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Number
of National Parks in Costa Rica
26
Total
amount of protected land in Costa Rica
27%
days
until we depart for San Jose
2
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Lesson
Plans
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Daily
Dilemma
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Everything you do has an effect on the environment.
Things like turning out lights and riding
bikes have a positive effect on the environment.
Things like littering and not recycling have
a negative impact on the environment. What
are some of the things you do that have a
positive impact on the environment?
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Getting
our feet wet at the Shedd Aquarium's rainforest
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Click To Enlarge
Do you know what kind of animal this skull comes
from? I'll give you a hint: it's a reptile.
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On Wednesday, we went to the Shedd Aquarium
in Chicago to continue researching the rainforest.
The Shedd has always been a favorite city-destination
for Dave and me. While Dave was in middle school,
he would attend classes at the Shedd to study marine
biology just about every weekend. It was at those
classes that Dave really began to understand the importance
of science and the relationships between living organisms
and their environment. Once you begin to un-cover
the natural relationships that exist in nature, you
begin to realize the importance of protecting the
environment. What are some of the interesting relationships
between plants and animals you know about?
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We got a chance to meet with Nicole Pierson and Dan Lorbeske
before the Shedd opened to the public. Dave and I were given
the "behind-the-scenes" tour of the aquarium. We saw
where all of the animals' food is processed, where sick animals
are kept, and where new animals are quarantined. The fish and
mammals at the Shedd eat very well. The workers have to make
sure each animal is healthy and happy, and the best way to keep
animals happy is to provide them with proper food.
Both Nicole and Dan love the oceans
and waterways of the world. Working at the Shedd has
been of a dream of theirs since they were young. Dan
began studying fish and reptiles when he was very
young. His bedroom was filled with aquariums of fish
and reptiles. He studied animal biology, other sciences,
and math in college. Once Dan graduated college, Shedd
Aquarium asked him to help put together the new Amazon
Rising exhibit.
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Click To Enlarge
Dan Lorbeske of the Shedd Aquarium feels right at
home in the Amazon rainforest
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Amazon Rising is one of the coolest exhibits at the Shedd. There
are tons of fish from all over the Amazon basin of South America,
like giant catfish, electric eels, stingrays, tetras, and .
The Amazon basin is the largest area of tropical rainforest
in the world. Peru, Colombia, Brazil are the three countries
that the Amazon River flows through. The rainforest of the Amazon
is pretty similar to the lowland rainforest found in Costa Rica,
just on a much larger scale. The Amazon, like Costa Rica, is
has a great deal of biodiversity. There are hundreds of thousands
of species of plants and animals living in the rainforest.
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Click To Enlarge
If the water rose 40 feet per year at my house, I
would certainly have a dugout canoe like this one.
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The water levels in the Amazon can fluctuate
as much as 40 feet each year. That means you'd have
to build your house on 40-foot stilts in some places
to keep from getting flooded. The river changes so
much that there aren't even maps or navigational charts
for sections of the Amazon. The river would change
its course by the time the maps were printed.
So, needless to say, the Amazon basin
is a pretty special place for the same reasons that
the Costa Rica is.
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| Dave and I both have very busy weekends coming up. It
has been lots of work getting ready to embark on this
adventure. We feel very prepared, which makes us less
nervous of traveling to Costa Rica. Afterall the best
adventures are usually the ones you spend time getting
prepared for. Adventures never go the way you plan them
to, so the more you know before you arrive, the better
prepared you'll be to deal with situations when they arise.
We are flying to Costa Rica on Sunday morning, ready to
meet our new friend, Pika, at the airport. Our next update
will be from San Jose, Costa Rica! |
Notes
from the Trail Index
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