems, so I have a few questions to get you started. 

1. What is a bayou?  (and how do you say this word? Perhaps dictionary.com could give you some help.)

2.  What flora and fauna do you think I might get to see in the swamps and bayous of Louisiana?

3.  What does an ecologist do?

 

To see the kinds of caterpillars that Dr. Dyer and his team are studying go to http://www.tulane.edu/~ggentry/LAleps05/LALindex04.htm