More on Longitude

The discovery of how to figure out longitude while out in the ocean changed the world. Suddenly countries could have a powerful navy that didnt get lost in the ocean and trade became much more reliable. Here is the first of a film about how the problem of navigating the ocean was solved. It's the first of six parts.

Longitude also tells us about time zones. Let's figure out the time zones for Tracy and Mariola in Washington DC; you in Boulder; Ben in the Yucatan; Gill in Austrialia; Your dad and JoeJoeLilyand Little Ray Ray in LA; and Godzilla in Japan.

Everything starts in Greenwich England (the prime meridian) -- that's just becuase the brits were the ones to document all this. Here is a website that shows all the time zones. Australia has three so we need to look up Kingscliff where Gill lives.

Here is a really good video about the history of telling time

Latitude and Longitude Games

Hi Joe -- When you mentioned latitude and longitude I realized I couldn't remember anything about it. So I looked it up on the internet. Here are some cool sites I found.

Songs
I love this song -- it makes it easier for me to remember longitude and latitude
And here is another song. it's helpful but not as good a song.

Video Review
Here is a video of how to use google maps to find longitude and latitude of a place. 
Here is a great review of latitude and longitude. 
And a short movie. You have to answer a question and then it starts.


I like this one. It is a a  teacher from australia using google earth to teach about latitude and longitude

This reviews the topic and shows a lot of the math behind it

Games
And here are some games to practice:

• KidsGeo.com
• Treasure Hunt
•  And this site has a whole bunch of games

Other Websites about using maps
You were so good at using the map in washington dc. everytime i would get turned around you could find us on the map. Here are a lot of websites about learning to use maps

Let's Do Together
Let's see if we can figure out the longitude and latitude of places we have been to. Here is a video of how to use google maps to find longitude and latitude of a place. 

• Crystal Lake?
• Washington DC
• Isla Holbox (where the whale sharks are)
• Boulder
• Santa Fe

Maybe we can draw a map with the longtitude and latitude with all these wonderful places? We can draw a picture for each place to -- an icon. 

I'm going to try to find something that explains who invited latitude and longitude and why it is important.

Where oh Where?

Where oh where should we go? There are so many incredible places to go in the world...and just in the U.S. states!

Here are some websites for places to go in the US and the world? What is your top ten places you would like to go to someday?

In the US 

• Here are 100 places to go visit in the US  (macinac island is on the list but not sleeping bear) --and the same website with a slide show
• Best hikes in national parks
•  This is a great list for the US and for the World
• This is a odd website where people show where they have been and vote for the best places to go.

In the World

This is top 100 travel experiences
National geographic has the best info -- here are lots of countries and cities and you can click to learn about them and see beautiful pictures.

Going Back in Time

Wherever we go on our travels I am sure we are going to see things that make us think about the past. 

It might be the geology we see. Remember in the Yucatan we were walking on limestone made from shells. 

Or it might be walking the same paths at Calakmul that people did in 600 A.D.  In fact, there was a structure there from sometime between 400 and 200 BCE (isn't it weird how the numbers get bigger the farther back we go in BCE).

Or it could be creatures that have been around for a long time like horseshoe crabs.

If we go to California, Alaska or Peru -- what are the things we might see that remind us of past times?  Can you imagine if you were pulled into the past what it might be like?

And here is a cool tv show where kids get to help on archeological sites. You can watch the episodes from this link.

The Wild Life

Here is a site about alaska that tells you a bit about the natural history, the social history and about the people.

Here is a site on the wildlife in the Sierras.

Here are a lot of pictures from Peru

Photos of Alaskan Wildlife

Hi all -- So let's start learning about our three options -- the  Sierra Mountains, Alaska and Peru. And then in early 2013 I'll figure out which one we are doing. You all have to start doing some research as well.

In the comments section you can write something or add a web link. Then we can see what all of us are learning or the questions we have.

Here are photos on Alaskan wildlife

Here is some information on the Sierras.

Here is info on Machu Picchu in Peru. It is from the Incan civilization...not Mayan.

I bet you can train rosie and dash to do this

Jordan does parkour -- it is urban gymnastics where people leap over roofs, through windows, and flip over walls.  but I've never seen a dog do it!

Baby Flamingo!

Hey you all -- Here is an article and pictures of a baby flamingo....Too cute!

If I close my eyes I can see them flying with the pink and black...and those long long long necks and legs.

Next Adventures?

Five days -- I think could include:

• Acoma
• Wolf sanctuary
• ice cave and volcano
• Stay at El Moro Cabins for this first part
• Bosque 
• I think we have to stay in Socorro, wake up at 4 for sunrise!
• Balloons – 6-th -14^th
• Ghost ranch
• tent rocks
  

Maybe stop at Sand dunes on way to boulder

Maybe?

Petroglyphs

Banadlier

Probably not enough time for:

Mesa verde

^{Chaco canyon}

Gila National Forest
32.92 N   108.68 W
This forest is home to Flammulated and Spotted Owls, Painted Redstarts and Hepatic Tanagers. Check riparian habitat along the Gila River for Common Black-Hawk.

Sandia Crest/Cibola National Forest
35.18 N   106.49 W
Watch for Black-headed Grosbeak, Hermit Thrush and Red-naped Sapsuckers. Nearer Albuquerque, the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park is a great spot for Say's Phoebe, Blue Grosbeak and Black-chinned Hummingbird.

Photos and Videos

Here are the links to the photo albums from our great Yucatan adventure:

Xcalak
Akumal
El Cuyo
Calakmul

There are also some great videos of the creatures we met:

Turtles - our first day at akumal

Whale Sharks - unbelievably, wonderful.

Nemo-- We missed seeing turtles laying eggs or the fast trek to the sea when 200 turtles escape their shells. But we did meet Nemo....a little guy with a hurt flipper. This is his walk to the ocean taking about 30 minutes…This has been significantly edited and fast forwarded at 2x the pace.  I've added some music BUT I recommend just watching it in silence to honor how hard this little guy had to work to get to the sea with his injured flipper.

Animals at Calakmul -- howler and spider monkeys are great!


Xcalak -- Great filming of a sting ray.Q is too cute at the very end.

Daniel the Manatee -- too cute. he uses his flippers to eat!


Calakmul -- This is not the temple we climbed…it's the 2nd highest but gives you the feel of the height and being surrounded by jungle. No animals, just the sense of awe as we walked the paths of many before us.

And to just give you  sense of the trip here are some other fun videos. I watch Laughter over and over and over: 


Laughter (you won't understand what we are laughing about -- but it gives you the sense of how much fun we had -- this was on a 12 km road that took us over two hours to drive because we stopped so often to look at birds and animals)

Water-Man - Ben filmed J. playing around under water -- they are great. Very mysterious looking

Jumping at the Cenote - Ben, Q and J doing jumps (and I learned how to do rewind!  This was at the Cenote Azul in Bacalar -- the most wonderful water!

Things that go ouch

Ben will tell us when to stay away from something. But if you want to study them.

Here is a list of venomous snakes,  I think there are 12 of them. Why don't you write down the names of them and how you might identify them. You can even draw them in your journal.

and here is one on stingrays, but they don't all live in the yucatan. Can you find out which ones live in the waters near Mexico?

numeros en espanol

Numbers in spanish after 39

40. cuarenta
50. cincuenta
60. sesenta
70. setenta
80. ochenta
90. noventa
100. ciento
101. ciento uno
200. doscientos
201. doscientos uno
300. trescientos
400. cuatrocientos
500. quinientos
600. seiscientos
700. setecientos
800. ochocientos
900. novecientos
1.000. mil
2.000. dos mil 
3.333. tres mil trescientos treinta y tres
1.000.000. un millón
1.000.000.000. mil millones

Questions, Questions and Observations

Hi J and Q -- J. and I were talking this morning about the different types of turtles we might see. And how we would know which one we were looking at.  It got me to thinking about the different types of questions we ask when we become interested in something.  There are so many questions...and so many types of questions. And then sometimes it is fun not to ask questions at all and simply observe.

I was just writing about a school I visited and one of my notes is that when we encounter new things sometimes we are learning about it (a lot or a little) and sometimes we are making meaning. And sometimes both.  The types of questions we ask and how we focus our attention when we observe (using any or all of our senses) is one way we make meaning.

So what types of questions do you like to ask?

Let's add to this list that I started?

Facts about One Thing: What is a loggerhead turtle? What does it look like? What are it's markings? How many eggs does it lay? Where? Observation is really helpful here. If we were thinking about history this might include dates and putting together a timeline.

Putting Facts Together: What are the differences and similarities between green turtles and loggerheads? What does a loggerhead look like as a baby and as an adult?  Charts are helpful to make comparisons.  We could compare how the Mayan empire developed over time and compare it to the Spanish history. (Personally, I have to do something otherwise my head fills with facts and recuerdo nada  -- that means I remember nothing!)

Understanding:  Why is something the way it is? Why does the loggerhead have a bigger head than the green turtle?  Does it eat different food?   Sometimes there are facts that can help us. Sometimes we have to analyze (think) and come up with good guesses until we find someone who can help us.  How has the Mayan culture shaped the Yucatan? How is the Yucatan different than other parts of Mexico?

Understanding How Something Has Changed Over Time: How have turtles changed over time? What did their ancestors look like in the dinosaur era? How has their population changed over the last century? (We get to ask why here as well so we can understand the reasons that something has changed. This is creating a story isn't it -- a story about how things have changed).  The Mayan language is still used...a lot? How has this changed over time...and why?

Understanding Context and How Things Are Linked to Each Other: What is changing that is impacting the turtles? Why are they endangered? Are they changing their behavior at all?  This is where we think across ideas -- history, culture, science.  Why does the Yucatan government think it is a good idea to teach Mayan in schools now? What changed?

Projecting into the Future:  How might things change in the future? Are there places where turtle popoulations are increasing? (WHY?) If some turtle populations are growing will that change other things? How might things change if the Yucatan schools start teaching in Mayan and Spanish? 


Empowerment:  What can we do to change the future? Who are other people and organizations we want to know about so we can learn from them?

And to wrap this up with pure nonsense?  How did this dog learn to get on this float and paddle?

From Joe

Hi Chris,
Here is a website i found on corral reefs in the Yucatan: http://www.itchyfeet.org/articles/enchilada.htm

Also while I was looking I saw this cool weird picture of a bird called the : scale-crested pygmy tyrant.  My mom thought that was a good name for me but I did not approve!

K-Poetry

Here is a poem about kinkajou's

Can you all write a poem about one of the creatures we might meet?

snorkle

hi -- i am not the best snorkeler-- so i found this to help me. i have de-fog for us.

i bet we see some turtles when we go snorkeling.

we better learn about coral reefs too.

joe can you find some interesting websites about coral reefs?

mayan math

the mayans were/are really good at math and astronomy. they had a different system of math than we do. instead of based on 10 it is based on 20.

here is a site where you can learn to write numbers in mayan. and check out their system. i dont quite get it. i need to look at it again.

they have a really interesting calendar system too. here is a video on their calendars

let's learn some of these hieroglyphics!then we can write mayan! here is a video about its writing

mexican chocolate

thinking about the cinnamon challenge, we should try some mexican chocolate while we are there. it will be a little too hot for hot chocolate...but maybe we can find some mexican chocolate ice cream.

what other food might we find there -- here is a list of fruits and vegetables in the yucatan. let's see how many of these we can try: (joe remember tasting new food in washington dc -- you liked most of it!)

i love chaya -- it is like spinach but has 10 x the amount of nutrients. Geronimo makes me agua fresca plus chaya in the morning....fresh fruit juice with chaya mixed. after i drink it i feel like i could swim across the ocean!

• Nance is a small, tart, yellow cherry-like fruit with a strong flavor and penetrating scent. The fruits are eaten raw or cooked as dessert, and in colonial times were included in soup or in stuffing for meats. They are also made into a candy, Dulce de Nance, prepared with the fruit cooked in sugar and water.
•  
• Guaya, a relative of the lychee, has a thin but rigid layer of skin, traditionally cracked by the teeth. Inside the skin is the tart, tangy, cream pulp of the fruit, which is sucked by putting the whole fruit inside the mouth.
•  
• Saramuyo is another alien-looking fruit from Yucatán! It's known elsewhere as sugar apple or sweetsop. This member of the anona family is found in local markets, especially in the Valladolid area of the Yucatán. It has the green, scaly skin typical of the anonas, with soft, sweet white pulp used in ices, ice cream and aguas.
•  
• The mamey fruit is oval shaped, similar to a football, and is 3-8 inches in length. It has a relatively thick, woody, brown skin and its flesh has an orange/reddish tint. Although you can eat mamey raw, you must first remove its skin and any pits inside. Raw mamey sapote is usually eaten with sugar, it's also added to fruit salads, blended fruit drinks, and as an ice cream flavor. The taste is similar to sweet potato pie with a dash of almond.
•  
• Cebollina is an herb, somewhat of a cross between chives and spring onion greens.
•  
• Camote - white sweet potatoes - are used much like potatoes. They are usually boiled, then pureed with butter, salt, and pepper.
•  
• Chile Maxs (mash) - tiny red or green chiles that pack a powerful punch!
•  
• Elote pibil -or, pibilina - Maize, much tougher and less sweet than North American sweet corn, is soaked in salt water, then baked underground in a pit lined with hot rocks, a Mayan style of cooking known as pibil. The end result tastes like smoked corn.
•  
• Chaya, or Mayan spinach, is an important source of vitamins and protein. It must be cooked, as the raw leaves are toxic.
•  
• Sour orange - naranja agria - is used in many recipes, especially those using achiote paste. If not available, you can use a 50-50 blend of white vinegar and orange juice. They look like bumpy, green oranges.
•  
• Chayote is a member of the squash family, it's pale green and avocado shaped. It can be used in any recipe calling for summer squash. The fruit does not need to be peeled and can be eaten raw in salads. It can also be boiled, stuffed, mashed, baked, fried, or pickled.
•  
• Guanábana - this fruit has a leathery green skin covered with soft spines. It's a favorite ice cream flavor, and the juice is available everywhere.
•  
• Tuna - sweet prickly pear - this is the fruit of the nopal cactus. It's eaten raw, made into fruit drinks, or cooked into a jam. Be careful - the intense purple-red juice stains everything!

Whip It

I liked the name of this lizard. The yucatan whiptail.

Journals

Hi J and Q:  As you know each of us will be bringing a journal on our trip to write in at the end of each day. I was just reading something and I thought it was so perfect...that I wanted to share it with you:

In the world of experiential education (this just means learning from experiences not from books), journals function as an amulet. (do you know what an amulet is?). They not only help us to record our journeys, our memories, transformative events, and innermost thoughts; journals help us discover who we are. 

Our journals will be private. But sometimes, if we want to, we can read them to each other. Each of us will be having a very different trip even though we will all be together. Reading from our journals will help us learn about the world from each other's eyes as well.

Questions from Joe

What kinds of insects live in the Yucatan? Click here 
Here is another good site on insects.


What kinds of turtles? Click here

Here are reptiles including snakes- there are 12 venomous snakes...ewwwww.

And just in case we do the cinnamon challenge -- where does cinnamon come from?

limestone

Hi Q and J --

I've been thinking about a new topic to learn about (if you tell me what you want to learn about I can do some research).

One of the things I think is interesting is how geography shapes culture?  If you live in Alaska you have a different culture than if you live in the desert -- what you pray to? the foods and cultures of eating? and most likely social values and rituals?  How do you think the culture of Boulder is shaped by where it is next to the mountains? The culture of New Mexico?

So the Yucatan is very, very flat.  That's because it is a big hunk of limestone. (Wait -- what is limestone?)

 Here are a couple links about the geography. How do you think the geography has shaped the culture of the Mayans? and of the world today?

Geology of the Yucatan

There is a cool experiment on this page you can do at home to think about how cenotes formed from limestone.

We leave in 4.5 weeks!

He's Such a Ham

Can you imagine trying to rescue a crocodile? here is a place in belize that does exactly that.  (can you find belize on the map?) Sometimes when they write about the crocs they sound like they are talking about puppies?  The person who runs this place says at the video "he's such a ham". This croc is 13 feet. If joe stood on my shoulders, (or I stood on his) we still wouldn't be as big as that crocodile.

Here is another video where they are force feeding a little croc that was living in polluted waters. It's amazing they have to use plyers to open his mouth.

A bit more about crocodiles.

  I think we should learn how to tell a crocodile and an alligator apart. One of the things I learned is:

All alligators are crocodiles, but not all crocodiles are alligators. Sound confusing? It's really not once you look at the taxonomy. Both alligators and crocodiles are members of the reptilian order Crocodylia. But the families they belong to, Alligatoridae and Crocodylidae respectively, differ. Often, when people use the word "crocodile" what they really mean is "crocodilian." This term encompasses not just the common alligators and crocodiles you might already know, but also the lesser known Gavialidae family that contains the lone gavial, or gharial. All told, there are 23 species of crocodilians.

 We are going to have to study the scientific classification to understand that. We can all try to understand together...it is really confusing.


 I wonder how they are different. Let's make a chart. This website can help us

                      Crocodile         |    Alligator
Color

Size

Habitation

Reproduction

Life Span

How else might they differ? 

One thing I learned is that the American Crocodile is endangered. Thank goodness for those crazy people in belize rescuing them. (Yes I can respect them and appreciate them and think they are totally crazy. Crazy can be good sometimes)

Here is a bit more about the american croc:

• American crocodiles inhabit both freshwater and saltwater habitats, such as mangrove swamps, brackish creeks, and coastal canals. They are most commonly found in tropical wetlands such as mangrove-lined saltwater estuaries and lagoons.

• In the United States, they are only found in salt and brackish water in the southern tip of Florida mainland and the Florida keys.

•  They are known to construct long burrows or dens near their nesting sites, usually three to nine meters into creek banks, with the entrance at or below the water.

• Diet consists of fish and other small marine animals. Larger crocodiles may feed on small mammals, birds, and turtles. In Florida, they are known to eat bass, tarpon, and mullet. There are very few reports of the species attacking humans.

•  They prefer to nest in the dry season, and females lay as many as 40 eggs, and the eggs hatch after about 90 days. Only the female guards the nest and assists with hatching, but both parents guard the young after they hatch.

hey -- do crocs stay with the same mate all their life like ospreys and geese?

Coco

American crocodile, Cocodrilo americano, Crocodile d'Amérique, Caimán de Aguja, Central American alligator, Cocodrilo de Rio, Crocodile à museau pointu, Lagarto Amarillo, Lagarto Real, Llaman Caimán, South American alligator, American saltwater crocodile 

Those are all the names of Crocodylus acutus. 
They are pretty interesting...listen to this...they change their nesting patterns based on the conditions. AND they have up to 60 eggs. Can you imagine watching 60 eggs hatching and little crocs with those little team coming at you.  

Populations adapt their breeding strategy to suit the environment. This species is mainly a hole nester, but populations without access to suitable nest sites which can be excavated (relatively well drained) will build mound nests using whatever nesting materials are available.

 Flooding creates high mortality. Nesting occurs during the dry season (to minimise flooding, especially in hole nests which are in danger of falling below the water table after heavy rains), following an extended courtship period which can last up to two months.

The minimum number of eggs laid in the nest can be around 20 in some populations, but is usually between 30 and 60, the mean being around 38. Nests are often found which contain eggs from two separate females. Hatching, after around 90 days, coincides with the beginning of the annual rains. 

 

67 bows

Wow...the things one stumbles upon when looking up information on flamingos.

This isn't about the yucatan at all...yet i thought it was so powerful.

What do you think about after watching this video? (same as youtube below but slightly different experience)

What do you think the artist was trying to communicate?

Pink I Think

Why oh why are flamingos (and roseate spoonbills ) sooooo pink?

This is a really cool website...tells you about flamingos and so much more...

• Flamingos are social birds, and tens of thousands can live together in a single colony. 
• Flamingos are one of the oldest species of birds, with fossil remains dating back 30 to 50 million years
• Flamingos are generally non-migratory birds, but a colony may relocate under the pressures of climate or water level changes
• Flamingos are filter feeders, living off algae and tiny animals such as shrimp, mollusks, and insect larvae that live in the mud at the bottom of shallow pools
• The flamingos’ feathers, legs, and face are colored by their diet, which is rich in alpha and beta carotenoid pigments. Carotenoids in crustaceans such as those in the flamingo diet are frequently linked to protein molecules, and may be blue or green. After being digested, the carotenoid pigments dissolve in fats and are deposited in the growing feathers, becoming orange or pink. The same effect is seen when shrimp change color during cooking.

Check out the website...it explains lots of things related to color...

Trip to Tulum

We will probably stop by Tulum one day. It is a small mayan site -- right on the ocean. Here is a link that can tell you a lot about it.  

This is a fun video -- the narrator thinks outloud about what he thinks a symbol might mean. We can do that ourselves when we are there -- just try to think about what the symbols might mean. 

home away from home

Reservations are all made. Here are the places we are going to stay:
Cesiak, Rio Bec, EcoTucan, Xcalak, Cuyo

Leatherbacks

I don't know very much about turtles. I've started to look up leatherbacks. They are endangered, although they are doing a bit better in the Atlantic...but dramatically reducing in the Pacific.

On average they weigh 300 lbs...The largest leatherback ever found was an 8.5-ft-long (2.6-m-long) male weighing 2,020 lbs (916 kg) that washed up on the west coast of Wales in 1988. That's taller than a man! A Big man!

Check out this video of a leatherback chasing down a lobster. It looks like it likes to east lobsters as much as Joe does...

And this video really brings home how vulnerable baby turtles are...I mean they are tiny little things with no one to protect them.  Maybe when we are down there we can help protect the babies....I can't believe that crab which isn't much bigger than the baby can just drag it down into the sand with it.

I don't understand why the temperature of the nest changes how many male and female turtles are born. I wonder why that is?

And guess what, we don't even know there life span. I bet there is still a lot that we don't know.

And yeah, it looks to me if that turtle gets too close to you it can bite your nose off.

Cognitive Dissonance: Manatees and MeninSkies

Do you all know that term " cognitive dissonance"? I have it easily twice a week. And I'm having it right now.

The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs.

I just heard from my friend Hugo that he has seen a gaggle of manatees -- eight of them twice in two days in the lagoon at Sian Ka 'an. These creatures are soooo old. 

And then one of my friends  sent me this youtube..of men (people) with their feet on the ceiling, flying through skies,  These movements of human kind are sooooo recent. 

Cognitive dissonance...how can we value each of these things equally? 


Do you ever have cognitive dissonance?

Another Big Word - Commensalism

Q and I were talking about pilot fish. We looked it up in WikiP -- and found that they are carnivorous and commensal.

I never this word before. It means

a class of relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits but the other is neutral (there is no harm or benefit). There are two other types of association: mutualism (where both organisms benefit) and parasitism (one organism benefits and the other one is harmed).

So WikiP is a little confusing cuz it says the pilot fish is commensal but later says its relationship with sharks is mutualist. The pilot is protected from predators and the shark is protected from parasites.

They hang out with rays, and sharks. And even ships. According to WikiP: their fondness for ships led the ancients to believe that they would navigate a ship to its desired course. That is why they are called pilot fish instead of hitchhiker fish. That is what i would call them. I am glad they are not to suck my blood.


Very, very interesting. The pilot fish is often used as a simile or metaphor for a scout even though they aren't really leading the sharks or fish. We'll talk about simile and metaphor in Mexico.

Akumal - Place of the Turtle in Mayan

Green turtles and loggerheads come to lay their eggs along the beach. We may go to Akumal to swim with the turtles. 

Q. and I are trying to find out what other turtles live in the Yucatan--

Here is the list of all the turtles that live in the Yucatan.  Estoy un poco confundido sobre "scorpion mud turtle"? Does it sting like a scorpoion? Roll in the mud? I assume mud turtles hang out in the mud? We are now really confused...they are quite beautiful, not muddy and appear not to sting. In fact their shells are beautiful. Their plastron (that is the word for the bottom shell can be dark, or yellow, or have beautiful patterns).

1. Green Turtle - Chelonia mydas (Threatened)
2. Loggerhead Turtle - Caretta caretta (Threatened)
3. Hawksbill Turtle - Eretmochelys imbricata (Endangered)
4. Leatherback Turtle - Dermochelys coriacea (Endangered)
5. Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle - Lepidochelys kempi (Endangered)
6. Tabasco Mud Turtle - Kinosternon acutum
7. Creaser's Mud Turtle - Kinosternon creaseri
8. White-lipped Mud Turtle - Kinosternon leucostomum
9. Scorpion Mud Turtle - Kinosternon scorpiodes  ...photo 
10. Narrow-bridged Musk Turtle - Claudius angustatus
11. Mexican Giant Musk Turtle - Staurotypus triporcatus
12. Furrowed Wood Turtle - Rhinoclemmys areolata
13. Yucatan Box Turtle - Terrapene carolina yucatana
14. Slider - Trachemys scripta
15. Central American River Turtle - Dermatemys mawii (in far-southern Quintana Roo & western Campeche)
16. Common Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina rossignonii

Vampire Fish

Okay you guys...I'm still FREAKED OUT by swimming with whale sharks. I'm going to do it...but i'm sooooooo afraid!  What is courage -- doing something when you are afraid!  I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it...but someone is going to be holding my hand!

But now I'm a bit worried about those fish that seem to be stuck to the whale sharks with their mouths.  Are they vampire fish? What if they come over and stick themselves to my face? Suck all my blood out? (I'm cracking myself up!)

Can someone find out what they are and tell me if I need to be afraid of them too? 

Here is the classification for the whale shark (I had to look it up because I didn't even know if it was a mammal or a fish?) I can tell it is a mammal...can you tell how I could tell?

Hey go check out the whale sharks cousin -- click on it's order Orectolobiformes (try saying that three times fast...or even once for that matter).  I like the word " wobbegong".

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Orectolobiformes
Family:	Rhincodontidae J. P. Müller and Henle, 1839
Genus:	Rhincodon A. Smith, 1829
Species:	R. typus

Manateeees

I know they are really hard to find...i sure hope we find them...

I think the type of manatee around the Yucatán is the West Indian Manatee (who can find out the species name? how many species of manatees are there?) The manatee is very endangered.  You often see the word "extant" when you read about them. What do you think that word means? It is so sad cuz it seems like a lot of their close relatives have become extinct. Does anyone know why they became extinct?

I read up a bit about their order Sirenia -- it's a funny word for them as it seems to suggest the word Sirens from Greek mythology -- related to the idea of mermaids calling to the lonely sailors on long journeys.   (Whoa...search for sirens greek mythology and click on images...it is really clear that the idea of sirens have captured a lot of people's imaginations...but why don't any of them look like this pudgy manatee? I think someone was trying to be funny when they called these guys Sirenia)

But want to get really confused. Check out their cousins by clicking on their clade (it's like a branch of a tree of life...but I'm not sure exactly what it is because it is NOT included in the scientific classification list. Why can't they make any of this easy?).

Hey I bet Jen can help us with this scientific classification stuff? I'll ask her. 

What do you think the most interesting thing about manatees are?

I wanna meet an Iguana

While I was down at Sian Ka' an last time one of my friends told me that she thinks iguanas protect humans.  Now I don't know why they would want to protect us...but she told me a story about how she was sitting on the beach and there was an iguana sitting on a stone next to her. She left some chewed gum on the beach and the next morning there was sticky white stuff all over her bags. She thinks the iguana wanted to bring her the gum cuz she left it on the beach.  I interpret that story differently (indeed if the iguana actually did bring her the gum...i think most likely she dropped it in her bag instead of on the beach) -- the iguana was protecting the beach, not her! Or he thinks she left it as a gift but thought it was a terrible gift so just threw up all over her stuff.

Personally I think they can be a pretty confused reptile.  When I was there last time this one big guy kept head-bobbing at me and then later on at a huge bird (one of the herons maybe). Head bobbing is what they do to tell the female iguana that they want some action...that's true...i think it is also to say I'm the big guy on campus, king of the castle, the one with the best genes for reproduction. Maybe it just felt insecure and wanted some attention. Of course I head-bobbed back at him which probably really confused him!

Anyway...we will be meeting lots of iguanas on our trip.  I don't really know how to tell them all apart or which ones live in the Yucatan. I'm pretty sure though that we might see the Black Spiny-Tailed. 
Or the Campeche Spiny-Tailed (get a look at the genus name -- it's a pretty funny name...alfredschmidti...like that's a Latin word?) . The Campeche Spinytail is extant to Mexico. Do you remember what that means?

It looks like there are two competing theories about how we should classify iguanas. Looks like some guy named Frost thinks that instead of sub-families, all the different type of iguana should have their own genus.  I wonder why that is so important? And if they can change how we classify iguanas...can't we find a better home for our kinkajou friend who is wandering around with the carnivora clan?

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Lacertilia
Infraorder:	Iguania
Family:	Iguanidae
Genera
Amblyrhynchus Brachylophus Conolophus Ctenosaura Cyclura Dipsosaurus Iguana Sauromalus

We Are Going to the Yucatán...But What is It

So CJ helped me understand that the Yucatán is more than a part of Mexico. In fact the word refers to two different things - a Penninsula and and a state in Mexico.

A Penninsula: According to our friend Wikipedia -

The Yucatán peninsula as seen from space

The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic partition separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America.

The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part of the nation of Belize; and Guatemala's northern El Petén Department.

Couple of big words in there: better find a dictionary to make sure you know the words partition and comprises. Those are both good words to know.

And what is a peninsula anyway (I keep mis-spelling that word - i have to memorize it....as i seem to like to add "n" here and there. 

 (I know you guys are saying geez not is she only the safety aunt but she is the learning aunt. and then i get to say...LIFE is LEARNING. LEARNING IS US. To say we don't want to learn is like saying we don't want to breathe --)

A State in Mexico: Just like the US, Mexico has states. We will be visiting three states in Mexico -- Quintana Roo (or Q. Roo), Campeche and Yucatán.

Here is the flag of the Yucatan. I wonder if it has a state bird and state flower like US states have? Do you think it has a Governor like the US has? Hmmmmm...Must LEARN MORE!

Birds and Bird Calls

This website is really cool!

It tells you a lot about birds and you can hear their calls.

Here is the osprey.  

And they have a lot of information about all the different types of herons that live in Sian Ka'an.

Tree of Life

I love the Khan Academy so much that I would marry it if it was a person.  It makes me happy when I have a question about something and I go there and there is a video to explain it to me.

So guess what I found one on TAXONOMY and the Tree of Life. (Okay Taxonomy is a big word we are going to have to remember and understand).

Here is the link to the video. It will help us understand all those scientific classifications.

 Every time I hear the words tree of life I think of the phrase rhythm of life. Do you think there is also a rhythm of life as well as a tree of life?  Here is one of my favorite songs (cuz Norn used to listen to a Welsh choir that included this song...my heart gets big when I hear this song). And although this has nothing to do with Yucatan...let me introduce you to Sammy Davis Jr.

Did you know over one million people speak mayan in mexico?

languages in mexico with more than 100,000 speakers

Wikipedia has a lot about Mayan people and mayan language.  About six million people speak mayan in guatemala, belize, honduras and mexico. I had no idea!

And there are different dialects -- there are 8 different types of mayan dialects in mexico. (What I didn't know either is there are 68 indigenous languages -- indian-- in mexico. 6% of the population speak one).

There are two different branches of Mayan in the Yucatan. One is called Yucatec maya (but researchers call it that, not the people themselves) and the other is Lancandón (from the Lancandón jungle in the Chiapas.

Jorge one of my friends is from the Chiapas. We'll have to ask him about that. We aren't going to the Chiapas...we'll have to do it on another trip.

The people in guatamala speak another kind of mayan. I wonder how different they are from each other.

This man does a pretty good job at making it simple to learn mayan. i think it is cool how he puts the words up. Below is another video where he is talking with some mayans.

Cousin Connection of the Kinkajou

Hey Q and J: Do you know who the cousins of the Kinkajou are? Let's find out.

I went to wikipedia to find out. I don't remember too much about scientific classification so we are going to have to figure this out for ourselves.  I wonder can we find someone who can explain that to us --? The picutre on the right show all the different levels of scientific classification. Since LIFE is on the top I guess that means the petoskey stone would not have this type of classification, correcto?

So at wikipedia they have the list of classifications of the Kinkajou( see below). It's official species name is potos flavus. Hhmmmm I wonder what language that is? what does it mean? who named it the kinkajou?do all the countries that it lives in use the same name?

(Okay I looked it up. I was toooooo curious. Every species has two names (homo sapiens!). The first is the genus and the second is the species name. It's always in Latin.  Whoa! Why Latin...there must be some story there.)

Okay onwards. So then our friend the kinkajou has a family classification called the procyonidae (Deb made me take latin one year but i sure have no idea how to pronounce that). Click on that link and go see who the cousin of the kinkajou is!!!!!! You too Deb.

What's odd is that this little guy is in the order carnivora. Carnivora comes from two latin words "flesh" and "to devour". There are 280 species in that order. But this little "honey bear" almost always eats fruit.  I wonder why they put him in carnivora? Who gets to make those decisions anyway! How many other species in carnivora are vegetarians?

Why do you think it is important that we classify each and every living creature everywhere in the world?

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Procyonidae
Genus:	Potos Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire & Cuvier, 1795
Species:	P. flavus
Binomial name
Potos flavus (Schreber, 1774)
Kinkajou range

Cenotes

The Yucatan is famous for its cenotes.  The word "cenote" comes from a mayan word meaning well dzonot or ts'onot . The spanish changed it to cenote. 

The geology of the yucatan is really interesting... it is made up of limestone.  In fact, we will drive on a limestone road on the road to ceisiak...it can get pretty bumpy.

 The cenotes are sink holes and made it really easy for mayans to access ground water.

The Mayans saw the cenotes as sacred places. Well from what I can tell the Mayans thought everything is sacred.

There are different types of cenotes. Cenotes-cántaro (Jug, or Pit cenotes) are those with a surface connection narrower than the diameter of the water body; Cenotes-cilíndricos (Cylinder cenotes) are those with strictly vertical walls; Cenotes-aguadas (Basin cenotes) are those with shallow water basins; and grutas (Cave cenotes) are those having a horizontal entrance with dry sections.

I'm sure we will go swimming in at least one cenote. If we were divers we could actually go scuba diving in them...that's how big some of them are....

Kinkajou

Here is a baby one - J: Here

I love the kinkajou!  Here is a cute baby one on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqjhA9YoZhs

New Word: Endemic

this is a yucatan woodpecker.it's endemic

I was looking at this website and read a bit about how there are plants and animals that are endemic to the Yucatan. Now I didn't know what it meant. But the author describes it really well.

When a biologist says that an organism is endemic to a certain area, he or she means that in the whole world that thing is found only in that limited area. A surprising number of organisms are endemic to the Yucatan.

The reason that the Yucatan has so many endemic plants and animals is that it is ecologically isolated (kind of like the galapagos) even though it is a penninsula. Here is a list of endemic birds -- we will see several of them.

This is a cool video of a yucatan jay (endemic) feeding a juvenile. I wont' forget this sound for a long time.

Whoa!!! I didn't know ....

that there are toucans at sian ka'an.

Check this out. It was taken at Muyil (a mayan temple across the lagoon from where we will be staying).

The rainbow-billed is the same as the keel-billed toucan. I found out two interesting things about toucans.

1)Their bills are 1/3 of the size of their body (can you imagine if our noses were that big). According to wikipedia, "While the bill seems large and cumbersome, it is in fact a spongy, hollow bone covered in keratin, a very light and hard protein."

2) Keel-billed toucans have zygodactyl feet (or feet with toes facing in different directions) - two toes face forward and two face back. Because toucans spend a large portion of time in the trees, this helps the birds to stay on the branches of the trees and hop from one branch to another.

Try saying zygodactyl three times fast!

I found this picture of one - I think I love toucans ---

Exploring Mayan Cities

I love visiting ancient cities and temples (i try to avoid saying ruins -- as it suggests something old and not meaningful).  I've visited Chi'chen Itza twice, Uxmal (three times- my favorite, Coba (twice), Tulum and some smaller sites. We'll make a quick stop at Tulum.

This will be my first time to Calakmul. 

Here is an interesting video -- listen to that howler monkey. Can you all make that sound?

I've been reading a lot to understand how the Mayan  in these times made sense of sacrifice and death. It is a stretch for us foreigners...but i have glimmers of starting to understand the world view beneath it. 

Dwarf Porkupine

This guy looks a little bit like a hedgehog. They look cute, I want to see one really bad on our trip.  On one of the other pictures it looks like a guinea pig and porkupine. 

I want to see Margays!

I think the margay is an interesting animal, I hope we see one.  Margay

After reading about them it sounds like they are a squirrel-cat.  They can hang by one leg from a tree.  They look cute, but I really wouldn't want to close to them.  They kind of look like kittens.

Mayan Cooking

Should we learn how to do a bit of mayan cooking (traditional and modern)?

I love chaya -- it's a tropical spinach. Nummy.

Here are some more

Turkey lime soup--- mmmm

Some shrimp for Joe

Ooooh and here are more!

This one is with lima beans -- i think i'm going to try it.

This is the traditional poc-chuc

Learning a Bit About Mayan Culture

Here is a guide at Coba talking about the ball game they played. This site has a lot of information about the game as well.

And here a bunch of games you can play to learn about mayan culture.  And here is another fun site.

This site has loads of information based on mayans in guatemala.