Educating the Scientists of Tomorrow

Today, Big Oaks hosted a Field Day for Madison Junior High. The students began their day at Karn's Pond, located in a grassland patch along the eastern perimeter, seen from Route 421. Karn's pond was built to help improve the population of the state endangered Crawfish frogs. The students were split up into three, rotating groups. One group learned about Crawfish frogs and restoring their population from, Joe Robb, Project Leader at Big Oaks. Another group learned about Henslow's Sparrows and grassland management from, Rob Chapman, Park Ranger at Big Oaks. The third group learned about pollinators and the type of habitats conducive to the pollinators from, Kirsten Carlson, teacher and Friends group volunteer for Big Oaks. The students then went to Old Timber's Lodge, where they enjoyed lunch.

After lunch the students were split into groups again. Three groups went outside the lodge and learned about invasive species and how to manage them by, Joe Robb, Rob Chapman and Kirsten Carlson. Three groups stayed inside the lodge where they were able to explore the rooms of lodge and learned about the history of the lodge from, Sandy Darrenger, Park Ranger at Big Oaks, Gary Maas, BOCS President, and David Bear, BOCS member.

All-in-all, the day was very educational. The students seemed to enjoy themselves, or maybe that was just because they weren't stuck in a stuffy classroom but outside on a beautiful day, who knows. But here's hoping the next ground-breaking research comes from one of those students...