The second field trip of the summer was a success! Today we explored different habitats at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Monona.
Getting to know our guides
Getting to know our guides
We saw prairie, wetlands, and woodlands and the critters that live in each one. Here is a chart of our explorations:
Habitat chart
The most active part of the tour was our walk through the woodlands and the prairie. The mosquitos were out and about today, leaving many of us with itchy bites to spare. Other than the mosquitos, we found a few interesting beetles, a few bumblebees, birds, and lots of baby bunny rabbits. We even spotted a green heron across the prairie by the pond! A lot of the flowers in the prairie were also in our flower flip yesterday.
Jayden uses a magnifier to get a better look at some prairie bugs.
Identifying a Black Eyed Susan flower in the prairie.
Checking out a bird nest with eggs in it!
Tori gets up close and personal with nature. Sabian keeps his distance.
Talking about animals and the habitats they share.
In the wetlands we found minnows, crawfish, snails, dragonfly nymphs, and more! To find these things, we scooped up piles of muck from a pond and transferred it to a smaller container. We then sifted through our piles of muck, using magnifying glasses to get a better look at some of the smaller organisms. This part of the tour seemed to be a crowd favorite – who doesn’t love playing with mud in the name of science?!
Grace sifts through her muck.
Scooping muck!
Sophie helps Koen identify his organism findings while Taylor looks at her own muck.
Tune in tomorrow for the Earth Week finale! See ya then!
Jayden is pooped out after our day!