Its raining its pouring, Science so isn't boring

Day six, for some groups, began with an optional early morning search in the field for each group's needed research materials (Ants, fungus gardens, frogs, and/or lizards). When breakfast time came, we all rushed to the cafe ready to devour some food. Pancakes, eggs, and sausage were prepared and just like all the previous breakfast meals, it was absolutely delicious. After breakfast, each group met in the classroom to discuss the plans for the day. To our luck there was a Nuptal Flight, which is a once-a-year occurrence where the queens and male ants fly up and mate in the air, so we had the amazing opportunity to examine the new queens and dead males in the classroom as well. Additionally, we were able to see the smallest cockroaches in the world because they ride on the queens' back during the Nuptal Flight, which is a very rare and fortunate sighting.  From here, Sr. Pinto asked each group if they needed to do lab work, field work, or both and each group was separated based on their needs of research. Some groups went to the lab to prepare petri dishes, swab frogs, or look at bacteria under the microscope, while other went to the field to collect Atta Cephalotes ant colonies, frogs, and/or lizards. We researched until roughly 11:30 AM before it was time for lunch.


<--Smallest cockroach in the world


     

 <-- The new queens that were collected after the Nuptal Flight.

Lunch, yet again, was wonderful. It consisted of chicken and vegetables, plantain chips and a rice, cheese, and vegetable casserole. After lunch, each group continued their research either in the lab or in the field, for we need to acquire as much data as possible to prepare for our presentations on Saturday night. We were granted a churro and coffee break at approximately 3:45 PM to rest our minds and prepare us for a final run of research before dinner. The coffee here is incredible and has been enjoyed by us all, even those who would not typically prefer coffee. The research process has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well.

                    - - Lexington Catholic and Trinity students performing lab work

          After the relaxing break we had to get back to work. For many it was collecting more field samples, and the rest collected data and made many observations. It had been raining on and off all day and started up just as we started working.



                                                                       Rain

                                                      Rain sounds like footsteps
                                             The drops pierce the sky like daggers
                                                      It falls soft like feathers