Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Classrooms With Currents

We recently got our first taste of tropical ecosystems here at CCSP Belize by studying streams.  Belize is a country full of rivers, streams, creeks and other various waterways.  It is easy to see here (perhaps easier than in the States) that people rely directly upon these freshwater sources for everyday needs.  But it is not only Belizeans who depend on the health of streams - the health of the whole world depends on the health of its freshwater sources.

The Mopan river
With the help of Gordon College professor Dorothy Boorse's positivity, encouragement, excitement about streams, and vast amount of knowledge, we learned a great deal during our Stream Ecology course: why are streams so important?  How can we find out how healthy or unhealthy they are?  What other web of factors affects streams (and what other web of factors do streams affect)?  How can we better protect our streams?  In addition, we learned about some of the different critters that live in the streams, such as snails, fish, tadpoles, and macro invertebrates.

Not only did we learn about such things in the classroom, but we also got into actual streams to observe them for ourselves.

Lauren & Marissa search the bank for macro invertebrates with professor Dorothy

Mara, Taylor & Rachel battle the current to measure the dimensions of
the stream bed

Jeremy & Eric go upstream to hunt for more critters

One great thing about Stream Ecology week is that having fun is inevitable while immersing oneself in all the different streams.  At one particularly beautiful location, we stayed extra long to get a little recreational swimming time.

Monkey Falls, a popular local swimming hole

Exploring the pool at Monkey Falls

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