Try It! Micro Hike

In just over a week, I will be leading a week long camp for 10-12 year olds at Briar Bush called "Micro Camp." During the camp, the kids will be examining the life of various ecosystems underneath a microscope, learning that there are far more habitats than the large forests, oceans, and deserts that we usually think of first. One activity we educators and interpreters love to share with kids and adults alike is called a Micro Hike. Instead of going on a long hike through the woods, this hike can be done right in your front yard, just as I did!

First, pick a small area on the ground to study. You can either just arbitrarily pick a rough area, or if you want to turn it into a more scientific experience and do a comparison between 2 or more different areas, you can use a set size for replication. One of my favorite ways to do this is to get a cereal box or paper plate out of the recycling bin, and turn it into a frame by cutting out the middle. Then place your frame on the ground and examine the area in the middle. For my front yard study, I studied this patch of grass:

Study what you can first see. How many different plants do you see? You don't have to be a plant expert, all you have to do is look for different leaf shapes and colors. I saw 3 species of plants here, if you don't count the oak represented by the dead leaf. This is what we see every day when we see our "boring" lawns. But here's where it gets really fun and interesting! Start gently parting the vegetation and looking down low for different plants and all the animals that dwell on this miniature forest floor. When I peeled back the blades, this was my first discovery:

A click beetle! When these guys are on their backs, they can snap their thorax with that pinch you see in their bodies and send themselves flying into the air with an audible *click!*, hence their name. If you ever come across a click beetle, gently flip them over onto their back on your palm and watch them flip back over.

I parted the grass a little bit more and found a woodlouse, aka roly-poly or pill bug. Then I found its home! Watch the video I took of the woodlouse burrow below. In just 30 seconds, how many different kinds of animals do you see in an area only 2 inches wide? (You may want to make the video full screen...some of the critters are very small!)

I count at least 6 different animals crawling in and out of the blades of grass in this video! By this point I've been on my micro hike for less than 5 minutes. 

Just to the left of this area, I come across this rain-speckled spiderweb and its creator, out for an evening meal.

And then I find another gem, a snail!

You can see from my finger in the frame just how tiny this little gastropod was.

All in all, in less than 10 minutes, my micro hike yielded at least 3 species of plants, several species of insects, at least three different arachnids, a gastropod, and even a crustacean (yup, roly-polys are related to crabs and shrimp!). 

Going on a micro hike teaches us all to slow down and to think in a different way. We so often think of the big world around us, dominated by trees, birds, shrubs, squirrels, and humans. But there are tiny worlds of startling diversity right under our feet! I think what I love the most about this activity is just how much you can find in such a small area. Even I was amazed at how much I found when I set out to snap a couple of quick shots for this blog. I think I just may have to go out and go on another hike tomorrow!

Getting Your Kids Outside Begins with You!

(originally posted March 16, 2011)

In the field of environmental education and interpretation, professionals are increasingly faced with children who are removed from nature. In addition to children who are naive to what many consider basic environmental concepts, what concerns me personally even more are the growing number of children who have an aversion or down right fear of nature. As a parent, how do you reconnect your children with nature in an age where we are all connected to WiFi and satellites? It all begins with you, their parent.

Get outside with your child

In a recent study conducted by the Outdoor Foundation, a survey of over 40,000 individuals over the age of 6 found that 75 percent of children between the ages of 6 and twelve say their participation in outdoor activities was influenced by an adult. Don't just tell your children "It's a beautiful day, go play outside!" take the time to go outside with them. The interaction will benefit your child and I'd be willing to bet it will benefit you as well. Be sure you set an example by having everyone, including yourself, turn off their cell phones and iPods during your outdoor time.

Tune your child's nature experience to their interests

Is your child a budding photographer? Arm them with a camera and take them to a local park, where inspiration abounds. Does your child love everything having to do with music? Have them listen to the natural sounds around them, from the songs of birds and insects, to the creak of swaying oak branches and the roar of rushing water. Tech-savvy teens could even be encouraged to record those and create their own natural remix composition on their computer.

You don't have to be a Nature Geek to teach your kids to love nature!

If you're thinking "I'd love to teach my children about nature, but I don't know that much about it," the great news is that makes no difference whatsoever. So what if you don't know the name of that bird that flew overhead or that bug you found under the log. You and your child can observe and learn about it together. What kind of food is the bird looking for? Is this bug flat because it lives under a log? For those burning questions that your child (or you) just have to know the answer to, remember or write down as much details as you can about what you observe. At home, research together what you found. (And don't forget, if you get stumped you can always consult your friendly Nature Geek!)

These are just a few of the ways you can get involved in reconnecting your child with the natural world. The main thing to keep in mind is that by exploring and getting outdoors with your child, you are showing them your interest not only in nature, but in them as well. So get outside this weekend, then share your experiences here!