Exploring natural habitats, plant power, and more!
Preschool Naturalists explore and cool down in our stream during Powerful Pollinators week.
It’s hard to believe that summer camp at Cayuga Nature Center is already halfway over! We’ve been having a blast the past few weeks–from building habitats, to discovering the diverse animals on our planet and exploring underwater worlds, there’s been fun all around!
Our Week 5 Explorer Campers explored a guided immersion into a different habitat each day on our 100 acre property. The focus was on the communities of life within land and aquatic settings. By viewing the habitat as a home, campers learned that, despite the many differences in each, all exhibit fundamental characteristics necessary for the survival of the life they support.
Our Animal Ambassador Programs are always a huge hit with campers of all ages!
The Preschool Naturalists got wild in the woods and immersed themselves in the forest for fun and games that explored the many layers of life from the soil to the canopy. They explored the world of all kinds of bugs– from wiggly worms to hungry caterpillars to dragonflies and examined the powerful relationships between plants and their pollinator allies through garden walks and interactive games.
Explorer Campers also discovered the most diverse group of animals on the planet; arthropods! We explored the varied and vital roles they play within our ecosystems–from pollinators to predators. Campers unlocked the complexity of social bug life by taking a journey into a hive, found insects in our fields for closer observations, and crafted cozy shelters for our beneficial bugs.
Campers have had fun learning about topics in climate change and energy science this summer. During Surviving Cayuga-Land week, campers learned that our region has been experiencing more heavy rainfalls, and then got to do an engineering project to adapt to heavy rain. Each camper was given a template to build a miniature paper house and was then asked to design and build structures out of straws and tape to catch water from the roof of the house and divert it to a rain barrel. Campers came up with very clever ideas, and had fun testing them—they simulated rain by pouring water on top of their houses. Feedback from one camper: “This experiment is awesome!”
During Plant Powers week, campers explored how one can literally get power from a plant by building batteries out of lemons. They learned some basic concepts of electric circuits and worked together to see how many lemon batteries need to be connected together to light up a small LED.
This activity was done in the context of learning about renewable energy and the importance of battery storage for solar energy, which only generates electricity during the day. Campers each got to build a small solar-powered fan from a kit, and then test it out in the sunlight. They experimented with how they could power the fan off and on by covering and uncovering the solar panel and had fun playing with their fans.
We are always impressed with our campers’ curiosity, and how they come up with their own questions and ideas to test!
With three more weeks of camp left, we’re looking forward to all the special memories that come with the joys of Cayuga Nature Center Summer Camp!
While we haven’t missed the rain storms that the first half of camp brought, we’re making sure to keep cool in the creek and with friendly water gun fights as the summer heat shines down on us. We’re hydrating lots and taking many breaks in the shade!
