Week 6: July 9-13

Monday was the first day of camp! it was great! I was nervous at first but when I met those kids it all went away. We had a great first day. I did an intro to alternative energy with them which is part of the theme this week. I had them play a game without telling them what I was going to talk to them about. They're all smart kids so they got it! Energy! This group had a lot of energy and they were so excited. I explained to them what nonrenewable and renewable meant and how we get our energy to power our homes, schools, and cities. I was amazed at how little I had to do lol They new the meaning and examples! I clarified a few things and encouraged quieter kids to jump in but other than that we had a great first day! I felt so accomplished that my lesson went well and my supervisors said I did a good job. I'm glad that I could engage the children but was really pleased that they understood the negative effects generating electricity has on the environment, animals, and ourselves. I explained to them how extracting nonrenewable sources of energy have a impact on wildlife and how augmented that becomes as we rely heavily on these sources for power. Then they said, "Ms. Shanita we need to use the sun more often". I thought that was the cutest thing :) Young conservationist :) I hope this generation maintains that attitude and does not get caught up in the fast advancement of technology. That's where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Student Conservation Assoc. comes into play!
On Tuesday, we focused on pollinators so we did a flower dissection and did bee cups. The bee cup experiment was interesting for a couple different factors. We had the kids put soapy water in blue, yellow, and white cups then asked them to predict whether the pollinator garden or the open field by would get more insects/variety. They all chose the pollinator garden including myself! lol But the results where total opposite. The open field got more insects with a greater variety, including a butterfly. The children impressed me when they said that the field attracts more insects because people do not go over there but people are always in the pollinator garden. Their ability to make connections and assumptions such as those show me that environmental camps are essential in this sense. The camps fill in the blanks schools can't. Moving on...
We had our first night hike!!! (Well since I've been working here lol) We were in search of nocturnal animals but mostly bugs that come out at night! The campers and their parents were encouraged to come and participate. We had a lot of fun! We didn't see a red fox but maybe next time :)
Wednesday was a fun day because we went fishing! I learned how to cast that day and then was able to help  the campers. We fished in the spot where we had our fishing day a few weeks ago so it was nice and shady! Again, all the children got involved and had fun!
The next day we cooked hot dogs and smores in homemade solar cookers! We talked about solar energy and how we can use the sun to cook, keep us warm, etc. Then we had invited the parents to have lunch with us to celebrate the end of camp. We only had about 2 parents come in! Whaaat! lol The food was yummy and the children were jumping off the walls from the smores by the time they began to leave haha
On Friday, Tajuan, Frankie, and I tagged along with the SCA high school crews to Lincoln University. Dr. Baskerville who is a professor in the bio department at Lincoln invited the crews for a tour and a discussion about a college career as well as careers in the sciences. The refuge manager came with us as well and spoke to the crews. It was a nice visit and interesting to see the crews reaction. They were pretty quiet but didn't show any sign that they didn't want to be there. Hopefully they were silently taking everything in and holding on to it!

Inspecting the attracted insects!/ Snack!

Checking out a big turtle!

Refuge manager showing the campers a yellow warbler!

Campers taking their learning in his own hands! 

Yall gonna learn today: Alternative energy game!

Week 5: July 3 - July 6

This week I was off Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday when I came in I talked to the SCA high school crews about the my internship as a college student with the SCA. I told them that the CDIP was the next step for them if they enjoy what they will be doing this summer. I expressed that I was happy to find the SCA and grateful to have gotten this opportunity. It has helped me make connections and be active in my field of study.
Along with the EE specialist and Frankie we prepared for the summer camp this upcoming week. I'll be teaching the kids about alternative energy and doing some fun activities with them. I'm very excited! It's gonna be fun :) I got some summer camp practice when I went to Folcroft public library teaching the kids about nocturnal animals. We had about 10 kids and they were all great! I also did a bat activity making puppets to take home. I didn't realize how much they'd actually like them! Something so simple and mediocre to an adult it a diamond to a child! They are all gonna come to John Heinz now lol Seriously, they said they wanted to come fish and see more animals like the red fox (which they might not see... but they sure can dream :) and its a good way to draw them into wanting to come visit us at the refuge.
For the remainder of the week I worked on my energy program for the summer camp. But OMG... me and Frankie found an old a polaroid camera and guess what!!! It works! Booya!

One step! lol 

At the front desk.

Week 4: June 25 - June 30

This week was a mixture of good times and sad times... Well Monday and Tuesday I opened up more pine trees that were caged and weed whacked around them. Some of them we left uncaged because they are old enough and have more leaves to protect themselves from the deer. Wednesday I did an online webinar training... It wasn't what I quite expected but it was still a good training. It was about teaching students about the careers in the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. So they discussed different activities and programs that employees could do to inform visitors about the many careers the Service has. It was cute. They showed you how to do some activities such as conservation fortune teller, try on a career, and a pop up exhibit. 


Thursday was when stuff got real! It put a damper on my day when the biologist and I went out to clear more trees. We ran over an adult female red-eared slider. It was a horrific sight when we noticed it. I'm not even gonna describe it because it brought tears to my eyes. It is an invasive but still... It's a living thing and although to some people it's just a turtle, I still was hurt for it and felt guilty. I wish I had looked on the ground more closely before we drove onto the grass. Now you better believe my eyes are glued to the road when we drive on the refuge. Then later that day, my supervisor found and injured robin who looked like it was attacked by stray cats. It had bite marks. That was sad... we don't know if the robin survived because my supervisor dropped it off at a rehabilitation center. The Fish and Wildlife Service does not nurse animals back to health, its job is to protect and preserve habitat for wild animals. 


Friday we did another bird survey. I saw a double crested cormorant for the first time and a killdeer. I also worked at the front desk answering phones and prepared for the 40th anniversary and Family Fishing day that Saturday. For the anniversary party and fishing we prepared the fishing spot along Darby creek. We had fishing poles and bait ready. All they had to do was bring themselves haha a lot of the kids were fishing for the first time and didn't quite know how to fish and were afraid to touch real worms. So I hooked a lot of worms lol but it was fun because the kids were so happy when they caught a fish! I enjoyed helping out with the fishing day, it was soo much fun and I enjoyed talking to the visitors. I got some questions afterwards about everyday fishing on the refuge and fishing licences. I wasn't sure about how you get a licence so I just told them to google it along with the state they want the licence in and I stressed that you need a licence to fish on the refuge and it must be visible at all times while fishing. The visitors are allowed to eat the fish but we don't recommend it because the creek is polluted as it is connected to to the Delaware river. I just tell them not to eat it because I wouldn't! Later that day around 1pm we had the anniversary party so we had cake and a children's activities table that I was in charge of. I spoke to the children about the the wild animals at Heinz and they were able to pet the pelts and see their scat! One of the little girls who was so adorable continually asked me the same 3 questions but I didn't get annoyed (I wouldn't) because she was just so cute!!! I took a picture with her and her family while they held a red fox and the older sister held the skunk (She said it was her favorite..o.O lol) I'll post that picture as soon as its available!! :) Overall this week was good but Saturday was the best! We had a lot of visitors and I loved talking to them and helping out. 

Double crested cormorant

Killdeer - so cute!! 

That's all folks! Until next time..................