Mrs. Renz's 4th Grade Class JASON XV Expedition Panama Field Notes

Mrs. Renz's Photos from Panama
Flying into Panama City	Student Argonauts going through Customs in Panama
Panama Canal waterway. Notice the trees go right to the water line	Barro Colorado Island, Panama Home of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Map of the Panama Canal zone.	Las Cruces, the boat we took most of the time to BCI
On the boat heading in to the docks at BCI	Student argonauts on the boat to BCI
Water color in the Panama Canal in Gatun Lake. There's lots of sediment mixed in with the water so it's a brownish color	Chagres River (left) flowing into the Panama Canal
A beautiful sunset in the Panama Canal zone on the boat ride from BCI to Gamboa	After a long day on BCI, we journed back to Gamboa to our hotel. Another beautiful sunset taken from the Las Cruces in the Panama Canal Zone.
BCI boat docks. The big building in the middle is the dining hall.
There were 198 steps up to get to the Argo Hangout building. There was a great view from up there.	The dining hall is on the upper floor of this building and lower floors are where the JASON offices and media rooms were located while we were at the STRI buildings on BCI.
Argonaut dorms through the forest	Sunrise over the Chagres River.

Student and teacher argonauts on BCI with Gatun Lake in the background	Signs like these mean this is a scientist's research so don't touch!
Map of BCI buildings	Randy Morgan, host of the show, and Student Argo Maria film the live broadcast
Argonauts Ben and Abbey writing online journals for the JASON website in the computer room at STRI.	This is the location where the host and guest Student Argonaut were broadcasts were filmed.
The cameraman and sound technician get ready to film Mike Kaspari nd the student argonauts live from BCI.	This creek on BCI during dry season is nearly empty
Mike Kaspari talks with student Argos during the live broadcast.	Pathway on BCI. Notice the red & black production cables to get power to the live broadcast site
Photo showing the dense undergrowth of the rainforest on BCI	Butterfly at the Gamboa Resort butterfly house
This beautiful butterfly took a rest on my hand	Another butterfly in the butterfly house
One of the many butterflies on BCI	An interesting caterpillar with black suction cup feet.
An agouti in the backyard of my room at Gamboa	An agouti on BCI
Student Argo Ben looks at a leaf cutter ant waste pile Watch my leaf cutter ant movie	Leaf cutter ants constantly move harvest leaves and take them to their underground fungus farms
Leaf cutter ants hard at work	Leaf cutter "garbage dump"
Red spider monkey near the argo dorms	Click to see close-ups of the sloth
Howler monkey	Howler monkey



Howler monkey swinging from branch to branch	Howler monkey watching me from above
Two howler monkeys overhead Watch my howler monkey movie	Student Argo Lisa was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got pooped on by a monkey! It was smelly and disgusting! We had to wash her eyes to be sure she didn't get an infection.

Red spider monkey in the tree	Monkey overhead
Roland Kays, New York State Museum working with the ocelot he is studying. We got to pet her. Roland named the ocelot "Estrella"	Ocelot sedated so a radio collar could be attached. Pink is medicine
Ocelot scat reveals that they sloths	We got to pet the young ocelot.
Termite tunnel going up the tree	Termite ball
Tiny tree frog found near the Argo dorms	Student Argo Stacy counts leaf cutter ants
A cane toad on BCI	Another cane toad on the production set at BCI. As a defense mechanism, he puffed up his body.
Gecko	Banana spider
Woman paddling a homemade canoe near the Gamboa Resort on the Chagres River	Ox Beetle. Notice his large mandibles.
See the coatamundi?	Eye shine of a coatamundi
Can you find the spider in the tree?	Opossum
Tarantulas were everywhere and were perfectly camouflaged against the dead leaves
Hummingbird nest

Crocodile in the Freshwater Exhibit	These Caimans are smaller than the crocodile in the photo above

Doors fold in to the side of the lock walls	Notice the difference in the water levels in the locks

The control room at Gatun Locks - Panama Canal	Click to see the control monitor of the canal Control room canal doors Close up of a canal "mule"
Turn the lever to open or close the canal doors	Control room at Gatun Locks
Ship entering the locks





