Nature Rangers Camp Review 2014

T.A.S.K.S.-teamwork, action, skills, knowledge and sharing...those were the main ideas the Nature Rangers of Tifft Nature Preserve focused on this past week!

We learned teamwork through survival shelter building, games like Insanity and Crocodile River and our Japanese knotweed work project with Mr. Dave.

We took action against bully plants like Japanese knotweed and learned about some other bully plants at Tifft.

Skill-learning included orienteering, survival skills, telescopes, binoculars, fishing, terrestrial and aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling (looking for land and water bugs), firebuilding and stalking prey.

So much knowledge...astronomy, different habitats at Tifft, different types of fish, all about the super cool Sun, edible insects, monarch butterflies, waste and energy.

Hopefully they shared some of these things (and more) with you throughout the week. We also made a sign for all the volunteers that helped us that will be included in a thank you card.

Some big highlights for the campers were:

• using natural materials to build a survival shelter, and the survivial rules of 3
• fishing
• superhero sidewalk shadows
• solar oven-baked cookies
• sweepnetting for land bugs in the grassland
• dipnetting for water bugs in the marsh
• helping Mr. Dave with the Japanese knotweed work project (getting rid of an invasive (bully) plant
• searching for and finding a monarch caterpillar and watching it grow
• going in the portable planetarium and learning about the stars and constellations
• edible fires and roasting marshmallows on a real fire

How the 5 days flew by! Not sure what some of this stuff is...quiz your campers and see how much they remember!
I enjoyed getting to know each camper and I hope they had a great time working with all of us. They accomplished their TASKS and earned their Nature Ranger badge (see beginning of entry).

Below is a slideshow of photos of campers throughout the week. There is a slight delay but it should start playing on its own.

2014 Scales, Scales, Scales Camp Review

What a great first week of camp we had at Tifft! We started off the week learning about reptiles and the difference between facts about them and myths that people have created. We then went on a hike looking for some of the reptilian inhabitants of the Preserve. Our search was not very successful, yielding only a few turtles hanging out in the marsh. We did get to see a turtle nest that a predator had dug up about a month ago! We had a special visitor Monday afternoon, who brought many of her slimy and scaly friends with her. While the slimy friends aren't reptiles, it was a nice way to compare and contrast reptiles and amphibians. All the adults present were very impressed with the campers knowledge about reptiles and amphibians. 

Day 2 we moved onto the most difficult to guess scaly animals (reptiles and fish were easy to figure out!), butterflies and moths! We went on a butterfly and moth scavenger hunt and found that early July when there is a late spring isn't the best time for caterpillars and chrysalises/cocoons, but we did get to see many different kinds of moths and butterflies flitting about. We did a matching game and then a reinforcement activity about the difference between moths and butterflies and also what they have in common. Snack was especially yummy, turning a banana into a caterpillar and then into a butterfly! 

Day 3 was much awaited since some of the campers got hints that it would be the day we'd finally go fishing, and oh what a morning it was! We were not going to let the rain keep us in and got everyone in rain gear, only to have the clouds part and the sun appear a short time later. The hooks were barely hitting the water and the fish were already biting! We had many friends who caught their first ever fish, and only 2 of the group that did not catch any at all. We had purchased 4 containers of red worms, each with supposedly 24 worms and each worm was split into at least 2 pieces of bait. We had 17 campers, and fished for about an hour and a half. Meghan decided this sounded like time to do some math. During lunch everyone reported the number of fish they caught and assuming that no one was telling a fish story, we added up all the numbers, figured out how many worms we had and found that 17 campers + 1 1/2 hours + 192 worms = 59 fish!!!!!!! That is the best day of fishing anyone at Tifft can remember. We then went over fish anatomy, went fishing indoors with magnets and played Pin a Fin on the Fish. It was a very exciting and memorable day. 

It was already our last day of camp and with it came the rain, and rain, and more rain. We took advantage of a rainy morning inside to finish up some projects and play some games. We had a snake race and found that most of us did not make very good snakes! We played a game using only our sense of touch to try and identify and then draw what we could only feel inside of a bag. It was tricky! By afternoon all the time inside was just too much, and we had to get out. Some of us were afraid that the little bit of rain we encountered would make us melt, it must be because we are so sweet. We ended the week with one of Meghan and Kimberly's favorite activities, turtle races, trying to get our paper turtle to the finish line before anyone else. 

We definitely had a wonderful week with a great bunch of friends, human and scaly!

