Category: Children

Audrey Teaching First Grade

Audrey was invited to teach three first grade classes on butterflies. She prepared a slide show sharing how she started and some things she has learned about Monarchs. Then she read one of her favorite butterfly books, Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope and Sue Riddle, had a question time and interacted with the students for 45 minutes in each class.

All three classes were completely different.  The first class knew a lot about Monarchs.  They had raised a few and were bringing in more caterpillars and “critters” for the class to enjoy.  The caterpillars in the other classes had stopped growing and the students never got to see their full metamorphosis.

All of the children were curious about Audrey’s butterflies, even students we saw in the hallway as we walked between classes. It was a good morning for us as Audrey was able to pass on her love of butterflies to a new group of children.

Bragging on Audrey

imnThis evening Audrey taught a class on Monarchs to fifteen adults, most who are studying to be Indiana Master Naturalists. She did a wonderful job getting her slide presentation ready and sharing what she has learned about butterflies. Since her class last year, she has grown and matured a lot, and she presented a well polished seminar.

After class, one of the gentlemen expressed surprise that she was only thirteen years old. He thought she was at least eighteen or nineteen as composed and mature as she presented herself. Allan, who never heard her presentation, was able to make it to this one and thought she did “pretty good.”

Butterflies

audrey-releasing-butterfliesIt has been a difficult year finding Monarchs, at any stage, in the wild.

Audrey discovered if she bleaches the eggs of sick butterflies, the offspring have a good chance of being healthy.  She set up a nursery and managed to collect a lot of eggs this year. I do not know exact numbers, but she has released over 150 Monarchs this summer!

Junior Ranger Badges

Junior Ranger Patches
Junior Ranger Patches

The kids have been collecting Junior Ranger badges at every National Park we visit if we have time to work on them.  If we are just passing through, it is hard to complete the work needed properly.

In order for the children to earn their Junior Ranger badges, there are different activities to complete in a workbook.  The younger you are, the easier to earn a badge, though Megan tried to do everything in her book. They also needed to interview a ranger and attend a ranger led activity. They were able to finish both projects the first day, though it took longer to finish their books.

They also had the opportunity to earn centennial Junior Ranger Badges. There was a separate book with different activities.  The kids enjoyed working on that book also.

All of the children earned Junior Ranger patches and their centennial Junior Ranger Badges.