Chapter 6

                     Chapter 6

In chapter 6 on page 78 in the third paragraph there is a quote that says

" You can't help but wonder if you're responsible when something like this happens".  "All these years, you're told 'don't touch, be careful,' but the only way to gather understanding is to do the studies". We have recently lost a member in our Costa Rica class and it has set us back.  It's a difficult thing to move forward when you have come so far and then lost someone in the mix.  I know that as a member of the Costa Rica class that we can move forward from this and try harder.

I find this to be a motivation.  The Costa Rica class as a whole has worked very hard to come this far. I know that me and my classmates will not give up on what we do best and that is show that we can do this! So on that note I will do a brief description of chapter 6 and what it had to offer.

Throughout chapter 6 they mentioned The Golden Toad.

The Golden Toad is an extinct, small, shiny, bright-orange toad that was once abundant in a small region of high-altitude cloud-covered tropical forests, about 30 square kilometers in area, above the city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. For this reason, it is sometimes also called the Monteverde Golden Toad, or the Monte Verde Toad.

Frogs or amphibians are extremely sensitive indicators of environmental changes, as the uptake of oxygen and water through their skin can increase concentrations of pollutants, and the life cycle of frogs and toads exposes them to water and airborne contaminants. Amphibians are so sensitive to changes in the environment that scientists have likened them to a canary in a coalmine. I found the Golden Toad to be a very interesting animal. This is all that I have for this week. This is the information that I could find on the Golden Toad.


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Costa Rican Monkeys!

MONKEYS!

The word for monkey in Spanish is mono

In chapter 4 in the first paragraph I read contained some information on monkeys! This first paragraph caught my eye and gave me an idea. That idea being that I should do this weeks research project on monkeys.

The White-throated Capuchin Monkeys lives in groups of 5 to 24. They are extremely curious, agile and aggressive, by defending their territory also by threatening with their sharp teeth and shaking on trees.

Apart from fruits and leaves they eat also lizards, birds and eggs.They eat fruit and leaves, as do the acrobatic spider monkeys, while the capuchins and squirrel monkeys enjoy a wider diet including everything from fruits to insects and lizards.


These are all some of the fruits that the monkeys in Costa Rica eat

• Mamon’ chino, an exotic looking red, spiny fruit with succulent white flesh inside that you suck off a large seed
• aranon, the colorful cashew fruit or cashew apple, has the kidney shaped cashew nut inside. The fruit is bright scarlet and pear shaped with delectable soft, sharply flavored flesh.
• Guava or guayaba is a thin skinned, lemon-like fruit rich in vitamins A, C, iron and calcium.
• Mango or manga, the mango is the male fruit which is greener, smaller and harder than the female manga, which is more yellow with orange pulp.
• Mombin or jocote is a dark green to red-skinned juicy fruit which has a spicy flavor. Its wild yellow-skinned cousin is called the hogplum.
• Mountain apple or manzana de agua, has crisp white flesh and a pinkish skin, tastes similar to an apple.
• Manzana rosa or the rose apple tastes like an apple but is rose perfumed.
•  Palm fruit or pejibaye is a small coconut that grows in a cluster among the fronds of the pejibaye palm tree.
•  Papaya or pawpaw has 45 varieties that grow in the tropics and this bland fruit may be yellow, green or orange-skinned.
• Soursap or guanabana is a prickly kidney-shaped fruit which is a relative of the custard apple.
•  Starfruit or carambola has a pale yellow skin and very juicy white flesh.
• Chiverre is a large green and white striped fruit which resembles a squash and is a member of the pumpkin family.
•  Bananas in many varieties grow in the tropics, including those which taste like apple, lemon or strawberry.
• Mamey has juicy yellow fruit.
• Pina anona looks like an ear of corn without the husk and tastes like pineapple.
• Zapote colorado has brown skin, red puckery fruit like the persimmon.

From May to October the fruit is abundant, so foraging is and easy is  the squirrels have more time to play and rest. But by November, the sparse season arrives and they must spend most of their days looking for food. They rise at 5 AM and retire at about 6PM.

I found all of this information very helpful and useful for learning more about monkeys. Like I have mentioned in previous blog entrys I find this to be very interesting. I hope that you found all of this information to be useful as well.

Chapter 5

        Chapter 5        

  Throughout Chapter 5 I kept on seeing the word Transportation. So what I figured I would do is write this weeks blog entry on transportation. Before Costa Rica received the privilege of having buses, cars, or airplanes, they did all of their traveling by foot. Traveling by foot was not easy! traveling by foot takes alot of effort and work.

             There are a variety of options for moving between destinations in Costa Rica: domestic flights, rental cars, shuttles, private vans, ferries, public bus, and even horseback.

In the United States we have many types of transportation. We have buses, Cars, Airplanes, Bikes, scooters, Rollerblades, boats, jet skis etc.... The point is what I am trying to explain is that we are more fortunate because we really never have to travel by foot maybe some do. I am very fortunate for both my parents to have cars so that I can be transported to the places that I need to go instead of having to walk by foot.

                               When we go to Costa Rica that is one of the things I am looking forward to is seeing there types of cars, airplanes, ferries all of those different types of things. I think that it will make me thing about all the things we would have to do or work for in order to have the things that we do now. Most of the roads in Costa Rica are very long they take along time to walk. I know that when we are in Costa Rica we will be doing alot of walking. Although i do look forward to that because it is very good exercise. It will still be a good hike! I look forward to next weeks blog entry Thanks for taking the time to read this !

   Costa Rica Transportation                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

In the beginning of this chapter 4 blog entry I would like to begin with an opening quote from the book that i really enjoyed

" I once heard a speaker share this thought: if you look for bridges and they aren't to be found, then look for stepping stones"

This quote to me sounds in a way that one is seeking for a new beginning. In order for this new beginning to take place they have to take the steps in order to begin to put things behind them. While I was out sick for the past 2 weeks I read chapter 4. When I began to read this chapter and saw this quote I stopped and thought for a second about how this quote could relate to me being sick. I have missed alot of work in this class by being sick for so long. This class means alot to me it is a once in a lifetime chance and I don't want to fall so far behind that I give up on myself for falling behind. So I need to take those steps forward in order to put these things behind me. As I had mentioned in my mission statement  I want to prove to people that I can accomplish this goal that I have set in place for myself. So what I am going to do is begin to move forward with this and continue to do what I had been doing. Throughout the first page they introduce some facts about monkeys! monkeys don't look back they swing forward! monkeys are one of my favorite animals I would love to learn more about them.  So this is what  I would like to research for this weeks research project. I look forward to reading further into the book and learning more.

Lister Academy Costa Rica Article