Home Stretch

I can't wait to see you all in person on Thursday!!! It was fun to see you in through the webcam yesterday but I miss seeing the real you.

There have been so many wonderful comments that you have posted and we will get a chance to discuss and answer all your questions. I love my students. You continue to inspire me and you are the reason that I am a teacher.

Here are some things of importance that we should discuss:

• The impact of Lien's research worldwide
• Why do you think that it is so hard to convince people in third world (poor and undeveloped) countries to care about the environment?
  
• When did the Vietnam War occur? Why? How has it impacted both Americans and Vietnamese?
• How have we grown as a class as a result of the trip?
• What can we do within our community to help educate people about the importance of biodiversity?
  

Brothers in Arms

On my last night in Tam Dao (in the mountains) I put on my Ipod to help me sleep. I put it on shuffle and said to myself "ok whatever song comes on first I was meant to listen to.'' The first song that came on was a Dire Straits song. Dire Straits was one of my father's favorite bands and I uploaded an album of his when I first got my Ipod. Mind you, I never listen to the Dire Straits songs usually I skip over them. This is the song that came onto my Ipod that night and I feel that it was a message. This song is about the Vietnam War,which I think we need to talk about when I come back.

The picture is the of the only geocache that I found while I was there. It is a virtual cache so I had to find this site and take a picture of it. It is off the beaten path and was quite difficult because many Vietnamese don't know about it. It is the remains of an American B52 bomber that was shot down by the Vietnamese when we bombed Hanoi for 12 days strait. This is significant because shortly after the bombing of Hanoi is when we started pulling our troops out of Vietnam and the war ended.

Please read the lyrics:

Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There's so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the suns gone to hell
And the moons riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But its written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We were fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

OMG

This is a street that we had to cross after seeing the water puppet show. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way in Hanoi and there are absolutely no rules to the road. It did get bumped shortly after this photo was taken. No bruises though.

We have to walk in the street because everyone parks the motorbikes on the sidewalk. ???? Does this make any sense?

There was a Western man who came to Hanoi to try to work on the road problems. Sadly, I heard that he got hit by a motorbike a few months ago and was in critical condition. It's terrible. You see women holding their babies while driving around on these things. NO ONE wears helmets.

Orchids

Many of you took an interest in the orchid poaching that was taking place in Tam Dao. Here is the rest of the process. They are taken and raised in an orchid house. The man is handmaking pots to grow the orchids in. The flower above is a result of all the hard work that goes into this trade. I took a picture of the orchid at Lien's friend's house (the beetle guy). In addition to beetles he had many beautiful plants including bonsai trees.

Flava Flav!!!

This guy is my favorite. The species is Delias pasithoe. Isn't he beautiful? Are you wondering by now how do I know that it's a male? Because he is taking nectar from the flower. Most of the time it is the male that takes the nectar from the flower. The only way that the females get the nourishment to pass on to her eggs is what she gets from the male when they reproduce. So the next time you see a butterfly on a flower make sure you say, "Good day sir!"

Noodles and Rice

In Vietnam rice is an every day thing and you have noodles only on special occasions. Men have a joke that their wives are rice and girlfriends are noodles. This is one of Ahn's many noodles. No, he is not cheating on his wife they just like to joke around a lot. He also called this women his sister (they are not blood related).
One of Viet's students that I met when I was in Hanoi referred the girl to who he was with as his sister as well. They were blood related but not brother or sister. I have come to the conclusion that if two people are very close then they refer to each other as 'brother' or 'sister'.

The Two Brothers

Here are the men that many of you had the privilege of speaking with during the teleconferences. Viet is on the left and Lien to the right. You are a the first American students that either of these fellows have ever spoken with. I know that there is a language barrier and it was hard to understand each other on both ends but the experience of talking to a Vietnamese scientist (who are rare themselves) and a Vietnamese contract teacher is one to be proud of. Your questions were PERFECT!!!

Lien is a true scientist, very soft spoken and really does care about the environment and butterflies. I asked him why he chose butterflies to study and instead of giving me a bunch of garb he simply said, "because the are beautiful". Well put I think. Next week is a big week for him. I do believe that he is defending some part of his dissertation so that he will have his PhD. He asked me to read over and correct his papers for grammar and I felt very honored that he would ask me to do that for him. It lead me to learn even more about his research.

