By the end of this week it became easier to imagine us a part of field and river scenes

We stopped along the way for both to search for grasshoppers and frogs, both leaping from one spot to the next hiding in shadows of leaves and rocks

 

Our findings at the Huntington river indicated the many microhabitats aquatic invertebrates have

 Catching turtles mid-move from land to water...in the mud!

How to catch a frog:

Another frog was introduced to a new microhabitat in a counselor's hair

Using fingernails as scales for measurement

First we learned how to used clinometers to measure heights of chosen trees. We learned about height class and layers of the forest in order to classify these trees. Then we did leaf rubbings to better understand other tree species throughout the forest after using dichotomous keys to identify them!

Next, we went into the Sugarbush to classify trees according to diameter. We found seedlings,saplings,poles, pole sawtimber, large sawtimber. Do we have trees large enough to use for lumber? Yes!

Later on we became trees ourselves during a game that meant when catching starbursts, you could add bark and leaves to yourself

Playing among the trees varied from fitting everyone on half a tarp to making shelters

We are gravitated to the river again, this time to test buoyancy of objects and make sailboats that will carry downstream without tipping

We ended Olympics day with a game of soccer

Preschool nature camp had very similar findings to us in the fields, forests, and river at Audubon

Blackberries are delicious indications that water is close or elevation is higher

Buoyancy was tested and once our building skills were refined we felt confident in making fairy homes

More microhabitats!

Highlights from Staff

"This week we tried boat building for the first time. All that morning the clouds were looming overhead. Suddenly midday the clouds broke and we took the chance to go down to the river. We built rafts strong enough to hold counselers out of logs, Japanese Knotweed ( more commonly referred to as Stinkweed due to its invasive nature) and a little bit of duct tape ( for a rudder)."

-Snake Bites

"Building boats was my favorite part of this week, watching kids build only with things found in nature and watching experiments float!"

-Emily