Here are some reflections from Becca Mathias, our new AmeriCorps member through the Big Sky Watershed Corps. Stop by to welcome Becca, and read on to see what she's been up to in her first month here!
Hike through the
Pryor Mountains
January 8th, 2013
Hikers log: We set
out to the Pryor Mountains to collect seeds for the replanting of natural flora
on the Center grounds.
Weather Report: Sunny
with clear skies and a small breeze; a perfect day for a hike.
Observations: The
landscape and sediment type varies throughout our journey for seeds. Bright, loose clay changes to dull, packed
rocky substrate. We saw a variety of
tree and shrub species, most of which were seed-free, picked over by scavenging
animals preparing for winter. As we are
walking, the few clouds move around in the sky, the Beartooth Mountains come
into view perfectly!
We had an amazing view as we stopped for lunch. Basking in the sunshine, we take it all in
while fueling up for the trip back to the truck. As we were heading back, the wind decided to
really pick up, pushing against us with invisible force. Overall, we had a great trip out to the
largely unexplored Pryor Mountains.
Crawling with ANTS
The New Year brought lots of ANTS… not the kind you are used
to seeing in your kitchen, we are working with school groups throughout the
area and teaching them about Animal Adaptations. These adventures include the proper use of
binoculars, bird identification in the field, using dichotomous keys and
adaptation deductions from the furs of our wild friends. We just can’t get enough of hands on
education and can’t wait for more classes to come out to the Center!
Fire & Ice,
and Everything Nice
Making fire, home-made ice cream and sledding, oh my! This program was filled with fun experiments,
team-work oriented activities and delicious rewards. We started out the day with some experiments
inside, leading to our first sledding adventure outside! The kids learned how to make tea bags fly,
start a fire with flint and Magnesium, how to make ice cream in a bag and more!
Students built towers of containers using strings attached
to a pony-tail holder, this activity required communication and working
together as a team! They were great at
it and we all had fun seeing how tall of a tower they could make =)
Sledding one at a time down the hill led to an experiment,
how many sleds can we get to go down the hill at once? Answer, 5!
After a good sledding break outside, we came inside to warm up and learn
how to make fire, they were really good at this and trust me, it’s no easy
task!
We decided to warm up by the fire and take a quick snack
break, toasty marshmallows on a cold day is just what the doctor ordered!
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