Here is a photo album so you can see some of our adventures:

Wonders of Winter (WOW) Discovery Camp Highlights

WOW-it’s been a crazy winter in 2014! And we finally had a great one for our February break camp! Miss Caryn, Ms. Kimberly, Ms. Liz, Ms. Lauren and Ms. Kelsey all had a great time getting to know the 10 campers we had for the week, and together, we learned and saw lots of new things.

Here are some of the highlights:

Day 1:

• To start off, we brainstormed what the word winter brought to mind, and then started a sheet to track the weather all week long. We learned how to use a thermometer then put it to the test outside by braving the single digit temps, but bright sunshine, recording the air temps and then compared different depths (top, middle and bottom) of a large snowbank to see if the temperatures were the same or different.  We also looked for ‘hearts’ in nature on our walk, and got to draw our findings.
• Letting the sun warm up the day a little more, campers got out on the trails on snowshoes in the afternoon, discovering many deer and rabbit tracks, but not seeing much animal activity. They also worked together on teams for a snow relay, filling buckets with snow and piling it up as quickly and as big as possible.
• In honor of Presidents’ Day, we had a George Washington snack, made from vanilla wafers, mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows. Yummy way to pay tribute!
• We finished the day by mixing colored water into buckets and ice cube trays, then outside they went to ‘set’ for Tuesday activity.

Day 2:

Winter weather in full force again! Snow and very windy conditions made it look like a snow globe outside many times throughout the day.

• We started the day by making an animal track guide. We also played a game snow/ice/blizzard while waiting for the weather to cooperate for outdoor adventures.
• We strapped on our snowshoes again, braving the cold and wind, and got a chance to test out an anemometer (wind meter), recording measurements over 25 miles per hour. We found some calmer conditions back by the wetland, where we discovered all sorts of cool stuff: deer fur on the ice, beaver tracks and fresh chew marks, plus their lodge, 7 deer browsing on the edge of the ice and bird foot and wing prints in the snow.
• We searched to no avail for icicles around the preserve, but did manage to start an experiment to create our own indoors. We also collected a cup of snow from different areas and did an experiment to see if they all would melt at the same rate and end up with the same amount of water at the end.
• We rounded out the day getting to use our ice from Monday, as well as colored water in spray bottles, to make ice and snow sculptures, and making edible snowflakes.

Day 3:

• Winter makes me think of evergreens, so Wednesday we started out talking about trees and the different kinds, including watching a video called “C is for Conifer”:
• .
We also examined our ‘icicles’ that formed overnight.

The sun was shining and temps moderated, so we spent a good amount of time outside in the morning. We started off with an ice scavenger hunt, taking turns hiding colored ice cubes in the snow and then finding them. We also placed regular ice cubes in solid colored containers, to see if the color container affected the melt time of the ice. We then strapped on our snowshoes and explored another trail. We searched out and  ‘met the conifers,’ investigating the different types of needles and cones, as well as collecting some for an art project for later on. We also learned how to use and tested out binoculars, looking for birds and getting to see one, the black-capped chickadee, up-close. We also took out some Behr paint sample cards to see if we could determine the ‘color’ of the snow (the campers decided it was ‘popped corn’).

Our afternoon was spent talking about winter animal adaptations, helping an ‘insect’ stay warm with different types of insulation, playing iceberg hopping (where the campers had to work together to ‘make it across an ocean’ without stranding other campers),  and enjoying some hot cocoa and marshmallows.

Day 4:

• Today was our last snowshoe-able day, so we went on a long hike to the northern end of the preserve, and observing deer fairly up-close. We also read a book called Under the Snow, to see how ‘unseen’ animals survive in the winter.
• Our afternoon flew by as we experimented with Insta-snow, used the cones and needles we collected to paint, doing an indoor scavenger hunt and enjoying some fresh popped ‘snow’ AKA popcorn.

Day 5:

Warmer weather forced us indoors for our final day. We explored the night sky with a visit to our indoor planetarium, as well as learning how to use a star chart and making a planesphere. We also made ice-salt drawings, made each other into snowmen, had a snowball tossing contest, a penguin waddle race, turned one camper into a polar bear, examined a polar bear fur and made our very own bird suet cakes to take home. Whew!

Thank you for allowing us to help foster the love of nature in your camper throughout the week. Hopefully we’ll see you this summer! Happy almost spring!

To see photos from our adventures, watch the slideshow below.

