Learning about Amphibians & Aquatic Insects

BRDC has been busy with education programs, working with Galax Middle School, Fries School, Fairview Elementary, Grayson Highlands, Independence Elementary.

Grayson County's fourth grade students participated in the Natural Heritage Program with an emphasis on salamanders, toads, and frogs. Students learned about salamanders commonly found in the Blue Ridge.  Using field guides, they researched different species of salamander and presented their discoveries to the class.  The Eastern hellbender was a favorite among the students, as they were shocked by its prehistoric features. Students enjoyed watching a video about the life history of hellbenders provided by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Fifth grade students in Grayson County schools learned about frogs and toads. Students illustrated the life cycle of amphibians, learned the difference between frogs and toads, and listened to the calls of some of Virginia's common species. Many students had heard the calls before, but often didn't know what animal made the calls. The Virginia Herpetological Society's website is a great resource for determining different frog and toad calls: https://goo.gl/v84gqS.

After learning the calls of the American bullfrog, spring peeper, and American toad, students played a Frog and Toad matching game. Using a Peterson Guidebook to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, students matched the species name, picture, and description together. 

Galax Middle School After School program has been learning all about aquatic species. BRDC brought aquatic insects from a local stream to the classroom where students got a first-hand look at the life found in our creeks. Students learned about the life cycle of the insects, and enjoyed fly tying with Executive Director Aaron Floyd. 

In-school programming keeps BRDC's staff busy, but it is great to work with such a variety grade levels and see the enjoyment and wonder on the children's faces. To stay connected with BRDC follow us on Instagram @blueridgediscoverycenter.

Galax After School Field Trip

Students in Galax Middle School's After School Program are learning about Primitive Technology this month. At the beginning of the week, students discussed the meaning of primitive technology and experimented with different pottery techniques.

Later in the week, the students learned how to make square lashings, which are used for attaching two spars perpendicular to each other. This lashing is great for constructing bridges, ladders, etc.

At the end of the week, students had the opportunity to attend a session where they learned to make cordage from dried Dog Bane (Plectranthus ornatus).  They practiced their square lashings and learned how to tie numerous other types. Finally, they tested out their lashing skills by constructing and testing the strength of a trestle and a primitive chair.

Galax Enrichment Week Begins!

Students from Galax Middle School take a break from the classroom and have the opportunity to get outdoors and discover the natural world! Blue Ridge Discovery Center is offering several sessions this week: Explorations and Discovery,  Pioneering, and Crafting with Nature.

On Monday, students got a taste of aquatic entomology (the study of insects) as they explored Clear Fork Creek in Matthews State Forest. They searched the creek for macro-invertebrates such as stonefly and mayfly larva, but also found a gilled snail and various species of non-game fish. For the remainder of the week, students will investigate animal tracks and signs, dendrology (trees), geology (rocks) and ornithology (birds). 

Pioneering begins with the sanding of parts in preparation for building a trebuchet. This desktop model will be used to demonstrate the physics behind weight and trajectory. Manipulation and redesign of the prototype throughout the week will result in a fine-tuned machine!

Crafting with nature is incorporating hikes and natural elements into works of art. Students will experiment with pencils and paint, printmaking, rubbings, collages, weaving with invasive species and much more!

Galax Students enjoy American Chestnut Celebration

Saturday, October 22nd was a day of celebration at the Glenn C. Price Research Farm in Meadowview, VA. For seven years now, The American Chestnut Foundation has been celebrating the successes of the research revolving around the American Chestnut tree. This year, BRDC took eight excited and enthusiastic young ladies from Galax Middle School to learn about the American Chestnut tree and enjoy the festivities. 

As October should be, the day began cold and blustery. It didn't stop these girls as they bundled up for the hayride through the orchards to hear about the trees and the research that was going on at this location.

Upon our return to the facility, we gathered our tickets for door prizes and raffle drawings. Each student deposited their raffle ticket in a jar in hopes of winning the drawing for that prize. They then migrated to the beverage counter for some complimentary hot chocolate to warm them up. There were numerous treats all made from the flour and/or nuts of the chestnut. All the girls sampled the cookies, cakes, brownies and of course...roasted chestnuts!

Outside, craft stations were set up and included pumpkin decorating, cookie decorating, and making luminaries. The girls all participated in these crafts as well.

There was also an old apple press and some apples being pressed for cider.  The girls took a turn at working the press and getting to sample the "fruit juice" of their labor.

Back inside we went to get warmed up with a great tour of the lab given by Tom Saielli, Regional Science Coordinator. There they study the fungus that kills the tree. Seeing state of the art equipment used for scientific research was a real treat! 

The day ended with live music and raffle drawings. The girls enjoyed a great afternoon and left with lots of loot! 

Galax Middle School Studies Leaves, Invasive Plants and the American Chestnut

Friday, October 14th, students from Galax Middle School traveled to Matthews State Forest to learn about the forests of the Blue Ridge. We met with Zach Olinger, a Forester with the MSF, and began an enlightening afternoon hiking around Matthews State Forest.  

We first began our educational tour with leaf identification. Mr. Olinger discussed the native trees of the area and then guided us to some of these trees around the property. The students also received information about non-native ornamental tress brought in from other countries. There are a large number of heirloom apple trees on the property and they delighted us with a tasty treat!

The second phase of the hike revolved around invasive plants. In a small wooded area near the pond, Mr. Olinger handed each of the students a picture of a non-native invasive plant species. The scavenger hunt began as students were sent out to see if they could find any of these plants. Unfortunately, in a very small area, 7 invasive species were discovered by the students. 

Finally, we reached the American Chestnut grove. Here, students learned of the research being conducted on the reestablishment of the American Chestnut tree. Matthews State Forest is the site of one of many orchards with fourth generation American Chestnut trees. Students learned about backcrossing to create a genetically blight resistant American Chestnut tree. They examined the differences between the Chinese Chestnut and the American Chestnut tree based on this backcrossing using their leaves and tree structure as examples. 

Galax Intersession Suspension Bridge Construction

Galax Middle School Students spent a fun week constructing a suspension bridge!

Galax Middle School Explores Dunson Farm

On Saturday, September 24th, an enthusiastic group of Galax Middle School students visited Bill and Margaret Dunson’s Baywood farm just a few miles west of Galax. 

The Dunsons bought this farm with the intention of converting it from agricultural use to a wildlife resource, with improving bird habitat as the guiding principle. They have returned fields to a more natural sequence of seasonal grasses and wildflowers with an emphasis on native plants. A series of small ponds dot the landscape, some with fish and some without, to demonstrate the impact fish have on various aquatic insects and to illustrate the contrasts.

Their farm is an oasis not only for birds, but butterflies, and other insects as well. This setting was ideal for a follow-up field trip based upon four in-school classes targeting butterflies, metamorphosis and migration. All of these topics continued to be covered during our day on the farm, with a variety of walks that explored many species of caterpillars and their association with specific host plants. 

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On hand for difficult identifications, Bob Perkins volunteered for the more detailed inspections. The cattails growing along the edges of one fish pond were covered with caterpillars, hundreds…perhaps thousands…eating the green leaves down to mere nubs. The following is a report from Bob:

Caterpillars:
Marsh Dagger, Simyra insularis, on cattails
Snowberry Clearwing, Hemaris diffinis, on coral honeysuckle
Woolly Bear, Isabella Tiger Moth
Pyrrharctia isabella, in field
Hickory Tussock Moth, Lophocampa caryae, supplied by Bill Dunson
Yellow-striped Armyworm, Spodoptera ornithogali, brought from home
Caenurgina sp, Clover/Forage Looper
 Galgula partita, Wedgling Moth

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Many thanks to Bill, Margaret and Bob for a successful outing!

