Well, technically autumn isn't "officially" here until Saturday, September 22nd, but I can still pretend, right? The temperatures are dropping along with the colorful leaves and with these changes brings another fall teaching program!
Before I begin with the awesome programming part of my blog, I must share some sad news. Kerry, the property manager at Merry Lea, was in his deer stand this weekend observing animals when suddenly he fell 15 feet to the ground and broke his nose and fractured his ankle. He is in the hospital awaiting surgery right now-- and my prayers and thoughts are with him during what will be a very long recovery. Kerry is a phenomenal guy who has been at Merry Lea since the 70s. Every time I'd see him, his smile and sense of humor always made me laugh and beam from ear to ear. Until his return, there will be a hole in the Merry Lea family.
In other news, today marked the beginning of Merry Lea's program entitled Autumn Adventures. Bright and early this morning, we welcomed a large home schooled group from Fort Wayne. There were kids from pre-k all the way up to fourth grade! We split them into two groups, and today was my chance to observe this amazingly fun program because I will teach it on my own pretty soon!
The program consists of 6 stations, both indoors and out. I don't have any fun pictures from today's program unfortunately, but hopefully when I teach this program a nice parent will volunteer to take pictures for me again! This program is to help show the kids what plants and animals do during this season (autumn/fall) in order to prepare for winter. This also gives the kids a chance to go out on the trail and explore signs that the seasons are changing.
The first station is called Seeds. The main points of this station are to explain to kids that seeds are how some (but not all) plants produce more of themselves. Lots of plants are producing seeds in the late summer and fall! Seeds are also one way that plants survive during winter. This is because some plants die completely in winter (and the seeds survive the winter), like the tomato plant. Some plants die back into the ground and their roots and seeds survive the winter that way, like the grass you are standing on!
Some plants are even dormant during winter. Do you know what 'dormant' means? It's a special word for something that is alive but not actively growing. A great example of this would be maple trees! Seeds need to move away from their parent in order to have room, water, light, and nutrients to grow big and strong. Seeds travel in many different ways! They can be spread by wind, water, being eaten and passing through an animal, being launched, being buried for food and forgotten, or even by sticking to your clothes as you walk by!
Now the kids get a chance to see a small 'hook' seed under a microscope. They then draw what they see and describe what the seed looks like. Does it have pointy ends? Is it sticky? What color is it?
Now the kids get a chance to see a small 'hook' seed under a microscope. They then draw what they see and describe what the seed looks like. Does it have pointy ends? Is it sticky? What color is it?
Did you know that not all plants make seeds in order to reproduce? Some plants make what we call 'spores'. Spores are tiny, dust-like particles. Examples of spore-producing plants are ferns, lichen, mushrooms and fungi, algae, moss, club mosses and liverworts.
Now it's off to look at some trees! Trees and shrubs are "woody" plants, which means the above-ground parts of the trees/shrubs are dormant, but alive, throughout the winter. "Deciduous" trees lose their leaves each fall and grow new ones each spring. Losing leaves helps deciduous trees survive the winter because it reduces surface area for snow and ice to accumulate and helps with water retention.
Now it's off to look at some trees! Trees and shrubs are "woody" plants, which means the above-ground parts of the trees/shrubs are dormant, but alive, throughout the winter. "Deciduous" trees lose their leaves each fall and grow new ones each spring. Losing leaves helps deciduous trees survive the winter because it reduces surface area for snow and ice to accumulate and helps with water retention.
"Evergreen" trees retain green leaves through winter. Most, but not all, of them are trees with needles instead of broad leaves. Deciduous trees have leaves for the following spring already developing inside buds in fall! These buds can help us recognize different kinds of trees even when they've lost their leaves. Let's look at some tree seeds under the microscope!
Are you all ready to look at some cool insects? Here we take the kids into the library where Merry Lea's bug collection is proudly displayed on the table for the kids to see. Here they can see the differences between beetles and other bugs, butterflies and moths, and hornets, bees, and you name it. Woah! Look at that giant cicada killer wasp!
