My name is Mabel Rivera, and I come from Tucson, AZ. I was thrilled when I knew that I was selected for this wonderful adventure! Since I stepped off the airplane I was welcomed by a wonderful group of excited teachers and an excited group of scientists. We have spent countless hours learning about the pond ecosystems, and understanding how the ponds can differ immensely even when in close proximity. I expected that we would find the some group of creatures in all of the ponds, but now I know far better how and why this is not the case.
This morning we worked with Tom Hastings on his project to investigate wood frogs. We had different sites to document and leave a plaster and rubber frog model in order to look at conditions like temperature, humidity, wind, air temperature, and moisture. We used a GPS device to locate the different locations, but we ran into some trouble in using the device itself. A job projected to take 40 minutes took us two hours instead. Once we found a set of sites, we were able to get the job done in a more streamlined fashion. The conditions were documented before, and after two hours again.
In the afternoon, we went out to conduct pond investigations. My job today was dip nets. In this job you take big nets out for twelve minutes with your partner to collect and identify creatures. The first two ponds were hard to see through because of the heavy sludge, but the final two provided for some great results. My partner and I found many awesome creatures like fairy shrimp, and damselfly larvae. This was actually one of my favorite jobs so far! Tomorrow we will be doing some similar work.
This morning we worked with Tom Hastings on his project to investigate wood frogs. We had different sites to document and leave a plaster and rubber frog model in order to look at conditions like temperature, humidity, wind, air temperature, and moisture. We used a GPS device to locate the different locations, but we ran into some trouble in using the device itself. A job projected to take 40 minutes took us two hours instead. Once we found a set of sites, we were able to get the job done in a more streamlined fashion. The conditions were documented before, and after two hours again.
In the afternoon, we went out to conduct pond investigations. My job today was dip nets. In this job you take big nets out for twelve minutes with your partner to collect and identify creatures. The first two ponds were hard to see through because of the heavy sludge, but the final two provided for some great results. My partner and I found many awesome creatures like fairy shrimp, and damselfly larvae. This was actually one of my favorite jobs so far! Tomorrow we will be doing some similar work.