Miss Caryn and the Tifft staff

Scales, Scales, Scales Camp Review

Scales, Scales, Scales

Day 1

Although all the campers we anxious to jump right into fish, we started our scaly explorations with animals in the order Lepidoptera. What’s that you ask? Butterflies and moths of course! We started the day reading a few short stories to learn what it means to be a butterfly or moth. We then ventured outside on a butterfly and moth scavenger hunt, using a “bingo board” to locate different butterflies and moths, look for different behaviors, and identify some plants they use for their survival. We were lucky to find a milkweed tussock moth caterpillar and a monarch caterpillar hanging out on their favorite, the milkweed. We brought the monarch caterpillar back to the Visitor Center for observation over the next few days. Our little friend molted during the first night! We spent the rest of the day learning about the differences between butterflies and moths and also characteristics they share. Snack was themed of course, using a banana, pretzels, raisins and chow mein noodles to create an extremely yummy butterfly. We tried to play a silly caterpillar game outside after snack, but late afternoon giggles took over! Although not a scaly critter, we did get the awesome experience of seeing an adult cicada just emerging from its nymph form. When we came back to check on it a short while later the process was already complete but the cicada was still hanging out waiting for its wings to dry a bit before taking off. We also found lots of exoskeletons left behind on trees from adult cicadas emerging.

Day 2

Wednesday brought the fish! We started the day with the help of two seasoned fisherman, Paul and Bill, assisting us in a fishing excursion. We made good use of the fairly new DOT fishing pier at the western end of Lake Kirsty. Many campers caught their first ever fish! It was an at times frustrating, but very exciting morning. We spent some time learning about different characteristics to identify each species caught, and learn some of the silly names for parts of a fish. I wonder how the scientist that named the skinny part between a fish’s body and tail (caudal) fin decided upon the name caudal peduncle! After lunch, we started our fish craft out of recycled pop bottles. They looked great all hung up together on our room divider! We also learned about Gyotaku, or the Japanese art of fish prints, and made fish prints using rubber fish.  For snack everyone got to go fishing again! This time using a pretzel stick for a rod and cream cheese for the bait to catch goldfish crackers. Some campers turned these ingredients into crazy sculptures instead. At Tifft, we think it’s ok to play with your food though (at least sometimes!) We also got to run around and play some games outside including a fish tag game where the fish (most of the campers) tried not to get eaten by a bigger fish (a small group of campers) by hiding in safe spots.

Day 3

Already our time together was coming to an end, but not before we talked about our last group of scaly creatures, REPTILES! This was a day that was long awaited by many of the campers. We went for a long walk hoping to encounter some of the reptiles that call Tifft home. We weren’t too successful with reptiles but saw LOTS of frogs and other animals. Unfortunately that is the one tricky thing about nature camp, we can’t always plan for what we are going to see, but it makes it really exciting when we see something we weren’t expecting. Some campers did get to see a Northern Water Snake from a distance in the marsh and a Painted Turtle basking on a log before it got scared into the water. After lunch, we had a special guest, Mary, who brought many of her reptile (and a few amphibian) friends with her to share. We got to hold a Ball Python and a Fat-tailed Gecko! Our final activity for camp was having turtle races! No, not those kinds of turtle races J We colored turtles and raced them across long “tracks” of yarn. This was the one time we got a little TOO loud, but we just couldn’t control our excitement.

Well there we have it, another successful summer of camp at Tifft. All the Tifft staff had a great summer getting to know all the new campers and welcoming back lots of familiar faces. We hope to see you all back sometime soon :)

Here is a photo album so you can see some of our adventures: Scales, Scales, Scales Photos

Nature Rangers Camp Review

What a great week of having great summer nature fun and learning T.A.S.K.S (teamwork, action, skills, knowledge and sharing)!

