The Greenway Foundation
  • About Us
    • About Us >
      • Greenway Current (Annual Report)
      • Flood of 1965
      • Greenway Videos
    • River & Trail Info
    • Blog
    • Success Stories >
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010-2014
      • 2015-Future
    • Volunteer
    • Employment
    • Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Search
  • Education
    • SPREE >
      • SPREE Home Page
      • Just for Kids!
      • Support SPREE
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • Field Trips >
      • Excursions By Grade >
        • ECE
        • Kindergarten
        • 1st Grade
        • 2nd Grade
        • 3rd Grade
        • 4th Grade
        • 5th Grade
      • Excursion Signup
      • Feedback
      • Excursion FAQ
    • Camp >
      • Summer Camp
      • School Break Camps
      • Leaders in Training
      • FAQ
    • Learning SPREE
    • After School
    • High School >
      • River Rangers >
        • School Internships
        • Summer Employment
        • Why Environmental Education?
      • Greenway Leadership Corps >
        • The Water Connection >
          • About The Water Connection
          • Nautilus Installed in Cherry Creek
          • TAP-IN Colorado
          • Gutter Bin Pilot
          • Clean River Design Challenge
          • Minimum Stream Flow
  • Water Resources
  • Projects
    • River Vision Implementation Plan (RVIP) >
      • Johnson Habitat Park
      • Weir Gulch
    • Chatfield Storage Reallocation Project
    • USACE Feasibility Study
    • Clear Creek Greenway Design Effort
    • Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners
  • Events
    • Spring South Platte Stewardship Day >
      • Family Spring Stewardship Day
    • Art on the River
    • Citizens for the River
    • Reception on the River
    • Rock the River >
      • Rock the River Catering
      • Rock the River Viewing Instructions
    • Gala on the Bridge
    • Bridge Party
    • Fall South Platte Stewardship Day >
      • Family Fall Stewardship Day
    • Family Fishing Day
  • Donate
    • Colorado Gives Day
  • Email Sign Up

THe Greenway Foundation Blog

BioBlitz Holiday Camp Recap

10/25/2018

2 Comments

 

DAy 1:
​Monday October 22

What better way to start a week than a fun 2 days of a BioBlitz Holiday Camp? SPREE couldn’t think of anything better! A BioBlitz is a challenge to find and identify as many species of organisms that you can in a given time and area. Day 1 of our camp, we focused on building naturalist skills.
First, we practiced using binoculars & magnifying glasses. It did not take long before campers found a juvenile red-tailed hawk perched on a street light eating prey... and with the start of camp, the bioblitz began! Campers found that binoculars allowed them to see wildlife that was far away and hard to see with the naked eye. Magnifying glasses were great to look at small critters that were on the ground or on plants. Using these tools, campers saw organisms big and small!
Picture
Picture
The second activity of the day was a Jeopardy style game called “Who’s Scat is That?!”. Campers had to answer animal mysteries based on bioclues such as pelts, scat, tracks, and riddles. Campers and staff had so much fun with this game, we didn’t take many pictures… but below you can see an example of the bio-clues that campers saw. Can you solve what park animal the clues are for below? See the end of the blog for the answer.
Picture
The scat of the animal contains berries, seeds and other plant material
Picture
When you find this animal's tracks you'll notice the front and back paws are different sizes and are almost shaped like human hands!
Picture
The pelt, or fur, of this animal matches many colors in nature which allows our mystery animal to camouflage well
With the warm, fall weather we have been having lately, we were able to get into the River for a critter crawl. This is a favorite activity at SPREE camp, and we try to do one every day of holiday camp. This day, there were so many fish and crawdads swimming around and we had great luck catching lots of critters!
Picture
Picture
We wrapped up the day by creating a SPREE biodiversity web! Each camper became a living or nonliving thing from the Denver South Platte ecosystem. Using yarn, we connected ourselves with each other through how different characters may be connected to each other. For example, our frog connected themselves with our beaver because beavers create wetlands where frogs may live.
Picture

Day 2:
​Tuesday, October 23

Our second day of camp we went on a BioBlitz Field Day at Vanderbilt Park. Field days are fun days where we spend the day exploring a new place along our River close to our camp. 