Did you know that a feature of an insect is that it has no backbone, but instead it has what we call an exoskeleton? They also have 6 legs, 3 body regions, 2 eyes, 2 antennae, 4 wings, and they hatch from eggs. Insects are also cold-blooded. Does anyone know what that means? And no, it does not mean that they do mean things to each other! It means that their body temperature is the same temperature of whatever is surrounding them. This means, for the most part, that insects can't be active during the winter because there is no heat to warm their blood!
Insects survive the winter in a number of different life stages. Some as eggs, some as pupae, some as adults and some as larvae. Whichever stage they use to overwinter survives because of the chemicals produced within them that keep them from completely freezing. Could you imagine being frozen solid?
At this station, we sing a fun little song to get the kids excited about insects. It is sung to the tune of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes." Are you ready to sing with me? But wait! Not only do we sing, but we have motions to go along with the words. Here we go!
Head, thorax, abdomen -- abdomen!
Head, thorax, abdomen -- abdomen!
Two eyes,
At this station, we sing a fun little song to get the kids excited about insects. It is sung to the tune of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes." Are you ready to sing with me? But wait! Not only do we sing, but we have motions to go along with the words. Here we go!
Head, thorax, abdomen -- abdomen!
Head, thorax, abdomen -- abdomen!
Two eyes,
Two antennae
Four wings,
Six legs,
Head, thorax, abdomen -- abdomen!
Now for the motions:
Touch head, sides around your ribs, hips for the first 2 lines
Point at eyes
Hold up two fingers on top of your head for antennae
Stick out two fingers on each hand held out from your back for wings
Stick out three fingers on each hand held out from your rib area for legs
Touch head, sides around your ribs, hips for the last line.
Doesn't that sound like fun? Now that we're done looking at creepy crawlies, let's talk about some of the mammals we might find here at Merry Lea. What are some features of a mammal? They have a backbone, hair-covered bodies, make milk for their babies, and their babies are born alive rather than from eggs. Mammals are also warm-blooded. This means that their body is not controlled by the temperature of their surroundings. Mammals have a number of different strategies for overwintering.
Touch head, sides around your ribs, hips for the first 2 lines
Point at eyes
Hold up two fingers on top of your head for antennae
Stick out two fingers on each hand held out from your back for wings
Stick out three fingers on each hand held out from your rib area for legs
Touch head, sides around your ribs, hips for the last line.
Doesn't that sound like fun? Now that we're done looking at creepy crawlies, let's talk about some of the mammals we might find here at Merry Lea. What are some features of a mammal? They have a backbone, hair-covered bodies, make milk for their babies, and their babies are born alive rather than from eggs. Mammals are also warm-blooded. This means that their body is not controlled by the temperature of their surroundings. Mammals have a number of different strategies for overwintering.
We have a fun acronym "MASH" which means: Migrate, (remain) Active, Storage (of food), and Hibernation (or dormancy). There are mammals around here which exhibit examples of all of these. Some mammals that migrate are big brown bats! Active mammals are deer, rabbits, opossums, squirrels, mice, voles, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, otters, mink, and weasels. Mammals that store food are squirrels and chipmunks! Hibernating mammals include the woodchuck and bat.
During this station we show the kids the collection of animal pelts and talk about why some animals have a certain kind of fur and what it is used for. For example, opossums have "guard hairs" on their fur which help the water run off without getting them wet! Deer have hairs that are hollow to help keep them warm without weighing them down. Mammals like coyotes and beavers have an undercoat to keep them warm.
Has anyone ever been a woodchuck before? Well, woodchucks are a furry animal that sleeps through the winter. It's not just any sleep- it's a special kind of sleep called 'hibernation'. In the fall, groundhogs start eating a LOT of food! They especially like grass, clover, thistles and other things they find in meadows. They eat so much that they get very fat! They need that fat to help them stay alive all winter while they sleep.
We are going to be woodchucks for a little while! Sit down in front of me in a circle. Welcome to your burrow, little woodchucks! Get comfortable because you'll be here for a long time. Woodchucks hibernate for almost FIVE months! That's almost half of a year! Now, close your eyes and pretend to be asleep.