Galax After School Enrichment Kick-off!

Galax Middle School opened its doors to students and their families for the After School Enrichment Program kick-off dinner. Everyone was served a delicious lasagna dinner and then participated in various activities provided by the staff and partners in the program. 

BRDC offered the families a slide presentation, butterfly and moth display and a craft for all ages. The students made origami butterflies and decorated them to resemble Monarch butterflies and then hung them on a tree symbolizing their migration.  

BRDC will provide classes after school and a field trip (or two) each month to enhance the lessons provided during class. Each month, students will discover the wonders of a new element of natural history such as butterflies and moths, trees, amphibians, geology, mammals and birds.  The field trips cover a wide range of locations within the Blue Ridge. Students will explore wildlife habitats and try their luck at capturing and examining insects at the Dunson Farm, press leaves found at Matthews State Forest and share in the riches of White Top Mountain just to name a few. It is going to be an exciting year!

Galax Enrichment Pond Exploration

Galax Middle School students explored a nearby pond last Friday, as part of BRDC's Galax Enrichment program.  The students had a great time building salamander traps and searching for frogs- they discovered spring peepers and eastern newts.  

Galax Enrichment Week - Give Me Shelter

​For BRDCs Give Me Shelter course, students built and installed nest and roosting boxes for owls, bats, ducks and bluebirds. They learned about nesting strategies, comparing the enormous variety of bird and bat nests, and the importance of incorporating features preferred by the particular bird species, including the entrance hole size, the height at which the box is posted, and the type of habitat surrounding the box.

During the week, students constructed a blue-bird box to take home, then moved on to building a screech owl, bat, wood duck and one other blue-bird box. Everyone got to help paint and decorate the boxes with an eye towards fun.

Students also examined bird feathers, skulls, feet, and wings. They participated in building nests and examining owl pellets.

Owls swallow most prey whole, and at some point in their digestive process the bones and fur are separated and eventually coughed up in the form of a mucous covered ball, or pellet. These pellets reveal what animal the owl had for a meal, and offer student-scientists the opportunity to better understand the diet of owls, and small mammal populations in a given area.

On Friday, in the frigid wind, the group placed nesting boxes on Dr. Robert Pryor's land, including protective baffles. The boxes were positioned to take advantage of early morning sun.  The kids had a great time, and by week's end they understood the difference between open nesting and cavity nesting, as well as bird habitat and diet.

Galax Enrichment Week - Build A Beast

​BRDCs Build A Beast course taught students the principles of physics and mechanics while building a mechanical walking "beast" operated by pedal power.

The class began with a series of videos demonstrating the wide variety of efforts to expand upon Theo Jansen's kinetic walking creatures. Each student was given a model to construct as an example of the technology behind the idea. The models operate by wind power, utilizing 2 gears to operate the many legs allowing the model to walk.

Later in the week, the students worked together as a group to dismantle and reconstruct a full-size walking beast made of plywood and metal parts created for the class by BRDC staff and volunteers.  They were given a demonstration of the gear configuration and the process involved before they started.  The students took photos and labeled parts to help with reassembly.

By the end of the week, the students had successfully accomplished the complex task.  On the last day, they painted and decorated the beast, which became a black bear.

BRDC would like to thank tinkerers Don Pridgen, Lee Schores and William Roberts, whose combined expertise resulted in our first walking beast. The team is now officially known as the Beastly Boys. We look forward to further kinetic collaborations. Hats off to you guys!

Galax Enrichment Week - Primitive Technology

​BRDC recently hosted a Primitive Technology course as part of Galax Middle School Enrichment Week. The students were engaged with a variety of hands-on activities that connected them to skills used by early American Indians and materials found in their backyards.

They learned flint-knapping with chert and obsidian; basketmaking with willow branches and oriental bittersweet, survival shelter building; making cordage with dog bane, milkweed and deer sinew; making glue from white pine resin, charcoal and dried grass; tanning with an elk hide; lashing with inner bark; hafting a spear; and building a fire with flint and steel. 

