MHS Costa Rica Seeds of Change 2012: August 2012

Monday, August 6, 2012

Tillery

To the Master of Antology, Tillery Bailey. Absolutely incredible! What a great time you and the entire crew from Minnetonka have had. There is no doubt this is something you'll remember for a lifetime. To be able to wrap a great time around a learning experience like this is awesome! Mom, Kelsey, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the updates on your research and activities. I have especially enjoyed the photos. We've missed you tons. See you Monday night. Dad Bailey. p.s. Despite her dire declarations from several days ago, Kelsey does not have whooping cough. And don't bring any pet ants back, please :)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

August 5th Pica

Picasa Pics

Toshi's Response to Sam

Dear Sam,

You da best. I won't be bringing you cool plants or animals, but I will show you all the cool pictures I took when I return. We saw some monkeys and an ARMADILLO today!

-Toshi Higashi

P.S. nick is upset you built the TP. TTYL BOI

Day Ten August 5th

The sun softly caressed the rugged terrain of the dry forest as we wrestled our disoriented heads out of the tiny bunks. We were greeted by the shrill call of Sean Holmes and the resounding echoes of morning greetings. They say the 20 square miles of Finca la Anita have more genetic biodiversity than America, our rooms here at Horizantes contain more than that. ANTS EVERYWHERE. Anyways, we then proceeded to take a hike of the Forest and viewed all sorts of local flora and fauna, including: monkeys, armadillos, iguanas, and more ants. Our tour guide was very informative and had a rich voice of mahogany, intimating years of experience and adventure. Our hike lead us to a picturesque volcanic riverbed. The phrase "Valhalla" echoed through my head as we viewed butterflies fluttering around soft pools. Following this excursion, we refreshed ourselfs with glistening bottles of Fanta, Coca Cola, and Water. Later, we went to lunch, partaking in Chicken and mashed taters. After a few more failed toilet flushes and sweaty naps, we boarded a bus to go to the beach - Sweet Baby Ray, what a bumpy ride. At the beach we body-surfed the oscillating waves and bopped in the sunshine as children do. Additionally, Toshi, Drew, Nick, and myself nefariously designed a "Crab Hotel" which was essentially a hole to place approximately one hundred Hermit Crabs (yes, they were released unharmed) Despues, we ravenously devoured a dinner of smoked meats. The crescendo of the waves created an ephemeral ambience as we absorbed the the vibrant hues of the sunset. What a wondrous and reflective moment to conclude the trip. For those loving parents still actually keeping up with the blog, sleep well, we'll be home tomorrow!

With warm regard, Ryan

August 4th Pics

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August 3rd Pics

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Day Nine August 4th

Today we woke up to a glorious morning for our departure. Though it was sad leaving Finca La Anita, the sun was shining the birds were chirping, and the boys were singing good morning. Breakfast, just a walk away, came with intense deliciousness as it always does. We all took our last bites with incredible savor. Especially Dane, because he eats so slow. The bus came a little late for our canopy tour but we waited while being serenaded by the musical talent of Ryan and Dane on the Guitar. When the bus drove us away we took one last long look at Finca, and then looked 15 degrees to the right to see Pablo waving with one hand and while standing on one leg, swaying back and forth, claiming his right as the most interesting man in the world.

As we raced to the Zip Lining, we came across some construction. Thinking we were screwed and forever stuck in the jungle we realized we took the wrong road.

Finally we arrived upon the Canopy Tour, suited up hiked the mountain and arrived to the top!We were met with 4 guides that were very nice. One that was just such a crazy guy, screaming like a monkey as he went down the zip line. We all enjoyed it very much. Especially playing king of the midway point and the morning song with Mrs. Joel.

The canopy tour ended after one last long zip line and we headed off to the Jumbo Market and met up with Anna. We arrived at this place and began to shop. 15 min later we all had our shorts and snacks.

