Camp Explorations: Amazing Animals 1

It was another great week of camp at the Museum of Natural History! Our theme was Amazing Animals and we all learned so much! Monday was all about animal habitats, and we talked about the four things every living thing needs in its habitat: food, water, shelter, and space. We drew habitat murals in our groups, and also individually made habitat dioramas for different animals!

Building our habitat dioramas!

Working on our habitat murals!

On Tuesday we went to the arb and it was a great trip! The weather was beautiful and we had plenty of time to explore the fairy and troll hollow, sit and have snack by the river, and play our favorite game of the week, Oh Deer! We learned all about how the deer population changes based on the available resources.

Playing Oh Deer!

Wednesday was all about birds. We had a great visit from the Leslie Science and Nature Center and three of their Michigan Raptors: the barn owl, the red-tailed hawk, and the cooper falcon. We also made owl kites that we got to fly outside. The excitement continued with Bird Hurdles, an obstacle course game where we experienced the daily obstacles faced by birds.

Playing bird hurdles

On Thursday we learned about nocturnal animals, particularly bats. We made our own bats, and also learned how bats use hearing rather than sight to find their prey in the bat echolocation game! We also talked about what other kinds of animals are nocturnal.

Playing the bat echolocation game

Friday was packed full of activities all about animals! We played animal branium and got to draw, sculpt, and act out different animals. We made plaster casts of different animal tracks such as deer, wolves, otters, and foxes. We also learned about endangered animals, and specifically talked about what is causing sea turtles to be endangered by making a “Wheel of Trouble.”