The students enjoyed Flint-knapping the most, where they attempted to shape blanks of chert into arrowheads. Using deer antler, sandstone and leather, they chipped each piece down to size.

In groups they built survivor shelters including a lean-to, a wiki-up and a wedge-shaped lean-to. During the construction two of the groups got creative with the invasive oriental bittersweet, one building a swing and the other a hammock from the vines.

In a semi-circle the kids patiently processed Dog Bane (Also called Indian Hemp). They conducted a "silly rap off" while their hands went to work. They started by quartering the stem, removing the core and cleaning off the outer bark to reveal the strong fibers. They then hand twisted the fine strands into cordage to be used for basketmaking.

​At the end of the week they learned fire building, collecting dry grass, tinder, kindling and pitch wood. After building a tiny "nest" of grass they placed a small piece of pocket lint in the middle and lit it with sparks from the flint and steel striker.

By the end of the course they had learned about the physical qualities of basic materials and how to go from found, raw materials to finished product.

Blue Ridge Illustrated: Oaks of Matthews State Forest

Anytime one dives into a new field of identification, be it birds, butterflies, flowers, or in this case trees, it is best to choose one "family" of similar species and hone in on those for clarity. That is exactly what we did at Matthews State Forest last Friday morning with the Galax High School Art Class. 14 students spent two hours in the field defining the difference between the bark, acorns, leaves and tree structure of six species of oaks while effectively blocking out the myriad of other species in the forest. Their investigative efforts began the latest BRDC poster: The Oaks of Matthews State Forest.

The exploration began with a compare and contrast exercise in the shapes of leaves collected from the forest floor. First they decided which were representatives of oaks and which were not. Then they defined a rounded lobe versus a pointed lobe to separate the white oaks from the reds. Lastly they looked at color and sinus depth to separate the collection of leaves into five clearly defined species. 

We then filtered back into the woods to find the leaves hanging on the trees where they documented each species with bark and leaf rubbings. Once the trees were identified the students scratched the forest floor for acorn samples to take back to the classroom. On our return trip we added one more species to the list, a post oak just off the path for a total of six species. They begin the in-class scientific illustrations this week!

Identified in the forest were:

Northern Red Oak, Quercus rubra
Black Oak, Quercus velutina
Scarlet Oak, Quercus coccinea
White Oak, Quercus alba
Post Oak, Quercus stellata
Chestnut Oak, Quercus prinus

Educational resource planted last Fall shows us life!

On September 15th we started a second Young Explorers Club with seventeen pumped up 10-13 year olds. The program kicked off our 2015-16 Galax After School Enrichment Program. We will be meeting with the kids two days a week and taking one extended Saturday field trip each month during the school year. The Young Explorers will earn a Junior Naturalist Certificate over the course of 2015-16.

For our first session the group gathered to discuss official club items in the classroom. After talking about the array of subjects we will be studying and what it means to be a naturalist, we honed in on insects in preparation for an October 17th field trip to the Hokie BugFest in Blacksburg. Our first club activity was to visit the butterfly garden on school grounds to do some maintenance and field investigation.  

Last fall, BRDC, led by Sarah Osborne, planted a brand new butterfly garden on the grounds of the Galax High School as part of the Fall 2014 Middle School Enrichment Program. The results a year later are astounding! The garden is lush with life and the sharp eyes of the students quickly discovered a Monarch butterfly, then a caterpillar, then a bigger caterpillar, then three chrysalises and a caterpillar forming it's chrysalis! They were ecstatic to say they least!

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Monarch Caterpillar 

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Hanging Caterpillar

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Monarch Chrysalis

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Monarch Butterfly

In the short time available the students weeded out the crab grass, collected seeds to be planted in the spring and found an array of insects in the garden. We are looking forward to studying the garden in detail during the coming weeks. The students will also be building a club insect collection to be entered into the insect collection contest at the Hokie BugFest. 