When we arrived at Horizontes we were welcomed by Anna again in the dry forest. We had a small exercise of the ants on the trees, then unpacked and relaxed before playing football. Dinner was soon set and we feasted. Finally after sunset we headed to the beach to see the turtles and basically stayed there until bedtime.

-Alec

Saturday, August 4, 2012

August 3rd

Today was a science day... We got out final stats together and practiced our presentations. We then made final presentations to the finca family in a true scientific fashion. It was a great fun filled science day. Below are the findings of the 3 groups
Los Lobos

(Alec Englander, Drew Julius, Emily Moore, Ryan Hedblom)

This last week was one of hard, yet frantic work. Our group set out to help reduce the immense detriment of Leaf Cutter ants on Agriculture. We hoped to achieve this through the use of the Ginger Plant, as it is in great abundance at Finca la Anita and is a Eco-friendly solution. We conducted various lab and field trials, spraying solutions of Ginger leaf and Ginger root on the trunks of trees and on leafs placed on foraging trails (ant highways). Long story short, many of our trials were conducted erroneously and we were forced to discard hours of work. We would have loved to redo duct our trials but given the brevity of our stay we had to move on. This was undoubtedly a setback to our groups overall progress towards a strong conclusion backed by statistical data, however we were able to salvage some data and learn from our mistakes. In the end we were able to conclude, qualitatively (through observation), that the Ginger leaf solution was less effective than the Ginger Root solution and that the Ginger Root solution was not a viable economic solution to the ant problem (the cost out-weighed the Benefits). In summation, though our experiment was far from perfect, we learned a lot about the Scientific Process and the great extent of details required for a statistically valid, conclusive experiment.

The STP's were Nick Nesbitt, Natalie Hunninghake, and Tillery Bailey. Our experiment had two parts. We tested the effect of citronella and root beer plant on fungal health and growth, and ant foraging activity.

In the lab we set up sub colonies and treated them with teas that we made from chopped citronella stem or root beer plant flower. We charted the change in mass and observed the change in fungal health. The fungal health deteriorated with the addition of the teas and eventually the control groups, water, deteriorated also. The ants even moved their queen to protect her from the dying, damaged fungus! We ran our stats test, and sadly our quantitative results were not statistically significant. Our qualitative results were quite interesting because of the great effect the plants had on fungal health.

Our field experiment was less successful, mainly because of human error. We made a citronella or root beer and oil paste. We then coated a leaf and put it in an active foraging trail. We measured the change in surface area after thirty minutes. These results were interesting, but also statistically invalid.

Local farmers might try to pump citronella dust or ash into a colony as a natural fungicide..

Our group, the pollos hermanos tested the deterring effects of cinnamon, hot peppers, and ashes on the leaf-cutter ants. The members of pollos hermanos were me, Dane Falline, Toshi Higashi, Nikki Degenereffe, and Hannah Charpentier. We found through our observations that both cinnamon and hot peppers were effective deterrents, as well as mineral oil one of our solvents and control tests. When combined the cinnamon and pepper were much more potent. We also tested ash. Ash was the most practical and cost effective substance we tested, and also the best deterrent for the ants. The local farmers will try to pump ashes into the ant colonies as an Eco-friendly and cost effective alternative to the chemicals they currently use due to the findings of our research and experimentation.

Friday, August 3, 2012

To TILLERY!!!!!!

To Tillery The story about the spider and beetles makes me glad that you are there and not me! The week has flown by for us, so I know that it went fast for you. Kelsey has had fun at camp!! Her group has led songs every day, so she is in songbird heaven. She wants to be a JC next year. The only bad thing is she has the cold that you had before you left. We can't wait to hear about your experiments and all your adventures. I hope you took lots of pictures. Have fun and we will see you on Monday. Kelsey has her over night at camp and will not be there to pick you up at the airport. Sam will be waiting for you!!!! Mom, Dad and Kelsey ps. this is kelsey! i miss you! its more than a cold! i went on the mayo clinic website and put in my symptoms and i could have a serious illness! I could have whooping cough or pneumonia! I love you and miss you a lot!

August 2nd Pics

Picasa Pics

Day Seven August 2nd

Hola Minnesotans!

Today is August 2nd and we now are all very close to concluding our experiments and wrapping up our leaf cutter research. The day began off a little rough for me, last night TORRENTIAL rainfall kept me from uninterrupted slumber. After a nice breakfast consisting of rice, eggs, toast, and frrrruit we met up with Adrian, finalized some of our lab experiments, and then Dane, Mr. Holmes, and myself went on a beetle larvae retrieval mission in the forest. A few days ago my fellow colleague, Dane, chanced upon a group of rotting logs tucked away by the river. Gabrielle asked us to search the logs for beetles after he had left and collect anything we found for a scientific study he and Adrian were contracted to carry out. So today we went in search for beetle larvae and found quite a few creepy crawlies. First, Mr. Holmes found an earthworm inside of one of the logs that was bright blue (we asked both Adrian and Pablo and neither of them knew why it was blue!). After that Dane hit the larvae jackpot, and we put several of them in a Tupperware bin to bring back to the lab, they were around 2 inches long! The last creature our epic trio found was a a spider. This wasn't just any spider, it was probably the ugliest living thing we've seen yet. It was light brown and not too big, but for some reason it looked very prehistoric and a little like a dried up octopus. Dane spotted right away that the spider had huge fangs and venom sacs, so we decided to put that in a plastic Tupperware bin as well, to save it for later until we could talk to Pablo. Turns out it's a very poisonous spider, it's Spanish name roughly translates to "horse spider", and Pablo has scars on his hands from the bite of a horse spider. Pablo told us the story behind it's name: it's venomous bite is so powerful that if a horse gets bit by one in the leg or foot it loses the corresponding hoof for over a year. Jumping back to the original mission, as we were leaving the beetle hotspot and traveling back across the river by hopping from one slick rock to the next, Dane took a spill. He fell on a deceptively slippery boulder and landed hard on his tailbone, as I'm typing I can hear him saying "Dude. My butt hurts." After he fell the first time, he slipped once more only this time instead of falling, he stuck his hand out to the nearest overhanging tree. Unfortunately for him, the tree he grabbed was a type of Palm with massive thorns/spines, many of which punctured his skin and broke off the tree, remaining in his hand and wrist. So that was fun! Following that ordeal and a very good lunch (lasagna), everyone piled into a pickup truck and range rover for a long drive to a special rainforest reservation-type-deal owned by an acquaintance of Pablo and Ana's. The owners of the property try very hard at keeping excessive amounts of people out of the primary forest (a very old and well established woods) as a means of preserving the natural beauty. Our group was very lucky to be allowed entry and man oh man was it great! The plot of land had hot springs and several waterfalls, which we toured as a group for a few hours. We got to see 3 different major falls, exploring and swimming in each one (the water was nice and toasty :)). On our way back to Finca La Anita, the sky was the clearest its been since we got here last Friday, and the clarity of the volcanoes set against the rosy, gold sunset provided for a truly breathtaking view. Dinner was tasty as usual, with savory pork slabs and steamed vegetables followed by some sort of rainbow colored cake that was muy bueno! Now we're abut to cap off a great day with more late night field experiments with the leaf cutters. For the boys back home, this one goes out to you.

