Glen Lake 6th graders came to the Boardman River Nature Center for a hands-on experience in ecology.
After lunch and an ice breaker activity, the 74 students broke into five smaller groups and went outdoors to begin an afternoon of in-depth ecology hikes.
Dr. Duke Elsner’s group met in a meadow habitat and looked at invasive species and their relationships to their habitat and to people. Dr. Leslie Mertz took her group on a hike to the wetlands and introduced the students to some of the native reptiles and amphibians of the Natural Education Reserve. Audubon Molly McCombs took her group on the Fox Den Trail to discover shore birds, songbirds and game birds in their habitats. Todd Kalish from the MDNR had his group pond-side, where they got a hands-on look at fish and macro-invertebrates of the Sabin Pond. Cindy Retherford guided her group around the Nature Center grounds, where they identified native species of trees, shrubs, vines and wildflowers. The students were introduced to a simple conifer key to native species of the area, and were able to key-out red pine, white pine and white spruce. Colleen Masterson provided her group of kids with an overall view of the ecology of the area and the importance of conservation. After a half an hour, the groups rotated, so that all the students spent time with each docent.
The Glen Lake students picked one of the last beautiful days of fall for their excursion, and everyone had a great time exploring some of the wonders of nature in our area.