Our
day began as each previous day had, with an excellent breakfast and fantastic
weather. We ate omelets filled with green peppers and rice with beans. After
breakfast, we gathered in our classroom to discuss our plans for the day. Sr.
Pinto informed us that today was largely going to be devoted to continuing our
scientific studies from the previous day and planning our major project for the
trip. The morning lesson consisted of a shifting series of activities in which
two groups worked on taking samples from the fungus gardens, two studied the
frogs captured during the previous night, and the remaining four worked through
activities in our booklets together.
When
working with the fungus gardens of the ants, we spent approximately 45 minutes
gathering samples from different portions of the garden. The goal of this was
to identify regions of the garden with different levels of bacteria based on
our hypotheses regarding the garden. Samples were collected using tweezers that
were burned for sanitation. We divided each petri dish into five segments where
tiny fragments of the garden were placed. Once contained in incubators, the segments
should yield varying amounts of bacterial growth on the dish for us to observe.
The results will show whether our predictions regarding the differing presence
of bacteria in the garden were accurate or not.
As
we later shifted to studying frogs, Juan and Ibrahim showed a presentation on
different families of frogs. They also displayed the major differences in the
families with harvested specimens from the previous night. One specimen was a
glass frog which had relatively transparent skin, allowing us to see many of
its internal organs move! We learned about 5 families of frogs: Bufonidae,
Ranidae, Centrolenidae, Terranana, and Leptodactylidae. To test our knowledge,
Juan quizzed us by having us identify mystery frogs into the five families by
examining them for distinguishing characteristics.
The
information booklet had three sections for us to complete. The first concerned
4 renowned human diseases. They were Cholera, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and
Plague. Each member of the group had to read an article for an individual disease
and summarize its information for the group. The next activity was a short
article about pathogens with a corresponding crossword puzzle. The final
activity consisted of an article from the New
York Times about the human microbiome and how valuable it is to human
function and life. It is fascinating to know that we are a habitat for over 1
billion microbes that have evolved with us for thousands of years!
Lunch
came next, constituting an excellent pasta dish with a meaty sauce and garlic
bread. After lunch, we went back to the classroom to begin working on the topic
areas we had previously selected regarding our personal research interest. The
moderators had already placed us into new groups based on this interest to
begin working. Some groups focused on frogs while most tended to focus on the
leafcutter ants and their environment. Over several hours, we compiled a plan
regarding our problem, hypothesis, prediction, and experimental design into a
power point while working closely with the researchers. About halfway through
our work, we took a regenerating coffee break with homemade bread.
Sample of Trinity Research Planning Presentation
After
working for a while, we ate dinner at 6 p.m. We had roast beef with potatoes
and other vegetables. Dessert was a creamy tres leches cake. For our night
work, we went back to the classroom to present our research plans to the class
amidst a wild collection of new flying friends. Though the pouring rain was a
little hard to hear over, each group gave an effective plan to perform their
research and discover new information in their topic area. The moderators were
particularly inquisitive and suggestive with regard to every group, helping
them to plan out their work as best as possible. Once all 8 groups had gone, we
all returned to our rooms to get a full night’s rest for the next day.
By:
Jacob Steele and Sam Roth
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