During the field day, campers went on an extended hike equipped with field guides for plants, birds, mammals, and reptiles as well as the essential naturalist tools of binoculars and magnifying glasses. During this hike, campers wrote a list of several dozen organisms that they found during their bioblitz. Animals included geese, cottonwood trees, blue spruce, switchgrass, hardstem bulrush, ladybugs, bees, and more!
Picture
Picture
Field days are all about fun. So we made sure to take a brain break and play some games while we were outside! Being SPREE, we like our games to be focused on our local ecosystem. Campers learned while playing games like “Beavers and Lodges”, “Heron, Trout, Mosquito”, and “Steal the Acorn.”
Picture
….. And of course we took some time to get silly in the fallen ash tree leaves
Picture
Picture
We ended our field day with a real surprise! Denver Police Officers were training their dogs at the park for sniffing explosives. They saw we had a group of kids, and offered to give us a little lesson about their pup’s important jobs. It was so interesting to learn about these important roles, and campers even got to see Sophie (dog) sniff out an unloaded weapon. 
Picture
It was so much fun going on a SPREE BioBlitz this week. Campers and teachers alike got to see a lot of wildlife in the city that is easy to overlook! We hope to see you again down by the River!
Answer to animal mystery above? Racoon!
Picture
2 Comments
superioressaypapers link
11/9/2018 10:13:14 pm

It was a good idea that you’ve been exposing these children on the most ideal things they should see in this world. We are opening their eyes, as well as their mind on the right ways to protect Mother Nature. On the other hand, I want to commend all organizers behind BioBlitz Holiday Camp. It was a success because everything was systematic and the people already know how to do their tasks the right way. For that, I couldn’t be happier for them!

Reply
wwe supercard cheats link
5/6/2020 05:49:03 am

Great Post nice information.Thank you

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives
    ​

    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Previous Entries

    Categories

    All
    Archives
    Art
    Camp
    Campout
    Clean River Design Challenge
    DSISD
    Events
    Family Events
    Fish
    GLC
    History
    Holiday
    HQ
    Insects
    Rangers
    Special Agents
    SPREE
    Stewardship
    Water Engineering
    Water Quality

    RSS Feed

donate today!
(303) 455-7109 - Greenway
(303) 743-9720 - SPREE 
1800 Platte St
Denver, CO 80202
Staff Contact Info

FEIN: 51-0193575
sign up for our email list
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • About Us
    • About Us >
      • Greenway Current (Annual Report)
      • Flood of 1965
      • Greenway Videos
    • River & Trail Info
    • Blog
    • Success Stories >
      • 1970s
      • 1980s
      • 1990s
      • 2000s
      • 2010-2014
      • 2015-Future
    • Volunteer
    • Employment
    • Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Search
  • Education
    • SPREE >
      • SPREE Home Page
      • Just for Kids!
      • Support SPREE
    • Virtual Field Trips
    • Field Trips >
      • Excursions By Grade >
        • ECE
        • Kindergarten
        • 1st Grade
        • 2nd Grade
        • 3rd Grade
        • 4th Grade
        • 5th Grade
      • Excursion Signup
      • Feedback
      • Excursion FAQ
    • Camp >
      • Summer Camp
      • School Break Camps
      • Leaders in Training
      • FAQ
    • Learning SPREE
    • After School
    • High School >
      • River Rangers >
        • School Internships
        • Summer Employment
        • Why Environmental Education?
      • Greenway Leadership Corps >
        • The Water Connection >
          • About The Water Connection
          • Nautilus Installed in Cherry Creek
          • TAP-IN Colorado
          • Gutter Bin Pilot
          • Clean River Design Challenge
          • Minimum Stream Flow
  • Water Resources
  • Projects
    • River Vision Implementation Plan (RVIP) >
      • Johnson Habitat Park
      • Weir Gulch
    • Chatfield Storage Reallocation Project
    • USACE Feasibility Study
    • Clear Creek Greenway Design Effort
    • Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners
  • Events
    • Spring South Platte Stewardship Day >
      • Family Spring Stewardship Day
    • Art on the River
    • Citizens for the River
    • Reception on the River
    • Rock the River >
      • Rock the River Catering
      • Rock the River Viewing Instructions
    • Gala on the Bridge
    • Bridge Party
    • Fall South Platte Stewardship Day >
      • Family Fall Stewardship Day
    • Family Fishing Day
  • Donate
    • Colorado Gives Day
  • Email Sign Up