Your burrow is lined with soft grasses for a bed and that's all there is in it. There's no kitchen, no bathroom, no television, no heat! That's okay though, because you won't need any of these things while you rest for the winter. While you were eating food all fall to get really fat, your heart was beating very fast! Fast as in 160 times per minute! Now let's thump our chest 2 beats a second to see how fast that really is. Okay, now that you're sleeping for the winter, your heart slows way down. Now, your heart is only beating about 4 times per minute. Thump your chest once every 15 seconds and that will give you a better idea of how slow your heart is now. Your body temperature will also drop way down -- almost to the temperature of the ground around you. As you can see, this is a very special kind of sleep that most animals cannot do.
Now, time to wake up! Shake off that sleep! It's time to see some snakes and other herptiles! The term "herptiles" refers to reptiles and amphibians. These have backbones, moist and smooth skin with no scales. They do not have claws, and some have no teeth while others have very small teeth. They lay their eggs in water, or VERY moist places, and eggs are surrounded by jelly-like coating. The hatchlings look very different from adults and go through metamorphosis. This includes frogs, toads and salamanders. Herpitiles are cold-blooded so they can't remain active throughout the winter. Some herpitiles burrow into mud under ponds or rest on the bottoms of ponds, and some go into burrows underground. Some overwinter among leaf litter on the ground!
At this station, kids are given a chance to meet the garter snake. This snake is not the same as Don. He is very jerky, which means I took him out today and instead of smooth, fluid movements, he moves very quickly and jerkily. That's the only way to explain it. He feels awkward in your hands at first, like he is going to get away. He enjoyed being in my hands, though. Once he warmed up, some of the kids wanted to touch him and he behaved! Thank goodness. :)
At this station, kids are given a chance to meet the garter snake. This snake is not the same as Don. He is very jerky, which means I took him out today and instead of smooth, fluid movements, he moves very quickly and jerkily. That's the only way to explain it. He feels awkward in your hands at first, like he is going to get away. He enjoyed being in my hands, though. Once he warmed up, some of the kids wanted to touch him and he behaved! Thank goodness. :)
What? Time for lunch already? Go eat your lunch and then get ready for a hike in the woods! As teachers, we ate our lunches inside the library while the kids and their parents ate outside in the pavilion. Tick-tock, lunch is over! Let's go for a hike. The kids had an absolute blast on the hike, and at the end they each had handfuls of different goodies they had collected on the way. The volunteer who was leading the hike found himself in front of a small child who had bent down behind him, so he had a pretty decent fall on the trail. he backed up to show the kids an acorn, and down he went! He was fine, and so was the little boy. It taught me to always look behind me before I start walking backwards!
We saw some beautiful lichen, some big fungus mushrooms, colored leaves, and all different types of acorns. Some acorns were tiny and brown, others were huge and had big hairy caps on them! The kids really enjoyed getting to go out and see autumn in action. Before you knew it, it was time to say goodbye.
Some kids stuck around and played outside for a while, and others left. It was a fun day with the kids, but it was time for me to have my second of three meetings for the day. What a busy day! The great news is, I scheduled my first in-class visit and therefore next Wednesday marks the beginning of my master's project! I thought my life was crazy yesterday, but now I get to create a brand new curriculum for 4th and 5th graders about geology, complete two separate IRB forms (my fellow researchers will know what this is and how much time it takes), and do SO many other things between now and next Wednesday!
It looks like I'll be glued to my computer for quite some time! I'm also creating curriculum for seventh graders who are doing an overnight field trip here regarding the general botany of Merry Lea, and also the restoration of the Black Oak Savannah at Luckey's Landing. It seems like a lot, and it is!
In closing, I wanted to share some pictures of this really cool moth that was hanging out on the front door today during programming. Moths are so fascinating! This moth had a fuzzy behind, a black mohawk down his back, and fuzzy legs. Turns out he is called a Tolype distincta.
WOW -- 203 page views since I posted my first blog last week! I'm so impressed!