-Toshi Higashi <3 <3 <3

Thursday, August 2, 2012

To Hannah

Hannah, Master of tortillas, imagine that. Can't wait for you to make some here. Sounds like you had quite a hike the other day. Can't believe how fast this week is going without you around. Your mom and Barb are at the Man concert tonight and they leave for San Francisco tomorrow. Dan and I and five of his buddies are headed to the cabin for the week-end. Dan starts official football practice on Monday. You forgot to tell me about the show but I got your email and will look into it. How did you send me that email? That was a surprise. I'm not sure about the cookies. Pictures are great, glad to get them along with the updates. Continue learning and having a great time. We miss you and love you. Pa

Hannah's Reply Home

Hey mom

Horse back riding was very fun, but I had some struggles getting on....just kind of gave the horse a large hug around the neck. I did not get andi to go to the farmers market so I guess I am out of that race. ...thats because the pickles are good. Could you possible get ahold of boy and tell him to at least say hi...Daniel can get his number from Patrick if needed. Love, Hannah

Aug 1st Pics

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Day 6 August 1st

Day Six August 1st

Good morning parents and friends,

Yesterday morning we woke up and ate breakfast and began our science. All the groups worked on their experiments working in the lab or field experiments. Next we all headed back to the eating area to eat homemade burgers before our adventure begins. We headed back to our cabins to get ready. We all boarded the wagon to head to town. Nick sat on the floor among the young palm trees we were going to plant at the park. Once we arrived at the park we got our instructions about how to clean up the park. We started by loading large branches on the tractor wagon and cleaning around the trees. The boys left to unload the branches down the road. The ladies began picking up piles of leaves when we realized they were covered in fire ants. We then started grabbing handfuls of the leaves and running for the pile before the ants could attack. The boys got back and we began to load the truck again. The girls and Alec continued to gather leaves and weeds and fire ant bites. The boys and I returned to the dumping ground to dumb the truck load. It smelled like fish and we were told that was from snakes. We continued to load and unload until the park was clean. Pablo arrived on his motorcycle with Pepsi in hand. We took a quick break and then planted our own palms. We each got a palm to plant so if we ever come back we can come visit out palm. The we headed over to the soccer field to play a game. It started to rain which made soccer even more difficult. Our team relied on Toshi, Drew, Ryan, Nick, Dane, and Mr. Holmes to keep us going. We ended the game 3-1 with Cost Rica in the lead. Our goal was completed by Holmes to Dane and Dane kicked it and Drew who tapped it into the goal. Pablo brought us popsicles and we headed over to our cooking class. We walked down the road to a little house where we went Araseli (spelling is incorrect). She invited us into her home and we went down to her kitchen. We started by making cheese logs which were quite a challenge. Then we prepared a salad. Natalie and Tillery made the salad. Araseli then showed us how to make tortillas. Emily and Hannah mastered the art of tortilla making because she has made them at home. Hannah was told she had style while making her tortillas Drew helped us talk to Araseli and he was also the tortilla cooker. We then put on our shoes and headed to the back to devour out home cooked meal. We ate out food and talked for awhile then Araseli showed us games like the north facing cow. We said our goodbyes and walked back to the farm in the light of Adrian car. Once back some groups decided to go to sleep after the long day of working and some continued their tests in the field. Ms. Joel made sure we all got back to our cabins safely. Thank you for reading my blog post I hope you enjoyed this.

-Nikki Degeneffe

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

July 31st Pics

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Day Five July 31st

Good evening from the rich cultural jungle of Costa Rica

Today was filled with science and adventures. Science today was very frustrating as nothing seemed to go as planned. And then, after a lunch, there was a hike. This was no normal hike. This hike was 2 miles one way. Down hill. On slippery mud. While wearing rubber boots. It was glorious. And at the end of this two mile hike there was A wide spot in the river and we got to go swimming. Some swam like crazy to pass a strong current to get to the other side. Eventually we made our way back to shore, tried to dry off as best we could, put put clothes back on, and started our trek back to Finca. The walk back was just a tad harder than the walk there as it was all up hill on slippery mud. After many breaks and making sure Nikki (who was nauseous before the trip) didn't get sick we made it back and returned to our science. After dinner there was a night hike to find bugs and other interesting creatures. After that hike some went to bed and some went back to their experiments.

-Hannah