SUMMER WORKSHOP - Session 1

      We had our first in-person, summer session workshop this Saturday, June 5.  Five teachers attended this session - Brittany Austin from Fredericksburg Academy, Megan Laskowski and Meredith Stalker from Courtland Elementary in Spotsylvania, and Robin Payne and Barbara Brown from Fredericksburg City Schools.  Sophie Lynn, Lisa Lewis, and George Meadows were there as well.  Students from Lisa Lewis' class also came to the session, along with their families.  
     We began with a review of the digital and stereo microscopes as well as the phone adapter for the stereo scope.  We had a few tables set up with digital microscopes and chromebooks (difficult to use in bright sunlight) and stereo microscopes, and a drawing table with lots of examples of insects.


     We also took a look at the new student field kits.  These kits are very simple, modeled on the kits developed by the Pacific Grove Museum described in the May 31 post for this blog.  The kits include a magnifying glass, box of colored pencils, a 6" ruler, a small field notebook, and several object description cards.  These kits are being developed with the idea of providing a classroom set to each teacher - these are student versions of the shoulder bag kit you all received earlier.  This is the beta version and we will be giving each teacher a few kits to evaluate - the first set went home with this Saturday's workshop group.  We're hoping to get feedback in terms of the materials: what should be added, what doesn't really need to be there, do we need more/less of something - for example, crayons, markers, or colored pencils?  We are also wondering how can we make them grade level appropriate.


     We then went down to the pond where we had a table with nets, collecting equipment, a plastic bin filled with pond water for gathering what was collected, binoculars, and a stereo microscope with the phone adapter.  I think this was the most rewarding session, due to the amount of wildlife we saw as well as the enthusiasm of the children.  The phone adapter for the stereo microscope turned out to be very helpful in not only sharing what we were looking at, but also for providing the opportunity to record what we saw in photo or video format.  Brittany Austin used the adapter and her phone to take and share the photos of the salamander you'll see below.

salamander leg
salamander (larval stage?)
using nets to collect from pond
not sure why the snake (king snake?) crossed the road









empty turtle eggs (photo from Robin Payne via Lisa Lewis)











work table by pond









 
Megan Laskowski and Meredith Stalker (Courtland Elementary) watch kids working with stereo microscope and phone adapter.
Brittany Austin (Fredericksburg Academy) uses dip net to collect samples from pond.
Work table by pond.
3 (?) kingsnakes near pond.

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