Field Trip Friday ~ Nature Center & Hike

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Yesterday for Field Trip Friday we had a planned trip to the Nature Center with a group of local homeschoolers, but before the Nature Center the girls and I went to check out a local museum.

The girls and I spent a few hours roaming around the museum taking in all the beautiful art work that was displayed. We discussed the different mediums used as well as the different cultures some of the art work represented.

It wasn't long before it was time to head on over to the Nature Center. While we have visited the state forest before, we had never been to the Nature Center. When we arrived we found this HUGE spider hanging out on the deck in a massive web. I am by no means a spider person and usually hide tail and run in the other direction whenever I come across one. However, I had to grab a picture for a friend that has been torturing me with pictures of spiders on my facebook wall. Besides, it's good for research later - right?

Once we made it safely inside the Nature Center, Yang immediately ran to the turtles.

While in the Nature Center we learned one very easy way to identify a venomous snake vs a non-venomous snake. It's all in their head.  Venomous snakes typically have a wider head than non-venomous snakes. A common misunderstanding about rattlesnakes is that each ring on their rattle represents a year of life, gaining a new ring each year when they shed their skin. This is actually incorrect, as snakes can actually shed their skin sometimes up to 4 times a year.

While the Nature Center itself is small, there was tons to discover outside. We captured an ant and watched as an antlion devoured it. It was very quick but quite fascinating.

Someone had brought the Naturalist at the Nature Center snake eggs, so she took us over to check them out. She says they will be hatching any day now.

We found one that would not be hatching (it was shriveled and dried up) so we did an impromptu dissection.

After we become official Junior Ohio State Parks Officers, we grabbed out nets and headed out for a nature hike. But first we stopped to check out a small "pond" just outside the Nature Center where we discovered tadpoles, frogs and various larva.



















While on our hike we found a tree that a bear had been feasting in. It had been clawed at and you could see deep impressions in the ground. Luckily he/she was long gone! We came across several species of trees, plants, caterpillars and mushrooms.

                                                                                             

There was so much to see and learn, and even more in the spring so we will definitely be going back. Do you partake in Field Trip Friday in your classroom? If so, where did you go yesterday? Or what was your favorite field trip?