Viet is quite a character and socialite. He and his brother are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to personality. Viet was very eager to tell us everything about Vietnamese culture and I picked his brain every moment I could for information.

Hanoi is...busy

Hello again. I am currently in Hong Kong and it's late at night want to check in and say what's up. I can't wait to get safely back into the US and tell all my wonderful students about the trip. Spending two days in Hanoi really opened my eyes to a lot of things that I will discuss in a further post. Enjoy some of the pictures. We were really lucky to be there for the celebration of Ho Chi Minh's birthday and "voting day". More to come

Shout Outs and Responses

Okay. I am doing my best right now to respond to everyone's comments from yesterday when you were all in the computer lab. But, of course, I can't get to some of the comments.

A big shout out goes to my fourth block!!! I am sorry that I haven't been able to speak with you all and miss you much. For those of you that came early to school to the teleconference thank you. It's nice to know you were there.

Mrs. Everhart and fellow teachers: Thank you for your support. This would not be possible without you!!!

Mrs. K: YOU ROCK!!! I know that the students are in good hands and you guidance and teaching throughout all this has made it a valuable experience for my students and I thank you for that.


Seth Reid: Anh is just here to assist Lien. Lien is the guy who set up his research for the butterflies up here in Tam Dao. As of now I don't believe that he has enough data to convince the government not to continue with the road and build the new town. It will take a lot of help from outside environmental groups to help also. As I have stated before, this is a very poor country and they government wants to bring more money. So maybe saving the butterflies is not high on their list of priorities. I miss you too. :)

Matt Fisher: It's illegal to take the orchids from the forest because they are a protected species of plant. It doesn't seem to be of much concern to the government though. That is a leftover tree branch that Mrs. Peters is holding. It is hard to get the orchids to bloom up here and they grow high up in the trees. I have a picture of an orchid house and a man building pots for them so that he can sell them to the tourists. I will post them when I get to Hanoi tomorrow night. I do not know what insect pollinates them though. Also, we visited one of Lien's friends in another village yesterday. He is a beetle guy but had many beautiful orchids in bloom at his home there are some photos. I will post them as well.

Ryan Horne: The peacock is a butterfly from the papillion family. Aside from the fog the trip is going well. As Ahn says, "We belong to the weather." We are actually leaving Tam Dao a day early and going to stay in Hanoi tomorrow where we will tour the city and go to the museum of entomology, and perhaps the water puppet show.

Addison Folcher: We just had our wrap up session this afternoon. On the trip we observed a grand total of 37 different species of butterflies. Very low as compared to the same time the year before. The weather was the limiting factor for this round of data. Maybe it's because we are studying weather in the classroom. The town's are very different and still have some French influence. Yes, it is pretty unsanitary in some parts. I will describe more when I see you again. Will not forget peanuts you all have ingrained it into my brain. In fact, I think I dreamt about 3rd block and peanuts last night. Viet's favorite subject is...ENGLISH!!! and that is what he teaches his students. They are currently on summer break so they aren't studying anything right now. They are working with their families mainly in the rice fields.

Andrew Chappell: Most of the houses are very small and mostly consist of one room. Some of the people that have money either from working for the government or selling their land have two story houses quite pretty. I hope that they don't build the new town and yes it would affect the forest species of butterflies but not the ones that are in abundance around the villages (like the cabbage).
We found the moth catapillar high up in the new road transect walkin' up a tree.

Lexie Armini, Drew Hicks, Patrick Hayes, and Mascucci: Those are red strings on Ahn's hat and I don't know what they mean I will ask him tonight at dinner. The plant he is looking at is cinnamon. Yes, I have tasted it and so have you. Yesterday, I had cinnamon flavored water, it was delicious!!! I want to know how they make it so I can make some for all of you. The plant is in abundance up here. On that particular plant, they found some catapillars of a very rare forest butterfly and took them back to raise them and release when they become butterflies.

We are going to spend Saturday and Sunday in Hanoi. There is a much better Internet connection there so if you get a chance over the weekend have a look at some new pictures. I will fly into Raleigh late Monday night if all goes well. Perhaps will try to videoconference from New York if I get a chance.

I posted a gabcast that lasted about 6 minutes and am not seeing it here on this end. Can you all listen to it back home? Please let me know.

Orchid Poaching

Ms. Peter's is holding what is left of people that come up into the forest to cut down orchid plants from trees and raise them in town to sell to tourists. It is very illegal but the people are so poor that they need to make money to support their families.

Food Plant

Here is Ahn inspecting a food plant up in the new road area. There were catepilllars on it that he and Lien took back to the hotel where they have a set up to raise them. After about two weeks when they emerge they release them back into the area.

Here You Go Connor Harriman..

This is a picture of a beetle that Sy (in picture) found in the hotel. Everytime that they find a bug they are eager to show us. So your answer to the question is; yes there are many rather large insects here. Sy is my favorite little guy at the hotel.

Jungle Queen

Viet spotted it on at the bottom of the TV tower transect. It is the largest one we have seen yet. You can see that it's right wing is severly damaged. Lien said it was probably from the wind. It's fine but just flies a little more slowly.

Peacock

We had some free time in the afternoon yesterday so the teachers, Viet, and I took a hike down to the waterfall. Here is where we spotted this very rare butterfly. He was perched vertical on the rock and kept streaming water out of its body. I did get video of it. It is my favorite one so far.

Moth Catepillar

Forgot to rotate this one too. The moth catepillars are the neatest to look at. They come in all kinds of shapes and colors. I'll show you more when I get back. This guy is just screaming "POISON!" He turns into a huge yellow moth.

Pretty Boy

The species name is Parantica Sita. It looks similar to the one that I am holding in my blog photo. But very common. It's a boy. The males have smaller bodies. The females have a more wide abdomen. Can any of you guess why?

The Lovely Winzeler

I recorded data for all three transects in the new road area yesterday. Don't I look scientific?

Doing the Laundry

The tub that they are standing in has the laundry in it. The clothes get clean by stompping out the dirt. This is outside my hotel window. I love the people at the hotel they are fun to hang out with. They speak no English so I practice my Vietnamese with them.

Chayote

Directly located across the street from my hotel. The chayote is the cash crop for the people of Tam Dao. The grids are made from bamboo that people go and collect up in the mountain daily. The bamboo forest is located in the TV tower area and they carry huge bundles down across their shoulders. Very strong.

We have had chayote at almost every meal. Either the big leafy greens that you see or the fruit (vegetable) that it produces. My favorite is the fruit thinly sliced and steamed in garlic. Yum!

Tam Dao Woman

I was on a stroll one afternoon and asked this woman if I could take her picture. She was ecstactic and even more so when I showed her her photo on the screen. Some of the Vietnamese don't want you to take their picture because they think that they are too ugly for photos.

I think they are beautiful.

The reason for the scarf over her face is because when it is dry it gets dusty when the motobikes go by. Air quality is a major problem too especially in Hanoi.

Vietnamese women keep as much covered as possible because they want to keep their skin as light as possible. It is considered a sign of beauty.

Tam Dao

This was taken on our first day in Tam Dao. It was the best weather we have had yet. The tower you see in the background is the TV tower. We hiked that transect this morning. There are a total of 1200 steps leading to the tower. It wasn't that bad because we move so slow to watch for the butterflies. However, due to the humidity and mugginess they were in hiding. Did see a few though but no species that we haven't already seen. The Buddhist temple is on the way up to the tower.

Viet

Here is a picture of Viet. He is who second block spoke briefly with last night. Hopefully, if my luck remains you will be able to speak with him again.

Erosion

Oops I forgot to rotate this one! It is a picture of a rockslide in the new road transects. Large rockslides like this occur because of the buildings and erosion caused by it and the rain.

This is what the forest on the new road looked liked yesterday. Foggy and very exotic. I loved it.

This is a picture of the zebra that I found yesterday. It is an indicator species.

A Foggy Day in Tam Dao

Hello all! I can't wait to speak to 3rd block. It is 9 pm here so that means that it is 10 am where you are. I have been trying to upload some pictures for you for the past three days and have been unsuccessful. It maybe b/c three teachers are on their blogs at the same time. I will continue after you read this post. If I they do upload then you will see them first before this post but they do pertain to the things that I have talked about.

We have learned that the weather up here in Tam Dao is the decision maker for what our group does as well as what all the butterflies do as well. This morning I woke up to clouds literally pouring through my window. It’s very foggy (pronounced ‘mu’ in Vietnamese) and after breakfast we all feared that we wouldn’t be able to walk any transects again today.

Lien humored us and we hike up to the area called “new road”. It has a total of three transects and from here to the hotel and back a little over 5 miles. The new road is the one that I was talking about in my earlier post. Refer to it if you can’t remember. Building of the new road has come to a halt (maybe permanently!) because of a huge rockslide that occurred two months ago in the mountain. When we were walking you could see all sorts of remnants of mudslides, rockslides, and large bulldozers.

Butterflies were laying low in the morning but the fog was so thick it was almost like rain. My hair looked like I had just jumped out of the ocean.

I hung back with Lien and Anh and took it a bit more slowly and was fortunate enough to spot and photograph and indicator species that Lien said last years populations were very low but maybe now they are on the rise because there is no more construction of the new road.

The name of the indicator species that I spotted has the nickname of zebra. An indicator species is any species that can show the health of the forest. For example, in the new road the numbers of the zebra butterfly have decreased since the building of the new road. These butterflies are very sensitive to their habitat and if it is disturbed then their populations decrease. This is what eventually leads to the extinction and endangerment of a species in a region.

I was also the recorder for the three transects that we walked in the new road. That meant that I tallied every butterfly we saw and recorded the weather conditions at the start of each transect. Humidity is at 82% and the temperature was at 25º C.

Hopefully you all have learned about how different aspects of weather are measured and what each means.
Block 2- Please convert today’s temperature of 25ºC into Fahrenheit and post it as a comment.
Block 3- Describe the difference between humidity and relative humidity and post.

Block 4- Discuss the impact that you think weather has on butterfly behavior here is Tam Dao and then post a conclusion.

Today we identified ten more species and so far on this trip we have seen a total of 27 species. The total number of butterflies is close to 200 now. I did another rare one that I spotted today but I didn’t catch it because now I’m afraid I’ll hurt one again (good ol’ Winzeler).
I do want to post all my pictures but am having a hard time at the café. The café is only open at night and it’s crowded. Will attempt to attach some with this post.

Can’t wait to teach you some Vietnamese! I like to spend some of my free time hanging out with the hotel workers and Ahn, so I’m learning.

I know that I have already talked about some of the people that I am with on this expedition but here it is formally.

The Team
The principal investigator Lien, is a researcher for the Vietnam Russia Tropical Center. He has been working in Tam Dao researching butterflies as part of his PhD since 2002.

Anh (aka The Professor) as I stated before did diplomatic work in China for the Vietnamese government. He has a degree in Forest Management and has been with the project since 2002 as well.

Viet is Lien’s younger brother by 14 years and is a school teacher in his small village on the coast. He gets paid $10 US a month to teach and would like to become an “officer teacher” but you have to pay the government about $2000 US to get that title. It would bring his salary up to $40 US a month. I thought we had it bad.

The reason for the big age difference between Lien and Viet is because their father was a solider in the Vietnam War (here they call it the American War) and did not see his family for that period of time. There were three children in the family prior to the war and three born after the war. Sounds similar to our country.

Bruce and Charlene are a lovely older couple from Boulder Colorado. Bruce is an environmental lawyer who met Charlene in Washington DC. Charlene has worked with the federal government on environmental policy as well. Both are very active in their region of the country for conservation and environmental efforts. They have been in Asia now for 6 weeks and spent most of their time in China.

Rachel Peters teaches 4th grade at a private school in Washington and is basically me but with blond hair and married with a little boy named Tobias. She is very intelligent and has proved to be a great companion so far. She knows how to get this complicated research to a level that her students can understand and has provided me with a lot of help.

Jeff Bucs is a 7th and 8th grade science teacher from Massachusetts and is very eager to learn and reminds me of a kid on Christmas morning when it comes to the research that we are doing. I bet his students love him.

The Expedition

There are a total of six transects (paths) that we walk each day. Each transect is divided into eight smaller sections. The group is divided into 2 teams each day and each team is assigned to walk two transects.

When we walk the transects, we take nets and data sheets with us. If a butterfly is spotted within 10m of us we record it. If the species is not identifiable by sight then we net it and identify it.
There are a total of 360 species of butterflies within Tam Dao and about 200 species present within the area of the village.

I will speak to second block soon. I think you have enough to ponder for the moment.
To my third block lovelies, I plan on talking to you tomorrow night (for me) and that is when we will have our guest.
Tam Piet (goodbye)

A Little Bit About This Place

Tam Dao

Tam Dao is located outside of Hanoi which is the capital of Vietnam. This area was designated as a nature preserve in 1977, then changed to a national park in 1996.
The altitude in the village is about 1300m or ½ mile in the air with higher mountains surrounding us. We are above the clouds.

The village that we are staying in was originally built as a getaway from the very hot and humid Hanoi for the French when they occupied the country. However, after the Vietnam pushed the French out, the locals tore down all the villas and turned it into a tourist town for the people of Hanoi and other tourist. They come up here to relax, walk around the village, and go to the small market, café’s, and sing karaoke. It’s funny when I go to bed and I hear over loud speakers in the village people singing songs in Vietnamese to Richard Marx. In the market they sell little trinkets, cobra wine (yes the cobra is in the bottle) and scorpion wine. There is a crop here that is called chayote (pronounced kind of like coyote) that produces a delicious fruit and even better greens that seems to dominate a large portion of the market.

Outside the small village is the forest which is about 50 miles in length and looks like the shape of a caterpillar. It is home to a number of species some of which I think you all will find interesting like spotted panthers, cobras, and monkeys (like Mrs. Timken). But Lien said that they are too scared of people so they are more up in the north while the village is in the south of the park.

The Vietnamese government is trying to build another road into the heart of the forest which is relatively flat. They want to build another tourist village there to attract foreign investors and bring money to this poor country. However, if this is done, it will affect the health and populations of many rare species of insects, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that live here. Lien is working hard to convince the government that this is not good for the forest. But I don’t know how successful it will be. That’s why we’re here, to aid Lien in gathering data to help determine the ecological health of Tam Dao.
Weather
We are currently in a monsoon. I would like you to take a minute and look up monsoons and report back to me the basics of it. Then we will compare and contrast your knowledge and my experiences. Until then you are going to have to wait in suspense.

Accomodations
I am staying at the MiMi hotel in the village of Tam Dao. It is a cute place with a mixture of French architecture and Vietnamese. Ms. Peters and I share a room which is lovely because we are like two peas in a pod.

If you want your clothes washed while you are here they wash them in a bathtub out back by stomping on them in the water and then hanging out to dry.

Roosters wake us up at the crack of dawn and they roam freely about the village as do many many dogs.

Currently, we do not have any power it has been out for about five hours now and is typical up here due to limited energy sources.

The shower is quite an interesting experience as well. There are no shower curtains and the shower head is a hose and at waist level so you have to kneel in the tub.

Bugs are abundant and upon arrival Rachel (Mrs. Peters) and I found an enormous moth in our room. We deemed him our pet but he died shortly after. The spiders are quite large as well and Mr. Bucs, the other teacher, made the one in his room his pet.

Food

I have had some of the best food I have ever had in my life since I have been here and I have never been crazy about Asian food. We are fed three meals a day. Lunch is the largest meal with an average of 8 dishes laid out on the table to pick and eat from. I’ve gotten quite good at the chopsticks. Example meals:
Breakfast: Cheese and bread, Green tea.
Lunch: Tofu, chicken, wild mushrooms and shrimps, the fruit of the chayote, chayote greens steamed with garlic, French fries, a soup, rice (which always come out last) and then a dessert usually watermelon or dragonfruit.
Dragonfruit is hot pink on the outside and it bumpy. When you cut it open the fruit is white with tiny black seeds in it. It doesn’t even look real but it is delicious, kind of similar to kiwi in texture.
Dinner: Just about as varied in dishes. A lot of the same food cooked in different ways. Ms. Peters and I are both vegetarians and are not having a problem filling our bellies.

