AfterZone at Roger Williams Has Begun!

It was a GREAT start to our official Urban Naturalist AfterZone program today! We are excited to welcome some new students to our program as well as one past Urban Naturalist and 5 current Urban Naturalist students taking part in the school-day program as well!

We began our day discussing the ins and outs of the program, including a discussion what it means to be an Urban Naturalist. We came to the conclusion that, as Urban Naturalists, we will be scientists who study nature found within a city! We even talked about how we have the FASTEST animal on the planet living right here in Providence, Rhode Island!

Curious about which animal this is? Click on the photo to be taken to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site with information about the FASTEST animal on the PLANET!

We then came up with a set of group rules that ALL Urban Naturalists will follow - including Instructors Emily and April! Our group decided on the following:

- Stay in a Group

- Watch your step on hikes

- Don't be too loud when in the classroom or on a hike

- Respect all people, animals and property around you

- Don't touch people, animals or other people's property without permission 

- HAVE FUN!!!! 

We then took a fun hike outside around the schoolyard! We found some ants, flies, 2 bird feathers, a bunch of beautiful leaves that have already started to change color, a squirrel and even some crazy mushrooms! Many of our Urban Naturalists took diligent notes on the things we found. 

Very interesting mushrooms!

Look at all the different kinds we found!

After our hike and a fun game called "The Big Wind Blows", we met an Animal Ambassador named Corny! He is a Cornsnake that lives at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island. We even had an opportunity to touch him!

Meeting Corny!

Some Urban Naturalists were already snake experts!

To learn more about Eastern Cornsnakes, click here to be directed to the National Zoo site about Cornsnakes!

Botanical Garden Visit at Roger Williams Park

Today, the Urban Naturalists took a trip to the Botanical Gardens in Roger Williams Park. We were amazed by all the cool plants from around the world!

One student checks out this very crazy pink plant at the Botanical Gardens

Look at the size of this leaf compared to the student! 

We even saw a lovely Coy Pond!

We learned a bit about Carnivorus plants while there. These plants have adapted to consuming insects because they live in areas where there is not enough nutrients in the soil to sustain them. Each has a special way of capturing insects. The two that fascinated us the most were the Sundew plant and the Venus Fly Traps!

The Dreaded Sundew Plant, part of the Carnivorous Plant collection

Click here to watch a cool clip by Sir David Attenborough that explains how a Sundew plant catches its prey

The Venus Fly Trap! A class favorite. 

A small Pitcher Plant was also in the Carnivorous Garden

Click here to watch a video about Venus Fly Traps and Pitcher Plants!

One student checks out the Venus Fly Traps

This was an Elephant Ear plant. We thought
the coolest thing about it was that the bark
looked like it had eyes!

This was the bark of the Elephant
Ear plant! It even has eyelashes! 

We took ten minutes to do some
scientific illustration

They even had a maze outside!

Look! We found a little surprise
hiding in the bamboo! A Praying Mantis Egg Case!

A Trip to Blackstone Park!

Today, our Urban Naturalists took a trip to Blackstone Park in Providence, RI. We did some work identifying trees and decided whether they were native or invasive. If they were invasive, we spent time figuring out how they ended up here in our local park.

Wading in the Water

Today, the Urban Naturalists explored the water quality and biodiversity at Powder Mill Ledges Refuge in Smithfield, RI. To do this, we had to learn how to use some new tools: waders! Waders are a large pair of rubber boots and pants that allows someone to be able to walk waist high into water. This allows the scientists to be able to explore the biodiversity deeper in the body of water rather than just on the edge. While some students tried out the waders, others chose to just check out some of the neat critters along the edge. 

Success! 

Strapping Mr. Who in! 

Some of the students checking out the critters along the edge

Brave Emily was next! 

Look at her go! 

We even had students try out some big rubber boots
to get just a little bit farther into the water

Caught something!

Peregrine Falcon Babies!

The Peregrine Falcons nesting in Providence finally have some puffy babies! Check out the two new chicks that have hatched this week at http://www.asri.org/general-conservation-info/providence-peregrine-falcon-webcam.html and watch them grow!

To learn more about Peregrine Falcons, click here for some information.

Here is a grainy photo of Momma Peregrine feeding some of the babies!

What's in the Water?

Today, the Urban Naturalists did some pond scooping to discover what types of things are found in the water at Roger Williams Park. Assessing what plants and animals we find in the water can tell us how clean it is. To do this, we used nets to scoop up "muck" off the bottom of the pond and sifted through to see what critters were common in the water.

We found some type of eggs on many of the leaves! Here is a shot of them through a microscope. It was hard to photograph them, but we talked about how microscopes aided us in our discoveries this day.

Wood Ducks!

We talked about Wood Duck ducklings and how they jump out of trees to stay with their mother just a few days after being born! Here's a video of this event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkBSkFyUyv0