Day 8- Thursday July 12

Today was the day that the students gave their final presentations.  Each group had ten minutes to present their experimental question, design, results, and final thoughts.  At the end of the presentation their peers and instructors asked final questions and gave closing feedback.  By this stage they've had several opportunities to improve and fine-tune their work, and this fine tuning showed in the quality of the presentations.  We are really proud of the work the kids have done in the field, in the lab, and in long hours of preparing their presentations.  We're looking forward to this fall when they can share the work with their parents.

We had a filling lunch of spaghetti and meat sauce, and had to say goodbye to Allan and Silver, the research assistants who worked with the students all week, as they were heading back to their home lab for a few days.  Next we got ready to head out for our final hike in the rain forest. On the hike, we were guided by Pablo, the owner of Finca la Anita, Carlos, who works there and fulfills a number of critical functions, and a man who works an organic farm in the area.  He goes by Tio (Uncle in Spanish) Abel.  They helped us navigate steep and muddy trails, cross small streams, and arrive at our goal destination; a waterfall with a pool to swim in at its base. The kids happily splashed around and swam a bit. The cool water felt great after the muggy heat we've lived in.  Pablo laughed watching them swim and said "only Minnesota kids would not think this water is too cold!"  We were in our element.
After playing around in the water, we dumped out our boots the best we could, and hiked back to where we started. We arrived very muddy and wet, but proud of tackling the challenging terrain. We hosed off and were served hot coffee before the tractor ride back.

Back at Finca la Anita, we got cleaned up, enjoyed dinner, then had free time in the evening to clean up our classroom areas and start packing, because tomorrow we leave Finca and travel to Horizontes, a research station in the Guanacaste region.  More on that tomorrow.
We are enjoying our time here, and we're really proud of all that the kids are learning.
Pura Vida!
Mrs. Miller and Ms. Jaworski

More photos

Here are some additional photos of this beautiful space. Last night was one of the clearest nights we've had, giving us a good view of the volcanos in the distance.

Day 7- Wednesday July 11

Hola from Costa Rica!

        We woke up this morning excited for the full day of science ahead of us. We headed to breakfast at 7:30 and enjoyed sleeping in for the first day in a while. We enjoyed a plethora of Costa Rican breakfast cuisine, including eggs, rice, plantains, and yogurt. By 8:00 we were heading to the lab to continue our research projects. Many groups planned on heading to the fields first thing, but were delayed due to a downpour…what a surprise!
After the rain calmed, some groups headed to the fields to observe and conduct their experiments on natural leaf cutter ant colonies. This included a long hike to the colonies in order to find them, conducting our experiments on multiple colonies for the effect of replication, waiting near our colonies to observe and record data, and making the tiring hike back about two and a half hours later. Other groups stayed in the lab to work on the controlled colonies for a different portion of the experiment. Some groups worked with the lab colonies residing in nest boxes, while others measured the various dependent variables based on their experiment.

Lunch came sooner than expected because as they say, time flies when you’re having fun! After our hard 3 hours and 45 minutes of work, we were thrilled to hear the news that we would have the meal we were all looking forward to since day one: burger day. Our lovely cooks provided us with a full burger bar, fantastic mango juice, and potato chips. After our scrumptious meal, we have a short period of free time before we began afternoon science. Many of us adventured down the road to the nearby market called the Pulpería. We bought some sweet treats for ourselves, and some to complete a previous agreement with the boys. We got back just in the nick of time to make it back to the lab by 1:30.
Many groups planned on a second visit to the fields, but this then again was interrupted due to the rain. To make up for lost time, we simplified our data and began to make our final reports. These presentations we later shared with our teachers and will present to our classmates tomorrow. We can’t give you too much detail on these presentations, for we will be showing them to you shortly after we return to the United States. As we all worked diligently, the 3:45 coffee break came by in no time. We enjoyed delicious local coffee and freshly made pastries with chocolate from Pablo’s plantation. Some of us even went back for seconds. As the end of our coffee break rolled around at 4:30, we headed back to the lab for the last hour of work time before our practice presentation for our teachers. We made last minute tweaks and practiced presenting with our groups. By 5:30, we were preparing for dinner. Some of us returned to the cabins for a short half hour break while others hung around the classroom until dinner.
Dinner tonight was another fan favorite. We all enjoyed freshly baked lasagna with salad and plantain chips. It was quite the meal and was complemented with another freshly squeezed juice. The dessert was even better. The traditional tres leches cake was even better with some fresh cacao nibs sprinkled on top. After this amazing meal was over, we began our practice presentations. The first group had no extra practice time as they were called to present immediately following dinner. Other groups had time to finalize the details and data points on their slides. Each group presented to our teachers individually as they receive constructive criticism to improve the experimental results. As our day winded down, we made our way back to the cabins to settle in for the night. We are anxiously awaiting our formal presentations beginning at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!

Pura Vida,

Carina and Katie O.B.

Day 6- Tuesday July 10

Hola from Costa Rica! Today was another early morning for half of the group, while the other half got to sleep in until breakfast at 7:30. The first group woke up bright and early for breakfast at 6:00 am Then they headed off to horseback riding with the driver and fan fav, Eddy, at Rancho Santa Maria. First, we got our helmets and saddled up our horses. We felt like true rancheros! We also learned Eddy used to be a bull rider. After we learned this fascinating fact about Eddy, he taught us how to control and ride the horse. A nice refresher for some of us, who were a bit rusty, but also, a good learning experience for those new to horseback riding. The way they ride in Costa Rica is different than you might expect. We jumped up on the horse all by ourselves (no stool!) and began our ride through the cloud forest of Costa Rica. The horses took us through the trails at the base of the mountain following our fearless leader, Edgar. Our horses led us across rivers, up and down narrow muddy paths and over a pasture. One of the group’s favorite sights was when we stopped at a lookout of a breathtaking volcano that disappeared in the clouds in the sky. Then, we continued back to the ranch, passing many fruit trees such as mango, guava, and orange lining the road. Upon returning from the ride, the second group was just about to begin their own adventure. Once the second group completed the ride, we all reunited again at Finca La Anita.

        After lunch, we began our science endeavors with our groups. Some groups worked in the lab in the upper floor of the classroom, while others headed out to the fields to experiment on working and active ants in the wild. The hike to and from the fields was tiring due to the abundant amount of hills, along with the drastic changes in weather from full sun to rain and back again. Something we have learned is that the weather here changes every minute because we are in the rainforest. We worked on our experiments all afternoon with a short break before la cena (points if you can translate). Dinner was amazing like always, with carmelized plantains with ice cream and dark chocolate nibs for dessert.

        Following la cena, each group discussed our progress thus far with our great teachers, Andy, Silver, and Allan. They gave us pointers and encouragement about our projects. Science was short tonight. Everyone exhausted from the busy day, we returned to our cabins to unwind and go to sleep. The day was full to the max, and we all enjoyed it very much. Hope all is well at home with our lovely families. Can’t wait to tell you about our endeavors!!!

Peace and love,

Isabel and Katie A.B.

 

Day 5- Monday July 9

We started off our day with a 5:30 am wake up call, but that early morning would soon prove to be worth it. After eating breakfast that consisted of eggs, cheese, rice and beans, toast with cacao nibs, and papaya and plantains, we hopped on a bus for an hour and a half ride to Parque Rincon de la Vieja. On the long bus ride, pretty much everyone chose to catch up on their sleep (but we all did catch sight of a large post-downpour rainbow). Upon arriving to a National Park of Costa Rica, we met our tour guide, Freddie, near a 150 year old house. We then took an hour and a half hike to hot springs. The hike was very adventurous and we got to see many different forest creatures and plants while wading through creeks and hiking up some rocks (Helaina took a brief tumble on some slick mud). When we finally arrived at the hot springs in the dry forest part of the park we took a dip in the warm waters and got to try the nearby clay as natural face masks and body exfoliators. We had originally planned to swim near a waterfall on the way back from the hot springs, but due to a rainstorm in the mountains, the current was too strong, so we took pictures near a different waterfall instead. Back near where the busses dropped us off, we had a picnic. Our bus drivers handed out chips, turkey sandwiches, Costa Rican sodas, and chocolate cookies. After lunch we began our voyage back to Finca La Anita (which consisted of another nap).

            Back at La Anita we regrouped and then got back to science. Each of our lab groups took an hour and 45 minutes to begin data collection for our lab experiments of leafcutter ants. Some of us created solutions of sugar or mango juice, others went out and looked at lab colonies, and a few started to test their lab colonies. Overall, today was a pretty short science day to prepare us for tomorrow when we will immerse ourselves into our experiments.  

            After we finished with our science, we ventured off to a cooking class in town where we learned how to make a Caribbean styled Costa Rican dinner. We all got split up into separate groups and made many different parts of our main meal: some of us squeezed lime juice and made homemade cheese, others made tortillas, chicken, and rice and beans, and the rest made salads. The dinner was a lot of fun and by far one of the highlights of the trip. Before serving our dinner to our teachers, lead scientists, and bus drivers, we all had a quick dance party and we all tried shots of 100% lime juice. Once we finished our meal, we were served delicious orange sorbet ice cream and continued our dance party until the night finished. Overall we had an active and action packed day and we are loving the pura vida.

Peace and love,

Meghan and Helaina