Hello one and all, welcome to the best nature program of all! Zip up your rain jacket, pull on your golashes and tag along for a day in the life of your Knee High Naturalists.
We started off our first day of class with a chill in the air and a few rain drops in our hair, fall is finally here and we’re so excited we could cheer! We had a new friend join us today and we were so eager to invite them into our play. Together, we worked to flip big rocks and long logs, catching every sow bug (cousin to the roly poly), worm and spider in sight. We flipped over one log that had a big crack running down it and discovered so many sow bugs we couldn’t even count them all! We found a daddy long leg and observed that it had one leg the was way longer than all the rest. We learned that they use their extra long leg to feel around and sense things, how cool! We found the molted skin of a sow bug and even got to see one actively molting—what a special day! We also found some cool coral fungus that was soft and a little jiggly. After a quick morning meeting and rendition of our Good Morning song, we coordinated with our new friends who would help pull the wagon—we really like working together!
We quickly washed our hands and dug into our snacks, some of us even learned how to open our own snack packages. After eating, some of us colored and some of us searched the native garden for new critters. We found a red and orange bug that we’ve never seen before using its beak to eat a small caterpillar! After some research, we discovered that it was a spined soldier bug nymph, they’re predators who eat other insects. We talked about the weather, signs of the changing seasons and temperature before gathering our nets and magnifying glasses to set out for our aquatic adventure.
On the trail, we learned about ferns, found acorns and discussed who might be eating them and found a lot of really big mushrooms! We stopped to count them and check out fallen beech and maple leaves before continuing our trek, the colors are so beautiful this time of year. While looking for interesting things on the ground, we found fresh deer tracks heading into the marsh and learned how to identify them.
We finally made it to the Discovery Boardwalk and talked about the best ways to see frogs and turtles by quietly and slowly sneaking along the water. As soon as we got onto the boardwalk, we saw big green frogs, leopard frogs and painted turtles awaiting our arrival on logs in the water. It took a few tries, but we eventually caught a big frog and a turtle at the same time! While trying to introduce them, our new turtle friend tried to taste the frog and we discovered that frogs are a normal part of the painted turtle’s diet. We put the frog into our mobile aquarium where we could observe it without it hopping away while we investigated the turtle. We discovered two leeches on our turtle before releasing him, these are new residents to the area and tell us that our ecosystem is getting healthier and more diverse! After releasing them, we spent the time exploring and caught 8 tadpoles that we all held and investigated. We even caught a water boatman, an aquatic beetle, that we were able to watch swim around, too!
All too soon, it was time for us to say good bye to all of the aquatic friends we made and head back up the trail for the end of the day. We had an awesome time exploring the new environments and can’t wait to see what we learn next!
Thank you all for an amazing day in the lives of your Knee High Naturalists, we hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you next week when we learn about incredible Animal Adaptations!