We had a number of new campers join us for Nature Rangers this summer, so we took a nice long exploration hike to start off our week, while discussing living and non-living things. We also investigated wilderness survival, the Rule of 3's and learned how to make a survival shelter out of natural items found in the woods. We also talked about being prepared for outdoor adventures and discussed some wilderness scenarios and how to make good decisions outdoors.
To start Day 2, Mr. Bob joined us and took us on a time travel adventure as we learned the history of the property of Tifft Nature Preserve. We also explored the marsh at Lisa Pond, looking for macroinvertebrates, small fish, and tadpoles. Campers voted to have a lunch 'on the trail' so we found a shady spot and enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back for some free time. The afternoon found us practicing our orienteering skills, having popsicles for snack and designing a water strider (an insect that can 'walk' on water) out of craft materials.
Wednesday was action morning, as we worked with Mr. Zach and Mr. Forest on an invasive species resource management project. We learned all about Japanese knotweed (invader species) and helped roll weed barrier fabric out to keep this bully plant from invading more of the forest. We also got to spread wood chips to cover the fabric and water some tree saplings that had been previously planted in the area. The campers worked really hard and it was great to see the finished project. We also had a visit by a blue-spotted salamander, which we rarely ever see here at Tifft. In the afternoon, Ms. Kimberly guided us through a great nature journaling workshop-sketching, painting and getting us to really take a different look at nature in a variety of ways.
Day 4 was a hot and sticky day, but the clouds stuck around in the morning to allow us to have a fabulous morning of fishing. Mr. Paul and Mr. Bill came in to share this fishing knowledge and quite a few campers caught their first fish ever! The afternoon brought out the sunshine and our energy. A round of  Everybody's It, followed by a teamwork game called Insanity let us enjoy the sticky, sunny day. We then created a 'Thank You' picture to be included in a note for all our guest speakers this week, with each of us designing a letter to make the message. Our last experiment of the day was trying to force some worms out of their hiding places in the soil. Evidently worms don't like mustard, so we mixed up mustard powder and water and spread it on the garden. Our experiment didn't work, but it was fun to guess what would happen.
Friday brought a little rain so we started indoors playing a large version of Bananagrams, and then Mr. Walt joined us and helped us learn more about the Iroquois Indians and how they used nature in their daily lives. We got a chance to use pump drills, fire bows and drills and made a message sticks, as well as learning about lots of other tools they used. The rain let up to allow us to take a nice walk out to the marsh to look for frogs, turtles and insects. We finished up our day with learning some knots, making a survival knot bracelet and learning about fire and fire safety. We had the best snack of the week, roasted marshmallows and edible fires, before our time for the week ended!
Campers did a great job doing the work to earn the NR badge and hopefully had a fun week too!
Here is a photo album so you can see some of our adventures: Nature Rangers Photos
Thanks for letting me send time with your campers this week and share some of my knowledge with them. I had a great time getting to know each one of the campers!
Miss Caryn

Noisy Nature Camp Review

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Noisy Nature campers investigated the world of sound in nature
-ask your campers if noise and sound are the same thing :)

Our week was filled with all things that croak, chirp, cheep and buzz. We started the week off with a bird walk with experienced birders/Tifft volunteers Mr. Paul and Mrs. Nancy. Other big highlights of the week included getting to visit the newest inhabitants at Tifft, our honeybees, in their hive, thanks to Ms. Lauren; listening for the heartbeat of a tree with stethoscopes; making our own instruments out of recycled items; learning about the different kinds of owls, thanks to Ms. Kimberly; and of course, collecting bugs and hearing their sounds.

We also created our own 'ears' and did some sound exploration on the trails (sound bingo was a hit), learned a lot about cicadas (including finding one that had just become an adult and watched it change colors overnight, then released it), tried worm 'grunting', listening to music inspired by nature and had lots of fun playing games, just exploring and enjoying nature, including frogs, butterflies, dragonflies, deer and bees, and free play time.

Here is a photo album so you can see some of our adventures: Noisy Nature Photos
In the album, there are 2 videos of the campers with their recycled instruments, so be sure to listen to them!

Thanks for letting your nature explorer spend some time with us this summer and hope to see you in 2014!

Miss Caryn

Adventures Afloat and Ashore Camp Review

Adventures Afloat...

Our new crew arrived early Monday morning bright eyed and ready for adventure!  16 new campers circled up with staff to make introductions, go over the plan and goals for the week and get ready to board the Spirit of Buffalo.  New crew got involved in ship operations right away, with participants forming two "watches" (traditional "teams" of crew that operate the ship), electing Watch Captains and dividing up responsibilities such as handling dock lines, raising sails and cleaning up the deck.  Once all sails were set and we were under way on the lake, we embarked on some basic seamanship training in navigation techniques (plotting a course, determining location, using a compass) and speed calculations using some left over veggies, a stop watch and a whole lot of math!  After striking sail we came back to the dock, ate lunch and got ready for the second half of our adventures afloat.  In the afternoon, Watch A learned basic kayak strokes and embarked on a kayaking expedition up the Buffalo River, where they practiced their new paddling skills  and learned about the history, industry and environmental issues affecting the Buffalo River.  Watch B was busy practicing their traditional rowing skills with our friends at the Buffalo Maritime Center aboard two War of 1812 wooden bateaux, traditional rowing vessels used by the British to transport goods and soldiers from ship to shore.  Watch B rowed across the Buffalo Harbor to the Outer Harbor, where they embarked on a nature hike of Times Beach Nature Preserve and spent time cooling off and exploring the world of invasive aquatic plants at Wilkenson Pointe Park on the Outer Harbor.  Watch B then rowed back to the Central Wharf and spent some time in the shade before heading home.

Day Two brought more intense heat but our crew was not deterred!  The morning was spent reviewing seamanship and sailing skills, with Watch Captains taking the lead in handling dock lines and setting sail.  We spent the morning on the lake exploring a series of Lake Erie-specific topics, such as the benthic layer (we took a sample of the benthos with our Ponar grab and filtered the sample), plankton (catching plankton in the tow net and identifying it in the shipboard microscope lab), Lake Biology (using our shipboard Lake Tank to identify fish species and learn about their ecology) and Water Quality (taking water samples and completing a series of tests on chemical properties such as nitrates, phosphates and dissolved oxygen).  We even captured a weather balloon that had fallen into the lake and was floating outside the mouth of the Buffalo River!  Our young crew recorded data in their log books, struck sail and disembarked for lunch once we returned to the dock.  While afternoon activities were much the same, with the opposite Watches participating in kayaking and rowing and we were treated to a guided tour of Times Beach Nature Preserve by Jay Burney, the president of the Preserve's "Friends" Group.

...and Ashore!

Wednesday our crew could leave their sea legs at home as they headed inward to Tifft Nature Preserve to learn about the dynamic history and ecosystems that make it a gem in the City of Buffalo. The campers’ time at Tifft started with a walk exploring the past uses of the land that is now the Preserve with seasoned volunteer, Ruth Lasure (otherwise known as Osier J) and seeing first hand the ability for nature to reclaim itself after years of industrial use. Ruth also shared her interest in wildflowers that grow at Tifft with the campers. Much relief was found from the morning heat in the newly air conditioned Visitor Center while having an overview of the many misuses of PowerPoint to prepare for our presentation on Friday. After lunch we took the KidWind challenge working in teams to try and create the best wind turbine blades for maximum speed. We then moved onto a discussion about land use decisions and their affects on neighboring aquatic systems. The imagination the campers had in developing their plots of land was insightful and quite entertaining as well! The day quickly came to an end but not before we started a “meet and greet” with some preserved specimens of common local aquatic invasive species.

Thursday morning we welcomed Tifft volunteers Paul and Nancy (Pine and Nettle) Vigyikan, who came to share with us their love and expertise of birding. Tifft is recognized as an Important Bird Area due to its location on the migration flyway, as well as a nesting area for many species. It was quite a fruitful morning of birding with one of the favorites being the Green Herons we were able to see up close in the marsh.  We moved onto a quick (and messy) activity showing how the topography of the land determines how watersheds form. It was then time for the campers to get to work and remember what it was they did the last three days! Tifft staff assisted campers in developing a Powerpoint to present on Friday. Campers were then able to go out as they were finished and sweep net for insects at the base of Tifft’s mounds. The find of the day was a good sized Praying Mantis.

On Friday morning, we had a great showing of parents, who participated with their young crew members back aboard the Spirit of Buffalo in learning how to set and strike sail, steering and participating in science stations that campers chose to teach to the parents.  They chose navigation and speed calculations...showing their aptitude for the science of traditional seamanship.  The morning concluded with a  boat-building competition in which parents joined their campers in designing a boat that could hold weight without sinking.

Although our lunch plans were altered at the last minute, we were still able to enjoy the gorgeous breezy day eating lunch al fresco at Tifft. The campers then nervously presented a PowerPoint presentation highlighting their adventures throughout the week to some of the parents. We hope this gave a great insight into what the campers spent their week immersed in. The campers and Tifft staff also led the parents through a short walk out to Tifft’s 75 acre remnant cattail marsh, to share some of the campers new knowledge about Tifft with their parents.

Upon our return, campers paired up with their parents or another camper to create their own fish species, taking into careful consideration different adaptations that fish have to aid in their survival. It was a wonderful cooperative activity that had everyone digging into the depths of their creativity. Parents and campers were then invited to stay for fishing or able to leave early if they preferred. We had some great catches from both campers and parents! 

Thank you to all the parents that were able to take time out of their day on Friday to spend time learning along with (and from) their children. This was a fantastic crew who we would welcome to be afloat and ashore again with us any time!  Nice job!

Here is a photo album so you can see some of our adventures: Adventures Afloat and Ashore Photos

BUOE and Tifft Staff :)