Post Contributed by Jocelyne Adkins, Program Director
This Wednesday, Naturalist Negin Almassi of the Trailside Museum, led us on an informative nature walk through the surrounding forest preserve, with a focus on pond life. Students were introduced to the pond ecosystem a few weeks ago, learning about the food web, nearby wildlife and the importance of frogs as an indicator species.
 |
Negin, pond dipping
 |
| I spy a water spider! |
|
 |
| Negin's pond dip from earlier in the day showed a small fish |
 |
| A magnificent blue heron!!! |
 |
| Goodbye blue heron! |
 |
| hiking to visit a favorite sunning spot for turtles (missed them this afternoon though) |
 |
| Negin and her captive audience : ) |
 |
| Hiking through the nature preserve |
 |
| Snail shell: we spied at least 10 of these on the ground during our hike |
 |
Emerson's snail shell discovery
|
Negin,
explained how litter, and plastics in particular, can negatively impact
the pond and poison wildlife. Naturalists and local volunteers help to
clean up such unfortunate instances of littering.
 |
| Joseph and Anika looking out into the water |
 |
| I spy a feather! |
 |
| Studying the remains of a tree |
 |
| Negin pulled up a fallen tree branch and under it we found the new growth of spring! |
 |
| additional evidence of spring: patches of new growth here and there, important for wildlife |
 |
| A fallen tree provided an archway as we made our way along the path |
 |
| I spy a beautiful duck (right side edge of photo, about 1/3 from bottom edge) |
 |
| Andrew jumping over a fallen tree to our next destination |
 |
| Negin is holding algae, an important organism to support pond life |
 |
| This is a temporary pond and will most likely dry up this summer |
 |
| Eva and Laila on our last hike |
 |
| Ben's find: tree bark with patterning |
 |
| Jackson examining the starburst shape of the cut tree |
 |
| tree burls exposed, how cool! |
 |
| the root-side of a fallen tree |
 |
| a hollow fallen tree: a perfect home for wildlife (and a great perch for Ben) |
 |
| Ben's find: evidence of a nest at the base of a tree |
Back in the classroom, we concluded the afternoon with an illustration of our favorite experience at Trailside. A few children connected with the ducks, others with the snail shells and blue heron. Personally, I was most in awe of the blue heron and its stature: it conveyed such majesty and grace. I look forward to future sightings in my visits to Trailside. A sincere thank you to Negin for such an informative and rewarding experience today!!!
 |
| Laila |
 |
| Dexter's blue heron |
 |
| Andrew's duck |
 |
| Anika's snail shell |
 |
| Leila |
 |
| Jackson's trees by the pond |
 |
| Leila |
 |
| Cassie's tree |
 |
| Kirin's duck |
 |
| Cassie's blue heron |
 |
| Ms. Jenkin's snail shell |
No comments:
Post a Comment