Author: jmm8167

EACAP Reflection

jmm8167Crossing Streams

 

4/25/2019

During the spring 2019 semester, our group was tasked with the Glenside Scrap and Tape EACAP project. Glenside is an elementary school located in Reading, PA. We worked with Melissa Boyer, the school nurse who was very helpful throughout the process of the project. We met with her to discuss the task at hand and to provide insight that she found and gave us very good ideas. One thursday morning, our group went to Glenside with Ziploc bags, credit cards, some rubbing alcohol, and duct tape. We went around to twenty trees located around the perimeter of the school property and scraped the trees of Lanternfly eggs. We scraped the eggs using a credit card so the tree bark would not be damaged and made sure to get them into the Ziploc bag. Inside the bag was rubbing alcohol, so when the eggs entered the bag, they landed in the alcohol and died. This is a key thing to do because they will still hatch if just scraped off the tree. After all the trees were scraped, we began the taping portion. They do market Lanternfly tape, but it is very pricey and many sources claim duct tape works as well. We started taping the trees about three feet up from the ground and wrapped the tree about three to four times around in order to make a wider base. This is important because when the eggs hatch, they fall off the tree and eventually climb back up the tree. By taping the trunk, the Lanternflies will climb up but stick to the tape and eventually die. This is the equivalent to a glue trap for mice or ants that would be placed on the ground. One thing that would be changed and we have noted is the timing of the tape. The eggs hatch in May but the semester is over by then so because of a time limit we had to tape earlier. Because it was still colder out the tape peeled a bit in a few places but it was a learning experience that we now have for future reference.

 

The semester is finally coming to a close and it was a fun learning experience for our whole group when working on our EACAP project.  We enjoyed doing our part to help the community and preserve Berks county when fighting the Spotted Lanternfly. I think we can say that as a whole, we enjoyed the service aspect of the project.  We enjoyed working together and being outdoors to help out Glenside Elementary. It was overall a good experience and we all learned a lot about how we can give back while learning how to stop the invasive Spotted Lanternfly.

Scraping and Taping!

jmm8167Crossing Streams

3/14/2019

Today, we started the actual physical work of our EACAP project.  We all met up to scrape lanternfly eggs and then tape the trees.  The taping of the trees is for any eggs we may have missed and some that were too high to reach.  This way, when the eggs hatch the full grown lanternflies will be stuck to the sticky adhesive.  It was actually a good time working together.

Crossing Streams

jmm8167Crossing Streams
left to right : Nathan, Kyle, Jimmy, Jaeden

We are Crossing Streams, we are all from Berks County and we all love the outdoors.  This project is going to be a lot of fun for us and a nice way for us to give back to the area.  We are all sophomores in college at Penn State Berks and we all plan to transfer to University Park next semester.

I am Jaeden Mathias and I graduated from Tulpehocken Junior Senior High School in 2017.  I enjoy playing soccer and spending time hiking. I plan to major in Geography and graduate in 2021.  

I am Kyle Lanshe and I graduated from Schuylkill Valley High School in 2017. I always love spending most of my time in nature. I really enjoy mountain biking and snowboarding. I plan to major in Economics in 2021.

I am Jimmy Lanshe and I graduated from Schuylkill Valley in 2017. I love being outside and spending time in the outdoors. My interests are mountain biking, snowboarding, and fly fishing. I am an Economics major and plan to graduate in 2021.

I am Nathan Strause, a graduate of Schuylkill Valley High School in 2017. Some interests include mountain biking, snowboarding, and other outdoor activities. I plan on transferring to University Park and major in business at Smeal. 

 

2/13/2019

Ms. Boyer asked us to look into the tape used on trees.  She wants us to scrape the eggs off of the trees on the property.  She also wants us to then look at preventative techniques like wrapping the trees in the protective tape.  She also would appreciate us to create a visual aid to help explain to the kids why the tape is there and what the life cycle of a spotted lanternfly is like.  She said we could use this visual aid for our presentation and then give it to her after the completion of our presentation.  She said we may also come in to teach a little bit to her kids in garden club and that would be helpful.