I do plan on posting about the work that we are doing with butterflies. There is so much to tell you I think that I need to break it down into sections. Like I said before, technology is VERY limited up here and will do my best to keep in touch with you all.
It is my understanding that Mrs. K will not be at school on Monday. So I will call you on Tuesday. Remember that Lien, Viet, and Anh are going to speak with you. Please reread the prior post and come up with two questions for each person. Here are some guidelines:
Lien- questions pertaining to his butterfly research and the area.
Viet- he is a teacher. Something to do with schools and teaching.
Anh-His work for the Vietnamese government. I found out that he was a entomologist (bug guy) and conducted studies on many different insects in various regions of Vietnam. See if you can get his age out of him, he keeps playing with me and says "it's secret".

Love you and miss you all,
Bethanne Winzeler

My Brain is Full May I Be Excused?

Well...Hello everyone. This is my second post. My first one just completely dissapeared on me. I am currently in an internet cafe which is really a shack with 12 computer that were probably made in the early 1990's. Mr. Bucs, the teacher from Massachuttes, had a satelitte card but it is not working. Needless to say, I don't believe that we will be able to do the video conference that we had planned on doing. But, I have a suprise for you. Instead, I have asked Lien the head researcher, his brother Viet, and Anh (pronounced Ein like Einstein to speak with you when I teleconference with you over the next couple of days.
This is a great honor for you as students to have this opportunity. They have never spoken with American students so this will be a new experience for all of us. I know that you are wonderful students and I expect you to treat them with the honor and respect that they so deserve.
Lien is the man who is the reason for my being on this trip. We read about him and his research in class. Viet is a teacher in his small village on the coast of Northern Vietnam. During the summer months he comes to Tam Dao to help Lien with his research. He teaches English and is fascinated by the English language so it's a lot of fun to talk with him. He has asked me to speak with his students over the phone. Anh is a retired Vietnamese diplomat and I haven't quite figured out his role in the expedition yet but he shines and makes me smile constantly. All three of them are amazing men and know their subject very well.
Words cannot describe my feeling or experiences here over the past two days in Vietnam. It has already been a life changing experience for me and we haven't even got to the good stuff yet. The Vietnamese are a strong, resilient, kind, and AMAZING people. This is the third poorest nation in the world and they have been invaded and attempted to be conquered by every major dynasty and country that you can think of. Yet through it all, this small country has remained independant from other's rule and they are proud to be "free". I wish that you were all here with me to see what I see and hear what I hear. Due to the limited technology here I will not be able to post my pictures until I get back to Hong Kong. It took me 20 minutes just to get on a website.
Today we spent the morning learning the history of Tam Dao national park, learning different species of butterflies, then walked the first transect. The transect was about 2 miles and we had to walk very slowly. We caught and observed 17 different specied of butterflies and counted a total of 162. Ms. Peter's from Washington state caught a very rare butterfly. One which Viet had never seen and it was all quite exciting. I did practice catching a butterfly today and was successful but I fear I did a little damage to one of the wings. I was told it was going to be okay. Butterflies are EXTREMELY sensitive more so than I ever thought.
It is very late here and I am going to cut this one short. I have learned my lesson on blogging in Vietnam today.
1. Do not wait until 10 o'clock at night to post on a dial up Internet connection in a third world country.
2. I am exhausted and my brain is fuzzy (and yes Grant I do have jet lag now but everything's just so exciting I don't feel it until moments like these).
3. Write it in a word document after being in the field when everything is fresh in my head.
Thank you for your posts all. However, please limit your comments to just one per block. Again, I would like for you to dicuss as a class the newest post and TOGETHER come up with comments and questions. I am not the only one that is reading this blog and I expect you to demonstrate to others the outstanding students that I know you are.
Bonita, the flight to Los Angelos was wonderful. I had the whole row to myself and it was a six hour flight. The flight from LA to Hong Kong was looooong (15 hours) but a very smooth ride. The flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi was very turbulent and I almost lost my lunch but that was just a two hour flight so it wasn't that bad.
I have many stories to tell but for now I bid you good morning and for me good night. Miss you all and love you.
p.s. yes they do eat dog over here. I will try to get a picture of one cooking in Hanoi but please don't ask me any questions about it.

WooHoo!!!

Today is the day that we begin our journey to Vietnam. A quick recap of what we did in class yesterday.

• Each group had a copy of the case study "Butterflies of Vietnam: Revealing the Health of the Forest.
• You were each assigned a section and were responsible for
  
  1. Reading aloud
  2. Discussing your section and the environmental issues within it.
  3. Taking notes.
  4. Creating a poster for a class presentation.
• The presentations were wonderful and you all made me proud with your understanding of the key points of the research that is being conducted with Vu in Tam Dao National Park.

I am beginning to get very nervous but I cannot wait to talk to you all live from Vietnam (I just think that it's the coolest thing ever). I miss you already!!!

Ideally, I would like a different student from every class post a comment or question regarding the trip each day. Discuss the research briefly with the class and together come up with a response.

Be good!!!

p.s. Grant- you are responsible for keeping me updated on Scrubs and The Office. :)

Vietnam

Next week is the big week for the trip!!! Before we begin our focus on what I will be doing while I am in Vietnam, it is important that you get to know a little bit about the country. Please follow the directions below.

• Copy and paste the questions below into a Microsoft Word document and answer them using the following links.


• When you are finished print your copy and make sure that your name and date is on it.


• Remember it is going to take some reading and researching to gather your answers.


• Post a comment with any questions about Vietnam or my trip that you may have.

Questions:

1. What is the capital city of Vietnam?


2. What countries border Vietnam?


3. What is the human population for the country?


4. Tell a little bit about the average weather in Vietnam.


5. List any health conditions or safety precautions you should take when visting Vietnam.


6. What are their main environmental issues?


7. What are the four great philosophies and religions of the Vietnamese?


8. What type of government do they have in Vietnam?


9. Copy and paste a picture of the Vietnam flag.


10. Describe the story behind "The Land of the Dragon People".


11. What is the name of their currency?


12. List any interesting information you found throughout your search.

Links:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/vietnam

http://grunt.space.swri.edu/visit/maps/maps.htm

http://www.mapsofworld.com/vietnam/

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/vm.html

http://www.sadec.com/Profile/viet01.html

Earth Week (Winzeler's Favorite Week)

In honor of Earth Week, we are going to explore and investigate various aspects of pollution, ecology, and what we can do to help make Earth a little more green.

Your assignment:

1. Go to the following link http://www.nrdc.org/greensquad/intro/intro_1.asp
2. Obtain a copy of the "Green Squad Progress Report" from your teacher.
3. Follow steps 1-4 on the website.
4. When you begin the activity on the website, you will begin to fill out your "Green Squad Progress Report".
5. At the end of class, we will tally up our scores on the Progress Report and award certificates based on completion of your task.

Post an idea...

If you have time, post a comment with your idea as to how we could make a change within our school or community to help the environment.

It's official...

I just booked my flight for Vietnam. Talk about butterflies! :)

There is an Earthwatch map to the right that I would like all of you to check out in your spare time.
1. Find the country of Vietnam and click on the red dot.
2. Scroll over the links below the map to learn about my expedition. The case study should give you a thorough background of some of the things that I will be participating in while over there.

The red dots on the map indicate other "Live from the Field" expeditions. You may want to see what other teachers and their students are doing.

Feel free to leave any comments concerning your impressions regarding this expedition.

In your FACE!!!

We have been discussing lately the topic of genetics and what lies within in us. Nature versus nurture has long been scientific debate. So many times I have had people come up to me (even complete strangers) and tell me to smile because I look so angry. This has always bothered me because most of the time when they say this I don't even mean to look mad. When I think of my mother when I was growing up, I remember a particular face that she made and she looked like she was angry when in fact she was just being herself. Did I inherit this trait from her or did I learn it? What do you think?

Is it fair to judge someone's character by the facial expressions they make? Scientists say that 90% of us believe that we can judge a person's character by reading the expression on their face. In fact, they even go as far to say that when we are seeking a potential mate, we judge facial expressions more than actual "personality".
But our judgements may prove correct. Some scientists are beginning to believe that our genes for personality are reflected in facial expressions.

Take the two tests:
Face Perception 1
Face Perception 2

After you have finished the two tests, read the article on Facial Prejudice and post your comments.

Some topics you may want to consider when posting...

1. How do I think people perceive my own facial expressions?
2. Do first impressions really count?
3. Is there really a difference in they way we perceive the same facial expression on a boy and a girl?
4. Your conclusions about the relationships between human instinct and facial expressions.

I look forward to reading your posts!