What a fantastic resource for young scientists to explore life! Every school needs a pollinator garden. 

Galax Middle School, Fall Enrichment Program

As Executive Director of BRDC, I would like to thank the Galax City School System, Bill Sturgill and Rebecca Cardwell.  Also both principals, Kristina Legg and Justin Iroler were instrumental in their guidance.  Aaron Horton rolled up his sleeves for some serious grunt work.  Below are the accounts from both program directors.

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

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The National Fishing in the Schools program took on the task of teaching approximately 30 students the basics of fly fishing in a week. With 1 ½ hours/class, and two classes on each of five days we exposed these energetic kids to a hobby that has great potential for life long enrichment. 

During this crash course the students learned to tie special knots required to setup the fly line and attach the fly. They became thoroughly acquainted with all of the equipment of fly fishing including fly reels, rods, lines, leaders and flies. They kept a running journal to document what they learned and illustrated observations to reinforce the concepts of fly fishing. They participated in competitive relays to release some of the seemingly endless youth energy and studied the three most important aquatic macroinvertebrates: mayflies, stoneflies and caddis flies. They cast at bulls-eye targets to better understand the association between fish species and the different types of flies, while honing their casting skills. They learned the basics of fly casting that can be put to use on any open water. They learned about the culture of fly fishing by watching modern short films and reading famous writers like Norman Maclean. They also discussed conservation ethics including “Leave No Trace” and proper ways to handle a fish.  In the finale, they learned about fish species and tested their new skills with a competition casting for “real fake fish” at 20’, 25’ and 30’. All of the students received a hand tied fly pin for their enthusiasm during the course. 

A gracious thanks to Lisa Benish for her dedicated efforts in teaching the National Fishing in the Schools Program; Katie Cole, founder of the NFSP and Chris Dunnavant, Angling Education Coordinator at VADGIF for providing the equipment and lesson plans.

Aaron Floyd, President of BRDC and FIS program director

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Hands in the Dirt is a program developed by Blue Ridge Discovery Center to give kids exposure to plant, soil, wildlife and habitat education while providing an opportunity for them to improve their school grounds in some way. Approximately 30 Galax Middle School students recently participated by creating and installing a butterfly garden, inspired by a cooperative project in York County, “Schoolyard Habitats: Monarch Initiative” carried out by Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Master Naturalists, and Virginia Master Gardeners. 

For the first 2 days, students become acquainted with the importance of creating butterfly habitat. Program guides used a variety of tools, including worksheets, field guides, a YouTube video, and iPads to assist students with completing self-directed research, focusing on the significant decline of the Monarch butterfly. The kids then got to the heart of the project by examining a variety of soils and beginning excavation on their garden plot. Volunteer Kathy Cole, a master gardener, introduced participants to the types of plants appropriate for the butterfly garden and discussed issues such as spacing, sunlight and water. Students then had the opportunity to sketch out their own designs for the garden.

The kids worked hard for the remaining three days, removing sod, adding top soil, installing a rain barrel, and finally, planting. The project sparked lots of interest from school personnel and passers-by, so students created posters identifying the garden as a butterfly habitat and warning against the use of weed killers. Many of the students expressed interest in ongoing monitoring and maintenance of the garden, and all made a personal contribution to the project.

A special thank you to Barbara Dunbar and Jody Turner for inspiration and ideas; Carol Heiser, Education Director with the VDGIF for support; Cathy Dowling from Blevins Building Supply for the rain barrel hardware; Galax Farm Supply for mulch; Zach Olinger with Matthews State Forest for the rain barrel; Kathy Cole for plants and hard work; and to John Fant for providing top soil. Finally, this success of this program would not have been possible without on-site support from Brenda Bonk.

Sarah Osborne, BRDC board member and HITD program director