Look how close the ship is the the side of the canal!
Gatun Dam Spillway. When Gatun Lake rises too high, water spills over this spillway to reduce flooding	The Gatun Dam Spillway water runs into this river
Water sloshing over the Gatun Dam Spillway
	Ships staging in Gatun Lake waiting to go through the locks
	Our bus to take a ride in the gondola
View from the gondola tram ride	View from the gondola ride
View of the canopy crane from the ground (my zoom lens was on)	Panama City skyline
Canopy crane operator, Edwin, controls the crane's movements	Metropolitan Park in Panama City. Mrs. Renz in the canopy crane.
Looking through the floor of the canopy crane basket to the treetops below	Looking straight down from the crane basket at the tree tops
Panama City skyline
Bird nest in a tree.
An example of a tree's chemical defense - look closely at the white sap where the leaf was taken off. The sap was very sticky and repels insects from eating it. Notice the leaves look untouched by insects.	This leaf was 100 feet above the ground. It was two-colored.
Mrs. Renz with Anita, our pen pal class teacher from Panama City	This beautiful flower looks like red lips.
Avenida Central - the shopping district in Panama City	Avenida Central - the shopping district in Panama City
Avenida Central - the shopping district in Panama City	Avenida Central - the shopping district in Panama City
indigenous tribe welcomed our students	All dressed up with plant dye on his skin and wearing his fancy beads
Adorable!
An example of a leaf "tyer" showing insect damage	This is an example of leaf damage by insects (herbivory). The spots show an example of chewers and miners.
Leaf damage done by "chewers."	This is an example of insect herbivory called "skeletonizers."
Mrs.. Renz at the "BIG Tree"	More leaf damage. The spots are called "galls" and are caused by insects.
Week One Teacher Argonauts at the "Big Tree" and it was BIG! Left to right: Janet Pollack (sitting), Heather Renz, Melissa Kapekas & Kathy Lowell	Week One Student Argonauts at the "Big" Tree. The Student Argos are sitting on the buttress of the tree. There was no way to get a photo of this tree because the forest was too dense and you could not get far enough away to see the whole tree. Believe me...it was BIG!
	Daybreak over the Chagres River from our hotel
Gamboa Rainforest Resort where I stayed	The blue building is where Teacher Argo Kathy and I stayed - on the top floor on the left side. Student Argos Lisa and Abbey stayed on the top floor on the right
The lobby of the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Teacher Argo Kathy, Student Argo Abbey and Student Argo Lisa (the Rover crew)	On the balcony of the hotel. The Chagres River is in the background. Teacher Argo Heather (me), Argo Lisa, Argo Abbey, and Teacher Argo Kathy
The pool area of the hotel. Unfortunately we were only able to swim in it once because we were so busy working to produce the broadcasts.	View from the top of the gondola ride. The Chagres River (left of the picture) enters the Panama Canal. The Culebra Cut is in the background. A ship was traveling through the Canal.
All of the Teacher Argonauts and Jude on our last night in Panama	Our classroom was in the audience when Mrs. Renz was on all three screens during the live broadcast at OMSI. Photo courtesy of OMSI (Thanks, OMSI!)

This is a hole left after the roots of a tree rotted away. Beth King from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute asked us to notice the root ball hole is all that is left and there is absolutely no evidence of the tree, which completely disappeared in the rainforest within two years. Amazing!	This is an example of a plant's mechanical defense (the spikes) to keep from being eaten	A leaf eaten by insect showing an example of "skeletonizing"
Notice how this reddish looking tree is using the host tree as a support so it can reach up to the sunlight in the canopy.	A typical trail on BCI. Note the cinder block steps.	Another view of the trails on BCI.
A vine wraps itself around this tree and uses the tree as a support in order to reach sunlight high up in the canopy.	Epiphytes in the canopy	View from the gondola ride
Mrs. Renz uses the TI-73 graphing calculator to take and report the temperature, relative humidity and light index in the tree canopy about 30 feet up during the live broadcast.	Mrs. Renz descends from the canopy. That was FUN!	Looking up at the "BIG Tree"
An assistant of Jackie Willis holds the hand of this three toed sloth to keep it from crawling away.	Pathways on BCI.	Pathways on BCI.
Welcome sign on BCI	There are lots of steps on BCI. This set leads to the lower level of the dining hall.	Meg Lowman in the Bosun's chair at one of the film locations
A perfect example of a "mechanical defense" on this tree trunk. This helps the tree protect itself against predators and herbivory.	mechanical defense	There were 198 steps up the the "Argo Hangout." The Argo dorm building is the one with the red roof.
Mrs. Renz with the Argo Hangout at the top of this set of steep stairs	This is my least favorite hill on BCI. It was incredibly steep!	Stephanie Bohlman, NASA scientist
View from high atop the canopy	Looking down upon the tree tops from the Canopy Crane	Sunset over the Panama Canal taken from the boat from BCI back to Gamboa.
The machine on the left (71) is called a mule. Mules are used to pull the ship through the lock chamber evenly by using cables. Sometimes there are two or four mules on the front of the ship and several on the back.	Roland Kays with the sedated ocelot that he trapped so he could radio collar. Notice how big her big front feet are!	Rainforest on BCI
Argonaut dorm rooms on BCI	Can you see the leaf cutter ants on their trail?	Ship going by BCI in Gatun Lake

Some of the People Involved in the JASON XV Live Broadcasts

Dr. Meg Lowman nicknamed "Queen of the Canopy"	Dr. Stanley Heckadon-Moreno and Dr. Robert Ballard Photo by Marcos A. Guerra, STRI	Dr. Mike Kaspari, nicknamed "Dr. Detritus" or "Dr. Dirt"
Kerry and Dean	Bill from EDS	Roland Kays and Randy Morgan
George	Dr. Mary, sound technician and Julye Newlin, cameraperson	Beth King, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Julye Newlin, cameraperson films Roland Kays in his lab	Argos Abbey and Lisa with Mr. Jeorges Vasquez, ACP	Julye and Linda
Sonia, JASON assistant	Pat Shea, JASON Project Rover Crew Producer	Stephanie Bohlman, NASA Scientist
Jude, JASON Project Teacher and Student Argonaut Coordinator	Carolyn Joyce, JASON Project	Tim, JASON Project
Student Argonauts	Teacher Argos Virginia, Stephanie and Kathy	Guy from Texas Instruments and Student Argo Jay set up the sensors probes of the TI-73
More Student Argonauts	Student Argos	Teacher Argo Debbie
Student Argos Melissa, Lisa, Abbey, and Soren	Meg Lowman and Roland Kays (holding ocelot scat in the leaf)	Student Argos Lisa and Abby with Roland Kays filming the Kinkajou episode

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Feb. 1