Sunday, September 13, 2009

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?

 

woolly-bear2

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

45 comments:

  1. and.... I hope you hear a lot of really good Cajun music!

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  2. you might find monarch butterflys. good luck :)

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  3. Bahy-o is a marshy inlet ot outlet of a leke or river usually sluggish or stagnant. You might see insects, crocidiles, snakes at other marshland animals. Ecologist are peolpe who study the ecology of an area.

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  4. A bayou is a body of water found flat, and can be seen dirty or mucky, mostly seen in Southern United States, alligators are common in the bayou. Bayous are located in Eastern Texas, Southern Louisiana, and Alabama. Most of them got ruined during hurrcines.

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  5. Hi Mrs.Moore!
    A bayou is a slow moving or still body of water.
    An ecologist deals with relations and interactions organisms and their environment.

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  6. 1. A bayou is like a marsh land. Soggy ground lots of water and lots of animals. This is how you pronounce this word: bahy-oo.
    2. I think you will see catapillars, snakes, spiders, crocidiles, alligators I also think you will see trees and flowers.

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  7. Hi Mra.Moore
    A bayou is a is a marshy arm, an out let of a lake.
    A ecologist deals with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment

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  8. I hope you find some cool stuff

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  9. I think you might see some aligators I hope you take pictures

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  10. What how many ecosystems are you going to get to go in

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  11. I am pritty shure that you will see wolly bears and there really easy to find them probually because of their orange and black color and their really fuzzy

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  12. a bayou is a swampish leak that comes out of lakes and rivers. Ecologists are scientists the deal adn study the environment. i think you will see lots of plants in the swamps that are slimy and you will probaly see lots fo reptiles and bugs

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  13. kd and cm hope you will find yellow spotted intersegments pickle

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  14. hi mrs moore! a bayou is a body of water usually found in low areas. its usually a really slow moving stream (or river) or its a wetland.

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  15. now ur there its going to be awesome have u seen any caterpillars?

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  16. Hi Mrs.Moore
    In the first 24 hrs. what kind of caterpillars have you found. My favorite kind of caterpillars are wooly bears.Whats your favorite kind of caterpillars.

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  17. hope you see some wolly bears:)

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  18. its day 2 were in tech now when i made this post were currently working on our fud webs

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  19. Hey Mrs. Moore! I think that youll see an alligator!

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  20. TELL US WHEN U FIND SOMETHING STRANGE! :)

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  21. hi, Mrs. Moore

    where are you now? have you cauhgt any catipillars yet?

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  22. a bayou is a swampish leak that comes out of lakes and rivers

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  23. hello Mrs.Moor.

    also who else is in your team?

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  24. hello Mrs. Moore

    New Orleans is 31.6 mi or 36 minutes to Slidell.

    The Egret reminds me of the Swan but when I looked up the birds of Oregon I thought it looked like the Great Blue Heron.

    I think Ibis eats insects in the water or ground. I looked it up and Wikipedia listed it's diet as various fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as insects and small reptiles.

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  25. We still have not found any wooly bears. I wonder why. We have found some very very interesting caterpillars though. I have also seen a lot of great white egret, and Arn, you are correct that they are a type of heron.

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  26. Hey Mrs. Moore! Hows it goin'?

    I bet that an ecologest helps anyone with identfying caterpillars, and I bet youll find a ecologest too!

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  27. Mrs. Moore u r the best teacher ever! And
    Mrs. E.

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  28. wow! this is a cool vidio. it reminds me of disney's Check This Kid Out!



    I like The Lion King better.

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  29. This question is part of the catepillar life cycle. How many days will a catepillar live before it becomes a butterfly

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  30. Hi Mrs.Moore
    What animals have you found brside caterpillars.

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  31. I have a question not about caterpillars how many other isects have you seen have you seen a stick bug or praying mantis (same things just difrent names)by.:)

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  32. how many types of caterpillars have you seen and what are the names?
    P.S. me and my family caught two wooly bears last saturday.

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  33. Hi Mrs.Moore! I think the bird on the right looks like it might use it's beak to dig for worms, reach low in the water for fish, or reach high for bugs to eat.

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  34. What kind of butterflies could you find, or did you find any butterfly And does a certain catepillar have to turn into a certain butterfly?

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  35. How many caterpillars have you caught?
    Tell me when you catch some wooly bears.
    OK?
    PS, what is your favorite type of caterpiller?
    Please respond.

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  36. SORRY BUT WE'RE HAVING A BAFFET TABLE WITHOUT U AND IT HAS DOUGHNUTS & CAKE & JELLO & TAPIOCA PUDDING & RICE PUDDING AND PIE AND COOKIES& EVERY KIND OF CANDY THAT U CAN IMAGINE AND CHOCOLATE MOUSSE ANDA SODA FOUNTAIN AND A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN AND GLASSES MADE OF CRYSTAL AND RUBIES AND ESCARGO AND CAKES AND CAKES W/ MINEATTURE MODELS OF THE EIFELL TOWER ON IT AND I'LL TELL U THE REST IN ANOTHER COMMENT 'CAUSE I'M RUNNING OUT OF ROOM HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  37. dount put your leg in any logs or any body part for that mater ther could be aligaters

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  38. So many great comments! It is fun to read your responses. There is lots of good advice.

    I have been very careful not to put my leg in any logs. Not only are there alligators, but there are also poisonous snakes and a lot of insects like fire ants and spiders.

    I'm glad you enjoyed the video. And yes, I must agree JED, that the Lion King is better, but they had a bigger budget and more time.

    So far my favorite type of caterpillar is a stinging caterpillar called the saddleback. You can't touch it, but boy is it amazing to look at. I'll post a picture for you to see.

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  39. Hi Mrs.Moore
    will yo be able to bring home a caterpillar.

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  40. Hi Mrs. Moore!
    Have you seen a pickle caterpillar yet?
    If so, what type of plant did you find him on?

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  41. do helmet heads the catipilars does there head help because i wonder if there head is harder or if it gives them beter isite

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  42. When we talked with you, you said we can wear our Halloween costumes?

    Anyway, can we talk with u via cell phone?

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  43. I would love to bring home a caterpillar, but I don't think I will be able to. One problem with transporting animals from one place to another is that they can cause all kinds of problems in a new ecosystem if they don't have any natural enemies to keep their population under control. We could keep it in captivity, I suppose. I will ask our scientist friends.

    No pickle caterpillar yet, but we have seen something that looks quite a bit like it.

    TML - that is a great question about the helmet head caterpillar. I think the tissue on his head is harder than the rest of the tissue, so your hypothesis makes sense. It probably is some kind of adaptation that protects it.

    Vic - yes I think you are going to video conference with me right before the Halloween Party. It would be very fun for me to see you in your costumes. We'll see if that can work out. I'll check with Mr. B.

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  44. Something reminds me of Louisana, it looks like the famous island Guacandancal, the island that was known in the Guacandancal Campain during WWII. It looks very similar, only with monster leeches, giant spiders, and no alligators and catepillars. Theres also this grass called Kunai that grow really tall, about 6 feet, and is razor sharp.And finally, there are beaches and a mountain. This island was actully the turning point of WWII and it was the first Japanesse controlled island that was hand to hand combat, also with huge battleships and with combat planes.

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